sustainability - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

Remodelling a home without sustainability needs to go the way of elephant tusk ornaments, into the realm of social unacceptability. We can refurbish, respray and add as little new materials as necessary possible to make a beautiful home. As a bonus, this increases need for skilled local tradespeople and thus boosts the local economy and family health. It's time to bring ecology to the heart of the renovation sector. Future generations will never forget the choices we make now, for better or worse.

Perhaps instead of "recycle" an improved concept is "ever-cycles" - a real jump into sustainability.

"Sustainability," said Kirk, "begins as a state of being. So are you sustainable or do you need to feed off others? Do you need to wound or take from others to feel self worth? Or can you give self worth to yourself without the need for material or other worldly possessions? Tell me, son and daughter, when your heart and soul are sustainable, and then we will talk."

Perhaps it would be a fitting tribute to the life work of Sir David Attenborough, as well as a much needed step to save our own souls, to ban the sale of all furniture made from new wood. Such a step would be positive shift in the economy and the way we live. Jobs in refurbishment and the antique industry would flourish - we'd gain more carpenters and artists who can work from home. As we move into more plant based diets the stems of wheat and other plant materials could be used in furniture production. We can amend the way we live, taking inspiration from other cultures. Many eat sitting on the floor, thus doing away with dinning tables and dining chairs. How about sleeping more Japanese style with a mattress that rolls up during the day - no wooden frame. We use recycled and reclaimed materials too - perhaps the harvesting of plastic from the oceans for reuse will gain financial viability as well as being the right thing to do.

The techniques for high quality developed in the Robin Hood Industries ( for making durable products that were both stylish and lasted a lifetime) would later become industry standards in a world that was weaning itself off from over consumption. As such they became the unofficial RND wing of the sustainability movement.

Sustainability planning was something for the "joined up" thinkers, for those with creativity, heart and logical analysis. The reactions of the binary thinkers, those with overly simplistic slogans and demands was over. In a mess this complex we simply don't have the time to negotiate with over-heated simpletons.

Sustainability is a field for the well educated, creative, empathic person able to see all situations from many perspectives - as if they were sitting outside of it with their own desires and needs muted. It is not a field for those who ride in as false knights with the mirror of a bigot's views, just as poison, just as nasty, simply said as the negation. Those who think that the image of evil is "good" are fools to themselves and others. However can a person become evil's reflection and expect God to take their side?

We can reframe our hero and villain characters as apex nurturer-protector and apex predator respectively. Whether we are looking at Kong vs Godzilla or the character of Dominic Toretto in the "Fast and the Furious" franchise vs any of the villains his team faces, we see the same theme. Humanity is looking to run itself with apex nurturer-protectors rather than apex predators because this is the way to peace and sustainability.