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Contents 1 Developed World v. Developing World 1.1 Summary 1.2 Actions 1.3 Notes

Developed World v. Developing World

Summary

"In America, we poop in drinking water." That quote is a summary of the different approaches to sustainable living between developed and developing societies. Any efforts we make to be sustainable here in the West must translate to developing countries as well. What are the "real" needs? What is fair share? What is our connection to the planet?

This conversation tended to jump around quite a bit, however the core ideas concerned two questions: (i) How do we promote thinking global, while acting local and (ii) How do we wake up from the American Dream? In regards to the later question, we need to work toward a common understanding of what acceptable consumption is as well as empathize with the way of life in the third world countries. We articulated three emerging lifestyle principles: (i) examine your real needs , (ii) live in your limits, (iii) engage with a close community a likeminded people for support and reinforcement. Like I mentioned, this conversation was all over the place, but in regard to the proposal we want to submit, these general points are relevant: 1) We need to link local action with global thought a. This link is not always clear, but initiatives such as Green Roofs are overtly local but actually fit within global urban agriculture movements collectively pursuing urban sustainability. b. The internet offers powerful potential here. 2) Our explicit value statement should not be viewed as a transition back to “traditional” ways of life, but rather an evolution (there was an insightful comment about this by the librarian woman (can’t remember her name)). 3) Due to variety of obvious reason, we need to reject the city’s frequent statement of “sustainable” growth and promote widespread localization. Along with this, the city must have a department (or at least an appointee) that deals exclusively with sustainability issues.

Actions

Calls to Action:

Notes