Friday, October 24, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Speaker: John de Graaf on Sustainability
I listened to a great speaker today on sustainability. What is sustainability anyway? Well it does not always completely revolve around environmental issues, it can encompass a multitude of meanings. One that I grasped from de Graaf was that we Americans are less sustainable per acre than the average human. We are amongst the unhealthiest nations, and are the unhealthiest rich nation in the world. We are too fast paced, too impatient, and too demanding. We work too much and are more unhappy than most. We, as women are 50% more likely to be depressed than most other women in the world, and men are 30% more likely to have heart disease than most other men in the world.
I was amazed at how much information is right in front of us, but we fail to see the signs. There are many ways that we can slow down our lives, but we thrive for innovation and speed. If the average american just took time to spend with their family, stopped rushing through life, and stopped living beyond our means then we might live a little longer. It is shown that yes, compared to a European country, we do have more, we work longer, and we are more innovative; but at what cost? We are living to work, rather than working to live! We are trying to have the biggest and the best, but are not caring to look at what it is costing us...it is costing us our health.
Ever wonder why we pay so much for healthcare, we americans are health risks! We spend 50% of the WORLD budget in healthcare, but are a mere 4% of the population. We are killing ourselves in our efforts to out do everyone else. Why do you have to have the biggest or the best? Why does your house have to be the biggest on the block? Why do you have to have the biggest and the best car? Why are we in such a hurry to get places, or to do things? We are rushing through our lives so much that we are actually missing our lives altogether!
It is proven that since 1996 we as americans have more people file for bankruptcy than graduate from college. For the last 12 years, with increases in graduate rates, we still have more people in debt and filing for bankruptcy. We are a broken nation, economically and physically. This statistic has been this way one other time in our history, and that was the Great Depression! So what really can we say for our economic status now? It was said that we as humans have an ecologic foot print. This is in relation to our consumption rates and our trash rates. We americans have a 25 acre per human ecologic foot print, this means that it takes 25 acres a person to sustain our living right now. If this were constant for the world, then we would need 4 more planets to sustain our race! We are using too much and wasting even more!
Try to stop for a moment, exercise, live a little! Take a job for less money to have more time. Life is not about having the best, but about being "the best you" you can be! Be healthier, more active; but slow down! Decrease the stress in your life. You can decrease your stress levels by driving a little slower, taking your time and having social communication with others. It is shown that americans become more depressed because we have fewer social correspondants. We have but 2-4 people we can call upon to share our intimate secrets and lives with. We would be a happier people if we opened up and had better communication with others. Branch out, meet people, have faith, and communicate.
It also helps to be environmentally cautious. Whats best for the environment varies from person to person, but over all the theory is the same. Don't litter, use less resources, walk more or ride a bike, and be healthy! We can only help ourselves, noone else is going to do it for us. I highly suggest you look up John de Graaf. He has written several books and made several films dealing with sustainability. I think this is a great resource for starting or continuing research on this topic.
I was amazed at how much information is right in front of us, but we fail to see the signs. There are many ways that we can slow down our lives, but we thrive for innovation and speed. If the average american just took time to spend with their family, stopped rushing through life, and stopped living beyond our means then we might live a little longer. It is shown that yes, compared to a European country, we do have more, we work longer, and we are more innovative; but at what cost? We are living to work, rather than working to live! We are trying to have the biggest and the best, but are not caring to look at what it is costing us...it is costing us our health.
Ever wonder why we pay so much for healthcare, we americans are health risks! We spend 50% of the WORLD budget in healthcare, but are a mere 4% of the population. We are killing ourselves in our efforts to out do everyone else. Why do you have to have the biggest or the best? Why does your house have to be the biggest on the block? Why do you have to have the biggest and the best car? Why are we in such a hurry to get places, or to do things? We are rushing through our lives so much that we are actually missing our lives altogether!
It is proven that since 1996 we as americans have more people file for bankruptcy than graduate from college. For the last 12 years, with increases in graduate rates, we still have more people in debt and filing for bankruptcy. We are a broken nation, economically and physically. This statistic has been this way one other time in our history, and that was the Great Depression! So what really can we say for our economic status now? It was said that we as humans have an ecologic foot print. This is in relation to our consumption rates and our trash rates. We americans have a 25 acre per human ecologic foot print, this means that it takes 25 acres a person to sustain our living right now. If this were constant for the world, then we would need 4 more planets to sustain our race! We are using too much and wasting even more!
Try to stop for a moment, exercise, live a little! Take a job for less money to have more time. Life is not about having the best, but about being "the best you" you can be! Be healthier, more active; but slow down! Decrease the stress in your life. You can decrease your stress levels by driving a little slower, taking your time and having social communication with others. It is shown that americans become more depressed because we have fewer social correspondants. We have but 2-4 people we can call upon to share our intimate secrets and lives with. We would be a happier people if we opened up and had better communication with others. Branch out, meet people, have faith, and communicate.
It also helps to be environmentally cautious. Whats best for the environment varies from person to person, but over all the theory is the same. Don't litter, use less resources, walk more or ride a bike, and be healthy! We can only help ourselves, noone else is going to do it for us. I highly suggest you look up John de Graaf. He has written several books and made several films dealing with sustainability. I think this is a great resource for starting or continuing research on this topic.
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