I don't disagree with the "use less" - the thing that is most ecological is the thing that was never needed, of course.
That being said, the consumer nature of society - the fact that many things have a built-in lifetime and are not made to last, is something that will change only over a long period of time.
It may not change - we're exporting this lifestyle globally, and now kids growing up in China and India want the same access to STUFF that we do.
My planetary footprint is about 5, even with all the eco-stuff that I do. That means that if everyone lived the way I do, we'd need five Earths' worth of resources.
This is why I don't call myself sustainable ... it's fundamentally impossible at this point in this First world country, because even if you personally did everything you could, reduced as much as you could, the systems that you implicitly rely upon - from the military to the road and rail infrastructure - consume prodigiously.
That being said, I do try and be mindful and be smarter about what I can control directly.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-21 11:13 pm (UTC)That being said, the consumer nature of society - the fact that many things have a built-in lifetime and are not made to last, is something that will change only over a long period of time.
It may not change - we're exporting this lifestyle globally, and now kids growing up in China and India want the same access to STUFF that we do.
My planetary footprint is about 5, even with all the eco-stuff that I do. That means that if everyone lived the way I do, we'd need five Earths' worth of resources.
This is why I don't call myself sustainable ... it's fundamentally impossible at this point in this First world country, because even if you personally did everything you could, reduced as much as you could, the systems that you implicitly rely upon - from the military to the road and rail infrastructure - consume prodigiously.
That being said, I do try and be mindful and be smarter about what I can control directly.