“What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea.” — Inception
The Dream Begins
I left for Lyon with a suitcase full of clothes, a backpack full of expectations, and a head full of contradictions. I wanted to be a “responsible global citizen,” whatever that meant but I also took a flight to get there. I believed in sustainability, but I wasn’t “that guy” who brings jars to refill shops or polices recycling bins. Truth be told, I used to think recycling was just a scam.
You know the conspiracy: “They make us sort it just to dump it in one big landfill anyway.”
The Architect of Change
Lyon is different. There, Cyclists are everywhere, Food waste bins are everywhere, and locals take the concept of leftover lunches seriously, it’s not just sustainable, it’s fashionable. You don’t need to be a green warrior to fit in; it’s just what people do. Sustainability is stitched into the culture.
But I wasn’t sold.
Then I met Apar…
The Subconscious Shift
Apar is from Nepal, an environmental engineering student. One afternoon, walking back from the Croix-Rousse market, I joked about recycling being a scam. He looked at me just surprised.
He told me in his village; farmers collect recyclables and compost to earn extra income. He explained how organic waste improves soil quality, how entire neighbourhoods thrive from practices we consider minor, how people are creating value from what others throw away. To them, sustainability wasn’t about hashtags or policies. It was about dignity.
As Apar said:
“We haven’t inherited the Earth from our ancestors — we’ve borrowed it from our children.”
The Kick
After that, I Gradually started changing.
I signed up for the compost trial in Lyon and started sorting food waste properly. I biked to classes, even when my thighs screamed on those Lyonnais hills. I used “Too Good To Go (https://toogoodtogo.com)” to rescue food from being binned. I thrifted everything, including a vintage blazer from someone called Tony on “Vinted (https://www.vinted.com)”. I meal-prepped lentil curry like it was a Michelin dish. I got roommates to share food on “Olio (https://olioapp.com)”. I switched to “Ecosia (https://www.ecosia.org)”, planting trees with every search. I used “Citymapper (https://citymapper.com)” to always choose the most sustainable route.
It wasn’t about guilt anymore. It was about impact. About SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. SDG 13: Climate Action. Even SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. I was no longer just living in a sustainable city; I was part of the ecosystem that made it sustainable!
The Return
Now back in Southampton, things feel familiar, but I don’t. I compost. I advocate. I research. I still use the same tools. I even started talking to others like Apar talked to me.
Did I fly to Lyon? Yes. Was I perfect? Absolutely not. But I realised that perfection isn’t the goal. Participation is. Progress is. Small acts done consistently are what keep dreams alive and that’s how ideas become legacies.
