Here are two actions that can boost preparedness.
First is producing more basic needs at home such as food, energy and water. Let's take a closer lookl
Food produced at home is little affected by disruption. A veggie gardens and edible landscaping, even on small properties or at an apartment complex can add to preparedness. Rainwater catchment from the roof of the house adds to a home's preparedness. An effective rain water system can include a galvalume metal roof and food grade storage tanks, the larger the tank[s] the better. The water still needs to be made safe for drinking. Home produced solar energy adds even more preparedness such as solar electricity, especially with batteries. Passive solar architectural design also adds to preparedness by producing space heating at home with no dependence on anything but the sun.
The second approach to preparedness is a bit more complex. Its reducing one's eco footprint. An eco footprint is the damage caused by using energy and resources. Our food choices, transportation, recreation, our very lifestyles have consequences on the environment and society. The more energy and resources a person uses, the larger their eco footprint. Damage to the environment contributes to conditions that can disrupt our own lives such as climate change and pollution.
We can consider the idea of a social and economic footprint as well. The more we consume, the more we contribute to an economic system that concentrates economic and political power in fewer and fewer hands. Social and political dis-equity also destabilize our society.
Reducing our eco footprints, both environmental and social can add greatly to our preparedness by avoiding behavior that adds to disruption in the first place. Important to add, reducing our eco logical and social footprints can free up time and money to invest in preparedness at home and the community.
Below is a longer account about reducing eco footprints taken from a book I am writing, “A Primer For Paradigm Shift.” The book describes social and economic transformations in scale from personal to society at large where humans fit within the boundaries of the natural world and society places a high value on bringing out the best in positive human potential.
Further below is a description of the footprint calculator. The calculator is a powerful tool for assessing our own personal footprint. When we know more about our own footprint, we can take effective action to reduce it.
Here is a link to more info about the Primer. Its all about transformation of our own lives, society and economic system.
Reduce Eco Footprints
Another core aspect of paradigm shift and be the change is to greatly reduce our eco logical footprints as individuals and as a society. That simply means we quit consuming so much stuff. Recall from above, modesty of lifestyle and part one, the deconstruction of capitalism.
Some calculations of eco footprints figure for the entire world's population to live like the average American, we would require the water, soil, resources, energy, capacity to mitigate pollution of five planet earths. The Primer takes that approximate figure from several sources, as a decent educated guess and point of departure.
That five earth figure is profound. Can you imagine yourself and the average American using 1/5 the amount of home, food, energy, recreation? Even more of a jolt, the well off with their multiple homes, boats, travel and spending would need to downsize far more. Still, reducing eco footprints can make life even better for all of us. Better by choice than by default.
A smaller footprint lifestyle will include a veggie diet, if not vegan, simple clothes and past times. At least sharing a car with others if not being car free outright. Not having a car by choice makes a statement, making time for community involvement.
Note, sustainability will mean the extinction of many products and jobs but it will create new jobs and new opportunities. More on extinct jobs shortly. Sustainability will require reducing eco footprints at scale from personal to national.
The assumption that the familiar convenience and affluence of middle class America can seamlessly become green and sustainable would be a mistake. The level of affluence and convenience most Americans take for granted are the source of or contribute to nearly all our major problems and downward social, economic, political and environmental trends regardless if our five planet lifestyles are powered by fossil fuels or electricity.
Besides the environmental downside of over consumption there is an enormous social and spiritual downside to the consumer culture. A consumer culture powered by electricity, as if that were possible, still requires over consumption and will produce, essentially, the same social, political and ethical problems we have now with fossil fuels.
Referring back to the section critical of capitalism, this five earth economic system cannot exist without waste, excess and external costs. It cannot exist without the distractions, celebration of vanity and social engineering that disable positive human potential and social uplift. Millions of jobs produce products and services that degrade the well being of people and planet while millions of other jobs exist to repair the damage caused by unhealthy products and services.
While electric cars mitigate point source air pollution, they do not offer significant social, economic, environmental or transportation benefits over fossil fuel cars. In terms of transportation infrastructure, they offer no benefit at all.
Capitalism and the consumer culture are at odds with be the change.
The Footprint Calculator
A big help for reducing eco footprints is to visit the eco footprint calculator. The one I like is from the Global Footprint Network. https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
The calculator asks questions about your lifestyle. For example: Food choices [local and plant based is best.] Transportation – [transit, walk and bike is best.] Car share is better than driving or owning one's own car. Home life - [more people sharing that house - the kitchen, bathroom, etc is best.] What do you buy and what are your leisure activities? Taking the survey brings up a lot of issues we should all be thinking about – our own personal consumption.
In chapter Be The Change, we will take a look at the answers I make based on my own close to one earth lifestyle.
One very important lifestyle feature the calculator does not address is, did you have any kids? And how many? That is a huge omission. Children are the beginning of new chains of consumption that have enormous impacts on the environment. Also missed in the calculator, questions about your own self production of needs like producing a significant amount of food, energy, bike instead of car, for example.
After about 10 minutes answering questions, you are ready for your calculation. Enter your responses, within moments, you are given your score – how many planet earths would be needed for everyone in the world to live like YOU!
Is this calculator the final word? We can certainly consider far more details about our lives than the brief questions from the survey. My own experiments with the calculator makes me think it is too generous. Still, the survey performs a useful task – giving us some context for the impact of our own lifestyles that will likely be a jolt to most who take the survey.
First is producing more basic needs at home such as food, energy and water. Let's take a closer lookl
Food produced at home is little affected by disruption. A veggie gardens and edible landscaping, even on small properties or at an apartment complex can add to preparedness. Rainwater catchment from the roof of the house adds to a home's preparedness. An effective rain water system can include a galvalume metal roof and food grade storage tanks, the larger the tank[s] the better. The water still needs to be made safe for drinking. Home produced solar energy adds even more preparedness such as solar electricity, especially with batteries. Passive solar architectural design also adds to preparedness by producing space heating at home with no dependence on anything but the sun.
The second approach to preparedness is a bit more complex. Its reducing one's eco footprint. An eco footprint is the damage caused by using energy and resources. Our food choices, transportation, recreation, our very lifestyles have consequences on the environment and society. The more energy and resources a person uses, the larger their eco footprint. Damage to the environment contributes to conditions that can disrupt our own lives such as climate change and pollution.
We can consider the idea of a social and economic footprint as well. The more we consume, the more we contribute to an economic system that concentrates economic and political power in fewer and fewer hands. Social and political dis-equity also destabilize our society.
Reducing our eco footprints, both environmental and social can add greatly to our preparedness by avoiding behavior that adds to disruption in the first place. Important to add, reducing our eco logical and social footprints can free up time and money to invest in preparedness at home and the community.
Below is a longer account about reducing eco footprints taken from a book I am writing, “A Primer For Paradigm Shift.” The book describes social and economic transformations in scale from personal to society at large where humans fit within the boundaries of the natural world and society places a high value on bringing out the best in positive human potential.
Further below is a description of the footprint calculator. The calculator is a powerful tool for assessing our own personal footprint. When we know more about our own footprint, we can take effective action to reduce it.
Here is a link to more info about the Primer. Its all about transformation of our own lives, society and economic system.
Reduce Eco Footprints
Another core aspect of paradigm shift and be the change is to greatly reduce our eco logical footprints as individuals and as a society. That simply means we quit consuming so much stuff. Recall from above, modesty of lifestyle and part one, the deconstruction of capitalism.
Some calculations of eco footprints figure for the entire world's population to live like the average American, we would require the water, soil, resources, energy, capacity to mitigate pollution of five planet earths. The Primer takes that approximate figure from several sources, as a decent educated guess and point of departure.
That five earth figure is profound. Can you imagine yourself and the average American using 1/5 the amount of home, food, energy, recreation? Even more of a jolt, the well off with their multiple homes, boats, travel and spending would need to downsize far more. Still, reducing eco footprints can make life even better for all of us. Better by choice than by default.
A smaller footprint lifestyle will include a veggie diet, if not vegan, simple clothes and past times. At least sharing a car with others if not being car free outright. Not having a car by choice makes a statement, making time for community involvement.
Note, sustainability will mean the extinction of many products and jobs but it will create new jobs and new opportunities. More on extinct jobs shortly. Sustainability will require reducing eco footprints at scale from personal to national.
The assumption that the familiar convenience and affluence of middle class America can seamlessly become green and sustainable would be a mistake. The level of affluence and convenience most Americans take for granted are the source of or contribute to nearly all our major problems and downward social, economic, political and environmental trends regardless if our five planet lifestyles are powered by fossil fuels or electricity.
Besides the environmental downside of over consumption there is an enormous social and spiritual downside to the consumer culture. A consumer culture powered by electricity, as if that were possible, still requires over consumption and will produce, essentially, the same social, political and ethical problems we have now with fossil fuels.
Referring back to the section critical of capitalism, this five earth economic system cannot exist without waste, excess and external costs. It cannot exist without the distractions, celebration of vanity and social engineering that disable positive human potential and social uplift. Millions of jobs produce products and services that degrade the well being of people and planet while millions of other jobs exist to repair the damage caused by unhealthy products and services.
While electric cars mitigate point source air pollution, they do not offer significant social, economic, environmental or transportation benefits over fossil fuel cars. In terms of transportation infrastructure, they offer no benefit at all.
Capitalism and the consumer culture are at odds with be the change.
The Footprint Calculator
A big help for reducing eco footprints is to visit the eco footprint calculator. The one I like is from the Global Footprint Network. https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
The calculator asks questions about your lifestyle. For example: Food choices [local and plant based is best.] Transportation – [transit, walk and bike is best.] Car share is better than driving or owning one's own car. Home life - [more people sharing that house - the kitchen, bathroom, etc is best.] What do you buy and what are your leisure activities? Taking the survey brings up a lot of issues we should all be thinking about – our own personal consumption.
In chapter Be The Change, we will take a look at the answers I make based on my own close to one earth lifestyle.
One very important lifestyle feature the calculator does not address is, did you have any kids? And how many? That is a huge omission. Children are the beginning of new chains of consumption that have enormous impacts on the environment. Also missed in the calculator, questions about your own self production of needs like producing a significant amount of food, energy, bike instead of car, for example.
After about 10 minutes answering questions, you are ready for your calculation. Enter your responses, within moments, you are given your score – how many planet earths would be needed for everyone in the world to live like YOU!
Is this calculator the final word? We can certainly consider far more details about our lives than the brief questions from the survey. My own experiments with the calculator makes me think it is too generous. Still, the survey performs a useful task – giving us some context for the impact of our own lifestyles that will likely be a jolt to most who take the survey.