Part I: Let's talk about the Future

Do the stories you tell yourself contribute to optimism or pessimism?

·      Pessimism. I didn’t think there was much I could do, as one person. Before this class I didn’t think much about the environment and what I could be doing to harm it. My family does recycling: glass, paper, plastic, but I never really thought to much about what else I could be contributing to our planet. My thoughts when first coming in to this was that people seem to make a big deal out of nothing. I kept telling myself these are just a bunch of tree hungering vegans who just need something to do. Honesty, that harsh. But I now think I’m the one that needs to be doing something. People like me are the one that need to be doing the most work because we are the ones that are causing the most harm. There is good news though, according to Tom Lombardo, author of Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future consciousness, our behavior toward the future can be altered through “relearning, education, and training.”

What might you need to change to enable you to envision a sustainable future?

·      I would need to change the way I view my home: Earth. I need to really look at all the things I do, on a daily basis, and see how much pollution I’m causing, how much waste I’m creating, and how much energy I’m using. I would really need to change my attitude also, because if everyone has the view that our world really isn’t at risk of overconsumption, depleted resources, and increasing waste then there is no overcoming these issues. According to Lombardo, psychotherapy focuses on helping people become open-minded about the future and positively increases their thoughts on the future.

What are the key tenets or characteristics that define your vision?

·      Much less consumption of water

·      Reuse, Up-cycle, or Recycle of products

·      Community involvement

·      Responsible product consumption

What are the mental modes (or beliefs) which will be required to create that future?

·      We don’t use that much water è water is sacred and we have to make it last

·      Recycling and up-cycling take too much effort è Recycling is worth it. I may not have time to up-cycle but I can donate my things to someone who has the time.

·      Why should I be involved when no one else is è My time here on earth is meant for so much more, I need to give back.

·      I don’t use that much è I use what I need only when I need it.

What would one have to believe to bring about your vision?

·      That on Earth we have a purpose. We are not here to take up space. The Lord wants us to give more than we receive, or take. We have to start believing that our time here is valuable and we must not waste it.

What are some habitual beliefs (the stories we tell ourselves) which may present barriers to your vision?

·      We tell ourselves that we are just one person on a planet with millions, what good can one person do? According to Kim and Oki, authors of Visioneering: an essential framework in sustainability science, as visioneers we are responsible for leading people to a sustainable future by seeing a better future (visoneering) and also living one. We need to give up thinking that we are one person in a sea of many. We live in a society that likes to follow, meaning when we follow one thing others join and together we are a big sea. We follow trends in fashion, food, entertainment, and we are willing to follow what others follow. It’s a confusing circle of followers, but as followers we will follow pretty much anything that benefits us. We need to teach, educate, and train consumers about the effects our actions are having on our planet and hope in turn they will follow us down the long road of sustainability.

How might you communicate and engage others in your vision that will compel them to follow?

·      Just like with anything else consumers want you to be real with them. They don’t want lies, or confusing words they don’t understand, consumers just want what is real and simplistic. We need to come up with a way to relay the information we know in a simplistic form. Kim and Oki express that there are factors that contribute to the reasons people don’t live out sustainability in their lives. Most don’t have an “understanding of the behavior of complex systems, sufficient capacity to preform the actions and changes needed, and political willingness to implement changes. When I am a consumer consuming products I use to not care about the information you had to “sell” to me about the environment because I couldn’t understand it. I don’t want to mess with something I don’t understand, besides it has no interest to me if I don’t know what you’re talking about. Some people simply do not know what to do to live a sustainable life. And other think the government doesn’t care enough to enforce rules and regulations so why should they care?

Conclusion

·      By 2050 I don’t expect to see a dramatic change. This world is large and it takes many years for messages and trends to catch on, but as a group we can inform people about the actions we need to take to make sure our “home” is reaching toward sustainability. We have to start thinking about our children and grandchildren and how this planet might end up if we don’t take care of it. I know for me my attitude towards the future will become better, and that’s a start. If we can start there and work our way to living sustainability I think we will turnout just fine.