Our Natural Accounts Run Red

Today is the official day of Earth Overshoot: the first day of the year our natural capital spending is in the red. This type of natural debt is far more destructive than its monetary counterpart (natural debt meaning debt owed of natural capital, not a debt that is natural – there is no such thing). Instead of being able to pay back this loan, we’re actually making it harder to pay our bills next year and the year after.

Overshoot is a term used often by biologists to describe a population that consumes more than the system can support. This could be a pack of grey wolves in the Northern Territories that is eating more deer than can possible be born and grow within the year. What does that mean? With less deer this year to breed, there will be less deer next year to eat. The deer the wolves eat next year will deplete their reserve even further. Eventually no deer will be around to eat and the wolves will starve.

We’re doing the same thing today with the Earth. As the Global Footprint Network puts it,

“For most of human history, humanity has been able to live off of nature’s interest – consuming resources and producing carbon dioxide at a rate lower than what the planet was able to regenerate and reabsorb each year.

But approximately three decades ago, we crossed a critical threshold, and the rate of human demand for ecological services began to outpace the rate at which nature could provide them. This gap between demand and supply – known as ecological overshoot – has grown steadily each year. It now takes one year and six months to regenerate the resources that humanity requires in one year.“

The bummer here is that we can’t migrate to a new territory: there’s only one Earth. There will only ever be one Earth. One Planet. That’s how much we’ve been given, best we figure out how to use it well. We need to create a sustainable scale to our society and economy.

Maxed Out: Earth Doesn't Have Give Out Credit

Overshoot is directly related to carrying capacity – and biologists know that when a population consumes more than the system can renew, this overshoot often leads to a mass die-off.  We’re already watching the most massive extinction since the dinosaurs, our biological diversity is dwindling at unheard-of rates. Perhaps this should be seen as a warning to our own existence? After all, we are part of nature.

Celebrate Earth Overshoot Day by donating your car and buying a bike, calling your congressman, writing the president, trading your oil company job for a green job, building resiliency in your local community and supporting your local economy. Have a great anti-Holiday!

See my cross-post on Post Growth and out my guest post on Green Growth Cascadia about Earth Overshoot Day. Image Credits: Global Footprint Network.

Whether you’re a twitter follower or not, I tend to put a lot of articles up on there. Something like 3-15 a day. Micro-blogging they call it. Most of my tweets run with a hashtag or two: #neweconomy, #postgrowth, #steadystate, et cetera. Once upon a time it was a place for me to store for later use articles I thought interesting. Today it is a way to further the message and gaining readers for this blog and Post Growth. One twitter follower asked me recently what blogs I follow. Well….

Below is a list of the blogs I am currently following that I think give a wide array of articles on topics related to a sustainable society, economy and way of life. This is a fairly long list, so I suggest you get yourself a feed reader and have the articles sent to you in one location – I love google reader for this – or follow me on twitter for updates on articles I find especially pertinent. I wanted to write out a short description of each one, but realized after I compiled them all in one place that task would have taken me forever, so I encourage you to check them out on your own:

Anyone have others to suggest? I always love to add new blogs to my reading list!

Bicycling is something I have always enjoyed. The truth is, however, I’ve never been a die-hard bicyclist so much as an occasional rider who liked the idea of riding more sometime in down the line. Well, I have been working on changing my envy into action lately. This is bike to work month, and for those of you who don’t read the occasional posts on my personal site, I have lately been writing more about bicycling and events as I get more into it.

Encouraging bicycling is important. I think it is an important part of our transitioning to a more sustainable society. Inefficient, fossil fuel powered transportation is a huge blight on our planet and accounts for upwards of 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions (depending on your source, usually reported as around a third). Part of our mission should include creating a bicycling network between our cities and states. Now, you might think, “it’s hard enough to bike the few miles to work, let alone the 300 miles to another city!”

True, it may not be for everyone (that’s where trains, high speed rail, and electric buses would come). However, providing the means for this type of travel, be it for hardcore adventurists or more laid back vacationists, furthers the possibilities for cyclists and raises awareness of bicycling as a safe, reliable, efficient, and carbon-neutral means of transportation.

US Bicycle Route System: Build It. Bike It. Be A Part Of It!

The US Bicycle Route System (USBRS) is a proposed expansion on the Trans-American Trail built in the late 1970s and two other established routes that travel through Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and North Carolina. The USBRS would connect America’s cities through multiple, numbered bicycle routes – similar to the interstate highway system. See the proposed map here (pdf).

Adventure Cycling America, a non profit helping to further the US Bicycle Route System, has this to say about the project and how you can get involved:

Donate $10 today to support the creation of a national network of bicycle routes: the U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS), a visionary project that will be similar to the national and international systems blossoming across the globe, such as Euro Vélo. The routes will connect cyclists across the U.S. with cities, transportation hubs, scenic and historic destinations through existing (and new) infrastructure; routes will be numbered and officially recognized by state and federal government agencies.

Learn more about the U.S. Bicycle Route System and donate $10 today on Change.org (no login required). You can also donate through Facebook’s Causes application if you’d prefer.

Want to help spread the word about this campaign?
http://www.adventurecycling.org/beapartofit

I’m writing today from a Starbucks in Ballston, just outside the nation’s capital. Today is the first day of the three day New Green Economy Conference, where I will be attending and volunteering. It has proven to be a good trip so far, and I am looking forward to meeting all those sustainably-minded people I have been reading: Tim Jackson, Herman Daly, Brian Czech, and many more.

Today’s workshop is “Alternatives to Neoclassical Economics for Business and National Security.” It’s all day, should be a very informative. We’ll be hearing from Dr. James Giordano of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Dr. Brian Czech of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE), R. Warren Flint of Five E’s Unlimited, and Joan Michelson, writer and editor.

Today’s Session Goals:

“During this workshop participants will learn the positions of conventional economists and ecologists and be exposed to alternative concepts including incorporation of sustainability, diversity and valuation into human economies.

After the workshop participants will better understand how natural and human economies work, on how they incorporate non-commodity resources into value systems, and the ethical and moral positions taken by ecologists and economists.”

Be sure to follow me on twitter for updates in the moment, I’ll be visiting with some friends in DC tonight and then hopefully writing a recap of concepts, ideas, and things gained from today’s workshop.

The New Green Economy

It’s official! I’m heading to the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) New Green Economy Conference! Through my volunteer work with the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) I was invited to volunteer at the conference (and attend when off-duty). The goal of the conference is to form “a set of recommendations on how to move towards a green economy in the US and in the world… The recommendations will be presented to the Obama Administration and to Congress, as well as to other key stakeholders.”

While there are still a few months before the conference, I thought I would share the good news. There are tons of different topics being covered, and only three days to fit them in, so I have to choose wisely. During that week I will be posting each day about the things learned and experienced, and hopefully some good pictures too! I am really looking forward to helping out with this great conference, meeting some change-makers, and learning more about the many concepts of the Green Economy.

Here’s what NCSE has to say about the conference:

“Marking a decade of history, NCSE’s signature national conference will engage leading thinkers and doers from a diversity of disciplines, sectors, and perspectives in a structured conversation about the meaning of the green economy and how investment in green education, research and jobs can help solve both the economic and environmental crises.

Welcoming over 1000 attendees, The New Green Economy will bring together leaders in sustainable business, environmental policymakers, civil society, university faculty, students from across the nation, and educated citizens.

NCSE leverages a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach to bring together involved scientists and decision-makers from a wide range of organizations. Our conferences are highly interactive, including renowned speakers, topical symposia to explore issues in more depth, and breakout sessions to develop (and publish) recommendations on how to advance science and connect it with policy and decision-making.”

I am looking forward to helping with the conference and bringing some of the new back to you! More to come in a few months…

P.S. I aware of the environmental downsides of air travel, and I am not necessarily fond of it, nor do I have much faith in offsets, however I am looking for the best offset program for my trip to at least do something. Any suggestions are welcome. The NCSE does offer an offset service as part of their registration, but I would like to find the best option out there.

A Great, Sustainable Meal

I’m approaching another year older (hopefully wiser) and was taken out to a surprise location for dinner by my partner. She did her research and found a great place near us that represents what I envision life in a steady state economy to be like: focused more on the local economy, a greater sense of community, and more time to enjoy living our lives with less of an impact on the environment.

Sutra is a vegetarian restaurant in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, nestled amongst the many former-homes-turned-businesses along 45th street. A beautiful, intimate space awaits up to 35 guests for a dinner seating serving four community-style courses. Seasonal food from Forged and Found Edibles, Full Circle Farm, and other local food suppliers are masterfully combined into delicious meals.

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Free Yourself From Your Mobile Prison

This morning I awoke a bit earlier than usual, rubbed my eyes, and moved slowly about my morning routine. My usual morning involves sleeping past my alarm clock wake-up call, hurrying out the door, grabbing food and coffee on the way. Today I was more intentional. I managed to drag myself out of bead early enough to make my own breakfast and catch the bus to work.

I work on the north end of Seattle, and my typical commute via car is about 20-25 minutes. Because of the location of my work I go opposite of traffic, so I can sail through the 11 miles watching the other direction back up. Today was different, though: today is Worldwide Carfree Day. Today I took the bus, but what benefits my car-commute time hampers my bus-commute time.

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Size Does Matter

Sustainability is quite the buzzword nowadays. What is sustainability anyway? It would appear at face value to have a simple, easily understood meaning. On the contrary, almost everything labeled “sustainable” is not, creating ambiguity in the meaning of the concept. It has become more of a marketing tool than an actual process. Being sustainable is quite different from what is typically called sustainable in our culture currently.

Something is sustainable if it can maintain balance with the system supporting it, and can do so indefinitely. A sustainable process takes only the amount of resources that can be regenerated by its supporting system between each processing cycle. Waste generated by a sustainable process can be absorbed by the surrounding system at the same rate it is created. Sound familiar? On a large scale, that’s the steady state economy.

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