How do I live in line with what the planet can provide?

Read the following for context:

The world's natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate, faster than they can replenish themselves. According to the UN's most recent Global Resources Outlook, resource extraction has more than tripled since 1970, including a fivefold increase in the use of non-metallic minerals and a 45 per cent increase in fossil fuel use.

Facilitator prompts the group: 

• When do you most often think about the resources you are using?
• What prompts you to do so?

Some questions to consider when looking at our living patterns and how we use the world’s resources include (these are thought questions, not to answer them now):

• How can we live in a world where we use the things we need to survive, but in delicate balance with conservation efforts so that we don’t deplete the world of its limited resources?
• Where can intentionality play a part so that we are efficient in our use of resources, and align our actions and values – from the micro to the macro – via what we choose to do and what we avoid to do?

Through the exploration below we will have the chance to consider these tensions and how they play out in our own lives and the choices we make.

Jewish tradition emphasizes the central importance of respecting, protecting and preserving the world’s resources. This ethical principle, known as Bal Tashchit– “Do not destroy or waste” - directly relates to our urgent ecological challenges, ongoing climate degradation, and humans’ undeniable impact on the environment.

How many Earths? 

Read the following:

Now, let’s dive into specific ecological footprints:  How many earths are required to support each of our individual lifestyles? We are going to use a quantitative footprint calculator tool to estimate our energy, resource and land use, as well as what is needed to account for the waste and emissions that our consumption patterns produce.

Scan the QR Code or click this link to open the Global Footprint Network Calculator and answer the series of questions as they relate to your specific lifestyle.

Read the following:

Knowledge is power.

Calculating our ecological footprints is not meant to shame anyone, nor put all (or even the majority) of the onus on you, as one person, to make shifts and thereby somehow “solve” the climate crisis. Industries and governments must enact sweeping reforms to safeguard people and planet, and we have to continue to hold them accountable for the consequences of their action and inaction! But being aware of our own ecological footprints is an important starting point from which we can better advocate for and affect change.

Reducing individual and collective footprints has measurable, wide-ranging, positive impacts on the planet and people who live upon it. By taking clear steps to conserve natural resources, reduce waste and pollution, and protect species and ecosystems worldwide, we are practicing respect for humans, living things and the Earth itself, so it can be sustained for us and future generations.

Facilitator prompts the group:

• Where do you think you can begin to minimize your ecological footprint? Share five ideas! (Starting points include buying less, changing dietary habits, swapping and sharing goods,  walking/biking/ride sharing/public transiting, choosing energy and water efficient appliances, etc.)

• Which points of entry seem most accessible to you logistically and financially? Outline why and commit to at least one... with more to follow!

In the exploration we just experienced, we took a contemporary issue – ecological footprints and consumption – and explored it through the value of respect. Doing so offers us a way to think about what drives the ecological choices we make, and to recognize the competing desires on both sides of the choice spectrum. Today's conversation provided a chance for us to explore how being aware of our own ecological footprints can be an important starting point from which we can better advocate for and affect global change, even when it’s hard and we might otherwise desire different choices.

Go around the room and ask everyone who wants to share a reaction to one of the following prompts:

• As a result of this session, I now think differently about ......
• To sensitize myself to the value of respect in the ecological choices I make, I will now ...

In the exploration we just experienced, we took a contemporary issue – ecological footprints and consumption – and explored it through the value of respect. Doing so offers us a way to think about what drives the ecological choices we make, and to recognize the competing desires on both sides of the choice spectrum. Today’s conversation provided a chance for us to explore how being aware of our own ecological footprints can be an important starting point from which we can better advocate for and affect global change, even when it’s hard and we might otherwise desire different choices.

Go around the room and ask everyone who wants to share a reaction to one of the following prompts:

• As a result of this session, I now think differently about ……
• To sensitize myself to the value of respect in the ecological choices I make, I will now …