Can we really change?

I was at a climate change meeting yesterday where the challenge was put to the group to shift from a linear to a circular economy.

The challenges were made around market forces driving change and innovation and how cities can develop naturally as ecosystems.

In reality, the will always be a wasteful race. We have always been. Recycling has been around for years but is not in our nature. We are developed beings that will always be wasteful with the resources we have. We will be greedy and take resource from others.

Can we truly change how we behave and live? Do we have the courage to forget about self? Can you change?

Localism and Global Issues

Localism has been something I have been passionate about for several years now. The idea of developing local communities, helping people re-engage with their neighbourhood and preventing big corporate culture from dominating our high streets.

With a low carbon economy, these ideas begin to be more relevant as we look at restrictions on global travel, renewable energy production requiring smart grids to be effective etc.. But we still live in a planet challenged by resource deprivation, mass poverty and poor health care.

I have heard the saying charity begins at home all my life and I do agree that principle, but if we focus purely on our neighbour do we miss a chance to make real change.

In reality our neighbour has never been further away, whilst at the same time never closer. The communications era has lead to a shrinking world. Someone living in my village has never read my blog, but I know people as far away as South Korea have. Does the term neighbour redefining in our global network.

The skills and ideas that we generate in the UK are equally relevant in South Korea, Libya or Argentina. Whilst the Global mastodons will continue to grow and reach new markets so the challenge of localism becomes ever more important. Towns in the sub continent and Africa need the skills and ideas to become self supproting to create jobs and provide food for their families in the same way that we do.

We should not be focussed on localism solving local issues but localism and networks of locallities changing the global framework and reinventing how we live our life.

First Steps

It seems that sustainability is everywhere at the moment. From Bankers bonuses to the ultra liberal green and anti globalisation movements.

In the end it is just a word and as with all words can hide a multitude of steps. Using sustainability in a brochure or literature doesn't make you sustainable. A food company who only produce 3% waste can't be sustainable when it transports its raw material from the far east to the UK to make ready meals for the masses. A bank who invest in bonds and stocks on short terms to make quick revenue aren't sustainable, if they were there wouldn't be a pension gap or global financial crisis.

"Sustainability" is not about words and glossy brochures containing them, it is about behaviours. As a world and as a country we have a long way to go but to achieve this dream of sustainability we need to start with small steps. Simple behaviour, such as using local shops, turning down the washing machine, cutting down food waste and turning down the thermostat. Simple in theory...?