“We are acting ecologically in the same way as financial institutions have been behaving economically — seeking immediate gratification without due regard to consequences“
–Zoological Society’s Jonathan Loh.
The article linked above covers a lot of ground, the basis being that: The United States and China each use up about a fifth of total global biocapacity, but US per capita consumption is much higher. If everyone in the world lived the way Americans do, it would take almost four-and-a-half planet Earths to sustain global consumption habits.
Aptly named [The Ecological Credit Crunch], the article reminds us that we are approaching an ecological disaster – if we continue to act this way we will be more hard-pressed than we can imagine to grow the food and extract the resources we need to live.
One contributing problem may be our disposition to a certain “deserved” comfort, grounds which I have covered elsewhere. For one, our view towards prosperity and consumption may finally be changing. But it will take time.
I will be the first to admit that I have been distracted of late by the apparent global financial meltdown. I’m near-obsessed with the past actions of banks, lenders and financial groups, stock market movement, and have been neglecting to study and read up on environmental change. That’s not to say I’m not involved – being in school and at work in the sector – but I could do so much more.
…moving beyond regrets: it’s about baby steps, and like financial responsibility, not acting so rich – especially towards our resources.
1) Slow the consumption, save your money. More than ever as we see the need to preserve our funds and stay out of debt (to become the North American norm, hopefully) producers and advertisers pushing dreams on you will fail. This is what we need. Example: we are dreadfully connected to personal vehicles, this we know. Treat our land like we’re short on it.
2) View the environment as an integral part of our lives, not just something that we should probably care about.
3) Cities are ecosystems too; they create their own watersheds, microclimates, and have sustainability issues. Unlike nature though, they are not self-repairing.
There are countless other little things we could all do to be more aware and active in preserving our land, and it all starts with observing what is below our feet. Importantly, considering resources, we are the market – the less we consume, the less they produce.
