Sustainability and Emergence
9/3/08
We’ll be hosting a week of events in a couple of weeks entitled “Journeys to Sustainability”. This idea emerged out of a discussion of a program we put together last year entitled “Walking Week”, when we celebrated the power of walking from physical and mental health, to social causes. The discussion led to expanding the idea of one type of ‘movement’ to a broader theme, thus the idea of ‘journeys’.
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Noble Work
8/1/08
What’s the last repair job you’ve had done? What was the last thing that no longer worked to your satisfaction that you gave up on and trashed or even recycled? I was thinking about this lately in terms of my own effort to upgrade a water heater and a refrigerator. They both still function, but their efficiency is lower than what is available in the marketplace today. The water heater’s life expectancy is looming based upon averages, but the 15 year old refrigerator (energy efficient for its time) might have another 15 to go. Should I replace them?
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Food Shortage or Bad Diet?
7/16/08
There is an old un-attributed tale that neatly sums up part of our current human predicament:
A Native American boy was talking with his grandfather.
“What do you think about the world situation?” he asked.
The grandfather replied, “I feel two wolves are fighting in my heart. One is full of anger and hatred. The other is full of love, forgiveness and peace.”
“Which one will win,” asked the boy?
To which the grandfather replied, “The one I feed.”
It seems to me that we can ask ourselves this question about nearly every little choice we make each day. In my case, in reflecting on actions the previous day, I can probably find choices that reflect both approaches.
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Enough is Enough
7/1/08
I just read a National Geographic report that indicated that the two wealthiest individuals have more wealth than the GDP of 45 countries. Is that enough? The average home in the US is now about 2,400 square feet up from 1,100 in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day. During that same period US population grew by 50% and global population almost doubled. Thus we have more homes. The homes are also bigger, and yet there are fewer people living in them. Clearly our footprint is increasing and there are more of them than a finite planet can indulge. How much is enough?
Domestic automakers have created more powerful engines so we can accelerate more quickly from the stop lights to the 70mph standard highway limit instead of focusing their attention on reducing fuel consumption. It is also where they have spent a heavy portion of their marketing campaigns for the past couple of decades hoping to grow the market for bigger, faster, more sexy vehicles. With gasoline at almost $4.00 a gallon and the end of the rise not in sight, we shouldn’t be surprised to see their market share drop. How much power and size in a vehicle do we need? How much is enough?
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An Expression of Us
6/16/08
Earth Day has once again come and gone. The attention it brings to our (sometimes dicey) relationship with the planet will likely diminish in the weeks and months ahead. We’ve been deluged with the “Ten Earth-friendly Things We Can Do?” and “Eco-friendly Habits to Begin.” Drive less, consume less, eat lower on the food chain, recycle, and buy products that are friendlier for the planet are commonly on these lists. I’m not suggesting that we ignore these prudent approaches to living more lightly on the earth. But these steps are hardly sufficient given the backdrop of reports from the International Panel on Climate Change, the National Academy of Sciences, the Pentagon, or the UN Millenium Ecosystem Assessment.
We move forward amid continuing evidence that we are stretching the limits of this unique planet that enables human existence. No one is certain about when those limits will be transgressed to the point of catastrophe. When will the demand for oil surpass our ability to obtain it – five years, ten, thirty? What happens to both the planet and the societies on it when that occurs? Will there be resource wars over water, food or other essential ingredients for life?
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Balancing Budgets
6/02/08
I confess to having believed that sometimes it just makes sense not to have a balanced budget. I believe FDR was correct in spending more money than we were taking in to provide for many during the calamity of the Depression. Government spending acted as the key stimulus to the economy. It improved the quality of life for many. Today we all stand on the shoulders of FDR and his decision. Balanced budgets are not sacrosanct.
But I want to reconsider that confession. For nearly a generation we have been deluged with the economic gospel of the balanced budget creed. Perhaps they have finally worn me down. But what is a budget and what does it do? We budget to help us allocate resources. And surely if we learned anything from our Depression suffering parents it was to save as much as we can and stay away from debt. Isn’t that why we feel a deep satisfaction when we find a “bargain”? I think it is.
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