From emstorm@metro.net Sun Sep 5 16:07:44 1999 Date: Sun, 05 Sep 1999 11:17:02 -0700 From: eric + michiko Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: Re: The Natural Step I took a look at the web site Toby mentioned and copied the subtext to the four points for those interested (below). I see that the third "condition" is really the key here. The other conditions are necessary for the third. So, it seems to me that it could be rearranged a bit. But, overall, it's pretty good, I'd say. I'd also agree that they have done a great job of filling the "suit and tie" niche. (Who is filling the "developed" middle class niche?) As an interesting comparison, I also copied the Deep Ecology Platform (very below). It aims to fill a philosophical / spiritual niche, avoiding the anthropocentric view of the world as resource supply for humans. There are other such "systems", and they basically have the same message each with its own piece to add to the total picture. Aim to invigorate, but at least be sustainable. Eric Storm *************************************************************** >From The Natural Step web site at http://www.naturalstep.org/direct/index.html; THE NATURAL STEP'S FOUR SYSTEM CONDITIONS 1 IN ORDER FOR A SOCIETY TO BE SUSTAINABLE, NATURE'S FUNCTIONS AND DIVERSITY ARE NOT SYSTEMATICALLY SUBJECT TO INCREASING CONCENTRATIONS OF SUBSTANCES EXTRACTED FROM THE EARTH'S CRUST. In a sustainable society, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, and the mining of metals and minerals will not occur at a rate that causes them to systematically increase in the ecosphere. There are threshholds beyond which living organisms and ecosystems are adversely affected by increases in substances from the the earth's crust. Problems may include an increase in greenhouse gases leading to global warming, contamination of surface and ground water, and metal toxicity which can cause functional disturbances in animals. In practical terms, the first condition requires society to implement comprehensive metal and mineral recycling programs, and decrease economic dependence on fossil fuels. 2 IN ORDER FOR A SOCIETY TO BE SUSTAINABLE, NATURE'S FUNCTIONS AND DIVERSITY ARE NOT SYSTEMATICALLY SUBJECT TO INCREASING CONCENTRATIONS OF SUBSTANCES PRODUCED BY SOCIETY. In a sustainable society, humans will avoid generating systematic increases in persistent substances such as DDT, PCBs, and freon. Synthetic organic compounds such as DDT and PCBs can remain in the environment for many years, bioaccumulating in the tissue of organisms, causing profound deleterious effects on predators in the upper levels of the food chain. Freon, and other ozone depleting compounds, may increase risk of cancer due to added UV radiation in the troposphere. Society needs to find ways to reduce economic dependence on persistent human-made substances. 3 IN ORDER FOR A SOCIETY TO BE SUSTAINABLE, NATURE'S FUNCTIONS AND DIVERSITY ARE NOT SYSTEMATICALLY IMPOVERISHED BY PHYSICAL DISPLACEMENT, OVER-HARVESTING OR OTHER FORMS OF ECOSYSTEM MANIPULATION. In a sustainable society, humans will avoid taking more from the biosphere than can be replenished by natural systems. In addition, people will avoid systematically encroaching upon nature by destroying the habitat of other species. Biodiversity, which includes the great variety of animals and plants found in nature, provides the foundation for ecosystem services which are necessary to sustain life on this planet. Society's health and prosperity depends on the enduring capacity of nature to renew itself and rebuild waste into resources. 4 IN A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY RESOURCES ARE USED FAIRLY AND EFFICIENTLY IN ORDER TO MEET BASIC HUMAN NEEDS GLOBALLY. Meeting the fourth system condition is a way to avoid violating the first three system conditions for sustainability. Considering the human enterprise as a whole, we need to be efficient with regard to resource use and waste generation in order to be sustainable. If one billion people lack adequate nutrition while another billion have more than they need, there is a lack of fairness with regard to meeting basic human needs. Achieving greater fairness is essential for social stability and the cooperation needed for making large-scale changes within the framework laid out by the first three conditions. To achieve this fourth condition, humanity must strive to improve technical and organizational efficiency around the world, and to live using fewer resources, especially in affluent areas. System condition number four implies an improved means of addressing human population growth. If the total resource throughput of the global human population continues to increase, it will be increasingly difficult to meet basic human needs as human-driven processes intended to fulfill human needs and wants are systematically degrading the collective capacity of the Earth's ecosystems to meet these demands. ******************************************************* The Deep Ecology Platform 1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth, intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes. 2. Richness and diversity of life-forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves. 3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs. 4. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening. 5. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease. 6. Policies must therefore be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present. 7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great. 8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes. -- Arne Naess and George Sessions Source: _Clearcut: The Tragedy of Industrial Forestry_, edited by Bill Devall (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books and Earth Island Press, 1993). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu