A Brief History of Sustainable Directions
A decade ago, I heard someone ask Suzan Shown Harjo, the Cheyenne and Arapaho writer and Indian policy advocate, “What’s the most important event in Native American history?”
While I imagined her saying something like “the arrival of Europeans to North America” or “the Battle at Wounded Knee,” Harjo replied, “We received teachings about using nearby plants to heal wounds and diseases.”
I still think about her response. In the context of an ecoliteracy school, I wonder what teachings other cultures have received to keep life going.
We have the thought that there isn’t enough. Therefore, I need to get what I can.
DIRECTIONS for ECOLOGICAL HEALTH
Taoists (somewhere between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE): Avoid extremes. Go for the middle way. Balance yin and yang. Recognize that all life evolves from cycles of heating and cooling and drying and moistening.
Ancient peoples: plant seeds and extract ores with reverence.
Respect that soil’s ability to absorb and hold water is one of the Earth’s primary cooling mechanisms. Covering soil with paved roads, parking lots, shopping malls, data centers, battery energy storage facilities, airports (etcetera) blocks this mechanism.
Herman Daly (1938-2022): Don’t take from the Earth faster than it can replenish. Don’t waste faster than it can absorb the waste.
Bioregionalists: Know how much rainfall your region receives, how much groundwater is available and how to restore healthy water cycling. Live within the offerings of your watershed’s water, fuel, ores, energy. Build soil that can absorb and hold water. Reduce dependence on international supply chains.
United Plant Savers (1994): Preserve native medicinal plants. Don’t over-harvest plants whose survival is endangered.
Robin Wall Kimmerer: “In Potawatomi and most other Indigenous languages, we use the same words to address the living world as we use for our family.”
TO SUSTAIN PEOPLES’ HEALTH
Ayurvedic medicine (1500 – 1200 BCE): Ayurveda means the study of life. It’s based on the idea that everything in the universe is connected. Therefore, an imbalance in one area can cause illness. To reduce inflammation (for example), avoid warming foods—like chili, garlic and heated oils, and dehydrating foods like chard and parsley. Enjoy cooling mint, coconut, cucumbers, steamed foods.
Taoists (8th to 3rd centuries BCE): Balance yin and yang. Avoid extremes. (Consider sugar and large portions of meat extreme.) Go for the middle way. Aim for simplicity and humility.
Hippocrates (about 400 BCE): First, do no harm. Let food be thy medicine.
The Precautionary Principle (1980s): Do not use a substance or product when there’s reasonable suspicion of its dangers. While it may have been around for a while and/or it may not cause immediately noticeable adverse reactions, we might assume that the product is safe. However, used alone, repeatedly or in combination, items such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, phthalates (plastics), PFAs, mobile devices, solar PVs, e-vehicles, etcetera, may damage health. Use alternatives whenever possible. (The Precautionary Principle also relates to ecosystem health.)
Ten Commandments (around 1446 BCE): Observe the Sabbath. One day each week, do not interfere with nature. Do not light a fire, carry anything outside of your home, handle money, use a knife, etcetera.
Advocate for healthy menstrual cycles: Recognize that all life evolves from cycles of heating and cooling and moistening and drying. Learn how to observe and chart your menstrual cycles for an introductory gauge of your gynecological health—and to know when you are fertile and infertile.
For a successful breastfeeding relationship, start nursing within 30 minutes after birth. For a healthier family, space children at least three years apart.
Cook. Compost. Reduce buying processed and packaged foods.
When you’re sick, drink plenty of water and fast from food.
Take responsibility for your death and your possessions. Update your health care directive and your will, annually. Keep your possessions to a minimum. Recognize that while a body decomposes, mercurial dentistry, formaldehyde (used to keep a body in tact for viewings) and electronic medical implants are hazardous waste.
LONG-LASTING FARMING PRACTICES
Leviticus 25:2-7: Every seven years, let the land rest.
Kosher and Halal law: When butchering, the animal should feel no pain.
Maintain soil health. Maintain waterways’ health. Do not till soil.
FOR A LONG-LASTING GOVERNMENT
The U.S. Constitution (1789): Allow freedom of speech.
Confucius and the Bible: Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you.
Deuteronomy 23:19: When loaning money, do not charge your brother interest.
Aim to meet the needs of the poor.
In the 19th century, most U.S. states granted corporate charters for no more than 30 years (rather than in perpetuity). They prohibited corporations from making political contributions and imposed many other limits on corporations.
Matt Pearce: To become sovereign—to control the most meaningful decisions about your own life—is to exit an existing status quo, sometimes at steep cost.
FOR SAFE AND RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY
Hammurabi’s Code (1750 BCE): If a bridge collapses and causes harm, the bridgemaker is responsible.
Professional Engineering (PE) statutes (starting in 1907): No technology is safe until proven safe. Only a licensed, liability-carrying PE’s seal “proves” safety. (Technology here refers to bridges, water treatment facilities, electrical equipment, telecommunications infrastructure, home wiring, building structural support.)
In 1925, when car mechanic Joseph Olhoeft’s son, Roy, asked his father to let him buy a Model T Ford for $25 with a problem, Joseph told his son to lay every part of the car on the lawn, identify the problem and repair it. If Roy could reassemble the car and get it to drive correctly, he could have the Model T.
Keep wired whenever possible. Avoid wireless devices whenever possible.
Move toward using only tools that biodegrade.
WAR
Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War (5th century BCE): The goal of war is peace. Know your enemy and know yourself.
Talmud (between the 3rd and 6th centuries): Do not trap your enemy, because that endangers the trapmaker.
The Work of Byron Katie (2003): All war belongs on paper. When you’re angry, stuck, depressed or confused, investigate your thinking. Write down your thought and ask, Is it true?...and play with turning around your thoughts.
AFTER WE HUMANS HAVE NOT FOLLOWED MANY OF THESE DIRECTIONS
FOR CENTURIES—
I wonder which ones could still apply. I acknowledge that I depend on international supply chains for significant portions of my food and health care—and my car. In 2021, 94% of the highly packaged U.S. food supply was grown with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). Every day it seems, I have to contend with an energy guzzling, water guzzling, extractive, toxic waste-emitting, radiation-emitting digital/AI interface.
Our society does not aim to meet the needs of the poor. In wars, we focus more on maintaining U.S. supremacy rather than creating cooperative, peaceful mutual aid.
Still, to my surprise, I found that I could practice about half of these directions. I can study traditional medicine ways. When I’m sick, I can fast. I can keep a garden—even if it’s just at a windowsill. I can keep a digital Sabbath. I can reduce my possessions and get my health care directive and my will in order.
Here are other viable options that would reduce human impacts on Earth—and maybe also support community:
Voluntarily, each woman limits herself to one chid.
Aim to reduce your consumption by two percent per month. Quit your car, TV and dryer. At Xmas and birthdays, do an activity—like making a meal together or taking a hike. When you need to replace a computer or appliance or car, first see if you can repair it. Visit www.ifixit.com. If your device isn’t repairable, rather than a new one, buy a refurbished one.
Before giving a child an e-device, ask, What would we gain from this? What would we lose or replace?
PLEASE COMMENT!
What do you do to sustain your life and your community? Please share.
Would you contribute $5/month to keep this substack going?
Thank you for the continued inspiration.
Very useful - thank you - keep up the good work!