Sustainable Lifestyles
If humanity continues to burn fossil fuels and overuse earth’s finite resources, climate and ecological breakdown will become increasingly severe and dangerous. Especially since the speed of global warming could be accelerating.
It’s important that we plan for worst-case scenario and learn how to grow crops, raise livestock, and self-sustain as much as possible in case the global food chain or electric grid begins to falter or fail. Even if we avoid collapse, self-sustaining and living simply and in harmony with Earth and other species is a positive step towards a healthier and more sustainable life and planet.
Our current lifestyle and economic system are deeply irrational, disregarding and destroying other species and ecosystems that we rely on for our own safety, health, and survival.
Since we’ve lived in a period of relative climate stability, the idea of collapse may feel unrealistic and unlikely. But throughout history, civilizations have repeatedly collapsed because of the over-use of resources and environmental destruction. The powerful continued on with business-as-usual, overstepping environmental boundaries, ultimately rendering that area increasingly difficult or impossible to habitate and resulting in mass migrations. This is what’s happening now, but on a global scale.
The easiest, most realistic way to self-sustain is to live in or near a community that grows food and meets their basic survival needs without relying on external systems, including the global food supply chain and the electric grid. Self-sustaining communities farm and build shelters that are powered by solar, geothermal, or other renewable energy sources. Self-sustaining alone or with a small family is also possible, but requires more labor.
A self-sustaining lifestyle includes growing vegetables, collecting rainwater, raising chickens, installing solar panels, learning how to sew, foraging for food, preserving food, beekeeping, eliminating waste, closed loop systems, and more. Examples of self-sustaining lifestyles include simple living, food storage, homesteading, permaculture, off-the-grid, survivalism, and the back-to-the-land movement.
Permaculture
Permaculture is the philosophy of working with, rather than against nature. It’s a thoughtful approach to working with the local plants, land, soil, insects, animals, and climate in a deliberate way that meets human needs while simultaneously protecting local ecosystems.
World Water Reserve, Top 13 Online Permaculture Design Courses
Permaculture Research Institute, What is Permaculture ?
Permaculture Principles, Permaculture Principles
Homesteading
Homesteading is characterized by subsistence agriculture, food preservation, and may involve small scale production of textiles, clothing, and crafts for household use or sale.
Farmsteading
Farmsteading is living on a homestead while running a small business selling surplus food.
Countryside, The Truth About Farmsteading
Off the Grid
Off-grid means living without municipal electricity, water, gas, and sewer. Off-grid shelters rely on their own energy sources - usually solar, wind, geothermal, or battery power and have private wells for water.
Simple Living
Simple living is about slowing down, doing less, and scaling back on the amount of goods we own and waste we produce. For some, it also includes cutting back and relying less on technology.
Simple Living Toolkit, Simple Living Strategies to Help the Environment
Eco-communities
There are eco-communities around the globe that enable people to join together in order to live a sustainable life that values and protects the natural world.
Eco-communities are often referred to as intentional communities, but they aren’t the same. Intentional communities normally practice some sustainability while eco-communities devote all of their time and energy to self-sustaining and environmental protection.
Global Ecovillage Network, Ecovillages
Foundation for Intentional Communities, Find Intentional Communities
More Reading & Resources
Sustainable living resource list
Follow @stop_fossil_fue on Twitter and learn about her self-sufficiency lifestyle.