Sustainability

Lee Camp: Ads All Tell Us To Kill Our Future

December 23, 2020 Lee Camp, ScheerPost.com. Educate! Capitalism, Consumerism, Holidays, Sustainability

It’s the holidays. It’s the buying season. You’re supposed to run out immediately and buy everything you can afford — and actually much more than you can afford — because you can dump everything on credit cards and not worry about paying it off until later. And later won’t suck — the stores promise! But of course truthfully it will. Later will suck. Later always sucks, for most people. But no matter — go quick and get the brand new model of the thing you didn’t like the first time around. Better yet, buy it for someone else because even though they might get as little use out of the gadget as you did, they won’t be able to tell you that — so they’ll just say “Thank you!” because it’s part of the social code.

Indigenous Knowledge Revives Ancient Clam Garden Practices

October 23, 2020 Monica Whitepigeon, Native News Online. Create! climate crisis, Environment, Indigenous culture, Sustainability

La Conner, WA - Tribal communities are reviving 3,500-year-old eco-friendly practices to create sustainable beaches along the Pacific Northwest Coast. Teams of tribal members and scientists in the U.S. and Canada have scouted various locations that are ideal areas for shellfish, like clams, and other small marine life to nestle and flourish in what is referred to as clam gardens. The concept is to build rock walls near low tidemarks, which in turn traps sediment and sand to create terraces to cultivate intertidal ecosystems. These sanctuaries encourage sea creature growth and development in shallow coastal waters.

An Indigenous Māori View Of Doughnut Economics

October 14, 2020 Juhi Shareef, Resilience.org. Create! Indigenous culture, Maori, New Economy, Sustainability

Working in sustainability, one understands that context is key. When we fail to identify or understand the nuanced, complex, systemic and local context of a situation, the best-intentioned solutions simply won’t solve society’s most pressing problems. The first economic model I came across which offered an effective, modern context for our planet was the doughnut, developed by acclaimed economist and author, Kate Raworth. To inform the local context for sustainability, I felt New Zealand needed a doughnut of its own. I have been to too many meetings held to discuss issues affecting minority groups (Māori, Pasifika, women, children) without them at the table.

Today Is Earth Overshoot Day, Here’s What It Means

August 23, 2020 Mathieu Pollet, Euro News. Educate! Consumerism, Earth Overshoot Day, Resources, Sustainability

From today onwards, we have used every last bit of natural resources that Earth can provide within one calendar year and are now living on ecological credit. This year, Earth Overshoot Day occurs on August 22. It marks the imaginary point when humanity’s demand exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. The international research organization Global Footprint Network, which has been calculating this date since 1970, estimates 1.6 planets are required to support our population's way of life.

Call To Action For The US Transition Movement

April 1, 2020 Marissa Mommaerts, Resilience.org. Organize! climate crisis, Food and Agriculture, Sustainability, Transition Town

We are living in a Transition Moment. To those of us who are resilience-minded, this shock to our globalized economy and society, and its ripples in our local communities, did not come as a surprise. We may not have known what form it would take, but we knew it was coming. We have been preparing for years, and now is a time when the skills, the processes, and most of all, the stories and spirit of the Transition Movement and the many other community resilience-building efforts are so needed. Our focus on positive and practical solutions and our vision of a future that is simpler, yet more joyful, abundant, and connected, is medicine for the human soul in these challenging times. Humanity has a common cause, and a noble one at that: protecting the most vulnerable–both physically and financially–in our society.

Green Steel

December 11, 2019 By Charlotte King, Ipsnews.net Create! Development, Sustainability

BEIJING, China, Nov 21 2019 (IPS) - How Indonesian craftsmanship is undergoing a revival at the world’s first ‘bamboo university’. It’s fast-growing, flexible and strong. Standing underneath a bamboo canopy, it is easy to understand why people have been using this grass plant for years, in the construction of houses, bridges and scaffolding. Bamboo has several advantages in construction, including its height, light weight, excellent tensile strength and flexibility. Critically, bamboo is also abundantly available and low cost, making it a traditional choice of housing material for many poorer communities.

Manila’s New Mayor Wants Solar Panels, Rainwater Collectors For City’s Schools

July 11, 2019 Olivia Rosane, Ecowatch.com Create! Electoral Politics, Philippines, Schools, Sustainability

Manila's new mayor wants to turn the city's public schools into a living lesson in sustainability. Mayor Francisco "Isko" Moreno Domagoso unveiled a plan Tuesday to install solar panels and rainwater collectors on the roofs of primary and secondary schools in the Philippines' capital city, the Manila Bulletin reported. He said the initiative would raise environmental awareness in students. "If they are seeing these types of facilities, and it can be done since it's not even rocket science, they will know how to care for the environment," Domagoso told reporters, according to the Manila Bulletin.

Shareholder Resolution Demands Better Transparency Of Rockwool

March 10, 2019 Anne Meador, DC Media Group Resist! Sustainability

Danish corporation Rockwool International is tackling “today’s biggest sustainability and development challenges” by producing highly energy efficient, recyclable and fire resistant insulation products, according to its website and promotional materials. But shareholders Tim Ross and Rod Snyder think there’s room for improvement. The two West Virginians will travel to Denmark next month to present an environmentally-minded resolution to Rockwool’s annual general shareholder's meeting.

Why Sustainable Agriculture Should Support A Green New Deal

January 2, 2019 Elizabeth Henderson, Thepryingmantis.wordpress.com Create! Environment, Farming, Food and Agriculture, Sustainability

“For Sale” signs have replaced “Dairy of Distinction” on the last two dairy farms on the road I drive to town. The farm crisis of the 1980’s that never really went away has resurfaced with a vengeance. In 2013, aggregate farm earnings were half of what they were in 2012. Farm income has continued to decline ever since. The moment is ripe for the movement for a sustainable agriculture to address the root causes. Just as in the 80’s, a brief period of high commodity prices and cheap credit in the 2010’s resulted in a debt and asset bubble. Then prices collapsed. Meanwhile, ever larger corporations have consolidated their dominance in the food sector resulting in shoppers paying more, and a shrinking portion of what they pay going to farmers.

Why Sustainability Is No Longer Enough, Yet Still Very Important On The Road To Regeneration

September 24, 2018 Daniel Christian Wahl, Medium.com Create! Climate Change, Crisis, Sustainability

For many people achieving sustainability might seem already like a visionary goal that is difficult to reach. Yet, we need to do even better to respond adequately to the converging crises ahead. Just looking at the situation with regard to climate change alone, we have to now face the reality that we are in the midst of dangerous run-away (self-reinforcing) climate change. The window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic irreversible climate change is closing. In reality there are already many climate catastrophes affecting people and biodiversity around the world. Maybe we should speak of ‘irreversible cataclysmic climate change’ as that is what we are rushing towards if we do not fundamentally redesign the human presence and impact on Earth.

Does Humanity Deserve To Be Extinct?

August 12, 2018 Gilbert Mercier, Dissident Voice. Educate! Climate Change, Overpopulationl, Sustainability

Time is up! All humans, men and women, are guilty as charged! Guilty of abusing other species and the natural world we depend on; guilty, either by greed or ignorance, of abusing other species that sustain our own and driving them to expedient extinction. Wild life, big and small, is briskly moving towards a vanishing point. From the seas to the land and the skies, the global species disappearing act has reached a catastrophic and probably unstoppable momentum. Mammals are dying, fish are dying, birds and insects are dying.

How Costa Rica Gets It Right

May 20, 2018 Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate. Create! Costa Rica, Peace, Sustainability

SAN JOSÉ – With authoritarianism and proto-fascism on the rise in so many corners of the world, it is heartening to see a country where citizens are still deeply committed to democratic principles. And now its people are in the midst of trying to redefine their politics for the twenty-first century. Over the years, Costa Rica, a country of fewer than five million people, has gained attention worldwide for its progressive leadership. In 1948, after a short civil war, President José Figueres Ferrer abolished the military. Since then, Costa Rica has made itself a center for the study of conflict resolution and prevention, hosting the United Nations-mandated University for Peace.

4 Energy Cooperatives Leading The Way To A Sustainable Future

October 31, 2017 Lynn Benander, Diego Angarita Horowitz, Isaac Baker, alternet.org Create! Cooperatives, Energy, New Economy, Sustainability

By Lynn Benander, Diego Angarita Horowitz, Isaac Baker for Island Press - In the early 2000s in the northeastern United States, a perfect storm was brewing in which the electric utilities were about to be deregulated, activists were organizing to fight climate change, and entrepreneurs were experimenting with various renewable energy technologies. Consumers had few sustainable energy choices. Solar systems installed in the 1970s sat idle, with few solar companies still in operation able to get them back up and running. People in the Northeast have a tradition of direct democracy in governing their towns through town meetings, and barn raisings are commonly known as events where people come together to build a barn. Though communities are largely segregated by class and race, there are many places where people come together across class and race and get things done. It’s also a part of the United States where climate change is having a noticeable impact, not only on the weather, but on the forests, too. Co-op Power, launched in 2004, is a multiracial, multiclass cooperative movement. It’s a consumer-owned energy cooperative working for a just and sustainable energy future. It is also a decentralized network of community energy cooperatives in New England and New York dedicated to working together as agents of social, economic, and environmental change in their region...

Possibilities For Economic Evolution: Trade

September 24, 2017 Peter Weisberg, www.globaljusticecenter.org Create! Democracy, Human Rights, New Economy, Sustainability, Trade

By Peter Weisberg for The Center for Global Justice. Like a global vampire that drains the blood of one victim after another, so too does the neo-liberal economic system. Under the misleading name of "free trade," it drains the world of all resources vital to the life of the planet, including the value of human life. Trade—just like money, profits, and growth—has been viewed as an end in and of itself. Trade is, however, not the goal. It is simply a tool that we can use to further our universal goals of improving human rights, justice, sustainability, and democracy. I was asked to consider what a model of world fair trade might look like. My research revealed a common core of values among many if not most progressive organizations.

Female Equality Is Key To A Sustainable Future

August 31, 2017 H. Patricia Hynes, www.truthdig.com Create! Equality, Sexism, Sustainability, Women

By H. Patricia Hynes for Truth Dig - What the world will look like in 15 years depends also on our commitment to reduce substantially greenhouse gas emissions and achieve 50 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2030, so that her world remains habitable. However, we cannot get to a sustainable world without the full realization of girls’ and women’s rights, for women are responsible for providing food, fuel and water for billions of people in much of Africa and Asia, where natural resources are growing scarce or rapidly degrading. Yet many of these women lack the right to own land or to access credit and technical training to assure the sustainability of their countries’ natural resources. We will not get there in 15 years without women’s equality in decision-making because women in governance positions sign on to international treaties that take action against climate change more than their male counterparts. Further, there is abundant evidence that women care more about the environment than men and handle risk—economic, environmental and personal—more wisely than men.

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