Why Conservation Matters
Why does conserving make a difference? If our nation is to become greener we also most become leaner. Simply put, if we wish to prosper we need to become ingenious and waste less. Every time we become thrifty we celebrate a new American Revolution. Not only are we emulating Paul Revere, the silver recycler, and George Washington, the composter, we are showing respect for all our relations as do our Native Americans. Conservation matters because new Natives now wish to renew this value, namely, that saving our land is paramount to everything we believe in.
It is time we defined what tough love is, and start to insure that we take care of ourselves by being tough with ourselves. The question is, can we change our destructive consumerist patterns? Can Americans awaken to the idea that economics is about saving, not wasting things? Is it possible for conservatives and liberals to work together to lessen, not increase our waste? I believe the answer is yes. However we must go through a form of emotional recovery to discover why we indulge in this present insane culture of consumption.
It is all about ecology and economy. "Eco" comes from the Greek meaning house and it is time to do some serious cleaning both inside and out. A new prosperous frontier awaits America if we can revolt and become thrifty, and not just be consumers.
I have been fortunate to be a participant in several conservation tipping points, and I have observed that Americans can change self-destructive habits. Ironically, we have the hardware and the physical ability to change our habits, but somehow our mental software is impaired. Our conditioned habits rule us without regard for our larger body, the earth.
It is evident that both government and capitalism are addicted to consuming. In order for us to begin the process of recovery, we must develop some market-based controls for wasteful greed. We must provide incentive to save. The Federal government must be the first to change this "use it or lose it" way of going about its fiscal business, before we go out of business. For example, Congressman Waxman cited on February 7, 2007, " Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone." Another instance of mismanagement is the case in which our $1 billion contract to train Iraqi police has little or no oversight in the form of receipts for work done. We must champion best management practices and create cost controls and good asset accounting.
Maybe we should label ourselves anxious consumers, and start an Anxiety Anonymous program modeled after other successful treatment programs of addiction. I am a 50-year old white American male committed to recovery. I have spent most of my life in the Washington DC area, and have observed that this region is the universal champion of waste. Our nation's capitol shows a regional carbon footprint that uses more materials than the whole nation of Sweden whose population is 23% larger. We have a "design to waste" governmental policy of spending wastefully known by insiders as "use it or lose it."
No other society has ever wasted more, and has affected our environment so much by rapacious acts of consumption. Our challenge now is how do we become better accountable, how do we manage our dwindling supplies of resources. We have created impending disaster by not becoming natural capitalists.
For more than fifty years, we have been mindless consumers, but now we are offered the choice to be more mindful conservers. In the last half century our population has doubled. The harmful use and disposal of our resources needs to be called into question, especially by our federal government. Why is this so important? Our consumerist driven society has created serious consequences affecting future generations, and the fate of other living creatures and plant life. We must awaken to the curse human impact has wrought upon the earth. We must come to see life and the earth that nourishes life as a blessing and not an object to exploit. Recognizing these blessings, we are able to experience the great harmony that exists in the intricate web of life.
One perfect example of how we must become more accountable is how we can best manage the by-products of energy. For example, America must improve all aspects of how we use and dispose of oil. Americans use 20,730,000 barrels per day¹ One trillion gallons of oilfield waste are injected into deep wells each year in the U.S. As auto consumers, we yearly throw away 400 million gallons of used oil and 300 million oil filters in the United States. We comprise less than 5 percent of the world's population, but consume 25 percent of all oil produced. Our present usage of fossil fuels makes us appear more like fossil fools.
America has become the prime example throughout the globe of wasteful behavior. Our excessive consumption has created a tidal wave of environmental destruction, transcending our borders and directly impacting the health and prosperity of people of all over this planet. Only when we can address the issues of human needs and environmental needs by integrating them into a natural symbiosis can we achieve political and economic stability. Once we walk our talk, we can once again win the diplomatic respect of the global community, at last showing that American democracy works.
I estimate Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17 billion tons of waste, not including nuclear and hazardous waste. There is an "out of sight, out of mind" violence happening in our "waste mentality" culture. This "out of sight" attitude threatens our very well being, a form of waste that hides itself in many ways. We must detect the consequences by tracking waste more completely and responsibly. Yes, more people recycle than vote in the U.S., but we still tend to value "ending" over "mending." I am not just talking about appliances, but people, places and things. Our very freedom is in question until we awaken from the nightmarish myth that we have a limitless supply of goods, and the right to do whatever we wish, which ultimately brings harm to others—for the most part outside of our awareness.
Yankee ingenuity must be reborn. There are millions of kind acts we can do that show we care for this land. We can bike or walk instead of drive. We can fill up the empty spaces in our refrigerators with bottles of water thereby reducing our electricity requirements—and our electricity bill as well. Water from our roofs can be captured in rain barrels for watering our plants. Promoting sustainable economic growth by transforming waste is an investment in our happiness. What we do affects our planet, and also impacts our very spirit.
Can we see that our natural resources are not separate from us but interconnected with human life? Without one we will not have the other. Yes conservation matters, and so does the America spirit. We are innovators who can improve our environment thus stimulate life-affirming and life- enhancing choices.
Conserving, preserving and protecting our environment is tied to the very notion of human excellence. Americans can demonstrate their virtue and make our human experience flourish by promoting a healthier relationship with our planet. Just the simple act of riding a bicycle instead of driving a car serves to better our world. Any choice that can lessen the threat of further habitation fragmentation and biodiversity loss is an investment in the future of our resources. Therefore, any way we can better this planet directly betters ourselves.
In this exciting time we can both give by conserving and receive by consuming. However, we must show respect for what we use, and if we pollute we must directly pay. Bury now pay latter is wrong. Our actions must show a new eloquence in our use resources for the sake of our future. We must connect and create wholesome feedback loops not to just change our behavior but to plant seeds rather than casting despair.
Our very freedom is in question until we awaken from the myth that we have a limitless supply of goods. Presently, the total wealth of the United States amounts to $70 trillion dollars. Congressman Ron Paul cites the impossibility of funding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and prescription drug insurance, in total amounting to $71 trillion dollars. We must awaken from the error of spending what we do not have. This mismanagement takes many forms.
Let's show we respect our community and manage our resources more safely and thereby give hope to our world. In return we find such leadership gives us greater freedom and a peace of mind. Responsible action equates to greater possibilities. Creating sustainable business is a critical democratic challenge demonstrating that conservation matters.
Please question our culture of "effluent affluence" and take responsibility for your actions. We, the people, will only prosper if we become truly conservative and economical. A rich life does not necessarily translate into a richer life if we spoil future opportunities without better and more frugal management. Let's enjoy our life and profit from conserving so as to pass on a wonderful legacy for future generations.
Notes from Natural Capitalism
Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins 1999 Little,Brown
Natural capitalism as if living systems mattered (p 9)
* Environment is not minor factor of production.
* Economic development depends on natural capital to continue life-supporting services.
* Badly designed business systems, population growth and wasteful patterns of consumption are primary causes of loss of natural capital.
* Economic progress and sustainable economy relies on all forms of capital fully valued.
* Key to benefit people, money and environment is radical increases in resource productivity.
* Human welfare is best served by improving the quality and flow of desired services delivered.
* Economic and environmental sustainability depends on redressing global inequities of income and material well being.
* The best long-term environment for commerce is provided by true democratic systems of governance that are based on the needs of people rather than business.
Four central strategies of natural capitalism: 1) radical resource productivity; 2) biomimicry; 3) service and flow economy; and 4) investing in natural capital (pg 10)
¹CIA World Factbook, June 14, 2007
It is time we defined what tough love is, and start to insure that we take care of ourselves by being tough with ourselves. The question is, can we change our destructive consumerist patterns? Can Americans awaken to the idea that economics is about saving, not wasting things? Is it possible for conservatives and liberals to work together to lessen, not increase our waste? I believe the answer is yes. However we must go through a form of emotional recovery to discover why we indulge in this present insane culture of consumption.
It is all about ecology and economy. "Eco" comes from the Greek meaning house and it is time to do some serious cleaning both inside and out. A new prosperous frontier awaits America if we can revolt and become thrifty, and not just be consumers.
I have been fortunate to be a participant in several conservation tipping points, and I have observed that Americans can change self-destructive habits. Ironically, we have the hardware and the physical ability to change our habits, but somehow our mental software is impaired. Our conditioned habits rule us without regard for our larger body, the earth.
It is evident that both government and capitalism are addicted to consuming. In order for us to begin the process of recovery, we must develop some market-based controls for wasteful greed. We must provide incentive to save. The Federal government must be the first to change this "use it or lose it" way of going about its fiscal business, before we go out of business. For example, Congressman Waxman cited on February 7, 2007, " Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone." Another instance of mismanagement is the case in which our $1 billion contract to train Iraqi police has little or no oversight in the form of receipts for work done. We must champion best management practices and create cost controls and good asset accounting.
Maybe we should label ourselves anxious consumers, and start an Anxiety Anonymous program modeled after other successful treatment programs of addiction. I am a 50-year old white American male committed to recovery. I have spent most of my life in the Washington DC area, and have observed that this region is the universal champion of waste. Our nation's capitol shows a regional carbon footprint that uses more materials than the whole nation of Sweden whose population is 23% larger. We have a "design to waste" governmental policy of spending wastefully known by insiders as "use it or lose it."
No other society has ever wasted more, and has affected our environment so much by rapacious acts of consumption. Our challenge now is how do we become better accountable, how do we manage our dwindling supplies of resources. We have created impending disaster by not becoming natural capitalists.
For more than fifty years, we have been mindless consumers, but now we are offered the choice to be more mindful conservers. In the last half century our population has doubled. The harmful use and disposal of our resources needs to be called into question, especially by our federal government. Why is this so important? Our consumerist driven society has created serious consequences affecting future generations, and the fate of other living creatures and plant life. We must awaken to the curse human impact has wrought upon the earth. We must come to see life and the earth that nourishes life as a blessing and not an object to exploit. Recognizing these blessings, we are able to experience the great harmony that exists in the intricate web of life.
One perfect example of how we must become more accountable is how we can best manage the by-products of energy. For example, America must improve all aspects of how we use and dispose of oil. Americans use 20,730,000 barrels per day¹ One trillion gallons of oilfield waste are injected into deep wells each year in the U.S. As auto consumers, we yearly throw away 400 million gallons of used oil and 300 million oil filters in the United States. We comprise less than 5 percent of the world's population, but consume 25 percent of all oil produced. Our present usage of fossil fuels makes us appear more like fossil fools.
America has become the prime example throughout the globe of wasteful behavior. Our excessive consumption has created a tidal wave of environmental destruction, transcending our borders and directly impacting the health and prosperity of people of all over this planet. Only when we can address the issues of human needs and environmental needs by integrating them into a natural symbiosis can we achieve political and economic stability. Once we walk our talk, we can once again win the diplomatic respect of the global community, at last showing that American democracy works.
I estimate Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17 billion tons of waste, not including nuclear and hazardous waste. There is an "out of sight, out of mind" violence happening in our "waste mentality" culture. This "out of sight" attitude threatens our very well being, a form of waste that hides itself in many ways. We must detect the consequences by tracking waste more completely and responsibly. Yes, more people recycle than vote in the U.S., but we still tend to value "ending" over "mending." I am not just talking about appliances, but people, places and things. Our very freedom is in question until we awaken from the nightmarish myth that we have a limitless supply of goods, and the right to do whatever we wish, which ultimately brings harm to others—for the most part outside of our awareness.
Yankee ingenuity must be reborn. There are millions of kind acts we can do that show we care for this land. We can bike or walk instead of drive. We can fill up the empty spaces in our refrigerators with bottles of water thereby reducing our electricity requirements—and our electricity bill as well. Water from our roofs can be captured in rain barrels for watering our plants. Promoting sustainable economic growth by transforming waste is an investment in our happiness. What we do affects our planet, and also impacts our very spirit.
Can we see that our natural resources are not separate from us but interconnected with human life? Without one we will not have the other. Yes conservation matters, and so does the America spirit. We are innovators who can improve our environment thus stimulate life-affirming and life- enhancing choices.
Conserving, preserving and protecting our environment is tied to the very notion of human excellence. Americans can demonstrate their virtue and make our human experience flourish by promoting a healthier relationship with our planet. Just the simple act of riding a bicycle instead of driving a car serves to better our world. Any choice that can lessen the threat of further habitation fragmentation and biodiversity loss is an investment in the future of our resources. Therefore, any way we can better this planet directly betters ourselves.
In this exciting time we can both give by conserving and receive by consuming. However, we must show respect for what we use, and if we pollute we must directly pay. Bury now pay latter is wrong. Our actions must show a new eloquence in our use resources for the sake of our future. We must connect and create wholesome feedback loops not to just change our behavior but to plant seeds rather than casting despair.
Our very freedom is in question until we awaken from the myth that we have a limitless supply of goods. Presently, the total wealth of the United States amounts to $70 trillion dollars. Congressman Ron Paul cites the impossibility of funding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and prescription drug insurance, in total amounting to $71 trillion dollars. We must awaken from the error of spending what we do not have. This mismanagement takes many forms.
Let's show we respect our community and manage our resources more safely and thereby give hope to our world. In return we find such leadership gives us greater freedom and a peace of mind. Responsible action equates to greater possibilities. Creating sustainable business is a critical democratic challenge demonstrating that conservation matters.
Please question our culture of "effluent affluence" and take responsibility for your actions. We, the people, will only prosper if we become truly conservative and economical. A rich life does not necessarily translate into a richer life if we spoil future opportunities without better and more frugal management. Let's enjoy our life and profit from conserving so as to pass on a wonderful legacy for future generations.
Notes from Natural Capitalism
Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins 1999 Little,Brown
Natural capitalism as if living systems mattered (p 9)
* Environment is not minor factor of production.
* Economic development depends on natural capital to continue life-supporting services.
* Badly designed business systems, population growth and wasteful patterns of consumption are primary causes of loss of natural capital.
* Economic progress and sustainable economy relies on all forms of capital fully valued.
* Key to benefit people, money and environment is radical increases in resource productivity.
* Human welfare is best served by improving the quality and flow of desired services delivered.
* Economic and environmental sustainability depends on redressing global inequities of income and material well being.
* The best long-term environment for commerce is provided by true democratic systems of governance that are based on the needs of people rather than business.
Four central strategies of natural capitalism: 1) radical resource productivity; 2) biomimicry; 3) service and flow economy; and 4) investing in natural capital (pg 10)
¹CIA World Factbook, June 14, 2007
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