A thought for the day.

A couple of posts ago I wrote about how planting trees is a different way of thinking about time. The lovely Gina added this comment:

'I also heard this today from a colleague: http://scienceblog.com/59168/tree-and-human-health-may-be-linked/. It almost seems like a universe/earthly plea to plant more trees!!'

And this got me thinking about a plea from the earth.  
I guess today I just want to share with you a small thought.  Please don't think I am preaching when you read this, I am indeed sat at my laptop, tucked under a blanket bought from IKEA with my smart phone on the floor next to me.  The picture I have included at the top was taken on camera that no doubt used a ton of resources to make.  I am far, far away from the person I need to be in order to help save the world.  But, I am trying to change and incorporate a sense of future into my current actions.

I found a quote the other day which caught my eye so I hunted down the full passage.  Victor Lebow (a retail analyst) said that: 

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 satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption (...) The very meaning and significance of our lives today expressed in consumptive terms. 

The greater the pressures upon the individual to conform to safe and accepted social standards, the more does he tend to express his aspirations and his individuality in terms of what he wears, drives, eats- his home, his car, his pattern of food serving, his hobbies.

(...)We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing pace. We need to have people eat, drink, dress, ride, live, with ever more complicated and, therefore, constantly more expensive consumption. 

Okay, sounds bad right?  Well, then try adding this small factoid into the equation; only 1% of the total N. American materials flow ends up in and is still being used within products six months after their sale.  This means that 99% of the materials that are processed, harvested and produced within N. America  are disposed of within six months.  This means, that within a short six months, only 1% of all that effort, energy and produce is still around, not residing in a landfill somewhere (Hawken, Lovins & Lovins), (us Brits are no better by the way, we are catching up fast).

Reading it sounds horrific doesn't it?  And apparently, the only answer is, if we don't want to change our way of living and being that is, if everyone (is to enjoy) a N. American standard of living, then globally this would require three earths (Wackernagel and Rees quoted by Moffatt).  Although as the article quoting this goes on to point out, finding two other planets might be a little tricky!

Finally though, the pièce de résistance is guess, is that 50 years ago, when the US national happiness reportedly was at its peak, the national consumption was only half of what it is today (Pre-cycling website).  We might be seeking our spiritual satisfaction through consumption but it doesn't seem to be working.



Please, in the comments section, I would love to know your thoughts on this, good or bad, let me know what you think.

If you want some further reading try these

The Story of Stuff

This publication from the Greenroots Recycling Network