Even before my exploration of prosperity as a guiding principle, I'd been thinking about and reading up on sustainability. And one issue I've discovered in my research is that the term is sort of nebulous. In fact, there are several arenas of sustainability that are sometimes in opposition to one another.
From one perspective we have:
Societal or community sustainability -- how a group can make decisions to sustain itself and its members. This comes into play not only in terms of urban planning, but also buying decisions (supporting local businesses and so forth) as well as social services. It's about people in a society supporting structures that further the stability of that society, both short-term and long-term.
Personal sustainability -- how an individual makes decisions that affect the stability of the person. This includes buying decisions as well as all sorts of personal planning issues (career, location, children, budget, and so on). Primarily this is about the individual, but since many people have a small tight immediate family unit (partner, spouse, kids, maybe parents) that works together to make those decisions, it's usually slightly broadened in practice.
On the other axis, we see:
Ecological sustainability -- choices that affect our footprint on the Earth, the long-term protection of environmental systems. This is what most people think of when they think of sustainability. Sustainable land management, sustainable farming practices, etc. It's about conservation, recycling, alternative energy, and so on.
Economic sustainability -- decisions that support financial stability, growth of funds, savings, and so on. For example, having no or low debt load (whether on the community or personal level) is more sustainable than having a lot of debt to maintain. This is about money and it's a necessary way of viewing sustainability in our capitalistic society.
So what does this mean? Well, from this perspective you can see that sometimes different kinds of sustainability are in conflict. For example, it might be better for community financial sustainability to buy locally... but better for personal financial sustainability to shop at Walmart (cause it's just plain cheaper). Financial and ecological sustainability can also easily conflict (just look at the Alaskan oil fields for an easy example).
Of course in a perfect world, the various types of sustainability would come together. So by composting green waste a community can save the Earth and save a little money (in terms of landfill space and maintenance). And by recycling your own green waste for compost, you can help save the Earth and take advantage of free compost and mulch from the city. Everyone seems to win!
But often choices are confusing as well as conflicting. You might want to buy organic to support the growers who help the Earth by avoiding pesticides... but it's actually better for the planet to buy locally grown conventional produce, because it hasn't been trucked halfway across the country to get to you. It's better for the economic stability of your own community to buy locally (not to mention that it might be cheaper), but if you don't live in a strong agricultural area, there may not be such a thing as local produce. In New Mexico for example, buying local produce usually means "from Mexico" -- not exactly what local means in terms of the economy.
What a mess! It's like "paper or plastic" -- which is really the better choice? Of course the best choice is to bring your own reusable bags (preferably hand woven by local artisans living in a sustainable collective from locally grown organic hemp -- bags which would probably cost you $20 a piece!).
If sustainability is a key element of living a prosperous live, then our little family unit needs to figure out how to make more sustainable choices in the various areas that affect our family. For example, there are practices specifically designed to support mental, emotional, and physical health. And linked to health, but worthy of its own discussion is spiritual sustainability
Yes, we need to find ways to express our spiritual needs and make decisions that nurture our highest spiritual impulses. Abstract in theory, but really very practical. For example, when we nurture our intuition, we can take better advantage of subtle cues to help us. And when we work at feeling the connection with all things, that encourages a view of the world where sustainability is more necessary. Not to mention that putting yourself in a cynical, non-spiritual, head space can be very harmful. A solidly nurtured spirituality can sustain us through difficult times. Notice that I'm not mentioning religion here (though that can be a part of it). I'm keeping this general because I think it's something that all of us should try, even the most literal atheist.So how to be make sustainable decisions? Because it's all about choices really, and about the things we do now to make way for the future. Sustainability is all about the future -- about doing what works now that will continue to work moving forward.
We know that different kinds of sustainability can be in conflict. So I guess my first step has to be some kind of rough priority -- decisions on where to focus. Now, community sustainability is great. I wish every community would make decisions that ensured a sustainable future for its members. But my contribution to that sustainability at this point is mainly through my vote. Whether the issue is one of ecology or economy, my decision is one of a small part of the whole. So apart from being aware of issues and using my vote, I choose instead to focus on the things I do for myself and my little family. If the personal decisions we make help the community, great! Bonus! And we should consider that effect in our decision-making process. But I'm not going to solve our nation's deplorable health care problems (or my city's deplorable pollution problems) by myself.
In addition, we live in a society that's not very caring of its members as a whole. That means that personal fiscal sustainability has to be considered. It's a harsh truth, but if we want to stay in a situation where we can nurture the sustainability of our own selves (in all those ways I described above) we need to have some financial stability. It's all well and good to live light on the Earth to the degree that you are effectively broke and homeless... but no one will care that you spend all your time volunteering to clean up litter when you end up with cancer and no medical insurance. And many a hippie homesteader ended up return to town when the combination of backbreaking labor, age, and lack of medical care make the wilderness a less-than-desirable place to live. We have to ensure that we can care for ourselves and the people we love. The best solutions here are probably going to be ones that take advantage of some of what society offers (insurance, for example) without falling into the traps that society lays (misuse of credit and debt).
Finally, we have a responsibility to the Earth. This is the most challenging type of sustainability to implement... because there's no consensus on what the best options are. A few years ago, a Salon article about sustainability and ecology claimed that it's better for the environment to buy rice shipped all the way from the Orient rather than local California rice... because the local rice is grown using artificial fertilizers and methods that are hard on the environment. The cost of shipping the rice here doesn't make up for it (although since then oil prices have skyrocketed). Now how would anyone guess that without reading this article or doing some major research themselves? Truth is, they wouldn't. All we can do is try to make the best decisions possible and be willing to change our ways when we learn that something isn't working... and not beat ourselves up too much either. It's not easy to live ecologically in the US without dropping out of the system entirely. Here, small changes may not add up to a lot individually, but we have to hope that cumulatively it makes a difference.
More to come on my personal guidelines for making sustainable choices.
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Over the coming weeks, I plan to explore each of the keys to prosperity individually in order to identify areas where I can improve and tie goals into a plan for living a more prosperous life.
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