Sustainable Development

Is it just me or is this an oxymoron?

When development is needed, it should be done sustainably, which is why I advocate for a GREEN BUILDING CODE in Vermont, (if you like the sound of this please leave a comment below) Montana, the United States, and Tout le Monde! But Sustainability doesn't come from development. It takes wisdom, humility, commitment and an opposition to the culture of "progress" to move towards sustainable un-development.

Historically, ecomomic growth has been the backbone of our country. It has made us what we are today from our meager, domestic beginnings before WWII into an aggressive, world dominating empire. This model of growth has provided Americans with a seemingly never ending time of plenty. This too, this too shall pass.

We are in the middle of the tragedy of the commons, Shakespeare style. Everyone's gonna kill everyone else and anyone left standing's holding a goblet of poison. Garrett Hardin's worst nightmare is coming true. It is a problem to which there is no technological solution.

Here we go, I'll provide one problem followed by two solutions. One of them will be the technological one, the other cultural.

CO2 outputs of transportation:
Hybrid cars OR Bikes, urban planning, mass transit, etc.

Food shortage:
GMO's OR supporting farmers who grow real food (NOT CORN) all over the country.

Attention Deficit Disorder:
Ridalin OR taking the kid into the woods every single day.

Communication:
Blogs : ) OR Just talk to each other.

I'm not saying there are no technologies out there that can help us. The acid rain problem was solved technologically for instance, but it wasn't the development of the technology that solved the problem, it was the cultural decision to use it on a large scale. The Ozone problem is over with, because people as a whole decided to do something about it. Peregrine Falcon's have returned to most of their range because DDT was banned and rehabilitation programs were employed.

Why is it that cultural solutions (that work!) to environmental problems seem to involve cessation of some practice, or the cessation of some chemical? We do better for ourselves when we simply stop.

This is why I think that the technology we need to use is actually one of the most commonplace devices of all. All cars have them, all computers, all furnaces, and all machines that use gasoline or electricity. I'm talking about an on/off switch. Let's get together and form a group of Sustainability Bandits that run around turning shit off all the time.