Sustainability is a strange word to some, but becoming more familiar to many. It’s almost as well-known now as green. But it still means different things to different ears.
Does it mean no growth? Or hugging trees? Sustainability is a radical concept, but not necessarily so extreme. Looking around the room during the Sustainability Discussion Classes at Stillwaters Environmental Center, or reading our text from the Northwest Earth Institute, Choices for Sustainable Living, nothing seems to be terribly radical. None of us has been living in treetops or laying in front of bulldozers lately.
Sustainability, simply, means the ability of our society to continue to exist indefinitely. It means there will be an Earth and a society here for many generations to come, in at least as good a condition as what we have now, and hopefully better. It means taking into account all the children, of all species, for all time.
This requires careful, wise and balanced uses of the natural resources available to us; an economy that will not collapse but remain healthy and viable for all; and a social system that is supportive of all its people. Those are the three elements that are included in our conversations: environment, economics, and social equity.
Those elements often seem to be at odds with each other. For instance, our current system of economics says you have to grow bigger to be better. Classes on small business teach that a business that is not growing is dying. “Bigger is always better.”
But the Earth teaches us that resources are finite, and “enough is enough.” Just so much is available and no more. Everything born of the Earth grows to its appropriate size, based on resources available, and then stops. The planet does not get bigger; it gets better. More of us are beginning to understand that as we look at planning in our communities.
Class members weigh in on some of the hard choices each of us makes as individuals, while we also discuss some of the hard decisions before us as a community. Mostly we see many things individuals could do to change our own consciousness, which could decrease our personal ecological footprint, and which eventually would change the collective consciousness. No matter how many times we repeat these courses, we always find some new ideas for ourselves.
Learning these things takes time. Cooking with fresh food (instead of quickie meals in the microwave) and hanging clothes to dry (instead of using the dryer) seem to add more chaos, but get us closer to sustainability. How do we get off the consumer whirlwind? When do we realize that getting more “stuff” is not making our lives better, but more complicated?
Where to start? Sign up for a course on sustainability — a new “Choices” class starts in October. Attend the Future Festival at Port Gamble, Aug. 1 and 2.
Read a book.
Grow some food.
Do whatever you can.
If you would like to join with others who are exploring sustainability issues, please join the new Choices for Sustainability Discussion Class at Stillwaters starting this Fall. For more information, contact Joleen Palmer at (360) 297-2876.
