Sustainable living

Sustainable living might be defined as a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained without exhausting any natural resources. The term can be applied to individuals or societies. Its adherents most often hold true sustainability as a goal or guide, and make lifestyle tradeoffs favoring sustainability.

Most often these tradeoffs involve transport, housing, energy, and diet. Lester R. Brown concisely summarizes the situation as "sustaining progress depends on shifting from a fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, economy to a renewable energy-based, diversified transport, reuse/recycle economy".

Sustainable living is a sub-division of sustainability where the prerequisites of a modern, industrialized society are left unexercised by choice for a variety of reasons. The practices and motives overlap somewhat between the movements. Sustainable living in urban areas requires a sustainable urban infrastructure.

Self-sufficiency is the principle of consuming only those things produced by oneself or one's family. It is generally a stricter lifestyle than a sustainable lifestyle in that an effort is made to limit trade with others regardless of the sustainability of such trade.

Permaculture is a design philosophy that emphasises sustainability in land use and landscaping, as well as fields such as architecture and economics (for example, encouraging the spread of Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS)). In terms of agriculture, food production and building materials, permaculture emphasises use of well-adapted plant materials that require few inputs, especially trees and other edible and useful perennials.

Some people are opposed to furthering mechanization and technology in society for any reason. Adherents of sustainable living, in contrast, are willing to accept appropriate technology.

History

Henry David Thoreau's work Walden represents the earliest literature that specifically addresses the sustainable lifestyle in simple living.

The Luddites raised issues of appropriate technology as early as the 1800s.

The publication of Living the Good Life by Helen Nearing (1904 – 1995) and Scott Nearing (1883 – 1983) in 1954 is the modern-day beginning of the sustainability movement. The book fostered the back to the land movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As the back-to-the-landers realized the difficulty of copying the Nearings' lifestyle, they returned to more conventional lifestyles yet incorporated self-sufficiency where they could.

The publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 was another major milestone in the sustainability movement, as well as the writings of American essayist, novelist and farmer, Wendell Berry.

In 1972, Donella Meadows wrote the international bestselling book The Limits to Growth, which reported on a study of long-term global trends in population, economics, and the environment. It sold millions of copies and was translated into 28 languages.

E. F. Schumacher published a collection of essays on shifting towards sustainable living through the appropriate use of technology in his book Small Is Beautiful in 1973.

See also

• Albert Bartlett
• Cohousing
• Conscious Consuming
• EcoCommunalism
• Economic vegetarianism
• Ecovillage
• Environmental ethics
• Environmental studies
• Intentional community
• Intentional living
• One Planet Living
• Permaculture
• Simple living
• Sustainable agriculture
• Sustainable community
• Over-consumption
• Sustainability

References

• Jim Merkel Radical Simplicity : Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, New Society Publishers, 2003, ISBN 0-86571-473-8

Popular Literature

• Marijke Wilhelmus, "Eco-Tripping Around the World: Part I", Seed Magazine" (04/04/2006)
• Grosvenor, Michael (2007), Sustainable Living For Dummies, Wiley Publishing Australia Pty Ltd, Queensland.

External links

• Sustainable Community Action Wiki - for anyone interested in action toward local sustainability, but especially ordinary people and community groups. Seeks to link up community and personal action for sustainability worldwide.
• One Planet Living
• SustainLane - Online resource for healthy, sustainable living, that benchmarks the most sustainable US cities.