One of the things that depresses me is the behaviour of people on this forum. We are supposed to be logical, and rational, and think about the future. We maximise earnings, arrange tax efficient savings, plan our finances decades into the future. We even somewhat limit commute times, sometimes, and some of us (not very many, it seems) even drive slightly more fuel-efficient cars. And then some of us, possibly most of us, fly all over the fucking planet at the drop of a hat for entirely selfish reasons. Even Pete does it. Oh, and have kids. More than two, in many cases.
And then there are threads like this wailing about the state of the planet. We are all the problem. And that problem is going to come home to all of us who haven't died of old age by about 2050.
The challenge isn't living with less, which the experience of everyone who has done it says
improves their lives. It's overcoming the limiting beliefs.
Years ago I learned that flying contributes to global warming more than I thought (rule of thumb: NY-LA round trip coach is roughly a year of driving), I thought, "Flying clashes with my identity. I don't see how I can keep doing it." I considered giving myself a challenge: could I go for a year without flying?
Like anyone, I thought about family, income, and other things that depended on flying. I couldn't see how to avoid flying. Then I also looked at how many things in my life I only learned through experience that I could never have planned.
So I took on the challenge. I told myself I'd figure out how to make things work as they came up. I also thought on day 366, I'd jump on the first plane I could to catch up on what I was missing.
The opposite happened. It became one of my best life decisions. I learned more about myself and the beliefs society leads us into than I expected, coming out better in every way I measure. At the end of year 1, I easily chose to go for another year. I'm in year 3 now and expect to keep going indefinitely.
Don't get me wrong, I love traveling. I just love what I get from getting all the value from travel without polluting as much more. I've learned to create adventure, discover cuisine and culture, and the other benefits I got from travel without flying.
The same happened before, when I chose to avoid packaged food. I thought I'd lose variety, convenience, savings, etc. On the contrary, my diet is more delicious, costs less, is more convenient, connects with community more, and is better by every measure I care about. Maybe the biggest is that I eat to full, even stuffed, every meal, yet still have six pack abs.
With minimal effort, my last load of garbage took me 16 months to accumulate for my whole apartment. Less garbage creates more freedom, especially mental freedom.
My results are so contrary to mainstream social beliefs that they compelled me to create a podcast,
Leadership and the Environment, to help get people from the treadmill.
I read an analysis of Germans that they could reduce their energy use by 75% without changing their lifestyles. That means Americans can probably reduce ours by 85% or more, likely
improving our lives since all that waste weighs us down.
Here are pictures from last week, when a company invited me to prepare my famous no-packaging vegetable stew for 50 people (they got alcohol sponsorship and brought bread, butter, and avocados without telling me, which I would have tried to prevent had I known). You can see it's mostly fresh farmers market vegetables and fruit, served with lentils and beans. Total food costs were under $3 per person, with about 40% left over for future meals.
That's sustainable life as I've found it: full of friends, delicious food, spending less, convenient, community, and so on. Seeing the rest of the country on antidepressants, 75% overweight and obese, shooting up schools, and so on tells me this way is better.
The challenge isn't living with less, which the experience of everyone who has done it says
improves their lives. It's overcoming the limiting beliefs keeping us fat, dumb, and unhappy.