Purpose Articles Books Websites -NEWSLETTER- Subscribe		January 22, 2005 www.SustainableWays.com Newsletter #22 - Happy New Year! In This Issue: -Keeping It Simple -So...What Am I Supposed To Do About It? ::KEEPING IT SIMPLE:: Sometimes I think sustainability isn’t all that complicated. We constantly remind ourselves of all the things we need to keep in mind in order to live sustainably—the thickness of the ozone layer, the levels of particulates in the water, the biodiversity indices of local ecosystems, etc. But I wonder how tribes who lived sustainably for those millions of years before the Agricultural Revolution turned things upside-down. I don’t think it was that complicated for them. A few months ago I met, for the first time, someone from a hunter-gatherer society. He was a Native American from a reservation and although his experiences were meshed with non-Native American culture (whether he liked it or not), I still found a striking difference between how he and his wife approached their way of life and how most of the people in our culture approach theirs. They seemed to be guided by a few basic principles...You take what you need, and when you can, you give back, even if it’s through a simple prayer or blessing for the entity from which you’ve taken from. And in determining what they need, there’s no science to it. There’s no analyzing their nutritional needs for how much protein, carbs, and fiber they need to maintain a specified level of health, and how hunting the local population will meet those needs. They’re hungry, they eat, and they do their best not to damage their food supply, but if they’re hungry enough to hunt, say, an endangered species to eat, they will. And they seem to have an understanding that’s that just the way life is. I, on the other hand, have no idea how life is really supposed to be. I’m laced with all kinds of conflicts. I feel terrible when I watch a National Geographic documentary and see a hyena chase down a gazelle and snap at its underside with its fangs. Then I feel terrible for the hyena when the gazelle fights back and starts stabbing it with its horns. Sometimes I think I’ve got this impression in me that living sustainably is supposed to be pain-free. But I also know that any kind of life isn’t supposed to be pain-free because we need pain to let us know when our life is in trouble. Here I go getting all complicated again. I’m not saying that sustainability isn’t complicated, but sometimes I question whether it’s much more simple than we’re making it out to be. In terms of tribes, perhaps it’s not so much a matter of WHAT you’re doing so much as it’s about how MUCH you’re doing it. I can live my life whichever way I want, even if it’s somewhat destructive to the environment…But if only I and 99 other people on this planet our living our lives in this particular way, it’s not really that destructive, is it? It’s when destructive practices get amplified on a large scale that I start seeing a threat to sustainability, and that’s for two reasons. One, when you do something to an extreme, you get extreme results. That’s obvious. And two, anything done on a large scale reduces diversity. If I’ve learned anything from paying attention in ecology class, it’s that diversity equals resilience, which equals HEALTH, which equals…what else? Sustainability. ::SO...WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT IT?:: Despite the diversity I may see in my everyday life (cultural backgrounds, personal style, unique skills, etc.), nearly every person I’ve ever met shares the same general lifestyle…That is, we get our food from commercial agriculture and livestock industries. In order to gain access to this food (and shelter), we actively participate in the global economy, usually on a full-time basis. We get the energy that runs our lives from non-renewable sources. We produce garbage that is useless to humans and will remain that way for ridiculous periods of time. Not only that, but we seem to make it as difficult as we possibly can for other organisms to use our waste. These are the key ways I can think of that our civilization forces us to conform. This is where most of the damage is being done. So how can one person opt out of this destructive way of life? The most common way people think of is the minimize their individual impact. Buy food from local sources. Work less, even if it means making less money. Buy a couple of solar panels and recycle. But most people can’t afford to completely stop damaging the Earth. Who is able to get ALL their food from local providers, or grow it themselves? Who can really quit their jobs and say “Screw you, you irresponsible, destructive global economy”? Who can meet ALL their energy needs from renewable sources? And who can recycle EVERYTHING they use? Even the most altruistic environmentalists cannot. The only people I know of who can do this on an individual basis are the independently wealthy (aka the filthy rich). This leads me to believe that instead of preoccupying myself with reducing my impact, I should focus on amassing a small fortune... But let’s say I hit the jackpot. I’ve got my own organic farm. I’ve got a gazillion dollars in the bank. I’ve got a windmill that gives me all the energy I need. And everything I use is made from the most utterly biodegradable stuff on Earth. Great! That’s one less person destroying the planet. But hey, there are still another 6 billion who are still trapped in the destructive cycle. That doesn’t sit well with me. What do I do? Well, it seems obvious…I have to help them do what I did. I have to help THEM find sustainable alternatives. And that’s really the pickle. Even if I find a way to eliminate my own impact, it doesn’t really make much of a difference on a scale of 6 billion, now does it? And I can’t just tell them all to do exactly what I did…Even if they all tried and succeeded, you’d be replacing one way of life with another, and like I said before, anything practiced on a scale of 6 billion is destructive. This is an issue I come back to again and again, and it’s something I’d love to have your feedback on. Speaking of feedback, I’m seriously considering turning this newsletter into a Yahoo! Group of its own so that we could get some constructive dialogue going after each newsletter…What do you think? Till next month, Krystle C. This is an opt-in newsletter. If it's not working for you, or it's been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail and write "Unsubscribe" in the subject area to be removed from the mailing list. All content is protected by copyright law. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.