• Everything spreads, but nothing disappears.
• Quality rests in structure and concentration.
• Green cells are the only significant net concentrators and producers.

• Thrive on current solar income
• Create no waste
• Encourage diversity

• Substances from the earth's crust must not be systematically inserted into the biosphere
• Substances produced by society must not be allowed to increase systematically in nature
• The physical basis for productivity and diversity must not be allowed to systematically deteriorate.

    Our collective wealth is nothing more than a remnant of the richness humans have extracted from the planet, yet our means for accounting value and success are seriously out of date. At the dawn of the industrial age, capital was rare, resources were abundant, and most 'civilized' humans were hardly better off than slaves. Return on investment was enshrined as the measure of benefit, the bottom line ...and there is no doubt our 'standard of living' has improved. Now, barely a century later, capital is abundant and humans may live better, but resources are becoming frightfully scarce. While Rome burns anew, accountants (our tribal storytellers) still tell tales which treasure capital and urge exploitation of nature. We are not the first culture or species to encounter such a dramatic turn of values, but many among us believe we are the first species to be faced with the unbearable opportunity to revise our means and lifestyles to avoid extinction.

    When we contact other cultures, as in developing countries, we are generally harsh in our judgment of our hosts' lackadaisical attitudes toward time and wealth. It is easy to see that the conquistadores of earlier centuries wrought evil in their zeal, but is it possible that our enthusiasm for 'civilization' (as we define it: democracy, cars, TVs, and fast food) is even more wrongheaded and evil? Having accepted Haolewood values in our own lives, are we sure that they serve us so well that we feel good imposing them on other, more ancient, earth-rooted cultures? Or is our cultural zealotry based on the principle that misery loves company, especially if we can turn a profit thereby?
    Before industrialization swept the globe, indigenous peoples, like all natural life forms, lived in perfect dynamic harmony with their environment. When a vine was taken for a basket, words of thanks were given. Wonderingly, we say, "They use everything they take!" but this misses the deeper, more meaningful truth: they take only what can be immediately used. We great-grandchildren of dominion can scarcely imagine a time before garbage. In our lives, as in any closed system, we must find time to deal with the inescapable fact that waste is not sustainable. No other species has ever created waste. To survive, we must get back in step with every other living organism by acknowledging that we do not own the world, or even a tiny part of it; like all other living organisms, we are infinitesimal (although infinitely valuable) parts of a magnificent whole.

    A new basket grows organically in our hands: we bend and weave wet reeds with our clever hands, and order emerges. The shapes are curved, human, pleasing, the texture benign and familiar. There is much room for practice and for art. A well-woven basket made from the right stuff holds water, and can be used for cooking. With only slight changes in material and technique, this flexible technology, weaving, can produce clothing, shelter, games ...all the essential human necessities and delights. The finished work is pleasing beyond any mechanistic definition of function, conferring on maker and user alike a heightened sense of participation in the planet's greater web of life.
    We need baskets now more than ever; in them we find a metaphor for our noblest inter-relationship with all the life on our planet.

    I was glad to learn from my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary that Hedonics is the science of human pleasure. I wonder why no one ever told me before? Now, at last, I know what I'm doing! Getting from here to a sustainable life while holding our hedonics at a satisfactory level is not going to be easy. My friends and I have compiled a very preliminary list (which follows) of some of the transitions from unsustainable to sustainable which now face us. Your additions are welcome.
    Please note, the following is not a black/white comparison; we do the things listed below to make life more pleasurable. While considering some of these items, like hunting and second homes, it is important to remember that the left-hand column is not judged to be wrong or unpardonable: items in the left column feel good and in some cases even offer folks their clearest insights into the importance of sustainability. Nevertheless, we must recognize that, for one reason or another, these behaviors are simply, regrettably, no longer sustainable. The time has come for us to evolve beyond our selfish wastefulness and wean ourselves toward the more responsible activities of a mature species. I am deeply pained by the unsustainability of my own chocolate addiction, and pray with Saint Thomas for relief "...but not yet!"
    It is well worth noting that some of the following 'unsustainables' can be converted to sustainability quite easily, simply by changing the consciousness or motive power behind the activity. Some will be much tougher. When we find an object or behavior whose principle purpose is to garner profit or solve a problem for its purveyor -- for instance, 4WD vehicles for folks who seldom or never leave the pavement -- the transition may be joyous. Like the pioneer heroes in my book who live 'under their own power', those who undertake a more responsible life report that they find themselves richly and unexpectedly rewarded by their reconnection with the values and awareness which inform every other species participating in the grandeur and rightness of nature.
    I invite you to consider these hedonisms; how can we move our weight toward sustainability?

    Please add your two cents worth to this conversation, sustainably, by emailing us through the link below. Then join me in the garden. I've got snails on the cabbage again.