Sustainability Part I: A Call To Action

We have reached a point if we look honestly and fully we will see that the way we live today is not sustainable. We consume too much, work too hard, creating too much trash and rapidly depleting the earth’s non-renewable resources. In short, we do not respect and live within the natural flow and order of things. The world economic crisis that began in the fall of 2008 is no accident when you consider the way we have lived, worked and consumed. Economists describe it as a correction. The economy had gotten out of sorts so it naturally begins to correct itself. In a way, it is a call to action and need only be as painful as it takes to get our attention in order to begin taking corrective measures.

We speak of an economic recovery. When used to describe an illness, recovery suggests a return to wellness. In this same way, a recovery of the economy, real estate or financial markets would be one that returns to a state of wellness. But the situation prior to the current crisis was not well. Real estate prices had risen beyond their inherent value. Financial markets were buoyed by high-risk investments in mortgages behind these over-valued properties. Consumers were borrowing heavily to buy merchandise they really did not need. There was no real substance in the apparent economic boom. It was not sustainable.

Our economy has fallen into a cycle where we need to make things in order to fuel growth so that we have jobs and can earn a living. It’s like a snake eating it’s own tail. Any effort to return to that model and simply spend our way out of this crisis is not going to succeed in the long term. We will still be working too hard to produce too much, creating too much waste and depleting the earth’s resources. The only solution of substance is to look closely at how we are living and begin to take new actions for a different way of life going forward.

Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems with the same thinking that created them.” Solving for sustainable living requires going metaphorically to the headwaters of the Amazon where the flow of that mighty river can be diverted with one’s hand. That is where problems are solved for the long term – by going to the original source, and correcting it.

Thinking and acting “green” is suggested to solve sustainability. But quite frankly, that’s not enough. The green movement is about addressing individual problems, challenges and issues – fuel efficiency, emissions reduction, carbon footprint, smart design, locally grown, organic. It’s an incremental change within the current paradigm – a short-term solution that doesn’t first address the way we live to then affect the way we consume and produce. While a “green” approach might work for a short while, it inevitably will only carry us forward until the next crisis. We need “blue” thinking where the sky is the limit and we think past the short term, look honestly at where we are and take the appropriate actions to ensure a sustainable future for centuries to come.

Sustainable living requires a holistic and integrated solution – thoughtful and deliberate – thinking beyond our own selves and our existence at this time. We must go to the source of the problem – our relationship with and rightful place in the world. Quite simply, it's a spiritual solution.