A note from me about "sustainability"...
I learnt some of my fundamental ideas about life, sitting under trees in the Australian Outback, drinking billy tea with my Dad from as early as I can remember.
On one of these afternoons Dad introduced me to 'sustainability' at it's most basic level. As he eloquently put it ... "a bird doesn't s**t in it's own nest, but we humans do, and we have the nerve to call ourselves the intelligent species". Those few words have stuck with me for life (although he probably didn't swear then, that was a later version).
On another afternoon, age 2 1/2, I picked up a tape measure and told my Dad the temperature was half-past-three. (Clearly gifted ... ?) and so began my fascination with building and creating things - a career option which for many, is quite often opposed to my other love, the earth.
As an adult, I studied Urban Ecology and eco design as part of a Design Degree at the University of South Australia, but spent some time away from it after arriving in Queensland in 2001 - creating resources that would help our local community access 'sustainable living' information instead.
But I have a problem with 'information', as it turns out.
These days we have an over-abundance of it. What we lack is wisdom. We glorify the gaining of knowledge, but what's that without the discernment to know what we need to know and why?
As Einstein said, "we can't fix problems with the same level of thinking that created them". I actually don't think we can simply 'think' our way out of our current challenges at all (see right).
If we can get our big technical brains to take a back seat for a moment, the decisions we make, could defer first to our hearts ("Why am I doing this? Is this right?") then our brains ("Now, how do I do it?"). This has to happen otherwise we will blindly continue to replace consumerism with green consumerism and put our efforts into misguided eco quick fixes. (And there are plenty of companies to help us do just that).
And I'm not too hung up on measuring our impact either -because it often comes at the expense of forward movement until THE answer is found.
I've said for years, that if we were sitting on the beach watching a tsunami approach, we wouldn't sit around debating whether it was in fact, a tsunami or just a really big wave - we'd run. In the same way, I'm not interested in measuring, predicting or debating the 'science' of global warming or peak oil - I just know that nothing gets 'better' when constantly taken from, and that's all the motivation I need to try and not 'take' as much, and to give back where I can.
Dad's 'birds' know that. They don't calculate how much extra food they can take/waste, and to what exact level that will affect their offspring, then try to weazel all sorts of convoluted ways to cheat the system. They take what they need, leaving enough to allow them and their offspring to thrive - and they give back to the system. They just know what's right because they know they are part of the web - something our species needs to rediscover, not intellectually but with our hearts.
When I run workshops or work with people who are creating a home for themselves, the process is very much connected to nature's cycles and processes, and about recreating some of the soulfulness and simple beauty in the spaces we make for ourselves and others.
If you use my services as a Home Sustainabilty Assessor or otherwise, I won't be suggesting you rush out and buy a plastic shower timer to save water - I'm sure we can work out how to preserve our precious water all by ourselves, without a plastic gadget that's produced on the other side of the world [... using lots of water!]
Best wishes on your journey!
I learnt some of my fundamental ideas about life, sitting under trees in the Australian Outback, drinking billy tea with my Dad from as early as I can remember.
On one of these afternoons Dad introduced me to 'sustainability' at it's most basic level. As he eloquently put it ... "a bird doesn't s**t in it's own nest, but we humans do, and we have the nerve to call ourselves the intelligent species". Those few words have stuck with me for life (although he probably didn't swear then, that was a later version).
On another afternoon, age 2 1/2, I picked up a tape measure and told my Dad the temperature was half-past-three. (Clearly gifted ... ?) and so began my fascination with building and creating things - a career option which for many, is quite often opposed to my other love, the earth.
As an adult, I studied Urban Ecology and eco design as part of a Design Degree at the University of South Australia, but spent some time away from it after arriving in Queensland in 2001 - creating resources that would help our local community access 'sustainable living' information instead.
But I have a problem with 'information', as it turns out.
These days we have an over-abundance of it. What we lack is wisdom. We glorify the gaining of knowledge, but what's that without the discernment to know what we need to know and why?
As Einstein said, "we can't fix problems with the same level of thinking that created them". I actually don't think we can simply 'think' our way out of our current challenges at all (see right).
If we can get our big technical brains to take a back seat for a moment, the decisions we make, could defer first to our hearts ("Why am I doing this? Is this right?") then our brains ("Now, how do I do it?"). This has to happen otherwise we will blindly continue to replace consumerism with green consumerism and put our efforts into misguided eco quick fixes. (And there are plenty of companies to help us do just that).
And I'm not too hung up on measuring our impact either -because it often comes at the expense of forward movement until THE answer is found.
I've said for years, that if we were sitting on the beach watching a tsunami approach, we wouldn't sit around debating whether it was in fact, a tsunami or just a really big wave - we'd run. In the same way, I'm not interested in measuring, predicting or debating the 'science' of global warming or peak oil - I just know that nothing gets 'better' when constantly taken from, and that's all the motivation I need to try and not 'take' as much, and to give back where I can.
Dad's 'birds' know that. They don't calculate how much extra food they can take/waste, and to what exact level that will affect their offspring, then try to weazel all sorts of convoluted ways to cheat the system. They take what they need, leaving enough to allow them and their offspring to thrive - and they give back to the system. They just know what's right because they know they are part of the web - something our species needs to rediscover, not intellectually but with our hearts.
When I run workshops or work with people who are creating a home for themselves, the process is very much connected to nature's cycles and processes, and about recreating some of the soulfulness and simple beauty in the spaces we make for ourselves and others.
If you use my services as a Home Sustainabilty Assessor or otherwise, I won't be suggesting you rush out and buy a plastic shower timer to save water - I'm sure we can work out how to preserve our precious water all by ourselves, without a plastic gadget that's produced on the other side of the world [... using lots of water!]
Best wishes on your journey!
Change
Two interesting videos. Below, Dan Gilbert on the futility of merely trying to out-think global challenges with brains that are mostly wired to deal quickly with the now,
not the future.
(Part One below, Part Two here)
not the future.
(Part One below, Part Two here)
... versus the full length version of the beautiful movie "Home" view here
Having that 'ah-ha' moment where we truly get that we are part of something very special, is the first step in making change on a personal and deep level - so all we need is 6.5 billion personal 'ah-ha' moments!
And as confronting as this might sound to some people, I believe at the end of the day, we humans, as a species, will either collectively do enough to turn things around, or we won't, and either way, that's the experience we are meant to have.
