[MCN] Not renewables alone: What if sustainability boils down to making do with less?

[Lance Olsen]

What if sustainability boils down to making do with less?

“… energy consumption in 1960 was about half what it is now [1970]…. Surely we had a civilized country then [1960], with roads, 

electricity, entertainment, and so on. …. Have we, by doubling our energy consumption, doubled our happiness?”


Kimon Valaskakis, Peter S. Sindell, J. Graham Smith, and Iris Fitzpatrick-Martin. The Conserver Society. 1970. Harper & Row.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We have only one planet and the time has come to transform our present lifestyle and consumption patterns...”

From the Executive Summary, WWF:  China Ecological Footprint: Report 2012 : Consumption, production, and sustainability.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
“Conservationists are unquestionably useful people. And among the many useful services that they have rendered has been that 
of dramatizing the vast appetite the United States has developed for materials of all kinds.”

“But what of the appetite itself? Surely this is the ultimate source of the problem. If it continues its geometric course, will it not 
one day have to be restrained? Yet in the literature of the resource problem this is the forbidden question. Over it hangs a nearly total silence.”

John K. Galbraith. “How much should a country consume?”
In Jarrett, Henry (editor), Perspectives on Conservation. John Hopkins Press. 1958
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What if sustainability is defined in the difference between delayed and immediate gratification?

"Despite recognizing the downsides of debt, the lure of spending remains strong.  

"After covering off on necessities, Americans said 40% of their monthly income goes toward discretionary spending on 
entertainment, leisure travel, hobbies, etc. In fact, when asked what financial pitfalls they are prone to, one quarter of 
Americans flagged “excessive/frivolous” spending.

https://www.northwesternmutual.com/about-us/studies/planning-and-progress-study-2017






-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bigskynet.org/pipermail/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org/attachments/20170913/bcd3b902/attachment-0002.html>