Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 213

Should We Really Ban Plastic Straws?

Public opinion swings back and forth like a pendulum. That is why I never pay attention to it. But occasionally I see something that gets my attention because I get curious as to why people are suddenly so concerned about that one particular thing. This is the case with the plastic straw.

Depending on which study you look at, humanity produces approximately 350 to 430 million metric tons of plastic waste annually. Plastic straws only make up two and a half percent of that total waste. So is the anti-plastic straw parade just another distraction? Or should we actually pay attention to it because this campaign produces something of value.

So join me for E213 Should We Really Ban Plastic Straws?

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E213 Should We Really Ban Plastic Straws?

What I really want to highlight in this episode is the anti-plastic straw movement. I want to discuss how it got started and whether or not this is really something we should focus on. Or will such a ban actually hinder our efforts to reduce and even eliminate plastic waste?  If that is the case, then why? And finally I want to give you some guidance on why, under certain circumstances, bans such as these are practically meaningless.

Good news story of the week

This week’s good news story is about our oceans. And this is one of my favorite topics because I am a scuba diver and I was just out diving the other day.

What I want to focus on for a minute here is one of our natural resources that is by far one of the most under appreciated. And I say this because few people know about the importance of something as simple as seagrass. It  only covers 1/10th of one percent of the ocean floor, yet it is a vital natural resource.

Seagrass can store up to 40 times more carbon than land based plants. Seagrass is habitat for an incredible array of marine life, it filters pollutants and excess nutrients out of the water, it helps to protect coastal areas from erosion, and even has medicinal properties.

Yet this important resource is being lost due to climate change, pollution, coastal development, over fishing,  invasive species as well as several other reasons.

Yet someone has come up with a pioneering solution to help marine scientist restore this vital underwater habitat. It is a robot that plants seagrass seeds at a much faster rate than humans. It injects a tiny slurry of sediment wrapped around the seeds and plants tiny garden plots one at time. 

On one project the Grasshopper, which is the name of the robot, planted 25,000 seeds in Wales. And now the parent company RefGen has partnered with the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences to test various seed replanting methods to help with the state’s declining seagrass meadows.

Certainly seagrass is one of the most under respected marine resources yet it plays a vital part in the balance of the entire ocean ecosystem. And of course when you are a scuba diver like I am, diving around seagrass meadows is a great way to see lots of critters. Just the other day I saw about a dozen sea turtle bedded down in seagrass and having a nice meal.

So, a round of applause this week to RefGen and their robot named Grasshopper.

Now let’s move on to this week’s episode.

If you have been following me for awhile then you know that I give very little credence to public opinion. This is because it swings back and forth like a pendulum. From one decade to the next you never know exactly what people are going to be in love with or what they are going to march and campaign against.

This part of our society has often fascinated me because I always think it is a milder version of mob mentality which is also known are herd mentality or crowd psychology. This is a phenomenon where individuals adopt the beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes of the majority in a group, often at the expense of their own judgement or individuality. This is also something that I refer to as tribal loyalty. This kind of behavior can be observed in various aspects of our daily lives, from fashion trends to investment decisions and even political affiliations.

Well known historical examples of mob mentality are the Salem Witch trials where over 20 individuals were executed due to hysteria and fear over witchcraft. There was also the Red Scare in the 1950s. There was widespread fear over communists infiltrating our culture. Another historical example was the behavior of many German soldiers during WWII. Many of these soldiers who were not actively involved in the widespread atrocities yet they went along with the Nazi regime’s brutal policies.

Other examples of mob mentality is crowd behavior at concerts, sporting events, public protests, cults and even social behavior on the internet. And, if you want to talk politics, crowd mentality and tribal loyalty tends to support a particular political candidate despite that person being overtly racists, being a bigot, one who supports violence, and even being convicted of multiple criminal acts. People support them anyway.

But, let’s get back to the plastic straw debate and why this may actually be harmful to our efforts to reduce and eliminate plastic pollution.

The average American  produces 2,072 pounds of trash per year. The average European produces about half that amount. If you look at municipal solid waste, 30% to 40% of that waste is plastic. And if you analyze litter, the most common plastic products are food wrappers and containers, bottle caps, beverage containers, and plastic bags. Not plastic straws.

But, what about plastic straws, the one thing that tends to distract us. So, plastic straws by the numbers:

In the United States alone we use almost 183 billion plastic straws per year. That is 183 billion plastic objects that we use for only a few minutes and then throw it away. Furthermore, best estimates are that hundreds of millions, if not billions of plastic straws are laying on beaches around the world. Now I know that sounds like a lot and it is easy to focus on those big numbers.

But, in the big picture, that amount of pollution is actually quite small when you consider the amount of plastic pollution that ends up in the oceans. University of Georgia environmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck figures that nearly 9 million tons, or 8 million metric tons, of plastic ends up in our oceans and on our coastlines each year. And that was as of 2010 and that is only what is in or near the ocean.

Furthermore, the United Nations Sustainable Development reports that the world produces approximately 430 million tonnes of plastic per year, with two-thirds of this plastic being used for a short period of time, things such are wrappers, packets and utensils. Additionally, 50% of our plastic production is for single use only.

So why do people get so excited about plastic straws? In my opinion it is a close parallel to mob behavior. Someone publishes a video of a plastic straw being pulled out of the nose of a sea turtle and it goes viral and suddenly everyone hates plastic straws. But you have to ask whether or not we truly landed on the cornerstone of our bad human behavior or is this just another demonstration of the power of media to influence public opinion.  People have started protests and social movements based on less.

And you may feel as if it is okay to ban plastic straws because we have good alternatives. But if we take a close look at those alternatives, here is what we find.

Paper straws use a lot of raw material and energy to produce. Due to the presence of glues and other additives they typically cannot be composted. Metal straws are recyclable and durable but require mining and processing of resources which has it’s own impact. Glass straws are non-toxic and recyclable but are prone to breaking. Bamboo straws are biodegradable and compostable, which is the best of both worlds. But this alternative to plastic requires harvesting of bamboo forests which can lead to habitat destruction. Silicone straws are flexible and non-toxic but cannot be recycled and are not biodegradable.

So what is the answer?

First of all the bottom line is that unless you have a specific medical problem or a disability straws are completely unnecessary. They are simply a wasteful convenience.

Yes it is incredibly sad to see a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in it’s nose. Sea turtles are one of my favorite creatures to observe when I go diving. I was diving just the other day and saw twelve of them. They are indeed beautiful majestic creatures but they are a small part of the big picture. Hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year due to plastic pollution. Sea turtles are simply one of many.

Do I think plastic straws should be banned?

Yes I do. However, banning plastic straws is not going to solve the underlying problem. Discussions of banning straws is sort of a straw man, no pun intended. This huge campaign that attracts so much public attention is a distraction from the big picture. The problem with such campaigns is that so many people will follow along and feel as if they are doing the world a favor. However, it also gives them a moral license to continue with other bad behavior.  Because they no longer use plastic straws they feel as if they are doing their part. But the reality is that such actions barely scratch the surface. Again, we need to focus on the big picture.

Approximately 50% of the plastic produced in the world is single use. Best estimates are that only 6% to 9% of the plastic produced is ever recycled.

If we are going to ban plastic straws that is only the beginning. It would take care of two and a half percent of our plastic pollution which is a great start.  But if we are going to ban plastic straws then we need to follow that with a progressive ban on every other kind of single use plastic. That would take care of 50% of our plastic pollution.

Did you know that in 2021, the world generated 139 million metric tons of single-use plastic. The global plastic packaging industry produces an estimated 460 million metric tons of plastic annually. Americans purchase 50 billion water bottles per year. The rate of plastic production has increased by 620% since 1975.

Best estimates on how long it takes plastics to decompose in the environment are 450 years to forever. Plastic trash can now be found in every marine environment on the planet.  It is estimated that by 2050 the weight of plastic in the oceans will out weigh all the fish combined. And the plastic lined disposable diapers your parents used on you when you were an infant are still in the landfill. Numerous studies have even shown that plastic-associated chemicals are in our food and ground water. Exposure to such chemicals has been linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and as well as numerous other illness.

What About Recycling?

But you may argue that we can simply recycle all of this plastic, especially the single use items. But the problem is that only a small percentage of the plastics produced are even designed to be recycled. So here is the issue:

-Smaller items such as plastic cutlery, tend to fall into the crevices of recycling machines.

-Any plastic material that is contaminated with other waste that cannot be cleaned off will not get recycled

-Only a limited variety of plastic materials are recyclable and most of these are NOT single use items.

-Even biodegradable alternatives such as bioplastics are very resource intensive and typically do not biodegrade rapidly under natural conditions.

-The reality is that recycling of single use plastics with current technology is not an option.

-And if straws are your thing, even the so called “compostable” straws made from corn or potato starch will not breakdown on their own. An oxygen rich environment with sunshine is what is needed for these materials to compost properly. That does not happen in landfills or in the oceans. Additionally, it is unlikely that these straws will end up in a proper facility anyway. They typically end up in a trash bin just like everything else.

When did we start using so much plastic?

You know it is unfortunate that what started out as a good thing and turned into the bane of our existence. In the mid-19th century, scientists created the first synthetic polymer, which was called celluloid. It was created as an alternative to ivory due to over hunting. This early form of plastic was intended to conserve natural resources and reduce the slaughter of animals.

During World War II, plastics became an essential part military equipment and were used in things such as parachutes, ropes, and body armor. The widespread need for inexpensive, lightweight, and durable materials led to the development of synthetic plastics.

After the end of the war, industries sought out new markets for plastic production. The invention of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in the 1950s opened the doors for mass production of cheap, strong, and lightweight plastic bags. This led to the widespread adoption of single-use plastic bags in supermarkets and other retail outlets.

Additionally, single-use plastics offered a convenient and affordable solution for consumers and retailers. At the time they were seen as a replacement for paper bags, which were more expensive and required more resources to produce.

But at the end of the day, the total lack of regulation and oversight of plastic production and disposal led to the proliferation of single-use plastics. Manufacturers and retailers alike prioritized profit over environmental concerns.

Our Moral License is the Problem

As far as the general public is concerned, due to all the media attention around plastic straws, that has fanned our moral license which becomes an even greater problem. Personally, I think if we want to ban the use of plastic straws that is fantastic. However, we cannot use that as a means of granting ourselves a moral license to feel as if we have done our part to save the planet and then continue to engage in other bad behavior.  While banning certain products does play a part, that needs to be used as a stepping stone to address the much wider issue of plastic waste.

So, if you are willing to jump on the band wagon of the anti-plastic straw movement, are you also willing to address your other wasteful habits?

For example:

-Give up paper towels: We throw away 3,000 tons of paper towels everyday.

-Give up single use plastic bags: Globally we use 5 trillion plastic bags annually. The average person throws away one plastic bag per day.

-Purchase reusable stainless steel cups and mugs and take them with you wherever you go. It is estimated that somewhere between 25 and 50 billion disposable coffee cups are thrown away each year.

-Never purchase bottle water again. Estimates are that we thrown away 500 billion plastic bottles every year.

-Never use plastic cutlery again. We throw away 40 billion plastic knives, forks, and spoons every year.

-Give up using disposable razors: We throw away 2 billion razors every year, enough to circle the Earth 6 times.

-Never use a disposable take out container ever again. Approximately 420 billion take out containers are thrown away each year.

-Never use a disposable straw again. After all, unless you have a specific medical condition or disability, there is absolutely no reason to use a straw in the first place.

Now to start wrapping things up a bit, I want to focus on the sustainability topic of the week because it goes right along with what we have been discussing. This will also help you to further understand why plastics in general are such a problem. So the question is this:

Why is it so difficult to recycle plastic?

Plastics are difficult to recycle mainly for two reasons.

Recycling is actually a complicated system. It tends to be dictated by market demand, local regulations, price determinations, and is even dependent on the waste collector and the recycling worker.

Additionally, all plastics are not created equal. Many of them have different melting points which means multiple different types of plastics cannot be recycled together. Plastic also decrease in quality when they are recycled. This is known as down cycling. What this means is that plastics still have limited usefulness and they take hundreds of years to degrade in the environment.

Granted plastic straws are very useful and versatile. But we should try to not use plastic in the first place. But as for me, here are examples of some of the things that I no longer do.

-I haven’t purchased paper towels in two years. We only have reusable towels at home and I even take a reusable towel to work with me.

-We have reusable shopping bags and produce bags for the supermarket.

-I’ve had the same stainless steel coffee and drinking mug for over ten years. I carrying around stainless steel straws and eating utensils.

-I never buy bottled water because we filter our own water at home.

-I use a safety razor for shaving and have not purchased disposable razors in years.

-When we do eat at a restaurant, which is not very often, we even take our own reusable containers for left overs.

So you see, we not only refuse to use plastic straws, we take it a lot further than that.

Summary

In the end I feel as if there is no one thing that humanity has done that has resulted in the environmental degradation that we now see. It is truly the cumulative affect of everything we have done for hundreds of years. Consequently, when it comes to reversing that kind of environmental damage we cannot focus on any one thing.

Additionally, we cannot allow ourselves to get distracted by public opinion and mob mentality that diverts our attention away from the big picture. We cannot focus on one thing and use that as a moral license to continue in other bad behaviors. For example, big businesses purchase carbon credits and invest money in environmental restoration projects yet continue to cause incredible damage to our environment. What we need to do is change the underlying behavior that got us to this point in the first place.

But some people would say that we need to invest in systems and infrastructure to prevent land-based waste from ending up in our waterways and oceans and to upscale our recycling. But I say the best thing we can do is to think up stream and not produce the waste in the first place. The best-ever recycling is to not have to recycle.

You may not think much about that plastic stir stick for your coffee or the disposable cup it comes in. But nearly 50 billion of those cups get thrown away every year. You may not think much about tossing out that plastic water bottle. But remember that very thing happens 500 billion times a year. You may not think much about all these little things we do. But it is the cumulative affect of every little thing we do that makes a difference.

So before you are tempted to whip out your moral license over someone using a plastic straw first take a look at your own wasteful habits. The banning of plastic straws should not be the only step we take. It should be the first of many. But thankfully, as consumers by changing some of these habits one at a time we can make a significant difference.

Well folks thats about it for now. I hope you have enjoyed this episode and that you will join me again next week when I am going to talk about some additional tips on living plastic free.

Until next week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 212

Is Choice Overload the Bane of Our Existence?

The only chips I purchase on a regular basis is tortilla chips. It is because I make my own salsa. But when I go to the supermarket, there are literally 15 different brands of tortilla chips. But the same is true with so many other things that we deal with everyday.  From supermarket food choices, to menu options, to the clothes we wear, to what insurance to purchase, and even our health care options. There is always an over abundance of choices.

But is this a good or a bad thing? Does it improve how we eat? Does it influence how we take care of ourselves? Are we more or less likely to develop good or bad habits because we have so many choices. Does it make us more or less sustainable?

So join me for E212 Is Choice Overload the Bane of Our Existence

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E212 Is Choice Overload the Bane of Our Existence?

What I want to accomplish in this episode is to discuss the over abundance of choices that we have in our modern culture, why and how that happened, and whether or not it is a good thing. But on the other side of that coin is having fewer choices. The question of course is which situation tends to promote healthier and more sustainable behavior? But what I also want to do is relate this to some real life stories in order to put it all into a down-to-earth perspective and show how each end of the spectrum produces a much different result.

But before we get started, let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

Good News Story of the Week

This weeks good news story comes out of the United Kingdom. It is about three children that received the “best Christmas present ever.”

A woman named Sarah Lackey, has a daughter named Tilly that lost both of her hands due to a bout with meningitis. Tilly later received two bionic arms from the Open Bionics Foundation. Every year the mother and daughter team now host a fundraising campaign, called the Big Hero Three, which selects three random children across the UK to receive a prosthetic made by the Open Bionics Foundation.

The Foundation says their bionic arms that advanced, intuitive, robust and light and are the world’s most affordable advanced multi-grip prosthetic arm.

This year the big Hero 3 campaign raised 20K pounds. Two other charitable organizations, along with an anonymous donor, made up the remaining $40K pounds required for three children to receive the prosthetics. The three children received them on December 12th for what will probably be the best Christmas present ever.

So, this weeks round of applause goes to the Big 3 Hero fundraising campaign in the United Kingdom for their amazing accomplishments.

Now let’s move on to this weeks episode.

Perhaps at times I tend to over romanticize how I grew up. But the reality is that my life as a kid was very simple and rather uneventful.  My parents were hard working and we lived in a small house. I have no memory of ever really doing without anything. We had all that we needed but it was a rare when there any display of extravagance because for the most part it did not exist. In retrospect, I see now that a lot of things were done out of necessity and not because we had an over abundance of choices.

But one bonus in particular was that my mother was a fabulous and very creative cook. Our meals were always healthy. Vegetables were plentiful and almost always home canned. We had farm raised beef and chicken and we ate well. However, the reality is that my mother’s menu only had two options. Take it or leave it.

On occasion we were bold enough to object to her choice of menu. When we did, her response was typically one of three things.  If you don’t like it you will just sit there until you eat it anyway. If you don’t eat it you will wear it. Or, if you don’t eat it now, I will be happy to warm up for breakfast.

There was only one occasion that I can recall that we staged a general revolt. All four of us refused to eat what she had cooked for dinner. We all sat at the table for three hours refusing to eat and she finally gave in. We all went without dinner that evening and went to bed hungry. But if my memory serves me correctly, my mother never tried to make us eat liver and onions ever again.

The end result of being raised like this is that I cook at lot of homemade meals. Although I am not particular about what I eat, especially when I travel, I do prefer homemade meals over restaurant food. If I travel to a place where there are limited options, I make due with what is available and get creative. I realized long ago that you can’t alway get what you want and sometimes you have to make due.

Annette’s son Erik was fortunate to grow up with two people who like to travel. He was able to experience several different cultures, live in a couple of different countries, climb volcanos in Costa Rica, kayak in the Amazon and learn how to scuba dive. As an adult he is very independent, flexible in his choices and is not too particular about much of anything.

However, cultivating that sort of attitude in him was not necessarily easy. When you grow up in the land of plenty, aka a developed country, you get accustomed to all the available choices and always having what you want.

The first time we took him to Costa Rica, there was major drama at a restaurant because there were limited options. He wanted something that was not on the menu. I tried to explain that he could not have it because they don’t even have that here. The drama came soon thereafter. He finally gave in and ordered pasta then got sick from food poisoning the next day. That of course didn’t help. 

However, that was truly the beginning of him learning you can’t always have what you want especially when you travel. Additionally, these kinds of experiences taught him to appreciate what he had and not take anything for granted. I would often tell him that there are a lot of people in the world that had a whole lot less than him. But he never truly appreciated that until he learned that lesson first hand. That happened when we traveled to villages in the Amazon basin and he saw people living in homemade huts with dirt floors. Much of the time they subsisted on hunting, fishing and what they gathered from the jungle.

But to take this one step further, I want to share another story that illustrates two extremely different  perspectives. This story was shared by a good friend of mine in Arizona while we were having lunch one day.

That morning he had met up with some friends that were missionaries in South Africa. That had come back home to visit family and had brought with them a young girl they had adopted. They were sitting in a restaurant having lunch and this young girl was not yet eating. She was looking around the restaurant staring at everyone. When asked if anything was wrong she asked, “So people here get to eat more than once a day?”

When he left the restaurant he immediately got a call from another friend who happened to be the owner of a different local restaurant. He invited him for lunch. Having just eaten he agreed to meet at the restaurant for a drink. While visiting with the owner one of the patrons became unreasonably angry over the fact that he had received a baked potato with his meal instead of French fries. He wanted to go into the kitchen and fight with the cook. This patron was so out of control that the police had to be called and he was removed from the property.

Now these are two completely different perspectives. One young girl was astounded that people had the choice to eat more than once a day. The other guy was so obliviously entitled that he was blind to the fact that you may not always get what you want. He couldn’t conceive of life being any different. Obviously he did not grow up with a mother like mine.

My whole point here is when you grow up in the land of plenty, and always have exactly what you want, you start feeling entitled to always have what you want. If your choices became limited you become frustrated and angry. This was painfully obvious to me during and after the pandemic when a great number of people were behaving badly simply because they could not have what they wanted.

So, what we see in our current culture is that we constantly have an over abundance of choices. But it wasn’t always that way. So, as I always like to ask, how did that happen?

Globalization, free trade and advances in technology have all lead to increase competition. This market situation drives businesses to offer more diverse product lines to attract customers. As consumers become more educated and affluent, they demand more options to satisfy their diverse tastes and lifestyle. The internet and social media have made it easier for consumers to access information about products and services, leading to increased expectations and increased choices.

Improvements in manufacturing, packaging, and distribution have enabled companies to produce and deliver a greater variety of products, further expanding the range of choices. Marketing and advertising tactics have lead to consumers feeling as if they are missing out on something which causes them to explore more options.

All of these factors, as well as several others, have contributed to a proliferation of choices in our modern culture, especially in markets such as consumer goods, services such as travel, entertainment and healthcare, and of course the over abundance of online marketplaces.

But do we really need 50 different kinds of chips, 12 different kinds of refried beans, 30 different kinds of pasta, etc. Furthermore, you have to question if having so many choices is actually in our best interest. Would we make healthier, more sustainable choices if we had fewer available? Would we lead better lives if we did not suffer from choice overload? Are there actually detrimental affects of having too many choices?

As it turns out, choice overload affects us in several different ways.

For example, let’s look at our sustainable behavior. When people are faced with numerous sustainable options, they start to suffer from decision fatigue. This tends to reduce their motivation for making any sort of sustainable choice and they may default to something less sustainable.

Sometimes the sheer number of choices creates too much complexity. People have difficulty comprehending the benefits and trade-offs of each choice and may abandon the decision-making process altogether.

Having too many choices creates a lack of clear guidance. Consequently, people may struggle to make informed decisions regarding sustainable options. Again, this may cause them to default to choices that are less sustainable.

Having too many sustainable options also leads to dissatisfaction. Once a choice is made, people may begin to doubt the first choice and thus become dissatisfied. That dissatisfaction can lead to decreased commitment to continue with sustainable behaviors. Additionally, being presented with too many options causes people to default to the status quo, which is typically something less sustainable.

Another good example of choice overload is our food choices. 

There is some evidence to suggest that having fewer food choices may lead to people eating healthier alternatives. For example, one research project determined that people with fewer choices for meal planning, e.g. 10 to 15 options, were more likely to eat a balance diet compared to those with more options, e.g. 25 to 30 options. 

Additionally, having fewer choices can reduce impulse buying. With fewer choices individuals tend to make more thoughtful and intentional purchases instead of relying on emotions. Research on the impact of food variety on eating behavior suggests that the more choices we have the more likely we are to over consume and make poor dietary choices.

Furthermore, imposed dietary restrictions, such as limited caloric consumption, tends to promote mindful eating. With dietary restrictions people tend to focus on calorie dense foods. People reported eating more fruits and vegetables and fewer foods loaded with sugar.

But just to be fair, most studies regarding our food choices never make any conclusive statement about  whether people will eat better when they have fewer choices. However, let’s look at this from a slightly different perspective.

In the past, people had limited access to processed and packaged foods, which are often higher in sugar, salt, and fat. Diets heavy in processed foods are associated with increased risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

In traditional societies, people had to rely on whole, unprocessed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, lean meats and fish. These foods are rich in essential nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants which are the very things that help prevent chronic diseases.

Research has further shown that such a diet tends to have better nutritional profiles, with a higher intake of essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and lower intake of sugar, saturated fats, and salt. Also in the past, marketing and advertising, which influences our food choices, was less prevalent. Consequently, we had less exposure to unhealthy food options.

Finally, close examination of specific examples of hunter/gatherer societies also provides some valuable insight. Their diet is typically meat based and has a better nutrient profile relative to our modern diet. But they also have almost no heart disease and have lower rates of chronic diseases compared to modern societies despite having limited access to healthcare.

It is impossible of course to generalize across all traditional societies, but findings such as these suggest that people may have been healthier when there were fewer dietary choices.

The challenge that we experience with having so many choices is that it leads to choice overload, decision fatigue and dissatisfaction. It also leads to overwhelming complexity and even increased expectations for customization and personalization.

Now don’t get we wrong. Having lots of choices does have advantages. But ultimately it also reflects a very dynamic interplay between economic, social, and psychological factors as well as modern technological advances.

How to Avoid Choice Overload

But when it comes to making everyday choices there are techniques you can use to reduce choice overload. For example:

-When searching for any given product, narrow the attributes you are using to make that choice down to 2 to 3 key attributes.

-Set parameters: Limit the amount of time you are willing to spend making a decision on any given purchase.

Prioritize: Set specific priorities that you can focus on to make your decision.

-Limit your options: Especially when shopping online, limit your options to 10 to 15 different products.

-Dominant options: Limit your options to the more popular or more highly regarded products. Looking at product reviews will help with this process.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity

In my mind it all comes down to three things, simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Everyone always has the impression that it is more expensive to live sustainably. But that is simply not true. And I get reminded of this every time I travel.

For example, I just recently took a temporary job in the US Virgin Islands. Once there, it took me about a week to figure out how to make my life function. But I’ve done this sort of thing numerous times so this is truly nothing new. My experience there was consistent with other places I’ve worked.

Once I am on the ground, my first priority is to locate sources for all the basic services in order to make my life work. Things such as fresh water, food, financial institutions such as banks, gas stations and options for getting around. Then I figure out what types of foods are available and how I can best cook for myself.

With a few exceptions, everywhere I have been you can go into the local supermarkets and still find your typical American products. For example, pre-made packaged meals, instant foods, baking mixes, sandwich meats, imported milk, meat and eggs. However, they tend to be much more expensive.

By far the best thing for me to do is go local and stick to the basics. I make homemade bread, soups, salads, fruit bowls out of local produce, and I purchase local meat and fish. And a lot of what I purchase in the way of fruits, vegetables and meat comes from local farmers. In many cases what I purchase is even less expensive than products I find at home in Colorado.

No matter where I have traveled, I eat healthy meals on a regular basis, lots of fruits and vegetables, and everything is organic. Although my choices are typically limited. But I must also point out that I have been very happy with these types of experiences. This is because my point of going to a new place is to meet new people, make new friends, experience a new culture and learn something new. And at the same time, do it as inexpensively as possible. But once again, I want to emphasize that often times my choices for making my life function in places where I have worked are typically very limited which is not necessarily a bad thing.

But as far as our diets are concerned, I think it is of value to look at where we have ended up as a result of all the choices we have.

Due to changes in our social structure, home dynamics, and perhaps even due to economic prosperity, nearly 70 years ago our culture started consuming more highly processed foods and even fast foods. The end result is that we consume more energy dense foods high in fats and sugars. We tend to consume more calories than we burn. In addition to that, most modern jobs no longer require physical labor and we rely more on mechanized means of transportation.

A perfect example of how corporations have taken advantage of this trend is the fast food industry.  A couple of the early fast food chains popularized the idea of standardized, inexpensive meals. Coupled with changes in household dynamics and an increased desire for convenience foods, the fast food industry began to boom.

Fast forward until now, nearly 40% of us eat fast food on any given day. If you are a fast food fan you are likely familiar with the question of “Would you like to upsize that?” Or “Would you like fries with that?” And of course we have an over abundance for our choice of fast food.

As you could likely guess, our tendency to eat fast food has lead to numerous health problems. I have often wondered, in the interest of our health, why fast food restaurants don’t ask “Would you like to downsize that?” Or “Would you like to save 30% on your calories today by ordering a veggie wrap instead?”

I think by now you get my point. Too many choices is not necessarily a good thing and it does not tend to promote sustainable behavior.

Sustainability tip of the week

Now I want to close out this episode with the sustainability tip of the week. And this weeks tip goes right along with this episode. But the question I want to pose is this. Is it difficult to live sustainably?

The easy answer is no it is not difficult. However, it is a lifestyle choice just like anything else. But when you live in a society and culture where ease, convenience, over consumption and relentless consumerism is the norm, it is sometimes difficult to make sustainable choices.

That said, it is obvious that more and more people are demanding access to sustainable products.Truly our consumer choices drive the market place and businesses are recognizing that people want to move toward sustainability. Consequently, sustainable choices are now becoming easier if for no other reason than the fact that more and more choices are now available.

My best advice is to keep it simple. There is so much information out there at this point, and so many sustainable products, that it is once again difficult to choose the right thing to do. To make things easier and simpler choose one simple thing at a time, focus on that one thing until it is an everyday part of your life then move on to something else.

By far and away the default setting I have for my life is simplicity. That is why I live how and where I do and choose to work the way I do. Yes I could choose so many other things. I could have so many other personal possessions. But all of these things just make my life even more complicated. That is why I choose simplicity and enjoy traveling to places with limited choices.

Well folks that’s about it for this week. I truly hope you have enjoyed this episode and will join me again next week. Until then, always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 211

Nine Actions You Can Take to Benefit the Global Community

Like it or not our lives are now a product of globalization. The cost of our fuel, the food on our tables, the clothes we wear, and even our household gadgets are subject to the conditions of the world market. It is now possible for a drought, a natural disaster, a financial crisis or even a conflict in some small country on the other side of the planet to affect our daily lives.

While globalization has its obvious benefits, there is also a downside. Among many other things, it has a significant environmental impact. It also increases our vulnerability and diminishes our personal security. But like so many other things, it is possible to be proactive  and protect yourself from the detrimental affects.

So join me for E211 Nine Actions You Can Take to Benefit the Global Community.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E211 Nine Actions You Can Take to Benefit the Global Community.

What I want to accomplish in this episode is to first discuss some of the effects of globalization and how that happened. I believe it is important to have some basic knowledge of the effects of such a transition in our economy because this is something that affects our lives more than you know.  Globalization does produce a significant environmental impact. It substantially impacts the lifestyles of families in developing countries. It also makes a difference for our wallets and bank accounts. Like it our not.

Good news story of the week

But before we move on to this weeks episode let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

I have often said that the world would be a better place if everyone could go home to peace and quiet everyday like I do. All I have to do to spend time in nature is to walk out the front door.

This weeks good news story is sort of old news, but good news, but new news at the same time. Yet another study, this one out of Canada, suggest that an inexpensive school-based, nature born program seems to help some of the most vulnerable young people

The researchers showed that spending just two hours a week of class time in a natural environment can reduce emotional distress, anxiety, depression, aggressive tendencies, impulsive behavior and social problems related to interaction with their piers. This research follows a recent publication by UNICEF pointing to the importance of green space for children’s development.

The Canadian team looked at the effects of spending time in nature on the behavior and mental health symptoms of more than 500 schoolchildren across Quebec. Interview with teachers following the programs also suggested that children were more calm, relaxed and attentive in class after they spent time outdoors.

But the underlying reason I think this is extremely valuable to point this out once again is that approximately 80% of our population now lives in urban areas. Our disconnection from the natural world grows greater each year. As such, we are trapped in cities and have no emotional outlet.  You have to wonder if the majority of us spent time outside, if that alone would not solve some of the aggressive tendency in our culture, if it would not reduce the incidence of mental health issues.  The answer is so easy, just spend time outside on a regular basis.

Alright folks, let’s move on to this weeks episode regarding nine actions you can take to benefit the global community.

When we think of globalization most of us likely relate to the enormous cargo ships that are used to import goods.  And certainly every time you examine a product and discover yet again that it is “made in China” you likely think this is a product of globalization. However, this shift in our economic models started long before any of us realize.   

Humans have been trading goods for as long as we have been around. But as civilization started to develop, trade stopped being a local or regional affair and started to become global, albeit limited in the beginning.

The Silk Road, which connected China to Rome, is considered an early form of globalization. This dates back to the 1st century BC and resulted in the exchange of luxury items such as silk and spices across the continents. In the 15th and 16th centuries European explorers and the discovery of the Americas opened up new trade routes which promoted the further exchange of goods across the continents. And over time this simple beginning has grown into a tremendous global market that influences almost everything we do.

But to be fair, there are obvious pros and cons to globalization.

On the plus side, globalization increase our access to foreign markets and cultures, it reduces trade barriers, improves communication and exchange of technology, it increases economic growth, creates new job opportunities, and in many respects it improves our standard of living.

On the downside, globalization increases competition, it results in disproportionate growth and it causes increased environmental damage. Some would say that globalization increase our personal security but I would contend that it does the exact opposite. We have gotten to the point to where we are heavily dependent on foreign goods and services to make our lives function. We now import almost 50% of our food and that is expected to increase to nearly 75%.

If globalization is supposed to increase our personal security then what would happen if there was a major world conflict and all trade suddenly ceased?  A substantial portion of our good and services, not to mention our food supply, would simply cease to exist. That does not sound like personal security to me. It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

While these types of situations are of concern, it is fortunate that this scenario rarely happens. However, there are some other subtle affects of globalization on our daily lives.

For example:

The United States is now the biggest producer of oil in the world. You would think that local resources would be less expensive. But, the price of oil is determined by the global market, which of course has nothing to do with what is actually going on in the US.

Globalization has attributed to unhealthy habits in several ways.

-It has lead to the spread of Western-style diets, characterized by increased consumption of processed and unhealthy foods. This contributes to the rise in cases of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

-Global trade has made unhealthy products, such as sugary drinks and fast food, widely available, contributing to unhealthy habits.

-It has lead to a decline in nutrient-dense foods and an increase in unhealthy foods.

-Globalization can lead to food insecurity. The liberalization of trade and government subsidies can cause the displacement of local food systems in favor of unhealthy, imported food.

The first step in changing what we do is to realize that as individuals, our choices play a role in the global community. You may not know this but every decision we make has an impact on people and places well beyond the borders of our home country. From what you have for dinner, the clothes that you buy, how you get around and numerous other small things you do everyday help to shape the world around us.

For example:

Climate Change: Our consumption habits, energy usage, and carbon footprint contribute to climate change, which affects countries with limited resources and infrastructure, exacerbating issues like droughts, floods, and heatwaves.

Global Economy: Our purchasing decisions influence global trade patterns and economic systems. For example, buying products made in countries with poor labor standards or environmental regulations can perpetuate exploitation and harm local communities.

Resource Extraction: Our demand for resources like minerals, metals, and fossil fuels drives extraction practices that can harm local ecosystems and communities in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Amazon rainforest, or the Arctic.

Food Systems: Our food choices, including what we eat and how it’s produced, impact global food systems. For instance, the demand for palm oil, often used in processed foods, contributes to deforestation and habitat destruction in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Healthcare: Our choices about healthcare and medical research can have global implications. For instance, the development and distribution of vaccines and treatments for diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, and tuberculosis are critical for global public health, particularly in low-income countries 

Education: Our support for international education initiatives and organizations can improve access to quality education for children in developing countries, breaking cycles of poverty and inequality.

Human Rights: Our choices about consumer goods and services can influence companies’ human rights practices.

Conflict and Peace building: Our political choices, including support for international peacekeeping efforts and conflict resolution initiatives, can contribute to peace and stability in countries affected by conflict.

Cultural Exchange: Our choices about cultural exchange programs, tourism, and international collaboration can promote cross-cultural understanding, exchange, and cooperation, fostering global connections and empathy.

As you can see, there are obvious pros and cons to globalization. Despite the many negative impacts of globalization, it does not have to be a bad thing. There are several things we can do to have a positive impact even on something as large as the global economy.

As you likely know, our world is rapidly changing. Messages about climate change and the condition of our planet are becoming increasingly urgent. And in the backdrop of all the noise, it is difficult to find ways to contribute to the common good. It is hard to find simple ways to get involved and feel as if you are making a difference.

Educate Yourself

Truly I think the first step is to simply educate yourself. If you are aware of the impact your actions have on carbon emissions and climate change, and even pollution in developing countries you will find it easier to not only reduce your carbon footprint but also make it less harmful.

If you want to reduce your carbon emissions, then learn about how these emissions contribute to global warming. You can learn about how more developed countries, such as the US, has a powerful impact on the economies of developing countries. You could learn a foreign language and study other cultures to gain a perspective that is different from your own. Gain some sort of expertise in environmental issue and even global social issues. Take advantage of the fact that we live in the age of information. By using the internet, you can learn about almost anything.

The positive aspect of doing this is that you are expanding your knowledge, changing the way you think and leaning something new and beneficial.

Choose Wisely

The next thing you can do is to be particular about what you buy. But in order to do this, you are first going to have to educate yourself and this is going to take some time and effort.

This may sound like a pain in your backside, and to some degree it will be. It is similar to someone expecting you to write a review on every single product you buy. The best thing to do is start small and choose one or two products that you purchase regularly. Look for organic products, those purchase under fair trade agreements, made from recycled materials, unbleached paper, or brands that support thing you believe in.

Pick a product and go to the companies website. Check out their media or public relations board and see if they are actually doing something to make a difference to local and global communities.

What most of us don’t know is that one in ten children worldwide is engaged in child labor. More than half of them are working under hazardous conditions doing mining, construction, and manufacturing. UNICEF estimates that over 100 million children worldwide are affected by the garment and footwear industries.

In my opinion, if you have the power to purchase something you have to power to make a difference. I you are going to make a purchase, make one with the environment in mind.

Conscious Consumption

If you have grown up in the land of plenty, you get the impression that the world is a place of limitless resources. More and more frequently, we are shown that this is just not true. Every single choice we make has some sort of impact, somewhere. Even if you live in the middle of no where, if you are connected to the grid, your electricity has to come from somewhere. Mostly likely it come from a plant that generates electricity from fossil fuels. So use this resource wisely.

The average home uses 300 gallons of water per day, 90% of which goes right down the drain. That is approximately 9,000 gallons of water per month. I know from a fact that the average person can get by on a lot less water. At the cabin, we use about 500 to 600 gallons of water per month. I know because I am the one that hauls water to the cabin. And this includes usage from three people, dogs, cat, chickens, turkeys and watering the greenhouse.

Be Smart About What You Eat

Most people do not realize that nearly 50% of the food that we consume is now imported. With current projections, that is expected to increase to 75% over the next few years.

But, be smart about what you eat. Apples, onions, spinach, broccoli, carrots, corn and beans are products that are typically grown locally.

To reduce your personal impact, eat only what is in season. For example, don’t choose to eat grapes in the middle of the winter because they are typically imported.

Choose fruits and vegetables that are produced without harmful pesticides. Organic produce is a good choice. If you find that organic is too expensive, the only purchase in small amounts of the most common things you consume.

Focus on environmental conservation

If you mention environmental conservation, most people would think of joining a local group, donating or volunteering some of their time. While such actions are valuable, there are still plenty of things you can do without ever leaving home.

If you just focus on the fact that everything we do, every choice we make, has an impact somewhere, somehow. So, make mindful choices.

-Reduce your food waste by planning your meals. Purchase produce from local farmers. Never put anything organic in the trash. Compost it instead.

-Conserve water by taking shorter showers, fix any leaks, install a tankless water heater, limit how many times you flush the toilet.

-Use public transportation on a regular basis. Carpool if possible. See if your employer will allow you to work from home a day or two per week.

-Plant trees and help with reforestation projects.

-Zero scape your yard. Turn part of your yard into the mini wildlife habitat. Never use pesticides or herbicide on your lawn.

Develop Sustainable Habits

There are literally hundreds of little things you can do to be more sustainable. Do some research on the internet and come up with a list of at least 20 things you can focus on. Pick one thing to start with. Once that is a part of your life, choose another one.

You can also go to the home page for this podcast and download a free resource on 200 sustainability questions and answers. There is enough information there to keep you busy for at least a year.

Don’t Take Anything for Granted

All too often we take for granted everything we have available to us because we assume those resources will always be there. After all, we can get online, order something and have it the next day if that is what we want.

Everything you eat, everything you wear, all your electronic devices, your house, your vehicles, even the water that comes out of the tap requires the use of resources to put those things in your hands. Those resources have to come from somewhere.

Trees have to be cut down to make paper. Oil has to be extracted and refined to produce gasoline. Minerals have to be mined to produce computer chips and parts for smart phones.

All the mining, refining, extraction, manufacturing and transportation requires water, energy, chemicals and further pollution. Think of it this way. Every time you throw something away, it requires the use of even more resources for you to go out a buy something else.

It is easy to overlook this fact if you only buy something occasionally. But when you add things up over the course of an entire year, reducing what you buy and use truly makes a difference.

Furthermore, most people do not realize that living sustainably is actually less expensive. By using less water, less electricity, and reducing your online shopping habits, you will save money you, use fewer resources and help save the planet. 

So, don’t take anything for granted.

Volunteer and Donate

I will be the first to admit that I am very particular about how I volunteer my time and how I spend my money. This is due to the fact that I spent many years  volunteering for organizations where in the end I had a difficult time believing in what they are doing.

For example, for years I was volunteering to work in medical clinics in third world countries. We were doing basic health care, vaccines and hundreds of surgeries to help reduce the local animal population. In my opinion, this made absolutely no difference because we never took the time to educate people on how to do things differently after we were gone.

Eventually, that is exactly what I started doing. I started educating and working with students in veterinary schools. This approach landed me in a university in Mexico, Bolivia, and in the Caribbean. The end result, students were improving their skills and were empowered to go out into their local communities and make a difference.

My point being, if you want to volunteer and donate, pick and choose carefully. Make sure that your time, efforts and money are truly going to make a difference.

Lead by Example

My last tip here, which I think is by far one of the most important is to lead by example. Practice what you preach.

If all the food waste in the world is what concerns you the most, then focus on reducing your food waste to zero. If all the plastic pollution really sticks in your craw then go plastic free. If you are concerned about carbon emissions, reduce how much your drive, reduce your use of electricity. Perhaps even install solar. If you think single use items are one of the most wasteful things on the planet, then vow to never use one. And if you are focusing on one particular issue, then be vocal about it and teach others. People will respect you for what you do.

If you expect the world to be a peaceful, sustainable, environmental friendly place, then that is exactly what you have to be.

Summary

Globalization has certainly had an extensive impact on our lives. It is difficult to avoid it. For example, the cheese grader I just bought was made in New York. The hat I purchased from Columbia Sports, the one I wear for almost ever outdoor activity, was made in Indonesia. The new backpack I just bought from NorthFace was made in Vietnam. The LifeStraw water filter that I depend on everyday was designed in Switzerland but manufactured in South Korea. The rolling pin I just purchased for a trip I am planning was made in Italy. The inflatable sleeping pad I use for camping and travel was made in the United States. Without even trying my home is full of products from numerous parts of the planet.

Now why do I purchase these products from these particular companies? 

Columbia is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel coalition. The North Face has a biodiversity protection policy and uses a lot of recycled materials in their products. Life Straw makes a donation to a charitable organization every time you make a purchase. ThermoRest, which is based in Seattle, states that 97.5% of the energy they use for manufacturing, comes from renewable energy.

These are all companies I have patronized for decades because of their sustainable objectives and because they are committed to making a difference. Whether you realize it or not, every little thing we do has some sort of an impact somewhere, some how. So take the time to educate yourself. Choose your products wisely. Be mindful of what you eat. Be conscious of your resource consumption and focus on protecting the environment. Then take it a step further and develop some sustainable habits. Use some of your personal resources to volunteer. And above all, don’t take anything for granted. If you want others to change you are going to have to first change yourself and then lead my example.

So to start closing out this episode, I want to leave you with the sustainability tip of the week.

This weeks topic is recycling. And the question is why do so few people recycle.

You would think that recycling would be a no-brainer. The vast majority of people support recycling and 75% of us say it should be a top priority. Yet only 35% of people actually do it. Part of this may be due to misconceptions about recycling. But people fail to recycle for a variety or reasons. Bu the top 5 reasons are as follows:

-Lack of knowledge: People may not know what can be recycled, they may not know how to properly recycle something, or they may not be aware of the benefits of recycling.

-Convenience: People find it more convenient to just throw things away rather than take the time to recycle.

-Cost: People may not want to pay the extra cost associated with recycling

-Lack of infrastructure: People may not even have access to recycling programs or facilities in their area

-Perception: People may not think recycling is important or they may not believe that their individual actions will have an impact.

But you have to keep in mind that while recycling is absolutely important, it is not the complete answer to our waste problems. It is much better to produce less waste to begin with.

Now in closing, the key takeaways from this episode is that our global community is made up of everyone on the planet. It is the result of the individual choices of each of us that has gotten us to the point where we are now. But it is also the result of our collective individual choices that will also save this planet. The small things you do everyday do have an impact on the global community. Every action counts. Individual choices can collectively contribute to significant global outcomes. Not only that but systemic change requires individual action. Addressing complex global issues requires a combination of individual actions and collective efforts. And finally awareness and education are crucial. Understanding the impact of individual actions and staying informed about global issues can inspire and motivate others to take action. That is why we must lead by example.

Well folks I truly hope you have enjoyed this weeks episode. Be sure to join me again next week. Until then, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 210

Ten Ways to Grow Your Own Food

As you well know one of my favorite topics is self sufficiency. Most likely this is because I am a strongly independent person and very motivated to take care of myself. I truly do not want to depend too heavily on any societal system to provide me with my personal needs. Additionally I grew up in a rural area where some degree of self sufficiency was necessary.

But what I see in our society today is that over 80% of us live in urban areas where everything is easy and convenient. We no longer think about all the simple ways in which we can take care of ourselves and produce a little bit of personal security.

So join me for episode 210 Ten Ways to Grow Your Own Food.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E210 which is called Ten Way to Grow Your Own Food.

Now the reason I want to bring this up is that these are extremely easy ways for everyone of us to be self sufficient in some small way. Despite what most people think, some level of self sufficiency is even more important if you live in an urban area. But more on that later.

First of all I want to convince of the importance of producing at least some of your own food. Then I will follow that by giving you ten easy ways in which you can do just that.

But before we dive into this weeks episode, let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

Good News Story of the Week

Besides solar energy, self sufficiency and sustainable living, one of my other favorite topics is health and wellness. This is simply because there are so many things in our modern culture that tend to go against best practices as far as maintaining our health and well being. 

Furthermore, I enjoy reading research articles that point out specific ways in which we can promote better health and prevent certain disease processes. For example, the health benefits of regular exercise have been well documented. But recent research revealed another benefit of regular exercise, the prevention of dementia.

This is actually an important finding since global cases of dementia are on the rise. There are now an estimated 10 million cases of dementia each year worldwide. This implies a new case every 3.2 seconds. Most studies at this point show that there are a number of factors that predisposes a person to dementia. But a recent study revealed that high levels of physical fitness are linked to a lower risk of dementia for people with a genetic predisposition to this condition. Researchers say physical fitness may be able to reduce the risk by as much as 35%.

What is know at this point is that with each decade that we age, cardiorespiratory fitness declines. But proper cardio-fitness is needed to supply oxygen to the muscles and is linked to improved cognitive performance. Lower CRF is a stronger predictor of strokes, heart attacks, and early death from any cause including dementia.

Although dementia is a multi-factorial disease there are many things we can do to prevent this from happening to us. These include staying fit and trim, regular exercise and a good healthy diet. And it just so happens that a sustainable lifestyle is a great way to maintain an active healthy life and stay fit.

Now let’s move on to this week’s episode Ten Ways to Grow Your Own Food.

Twenty seven years ago I bought the cabin property and started living off the grid. This was long before such a lifestyle became acceptable to main steam society.  Needless to say everyone thought I was crazy.

At the very start my home life was extremely challenging and nothing I did was easy. But I learned some extremely valuable lessons that I will never forget. The first lesson being is that if you have no experience living off the grid full time it would be in your best interest to not take that leap without some forethought and planning. The second lesson I learned at that time was that it is possible to essentially walk away from main stream society and go live in the woods but life is going to be very difficult at first. If you are going to do that it takes a lot of determination and you had better be up to the challenge.

At the end of the day, I never regret my choices. I would do it all over again. However, there are a lot of things I would do differently. At the same time I learned some extremely valuable skills that I can take anywhere. Those experiences will affect how I think and how I evaluate my choices for the rest of my life.

For example, it is fairly common for me to work out of state or out of the country for several months at a time. In fact, I am about to leave Colorado for 5 months and will be working in three different destinations. But whenever I do this once I get to where I am going, I immediately find the local supermarkets just to see what is available locally as far a dry goods, spices, and other basic supplies. Then I make a plan for having extra supplies so I can prepare meals in the event of an emergency or if the infrastructure is interrupted for some reason. Additionally, depending on how long I am going to be in any one place, I take the necessary steps to set up a container garden and start growing some of my own food.

What I find truly interesting, whenever I visit smaller countries, especially island nations, the locals do exactly the same thing. At least in the Caribbean, people are already prepared for tropical storms and hurricanes. They have extra containers at home to store water, they keep extra supplies to feed the family and prepare in other ways to carry on with life if the electricity goes out and they have to stay at home for days at a time.

However, the average person in our culture no longer thinks like that. In contrast, growing up in a very rural area we provided so many things for ourselves because we had no choice. Sometimes I question why people these days think so differently.  Perhaps over time we have become so accustomed to the ease and convenience that we no longer think such skills are necessary.

For example, I truly have no memory of eating store bought meat until I was an adult. While we did purchase some vegetables from the supermarket, the majority of what we ate came from our garden or the local farmers market. Excess vegetables and fruits were canned to hold us over through the winter when those things were out of season. My grandparents had a very large walk in closet in the farm house that was lined with shelves all of which were full of home canned goods. But in today’s modern economy, that just doesn’t seem to happen any more. Few people make any attempt to produce their own food.

Most people in today’s society don’t even have an clue as to where their food actually comes from. They would be surprised to know that a significant amount of what we purchase at the supermarket is now imported. If you really start thinking about this you have to wonder why this happens. Such a means of food production further increases the environmental impact of what we eat. But is also should make you question whether we should change how and what we eat. Better yet, should we truly try to produce more of our food at home.

When I was a kid my mother always had us help her in the kitchen. I distinctly remember her giving me a stool to stand on so I could reach the top of the stove. She would then hand me a spoon and tell me to stir slowly and continuously. As we grew older she would make us help her home can fruits and vegetables. We also had a large garden and had to help with that as well. And of course we complained relentlessly about the whole process.

As much as I complained about doing all these things I find it somewhat hilarious that I am doing exactly the same things as an adult.  My younger sister often jokes and says to me that I have always been a foodie. That’s  because I am constantly trying new recipes, different types of foods, making my own sauces, spice blends, etc. And of course I think everyone should enjoy this just as much as I do.

But in our modern culture, fewer and fewer people have a garden, most people eat out more than they cook at home, practically no one does any sort of home canning, and even fewer people grow their own food. On top of that, to satisfy our taste for a great variety of foods year round an increasing amount of our food is now imported instead of coming from a local farm.

Having come from a farming background it makes me question why it has to be that way. There was a time when so many more people had gardens at home because they depended on it to feed the family.

That said, to be fair there are a number of reasons for why we import a significant amount of food.

-There are climate and soil limitations in the US that restrict the types of crops that can be grown domestically.

-Domestic production tends to be seasonal especially for fruits and vegetables.

-It is economically advantageous to import foods from countries with lower labor and production costs.

-Importing food products diversifies the supply chain. This reduces the risk of relying solely on domestic production and mitigates risks associated with extreme weather events, pests, and disease.

At least according to the USDA, nearly half of our fresh fruits and about 30% of our vegetables are now imported. Those imports are expected to increase by 45% over the next few years which means 75% of our fruit and nearly 50% of our vegetables will likely be imported.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Nearly 80% of our fish and seafood products are imported, about 20% of our beef, and the biggest portion of our feeder hogs come from Canada. The only exception is chicken. Nearly 100% of the chicken sold at market in the US is raised and processed in this country.

When I see statistics such as this it truly makes me question why it has to be this way. I do realize that you have to take into consideration that we are trying to feed an entire nation. However, in my opinion my feeding our country like this we also puts us at a significant risk.

For example, what would happen to our food supply in the event of a major world conflict and global imports were virtually non-existent. Additionally I think about how much of our own food we produce at the homestead and the fact that all of our meat is sourced from a local ranch. We routinely purchase a whole animal, process it ourselves and have more than a years supply of meat at all times. This is a prime example of how we can truly keep ourselves fed from local sources.

From my perspective, and maybe this is because I am such an independent person, it would make me very uneasy if I had to solely depend upon someone else for my entire food supply. Yet, at least 80% of the population in the US lives in urban areas which means 80% of the population would be in deep trouble if our imported food supply was interrupted for some reason. That alone should be encouragement enough for most of us to take the necessary steps to produce and secure our a source of food that is within your control.

But most people do not think that way anymore. We get caught up in the conveniences and fast pace of modern society. We either forget that there are a lot of things we can do for ourselves or we complacent and just don’t do it. However there are so many benefits to growing your own food. For example:

-Home grown is far fresher and more nutritious. It does not have to be transported anywhere and consequently does not have to be stored and preservatives do not have to be used.

-It is far more cost effective.

-You can control what goes into your own produce, meaning fertilizers and pesticides.

-Increase food security. As I eluded to above, producing your own food increases your food security and your dependence on an infrastructure that is out of your control.

-Growing your own also reduces your food waste because you can harvest only what you need. Furthermore, it reduces your environmental impact of packaging and transportation.

-Working in a garden also provides health benefits in the way of exercise, a closer connection with nature, and a sense of accomplishment by simply providing some things for yourself.

-Preservation and storage. You can also preserve your excess food for use in the winter.

-Learning opportunity. Growing your own food also provides a valuable learning experience. You can also teach other people what you know. This is especially important when it comes to teaching children.

Ten Ways to Grow Your Own Food

Fortunately there are a number of ways to grow your own food even if you don’t have a lot of room. For example:

-Vertical gardening: Use trellises, arbors, or even wall mounted planters if you are limited on space. You can easily grow things such as cucumbers, peas, and tomatoes.

-Hydroponics: This is a system of growing plants in a nutrient rich solution instead of soil. This allow for precise control over nutrients which means you can regulate growth and produce more food. Hydroponics use 80 to 90% less water than traditional farming as well as 60% less fertilizer.

-Container gardening: This method uses pots, planters, or hanging baskets for growing a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits even in small spaces. We do a lot of this in the sunroom at the homestead. We often have tomato plants that are producing fruit well into December when there is plenty of snow on the ground.

-Raised beds are a great option because they improve drainage, it is easy to modify soil structure, you don’t have to dig or till the soil. This makes it much easier to grow a wide range crops. You will also hear the term square foot gardening since each raised bed is going to contain a limited amount of crops.

-Aquaponics are a good option if you live in an appropriate climate. Fish water is used to fertilize the plants and the plants filter the fish water. However, just be aware that this is a long term project. An successful aquaponics system depends on an established, stable mini ecosystem similar to a fish tank.   

-Companion planting is a great way to improve soil and a natural means of pest control. This is a system of pairing plants that are mutually beneficial. It is a great way to improve productivity, enhance soil health, increase pest resistance and reduce your use of fertilizers and pesticides. Examples of companion planting would be:

-corn, beans, and squash

-Tomatoes and basil

-Marigolds and carrots

-Beans a cucumbers

-Succession planting: This is the practice of planting small batches of seeds at regular intervals to ensure a continuous harvest rather than waiting for a single crop to mature.

-Permaculture is a good option if you have the space. This is a gardening method that mimics natural systems that aims to create sustainable, regenerative and resilient ecosystems.

-Cold frames and greenhouses are also another good option if you have a little space. A cold frame is essentially a raised bed with a glass lid. A greenhouse of course is an enclosed structure. Both methods are a good way to extend your growing season.

-Conventional gardening. Now the last method I want to mention is conventional gardening. This of course is going to require a lot more space. The downside to conventional gardening is that it is perfectly acceptable to use a lot of fertilizers and pesticides which most of us would like to get away from these days.

The opposing side of this is organic gardening which focuses more on natural methods of pest control and the use of organic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and non-GMO seeds. A good example of organic fertilizers is something such as compost.

Other Tips

Other additional tips if you are considering growing some of your own food.

-Choose vegetable and fruit varieties that are well suited to your climate and growing conditions.

-Start small and experiment a little  then slowly expand your garden.

-Be efficient with your watering by using soaker hoses and drip systems.

-Use mulch and compost to improve soil health and retain soil moisture.

How Much Space Do You Need

There has been a lot of research on just how much space you need to produce enough food for one person. Research back in the 1970s found that 4000 square feet would be needed to produce enough food for one person for one year on a vegetarian diet.  But with additional space needed for walking areas and storage, you would need to almost double that size. This amounts to a plot of ground about 80 feet by 100 feet or 24m x 30 m.

But if you live in an urban area, this is going to sound like a lot of space so let’s take this down a notch. It you have at least 10 square feet you can still do a lot.

-Micro-greens: You can grow a variety of micro-greens, such as pea shoots, radish greens, and lettuce, in as little as 4 square feet. With 10 square feet, you can harvest a steady supply of micro-greens for salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.

Herbs: Many herbs, such as basil, cilantro, and parsley, can be grown in small spaces. With 10 square feet, you can grow a variety of herbs that can be used in cooking and as garnishes.

Leafy Greens: Leafy greens such as lettuce, kale, and spinach can be grown in 10 square feet. You can harvest individual leaves or wait for the plants to mature and harvest the entire head.

Cherry Tomatoes: While tomatoes require more space than some of the other crops mentioned, you can still grow a few cherry tomato plants in 10 square feet. You can use a trellis or cage to support the plants and make the most of the space.

Of course, if this is all the space you have you are going to have to get creative. But you can also find compact varieties of a lot of common vegetables which will make it easier to grow things in a small space.

Sustainability tip of the week

This tip goes right along with the subject of this episode because it proves an important point about how much food we can produce for ourselves.

One person can produce enough food to partially or significantly supplement their diet with around 200 square feet of garden space per person. This is enough to grow a substantial amount of vegetables throughout the year, depending on factors such as climate, growing techniques, and the types of crops chosen. Choosing high yield vegetable such as tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens and root crops can help to maximize production. Additionally, choosing high calorie crops such as corn, potatoes, squashes and legumes will help to maximize the benefits of what you produce.

Now in closing, for me I think it is simply a combination of my independent mindset and the fact that I have lived off the grid as long as I have that I am always thinking in terms of being self reliant in as many ways as possible. But that was also how I was raised.  But it seems to me the average person in a developed country never gives the first thought to being prepared for anything. And perhaps this the result of a society full of ease and convenience and our getting to that point has been a slow subtle transition.

So many things are available to us whenever we want most of us feel as if some level of self sufficiency is just not necessary. But in my opinion, with more than 80% of the population now living in urban areas it is even more important than ever to be self reliant to some degree. In the unlikely event that we have a true national emergency the local infrastructure will be completely overwhelmed. There will never be enough supplies to meet the demand. A great example of this was what happened during the pandemic.

It is worth noting that achieving complete self-sufficiency through homegrown food alone, or by any other means, is typically very challenging. But you don’t have to go that far. It is completely reasonable to think in terms of being 50% self sufficient for all of your basic needs by growing a certain amount of your own food. You can make up the difference by storing extra supplies such as dry goods, install small solar array, go to the farmers market and buy bulk produce and do some home canning. All of these things are just a few examples of things that can be done inexpensively but would have a significant impact on you and your family in the event of an emergency.

I also think we are so accustomed to the conveniences of our modern society and we depend so heavily on modern technology that we have lost most of our critical thinking and problem solving skills. But I can tell you from personal experience that having the skills of self sufficiency, even in some small way, significantly increases your self confidence and personal security.

In closing, I truly hope this episode has made you think more seriously about growing some of your own food and being self reliant even in some small way. Once you gain some experience and knowledge one of the best thing you can do is to share that with others. The reason that is important is because one of the biggest problems in our society these days is that we are too often told what to think and how to be. That said, I want to leave you with one final thought.

In today’s society we are bombarded with so many messages telling us what kind of person we should be, what we should look like, and how we should live. Consequently, we are missing an extremely vital lesson that is by far one of the most important. It is far more important that we are taught how to think instead of what to think. And that is especially true when it comes to teaching children. Our media, especially social media is a very powerful venue. Children and younger people are very impressionable. These are the people that will carry our planet into the future. They need to be taught how to think instead of what to think.

Well folks, I truly hope you have enjoyed this episode and it encourages you to plant a seed to grow your own food and to plan for a sustainable future.

This is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 209

Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society

Someone said to me once that you should never forget the power of a good conversation. Yet in our fast-paced hyper-connected world we are losing touch with this vital part of human communication. We are also losing our focus on the things that really matter because we are constantly distracted. We are so inundated with notifications, dings, and beeps that as we are driving to work we can’t even remember if we brushed our teeth this morning.

Modern technology was supposed to make our lives easier. But in many ways our connectedness results in over stimulation and the clear inability to focus. Without knowing it, we have become trapped in a fast-paced, high stress, very impersonal world that always appears to be falling apart.

So join me for E209 Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E209 Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society.

What I want to accomplish in this episode is very simple. I want to point out how the structure conveniences of our modern society tends to trap us into a lifestyle that is sometimes very difficult to escape. Then I want to point out how all of this can easily be avoided. But you are going to have to pay attention.

Good news story of the week

This weeks good news story is a follow up on a previous story that I had talked about, which was the largest dam removal project ever accomplished in this country. After decades of protest and petitions by local tribes, four dams were removed from the Klamath River which originates in southern Oregon and flows into northern California.

These dams have been in place for over 60 years and created a barrier that prevented salmon from migrating upstream and spawning. However, in less that two months after the removal of these dams salmon have been found far upstream. The Klamath River is the third-largest salmon spawning habitat on the West Coast, traveling 400 miles from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. And that habitat has now been restored.

So the round of applause this week goes to the restoration of a major salmon habitat. Now, let’s get started with this weeks episode.

The first place I ever owned was a small 900 square foot cabin in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. It had two bedrooms, one bath, and sat on a small lot at the edge of town. It truly was nothing special but it was all I could afford at the time.

This was also long enough ago that no one had cells phones, personal computers and iPads were virtually non-existent and no one really paid that much attention to the internet. At least in the community where I lived cable television was not available much less satellite service. I had to put a signal booster on my television antenna just to get one channel and even that was so fuzzy that it was not worth it.

At some point during this time I started dating this girl named Karen. On her second visit to the cabin she asked if I had a television. I told her  that I did have one but it was on the top shelf in the bedroom closet. Of course she wanted to know why I had put it there. It was because I never use it. Since this was a small cabin the TV was in the way most of the time so I put it in the closet.

Very soon after this I started my undergraduate studies. I was taking a full load of courses and working a full-time job. Needless to say what little free time I had I spent doing something outside. Between work and classes during the week I spent a great deal of my time indoors. When time I had on the weekends was not going to be spent in front of a television. And that was 1985.

Once I graduated I spent a few years working hard to pay off my student loans as quickly as possible. One year after graduation I bought the cabin property and started construction. Once again I just did not have the time to watch television nor did I have the interest. Basically I have never gone back to watching network television and at this point I do not waste my time surfing the internet and social media. For me it is a matter of priorities. I tend to focus my time on things that bring value into my life.

Presently I do no even own a television, or a radio, nor do I have a newspaper subscription. The only subscriptions I do have are National Geographic and a magazine called Mother Earth News which focuses solely on sustainability and self reliance. To me these are things that are enjoyable, I get to learn new things on a regular basis and therefore it adds value.

Because of how I choose to live my life some of you may feel as if I am living in the past. But the reality is that I am actually living in the present. I have a modern lifestyle albeit simple, off grid and in the middle of the forest.  I am not avoiding modern day life I just choose not to partake in many of its trappings.

Certainly many of you have heard me make references to how things were when I was growing up on the farm in Tennessee and Georgia. For better or for worse the world has changed considerably since that time. At this point our world is changing so rapidly that even the most sane and stable person certainly has trouble feeling any sort of personal security. On top of that we are inundated with an over abundance of conflicting information which makes it difficult to sort fact from fiction.

As such, if I want to maintain some sense of personal security and stay grounded in what I consider to be reality I truly need to take responsibility for my day-to-day life. Consequently I need to limit all the noise of modern existence and focus on what’s important and spend my time on those things instead of everything else.

Once I am at home at night and on the weekends I tend to disconnect from the outside world and slow down. I turn my phone off at night when I go home and maybe check it once or twice a day on the weekends. I turn on the internet modem only when I need it. I just do not feel the need to constantly check email and messages. Instead I walk the dogs in the forest, I look at cloud formation, I fill the bird feeder, take care of the chickens, purify water, split firewood, and catch up on other chores.

Beyond that, I sit and read or plan our next camping trip or explore options for living in a different culture for a while. I also catch up with friends by going to their house, cooking dinner with them, or just visiting over some good coffee. Since we live in a mountain community that is spread out, unless we take the effort to stay in touch we may not see each other for months at a time. So it is important to put forth that extra effort. Again this is how I limit my social and societal input to things that are important to me and bring a positive influence. This is how I keep my life on track.

But keeping your focus and maintaining a life that is what you want it to be is often difficult for most people because we live in a society that is constantly telling us how we should act and what we should look like. We are bombarded with so many messages from the media, social media, and advertisements. Furthermore we see so many people on Instagram sharing how they are living their best life. It is very difficult for most of us not to feel the influence and be affected in some way. But one of the best part of limiting your input from social media is that you can continue to feel like yourself instead of someone else’s idea of who they think you should be.

One of the most important things that has helped me to stay on track is to focus on my goals. But more often than not my goals, both personal and professional, did not fall in line with what people and society expected me to do. A perfect example is the cabin. When I first purchased that property and started living off the grid, everyone thought I was crazy. Another example is when as a veterinarian I wanted to learn advanced surgery. For one reason or another I was met with a lot of resistance. But I did it anyway. Now years later people are envious of my off grid lifestyle and I’ve had a very successful career doing advanced surgery. I credit part of my success to the fact that I paid little attention to what society expected. I created my own version of what I consider to be a fulfilling life, not what society said I should be doing. 

Another challenge that we have is that the world is constantly trying to sell us things that we don’t need? We are encouraged to buy more, consume more, get a better vehicle, have a bigger house and prettier clothes. But is that not a subtle way of telling us we are just not good enough? It tends to distracts us from what truly matters.

Sometimes I think if we could rid our lives of all the noise and all the distractions it would be so much easier to focus on ourselves and we would be a lot happier despite what the rest of the world is telling us. Then we would have the time needed to pay more attention to our physical and mental health.

And perhaps I am overstating the obvious. But still so many of us get trapped by modern society because material possessions signify success, status and affluence. Things such as:

-Luxurious possessions. This is what I call shiny object syndrome. We want big houses, new cars, designer clothes and expensive jewelry and watches.

-Consumerism. We are often driven by consumerism and the pursuit of all the new and improved products.

-Wealth: The accumulation of personal wealth is also demonstrates success and status.

-Social media: Some of this of course is driven by the online personas and virtual lifestyles that people present to the world through social media.

Consequently we feel the pressure to conform to societal norms and opinions. We feel the pressure to fit in which can stifle our personal creativity and individuality.

And where does this really truly leave us with?

It leaves us feeling empty, lonely and emotionally numb. Since most communication is now virtual, we have a growing sense of detachment and disconnection from other people resulting in a loss of empathy. We are pressured to always stay busy and focus on personal accomplishments. This creates another kind of stress because we start feeling as if we can never meet up to societal expectations.

At the end of the day I think a lot of people in modern culture feel trapped because of the false promises of freedom and the lack of true freedom. For example, in our modern world we are told we can pursue anything we want. Yet most of us are pressured to conform to societal expectations which end up trapping us in a construct of life that traps us far away from the freedom we truly desire. Furthermore we are often told, and in a very convincing manner I might add, that true freedom lies within a system such as democracy.  However, because our societal structure is controlled by numerous external factors, most of which we cannot control, we start to feel trapped. The true freedom to be who and what we want always seems to be on the distant horizon and eventually we convince ourselves there is no way to break free.

While this may sound like a dismal outlook, it is possible to avoid many of the trappings of modern society. But you must know up front that it is often more difficult than you can imagine and sometimes you have to make some hard choices especially if you have already made some poor ones. 

About 10 years ago for the first time in my life I went through a period of burnout. I had been working approximately 100 hours per week for 14 months without a break. The reason for this is that I was trying to pay off the mortgage on the cabin property. In the end I was successful in raising the money that I needed but I also paid a heavy emotional price.

After that 14 month stint I was so burned out and exhausted that I walked away from everything I was doing. I returned to Colorado, paid off the mortgage, went to the cabin and did not leave for 9 weeks. I obviously accomplished an important goal  but I also learned a valuable lesson.

I too had been influenced by the notions in our society that more is better. I had two mortgages, credit card debt, and vehicle payments. I was living only to work because I thought that was the best way to get ahead. But in the process I had trapped myself in a hard lifestyle with lots of debt and little personal freedom. In other words, the same sort of thing that so many people do. I got lost in the fog of everyday life and forgot what it was like to actually be happy. I finally realized that what I was doing was not sustainable in the sense that I could not keep doing this and be healthy and happy.

During my 9 week sabbatical it became clear to me that I needed a change in perspective. First of all I decided that I would never work like that again. Then I thought long and hard about what was truly important to me and how I wanted to live. But I also knew all too well that in order to get where I wanted to be I would have to make some very difficult choices.

Once I started down that path it took me 5 years to get completely out of debt. I sold the second home at a small loss. I gave away 50% of my personal possessions and completely downsized my life. I then moved back to the cabin full time. Was this difficult? Yes it was. Did I have to make some really difficult choices? Yes I did. Do I regret my choices? No I do not and let me tell you why.

Since becoming debt free my choices in life are so much easier. If I want to take a month off I take a month off and never give it a second thought. All I have to do is work a little extra for one month to take care of any expenses during my time off. In the past I had to worked hard for 6 to 9 months in order to get that kind of time off. But life is so much easier when you essentially have no bills. Now it is so much easier to travel, take road trips and leave the country for periods of time.

But herein lies the rub for most people.

When we are constantly bombarded by a society that tells us how we ought to act and who we should be and that is all we ever hear, it is very difficult to not feel the influence of such social pressure. It is difficult to not listen to the noise, to get past the fog and realize there is a very different way to be.

Ultimately, the trappings of our modern society serve as a double-edged sword. Those trappings represent both what we can truly achieve but also the challenges we can experience in contemporary society. All the things we focus on and work for can contribute immensely to unending complexities in our lives and promote the inequalities of our modern society.

Because of this double-edged sword it is truly important to acknowledge the ways in which our modern society can trap us,  be proactive in taking steps to prevent this from happening and opt out. Otherwise, it may take years, as it did with me, to undo the complications you have created in your life. And the best path to take is to seek out a simpler, more authentic lifestyle by doing a few simple things.

-Think long and hard on the things that really matter to you. Sit down and make a list of the top 3 to 5 things that bring value to your life, the things that you really enjoy. Once you have settled on your list,  get rid of everything else.

-Make personal well-being and mental health one of your top priorities. A significant portion of people in our  world today suffer from chronic stress, fatigue and depression that eventually cause mental health problems. You do not have to be one of them.

-Challenge societal norms and expectations. Never accept what someone else says about who and what you should be.

-Be open-minded to new ideas, opinions and experiences while embracing individuality. At the same time, cultivate your own critical thinking and question everything. 

-If your employer, your friends, your family, or any other system or institution that exerts an influence on you day-to-day, fails to exhibit transparency, accountability, and take your well-being into consideration, walk away.

-Seek out simplicity and minimalism. Far too often our personal possessions create even more obligations that limit our lives. Living with fewer possessions often means more personal freedom.

-Seek out alternative lifestyles. Pursue an unconventional path. Be as self sufficient as possible and embrace sustainable practices as this lifestyle is often far less expensive.

As you can see, unless you pay close attention the trappings of our modern society can easily pull you into a lifestyle where you have little freedom of choice and very little personal freedom to do anything. But if you are proactive and learn to be a critical thinker, you can avoid many of the challenges of our modern world. That said, some people may think because of my off-grid lifestyle I am advocating a total rejection of modern society. But my reality is the exact opposite.

For much of my adult life I was financially challenged. I lacked any sort of secondary education and worked unskilled jobs with poor wages. So many of the things I did during that time was because I had no choice. However, because of the advances in our society and culture, I did have the choice and opportunity to get an advanced education and enter into a rewarding career.  This was a privilege that many people in the world still do not have.

My homestead property, all the structures that are there, the equipment that enables me to build what I do, the solar electric system, the water system, even the internet connection that makes my life easier, is all the result of modern advances in technology. By taking advantage of this I have a nice marriage between the basic skills of self sufficiency and modern technology.

In my opinion it is not productive to romanticize the past. Instead we should embrace the advances in modern technology and use that as an opportunity to develop an even better lifestyle and still have very little impact on the environment. We don’t have to reject money, technology and electricity in order to get back to nature and have a simple uncomplicated life. We can use all that to our advantage to make life even better.

So here is the real kicker of this whole thought process. There are literally billions of people in the world that do not work to making a living. They work to survive. If they have access to some small convenience due to modern technology you can believe they will take advantage of that because it makes their life easier. It may be the only choice they have available.

The other side of the coin is that for those of us that live in the developed world we generally have numerous choices as to how we live our life. But these conveniences can sometimes trap us. If we choose to reject all of these “conveniences” and “trappings” of our modern life this is only possible if you are immensely privileged thanks to all the advantages the modern world brings. As you can see, there are two distinctly different sides to this issue.

Sustainability tip of the week

Linear versus circular economy

Now I want to start closing out this episode by talking a little bit about the difference in a linear versus a circular economy and why this is important.

Historically we have always operated under a linear economy. This is based on a pattern of take-make-consume-throw away. This model relies on cheap, easily accessible materials and used lots of energy. This model is also based on planned obsolescence where a product is designed to have a limited lifespan and consumers are encouraged to buy again.

A circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves reusing, refurbishing, recycling, sharing and leasing so that existing products are used as long as possible. Because of this, the lifecycle of every product is extended and we minimize waste production and the use of additional resources.

As consumers, we can promote a circular economy by choosing products with sustainable packaging that are designed to be recycled. We can purchase second-hand or refurbished products. We can avoid single use products. Buy durable and repairable products and participate in product take-back programs. We can also change our consumption habits and adopt a repair, reuse, recycle mindset. Additionally we can support businesses with circular business models. And above all we can make the effort to educate ourselves about this issue and pass that knowledge along to others.

Now I want to make a few last comments in order to close out this episode.

Earlier in my adult life I took every opportunity to drive into the mountains, go hiking, go to a park, take a walk along a stream somewhere because this was how I stayed connected to nature and it was how I sometimes kept my sanity. Since owning the homestead property much of that has become completely unnecessary. I spend time outside doing chores, taking care of the chickens, splitting firewood, and walking the dogs in the forest. Sometimes I completely forget about taking a vacation because I have a lifestyle where I am already happy and satisfied.

There is nothing that I do that traps me in anyway. I have few limitations about the lifestyle choices that I make. Within reason I can take as much time off as I want, I can work as little or as much as I want and I can live where I want. But this has also been the result of a lot of years of hard work and paying very close attention to the choices that I make. But this type of lifestyle is also available to anyone who wants it.

Instead of relying on vacations to recharge, develop a lifestyle that supports and nourishes who you are and what you value. First of all identify your values and long-term goals. Then align your daily activities with these principles to create a sense of direction and fulfillment. Establish a healthy work-life balance and prioritize self care and relationships. Incorporate relaxation, hobbies exercise and meditation into your daily routine. Embrace life-long learning and personal growth. Considering moving to a place you love and start doing exactly what you want.

So instead of being trapped my our modern society, develop a lifestyle such that you do not have to escape. But doing so requires intentional focus on purpose, self-care, growth, flexibility, and mindfulness. By incorporating these simple principles into your daily life, you can create a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. This also will reduce the need for frequent vacations or escapes. But remember, it’s essential to be patient, kind, and compassionate with yourself as you work towards creating a life that truly nourishes who you are and what you value.

Well folks that’s about it for this week. I truly hope this has been an insightful episode and it will encourage you to develop exactly the kind of lifestyle you are looking for. Until next week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 208

The 30 Year Mortgage is Not Your Friend

In today’s culture, borrowing money and making purchases on credit is a way of life. It is the only way most of us are able to afford the “big ticket” items. In fact, many of us could not fathom how our lives would function if we were not able to utilize the credit system.  We borrow money, make payments with interest, pay off the loan and thus establish a sound financial history. This then becomes the basis for borrowing more money in the future.

But what if this was not necessary? What if there was a different way? Have we become so deluded with our modern way of life that we are now trapped? So join me for E208 Why the 30 Year Mortgage is Not Your Friend.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E208 Why the 30 Year Mortgage is Not Your Friend

Essentially what I want to focus on in this episode is to discuss one of the major trappings of modern culture, that being the 30 year mortgage. But I want to also give you a short history lesson on the mortgage as well as how and why it came to be what it is today. Then I will give you a real life example of why a long-term mortgage is not your friend. And in the end I will give you several alternatives to avoiding that financial trap. 

But before we get started with that I want to remind you that the sustainability tip of the week will be given at the end of this episode. So stick around until the end. Before we get started though let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

This weeks story is really more of an example of the power of nature to regenerate even after a massive destructive event. It also points out how so many things in nature in interdependent.

When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980 life for miles around the volcano was literally incinerated. Two years after the eruption some scientist had a theory that gophers may be able to help regenerate plant life by digging up beneficial bacteria and fungi. As an experiment they dropped gophers on various parts of the mountain for only 24 hours. The results of this were quite astonishing. A few years after the eruption there were only a few dozen plants that had established themselves, likely due to birds dropping seeds. But 6 years after the experiment there were 40,000 plants on the plots where gophers had been dropped. All the remaining land remained mostly barren. The gophers digging up old soil that contained vital nutrients, bacteria and fungi, and moving that to the surface had an astonishing effect.

Additionally, on one side of the mountain was a old growth forest. When the needles on the trees were scorched and fell to the ground, those needles also contained vital bacteria and fungi. In some area, regrowth began almost immediately. In contrast, on the other side of the mountain there were an area that had been clear cut by logging. That area continued to be almost entirely devoid of plant life.

What this demonstrates is just how vital microbes, fungi and pathogens in the soil are for regenerating life after a natural disaster. The results of this experiment also underscores how much there is to learn about rescuing distressed ecosystems. Who would have ever thought that the gophers that are so often seen as pests could produce environmental benefits that have continued for decades. So, in the end we can never underestimate the power of the little guy.

So, that being said, lets move on to this weeks episode.

If you have been listening to me long enough you know very well that I am strongly in favor of keeping life as simple as possible. And I think the concepts and very foundations of a sustainable life go right along with how I think and how I want to live. After all sustainability in many ways is about living on less, conserving resources, living more in tune with nature, having a healthier lifestyle, and in some ways even avoiding the trappings of our modern culture.

That being said, if you have listened to a number of my podcast episodes you also know that there was a time when my life was anything but simple. Just like the average person, I wanted more, bought more, borrowed money, and paid the price by having a life where I lived only to work even more. At one point I had two mortgages, student loans, credit card debt, and car payments all of which amounted to being neck deep in debt. 

Then I got to the point where I asked myself why I was doing what I was doing. After all I was truly seeking simplicity so how did this happen. Once I realized the error of my ways and started having doubts about the lifestyle I had worked so hard to create, I decided to change everything. It took me about 5 years to get myself completely out of debt. Since that time I have made a couple of large purchases but since I had no other debt I was able to take out a loan and pay it off in less than 18 months.

Now there are many things in our modern culture that tend to trap us in a certain way of life because initially it all appears very attractive. However, nothing does that more effectively than the 30 year mortgage. What I want to accomplish in this episode is to give you a slightly different perspective on how you can have the things you want, limit your debt to a great degree, still have a tremendous amount of personal freedom, and have a life that is easier on the environment and much more sustainable.

For now the only thing I want to focus on is how we get trapped into modern society by the 30 year mortgage. Yet this is only one way in which the financial system in our culture truly traps us because we are convinced to buy now pay later. But I also want to give you a real life example of how the 30 year mortgage is truly not your friend. 

Historian Daniel Boorstin once said that “…it was hardly an exaggeration to say that the American standard of living was bought on the installment plan.” That said, using the installment plan helps us to establish a sound credit history which of course serves us well down the road when we want to purchase other more expensive items especially real estate. Securing a mortgage loan thus make it feasible for the common person to purchase a home or land so that we may “have our own place”.

Such practices are now so common place in our culture that we take it for granted. After all, it is these types of financial practices, the ability to buy now and pay later, that make so many things available to us and in many ways actually enhances our quality of life.  However, I truly question whether or not such practices are in our best interest? Furthermore, is the 30 year mortgage the only way to have your own home?

Many people would argue that having a mortgage is the only way they will ever own land or a house. I completely understand that argument because I have borrowed money on several occasions for the same reason. But during the process of doing that, I also learned a few valuable lessons that I want to pass on just to give you a different perspective. But before we get to that I think it is valuable to emphasize something by giving you a very short history lesson on the mortgage market.

A History Lesson on the Mortgage Market

The practice of having a mortgage to purchase property extends far back in human history, as early as 1190, and it seems to have started in England. As Europeans began to settle the Americas, they brought many of their practices with them. As land and property ownership increased so did the need for mortgages. At least in the United States, by the early 1900s, mortgages were widespread and readily available. However, at the time, not everyone could obtain a mortgage.

For those seeking to purchase property, they often had to put up a 50% down payment and the term of the mortgage was 5 years. This practice continued until the Great Depression when there were thousands of foreclosures and the financial system collapsed.

Then the federal government stepped in with Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal which brought sweeping changes to the banking and securities industry and forever changed the structure of the mortgage. These changes gave birth to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fanny Mae), and promoted fair lending practices. Afterwards mortgage-lending funds became easily available.

After World War II veterans began returning home and entering the work force. The demand for mortgages increased and the Veterans Administration was given authority to guarantee loans issued by private lenders. This created a massive economic boom. Furthermore, when baby boomers started entering the work force, double income families became common place. They wanted larger homes and the demand for mortgages increased again.  By the 1950s and 60s most mortgages were 20 to 30 years.

In the 1970s interest rates rose significantly. Consequently, the mortgage market had to adapt and mortgage terms were shortened significantly. By the 1980s interest rates rose to more than 21%. But by 1998, interest rates had dropped to about 6.5% to about 7.0% and there was about $381 billion in outstanding mortgages. Then along came the financial crisis of 2008 in which housing values fell dramatically. Foreclosures skyrocketed and many people lost their investments, life savings, and even retirement funds. And by the way, those that were truly responsible for that financial crisis were protected by the federal government and they got to keep all of their money while so many others lost everything.

The Ever Changing Mortgage Market 

One of the most important financial decisions that you will make is whether or not to purchase you own home. Since only a small percentage of people can afford to pay cash for such a purchase, most people are required to take on a mortgage. Despite the fact that the mortgage market has been fraught with booms and busts, which have both enriched and impoverished many people, the mortgage still remains as the principle means of purchasing property.

As you can see from the history lesson above, there are many factors that affect the mortgage market. Many of these things are completely unpredictable and out of your control. The mortgage market changes on a regular basis and is constantly adapting in order to extend home ownership to as many families and individuals as possible. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of programs available that make it possible for people in nearly every economic situation to own a home. You just have to find the right program and choose wisely.

Consider the True Cost of a Mortgage

When you consider signing up for a mortgage, you have to take into consideration what that loan is really going to cost you. A perfect example is what most of us experience when we try to purchase a new vehicle. The sales person often attempts to tailor the payments to your budget and diverts your attention away from the “true cost” of the loan. Consequently, we tend to focus more on having an affordable payment. To some degree, we put on the same sort of blinders when signing up for a mortgage. All we tend to focus on is a payment that we can afford and the fact that we will finally be in a place of our own.

However, the more prudent approach would be to take a long hard look at what that loan is really going to cost you over time. What most people do not realize, and this was a valuable lesson for me, is that once the interest on the loan is amortized, you are continually charged interest on the initial loan value, not the remaining principle. Therefore, as you pay down the principle on the loan each month the amount of interest that you are charged does not go down. Additionally, this does not include the loan origination fees and other up-front costs of applying for the loan. All of this truly adds up to a very subtle financial trap that so many of us get sucked into including myself.

All of that being said, allow me to give you a real life example of how the 30 year mortgage can work against you. And again this is something I learned only from personal experience.

A Real Life Example

The last time I mortgaged a home was on a place in South Carolina.  All of my family is still in the southern United States and what I wanted was a modest home where I could live and work for part of the year and spend time with family.

That mortgage was the typical setup where my monthly payment included allotments for principle, interest, mortgage insurance, and escrow for property taxes. My monthly payment was about $1,085, which means I was out of pocket $13,020 per year. Out of that, about  $2900 per year went toward principle, $1,100 per year for property taxes, $1,650 per year for insurance, and about $7,400 per year for interest.

Since I was able to deduct property taxes and mortgage interest on my income tax return, that at least saved me some money by reducing my taxable income. This deduction totaled $8500 per year which means I saved roughly $2500 per year in income tax. Over a 5 year period that comes to a savings of $12,500 in taxes.

At first glance, that appears to be a good deal. However, look at what I had to do to get that kind of savings. Just talking in round figures, over 5 years I am out of pocket about $65,000. During that time, my principle on the loan is being reduced by $14,500 and I am saving $12,500 in taxes. Therefore, the total benefit for me over 5 years is $27,000. That means over 5 years I am out of pocket $38,000 for something that produces zero benefit for me. And this means over the life of the mortgage I will be out of pocket $228,000 dollars for something that produces no benefit to me. Yet in many developed countries this is standard market practice and thus is it the price you pay just for the privilege of borrowing money from the bank.

What is the Answer?

First of all I have to say that such practice are what I would consider robbery. You purchase a property for $100K and over 30 years you pay $300K. So unless the market value increases by at least 5 times then it really cannot be considered a worthy investment. Yet this is standard practice.

So, that begs the question of what is the answer?

I am not saying that mortgages are a bad thing. It does enable us to buy property that we otherwise would not be able to afford. Most of us cannot come up with the incredible amount of money that would be needed in order to completely avoid a mortgage. But, what we can do is be sensible about how we purchase real estate. Many of us are so compelled to purchase a place of our own that we go out on a limb financially and end up paying a big price tag for that decision. But, there is a better way to go about doing this.

The best thing you can do is take your time and purchase carefully. Live well within your means and save money on a regular basis. Budget yourself over a period of several years and save up a substantial down payment. Keep an above average credit score which will make the loan process go smoother. Prequalify for a loan then purchase property that is well within your means. Start small and build from there. Make sure you purchase a property you are willing to live with for a period of time in case the housing market takes a dive and real estate prices decline dramatically.

While all of this makes sense, that is not what most people do. There are many programs on the market that allow people to put up a very minimal down payment and qualify to purchase a home even if their financial position is somewhat marginal. But again,  there is a much different way to do this.

Some very good friends of mine bought their first place many years ago. It was a very small condominium. They lived in that place for years, sold it and purchased something bigger. Each time they bought and sold they upgraded. Consequently, they now live in a home that is worth over $2 million.

Some other friends of mine lived for many years in a tiny little cabin. Nate was a diesel mechanic and Dawn worked in the bakery department in a local supermarket. They consistently saved money and eventually paid cash for their first home. Both of these friends now live in nice homes and are prime examples of forethought and planning. Unlike what I did when I purchased the cabin property.

When I bought my cabin property, I did so without a lot of forethought and planning. All I could see was that I had the opportunity to purchase a piece of land that was exactly what I’d wanted. But I had to borrow money.  In the end, things worked out fine. But, life was really tough for several years.

Since I had previous construction experience, I was able to build the cabin without borrowing any money to cover the costs. For various larger projects that I was unable to do myself, especially excavation work, I saved the money and paid someone cash. Furthermore, the cabin is completely off the grid so I do not pay monthly utility bills.

But another thing I did after taking out the original mortgage is that over the first two years I worked a lot of extra hours and paid down the balance by 35%. At that point interest rates were lower so I refinanced. In fact I refinanced twice during the course of the loan and it saved me a considerable amount of money. By getting creative I managed to pay off the mortgage on the land in 12 years instead of thirty. Any improvements were paid for in cash. The point being is that there are ways to have you own place and not be in debt for 30 years.

Since I have lived and worked outside the United States a fair amount, I have seen relatively poor people manage to have their own homes by doing a variety of things. In many countries having a mortgage is not an option. So what people do is similar to what I did at the cabin. They purchase some land first. Then they pay cash to build a small home. They live with that for a few years and then they put an addition. Often times there are several family members that are involved in this whole process because the point is to have a home for the entire family.  The end result is that over time they end up with a very nice home, never have a mortgage, and the property stays in the family for many years.

Another thing I recently discovered is that some countries offer mortgages that are much more consumer friendly. For example, some banks offer what is called a “True Reducing Balance” mortgage. What this means is that as you are repaying the loan, the balance owed is reducing and the interest you pay is also reducing. So the interest you pay is calculated on the balance due which will save you a considerable amount of money during the life of the loan. This is similar to what happens with most automobile loans.

As stated earlier, in the United States, once mortgage loan interest is amortized, it never changes regardless of the principle balance that is due. With that type of loan it makes no difference if you pay extra toward the principle. You are still going to pay the same amount of interest. Consequently, if you purchased a home for $300,000, once you get the balance down to $50,000 you are still paying interest on the original loan amount. This of course is very beneficial to the bank but it pillages the consumer just for the privilege of borrowing money.

Another way in which consumers are taken advantage of is this concept of loan origination fees. These fees are designed to cover the lenders overhead costs such as reviewing and verifying loan applications, ordering appraisals, property inspections, obtaining credit reports, loan officer time and expertise, etc. First of all, considering the significant amount of profit a lender makes on a mortgage, you would think these fees and costs would be covered. However, in some cases, I have seen loan originations fees of almost $20,000 which is insane. How can it possibly cost $20K to review paperwork, order appraisals, do property inspections, etc.

With forethought and planning, and perhaps a lot of hard work, you can save yourself a substantial amount of money. You just have to be creative and think outside the box. Don’t allow our engrained financial system to establish stringent boundaries and dictate how you have to function. Don’t get in debt over your head and lose the freedom to live life on your own terms. There are so many different ways of doing things other than being constrained by mainstream.

My cabin is very simple. It has all that I need to be comfortable, warm, and safe. And it is paid off. Many of my friends live in much larger, much nicer homes, and drive brand new cars. They also routinely ask me how I can afford to take off for a month at a time and travel. It is because I keep my life simple.

I distinctly remember the look on the banker’s face the day I walked in to give them a substantial amount of money in order to pay off my mortgage. This person had a blank stare on their face said, “But no one does that.”

Admittedly I do have the tendency to look at how things used to be when I was growing up in Tennessee and Georgia. Things at the time seemed simpler and easier and were certainly much less expensive. For example, in 1965 the average price of a home was around $22K and the average mortgage payment was $92/month. Presently the average mortgage payment in Colorado is between $2500 and $3000 per month and houses are $600,000 and up. It is truly hard to believe.

One of the things I talk about most frequently is keeping your life as simple as possible. But many of us are so conditioned to conform to the norms of our society that we miss the opportunity to do something in a completely different way. We bury ourselves in debt because we think that is the only way to have what we want and we pay the price by willingly giving up our personal freedom.

So many people continue to ask me how I do what I do. Yet the answer is really very simple. I am not afraid to live outside of mainstream. I am not afraid to challenge the norms of society and do things completely differently. It may have very well taken me longer to accomplish what I wanted. But at the end of the day I am debt free and have far more personal freedom than anyone else that I know.

Living sustainably in many ways means living simply. Yet if you decided to start living a more sustainable life, that is not going to happen over night. It will be a process, one step at a time, one small improvement at a time. You are not going to dive in head first and wake up tomorrow having a perfectly sustainable life.

But you can apply some of these same principles to purchasing a home if you are willing to think outside the box. After all purchasing a home is one of the biggest financial decisions that any of us will make during our lifetimes. We shouldn’t allow that to be a financial trap.

Sustainability tip of the week.

This week’s sustainability tip has to do with food waste. The amount of food that we waste is the single largest component that takes up space in our landfills. Nearly 40% of the food produced is wasted by one means or another. Household food waste is a primary contributor to that bottom line. The amount of food we waste is enough to feed 2 billion people every year and yet people around the world continue to go hungry. We clearly have room for improvement. Of all the things we do, it is possible to reduce your food waste to zero. Make that your sustainability goal over the next year. Then share what you have learned with at least two other people. This is by far one of the most environmentally friendly things we can do.

When I purchase the house in South Carolina I still had a mortgage on the cabin property in Colorado. I went to the bank, filled out paperwork to prequalify for a loan. Based on my financial history the bank was willing to loan me a considerable amount of money. I then found a real estate agent and shared with him how much money the bank was willing to loan me. Then I told him to subtract 40% from that amount and that would be the price range where I would shop for a home. Consequently, I ended up with a nice home and a mortgage that was well within my budget. It was easy for me to put money into the home for improvements.

When I decided to sell the home it was on the market for less than 6 weeks. All because I did things a little differently. So the next time you go to sign on the dotted line for some expensive purchase, take a moment to ask yourself if you are about to limit your personal freedom and limit your options for how you truly want to live your life. If you avoid such temptations, you will keep things simple, live more sustainably, end up with much more personal freedom and a quality of life far greater than the average person. 

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 208

The Most Sustainable Workplace: Your Home

It can literally be overwhelming when you consider the concept and scope of our current global problems. The far reaching effects of our environmental changes and the challenges we face seem insurmountable. One of the biggest challenges we face of course is climate change.

While I do we believe we are beyond the point of easy, I also believe that our climate future has not yet been decided. But what we have to accept is that it is the result of the individual choices of each and everyone of us that got us to this point in the first place. And that is the very reason it is within the grasp of the individual to play a part in the solution.

So join me for E207 The Most Sustainable Workplace: Your Home

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E207 which is called The Most Sustainable Workplace: Your Home

In this episode I want to discuss the environmental, personal and financial benefits of working from home. The growth of the internet along with advancements in technology have made it possible for many people to literally work from anywhere. The effects of such a social movement, especially since the pandemic, have literally been felt on a global scale. I have had often said, it is the little things that make the difference. As you will see in this episode, working from home, even part-time has significant benefits.

During the early months of producing this podcast I finally got to the point where I asked myself if there was any one thing that I did that had zero environmental impact. After some research I decided the answer was no. Every single thing we do as humans has some sort of impact on our planet. But as you could likely guess, some things have far more impact than others.

How we produce our food is a great example. Nearly half the land on the planet has now been altered by one means or another just to accommodate agriculture. In fact, our agricultural production continues to be the leading cause of deforestation. Our carbon emissions is another example. Our indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of climate change.

While these are just two examples of the many things we do as humans that alters our planet, image what would happen if we significantly changed how we did these two things. After all it is entirely possible for all of us to change how and what we eat. It is also possible to greatly reduce our carbon emissions. Now we may have to get somewhat creative about how we live, but it is possible to change our lifestyle and significantly reduce those emissions. The focus of this episode is to give you one creative solution for cutting your own carbon emissions by nearly 50%.

As humans we burn fossil fuels for a variety of reasons. But what I want to focus on for a minute is our transportation. Total global emissions from transportation alone range from 14% to 28% depending on the country. But if you look at data on the top 5 countries in the world that produce the most GHG emissions, approximately 55% of those emissions are directly related to cars, light duty trucks and SUVs. So image what would happen to carbon emissions if we all reduced our driving by 50%. This may sound drastic but it is entirely possible. Allow me to give you an example from my own life.

A couple of years ago I took the time to analyze every single part of my life from the perspective of environment impact and sustainability. It was no surprise of course the impact of our home and the resources we use is very small because we live off the grid only using renewable energy. However, the benefits that we enjoy from such a lifestyle is canceled out to some degree because of how much we commute.

All that commuting is directly related to us living in the middle of no where. In fact, for many years that has been one of the biggest challenges for living where we do. We are always communing long distances.Consequently, once I figured that out, I decided to get creative and make some changes.

Since I do contract work with multiple hospitals, some of which are 80 miles from where we live, I decided to change who I was willing to work with and how often. By working with hospitals closer to home and utilizing the travel trailer to stay in town at times, I was able to reduce my commuting by 50%. Annette also got a new job which allows her a lot of flexibility including work-from-home days. Likewise, she reduced her commuting by at least 50%. After making these changes, I felt as if we were more inline with where we needed to be. Furthermore, with changes in technology and telemedicine practices, it may be possible for me to build an online practice and work remotely from anywhere. 

Now I do feel that if it possible for Annette and I to make the changes that we did when we live in the middle of the forest, it is also possible for a significant portion of the population the lives in urban areas, to make similar changes.

What if most of us were able to work from home 50% of the time? That alone would reduce the use of our automobiles by nearly 50%, which of course would have a fantastic positive environmental impact. Not to mention, a whole host of other personal benefits.

If you are not convinced then take a look at the statics on what happened to our planet during the pandemic. The natural world made a significant rebound simply due to the lack of human intrusion. So imagine what would happened if the entire planet reduced that intrusion by 50% from now on. This could be easily accomplished if all of us were able to work from home even just part time. So, that is my focus here in this episode is to show you the pros and cons of working from home both from a sustainability and financial perspective.

Benefits of Working From Home

Saves time

The first thing I want to point out is that amount of time you would save. At least in the US, the average one-way commute time is 30 minutes. That is one hour per day for a total of 240 hours per year assuming a 5 day work week. This of course does not account for the amount of time you spend stuck in traffic. Additionally, you spend time everyday showering, getting dressed, and preparing meals for work. Imagine what you could do with an extra 5 to 10 hours per week.

For me this is something of particular value because my average commute time is 1 hour and 15 minutes one way. Consequently when I work out of town and take the travel trailer I save an enormous amount of time that is used for so many other things.

Saves Money

Studies have shown that people who work from home save about $4,000 per year. Vehicle maintenance, gas, parking fees, work clothes, eating take out food, as well as other things can all be reduced or completely eliminated. That is money back in your pocket. That amount of yearly savings adds up quickly.

But, there are also benefits for employers. According to Global Workplace Analytics, most companies can save approximately $11,000 per year for every employee who works from home at least some of the time. And that can be a motivating factor if you are trying to convince your present employer to allow you to work from home.

Less Stress

Ditching the commute would certainly reduce your stress level. Less stress of course has additional benefits for mental and physical well being. The time you would save from not commuting would allow you to focus on other priorities outside of work. You could get extra sleep in the morning, spend more time with family, make a healthy breakfast and even get in a workout. Besides not dealing the stress of commuting just having the ability to focus on things of personal value also reduces your stress.

Improved Work-Life Balance

One of the benefits to many remote jobs is a flexible schedule. That means you can start and end your day when you choose as long as your work gets done. Having a little flexibility is invaluable for taking care of needs in your personal life. Dropping the kids off at school, running errands, getting vehicle maintenance done, or meeting up with friends all become easier when you have a flexible schedule.

Improved Health and Wellness

Most studies have shown that flexible, remote workers tend to be happier and more loyal employees. In many ways this is related to lower stress and improved personal relationships. Coworker and manager relationships also benefit due to the lack of distractions and office politics.

But working from home also has added healthy benefits such as:

-less exposure to illness

-More time for physical activity and self care

-Ability to eat healthier

-Option for creating your own comfortable work space

-Ease of caring for any health problem or injury if needed.

No limits on geographic location

If you are not limited by geographic location because of telecommuting, you automatically have a much broader range of employment opportunities. This is beneficial if you live in a rural area or a small town where there is limited opportunity. This also means you could literally be a nomad if you really want that type of lifestyle. Also if you have a partner that has to relocate frequently, you would be able to keep the same employment. Working remotely is also a great way to avoid areas with a high cost of housing. Additionally, you never have to live near a big city unless you really want to. 

Positive Environmental Impact

During the COVID-19 pandemic there were 3.9 million employees that worked from home at least part of the time. Because of this, the reduced carbon emissions was the equivalent of taking 600,00 vehicles off the road for an entire year. This alone showed us the environmental value of people working from home.

But beyond what happened during the pandemic,  all the people that work from home at least part time saves 7.8 billion vehicle miles annually, 3 million tons of GHG emissions, and $980 million in gas.

And to take this concept a bit further, if work from home employees make environmentally sound choices, such as adjusting heating, lighting, and going paperless, this potentially has the same impact on air quality as planting 91 million trees.

Sustainability

Working remotely also encourages responsible consumption, it reduces inequalities in the workplace, and it can promote the development of sustainable cities as well as mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Because most developed countries have a strong car culture one of the fastest ways to reduce our carbon footprint is to reduce the amount of time we spending driving. The effects of this was quite obvious during the pandemic.

Customize Your Work Environment

For me the best part of working from home is that I can customize my work environment. I can work in the quiet or play music if I want. If I want to work in isolation I can do that as well. Furthermore, I have several places on the homestead where I can sit and work depending on what suits me. Not to mention the fact that I can wear whatever I want and never worry about what someone else thinks.

Increase productivity

There are numerous reasons that telecommuting leads to increase productivity. A much quieter work place, less or more efficient meetings, fewer interruptions and distractions, less office politics, and no commuting leads to increased productivity. When done correctly, remote work allows employers and employees to focus more on what really matters which is productivity.

Disadvantages of working from home

Now despite all the obvious benefits of working from home, it is truly not for everyone. The same is true for being self employed. After 24 years of self employment I still have people asking me how I do what I do. Nothing is perfect of course. There is a downside to being self employed and working remotely.

It can be very isolating

If you are a very social person, working from home can be very isolating. You may be surprised how much you miss the workplace camaraderie and the interactions with other people. You also cannot discount the benefits of professional collaboration and the friendships that are made in the workplace. These things often lead to future opportunities.

Devoted space for a home office

If you are truly going to work from home successfully you have to have an area that is devoted to only work. Depending on your living situation, this may be difficult to accomplish. However, it is a must.

You have to have will power

To some degree, being in the office with other people can help keep you focused. When you are at home alone, it is more difficult to do that. Consequently, you have to have the will power to stay on track. Take my advice and try setting a timer like I do knowing that you have to fully focus during that 50 minutes.

Staying motivated is not always easy

If you happen to be an extrovert, working at home is going to be more difficult. If you thrive on face-to-face collaboration or impromptu socializing with colleagues, the solitary nature of working from home may actually hinder productivity. You have to be able to motivate yourself to work efficiently. When I am working from home I often set a timer for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break. When I sit down to work I focus and accomplish as much as I can during that time.

There are distractions even working at home

Even with working at home, there are going to be distractions. Pets, family members, roommates, people knocking at the door, things on your home to do list that seem more important can all be mentally distracting. Consequently, you have to set aside time devoted to work and only work. Otherwise, you are not going to be able to pull this off.

Difficulty sticking to a routine

You will find that the order you do things in at the office is different from what you would do at home. Finding a new order to things can be difficult. It is sometimes difficult to mirror the same processes you have with being physically present in the workplace.

Ordering food

While working at home does increase your opportunity to eat healthier, it is also very tempting to get lazy and order food to be delivered. This is of course much less healthy and costs you money. Do like I do and always have left overs that are quick and easy to heat up. Fortunately for me, because of where we live, no can deliver food to us anyway.

Boredom

Boredom can also be a problem if you work solo. Again, you may miss the interaction you have with your coworkers. You may miss all the conversations that break up the routine. So you have to find a way to relieve the boredom. For me, I often do some small little thing for myself for everyday that I spend working from home. Sometimes this is making my favorite coffee drink, cooking one of my favorite foods, listening to some of my favorite music, or just going for a walk in the forest. My best advice is to do things for yourself similar to this in order to avoid the boredom.

It may impact your health

Despite the obvious benefits of working at home, it has the potential impacting your health in a  negative way. This is mostly related to moving around less. The most you walk is to your home office and to your coffee maker. Consequently, you need to make the effort to move around and get some physical activity.

Summary

If you have been following me then you know that I have been self employed for well over 20 years. Not only that, a certain amount of my work can be done from the homestead. But being self employed or working remotely is not for everyone. It obviously has a lot of benefits but also some very definite draw backs.

Working from home can save you a considerable amount of time, money, reduce your stress, comes with obvious health benefits, and improve your work-life balance. Some of the best benefits of working remotely is that you are not limited by geographic location, it broadens your employment opportunities, and you can customize your work environment to your liking.

But as is always the case, it is the little things that make a difference. Often times we do things out of habit and never give it a thought, such as driving back and forth to work everyday. Most of us never think about the cost of that one simple thing. But in a 2017 report, according to AAA it costs 60.8 cents per mile on average to operate your personal automobile. If you drive 35 miles per day, 5 days per week, over 30 years of your working life, your total expenses are going to be almost $160K. That is a considerable amount of money that you could actually save and put to good use such as a retirement fund. 

Whenever I talk about living a sustainable life what I find is that many people have the impression that it will detract from their quality of life. This is one of the road blocks for people changing what they do and how they live because they think they are going to have to give up a lot of things.  However, working from home is a win-win.

It is better for the planet because one of our main detrimental impacts we produce is related to how much we drive. Reducing the use of your personal vehicle by working from home even part-time would have a significant positive impact on carbon emissions. Better yet, this is something within the reach of every single person. Each of us can easily play a part in solving the climate change dilemma. But working from home also has a whole host of personal benefits. However, as with most things, there has to be a balance.

To avoid some of the detrimental effects of working in isolation, most people achieve a nice balance with working part-time at home and part-time in the office. This is exactly what I do a great deal of the time. At times I will also take a job out of state and live in the travel trailer in order to get a break from the homestead. Once I come back I am happy to be there and motivated to take on any challenges.

The bottom line is that there are a significant number of things we can do as individuals to live more sustainably and work against further climate change. Reducing the amount we drive our personal vehicles is a perfect example. So, think about the possibility of working from home even if it is on a part time basis. It is an easy thing to do given the internet and modern technology. Having been self employed for many years, working on my own is not something I would even give up. Despite the drawbacks, I still enjoy the flexibility and personal freedom far too much. Consequently, it is something I strongly recommend.

Sustainability Tip of the Week

Now I want to start wrapping up this episode with the sustainability tip of the week which is just a short discussion about the benefits of sustainability. The benefits of living sustainably fall into three broad categories that include the three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profits.

Socially, people benefit because sustainability helps to improve quality of life, strengthen community bonds, and guarantee equity and justice for every single person. Our planet benefits because of the preservation of the environment, maintaining biodiversity, and reducing waste. The economy benefits through increased job opportunities, equal employment, and reduced expenditures for water, energy, gas, and other resources.

So to wrap up this episode I want to emphasize that so many of us look at our global challenges and think there is nothing we can do as individuals that will truly make a difference. But that is not true. It is the little things that make a difference. Working from home even on a part time basis has a host of benefits for the planet, for your health and well-being, and for your bank account. So, give it a try.

In closing folks, I truly hope this episode has been helpful and you will join me again next week for another episode. Until then, always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 206

How to Be the Best Version of Yourself

There are many aspects to the concept of sustainability and having a regenerative lifestyle. As you could most likely guess, the planet would be just fine without people. But without people there is no culture and no economy.

However, our modern economy has largely lead us down the wrong path. Consumerism has both consumed our lives and our planet. As we get closer to a true environmental disaster many people feel helpless to do anything about it.

But part of a sustainable life is being productive, being mindful of the impact we have and having happy life. The best way to accomplish all of that is to learn how to be the best version of yourself.

So join me for E206 How to Be the Best Version of Yourself

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E206 How to Be the Best Version of Yourself

Right out of the gate this week, I want to let my listeners know that I am going to change my  format a bit. For the last couple of months I have been starting each episode with the sustainability question of the week. I am going to change that to the sustainability tip of the week, which will be discussed at the end of each episode.

So for now I want to start out with the good news story of the week.

By now we are all familiar with the stories of extreme weather events. And those events in Asheville, North Carolina are no different. With 80% of the riverfront being destroyed, hundreds of roads, homes and businesses completely demolished, it will be decades of recovery if it ever returns to normal.

But, a group of people decided to give back to the community. Several big names in the music industry such as Luke Combs, Eric Church, Sheryl Crowe, James Taylor and Keith Urban packed the Bank of America Arena in Charlotte, NC with more than 80,000 people. Carolina Panther’s owner David Tepper, whose foundation already donated, $3 million to relief efforts offered the stadium pro bono in order to host the event.

The event generated $24 USD which is to be donated to hurricane relief efforts. Luke Combs, a well known country singer, who was raised in North Carolina stated, “This will undoubtedly go down as the night I am most proud of in my career. Being able to give back to the place that gave me so much.”

Events this large typically take 1 to 1/2 years to organize. This benefit concert was put together in three weeks.

So, this weeks round of applause goes to the hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina. 

You may laugh when I tell you that as I was writing this episode I change the name three times. I kept coming across new material that I thought was relevant which took this podcast episode in a different direction. You may also be thinking that I am supposed to be discussing sustainability topics. Consequently, you may be curious as to why I would even produce an episode about personal improvement and how to live your best life. 

If you remember the three pillars of sustainability are less formally known as people, planet and profits. As you have heard me say before, I think the planet would be just fine without the people. But without the people there is no society, no culture and no economy. A big part of having a sustainable society is having a culture of people that are happy and productive with a good quality of life.

Unfortunately, consumerism has slowly crept into our culture over the past few centuries. Businesses have grown into corporate giants with enough power to influence the economy and even the political atmosphere of an entire nation. While consumerism has resulted in advancements in technology and improved quality of life it has largely lead us down the wrong path.

Most of us now look at what is going on in the world and likely feel powerless to do anything about it. While I can understand those kinds of feelings, there is actually a lot that we can do for ourselves and our communities.  And one of the best things we can do is to become the best versions of ourselves.

That thought process is the underlying motive of producing this episode. Instead of running scared or acting like a deer in the headlights, we need to be happy, healthy, and confident in ourselves and in our lives. That is the only way we will have a healthy and sustainable planet. And what follows in the episode is a combination of personal experience and shared information from some smart people that coach others along to have a healthy and productive life.

When I was in my professional program at Colorado State University my life was extremely busy. It was common place for me to start my work and studies at 6 AM and not finish until 9 PM. Needless to say, with that kind of schedule, many things in my life went by the wayside. I just had no time.

While the lack of time for certain things was disappointing, there were other things that ceased to exist in my life that actually had a positive impact. One of which was network television. That was 1993. To this day, I do not watch TV.

After school was finished I went through an extremely long period of time where I almost completely ignored the world. But one day during a discussion with a good friend of about current events in Colorado, I asked a question about the governor. He looked at me rather strangely and said, “He has been out of office for seven years. Maybe you should think about getting your head out of the trees.”

This was the point when I decided that maybe it was important to pay more attention to the world. After all, I love to travel and maybe I should keep current on world events. Unfortunately, the most common way for me to do that is to check up on the news media.

That said, I asked myself one day of all the notable things that go on in the world everyday, who makes the decision on what we hear about? Obviously someone has to do that because it’s impossible to report on everything.  But a quick review of the news media easily reveals that 95% of what we hear is either negative or geared toward sensationalism. A perfect example is airplane crashes. Far more people die in car accidents every year than plane crashes. But, plane crashes are much more sensational so that is what makes the headlines.

But this is consistent with what I experience every time I decide to check in on the news just to try and keep track of world events. What I see is never ending comments on climate change, an impending volcanic eruption, yet another weather disaster, the best places to live in the event of a nuclear war, predictions on when a large asteroid is going to strike planet Earth, another mass shooting. So the pattern that emerges is constant bad news. And guess what, some of it is true.

Constantly listening to the news media has similar affects as the constant bombardment we get from social media. If all we hear about is bad news and the latest on tragic events, it produces anxiety and stress, depression, and the belief that the world is inherently evil and dangerous and we are powerless to do anything about it. Furthermore, such exposure fosters a pessimistic outlook, makes us cynical and distrustful, and we become desensitized to all the good things that go on in the world.

And since the great outdoors is turning into the great indoors, people spend more and more time in front of one screen or another. And since humanity is fascinated with tragic events and entertainment we tend to focus on social media, television, watching the news, or playing games.

The global average daily screen time is 6 1/2 hours. In some countries it is as much as 9 hours per day. This of course affects our view of the world and life in general not to mention that we are increasingly disconnected from the natural world and anything else that is going on around us. Imagine if you spent 6 hours a day focusing on your health, exercising or participating in your community.

It should therefore be no big surprise that the rates of depression and mental illness are on the rise. Approximately 1 in 4 adults are diagnosed with a mental illness in any given year. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that 46% of people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. Nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription medication.

But I do think the challenge for most people is that we tend to conform to societal norms without even thinking about it. As the old saying goes “You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with.” Consequently, we tend to do things and pick up habits that may not be in our best interest. This is especially true when it comes to social behaviors.

What can make things even more challenging is that we live in a society and culture that is extremely well connected. We are constantly bombarded with messages about who we should be, what we should be doing, what we should aspire to be, and how someone else is obviously leading their best life.  Consequently, we compare and despair, focus on the wrong things and go down the wrong path.

But what we do everyday, what we are exposed to, what we listen to, who and what we allow in our lives is all a matter of choice. We just need to make better choices.

A perfect example of this is what I do sometimes when I go to the supermarket or some other public place during the busy part of the day. Whenever I do this it always seems as if the majority of people around me are taking about their personal problems, issues with their neighbors, or their employer that they don’t like. In other words, something negative. And since I don’t want to hear this I either put in ear plugs or I listen to some pleasant music.

By doing so, I am the one in control of what I hear and experience. And this is just one of the things you can do to become the best version of yourself. And this leads me to my first tip.

Avoid the News and limit your screen time

Statistically 95% of the news reports are negative and 90% of the headlines are geared toward sensationalism. Because we live in an overly connected world if something unfortunate happens on the other side of the planet we hear about it 10 minutes later. Every catastrophic event, war, nuclear threats, tragic events get posted almost immediately.

You have to ask yourself whether or not being bombarded with such strongly negative input on a regular basis is a good way to improve your outlook and quality of life. How does this actually add any value to your life. And the answer to that it does not.  So, stop allowing yourself to be pelted with this type of negative input everyday.

The best thing you can do is limit your screen time and take a break from the constant negativity.

Track how you spend your time

Just like anything else, you will never realize what you are doing and how you are doing it unless you keep track of it and make yourself accountable.  If you are going to make a budget in order to save money, the first step is to keep track of your expenses. If you are going to cut down on your food waste, the first step is to track how much you are wasting. If you want to cut down on how much trash you are producing inventory your garbage and understand exactly what you are throwing away. So it is with your time.

Keeping track of how you spend your time will help you to cut out the things that are not productive. It will help you to achieve your goals, it will keep you on track financially, and actually save you money. If you keep track of your discretionary hours you will be surprise to learn just how much time you can come up with for more productive and positive activities.

Get regular exercise

The benefits of regular exercise have been well documented. Regular exercise will help you to control your weight, it improves your mood, boosts your energy, helps you to sleep better, and helps to prevent a long list of chronic and mostly avoided health problems. And it increases your chances of living longer.

If you want to look better than 80% of the population, then get on a regular exercise program.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

In our busy world of today, it is easy to become overwhelmed. We all have days when every thing in our lives seems to be going wrong all at the same time. Some days it feels as if we are fighting battles, fixing problems, and minimizing damage all day long. But the reality is that most of the things we worry about really don’t matter.

Your annoying work colleague will soon leave, if you are fighting an illness it will resolve, the noisy neighbors will soon stop partying. Keep things in perspective and consider  your problems and challenges as a learning opportunity.

Have a Positive Mindset

If all you have going through your mind is frustrating, angry thoughts then that is what you are going to get. Keep a more positive mindset and you will be surprised how what you wished for will manifest itself around you.

The well know Henry Ford once said “Whether you think you can, or you can’t-you are right.”

Control Your Actions and Reactions

Let’s face it, the world is a troubling place these days. People are stressed, worried about their futures and worried about the planet. But I am sure you have heard it said that it’s not about what happens to you but how you react to it. You can’t control the world but you can control how you react to it. When you react well to something, you control the outcome. Controlling your reactions promotes self-regulation, self awareness, improves emotional resilience and reduces your stress and anxiety. If you learn to keep a lid on your emotional reactions no matter what happens, people will respect you and may actually be somewhat afraid of you.

Educate Yourself

Be a life long learner. Take a class. Read good books on a regular basis. Try something new. Travel to a place where you have never been. All of these things will help you become more aware, open minded and help you maintain a positive perspective.

Too many people get stuck in the rut of doing the same things over and over again and accomplishing nothing. Don’t just beat your head against a brick wall and keep doing it because one day you expect it not to hurt because you keep on doing it.

As a way of life, adopt the attitude of continuous improvement through education. This way you can leverage the one thing you always control-how you use your mind to develop yourself.

Do What You Say You’re Going to Do

There significant, clear implications on your life  when you follow through and do what you say you are going to do. Keeping promises and following through with commitments and agreements affects your integrity, your reputation, and even your success. If you follow through with what you say, people will come to view you as a reliable person.

But, it goes beyond that. Doing what you say you are going to do also applies to your personal goals. If you set a goal stick to it.

The well known Jimmy Dean once said, “Do what you say you’re going to do. And try to do it a little better than you said you would.”

Start building your future

We all have goals and aspirations, sometimes for some pretty lofty things. But most of us push things off as wishful thinking and never follow through and make it happen. Accomplishing what you want takes time, commitment, and sometimes learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Sometimes you have to take a risk.

Ghost everyone and focus on yourself

This is something that most people have trouble doing. It is because as humans we are very social creatures. But sometimes you need a break from the rest of humanity and need to focus on yourself for awhile. You don’t have to compete with anyone. You don’t have to play games. The only thing you are trying to do is be a better person than you were yesterday.

You likely remember what I said earlier in this episode about a long period of time in my life when I ignored the world. I literally ghosted everyone. I had been in school for 9 years, I was working constantly on building the homestead and had numerous things going on in my life. I needed some time for myself. I can tell you it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

If you are dissatisfied, unhappy, mad at the world, and need to make some changes, ditch everybody and just work on yourself. You will never regret it.

Summary

Far too many of us get caught up with just getting by in life. We do the same things day after day. We perhaps work a job that we are not satisfied with. We never do anythings new or make new friends. Some of us practically never even leave the state where we live.

It should be no surprise by now that our planet is in trouble. The best way to make this world a better place is to be the best version of ourselves. So track how you spend your time so you can be more productive. Get rid of all the negative input in your life and stop listening to the news and limit your screen time.

Keep a positive mindset and don’t sweat all the day-to-day annoying things that really don’t matter in the big scheme of things. This is part of controlling your actions and reactions. By all means be a life long learner. Build your integrity with friends, family, coworkers and yourself by doing what you say you’re going to do. This will have many positive impacts on your life and give you the confidence to build whatever future you want. And if you hit a brick wall and are constantly frustrated with things, ghost everyone and work on yourself.

So, that’s about it for this week folks. I want to start closing out this episode by discussing the sustainability tip of the week. It is very simple.

Think twice before shopping.

As you likely know by now, everything we do has some sort of an impact. That includes the products we purchase. Everything we purchase has an environmental footprint, from the resources collected to produce it to the pollution emitted to manufacture it to the packaging that ends up in the landfill and finally disposing of the product itself.

You may think this can be prevented by recycling or composting at the end of a products lifecycle. But that does not prevent the environmental impact that has already been done upstream. But some of this can be prevented by purchasing second hand products, borrowing something instead of purchasing something new, buying a product with a lower impact, or simply don’t buy anything at all.

If you think you really need something, wait a week, better yet wait one month before purchasing. This will allow you time to decide if you really need it or to find an alternative.

Now in closing I just want to say that regardless of what is going on in the world, focusing on self improvement is something that is always beneficial. But it will also help you to live a more positive and productive life. So take the time and effort to work on yourself.

I want to close this episode with a quote from the well known actor Samuel Jackson.

Samuel Jackson once said, “My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t.”

With that said, I hope you will join me next week. Until then, always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 205

Rethinking Society: Are You a Consumer or a Citizen?

All the head lines we hear and see these days are about disasters, wars, new diseases, climate change, ecological decline, and anything else that has to do with how the world is coming to an end. And guess what? They are all true.

Truly we are facing some rather complex global challenges. But despite how difficult it may be for anyone these days to find peace of mind, I have truly found one particular concept that could change our society, our culture, our economies and bring us back from the brink of disaster. But it has to do with rethinking our entire society.

If you want to learn more, then stick around for E 205 Rethinking Society: Are You a Consumer or a Citizen?

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E205 Rethinking Society: Are You a Consumer or a Citizen?

What I first want to accomplish in this episode is to compare three radically different cultural values.   Then I want to bring this whole thought process into focus in a sustainability perspective. Once that is done I want to offer my opinion on which of these perspectives is most plausible when it comes to negotiating the complex global problems that we now face.

Sustainability question of the week

Is there something we can do to reverse climate change?  

Good news story of the week

This weeks good news story comes out of the UK. It is about how the Royal Navy returned 6 rare turtles back to their natural habitat.

These logger head turtles were apparently blown off course due to a storm. Instead of being in the warmer waters far south of the British Isles, they ended up in the North Atlantic. They washed up on the beaches of Cornwall and Devon and were rescued by members of two local marine sanctuaries who nursed them back to health.

Once fit to return to the sea, they were transported by the HMS Medway that was en route to the Caribbean for other duties. These 6 rare turtles were successful repatriated to warmer Caribbean waters.

So, this weeks round of applause goes to the marine sanctuaries in Cornwall and Devon and to the crew of the HMS Medway for their part in saving a rare species.

And now let’s move on to this weeks episode.

To start with I want to discuss an old proverb.

I’m sure that most of us have heard the proverb that “It takes a village to raise a child.” What this means is that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment.

This reminds me to some degree of how I grew up in Tennessee and Georgia. The community we were in was very small. All the parents knew one another. The neighboring area was very safe. In the summer time it was quite common for my mother to tell us to get out of the house and not return until dinner time. She was able to do this with no worries because all the parents in the neighborhood watched over all the children.

If we got into mischief we were disciplined by the neighbor parent the same as we would be by the our own. Then they took us home and we got into trouble a second time. So, believe me, it was not worth it and we tended to mind our manners.

The second time I experienced this is when Annette and I moved to Saint Kitts to work with the veterinary university. We rented a house out in a small village and lived amongst the locals. We were hardly there for half a day and people were already coming over and introducing themselves.

This village was a safe place for children. We all knew each other. Everyone watched over the children and if someone got into mischief we heard about it almost immediately. Consequently, when Erik would go out and play and we did not see him for hours there was never anything to worry about.

But, back to the proverb.  “It takes a village to raise a child” suggests that the responsibility of raising a child extends beyond the immediate family, involving a collective effort from various individuals and communities. This concept has its roots in traditional African cultures, where the entire community participated in the upbringing of children.

Now granted I can see that there would be challenges with this approach in our modern culture. And this approach has often been criticized. However, key points to consider are the following:

The point here is that this concept highlights the importance of community involvement in childcare. On the other hand I recognize that it may not be a straightforward solution for modern parenting but it does bring up some valid points.

But if you compare this approach to our modern culture you will quickly see there are some radical differences. As the size of our homes has increased the time that children spend outdoors has decreased. Most children sit inside all day in front of one type of screen or another. Most of us live next door to the same people for years and never even know them.

Instead of nurturing relationships we value our independence and accomplishment of personal goals above everything else. Our emphasis on individuality and person interests over communal relationships leads to a sense of disconnection and isolation. People in modern culture are more lonely than ever.

The widespread use of technology, particularly social media, leads to a false sense of connection awhile fostering a total lack of real-life relationships. Our modern pace of life and increased focus on work and personal pursuits leaves us with limited time and energy for nurturing relationships. Perhaps to some degree this is the result of increased urbanization. But once gain it reinforces a total lack of connection with your neighbors and the community where you live.

This whole concept of community is radially difference, and much less healthy, than a child being raised by a village. 

Now let’s take a few minutes to look at some of the key milestones and concepts underlying consumer culture.

-European colonial expansion of the 17th and 18th centuries led to the introduction of exotic goods. This stimulated new demands and altered consumer behavior particularly with the popularization of products such as coffee, tea, and clothing.

-The Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism created new opportunities for mass production of goods and services. Consumptive behavior began to take shape.

-In the late 19th century the emergence of a middle class and the practice of buying on credit enabled more people to participate in consumer culture. Big businesses began to emerge and advertising fueled further consumer demand.

-Post WWII saw a significant increase in consumer spending. Post Great Depression recovery and the desire for some measure of comfort, increased jobs and wages, introduction of television as a new medium, and planned obsolescence with the design of inferior products to encourage frequent replacement further encouraged consumerism.

-By the 20th century we saw the emphasis on material possessions as a means to achieve happiness.

In summary, our present consumer culture developed over time. It was influenced by colonial expansion, industrialization, capitalism and advancements in technology. The foundation of consumerism was laid in the 18th century. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the emergence of mass consumerism which was driven by economic growth, advertising, and even changes in societal and cultural values.

Some of the ways in which consumer culture has shaped our societal norms are as follows:

-Consumer culture has shaped our values and preferences with emphasis on individualism, materialism and consumption of goods and services.

-Consumerism has created cultural rituals and traditions surrounding consumption. Think of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

-Consumer culture has become a means of constructing your identity particularly through fashion, beauty, and lifestyle choices

-Consumer culture has created a system of social status and prestige tied to material possession. -Consumer culture has contributed to the emphasis on speed, convenience, and instant gratification, influencing social norms around time management and productivity.

-Consumer culture has also influences environmental and sustainability concerns with some people adopting eco-friendly habits

-Consumer culture has also influenced family and social relationships, it has shaped our cultural values, and even challenged traditional cultural practice.

Obviously at this point we has moved from a shared sense of community to one of individualism, instant gratification and essentially false identities.

Now, let’s examine a third concept after which I will put this all together. I want to examine the concept of being a citizen.

Citizenship has certainly evolved over time and in many ways means something different now compared to ancient times. But citizenship in ancient Rome was more than just a title. People were deeply connected to the state. Being a citizen was truly a badge of honor. Citizens saw themselves as part of something larger.

People took pride in their cities and in their nation. People also realized that being a citizen came with both rights and responsibilities. It came with accountability to their neighbors, their community, and even future generations. They had a duty to engage in the community, to show up, and to fight for what is right. They had a responsibility to improve the world around them and even advocate for others.

While you may think that these three separate concepts have nothing in common, they may actually hold the answer to some of the most pressing issues of our time.

It takes a village to raise a child encompasses some important concepts of collective community responsibility.

Consumer culture resulted in a transition over time where material possession took first priority. We completely lost the concept of community and any sort of social responsibility.

The concept of being a citizen is the exact opposite of consumer culture and goes beyond the concept of collective community responsibility as seen in the proverb. It reaches far beyond the local community and even encompasses the global community.

Now the question we need to ask ourselves is “Are you a consumer or a citizen?”

The answer to this question reveals a lot about who we are and how we impact our communities and the world at large. In many ways it defines our identities and even our role in our own country as well as the global community.

But as we live day-to-day almost all of humanity plays the role of consumer. We only focus on what we can get instead of what we can give. We value convenience and individual choice over a sustainable and regenerative lifestyle. Our lives are governed only by our personal preferences and what will bring us some measure of comfort. Furthermore, we have allowed our society and culture to define us as such.

We literally see and hear thousands of advertisements everyday. We are convinced that what we buy will bring us happiness. Even the communities we live in are simply cookie cutter homes designed as products for us to consume as opposed to a place where we live, we show up, we participate and make a difference. Then add in our capitalistic society that is dominated by profit motive, market competition, and self interest.

And what has been the result of this type of society?

The result is that there is another pandemic going on that gets little to no attention. Traditional family structures are deteriorating. We have lost any sense of shared cultural values which has lead to extreme political polarization and a “good versus evil” mentality. Instead of taking personal responsibility we assign blame.

Constant exposed to social media bombards us with unrealistic standards of success. Social media has shaped our ideas by promoting superficial values such as popularity and material wealth and possession over self reflection and inner growth. It promotes unrealistic comparisons, leads to decreased self esteem, and even fosters feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction. Excessive social media has even been linked to depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts particularly among teenagers and young adults.

Our definition of success and now tied to accumulating wealth, status, a high paying job, an expensive car, and other material possessions. We are constantly compare ourselves to other people’s achievements instead of focusing on more meaningful things such as friends, family, inner peace and personal growth. Who would have ever thought that a consumer society would lead to such far reaching, dramatic results.

We are truly at a  point where we need to rethink our society and culture because our current systems, our cultural values and norms are increasingly inadequate for addressing global challenges such as climate change, inequity and social polarization. We prioritize individualism and consumerism over collective well-being and sustainability the latter of which would be fostered if we all behaved like citizens. 

Truly there are a number of reasons we need to reevaluate the structure of our society, our values and cultural norms. For example:

Climate crisis: Our over consumptive patterns and continued reliance on fossil fuels contributes to climate change. We truly need to radially rethink our economic and lifestyle choices.

Growing inequality: The unequal distribution of wealth in our culture is increasing which undermines any idea of a fair and just society.

Mental Health Concerns: As I stated above, social media exacerbates anxiety and depression which highlights the need for a more holistic approach to our well-being

Social Polarization: Now more than ever we are seeing strong social polarization based on political ideology and tribal loyalty. This hinders constructive collaboration and the ability to focus on common ground.

Outdated values: Clearly our present cultural values are inadequate for the global challenges we presently have.

Consumer

Whether you realize it or not being a consumer is a passive role. As consumers we opt for ease and convenience. We pay for goods and services. We sit back and expect that our needs will be taken care of. In some cases, because of our culture, we even feel entitled to have anything we want anytime we want. When we do not get what we want we complain and point fingers. We tend to place blame instead of stepping up to fix a problem. And if all else fails, we expect the government will swoop in and save us all when nothing could be further from the truth.

Citizen

Being a citizen is an active role. Citizens understand that being part of a family, being in relationships, having friends comes with responsibilities. Being part of a community comes with responsibilities. Being a citizen of this planet also comes with responsibilities. Citizens don’t just recognize what is wrong they ask how can they make things better. Citizens do not take the passive approach of a consumer. They show up. They actively participate with their communities. They don’t just take what they can get they try to be a part of the solution.

What would the world be like if we all had the attitude of being citizens?

Imagine for a moment what our planet and our social structure would be like if we all decided to be citizens of the world.

-We would shift our focus from material consumption to sustainability.

-We would stop focusing on what we can get and start asking how we can make a difference.

-We would focus on personal well-being and growth instead of material gain and external achievements.

-We would value creativity, empathy, kindness and community building instead of focusing so much on individualism.

-We would try our best to have a positive social impact, promote equity and social justice.

-We would develop inclusive and diverse social structures where everyone truly had an equal opportunity and everyone is included in the conversation.

-We would embrace new economic models that prioritize environmental protection and social responsibility to include environmentally conscious approaches to living.

As you can see, there is a significant difference between consumer versus citizen. And this is the transformation that needs to happen in order for us to face up to our present challenges. We truly need to transform our economies in a matter of years, not decades. We need to ditch our outdated notions of success. We need more people that prioritize empathy, creativity and compassion.

The dominant story of society, that being consumer, is leading us down the wrong path. This story is leading us to poorer healthy, early death, obesity, anxiety, depression, increased rates of mental illness, social polarization, complete social disengagement and a global community that is now on the verge of an environmental crisis.

But we can change that.

The first thing we need to do is move from me to we. Instead of placing blame, take responsibility. We have to change the way we think about our planet and the environment. We are now paying the price of a superiority complex that has persisted for hundreds of years. We think of nature as something that is separate from ourselves, something to conquer and exploit. We think we have sovereignty over nature and we rely on infinite resources that are simply not there. Furthermore we devalue certain cultures and treat people exactly the same way.

We truly need to start asking different questions.

Everything we do has some sort of an impact. That impact may be on the environment, on your friends, family, or neighbors. We need to ask ourselves if what we do has a positive or negative impact and take responsibility for that.

Instead of viewing your community as a commodity to be purchased we need to ask ourselves how we can contribute.

We need to ask some hard questions about how we live, what we do, and how to make the world a better place. We need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable because progress is made through asking hard and difficult questions. 

A consumer society only focusing on purchasing power. We need to ask what we can do to take care of the most marginalized parts of our communities.

Instead of living for today we need to ask what we are doing to protect the planet for tomorrow. This is what a citizen would do.

Sustainability question of the week

Is there something we can do to reverse climate change?

Most scientists agree that our climate future has not yet been decided. Furthermore, most scientific data now agrees that if we reached zero carbon emissions, our climate would actually stabilize. But if we reached carbon negativity, meaning we are removing more carbon from the atmosphere than what we are producing, we would actually be able to reverse the effects of climate change.

In many respects, the attributes of a citizen is encompassed by the Seventh Generation Principle of the Iroquois Confederacy. This is a philosophy that the work, the actions, and the decision we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. This means that our leaders need to make decisions to serve the needs of the unborn voices seven generations into the future.

I want to close this episode with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi. “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world: but to change ourselves.

Now, are you a consumer or a citizen? The answer to that question will form the future of this planet.

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 204

What Can We Do to Phase Out Fossil Fuels?

We already know that our planet is in trouble due to the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels. Climate change is obvious. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. Due to warming temperatures Arctic regions are now greening. Shifts in rainfall is even greening massive areas of the Sahara Dessert.

The answer to all of this is simple. Stop burning fossil fuels. But the implementation of that strategy has far reaching effects on every aspect of our lives and that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable.

But despite knowing what we need to do, the production and use of fossil fuels in still on the rise. Why is that and what can we do as individuals?

So join me for episode 204 What Can We Do to Phase Out Fossil Fuels?

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E204 What Can We Do to Phase Out Fossil Fuels?

What I want to do in this episode is to examine why we are seeing increased production of fossil fuels even though we know that is the wrong thing to do for the planet and our climate. In the face of massive expansion of renewable energy sources we are still seeing growth in fossil fuel production. Why is that happening? What are the drivers behind that and what can we do as individuals to make a difference?

But before we get started with that, let’s talk about two things.

The sustainability question of the week

Explain the concept of a circular economy.

Good news story of the week

The good news for this week comes out of Australia. The Australian government has made a commitment to protect nearly 52% of its oceans. Over 10,000 square miles of additional protected area will be added to the Heard and McDonald Islands. Coupled with additional expansions of existing marine sanctuaries, this puts Australia on course to protect 52% of its ocean territory which if more than any other nation.

Under these new plans, the total protected area with roughly equal the size of the country of Italy. The current prime minister is seeking to establish a new environmental protection agency as well as set a high bar for the country’s commitments to an international philosophy of conservation governance.

So, it appears that Australia has set a new global standard for environmental protection, which is course is the way we will save this planet.

So, let’s now move on to this week’s episode.

It should be no surprise at this point that human activity has literally altered our climate on a global scale. Throughout the millennia, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have fluctuated to some degree but have been basically stable. That of course changed with the use of fossil fuels.

Coal was likely first used by ancient civilizations. But it’s use exploded in the 1700s in Britain due to a population boom and the invention of the steam engine. Coal production dramatically increased and humanity started the transition to a fossil fuel economy.

Prior to the industrial Revolution, CO2 levels were consistently around 280 ppm throughout 6000 years of human civilization. Average global CO2 concentrations are now at 417 ppm, which reflects an approximate 49% increase.

Certainly all of us at this point should be familiar with the term greenhouse effect. It is what keeps the Earth warm enough for us to live here. However, as we load the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the surface temperature of the Earth continues to warm above what is natural.

The increase in global temperature of about 1 degree Celsius over the past 150 years is almost entirely due to human activities. The most significant factor of course has been the exponential increase in the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 due to the burning of fossil fuels. But another contributing factor has been large-scale tropical deforestation which decrease’s our climate capacity for photosynthesis which removes CO2 from the atmosphere.

On one hand it is wonderful that we have made such fantastic progress which has changed the course of humanity and given us a better standard of living. On the other hand unless we stop what we are doing the course of humanity is going to be changed once again and not in a good way. 

You would think the answer would be simple. Stop what we are going. But we keep doing it. Despite all that we know at this point, why is the production of fossil fuels at an all time high

Fossil Fuel Production Rises

One thing to understand here is there are many factors that influence the global energy market. There is no escaping the fact that we now live in a global community. Energy prices are thus affected by that market. This is the very reason that some smaller countries had the forethought enough to build an energy independent country decades ago.

Why fossil fuel production is increasing:

As you can see from this there are a lot of significant things that come into play as far as a transition to renewables. Consequently it is not as simple as just turning off the light.

So here is the good news

It is quite evident at this point that renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind power, have become increasingly cost-competitive with fossil fuels. There are a number of reasons for that:

Challenges and Barriers

While this may all sound great, there are some very specific challenges and barriers to the adoption of renewable energy.

Furthermore, government policies and regulations have a significant impact on the competitiveness of renewable energy versus fossil fuels. For example, some of the things that favor renewable energy are:

But despite these challenges and barriers it is possible to run the entire planet on renewable energy with the technology we presently have in place.  We don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

In fact there are actually plenty of things we can do as individuals to support the phasing out of fossil fuels.

Supporting Fossil Fuel Phase-out

As individuals, we can contribute to the phase-out of fossil fuels by adopting sustainable habits and advocating for policy changes. Here are some concrete steps:

Lifestyle Changes

Consumer Choices

Collective Impact

While individual actions are crucial, collective action can drive more significant change. By working together as a community we can:

The bottom line here is that there are many factors that come into play in the global energy market. Additionally there are numerous competing interests that hinder any significant progress. A perfect example is that scientists, diplomats, researchers, politicians, and numerous individuals knew for decades that we were causing changes to our climate. There was a time when we actually could have stopped it. But we didn’t.

Now our best hope is to phase out the use of fossil fuels but once again who knows if that will ever happen in time to make a meaningful difference with the climate change we are experiencing now. NASA scientists have already stated that climate change is happening now, will worsen in the decades to come and the resolution of this will not happen in the lifetime of anyone alive today. Once excess CO2 is introduced into the atmosphere, it persists for somewhere between 300 to 1,000 years. Consequently, as human activity changes the atmosphere those changes will endure on the timescale of many human lives.

But instead of waiting for big business and big government to do something there are numerous things we can do as individuals to make a difference.

Sustainability question of the week

Explain the concept of a circular economy

A circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves reusing, refurbishing, recycling, sharing and leasing so that existing products are used as long as possible. Because of this, the lifecycle of every product is extended and we minimize waste production and the use of additional resources.

I installed a full solar array at the cabin 9 years ago. It has been a very dependable and reliable system. Based on what friends of mine were paying for electricity, my investment in solar paid for itself in two years.

Additionally, there are numerous other things we do to manage the off grid lifestyle. I truly realize that this is not for everyone but our environmental impact is 80% less than most people that we know. And we are not missing out on anything.

If you have been following me for awhile you know very well that I grew up with two working farms in the family. We raised numerous animals for meat and always had a large garden. Needless to say, our diet was mostly based on animal protein. Even now at the homestead we raise chickens and turkeys for meat and eggs.

Despite the many years I’ve been at the homestead I am still learning. I also realize that there are things I can change about my present lifestyle to make it more environmentally friendly. One of the biggest things that Annette and I are doing is going meatless two days a week. Neither one of us have the desire to be a vegetarian but going meatless two days a week makes a significant impact. And if everyone decided to do that one simple thing, we would literally change the global food market. Collective effort makes a difference

Our Earth and the atmosphere we have is resilient in so many ways. But we humans are not. We all know that we need to phase out the use of fossil fuels. But if the government banned the use of fossil fuels tomorrow our entire economy and lifestyles would literally fall apart. So it is not as simple as it seems. It is not as simple as turning off the light.

But at the end of the day there are a lot of things we can do as individuals to help phase out the use of fossil fuels. You just have to be willing to change. Yes there will be challenges and limitations to overcome. But all present evidence suggests that renewable energy is making a difference and it is possible to completely phase out the use of fossil fuels. If we do not, we will see yet another major transition in human history and this time it may not be a good one.

Remember, every single thing we do has some sort of impact. Collectively changing what we do we have an enormous impact that benefits the planet and benefits our future here on Earth.