Be The ChangeThere’s so much to learn about sustainability. There’s way too much information for one person to digest without going into overwhelm. Having other people around to help us identify what aspects of our lives are unsustainable and brainstorm solutions that will work for individuals, families, and communities is a great way to start the learning process.
Knowledge of what can go wrong needs to be balanced by knowledge of how to set things right. If we don’t know the solutions, we are likely to tune out the enormity of the problems because it is just too overwhelming. We need to know just how deeply our unsustainable economy permeates everything to be sufficiently motivated to leave our comfort zone of easy wastefulness. We also need to be even more diligent students of the solutions to know “which way is north” and the best means to get there.
There are thousands of books on sustainability already in the market with more coming out every month. In our opinion, two books stand out for the breadth and depth of their insight into what’s wrong AND for their detailed understanding of what a sustainable economy and culture would look like.
Lester Brown knows more about the facts behind our unsustainable trends than anyone on the planet. In 1974, he founded Worldwatch Institute, the pre-eminent research institute for detailed tracking of global environmental issues. Steeped in a thirty year study of the facts, Lester Brown has written a concise diagnosis of what’s wrong and how to fix it. He’s even created a budget for earth remediation to prove how feasible it really is. The book is short and to the point—quite an accomplishment considering the mountains of data that it is based on.
This is the book you go to bone up on the facts. Or better yet, since there are lots of people who still don’t believe there’s a problem, buy a copy for your skeptical friends and relatives. Getting the word out is Lester Brown’s core mission so he has a deep discount on bulk orders. Consider buying several and giving them away to your neighbors, library and leaders in your local government. You can view the whole book online or sample some highlights.
David Korten puts our current unsustainable trends into the context of a 5,000 year old philosophical and political system that concentrates power and wealth in the hands of the few. He calls the system “Empire”. Specific empires have come and gone, but the system has remained intact. Today, it’s stronger than ever in the guise of global corporations whose ability to extract resources from the earth is accelerating at the same time that the supply of natural resources is headed toward collapse. His book, The Great Turning, chronicles the ecological, social justice and spiritual movements that have risen to challenge the “system’s” unsustainable resource extraction, subjugation of people, and cultural deadening. If you are interested in understanding the deep forces that have got us into this predicament and what new value systems will put us back on a sustainable track, this is the book for you.
Unlike Plan B 2.0 which presents unassailable facts about unsustainable trends, The Great Turning is deeply controversial because it focuses on the value systems behind the unsustainable trends. This controversy is very useful because it spurs the very conversations we need to engage in to design a cultural and economic system that is sustainable. The core recommendation of the book is to create “Earth Circle Dialogs” to provide support in cutting through cultural denial. In the Earth Circle dialogs, participants work on connecting the intellectual content of the book to their personal stories. There is a five session discussion guide for the book that details timing, format and questions to discuss.
This book has the capacity to galvanize a leadership group and we strongly recommend that you use it that way. Gather 6-10 of the most visionary and farsighted people from your town to meet for five evenings to discuss the book. When you are done you’ll be ready to start the viral process of leading more discussion groups and start community level planning for local sustainability. To gather your first group, print up several copies of a seven page summary of the book written for Yes magazine by David Korten. The summary comes with its own discussion guide too.
For those with a more practical bent, we recommend the study guides produced by the Northwest Earth Institute. Their courses have been offered in 900 communities in all 50 states with a total enrollment exceeding 75,000. Your Money or Your Life also has some great tips on slowing down the amount of resources we use in our day-to-day lives.
Here are the top sellers from the Northwest Earth Institute:
Global Warming: Changing Co2urse explores the history and science of global warming, personal values and habits as they relate to climate change, and personal actions to curb the effects of global warming.
[I recommend picking up the pretty buttons from their website to put on ours.]
Voluntary Simplicity addresses the distractions of modern society that keep us from caring for our relationships, our environment and ourselves. It includes lots of practical tips for slowing down and enjoying life without as much stuff to pay for.
Choices for Sustainable Living explores the meaning of sustainability and provides practical community based steps.
The guides are all about 100 pages and are designed for 8-12 people. Many people do them at the office on their lunch hour or at their place of worship.
Since slowing down the amount of resources we use directly relates to slowing down the amount of money we spend, we recommend you read and apply the program in Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. You can use their study guides for groups or join others from around the world in an online study group.
If your InterMission group does this program together, you can celebrate with a massive yard sale at the end—and pay for your CFLs, your Home Energy Audit, your new recycle bins or maybe even form an LLC and buy a car for the whole group to share.
If this looks like just one more list of to do's—then STOP! How you go about being sustainable is MORE important than you might imagine. We can't create a sustainable world from overextended lives.
Don't proceed until you read
"Guiding Principles for Lasting Change"
and
"Why Be Sustainable?"
The 12 steps are organized so that the things that take the least amount of time and money come first. Most items on the list will actually save you money. Many will also save you time.
In all the steps, we ask you to spend more time connecting with neighbors. Connecting with your neighbors is the only way to avoid getting overwhelmed.
A sustainable world is only possible within a deeply connected community — It's that fundamental.
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