[pf] seven-plus wonders of sustainability

by Sharon Flesher

18 December 2000 21:47 UTC

This was on another list. Thought you all might like it.

> >From the web site Witney listed I found this.
>
> seven-plus wonders of sustainability
> By Donella H. Meadows
>
>
> A couple of years ago, while I was doing something else, I heard snatches
of
> a radio program in which Alan Darning, the director of Seattle's Northwest
> Environment Watch, talked about the "Seven Sustainable Wonders of the
> World." Clever concept, I thought, but afterward I could only remember
three
> of his wonders:
>
>
> The bicycle-the most energy-efficient form of transport ever devised. It
> doesn't emit pollution, it runs on renewable energy, it makes its user
> healthier, it's easy to repair, it requires little in the way of pavement
or
> parking lot, and 80 percent of the world's people can afford one. (Only 10
> percent of the world's people can afford a car.)
>
>
> The clothesline-even more affordable than the bicycle, runs on solar
energy,
> no wires, no electricity, no pollution, and your clothes come out smelling
> sweet.
>
>
> The ceiling fan-the air conditioner of the tropical world, which I fondly
> remember turning slowly and romantically in rooms all over India. A fan
> makes a space feel 9 degrees IF. cooler than it really is. A typical
ceiling
> fan draws no more than 75 watts, about as much as a single incandescent
> light bulb, only one-tenth as much as an air conditioner. And it doesn't
> make the air stale and clammy, the way air conditioners do
>
> .
> Now what were those other four Sustainable Wonders Alan came up with? I
> couldn't remember. I kept meaning, and forgetting, to call him and ask. So
I
> was delighted to see that he passed his idea on to a colleague, John CO.
> Ryan, who has just put out a little book called Seven Wonders (Sierra Club
> Books, San Francisco). Here are the other four:
>
>
> The condom-protects against some of the world's worst diseases, gives
> parents control over the size and timing of their families, helps control
> population growth. "Those are big jobs for a flimsy tube of rubber," says
> Ryan. One sustainability problem with this item is that it's discarded
after
> just one use. But it's made from natural rubber, a renewable resource.
>
>
> The public library-the written wisdom of the world at the fingertips of
> anyone with a library card! The average American pays $20 a year in taxes
to
> support public libraries and can save that much by borrowing instead of
> buying just one or two books. A book that is loaned ten times cuts not
only
> cost but paper use per read by a factor of ten.
>
>
> Pad Thai-the highly seasoned Asian dish made of noodles, garlic, and
> vegetables, sometimes with bits of chicken or shrimp thrown in. Ryan
doesn't
> mean to celebrate that particular dish so much as the basic principle of
> "peasant" cooking around the world: start with starch, mix in veggies, add
> great seasonings, and use meat sparingly if at all. Could as well be
> tortillas and beans, or curry and rice, or spaghetti and tomato sauce.
> Healthy, cheap, do-it-yourself, easy on the planet, delicious.
>
>
> The ladybug-constantly, without charge, without environmental damage,
> searching out and destroying plant pests. Your average ladybug scarf's up
> 40-75 plant-sucking aphids a day. Multiply that by 75,000 beetles per
> gallon, which farmers can order through the mail, and you've got one heck
of
> an efficient pesticide. Something like 98 percent of sprayed chemical
> pesticides never even hit a pest, but ladybugs zoom right in on the aphids
> and nothing but the aphids.
>
>
> After I finished reading Ryan's book, which is full of interesting facts
> about these wonders, I started seeing Wonders of Sustainability all around
> me. There's no reason to limit the list to seven. Here are some more:
> The root cellar-temperature controlled by the earth, a way of storing
> potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, squash, turnips, beets, apples, dahlia
> tubers and gladiolus corms (that's what goes in my root cellar) without
> moving parts, canning jars, boiling or freezing.
>
>
> The basket -- someone once told me that no one has yet succeeded in
> mechanizing the making of baskets. Whether or not that's true, baskets,
made
> all over the world by skillful hands out of renewable, biodegradable
> material, are lightweight, strong, beautiful, and reusable over and over
>
> .
> The olive tree-it can live hundreds or thousands of years in dry, hot
> climates; like all trees it recycles carbon dioxide breathed out by us
> animals and turns it back into the oxygen we need; its roots hold the
soil;
> its leaves break the impact of the rains; and it produces tasty, healthful
> olive oil.
>
>
> The sari-and the sarong and the shawl, made of uncut, unsown cloth colored
> and patterned as gorgeously as a butterfly, gracefully draped,
comfortable,
> cool, adaptable. You can suspend babies in it or melons or firewood. You
can
> hitch it up for wading, tuck it around your legs for bicycling or running,
> pull it over your face if you want shade or to be modest or to flirt.
Never
> out of style. Easy to wash and dry. One size fits all.
>
>
> The compost pile. The knitting needle. The canoe. This is fun. I could go
on
> with this list, and so, probably, could you.
>
>
> What do all these wonders have in common? Well, their kindness to the
earth
> and to human health is what qualifies them for a sustainability list. They
> are accessible to anyone, inexpensive to obtain and maintain. Many of them
> serve not only practical but also esthetic needs; they satisfy the eye,
the
> palate, or the soul. Most are old in concept, though they may have modern
> variations. Something like them has evolved in many different cultures.
Most
> are objects you can buy, but usually from a local maker, not a
multinational
> corporation.
> Maybe that's why we don't much appreciate the humble, sustainable wonders
> around us. Their value is too obvious to need touting. You only have to
> spend billions "marketing" something if its worth is in doubt.
>
>
> (Donella H. Meadows is an adjunct professor of environmental studies at
> Dartmouth College and director of the Sustainability Institute, a think/do
> tank that promotes sustainable systems.)