Thriving Surviving

This appeared in the October 28, 2021 edition of The Fish Wrap.

It looks like our current way of life is not sustainable. What does sustainability mean to you? One definition of sustainability is ‘meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The challenge of the 21st century is to find a way for human civilization to thrive without destroying the biosphere we depend on. It’s the balance between making sure that no one falls short on life’s essentials while ensuring we don’t overshoot our pressure on Earth’s life-supporting systems.

Sustainable living is not the same as the prepper mindset. Prepping could involve ordering long-storage food online and buying a generator that runs on fossil fuels. Preppers hoard limited resources so they can survive while others don’t. Prepper survival has an expiration date - when the fuel runs out or the have-nots overpower your defenses. Sustainability is about living in balance with your community (all beings) and the environment (the planet) that provides your resources. 

Sustainability is balancing the domains of society, environment and economics. The conversation is focused on the environment, but if society or economics is compromised, the system could collapse. Society includes the standard of living for all people while the economy includes affordability of goods and investment in innovation. The environmental domain includes the planetary health necessary to support human life.

Sustainability is a way of life rather than a destination. A system is either regenerating or degenerating - nothing stays locked in place. Society, economics and the environment are always changing and each needs to evolve for the whole to stay in balance. Examples of sustainable practices are planting a garden and trading some of your harvest with your neighbor, or saving seeds and using decaying plant matter to create next year’s compost. Together we can survive and thrive!