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Kelly Rae Chi a Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the University of North
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository THE MOTIVATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF LIVING SIMPLY IN A CONSUMING SOCIETY Kelly Rae Chi A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by: Professor Jan Johnson Yopp, adviser Professor Barbara Friedman, reader Professor Stephen Birdsall, reader ©2008 Kelly Rae Chi ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT KELLY R. CHI: The Motivations and Challenges of Living Simply in a Consuming Society (Under the direction of Jan Yopp, Barbara Friedman and Stephen Birdsall) Voluntary simplicity, a cultural movement that focuses on buying less and working less, blossomed in the mid-1990s as increasing numbers of Americans voiced dissatisfaction with excessive consumerism and working long hours. While the movement is not formalized today, many Americans do live simply, according to some of the simplicity literature. Practices range from buying only environmentally friendly products, following religious guidelines, or living in communal settings. Though the weakening U.S. economy makes simplicity an attractive or necessary way of life, the daily lives of simplifiers are underreported in the mainstream media. Since 2003, newspaper articles on simplicity have diminished, and existing articles lack context on the varied motivations and challenges of the simplicity movement and how some Americans live simply. This thesis and its series of articles aims to fill that gap by looking at simplicity research as well as the stories of local people in family and community settings. -
Duane Elgin Endorsements for Choosing Earth “Choosing Earth Is the Most Important Book of Our Time
CHOOSING EARTH Humanity’s Great Transition to a Mature Planetary Civilization Duane Elgin Endorsements for Choosing Earth “Choosing Earth is the most important book of our time. To read and dwell within it is an awakening experience that can activate both an ecological and spiritual revolution.” —Jean Houston, PhD, Chancellor of Meridian University, philosopher, author of The Possible Human, Jump Time, Life Force and many more. “A truly essential book for our time — from one of the greatest and deepest thinkers of our time. Whoever is concerned to create a better future for the human family must read this book — and take to heart the wisdom it offers.” —Ervin Laszlo is evolutionary systems philosopher, author of more than one hundred books including The Intelligence of the Cosmos and Global Shift. “This may be the perfect moment for so prophetic a voice to be heard. Sobered by the pandemic, we are recognizing both the fragility of our political arrangements and the power of our mutual belonging. As Elgin knows, we already possess the essential ingredient —our capacity to choose.” —Joanna Macy, author of Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy, is root teacher of the Work That Reconnects and celebrated in A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time. “Duane Elgin has thought hard — and meditated long — about what it will take for humanity to evolve past our looming ecological bottleneck toward a future worth building. There is wisdom in these pages to light the way through our dark and troubled times.” —Richard Heinberg is one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from reliance on fossil fuels; author of Our Renewable Future, Peak Everything, and The End of Growth. -
2009 Our Big Green Future: Steps Toward Carbon Neutrality At
2009 Our Big Green Future: Steps Toward Carbon Neutrality at Dartmouth College An Environmental Studies 50 Report overseen by Senior Lecturer Karolina Kawiaka: Environmental Studies Dept. Dartmouth College Hanover NH, 03755 27 May 2009 Table of Contents Table of Contents .........................................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1: Introduction and Summary.........................................................................................................1 I. Our Proposal for Dartmouth College....................................................................................................1 II. Background on Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality ......................................................................1 1. What is carbon neutrality? ...............................................................................................................1 2. Why should we be concerned about Climate Change?...................................................................1 3. Peer Institutions Seeking a reduced Carbon Footprint:...................................................................2 III. Our Recommendations:......................................................................................................................2 Chapter 2: Phases.........................................................................................................................................4 I. Phase 1, Part 1: Reducing Load .............................................................................................................4 -
Faith Morgan
75 Years of Pragmatic Idealism 1940 – 2015 Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions Photo courtesy of Antiochiana, Antioch College. Antioch Antiochiana, of courtesy Photo New Solutions Number 22 • Spring, 2016 CONTENTS Our Work – Susan Jennings 1 Power of Community Film 20 Philosophy of Community – Arthur Morgan 2 Passive House Revolution Film 21 Back to Yellow Springs – Scott Sanders 4 Current Program Areas of Focus 25 Fruits of Vision: 5 The Answer to Energy Poverty is Antioch Student Inspired – Ralph Keyes 5 Community Richness – Peter Bane 26 75 Years of Publications and Films 6 100 Year Plan – Jim Merkel 27 World War II Correspondence Course on Beyond Too Little Too Late – Peter Bane 28 Community – Stephanie Mills 7 Community Assessment Questions – Don Hollister 30 Mitraniketan in India – Lee Morgan 8 Life in Yellow Springs 31 Community Land Trust Pioneer – Emily Seibel 9 A Shared Adventure – Arthur Morgan 31 Ferment of the 1960’s Distilled – Don Hollister 11 Energy Navigators Program – Jonna Johnson 32 A Griscom Passion — Demurrage Economics Environmental Dashboard – Rose Hardesty 33 vs. Compound Interest – John Morgan 12 Tools for Transition – 2015 conference report 34 Jane Morgan Years and Conferences 1975 – 1997 14 Arthur Morgan Award 2015 to Stephanie Mills 36 Marianne MacQueen Reflections 15 Arthur Morgan Award 2014 – William Beale 37 The Community Journal – Krista Magaw 16 Our People, Members, and Supporters Community Solutions to Climate Change Fellows and Board 39 – 40 and Peak Oil – Don Hollister 17 Donors 41 Curtailment and Community – Pat Murphy 17 Sponsors 44 Fossil Fuels vs. Community – Megan Bachman 19 Our 63rd Conference – Charting a New Course 45 New Solutions No. -
Together Resilient
T What if community is the answer? O “When people ask me where to move to escape climate change, I tell them G there’s no escape and that the thing to look for is a strong community. is E book explains how to build that kind of community anywhere—it’s a manual T for the future.” H Bill McKibben E Author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet R “Is it possible to jettison our current system of exploitation and R environmental destruction, and create a new system, that is not only E S Resilient sustainable but affords us a comfortable and fullling life? e answer is a resounding yes. Ma’ikwe Ludwig eloquently reminds us how the way is I L fraught with challenges and shows us how to conquer them. is is a I must-read for anyone who cares about the future of the human race.” E Chong Kee Tan, PhD N Founder of Bay Bucks T Real hope comes from looking uninchingly at our current circumstances and then committing wholeheartedly to creative action. Never has that been more urgently needed than right now, with the climate crisis looming larger every day. is book advocates for citizen-led, community-based action rst and foremost: why wait for the government when you can take action today, with your neighbors? From small solutions to the full re-invention of the systems we nd ourselves in, this book mixes anecdote with data-based research to bring you a wide range of options that all embody compassion, creativity, and cooperation. -
Peril and Promise an Interview with Duane Elgin by Arnie Cooper, the Sun Magazine, August 2002
Peril and Promise An interview with Duane Elgin by Arnie Cooper, The Sun Magazine, August 2002 “Simplify, simplify.” When Henry David Thoreau made this plea 150 years ago, he was reacting to the increasing complexity of life around him. Today we find ourselves in a far more complex world, one in which increasing numbers of us are beginning to see the wisdom in Thoreau’s appeal. Duane Elgin helped define this trend back in 1981 with his first book, Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Morrow). In that now-classic text, updated and reprinted in 1993, Elgin encouraged us not just to cut back on consumption and ease our busy schedules, but to live a life with purpose, in which every action is the result of a conscious choice. Since bringing voluntary simplicity to the attention of the larger culture, Elgin has focused on how humanity can survive on a planet whose natural resources are stretched to their limits. The ultimate test, he believes, will be in how we respond to the challenges of the coming years, when he predicts that environmental problems will reach a breaking point. His latest book, Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future (Morrow), paints a chilling picture of the cultural and ecological dangers we will face, yet offers an optimistic view of the possibility for humankind’s survival and evolution into a more mature species. Elgin was born near a small town in Idaho in 1943 and worked on the family farm until he was twenty-three. -
The Voluntary Simplicity Movement: Reimagining the Good Life Beyond Consumer Culture
Volume 7 The Voluntary Simplicity Movement: Reimagining the Good Life beyond Consumer Culture Samuel Alexander THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY http://www.Sustainability-Journal.com First published in 2011 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Publishing LLC www.CommonGroundPublishing.com ISSN: 1832-2077 © 2011 (individual papers), the author(s) © 2011 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact <[email protected]>. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY is peer-reviewed, supported by rigorous processes of criterion-referenced article ranking and qualitative commentary, ensuring that only intellectual work of the greatest substance and highest significance is published. Typeset in Common Ground Markup Language using CGPublisher multichannel typesetting system http://www.commongroundpublishing.com/software/ The Voluntary Simplicity Movement: Reimagining the Good Life beyond Consumer Culture Samuel Alexander, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Abstract: Voluntary simplicity - otherwise known as ‘downshifting’ or just ‘simple living’ – is an anti- consumerist way of life that opposes the high consumption lifestyles prevalent in consumer societies today and voluntarily embraces ‘a simpler life’ of reduced consumption. As a practical matter, this living strategy characteristically involves providing for material needs as simply and directly as possible, minimizing expenditure on consumer goods and services, and generally seeking non-materialistic sources of satisfaction and meaning. -
Quotes for Sustainable Living By
Daily Inspirational Quotes for Sustainable Living by www.globalstewards.org Happiness's fundamental meaning is a free breathing of the soul. Helen Keller ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying, there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves and recreates. That informing power or spirit is God....And is this power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the supreme Good. Mahatma Gandhi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I change myself, I change the world. Gloria Anzuldúa ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lots of people talk to animals," said Pooh..."Not very many listen, though," he said. Benjamin Hoff ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "One can't believe impossible things." [said Alice]..."I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. -
Humanity's Great Transition
HUMANITY’S GREAT TRANSITION A Middle Path to a Sustainable and Surpassing Future 2019 — 2100 © Duane Elgin December 9, 2018 Version 2.5 HUMANITY’S GREAT TRANSITION A Middle Path to a Sustainable and Surpassing Future 2019 - 2100 Our Journey Home . 1 The Dynamics of Great Transition . 3 Becoming Doubly-Wise Humans . 6 Warnings to Humanity . 7 A Path Between Two Extremes . 8 Seven Stages of Great Transition . 11 • Stage 1: Denial . 13 • Stage 2: Denial Shattered . 13 • Stage 3: Lifeboat Communities . 15 • Stage 4: Moving Toward Collapse . 17 • Stage 5: A Race with Ruin . 19 • Stage 6: Humanity Awakens . 21 • Stage 7: A New Path Forward . 23 Our Pathway Into a Promising Future . 26 Appendix: A Living Universe Paradigm and Pathway . 28 References: . 35 Humanity’s Great Transition © Duane Elgin, December 9, 2018 Version 2.5 [email protected] 1 HUMANITY’S GREAT TRANSITION A Middle Path to a Sustainable and Surpassing Future © Duane Elgin, December 9, 2018 [email protected] Version 2.5 Our Journey Home Humanity has entered a time of historic transition that is unprecedented in its urgency, magnitude and impact. We are being pushed by unyielding necessity to respond to an array of adversity trends. Some think climate change, unsustainable population, resource depletion, species extinction and more may bring a tragic end to human history. Others see these trends as an evolutionary pressure, moving us toward sustainable ways of living with a surpassing sense of purpose. I see the latter possibility as more accurate: We are going somewhere as a species! We are on an extraordinary journey, moving through a rite of passage that will take us from our collective adolescence into our early adulthood as a human family. -
Living-Universe Ebook.Pdf
THE Living Universe Other books by Duane Elgin: Voluntary Simplicity Promise Ahead Awakening Earth Changing Images of Man (with Joseph Campbell and others) Living Legacies (with Coleen LeDrew Elgin) Duane Elgin THE Living Universe WHERE ARE WE? WHO ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING? FOREWORD BY DEEPAK CHOPRA The Living Universe Copyright © 2009 by Duane Elgin All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distrib- uted, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior writ- ten permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650 San Francisco, California 94104-2916 Tel: (415) 288-0260, Fax: (415) 362-2512 www.bkconnection.com Ordering information for print editions Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by cor- porations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the Berrett-Koehler address above. Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most bookstores. They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; www.bkconnection.com Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact Berrett- Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626. Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact Ingram Publisher Services, Tel: (800) 509-4887; Fax: (800) 838-1149; E-mail: [email protected]; or visit www.ingram publisherservices.com/Ordering for details about electronic ordering. -
Avoiding Recessions and Australian Long Term Unemployment
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Downshifting in Australia A sea-change in the pursuit of happiness Clive Hamilton Executive Director The Australia Institute Elizabeth Mail The Australia Institute Discussion Paper Number 50 January 2003 ISSN 1322-5421 ii © The Australia Institute This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes only with the written permission of the Australia Institute. Such use must not be for the purposes of sale or commercial exploitation. Subject to the Copyright Act 1968, reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form by any means of any part of the work other than for the purposes above is not permitted without written permission. Requests and inquiries should be directed to The Australia Institute. The Australia Institute Table of Contents Tables and Figures v Acknowledgments vi Summary vii 1. The pursuit of happiness 1 1.1 Overconsumption and its costs 1 1.2 Conflict of values 2 1.3 Swimming against the tide 4 2. What is downshifting? 6 2.1 Defining downshifting 6 2.2 Why do people downshift? 8 2.3 Types of changes 9 2.4 Some common themes 10 3. Patterns of downshifting in Australia 13 3.1 How many Australians have downshifted? 13 3.2 Who are the downshifters? 15 3.3 When did they change? 17 3.4 How do they change? 18 3.5 Why do they do it 21 3.6 Is it worth it? 24 3.7 In summary 26 4. Six case studies 28 Nick 28 Gail and Hugh 31 Luca 32 Richard 33 Alex and Jane 35 Gary 36 5. -
Ents, Elves, and Eriador Culture of the Land a Series in the New Agrarianism
Ents, Elves, and Eriador Culture of the Land A Series in the New Agrarianism is series is devoted to the exploration and articulation of a new agrarian- ism that considers the health of habitats and human communities together. It is intended to demonstrate how agrarian insights and responsibilities can be worked out in diverse fields of learning and living: history, science, art, politics, economics, literature, philosophy, religion, urban planning, edu- cation, and public policy. Agrarianism is a comprehensive worldview that appreciates the intimate and practical connections which exist between humans and the earth. It stands as our most promising alternative to the unsustainable and destructive ways of current global, industrial, and con- sumer culture. Series Editor Norman Wirzba, Georgetown College, Kentucky Advisory Board Wendell Berry, Port Royal, Kentucky Ellen Davis, Duke University, North Carolina Patrick Holden, Soil Association, United Kingdom Wes Jackson, Land Institute, Kansas Gene Logsdon, Upper Sandusky, Ohio Bill McKibben, Middlebury College, Vermont David Orr, Oberlin College, Ohio Michael Pollan, University of California at Berkeley, California Jennifer Sahn, Orion magazine, Massachusetts Vandana Shiva, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, India William Vitek, Clarkson University, New York Ents, Elves, and Eriador e Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans TheUniversityPressofKentucky Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2006 by e University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, e Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.