This is my dream: To live as my forefathers once did - in harmony with the land that sustains us. A project to investigate and innovate the creation of a low impact home with methods of living in a form of permaculture designed to sustain my family and improve biodiversity. To leave the land richer than before and in doing so enable others to do so.
10 Steps towards not drowning in stuff
Posted 15/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
I am rather assuming that you have seen Annie Leonard'sthe story of stuff (if not you might want to). One thing it does not give is any answers - it just raises the questions. Annie Leonard says that has no intention of offering 10 steps to involvement (as requested in the video below). However, I am.10 Things you can do to undo the damage.
(it's not what you think).
1. Get knowledge and with that knowledge ask the hard questions. Do you know all the chemical ingredients of battery? how many are toxic, where are they sourced, where are your batteries made and by whom. Enquire as to who paid the externalised cost of your product and refuse to purchase where the ethics are grey.
2. Publish your findings online. Publish them offline too. email, post and fax them to everyone you know. The more information that is available the better informed we can become and therefore the better we can challenge the culture
3. Be prepared to pay more for the same products and services in order to avoid adding to the problem. When you learn that ABC Batteries have a lower standard of worker safety or more and deadlier chemicals than say 123 Batteries you are going to need to vote with your wallet.
4. Be unfashionable. Much of the stuff industry is driven by making you keep up with the changing times. Pick a style and stick to it. You will be laughed at but do it anyway.
5. Rethink your lifestyle. How much stuff that you have do you use or need? What can be given to others, sold on, recycled or mended to do another job?
Example: Do you need to upgrade your PC this year? Consider Open Source programs that might be less system intensive and can be downloaded for free (less packaging, no lorries etc). Open Source Windows (dot org), Open Source for Windows Project and This free software list all detail software that could meet that need without needing upgrades and payouts.
6. Redress your attitudes. To change the way we consume things we are going to need to change the culture that consumes. To impact a culture you must first address your own attitudes. Use and dispose is no longer acceptable - to make the change you are going to have to address every aspect of your life. That could mean not getting takeaway, buying local produce only and even learning to fix your own clothes. It could also mean that some clothes and styles are incompatible with your new lifestyle.
7. Redefine what defines you. We are primarily defined by what we buy, what we have and what we do. If you are defined by your car - sell it and if you need one buy a cheaper, older, less shiny and more fuel efficient car with a smaller engine.
8. Use less stuff. Come on this should be obvious - we consume more stuff than we have planets able to sustain the consumption. Consume less as an individual and you have less to throw away, less through-put of stuff and less financial gain for industry to provide it to you.
9. Become active. Participate in local allotment schemes, recycling schemes, protests or anything else. Having redefined yourself set out to redefine the world around you.
10. Encourage others to follow the same path - to think and question and learn and then be prepared to pay the personal and social costs of change. Do not think you can compel others to do what you have yet to do.
This year I will attempt the impossible - subscribe so that you do not miss it.
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