Over the past 15 years studying and working in the field I’ve adapted others and developed my own philosophy around sustainability. To truly understand what I work for, I’m outlining it here.
First off, I believe that we as a species are living beyond our limits but I also believe that prosperous lifestyles can be maintained; the key word being prosperous, not excess.
How? I work toward eliminating unnecessary waste. NO this does not just mean single-use plastic bags, a questionable favorite among green-washing elites. I believe that before technological solutions, which are important, we need economical reuse solutions. Food waste, textile waste, water and energy waste are big drivers of problems today. We hear figures of 30-40% of food is wasted, much of it at production level (ugly foods are an example) but also the consumer level. Similarly in textiles, one of the most damaging industries on the planet, 15 percent is an acceptable statistic for waste just during production (https://edgexpo.com/fashion-industry-waste-statistics/).
Both of food and textiles are some of the larger causes of global warming and other problems that plague the world (equality, water pollution, human rights abuses, etc). So just fixing these issues and restoring the way we operate would go a long way. However, I pick them because they are symbolic of a larger problem, planned obsolescence. This has a history (another blog topic) but can be seen as the originating cause of excessive disposability and poor durability of goods. This includes electronic waste which is a rapidly growing global problem. Our culture of new clothes, phones, computers, and everything else goes a long way in driving these problems (including inequality, but that’s another post).
What I believe in:
- Reduce unnecessary waste, this means excess packaging, food waste and waste from excess consumption. This is also a design issue.
- Durability – It’s not good enough to just by “sustainable” products, they have to last. Each laptop, for example, I own has lasted a minimum of 4-5 years and fixed up and someone else is using them. I hardly buy new clothes and I waste minimal food, what does get “wasted” is composted in my apartment itself.
- Regenerate -We need to fix and restore what we have broken. I’m inspired here by Dr. John Todd, by Biomimicry, and other people who work in the field not to just clean up but to improve the environment. Regenerative agriculture, restoring wetlands and increasing biodiversity within cities also (green infrastructure) and replenishing groundwater tables are all part of this.
- Technology is part of the puzzle, but not a miracle – Let’s take solar power, it’s massively improving and starting to catch on and become an economical solution. Battery storage is catching up as well. But at our current levels of consumption I worry that the negative impacts (mining, production energy, waste, labor issues) are going to be a major issue. This will reduce the positive impacts. I’m pro solar, wind, battery storage (sensible levels) and even to a degree nuclear, but I’m not for implementing them without considering the consequences of the supply chain. Early indications of new mining techniques (https://lilacsolutions.com/) and both significant policy and technical advances in panel and battery reuse and recycling indicate this is already in consideration. For example old car batteries can have a second life as power plants on the grid, already there is a plant using older Nissan Leaf batteries in California.
I believe that communication is the key to sustainability. I don’t want to endorse or dismiss our current economic systems or options (capitalism, socialism, hybrid) as each have their own advantages and disadvantages and all are skewed away from their original purposes. The closest to a philosophy I would agree with is the field of Ecological Economics, which recognizes the power of innovation but within the limits of growth.
The purpose of the blogs on my website are to start discussions, present views that I have which are open to debate. I hope to use my experience in running a company to address many of these issues, along with consulting for others to do the same, along with my ongoing research into broader topics to create both an area for discussion and learning and to push forward strategies for the future.