Forever Earthbound
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How Much is Enough?

3/31/2015

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            Many years ago I read a science fiction story that takes place several centuries in the future.  The historians of the time referred to the 20th and 21st centuries as the “age of advertising.”  They were amazed and humored at how successfully producers of the era were at getting people to purchase items through glitzy razzle-dazzle and clever application of human psychology.

            “Just imagine,” they discussed, “corporations would convince folks that they’d be happier if they bought something they never knew they wanted or needed, just because those who would profit told them to!  Not only that, after a year or two, they convinced folks that the item they’d bought was an outmoded piece of junk needing to be replaced by the latest model loaded with new features.”  The mesmerizing power of commercial advertising lured the populace to buy and discard in an endlessly frustrating and unfulfilling cycle. 

        Science fiction?  Maybe not so far from the truth.  Consider this quote from the economist Victor Lebow in 1955. "Our enormously productive economy... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

        And enormously productive we have been, but at what price?  The U.S., with about 5% of the world’s population, uses about 25% of the world’s energy.  We consume and then discard (create waste) from about 30% of the world’s resources.  Obesity and diabetes lowers the life expectancy of today’s children to less than their parents.  Too much of a good thing?  Much of the rest of the world would like to imitate the American lifestyle.  But we would need the resources of 3-5 additional planets to do so.  (The Story of Stuff is an informative and entertaining short video about our excessive consumption of stuff.)

       As the world’s population continues to grow, it’s increasingly clear that endlessly increasing consumptive expansion is impossible to sustain. Consumption is not America’s highest ideal; we stand for much loftier virtues.  It’s time for a new paradigm.  Countless generations before us have led fulfilling, happy lives before the advent of the “age of advertising.”  We can create that kind of society, and we must because this is our one and only home. We are forever…Earthbound.  
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Pacific Northwest Ponderings

3/17/2015

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            I recently had the opportunity to dine with the two most beautiful women in the world. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but who could argue with this clearly unbiased assessment of my two granddaughters?  Visits with them are priceless because their homes in the Pacific Northwest are far from our little corner of Iowa Co., Wisconsin.

            Anne and Penelope are just beginning lives in a world that’s changing rapidly.  My travels got me wondering. What kind of world will these precious girls inherit?  If we are to thrive as a species, it’s essential that we maintain a life-sustaining relationship with the natural world.  But this isn’t always easy, convenient, or inexpensive.  Finding evidence of sustainability while traveling through the crowded airports, expansive housing developments, and the freeways full of vehicles was a bit of a challenge.  (Where are all these people going on a Sunday afternoon?!?)

            But the trip also revealed several promising practices.  If you’ve flown in recent years you know that airplane elbowroom is at a premium.  But if we average Joes are going to continue to fly, we need to do it efficiently.  Unlike flights years ago, planes at full capacity are now the norm.

            In Anne’s home I had a hard time finding an opportunity to use the trashcan.  Convenient recycling and composting took care of most throw-aways.  The re-modeling project at Penelope’s house introduced me to the Re-Store and the Habitat for Humanity Re-sale Store.  Used but very serviceable furniture, tools, and building supplies that would otherwise end up in landfills are available at affordable prices.  How about that cool new insulation made from recycled fabrics?  Its “R” value is comparable to fiberglass; it’s easier to work with, and best of all it doesn’t itch!

            The local press ran an article about recovery programs for “ghost gear” (fishnets and the like).  And a tidal-turbine pilot project uses Mr. Moon’s gravitational pull to generate electricity.  The tides provide a consistent, predictable, free source of energy.  What’s not to like?

            Penelope and Anne’s world is full of challenges.  But so too, there are many promising signs that our civilization has the where-with-all to design and incorporate sustainable practices to keep their future secure.  Because we really have no choice, Earth is their only home.  These two beautiful young ladies will forever be…Earthbound.  
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A Whys Pathway

3/6/2015

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            Seldom have I found cold-climate dwellers who, out of all of the year’s months, relish the coming of February.  Not that there aren’t individual aspects of the month to look forward to.  But for many of us the continuation of winter weather with only a few hints that spring will eventually arrive temps us to flirt with a gloomier outlook on life.

            That temptation came my way this past month.  “Why bother?” occasionally crept into my head.  “What difference will it make?”  Thankfully, these darker times of the soul give us pause.  And in those dusky intervals we dig deep to search for answers to these “whys.”

            Why bother working to hold on to a sustainably balanced world?
Crystal clear evening walks with the entire universe shining down… a riot of chickadees, juncos, and cardinals dancing around the feeders… the bite of winter winds on your face… a multitude of snow geese winging their way north… springtime’s smell of damp earth released at last from frost’s frozen clasp… an ocean teeming with life – each crashing wave making music with beach pebbles as it recedes… alfalfa and clover’s fresh-cut fragrance… maple leaves showing off an impossible array of colors before answering once again to winter’s call.

            These are but a few of the “whys” leading us down a wise pathway.  And we breathe in these simple earthy treasures.  They are among the soul-filling reasons to work anew so that those who follow can also intimately experience these worldly pleasures.  We’re reminded that the only home our children will ever know is right here; there is no other.  Our privilege and obligation is to pass on a balanced and genuinely sustainable environment because they will always be forever…Earthbound.  
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    I'm interested in the topics of sustainability and climate change especially in regards to our local area in southwest Wisconsin.

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