Our primary identity has become that of being consumers – not mothers, teachers, or farmers, but of consumers. We shop and shop and shop.
Bottled water costs about 2000 times more than tap water. Can you imagine paying 2000 times the price of anything else? How about a $ 10,000 sandwich?
There is no such thing as away. When you throw something away, it must go somewhere.
We depend on this planet to eat, drink, breathe, and live. Figuring out how to keep our life support system running needs to be our number-one priority. Nothing is more important than finding a way to live together – justly, respectfully, sustainably, joyfully – on the only planet we can call home.
Recycling is what we do when we’re out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. Firstly: Reduce. Don’t buy what we don’t need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when you’ve exhausted those options, recycle.
Put simply, if we do not redirect our extraction and production systems and change the way we distribute, consume, and dispose of our stuff-what I sometimes call the take-make-waste model-the economy as it is will kill the planet.
We’ve got to rescue our democracy by using it.
You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.
Shop smarter and shop less. But please don’t let that dissuade you from engaging in campaigns to make real lasting change.
Between the disillusionment that people feel about politics-as-usual, assaults on the right to vote, and the constant feelings of pressure that Americans suffer in our overworked, overstressed economy, too many people have checked out of the political process.
We’re more concerned about climate or economic equality or racial justice or anything else that is good for people and the planet, we simply must also spend some time wresting back our money-marinated democracy. This will require getting money out of politics and then getting people back in.
Solid information is necessary, but insufficient. We also need to present that information in ways that are inspiring and accessible. That’s where stories come in.
Activists need to get the facts right. One of the big assets we have on our side is the truth, and we lose credibility and power if w e’re loose with that.
The power that comes from knowing the facts of history is dwarfed by the power that comes from being able to shape the stories about how that history is written and told.
Turns out, people’s brains are not nearly as powerful a motivator as our hearts. Facts, data, and economic models don’t move people to courageous action the way that powerful stories can.