Okay, so I have thought of downsizing. And I’ve even reminisced about living in a one bedroom condo with my husband and 2 year old… we just had way less stuff then. It seems like now, my husband is on a perpetual mission to fill up every single ounce of space we have with something. It would be nice to say “that’s it, we don’t need any of this stuff. Let’s give it away, recycle it, whatever.” But a “need” always creeps in… of a “what if we need this” pops up.
Seriously. The more stuff you have the more work it is to maintain it or manage it’s disposal. And most of the time, the things we buy give us limited joy and/or are toxic to our health and planet.
The woman in this article found that there were more important things in life… and she made some drastic changes that reflect that realization. See: Living Large in a Tiny House
Ever played Jenga? It’s a game with blocks you stack, and then once you are out, you take blocks from somewhere in the stack to keep stacking higher and higher. Like the “flights in one day” illustration, It’s another visual representation I think about in relation to how sophisticated and orderly and built our globalized society is becoming. It speaks to the principle of sustainability
To win, we need to get higher, and higher. That’s the only goal. Do so at all costs. Whoever screws up looses. This analogy is so dead on, for two reasons: one, our society is predicated on growing. I.e. Gross Domestic Product. We’re not doing well unless it is getting bigger. Secondly, we are so focused on competing with each other that we fail to realize that loosing the game means we all have to start from scratch again… and there is a mess to clean up (well, unless you play with a reward at the end, like looser cleans up… but that doesn’ fit the analogy, so forget I mentioned it).
Do you see the blocks at the top of the stack? They have a pretty long way to fall – there is a lot holding them in their state of ingnorant bliss. One piece of the stack puts the wack out of balance and… well, that is what we are worried will happen to our global capitalistic systems if we remove a peice like the auto or aviation industries which are foundational… pivotal peices of our history that have brought us lattes from another continent etc.
Notice the blocks under the one that caused the crash. These are virtually unaffected. They shake and shudder, but they are not reliant on the rest of the system. There are few places on our planet like that now… but they do exist. See: “Secluded Indonesian Tribe Unaffected By Global Crisis”
This to me, is the only way to avoid the even more serious challenges we face in addition to global financial crisis. How do we pull out of the system? How do we become more self reliant?
There are people and communities in North America that are trying to do this: 100 mile diet, cooperative ventures supported by people that live in the communities in which they operate, electric vehicles, waste recovery, barter system, sharing, recycling, having fun in the back yard or in a community space… there are unique and effective economies developing in pockets. A diversity of them that meet the needs of the people involved in the places where the people are. Economies that are in touch with real, everyday human values like health, leisure, nutrition, community… this is called the social economy.
In addition to the economic game, we are also playing one with the environment. We build increasingly more technologies, infrastructure fixes (think dikes), pesticides/herbicides and regulations to construct an environmental “order” we can manipulate and control. At what scale can we manage this complexity? How are we to know where the limit is? It is this uncertainty that some researchers believe we are on the verge of truly testing. See the Sustainable Scale Levels Website for more on this (I might post on this specific topic later).
So what do you think? Is our global system engaged in a game of Jenga? And if so, how do we get out of a game that will end in a sudden and destructive way?
From my sphere to yours, here’s to Earth on a Platter.
Wow.. I’m not sure how accurate this is (I can’t seem to find a difinitive source), but it speaks quite nicely to the rate at which we are metabolizing energy (fossil fuels specifically).
I suppose it wouldn’t be difficult to produce a fantastic visual representation like this… a travel agent database and some geographic information software, and presto. I love geography. Did I mention I’m a dork? No matter… I don’t care who you are, no one can deny the realizations that come to mind when watching this video.
Whoa, that’s a lot of planes.
Whoa, that’s a lot of people and stuff.
Whoa, no wonder we’re worried about a pandemic!
Uh, don’t planes emit like a TON of greenhouse gases?
Of course, the volume of traffic is magnified by the scale of the yellow lines, which do not equate to the size of a plane. But still, it represents a significant aspect of our global society: we like to move around, a lot, and to distant places. Think of the impacts this has to ecosystems at all scales…
Never mind the resources it takes to provide the infrastructure, planning, support, maintenence, etc. to host thousands of highly technical air craft being coordinated in flight, the energy spent on moving those craft and the cargo is unimaginable. (Well, actually, that video does a pretty good job of sparking the imagination.) Why are we doing so much of this? Isn’t there a good reason to stop, like climate catastrophe?
Well, so glad you asked. Much like the auto industry, the aviation sector creates a lot of jobs. From craft production and maintenence, to airport services, to travel booking… access by air drives an enormous portion of our economy. Not only does it create a lot of jobs, but it is a significant link to all things commercial – Martha Stewart table cloths from China, fresh mango from Central America, iPods from Taiwan, men in suits from New York… so much of what we want and do is expected to be available, instant, fresh, easy. There is no eating canned tomatoes while waiting for a fresh stock to grow. Slice ‘em up and serve, damn it!
Wow, did I get a bit demanding there? Sorry. That’s not my nature… or is it? What drives us to fill our instant gratification desires at the cost of the planet? What about inundated coast lines, category 5+ and the collapse of the ocean food chain do people not get? Have we been so sold on the importance of our filling our selfish desires (of which many are manufactured by corporate agendas), that we have completely lost sight of the big picture despite the solid science and hungry, crying children? *Shakes head* Sorry… I’ll stop before the rant gets really bad.
Okay, so yes, there is a good reason to stop, but the reasons why we continue are difficult for us to confront, and this is why we don’t stop. “It’s too hard.” Well, we’d better suck it up. Because life isn’t like a box of chocolates (made from cocoa which is in short supply because the coast of Africa is drying up), it’s like a game of Jenga… (to be continued).
From my sphere to yours, here’s to Earth on a Platter.
Our latest “home sustainability” project was a greenhouse. Our goal is to eat as many of our own locally produced vegetables as possible with the objective of reducing carbon emissions spent going to the market and to reduce our risk of cancer related to pesticide consumption.
Sunflowers doing what they do best.
It is a work of art, and when I dream of going on a tropical vacation, I slap on some flip flops and sit in its 29 degree celcius splendor. My husband decided that while it is a magnificent addition to our yard and lifestyle, it could be just a tiny bit better.
Our neightbor is an irrigation specialist, and he suggested that it would be super easy to rig up a simple sprinkler system inside. All I’d have to do is hook up the hose to the fixure on the wall and voila – water, water everywhere. So easy. So novel. So wasteful.
I think they were both a bit curious as to why I wasn’t jumping up and down at the sight of this new convenience. I wouldn’t have to fill and haul a giant watering can anymore… Don’t get me wrong, it works great. It sprays the whole place. Pots. Ground. Walls. But I suppose my definition of great isn’t just “water the plants”, it’s “water only the plants”.
I’m not sure what to do next. I love that my husband was trying to please me, but water is just so critical to respect and sustain. And with our changing climate, my region is at risk of seeing less water falling from the sky.
greenhouse sprinklers
Am I taking this too seriously? Are my attitudes unfounded? Even if they are for where I live and what our water supply is like right now, I consider myself to be a global citizen and a steward of the future for my child and humanity.
Corny? Self rightous? Maybe a little. But I’m growing as a person in that I am learning to be honest with myself and what I desire. I’ve never had parents or church officials or any other authorities jamming this world view down my throat. I am completely organic. I’ve simply opened my eyes to the world as it truely is, through the lenses of science and humanities, and it seems to me, that there is nearly nothing as important as water.
This video is about the world water crisis and the goings on at the World Water Forum. It discusses water as the next “oil”.
From my sphere to yours, here’s to Earth on a platter.
My heart aches for our planet and for us, who are misguided in living upon it. This is why Earth day matters to me.
I work for an environmental agency, and on April 22nd, I enjoyed my commute to work via my bicycle, I joined my colleagues to clean a nearby riparian area, and I watched video about Bill McDonough’s view of our world – one that is designed by us. Poorly designed.
However, there is much hope. We have the opportunity to redefine our perpectives, and our plan.
This 20 minute video is very much worth sharing and may just redefine your perspective. So much of what Bill speaks about has ran through my head… like my conscience nagging me to do my taxes. It must be done. Its the right thing to do. You’ll pay more for it later the longer you wait. Why didn’t I start this three months ago?
This much shorter video (5 minutes) will make you want to recycle your electric shaver and bring your Mattel toys to the hazardous waste facility:
From my sphere to yours, here’s to Earth on a Platter
I admit, I’m a bit of a nerd. Case in point: while the other second graders were watching Transformers, I was plugged into the weather channel. I had my favorite weather man, my favorite segments, and quite enjoyed the color changing jet stream and implicit geography lessons. As an adult, I realize some talk about the weather when small talk is due. But bring up convergent frontal systems and I’ll start taking notes.
Weather affects us all, and its omipresence, you would think, could teach us so much about how to be adaptable, accepting of change, and not so easily dissapointed. You don’t always get what you want with the weather.
For example, on the British Columbia coast, forcasts are right often enough that they cannot be ignored, and wrong so often they cannot be trusted. So, I prepare with warm, cool, and waterproof layers. I pack an umbrella. I have sunglasses planted in several purses. And sometimes, I let rain fall on me knowing full well I’ll be home shortly and have a dry change awaiting.
So many facets of life are like the weather: beyond our control, affecting us all, requiring a diversity of measures… like the economy. Yet we had come to trust that sunny days would continue indefinitely. So we bought big screen TVs, the newest SUV, travelled around the world, and mortgaged our souls. Why? Why did society have so much confidence that the economic conditions were unaffected by the jetstreams of debt or environmental degredation or social inequities when fundamentally all are so interconnected? I’d suggest that someone was paying off the “weatherman” in order to sell more sunscreen.
The major reason why I did not pursue meteorology (weather studies) was because I had so many varied interests… and it involved a lot of math. In addition to the masses of numerical data that factor into weather, at any scale, weather systems are not insular – that is, global atmospheric systems are so complex that any grasp of cause and effect requires some faith and/or a really, really big computer. Similarly, our economic system is complex - connected to, and reliant upon, other variables. As much as the “experts” would like to predict outcomes, a slight ebb or flow, timed with some temperature flux could set a new trend in motion…
So what to do? Well, I suggest that you watch a reputable weather personality and hedge your bets: pack the sunglasses and the umbrella. And regardless of the outcome, smile, because “nothing is either good, nor bad, but thinking makes it so.” (Shakespear, from Hamlet).
Okay, this is an interesting little documentary on Princeton students who really, really, really care about the planet. So much so, that they have devised ways to recover food from the waste stream; namely, the market down the street. Yes, they are what might be traditionally termed “dumpster divers”. However, because they are saving food from the trash (food that is still perfectly good to eat, I might add) with the purpose of exposing a wasteful culture, and of initiating a new culture (non-consumerist driven), they are freegans.
Not sure I would go in the back alleys of my local grocery stores like they do… but maybe there is some room for more innovation in this resource recovery sector…
Lawns. Acres and acres of lawns. Anywhere you go in my city it is apparent that a lot of man hours go into maintaining plush, even, green landscapes. Lawns service our vistas with a simple and clean space and from time to time we amuse ourselves physically upon them. Sure, lawns are nice. But food is better.
In my city sized lot, my imagination has dabbled in the possibilities of growing my own produce and raising my own poultry. In my city sized lot, I have begun to make this happen: a couple garden boxes; some berry bushes; fruit trees; planters with herbs; and it makes me want more.I live quite a ways north of California, but the Dervraes family still inpires me. And slowly, I hope to build a little eden of my own. Of course, I’ll share what I learn as I go
Beyond the joy of gardening and the health benefits of organic produce, I am investing in the future in several ways. First of all, local food production, no matter where you are, is an essential adaptation strategy for dealing with climate change impacts and the threat of economic catastrophe. As the global food crisis continues, and gas prices rise, North America will continue to see an increased cost in the price of food. Extreme weather events and changing weather patterns are challenging farmers around the world and countries are stockpiling for their populations in the face of increasing uncertainty. Food from far away will either be unavailable, or really expensive.
Secondly, I am ensuring that my child is educated on where food comes from. He has a greater respect for the effort it takes to grow food. He also is acquring a knowledge base which I hope he will pass onto future generations.
From my sphere to yours, here’s to Earth on a Platter.
According to David Chilton, author of “The Wealthy Barber”, 90% of financial planning is spending less than you make. I just ran across a video that demonstrates this principle nicely. It is about young professionals in China, realizing the value of collective dollars. If you ask me, this is a principle that could have averted “financial crisis” incurred by accumulating debts. It puts aside the notion that “we must have more and now” for a more reasonable ask: “make do, work, and save for more privileged items”. Privilege… now there is a term people have forgotten. Rights and entitlement have been wrongly prescribed in so many ways. Sorry folks, a big screen TV is a privilege… no matter what American Express tells you.
I don’t go “shopping” very often at the mall. These days I rarely afford myself the opportunity to buy things I don’t really need… which is inevitably the result when I go to the mall without purpose or strict intention. But a weekend with the girlfriends usually invovles some recreating in commercial spaces, and I have to admit, I do enjoy seeing all the latest trends.
At one point though, I shifted my perspective to observe the material elements for what they were – stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. And then my brain hurt.
Kiosk after kiosk; full of things made for consumption and eventual disposal. Most serving fashionable ends, others more practical, and more still just taking up space. How much energy and natural resources have been used to produce and place each material thing in that one mall? Unfathomable.
The next time you go to the mall observe the space and the things in it: shoes, clothes, trinkets, paper, signs, hangers, racks, decor, accessories… all this stuff comes from somewhere and will end up discarded somehow. Make up your own mind about how necessary it all is… and feel part of it when you patronize that space.
From my sphere to yours: here’s to Earth on a Platter
Research development offers new possibilities for large-scale production of environmentally friendly, cost-effective, lightweight energy storage systems.
Lawns. Acres and acres of lawns. Anywhere you go in my city it is apparent that a lot of man hours go into maintaining plush, even, green landscapes. Lawns service our vistas with a simple and clean space and from time to time we amuse ourselves physically upon them. Sure, lawns are nice. But food is better.
