Changing the way we live
Sustainability will be achieved by a cultural change not by technology.
I put this little quote at the bottom of my emails in the hope that it might start some discussion. Over the years I have had quite a few comments but one just recently made me think on the matter.
I was asked how I thought culture change would be achieved. This was my answer.
Achieving a culture change
Hi Ingmar,
mmm..... that is a very hard one because culture change it means changing more than just the way you live, it includes the way you think and how that affects your behavior.
Over the years we have seen much cultural change, things like the advent of tv changed very suddenly the way families interacted or should I say stopped interacting. Things like the change in attitudes towards women driven by the feminist movement are a cultural change.
However bringing about a change in behavior and thinking to the entire population to create a sustainable world is a much harder challenge and will probably only occur with either a mass awaking or a mass disaster.
I think the first question should be 'what is sustainability?' and that is almost impossible to answer but it is very easy to look at what is not sustainable. Burning fossil foods, over harvesting the oceans, wood chipping old growth forests, none of this is sustainable.
So at some stage if we don't stop doing these things then something will collapse, you get a disaster and that will force change.
At present most of the world is living oblivious to any impending collapse, though many are already living this disaster. E.g. the people of Tuvalu (500,000) have already started a mass migration mostly to New Zealand because of rising sea level.
The main cause of these problems is the consumerist culture of the modern world and its unrestrained growth. In China at present the greatest loss of quality agricultural land (the land that feeds them) is to roads and highways as the Chinese aspire to the material wealth and glamor of the western world. If they achieve it the same way we have, what will be left? And their new lifestyle will come with the loss of thousands of yeas of sustainable culture.
The thing is that we already have all the technology we need for both a "rich" and sustainable lifestyle but we don't have the culture or desire to put this into place.
Australians prefer to use fossil fuels to heat their hot water rather than solar, less than 10% of households have a solar hot water system even though in the long run they are cheaper, and sustainable. The typical Australian electric hot water system (by far the most popular) produces over 6 tonnes of CO2 pa even though we are the only populated place in the world to live in the "solar belt" (ie more sunshine than anywhere else). We do not have a culture that views this as important.
For some reason people put a greater value on a house that has an air conditioner than a house that doesn't require one. The same with cars, imagine not having to ever waste hours stuck in traffic again, yet owning a flash car is status.
My house and business is solar powered, we collect all our water needs in tanks and a dam, we grow a substantial amount of our food and firewood. Sewerage and waste is treated and used on the property. The house itself was built using the solar power systems that is now powering the computer on which I am typing your reply. And thanks to the Internet we run our business from home and I rarely drive even though the nearest shop is 20 km away.
Thanks to the thermal mass of my mud brick home I don't need an air conditioner nor do I have to earn money to buy and run one.
Working in my garden is far more rewarding than paying to go to a fitness center. The food I grow is far tastier and healthier (see what Vicki cooks for me at redgumsoaps.com.au/45.0.html ) and I do not have to earn money to buy what I can grow.
Vicki and I do this on 2.2 hectares of land while the footprint of a person in Sydney has now reached 8 hectares per person. Yet our lifestyle is more relaxed, secure, safe and healthy. It is also very rich in culture and takes a lot less work to achieve.
To answer your question of how cultural change will be achieved, I would have to say that it is most likely going to be driven by a disaster, however never have so many people had access to knowledge and information as that do today thanks to the net.
Online people are forming new communities and developing new cultures which you and I are partaking in, new tools are being developed, new rules are being written.
The culture of open source is definitely part of a sustainable culture, and this is being translated into reality when organisations such as organic farming groups, co-operatives, and millions of other small community self help groups share knowledge and assist in each others development.
I just hope that if there is a mass awaking and collectively people put into place a sustainable culture, that I live to see it.
All the best
roger
