Sustainability, is an interesting term. Sustain really means to keep something going, but when I look at the world around me and how it is functioning, I have no desire for it to continue this way.
Sustainability is a term that has been promoted for quite a while now, to ensure that we maintain or improve the living conditions for human kind. Which of course relates to the way in which we use the earths natural resources and our over all impact on her.
My Garden
If the earth is not healthy than neither are we. It's that simple. But I'm not convinced that this is the message that is being promoted. Because although I hear people talk about sustainability, more often than not, they still do not really make that connection with nature itself.
Most believe that the earth is here for humankind, so in a way, we get to use her resources however we see fit, all within reason that is. It's important, that we feel we are doing something to ensure the future of our kind. I think that is what drives most people.
Thinking about what sort of world we will leave for future generations, if we continue to live how we live. So we can decide to recycle more, to use the designated bins provided. But do we actually know for sure, what happens to our waste, once we dispose of it, or do we blindly trust that the government is actually following through on their word.
I can't help but feel very skeptical, when most of them travel around in their private jets and create far more waste that you and I.
Foraging for Mulberries
Education is key, finding out what exactly does happen to your waste and choosing o reuse what you can, instead of throwing it away. Even better, just cut down on it. Buy your food and goods from shops that allow you to bring your own containers. Shop at your local market, where fruit and veg comes with no packaging.
Even better grow your own food, I think that this is perhaps one of the greatest ways we can make an impact. It helps us to be more sustainable, but it also helps us to more regenerative as well. Growing food organically, using permaculture techniques, that feeds and nourishes the soil around you.
I have been growing some of my own food for many years now, nourishing both myself and my girls and the earth at the same time.
I really believe that we should be living in a more regenerative way. Bringing more life to the earth, finding ways in which we can be more of service to her. Becoming an important part, of the life cycle within nature. Where we strive to turn the waste that we do produce, into something that feeds the soil.
Compost Toilet I build from pallets and reclaimed wood.
Using a compost toilet is one way. Using human manure to feed the trees on your land, or in the area you live. It is full of wonderful nutrients for the soil. The better we eat, the better it will be.
Using cardboard as mulch for your garden, is another way. Using wood ash to make your own washing detergent and dishwashing liquid. Both. of which of I have done. Finding ways to use the resources around you, to work with nature. To take the time to study the land and chose to build with what you have.
To forage for food, eating wild greens, which yes, will increase the amount of nutrients in your human manure. For me, it is all about giving back and not just reducing and reusing. We should be doing it all. But instead I believe we are being told to just take baby steps, towards sustainability.
Steps which are just a distraction from the real culprits.
Olive Harvest, for Olive Oil
When you strive to live in harmony with the environment, with nature, your whole live changes. It changes the way in which you see and what you believe. You begin to see with your own two eyes and not through the eyes of another.
Choosing to live in a way, that you know exactly the amount of resources you need to survive, where to source them and how to give back to them as well. So that you take and give at the same time. It's the natural way of living afterall.
This is my entry into the latest Kiss Blogging Ideas challenge from the wonderful Minimalist Community.
