Miss Earth Sweden 2011 Renate Cerljen: Everything is possible if you are determined and focused

“I learned most of my lessons through my parents. At an early stage, my parents taught me the importance of honesty, respect and a high sense of morality: characteristics that I am try to practice in all my actions. I have learned to stay humble in times of victorious moments and to stay strong when facing setbacks. Thanks to my competing years, I was taught me never to give up no matter the challenge I am facing. Everything is possible if you are determined and focused – practice makes perfect,” Miss Earth Sweden 2011 Renate Cerljen tells, MissEarth.tv mediates.

MISS SWEDEN: Renate Cerljen
Age: 26
Height: 174 cm.
Weight: 55 kg.
Measurements: 81-60-86

What environmental project will you create to promote the protection of Mother Earth and why?
I have two projects in mind. Firstly, to continue working internationally with “Healthy Kids Happy Kids Foundation” and the project “Our Earth – We Will”, this includes the World’s longest ecological hand-woven silk fabric that contains messages from global dignitaries in industry and politics. This project aims to raise awareness and educate the children about the importance of taking an action to fight against global warming. Keeping Mother Earth clean and green is vital in order to give our children the chance to lead a healthier,happier and altogether, a better life. Secondly, I have formed a project “ECO! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle with Renate Cerljen” which is a series of video posts about sustainable living, presented primarily to young people in Sweden at different social networks including my own personal website. This project aims to spread environmental knowledge in an attractive and fun way in order to make the subject more appealing and arouse awareness among Swedish youth.

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What makes you proud of the country you are representing, and what can you promote about your country?
I am proud of the egalitarian spirit on which Sweden was built. It provides equal opportunities to all with free and public healthcare, higher education and tolerance for both genders and all ethnicities in commerce and government. This makes our society open and prosperous resorting to neither class nor creed. Though half of the members are parliament and most of our industry leaders are women, we still do not consider ourselves “done” or “at the end of history” so to speak. I am proud of Sweden for it is one of the healthiest countries in the world, being much aware of the connection between cleanliness and health with our vast programs of recycling, energy efficiency and sustainability even in commerce. For over a century, this way of thinking becomes the core of our urban planning, which can be noted by the close and easy access to nature even in our largest cities. Finally, as a sign of both of our environmental awareness and sense of equality, all of our major cities boast the vast and reliable systems of public transportation. While others claim they are in the same boat, we literally are in the same wagon.

Describe your childhood/growing years.
I grew up on the countryside of Southern Sweden, in a small town called Staffanstorp. Love and kindness characterized my childhood. Moreover, discipline increases my passion with Rhythmic Gymnastics. I started competing internationally at the age of 11 during a time when my priorities were training, friends and schoolwork. I used to be a very lively and joyous child in general, so it came as no surprise to my friends and family that I had flair for performing on stage, acting and speaking in public. My experience in delivering performances to juries and audiences during my time as a gymnast left me with a high level of confidence, courage and a comfortably outgoing personality.

What lessons did you learn from your childhood/growing years? 
I learned most of my lessons through my parents. At an early stage, my parents taught me the importance of honesty, respect and a high sense of morality: characteristics that I am try to practice in all my actions. I have learned to stay humble in times of victorious moments and to stay strong when facing setbacks. Thanks to my competing years, I was taught me never to give up no matter the challenge I am facing. Everything is possible if you are determined and focused – practice makes perfect!

What is your environmental advocacy?
I consider the formation of a sustainable and robust system, the main challenge ahead of us, rather than spur of the moment environmentalism. By sustainable I mean an environmental system that accommodates the various needs and challenges of both developing and developed nations. By robust I mean a system that endures the inevitable errors and partial non-cooperation along the way, and progresses in spite of this without falling apart. A sustainable lifestyle on a personal level that concerns our daily behavior requires knowledge of the lifecycle of various materials, and how this lifecycle should be managed most effectively. By sticking to simple principles like reducing reckless consumption, reusing materials with long lifecycles and recycling all of those recyclable materials, we could produce astonishing results. The practice of reusing certain materials is often overlooked but is probably the easiest way to minimize our carbon footprint. It is easy to believe that governments and industry would be unwilling to implement sustainable strategies, but given the fact that industry is producing most of the sustainable technologies and governments are financing most of the education on sustainable living, there is simply no case left for cynism. In addition, environmental activism has contributed to a cultural shift towards environmental awareness where today, there is no excuse for not having a sustainable lifestyle. This is a real progress on both personal and political levels, and so my advocacy includes not only helpful principles but also hope that by highlighting what has been achieved so far, we can move forward with optimism for what lies ahead.