Going it alone: taking personal ethics to make personal changes in a changing world

Mitigation is the early strategy, while adaptation is the later strategy. Prevention verse cure.

Our species has a terrible track record for identifying long term risk and affording it the necessary preventative measures.

We’re always looking for the cure, or more accurately, the quick fix.

We may lament the lack of political will or the token gestures of industry, but ultimately, we have our own footprint, vote and wallet. No-one is beyond blame for inaction.

Avenues of adaptation

So, to speak of meaningful adaptation, there is only efficiency, which in turn starts to address mitigation also.

We will need to either practice high autonomy (ie. self-sufficiency) or high communal living in retrofitted cities to promote greater interaction to compensate less personal space. These, or a combination of the two – something like a self-sufficient town.

The alternative; low autonomy and low communal living – suburbia – will buckle under economic pressures in coming decades. It isn’t made with any flexibility, easy access to jobs, goods or services and is largely a heat trap. Most houses there are made to large a single generation.

Given the price trends and general design focus of inner-city areas in Australia, it’s unlikely that a lot of us will be able to take the highly communal living approach in the near future.

Likewise, as much as I would jump at the opportunity to work with a group of people to invest and develop a sustainable village, finding enough people in the same part of the world to make it possible is very difficult.

For much of us, the only avenue that is any way achievable is autonomy.

Autonomous footprint, vote and wallet

This is the primary focus that I wish to take NewAnthro on. It is the story of my life for the last few years so far.

I have been exploring food production within my cool Victorian climate, with some success. While my garden only compliments our grocery needs, each week is a little better than the last.

I’ve also been building solar panels and found them to be fairly straightforward. In both the cases of my panels and my garden, being currently stuck in a rental property, I have some significant limitations in what I can achieve.

Then there is “up-cycling”. I hate buzz words generally, but the principle is great and one that I think appeals to anyone who (like myself) is forever spotting things that could be useful in later projects.

The difference between hoarding and up-cycling is actually doing something with this material more than storage. I plan to give some project examples along the way.

My ultimate goal is to be in a position to hit the ground running as soon as I can buy some space.

Two birds, one stone

All that I am working towards is aimed towards buttressing my life, so that it will be more resilient, prosperous and better suited to my personal views and ethics. It will be adaptation.

Yet, as efficiency is at the heart of what I will do, it will be, on a very small scale, mitigation as well.

I might try to find case studies of people who downsized to make the best of life in a highly liveable city as well. I’m confident that this is just as viable, but sadly in short supply.

If any topic, or idea has sat with you and left you thinking, “I wonder if…” please feel free to let me know. I’m always happy to research, test and write on whatever interests my readers and can assist us to reduce our footprint and live more align to our ethics.

 

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