Hey Andrew,

Interesting take on relative sacrifice. I guess people will be forced to make the sacrifice as circumstances change, whether they choose to, or not. It could be argued that the sooner they do change, the less emotional pain they will suffer when the inevitable occurs.

By pointing out the problem now - is that saving them pain in the long run?

Is what we give up measured in terms of effectiveness, or the personal pain we experience by doing so - which might well be painful, yet ineffective, in some cases?

Written in July

Yes this is about sacrifice - the reason everyone is pointing the finger at each other - is that there will be winners and losers in the environmental fallout from Climate Change. Where you sit on the Climate debate is about where your interests lie. However, to make the issue really pertinent think that 500 years ago Europeans lived dirty smelly lives, whilst China and India were prospering beautifully. Europe (think USA, Australia, Canada- extensions of western thinking) has lived off the rest of the world for 500 years, not paying the proper price for tea, coffee, sugar, timber, spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon and as a result all other cultures around the world have been plundered- the environment ruined and people impoverished. The answer is simple pay the proper price for these basic commodities and the standard of living will go up in the developing world and plumet in the 1st world. Of course all of us don't really want to do this because our standard of living would go down. The $500 a week pay packet would buy only $100 worth of goods. Sobering - we have to get used to higher prices for basic commodities which is best for the environment and would reverse 500 years of history.

Written in August

Yes, community is so important. This is what Celsias is all about. While not local I think of it as a community nonetheless. I am researching nieghborhood food growing for my masters thesis and it is really pointing up the value of having neighbors to do it with, moral support, advice, material support, labour sharing, etc. Even when talking about making "sacrifices", if we choose to call them that, I think community support is vital. The transition town movement uses this strategy to great success. Plan an evening of neighborhood communal food sharing, a pot luck, a harvest feast, whatever and show a movie like The End of Suburbia, or The Community Solution about Cuba, and use it as a springboard for discussion. It will help to build community around your efforts.

Written in August

George Monbiot writes about "love miles", the distance we travel to see loved ones, most damagingly on airplanes. I struggle with this one as I live in the UK and my family, other than my wife, are in the US. I've reduced my flying by more than half but I still fly typically once/year to see my family. We have investigated ships and hope to utilize that mode of transport when we move back next year but for now we fly. So no Sudeep, I guess I'm not willing yet to part with a loved one. I expect that once we move to the states our flying will decrease by half again and it won't be long before flying becomes something only the rich can afford anyway.

Written in August

Why does "sacrifice" have to be painful? Do we get self flagellation credits?

Why the negative? Change is also about opportunity. Dump the consumptive lifestyle and get your real life back.

When we moved country 16 years ago, I was given lots of job offers in USA, but we chose to live in NZ instead. We could have had the big-bucks lifestyle new flashy cars etc, but chose to live on one salary in NZ, earning way less than if I had gone to live in USA or gone for the two-earner lifestyle. Sure, we have far fewer material possessions, and very seldom make any long trips, but that's the choice we have made and we are happy with it.

Economists link consumption with "quality of life":
* A person using 5 gal of fuel a day is having a better time than someone using 1 gal a day.
* A person drinking a $3 coffee is having a better life than someone drinking a $2 coffee.

People are such victims to image etc portrayed on TV etc that drives their consumptive behavior. "There's nothing older than last year's model" was a 1980s GM ad (I think). We still seem to need to upgrade our cellphone once a year and have a shiny car.

What we really need is a healthier attitude which will show us that we can reduce consumption and actually feel better about ourselves. That does not have to mean huge changes either. Getting a new cell phone every 2 years instead of every year and you've halved you cellphone consumption.

Visit loved ones every second year instead of every year makes those visits even more special and halves your "love miles".

Step 1: Turn off the TV.

Step 2: Look for the positives.

Written in September

In my case I guess I did make some emotional sacrifice in that I have never been back to my original country in 16 years.

But sacrifice does not have to be all or nothing. Traveling "back home" or whatever you want to think of it does not have to be a yearly event. Cutting it from every year to every second year halves the impact.Cutting it to every third year even better.

I can see that perhaps you would part from parents, but parting from your wife/partner/nuclear family unit is not really sustainable (unless you are by nature a hermit or are estranged). Sustainability needs to be seen holistically: environmental + economically + emotionally.

If you had 10 million dollars and had one of those eco-mansions built for you then that is hardly sustainable. Lifewise if you are a very family oriented person then moving to the other end of the planet is not sustainable either.

I did not move for purely sustainability reasons. If I'd done that I would have moved only a hundred miles or so. Perhaps most people in the world can find a sustainable lifestyle within 100 - 200 miles of where they live now. Heck: people even raise all their vegetable needs in communal gardens within the boundaries of New York City.

Written in September

Sacrafice, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. While my household has made many changes to be more environmentally respectful and more energy efficient, we don't see it as a sacrifice. We see it as being a lean, mean fighting machine! Fighting to bring back the beauty of our once pristeen environment, providing habitat for our indiginous creatures and fighting to stop waste and misuse. We lead a simple life, but a full life. Growing our own produce is not a sacrifice, but the coolest part of country living! Little things add up to big things and when you get 100 people doing one little thing, you multiply the effects 100%. I challenge everyone to find that one thing!

Written in September