Lists are useful things: shopping lists, lists of things to do, lists of addresses, lists of names and numbers, lists of articles to write. I do keep a list of articles to write, but making a list of “x ways to save the world” has never been among them. A while ago I did write an article called “4 Essential Ways To Save The Earth”, which was not exactly a list (it was over 6000 words long), more a way of describing the types of systems that have to be changed. But it was a good way of putting my thoughts in order.

Then the environmental blogs started to fill up, much like the environmental books had years before, with lists and lists of things you should do in order to be a good green person. Meanwhile the Earth carried on heating, the forests continued to be cleared, the oceans became more acidic and the population kept growing and consuming more and more. I have not seen a single list that actually takes people to a genuinely sustainable place, let alone addresses the root causes of our situation.

It’s about time that was put right.

Not too long ago I visited a school to talk about climate change, and realised that I would probably be asked to tell the students what they should be doing to make things better. Buy organic milk; recycle more; change your lightbulbs; do lots of other really trivial things that on their own will have virtually no impact. How could I get around this problem without frightening the students into retreat, leaving them confused as to the best actions or giving them something that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on?

Finally, after some time breaking things down, analysing everything I know about the way systems (cultural and ecological) work, throwing out the trivial stuff and talking to my 10 year old daughter, I whittled everything down to just 6 main subject headings. They need a little explanation individually, as does the thought behind them. Essentially, if you take them all together and if a large enough number of people follow them, two things will happen:

1) Humanity will become far more sustainable, reversing the trends we are seeing in our consumption and damaging activities.

2) The systems that drive this culture’s terrible behaviour will break down, having no option but to change or die.

Each action taken alone is enough to fundamentally change and even take down one or more of the damaging systems that the industrial world makes us think are essential – they are not. These systems include the motor industry, the industrial food production system, the corporate fiscal system and many others. Many of them are interlinked and dependent upon each other, and when one falls, others can fall too. The real beauty of the 6 Things You Must Do is that they are all eminently achievable: they can be completed in one go or in steps, and you can concentrate on one or two at a time, so long as you get there by 2030, the year that we have to have become sustainable if we are to prevent runaway and irreversible environmental change.

I am not saying that the 6 Things are easy to achieve. People have been hardwired in the West, and increasingly in other parts of the world to behave in a certain way – an orthodoxy – which even the environmental organisations take as read. Not only is our behaviour controlled and thus difficult to change without considerable motivation, there are many things that are not achievable without fundamental changes taking place in society. But behaviour is the most important. You may think you are making great sacrifices, but you are actually making your life far more satisfying and in tune with how humans naturally behave.

So, here are The 6 Things You Must Do, if you want to ensure that we have a future on Earth:

CONNECTING : Get back in touch with your planet. You are part of nature so act as though you are. Understand your place in nature, how you affect it and how it affects you.

CONSUMING : Don't buy anything that you don't need. If you have to buy something, remember the 4 R's: Reduce, Repair, Reuse and Respect.

EATING : Become vegan, or as near as you can to remain healthy. Buy local. Eat simply.

LIVING : Reduce the energy used in your home to the bare minimum. Change your behaviour to allow for this. Become energy independent.

TRAVELLING : Travel as little as possible. Don't fly. Don't drive. Instead: walk, cycle, use the bus, go by train.

EDUCATING : Convince yourself and everyone you know - children, parents, politicians, teachers - that we need to change completely and we need to change now.

Simple, challenging and very effective. If you want more details then write to me at keith@theearthblog.org. There will be a lot more information and help in my forthcoming book, A Matter Of Scale – watch this space.

 

Keith, good post on Guardian blog re 50 people who can try to save the earth. my take here:

http://climatechange3000.blogspot.com/

http://northwardho.blogspot.com/

Hi Dan

I know you are heavily promoting your idea on the internet, but who exactly
is going to live in these "polar cities"? I'll tell you who: rich, white
people with power and weapons. Not ordinary people, not even people who
deserve to survive; the people who will take the survival strategy will be
the people who don't care about letting everyone else die. That sounds like
business as usual to me, and if you are comfortable with that thought then I
wish you luck with your idea.

For my part, I'm going to do my best to make sure we never need polar
cities.

Best wishes

Keith

MY RESPoNsE IN CAPS


> I know you are heavily promoting your idea on the internet, but who exactly
> is going to live in these "polar cities"? I'll tell you who: rich, white

> people with power and weapons. I AGREE. I WANT TO TRY TO CHANGE THT BY PLANNING AND PUBLIC DISCUSSION NOW


Not ordinary people, not even people who

> deserve to survive; I AGREE, ditto!


the people who will take the survival strategy will be

> the people who don't care about letting everyone else die. DITTO AGREED


That sounds like
> business as usual to me, and if you are comfortable with that thought then I

> wish you luck with your idea. ** I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT IDEA AND I WANT TO CHANGE THAT....that is why discussion NOW......do you understand better now?

>
> For my part, I'm going to do my best to make sure we never need polar

> cities. YES YES YES....my polar cities IDEA is mostly a kind of guerilla theeater thought experience to wake people up NOW and get them fight NOW for stopping global warming, just like YOU said here, bravo!

YOU don't need waking uip. But many do. p-lease, if time allows, blog on this

DANNY

'You may think you are making sacrifices'
because this is how the stupid media, voice of a deeply misguided culture presents things, and this is how our nervous systems are manipulated by people with little pound signs in their eyes. I promise you they are lying. Those six things could easily be given another heading: How to be happy.

Spot on, Ana. I hate having to pander to the unconverted, but if everyone were converted we wouldn't be in such a state. Nice to hear from you again.

Keith

Hello Keith;
Your list is a great beginning but please allow me to add my thoughts. In the area of consuming, we in the US are gluttons. We use tons of disposable items like diapers, styrofoam, plates and plastic ware. Those items should be used very rarely.
In the living area- why aren't we hanging out our clothes? There are so many home associations that ban this practice.These associations care more about being attractive than saving the planet. People all over the world can eliminate the use of toxic cleaning products by using non toxic, earth friendly, concentrated cleaners which is healthier for the planet as well as the family. By using concentrated non toxic cleaners,we will eliminate even more waste. We should buy from companies that have a proven track record for being environmentally conscientious- like Shaklee.
As far as travel is concerned, many of our towns and cities need to improve public transportation systems so people will use them. They also need to make safe bicycle and walking paths in and around town. I live about 1 mile from town and would love to bike into town but the road is extremely dangerous and has no sidewalk.People walking in the streets is not safe.
Rota

A big part of the effort, Rota, is making the changes necessary to ensure you can do the 6 Things in the first place. If the system doesn't allow you to, then change the system - the system is wrong, not you.

The Earth Blog doesn't promote any companies, but inevitably we have to buy some stuff, so your advice is sound.

Keith

Keith, done. It's up here at http://northwardho.blogspot.com

will soon get spidered by Google search ,too.

cheers

danny;)

[Ed: Cheers. Much appreciated]

Thanks for pointing out some of the necessary changes that will result in the family of humanity and life as we know it being accorded at least a chance for a viable future.

Even now, we can see that the combination of the pernicious effects of climate change, the dissipation of natural resources, the degradation of global ecosystems and skyrocketing increase in absolute global human population numbers could soon lead to the collapse of societies worldwide.

Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
http://sustainabilitysoutheast.org/

You are among few intelligent humans who write about problems we have and also offer sensible solutions to them. I commend you for that. Your intelligence is rare.

[Thank you very much. Keith.]

2007 EXCHANGE OF IDEAS BETWEEN FRIENDS ( but perhaps timely in 2008)

__________________________________________
Dear B,

In the light of E. O. Wilson’s comments about small creatures and today’s report from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that more than 41,000 species of animals and plants are now on its ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST, do you think it is too early to consider that the evolutionary success of the human species may not be guaranteed? Perhaps it is not too late to consider how the human species in our time could inadvertently precipitate a "Human Community Collapse" by adamantly insisting upon more unbridled growth of business enterprise and human numbers now overspreading the Earth.

I am concerned that after threatening biodiversity with extinction and the environment with irreversible degradation, and also dissipating the limited resources of Earth, humankind will become an unexpected threat to its own survival.

Sincerely,

Steve

____________________________________________
Hi Steve,

You bring up a very good point, and one that is foremost in the minds of everyone with environmental awareness. The notion of sustainability does not seem to have been infused in equal value to progress made in both the industrial and technological revolutions. When we look closely, it is as if we are but children playing with new toys, not grasping just what they mean nor thinking very far into the future. Anyone who studies simple biology knows that unchecked growth cannot last, that eventually the system that supported whatever it is gets out of balance, and then...well...things change. So at the very least we are looking for sweeping change. How much of it we will see in our short lifespan is uncertain, but what is certain is that even now we are observing first-hand some negative effects of our actions in the past. Nature is very efficient, and certainly will take care of things one way or another. I agree with what you suggest, that we

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[Keith : I would prefer a more targeted comment, but I do agree - my book will contain a lot more information about this very subject - and it will be free!]

Good info, its nice to read about solutions and not just the problem

Perhap not this page but within this site was a comment that makes my point...roughly "I am saving up money to build a ecosanctuary in which to live when the world collapses."

Poor societies can not afford such luxury nor be even concerned with the health of the environment. They are the ones stripping vegitation to build cooking fires, harvesting bush meat, the children of these people do not get an education.

Thin about this.

Ray

Poor societies don't produce millions of tonnes of CO2, nor indirectly cause massive releases of methane and nitrous oxide, nor strip the oceans of life, nor tear down rainforests for cattle grazing and soya for animal feed, nor produce toxins that stay in biological systems for thousands of years.

They do what they need to survive, and make a scratch on the Earth compared to the deep gash rich societies are cutting. Their impact is only getting worse as industrial civilization starts to order the way they live along its own destructive lines.

Think about this.

Keith,

The earths reaction to rising carbon levels over the past decade (cooling) and the growing number of bright well educated people who deny our impact on the climate seems to validate the lack of any real action, but instead supports continued debate surrounding that issue. To be fair lets let research or future temperature resolve that question before condemning humanity.

I have lived long enough to witness improved air quality, cleaner rivers and streams, the development of fertilizers to regenerate soils instead of past (poor) farming practices that abandon those spent fields in favor of virgin soil. We continue to see more food items farmed instead of being harvested from wildlife or the sea which lesson the burden on both, trees are now planted in excess of those cut for lumber. Birdfeeders outnumber snares a thousand to one. Mines are now reclaimed beyond original quality to the point of becoming havens for wildlife. Past abuse by cattle barons is long gone replaced by sustainable ranching.

Wealthy educated societies have fewer children, the midcentury peak demographer expect is not due to the lack of habitat but the continued trend of having a more affluent well educated world population.

Do you really want me to list the abuse our earth grubbing ancestors or current povery stricken societies had/have upon the world? Are you willing to live their precarious existance?

[Ray, you really are stuck in a pathological state of cultural denial; but I have no intention of convincing you otherwise -- you are a lost hope and I accept that. Feel free to list the abuses of everyone but the dominant culture of maximum harm; that is your right, but you are utterly discredited by the scientific literature on all counts.

Keith]

Touch a nerve did we?

By running from the room with your ears covered you demonstrate the very pathological denial of reality you accuse of me.

I can cite any of my claims.

[Go for it, Ray. I'm still here -- rather than running from the room I have nearly finished writing a 300 page book about the very things you refute.

Keith]

Great, I will look for it on Amazon...to see if you get published and how your sales stack up against The Skeptical Environmentalist

[Ray, it's pretty unlikely if it will ever be published by a mainstream company -- what corporation would promote something that rails against its existence?

But you will be able to read it in full for free at www.amatterofscale.com, and you will hear about it. Who knows, maybe someone will be brave enough to even stock it on their shelves.

Don't really care, as long as people read it.

Keith

P.S. Are you going to provide the evidence for your claims here, or somewhere else?]

Keith, a self published tome claiming the end of the world is a bit outside my reading fare...and a bit outside a publishers reach too especially if you have railed against their existence. They too may intend to stay in business which is in conflict with publishing worn out self serving rants.

I will indeed cite my claims as soon as time permits. So much diesel fuel..so little time.

note, I do respect your allowing my own rant.

[Ray, "self selving" is a little disingenuous -- I have very good reasons for believing I'm doing something important. It's not the end of the world, but pretty bad for humans and many other species, and almost certainly the end of civilization (a good thing, if it doesn't crash too hard).

I won't self-publish in print, BTW - I never said I had no chance of being published.

Feel free to rant, debate is healthy.

K.]

Keith, this temperature history says it all....link below http://icecap.us/images/uploads/MAY2008GLOBE.jpg

[...apart from ICECAP being an Astroturf -- it may not be directly funded by corporations (they say, but don't have to declare it as they are not a charity), but almost all of the Experts are. It will take a short while to dig up the originators.

Anyway, the graph does not say "it all". All it says is that 2007 was very warm indeed and 2008 is not as warm. The longer term trend (after all, CO2 takes a couple of decades before it is most effective) is up and up. The use of La Nina as a cause of the recent drop is perfectly reasonable -- but it's also worth considering the stabilisation of CO2 emissions in the 1980s caused by the global recession; this CO2 is only just making an impact.

I still don't know what is in it for me -- if I'm wrong then I look very foolish, if I am right then I know I have done the right thing. Financially, I have given up a very well-paid job to do this; but have discovered something far more important: my family and a life in touch with the real world. If that's the cost of giving up a carbon diet then it's the right thing to do, regardless.

But CO2 is heating the Earth. The deniers have *far* more to gain than the proposers: apart from the fact they are selling a life that is no life at all.

You still haven't told me why you say people outside of Industrial Civilization are far worse polluters and ecological criminals. Please provide your reasons.

Keith.]

>You still haven't told me why you say "people outside of Industrial Civilization are far worse polluters and ecological criminals".<

Please show where I said this.

[You say how wonderful society has got at cleaning up its act, then write: "Do you really want me to list the abuse our earth grubbing ancestors or current povery stricken societies had/have upon the world? Are you willing to live their precarious existance?"

Yes, I do want you to list the abuse. Please ensure that you leave out the abuse that is a result of the demands of Western consumers -- that is Western consumer abuse, however you cut it.

K.]

Never have I claimed our ancestors were criminals.

Thousands of your ancestors poisoned themselves burning coal in London having already cut down most of the trees, my ancestors nearly killed off the buffalo, sheep, goats, some ones ate the last dodo bird, mammoths, native Americans set fire to the prairie to flush out game. Our history is rank with environmental blunders…really it’s a blessing they/we had such a huge mortality rate during those years for we would have stripped the world bare like they are doing now in Africa….. http://www.conserveafrica.org.uk/poverty.html


The Environmental Protection Agency and the Endangered Species Act are recent and luxurious tools afforded affluent societys. How many square miles have we been able to set aside as pristine wilderness? By definition suburbs are forests, (10% canopy cover), I live in a rural area and our trees are full of birds, the air is fresh and (this year) cool and wet in what is normally a desert.

Anthony Watt is a life long meteorologist , he does not nor ever has worked for an oil company. For you to trot out the lame over used BS that he is an oil company shill speaks volumes of your poor argument. To turn a blind eye to his knowledge is foolish.



The world is cooling off! Satellite data uncorrupted like surface monitors, Argo with its long inquisitive finger up the ass of oceans state with authority there has been a cooling trend over the past decade. For you to claim otherwise is again foolish.



[I don't have time to respond -- your comments are getting mildly abusive and I have a book to complete. I am happy to leave this comment unedited for others to respond to.

No doubt you will say I have no answers -- actually, I have no time, but feel free...

K.]

Hello dear people ,
Im writing to tell you about earths history . Teachers
should talk about it more .Some people don’t know how
Global warning start because they just don’t care if we die .
So we learn more about it . Just think about it !

Love ,
poppy

I'm sorry, but as plant agriculture is one of the major engines driving civilization in the first place, I can't get behind you pushing veganism. I see this everywhere I go in the cultural creatives movement (I can't think of a more general term that would cover everything on "our" side) and it couldn't be more wrong.

[Considering the majority of cultivated grains globally are fed to animals, then I think you may be slightly awry here. And where did I propose industrial agriculture? Anyhow, if you find my thought experiment "What If...We All Became Vegan?" you will realise why this would lead to a dramatic reduction in industrial agriculture and possibly the collapse of major, unethical sectors of the food system.]

I have been plagued by menstrual problems for the past three years. To the point that some months I literally could not leave the house for two or three days because I was soaking through rags. (Not every month, or I wouldn't be here, but often enough to be worrying.) I don't have health insurance so I tried to blow it off as a minor annoyance, change in hormones, whatever, until the pain started.

A couple months ago I started supplementing vitamin A--the real retinol from fish sources, not beta carotene. I had not been told, you see, that not everyone can convert BC to A. If you're hypothyroid, if you're diabetic, if you're too young or too old... and even if you CAN convert it, the conversion rate is not perfect or consistent. BC is a great nutrient and people should eat foods containing it, but if you use it as a substitute for A, you could wind up in big trouble.

I wasn't expecting what happened next. The pain went away. I have had relatively normal periods for the second month now. (Not the whole time, mind you. LOL) You could have knocked me over with a feather. And the A supplementation was THE major change I had made--no serious changes in diet or anything else.

You can't get real vitamin A from plant foods, by the way. You can only get them from animals.

I *have* tried going vegan. What happened was I put on an immense amount of weight and went crazy. We all have to get energy from somewhere and if I get most of mine from starches and sugars, my blood sugar goes way out of whack and my brain chemicals suffer. I can't be the only one.

[I did say "Become vegan, or as near as you can to remain healthy." The last phrase is key; I do understand human physiology and diet quite well.]

Also, hello fat starvation? We need it for hormones and neurotransmitters--

[I know you tried to write more - best split it up or send me an email. For the record, I am not vegan, but still eat less dairy than a typical omnivore - not all diets suit everyone.

Cheers, Keith]