Sustainability Summit

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 100

Sustainability Summit

It is hard for me to believe that this is episode 100. It has taken me almost 2 years to get to this point and I am still going strong.  Over the last 99 episodes I have covered a wide variety of topics. 

In this episode I want to simply review some of the more popular episodes and hopefully continue to instill in everyone not only the desire to start living more sustainably but also prove that there is an enormous need to do so. I also want to show once again that living sustainably is actually more economical than you think and if you really apply yourself, it is very easy to function well outside of mainstream society and have a very good quality of life.  

So, if you want to quick overview of what I have covered in the last 99 episodes, and if you want to know a little bit about what is coming up in the future with this podcast stick around for the Sustainability Summit. 

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E100 which is called the Sustainability Summit. 

Once again, what I want to do in this episode is to review some of my most popular episodes and of course focus on the need to live more sustainably and show once again how this is so much easier than what most people think. Because I think the problem with our society and culture is that we are so entrenched in our way of life that we have trouble envisioning a different way to be. 

One of the biggest challenges with humanity is that we have this take, make, dispose society seemingly without consequence. However, if there is a direct and adverse consequence to what we are doing our behavior changes almost immediately. This is basic psychology. If as a child I accidentally place my hand on a hot stove I experience severe pain. I quickly learn that it is in my best interest not to place my hand on a hot stove.  

But if you live in a take, make, dispose society for your entire life, you get what you want, when you want, and there is no direct consequence to threaten your immediate well being, as humans we perceive no danger and therefore continue what we are doing.  

But we have known about the possibility of climate change for over 100 years and now we are seeing the results of our misbehavior. Furthermore, humanity is the only species on the planet that produces trash. We are the only species on the planet that destroys and manipulates our environment to meet our needs instead of living within our means and going with the cycles of nature as every other species on the planet does in order to ensure their survival. 

We have completely forgotten about the one basic principle of sustainability which is what kind of future we are leaving the next generation. 

But thankfully not everyone is like this. What most people do not know is that there are entire countries that had a vision for the future and have already taken steps to make their culture and economy sustainable. 

Early on in the podcast, in E2 which was called The Most Sustainable Countries, I talked extensively about a few countries that have transitioned to renewable energy and taken other measures to green their economy. Even to this day, these countries produce the majority of their energy from renewable sources. 

By far I think one of the best examples of this is Iceland. This country is a perfect example of how renewable energy sources can be used to power a modern economy. At present day, this country operates almost 100% on renewable energy. 

Until the early 1970s Iceland produced the largest share of their energy from imported fossil fuels. However, their transition away from coal and oil was actually driven by necessity. Because Iceland is a small, relatively isolated European country their economy and infrastructure could not tolerate the fluctuations in global oil prices due to various crises affecting the world energy market. Realizing this, Iceland set about on a mission toward renewable energy because the country needed a stable and economically feasible domestic energy source. 

Interestingly enough, this whole process was spurred by local entrepreneurs. Early in the 20th century a farmer built a primative geothermal heating system for his farm using hot water that seeped out of the ground. Local municipalities impressed with his success produced even larger systems. Eventually drilling was used to obtain hotter water and geothermal heating districts were established. 

Early hydroelectric power systems were similarly established by farmers to power their farm houses or as a cooperative effort to power several farm houses. By 1950 about 530 small scale hydroelectric power plants were scattered throughout Iceland. 

Furthermore the government established a geothermal drilling mitigation fund in the late 1960s. The fund was used to loan money for research and test drilling and to provide cost recovery for failed projects. 

Simultaneously, Iceland was focusing on large scale hydroelectric power. This in turn attracted international industries. The new industries in turn diversified the economy, created jobs, and established a national power grid. This in turn gave Iceland the stable economy and energy independence that the country needed.

What we see here is a perfect example of cooperation between individuals, private business, and national government in order to green the economy. Not only that but Iceland started this process 70 years ago. Yet the United States has sufficient natural resources to produce 6 times the amount of energy needed to run the entire country. Mean while our government is still busy quibbling over oil prices and we are operating at a national deficit that is now in the trillions of dollars. The bottom line is that Iceland set the stage for what can be done. The end result is a green, sustainable, national economy.  

Another example that I’ve discussed in E77 which was focused on recycling is the small mountain town in Japan called Kamikatsu.  Prior to 2003, this small community disposed of their trash with open incineration. But the burning of the trash made the local residents sick and created a significant odor. In 2003, Kamikatsu became the first municipality in Japan to issue a zero waste declaration. This meant that all the waste produced by the community had to either be recycled or reused in some way instead of going to the landfill. Residents now separate recyclables into 45 different categories.

The community has a substantial recycling center which was largely built from recycled material. There is also a free store where residents can leave items and take things as well completely free of charge. In 2016 this small community recycled 81% of its waste compared to a national average of only 20%. This small community in Japan is just another example of what can be done. 

Most recently I have come across several articles criticizing the limitations of renewable energy and down playing the importance of our transition away from fossil fuels. But if you happen to go through the process of designing a renewable energy system for your home, one of the first things you do is improve your energy efficiency. If you reduce your energy needs then you can purchase a much smaller renewable energy system and save yourself a considerable amount of money. 

This of course revisits the concept of using only what we need. This of course goes directly against the rise of consumerism, which is nothing more than an economic and perhaps a social ideology that promotes consumption and the purchasing of goods and services. More often that not, consumerism encourages the acquisition of goods and services beyond a person’s basic needs. In this type of society, people are constantly bombarded with advertisements meant to encourage significant spending in pursuit of the “good life”. 

I would encourage you to stop right now, take a few minutes to think about the condition of our planet, environment, and climate and ask yourself if we are truly headed toward the good life. If you want to revisit this topic then go back to E3 which talks about how much one person should be allowed to use. 

The next episode after that I extensively discussed alternatives to a consumer society and gave a list of things that we can all do in order to get away from our consumptive lifestyles. For example stop purchasing things just because you can, stop purchasing disposable products, limit your exposure to advertising, limit your screen time and media consumption, stop borrowing money to finance your lifestyle, purchase only items that bring value into your life, live frugally, and even learn to do without certain things. 

Now it is interesting to note that at one point in time there was a tremendous back to the land movement. Although this was some time ago, in fact I was even very young at the time and had no idea what was going on. But what prompt this significant movement is the fact that a large segment of society 

found the American value system to be repulsive. Many people were disgusted and loathed the rat race, the crowds, consumerism, the destruction of the land and environment, and living under what they considered to be a corrupt establishment. This eventually turned into a tremendous social movement involving millions of people. 

Unfortunately for many of them the realities of homesteading eventually crumbled their idealism. Many began to realize that not everything could be created on the homestead and at least to some degree they had to rely on the outside world. And those that were great at creating things on the homestead, they could not create enough products and services to make themselves financially sustainable. 

People also realized that in a rural environment, in order to make things financially affordable they had to take low paying jobs that were perhaps physically demanding. But by working outside the homestead, they lost the time that was needed to make improvements, plant a garden, and engage in other activities that were required to be self sufficient. It became a struggle between time and money. 

Consequently, many of the back-to-the-landers returned to their former jobs and careers after realizing the consequences of making such a move with little or no planning and even fewer skills. But you also have to realize this was in the days before the internet. Things are completely different now and it is possible to live almost anywhere in the world and still be gainfully employed. Consequently, if you really want to start a homestead, which is discussed extensively in E95 and 96, it is possible to live in the middle of no where and still work. And certainly, because of modern technology, my life has change significantly since I started living off the grid in 1996. It is now entirely possible to live off the grid full time, be gainfully employed, live a simple life and never really do without anything. 

Yet we now live in a world that is changing so rapidly that even the most stable minded person is likely having trouble feeling some sense of security. And this is the very reason why sustainability is truly your best security blanket, which I discussed in E37. 

But it is entirely possible to change all of this not only for ourselves as individuals but also for our entire society. It all starts with changing our culture. We just have to start questioning the norms of our society. We need to change our individual choices and lifestyles. When we talk to people about sustainability we need to make it more personal because climate change is going to have a direct effect on all of us. But we also need to make it easy for people to take action such as recycling programs that are easy, taking reusable bags to the supermarket and disposing of plastic properly.  We can use the power of social networking to show people the need for change. Because after all, our choices do make changes.

There is no doubt in my mind that if we all sit and wait for the world powers, the world governments to make the necessary changes toward sustainability, renewable energy, climate change, environment restoration, plastic pollution, and the transition away from fossil fuels that our planet will be circling the drain past a destructive point of no return before they are still in their never ending board meeting trying to decide what to do. This simply means we must commit ourselves to individual action and teach others the importance of doing the same because that is the one thing we can control.  Margaret Mead, who was a cultural anthropologist and frequent lecturer back in the 1970s once said,“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

But that also means we are going to have to change some of the things we do.  

We humans, like all other animals, have certain instincts that developed in order to ensure our survival. Early on in our history this was a very good thing. But we have progressed well beyond that of course taken things beyond the basic necessity. We hang on to our greed, we take revenge, we blindly follow tribal loyalty, we constantly live in a state of denial, and continue to reproduce which is certainly set to ensure significant human misery. 

Globalization, which started as early as the Silk Road, has brought numerous benefits and challenges. But we are so interconnected at this point that an environmental crisis, financial collapse, natural disaster, or even foreign invasion of one country has a significant impact on the global economy. And no where is this more evident than the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Due to the industrial revolution the standard of living for many people was greatly improved. With an increased standard of living came an increased demand for goods and services. This opened the door to the rise of consumerism. In a matter of a few decades we turned into a disposable society. 

But even before that some very smart people started to recognize the downfall of what we were doing. The first seminal paper on climate change was published in 1896 and by the 1930s we had a full understanding of the consequences of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet for decades many prominent people and world governments flat out denied the possibility. But at present day, based on the science of climate change, the evidence of over whelming. Global temperatures are rising, the oceans are warming, glaciers are retreating, ice sheets and snow cover is reducing, and sea levels are rising. 

All the while we are still busy building walls and weapons and spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year on homeland security and nuclear weapons. Meanwhile the average person spends over $1,200 per year on Starbucks when all that is needed is $160 per year per person that lives in extreme poverty  in order to eliminate world hunger. 

And we continue to throw money and technology at our problems without ever addressing the fact that what we need is to change the underlying behavior that got us in the predicament in the first place. Now we are truly on the verge of climate disaster, our national power grid is falling apart and we have no energy security, for the first time in decades we are living with the threat of nuclear war and we just past that sign that says “Danger Cliff Ahead” and we just look at each other and say, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.  

So all of this begs the question of what are we to do. During the course of these last 99 episodes I have indeed attempted to provide a balance of good news and bad news, a balance of example of where we are failing miserably and where we are getting things right in such a spectacular way.  So, that said, I have lots of good news that has been spread out over numerous episodes. 

The best possible way to produce some sort of personal security is to live sustainably. Instead of working about the power going out figure out a way to run your entire household on renewable energy. There is great value in simplicity and it is in fact, in my opinion, the best easiest way to produce the greatest amount of personal freedom. I spoke a lot in E76 about how to thrive outside of mainstream if that is what you want to do. In E84 and E88 I discussed at length the true cost of sustainable living and debunked many common myths of sustainability. 

All we have to do is work together. I gave a fantastic example of this in E98 where I discussed sustainability leadership skills we can learn from animals. Bees are a perfect example because 

the queen bee delegates authority to leaders of smaller groups. These smaller groups of worker bees focus on a given task. This organization leads to a highly efficient hive. 

Now imagine what would happen in our society if we did the same thing. Imagine what would happen if we had a strong central leader, such as our president, that delegated authority to smaller groups, such as governors of states. Each state was task with one responsibility, one goal, one important piece of the puzzle to make sure as a nation we developed energy independence, expansion of renewable energy, developed alternative food sources, a national plan for water usage.  And in each state very specific industries were developed to accomplish their given task which of course guaranteed employment. 

Then under such an organized system we would have 50 states working on 50 vital pieces of the puzzle to ensure a sustainable future. Imagine what we could accomplish as a nation under such a system.

One thing is for certain. There is lots of bad news about the world that keeps us up at night. But the other thing that is certain is that our future on this planet has not yet been decided. It is obvious that the pace at which humanity is utilizing natural resources is not sustainable. We can no longer ignore Earth over shoot day. But the good news is that we can change that. 

We have the knowledge and technology to change our future on this planet. We just have to start making changes one small step at a time.  

Now I want to close this episode by giving you something to think about. A couple of years ago I met a client who was a physician. He had retired and was about to move out of the United States. He needed to update some vaccines on his dog for international travel requirements and that was the purpose of his visit. After we took care of business I was of course interested in where he was going, why he choose to move out of the country, etc. 

During the course of that conversation I told him that I had recently read an article in a medical publication that concluded that 75% of the health problems in the United States could be resolved with a change of diet and lifestyle. He just laughed and said I absolutely agree.  Well, I would take one step further and say that from the perspective of sustainability that 70% of the problems we see on a global scale could be resolved with a change in diet and lifestyle. 

Think about it for a minute. If you look at all of our global problems and thus conclude there is nothing you can do you are wrong. Changing your diet and changing your lifestyle is by far one of the most important things you can do to help save this planet. 

Not to make that choice only speaks of irresponsibility and ignorance. After all, in our modern age of instant communication we have access to hundreds of years of information in a matter of seconds. Consequently, ignorance is a choice.  

If you take away any one thing from this episode then please remember and practice the concept of “leave only foot prints” . What if we all made the decision to live more sustainably and what if we all went through our entire lives, or what is presently left of our life, and adhered to the principle of “leave only footprints”. 

Then by default, you would have adhered to the principles of using only what you need, reducing your waste, giving up plastics, respecting other cultures, extending a simple act of kindness, and being mindful of the fact that every single thing you do has an impact. If we all lived like that imagine what life on this planet would be like 5 years from now.

Now I hope that you have enjoyed my short Sustainability Summit. I tried to touch on numerous topics that I have presented over the last 99 episodes.  And if you enjoy my content then please take the time to leave me with a review and don’t forget to subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News. 

Additionally, I want to say that there are some exciting changes coming up for the show. Up until now, I have been almost primarily solo.  I am excited to say that I am going to change that. I have a few people lined up for interviews and I am going to start having some guests on my show on a regular basis. So stay tuned for that in the next few weeks.  

But for now I want to end this episode with a quote from Vernon Howard who was a well known teacher, author and philosopher. I used this quoted just recently but I think it is applicable here as well. Mr Howard said that “You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you need.”  

And I think that is a great way to sum up the principles of sustainability.  

That is all for this week folks. For now, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.  

Patrick