What is Sustainability?

It must be the biggest eco buzzword of the decade, yet what exactly does it mean to you? We claim to be living sustainably here at Sallygardens Smallholding, but how does that translate into our typical day? When people describe our lifestyle they often use the words 'self sufficient', but that's not what we are aiming for, maybe 'living sustainably' is more accurate.

I suppose living sustainably is more about how we think before we act. Its not about keeping chickens, rearing our own meat, beekeeping, growing our own central heating fuel or organic vegetables. Its not even about leaving the rat race or relocating to an idyllic rural setting. These changes suited our family and its the lifestyle we have chosen, but equally we could have stayed in the city and lived sustainably too, as many do.

Now I'm waffling around the topic and not giving a concrete answer to my own question, which is exactly the problem when it comes to putting a definition on 'Living Sustainably'! To me it means living with the constant aim of  'closing the loop'. Ideally everything I require to survive should be provided by the land I am responsible for, and on which I live, without degrading it in any way. The waste I generate should be composted and reused within the closed system, thus sustaining the cycle of use, while conserving the quality of the land in terms of biodiversity, productivity and beauty. Wherever practically possible I try to arrange my life around this ethos. That's it in a nutshell.  When it's not possible to operate within the loop I try to choose an alternative which operates within the same ideals which often (but not always) means buying, sourcing or bartering local goods or services from local people.  I also always ask the question 'do I really need this' and more often than not, the answer is usually no! I try not to let marketing hype persuade me of my needs.

Within our own lifestyle we looked at our main areas of consumption. The first thing we tackled was the oil central heating and its impact on the environment and our pockets. Working long hours to generate income to pay an oil tanker to carry our heating fuel half way across the world just didn't make sense ... now we manage our woodland and field hedges to provide us with wood to burn in our woodstove which heats the water and radiators in our house. We also invested in solar panels, but having read a lot more on that topic recently I think we should probably have tried making our own (hindsight being 20:20 vision) ...  these changes to our heating means we no longer needed to raise a couple of thousand Euros a year for oil bills, thus freeing up the time we would have worked in employment to instead manage our woodlands and spend time together as a family. Our food bill was the next biggest expense, both economically and environmentally, so we invested in a polytunnel and within a year it has paid for itself and provided us with endless delicious food, literally on the doorstep. If we didn't love gardening so much we could have bought vegetables from our nearest growers instead, it depends on what appeals to each individual.  At the rate things are going perhaps home made biodiesel is the next step, and dusting off the bicycles. Soon even our sewage will be recycled and our only waste will be a minimal amount of plastic packaging. And so we continue to look at each of our 'expenses' and assess how they can be changed or tweaked to 'close the loop' as much as possible. Closing the loop is fun and hugely rewarding, it minimises impact on the environment and a very attractive side effect is the fact the we need less and less money to sustain our lifestyle.

How can you achieve these things in the city? It's still possible to embrace renewable energy systems, either DIY or ready made. If you can grow even some of your vegetables and fruit in your garden or an allotment thats fantastic, and you will make significant savings in your weekly food bills, not to mention the benefits to your health. If you have no garden then whats the most local and close to home alternative? A local farmers market if you can afford it? If at all possible walk to work, or where offered take public transport.  Support local artisans who produce art, craft and specialist foods. Spend your money within your community whenever possible. Join Freecycle which allows reuse of items rather than putting them in landfill. Set up a LETS network in your area to barter expertise. Start a liftshare scheme at work. Join  Carpoolworld or a car sharing scheme. Many people in urban settings can easily keep a couple of hens, or a beehive in their garden or on a flat roof. Take recycling and reuse to a practical level by buying in charity, brik-a-brac and antique shops. Arrange clothes swap evenings with friends. Make yours a Transition Town or neighborhood. What are your tips for sustainable living in rural or urban environments?

Comments

[queenie]

My husband and I were talking just yesterday about what happens when you can 'dodge' the responsibility of the waste you produce by the simple expedient of "putting it out in the trash". I asked myself: what changes would I make in what I bought (or allowed in the house) if I had to be responsible for disposing - on-site - the leftovers, packaging, broken or worn-out bits, etc.?

We are able to ignore the fact that we are poisoning ourselves with our waste, by depositing that waste elsewhere, where we don't see it. . . . Just as we stockpile other 'unpleasantness' (like animal "production" and slaughter) in other unspeakably horrible places. If each of us has to be responsible for not only the good but also the 'bad', I think it will make a difference in how we act.

I really appreciated your thoughtful posting! It helped me think through how our life is still out of balance. . . . But I guess that's an ongoing process, is it not?

[Christina]

I like the term you use of 'closing the loop'.
That's what it should be all about really.
I try to incorporate as many of the ways you mentioned into my life as I can, but there are constraints for us because we're renting (not by choice) so things like switching from oil to a cleaner fuel or solar panels are out of the question.
We do recycle as much as possible and can get lots of free books from our local recycling center :)
Also we turn off lights when we leave a room and don't leave electrical equipment on stand-by at night. I've switched to Ecover washing powder (work's fine)and am going to experiment with using henna on my hair instead of normal chemical hair colour, and try baking soda and apple cider vinager instead of regular shampoo and conditioner.
Sorry to hear about what happened with your little one, my best wishes and I hope she's made a full recovery.

[mary lou]

On days where I don't have to drive to go to meetings, I walk to work. And I recently stopped coloring my hair. If you want a real laugh (not) about how to avoid adding waste to the stream, see my last blog entry. We do try to buy locally, particularly from smaller, local shops instead of chains. It's not always possible, of course. Then I try to buy from larger chain that pay employees well and treats them well.

[Lizz]

Well said!

I think everyone should take a visit to their local waste site, trash, recycle, landfills, dumps. We all need to be aware of what our purchasing power does on a bigger scale than in our own homes.

[Maria]

We buy loose tea, chamomile, Rooibus and black so we save on lots of packaging and it's cheaper.

[Victoria]

I like to always look for something I "need" (kitchen stuff, towels, etc, things that are necesary for family life) in the opshop (thrift store) first, before buying anything new. It's because I love the style of old things too, but it also feels kind of wrong to buy things new when there's so much old gear out there waiting to be reused. By the way that photo is just gorgeous. I always love your photos.

[The Green Mop]

I wanted to tell you about my success story in green cleaning. I hope you find it interesting!

Respectfully, Tony Gallina

Eco-Friendly cleaning adds years to your life.

The Secret of Eco-Cleaning

It is truly amazing how my life has changed this past year. I got involved with starting an eco-friendly cleaning company that has seen revenue go from $7000 per month to over $70,000 per month. It has not only changed my life financially but it has positively impacted the health and lives of thousands of people as well. I went into this business, not having a lot of money to invest, but wanting to do something that was good for the environment as well as good for the planet and other people. I know that cleaning homes and businesses with non hazardous chemicals will help add years to the lives of our customers, their children and pets, our workers and help heal the environment too.

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The Green Mop Inc
Tony Gallina, President
(703) 508-8082