Dec 24, 2024
Dec 24, 2024
Each one of us should live sustainably in order to conserve the resources of this world. The consumptive life style of western societies is putting tremendous pressures on the world resources besides increasing earth warming and pollution. For example an average American consumes 350 GJ/yr of energy 108. If every citizen of this planet wants to have the wasteful and consumptive life style of an average American then we will need the resources of 4 earths to sustain us.
Also those of us who work in the areas of sustainable development should try to live sustainably. I would therefore like to share with you my experiences in living a sustainable but decent and emotionally satisfying life. This lifestyle has evolved slowly over time and required some effort. I had lived in US for many years in 1970s and had imbibed the consumptive lifestyle of US. Coming and living in rural India taught me many things among which was spirituality and frugality. Both these things go hand in hand and have helped me live in the way I describe below.
I live in a small rural town called Phaltan in district Satara, Maharashtra, India where I run a small NGO called Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). We work in the areas of agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry and sustainable development.
My experiments in sustainable living for the last 25 years are as follows:
We can make the life style even more sustainable by using locally produced ethanol in our cars and scooters and its use as cooking fuel. Similarly production of electricity from locally available agricultural residues can further help in this process 112,113. However both these things will require a community effort together with certain policy changes by the Government of India. Nevertheless if all of us become internally secure through spirituality then it can help us in living sustainably and the pressures on resources of the country can be reduced. And with proper planning and enlightened policy of the Government, Indians can enjoy a very high quality of life without becoming over consumptive.
13-Aug-2011
More by : Dr. Anil Rajvanshi