There are as many definitions of “sustainability” as there are environmentalists, tree huggers, and small farmers combined. Barbara recently handed me a copy of Passive Solar Architecture by David A. Brainbridge and Ken Haggard, with a bookmark in chapter one. The first few paragraphs describe very clearly the authors’ take on what this ubiquitous word means, and their definition closely mirrors that of Bill and Barbara.
A working definition of sustainability must recognize that the environment and human activity are an interconnected, co-evolutionary whole. It is not just the protection of the environment that defines sustainability; the term must also encompass culture, economy, community and family. As part of the whole, we must take into account how human activities affect natural processes and see how nature and natural flows are critically linked to our health and prosperity… For human survival and a livable future, the idea and application of sustainability must become part of an epochal cultural shift.
This “epochal cultural shift” is something we talk about a lot here at Windrose. What will it take for the majority of people to not only understand the ways in which our society is in a downward spiral of unsustainability, but also to act accordingly? The authors offer a great explanation of why this shift is seemingly slow in coming:
The greatest barriers to understanding and embracing sustainability are residual biases from the fossil-fueled industrial era, when failed accounting and disconnection from nature led to potential catastrophe. It can be as hard for us to imagine what a sustainable culture of tomorrow might be as it was for the residents of a small horse-dominated farming town in Illinios in 1890 to envision the coming car-based culture of 1950. Their vision was restricted by their experience, and so is ours.
“Ultimately sustainability is achieving balance with nature”- Farmer Bill
What do you think it will take for our community to become “sustainable”?