About this site and Sustainability

Towards Sustainability, or To Sustainability for short, is all about taking steps to be more self-sufficient.  I wanted a place to share my experiments in sustainability so this is it.  You might think the topics on here have gone outside the original scope of sustainability but they haven't.  It all depends on how you define sustainability.

Are my bike projects 'sustainable'?  Bike riding certainly is, and I'd argue that bike building is also sustainable as long as there are old bikes to re-purpose.  Building bikes is a skill I am developing - part of my DIY portfolio I guess.  The more things I can learn to do, the better off I'll be when times get hard.  Knowing how to build and maintain pedal-powered vehicles will help me out now and in the future.  Learning to weld is a good thing too, since a lot of the metal "stuff" out there will need fixing.

Sustainability Defined

Sustainability is the ability of something to persist.  For example, by its inherent nature, the oil industry is not sustainable.  There is a finite amount of oil in the earth and since we're past the peak, all remaining barrels get more and more costly to produce.  The effort and cost of producing a barrel of oil will soon equal a barrel of oil and make recovering the last barrels pointless.

Examples of sustainable systems could include properly managed gardens and farms, any living process found in nature, any harvesting practice that does not consume more of a particular resource than can be naturally replenished (forestry, water, soil, etc), and any human activities that do not negatively impact future generations.

Resilience

In the face of Peak Oil, and the collapse of any industry dependent on cheap oil, the best thing a person can do is add resilience to their lives.  Resilience is the ability of a system to withstand shocks.  Resiliency is a characteristic of sustainable systems and adding resilience to our lives makes our lives more sustainable.

The four major areas to which we should add resilience are: Food, Shelter, Energy and Transportation.  (Economic Sustainability is a whole other topic for a future post).

Food security is something most of us well-off North Americans don't think much about.  But what if the food transportation system suddenly ground to a halt because of skyrocketing fuel prices?  Other tragedies could occur that could also disrupt the delivery system and leave supermarket shelves empty for extended periods.  It's really a fragile system and most stores wouldn't last 3 days without a delivery. Having an alternative food source is extremely important and it doesn't mean we all have to become farmers.  Other options include joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), befriending a farmer or two, buying direct from local farms, or planting a small garden.  We've lost touch with where our food comes from and local food is so much healthier for us.

Shelter: This ties in with energy and transportation.  If you live far from where you work, and rely on a gas powered vehicle to get around, then you are susceptible to rising fuel costs.  If your house is drafty or it requires a lot of maintenance, then you've got opportunities to improve.  Buildings consume a huge amount of energy.  The best option is to follow the German Passive House standard for any new builds or retrofits which will save more energy than any other building standard.

Energy: The cost of energy is only going to rise.  So the first line of defence is to consume less.  It is 30% easier to reduce consumption than it is to increase production. The cost of renewables is continuing to drop.  Regardless if you go off-grid or live in the city, we all can benefit from some form of renewable energy generation and low-energy-consuming appliances.

Transportation: To add resilience to your transportation options consider not moving around so much.  We've become a spoiled, mobile society.  Live-work-play in the same general area rather than sitting in traffic for a good part of the day.  Car ownership costs on average $8,000 per year.  Many people only need a vehicle for long distance trips.  In this case a small electric vehicle, electric bike, or public transit could work for the daily commute while car rentals are used for the occasional trip.  This puts the cost of car ownership, maintenance, insurance and registration on the rental company.  You also can use a car sharing service like VrtuCar or CommunAuto.

There are many options to add resilience to your life.  I'm trying to move in that direction myself with my family.  It's a gradual process but I'm having fun learning and sharing my experiences so others can benefit too.  I welcome your comments.