After the Slow Food movement, maybe it’s time for the Slow Living movement. That sounds dull, doesn’t it? In fact, ‘slow’ is the wrong word. It should be the Take Your Time movement (which is really what the Slow Food movement should be called). Take your time to appreciate what’s around you, to explore your environment, to savour experiences and to develop relationships with the objects around you – be they a car, a vase or a town – as examples of human brilliance and human energy. In fact I do have a name for this softer, richer, more fulfilling experience. I call it New Materialism.
You’ll have noticed that I slipped in that slippery word ‘sustainable’ earlier. It doesn’t occur too often in this book because it’s a term already over-used, so tried on by so many people, institutions and companies that it’s stretched and gone all loose and floppy. Sustainability is now a big baggy sack into which people throw all kinds of old ideas, hot air and dodgy activities in order to be able to greenwash their products and feel good. Politicians speak of sustainable economic growth (this is not necessarily ecologically or socially beneficial), which is not the same thing as growing an economy sustainably.
This book doesn’t deal with the fiscal or legal measures that will get us to a new ‘sustainable’ world, wherever that is. It suggests ways we can change ourselves that can make large differences. It won’t beleaguer you with carbon calculators; it doesn’t list fishing quotas or promote campaigns to save polar bears. You can join WWF or Friends of the Earth or Greenpeace, or subscribe to treehugger.com, if you want up-to-the-minute accounts of campaigns and government initiatives. My job here is to persuade you of something you might have overlooked: that your relationships with your possessions, your home and your street are the starting point for a new, more interesting way of experiencing the world and that the end result of that can be a significant reduction in your individual environmental impact.
It can mean more choice and more interesting choice as well. Let me give you an example, a real hot potato of an example. My company, Hab, builds homes in partnership with housing associations – the organizations who provide social housing – and we try to make our developments as ecological, enjoyable and socially progressive as possible. Hab stands for Happiness, Architecture, Beauty. It does not stand for Hummers, Audis and BMWs; which means, in pursuit of a way of life that is resource meagre and low carbon, we encourage residents to reduce their car use. We only provide one and a half parking spaces for each dwelling, which doesn’t go down well with a lot of people. But in exchange for the one privation of one liberty – the right to park an unlimited number of vehicles wherever they want – residents get appealing alternatives including a car club and an intranet advising them of offers to share car journeys. The choice is limited in one way and enlarged in another. The emphasis is shifted from the personal and acquisitive to the communal and shared. That’s what I mean by New Materialism: offering more choice, set in a different framework of choice.
That framework is composed of the ecological, environmental and social goals that many organizations and people are now working towards, from the social workers of Dharavi in India to the government of California.
It comprises ten goals, which reach far beyond governments’ focus on carbon dioxide emissions, extend into every part of our lives and are based on an analysis of how we consume the world’s resources. They’re also very easy to understand: put simply, we have only one planet to support us, yet if everyone on the globe consumed as much and as fast as we do in the West, we’d need three planets to support us. Three planets of aluminium, forests, fish and fuel. But we have only one. There is no Planet B.
One Planet Living sets zero carbon as an objective and the great challenge of reducing our consumption of raw materials as another. It identifies waste, transport and food as problems. And it places mankind at the centre of its approach as not just the enemy of the environment but also part of that environment. We are not simply the problem; we ourselves are the victims. It is our species’ happy survival that is at stake. So we also need to be the solution. Through technological advance, science, culture change and inventiveness, human energy might just solve the environmental and population problems we face.
ONE PLANET LIVING OBJECTIVES
One Planet Living takes ten areas of our lives where we can creatively change what we do and where those decisions aren’t necessarily restrictive but offer opportunities for an increase in the quality of our lives. If you’re put off by the idea of change, I can reassure you that change means incorporating affordable, meaningful strategies into your life, strategies like deciding to buy food seasonally, growing your own, cutting down on your travel, retrofitting your home to be more comfortable and better insulated. The kinds of changes that can be made even more easily if you live in a sustainable and ecological development – like those that my company, Hab, is building. This book, among other things, explores those strategies. This book puts human beings at the centre.
1. Zero carbon
Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with renewable technologies.
2. Zero waste
Reducing waste, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill.
3. Sustainable transport
Encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce emissions, reducing the need to travel.
4. Sustainable materials
Using sustainable products that have a low embodied energy.
5. Local & sustainable food
Choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets and reducing food waste.
6. Sustainable water
Using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution.
7. Natural habitats & wildlife
Protecting and expanding old habitats and creating new space for wildlife.
8. Cultural heritage
Reviving local identity and wisdom; support for, and participation in, the arts.
9. Equity, fair trade & local economy
Inclusive, empowering workplaces with equitable pay; support for local communities and fair trade.
10. Health & happiness
Encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health and well being.
(Paul Miller)
Finished houses at The Triangle, the first Hab Housing project in Swindon
PRINCIPLE
01
Demand that your home consumes the minimum of energy yet keeps you warm and comfortable. Demand a healthy environment with fresh, clean air. Demand that your building does not just save energy but produces it. Demand that your home has a minimal environmental footprint and uses our precious resources wisely and sparingly.
(Adam Mork/architect, Hein-Troy Architekten/Arcaid)