Community Stories
Sustainability stories from our community
We're collecting stories of sustainable living from those amongst us.
There are great libraries and knowledge banks providing all the information you'll need on every conceivable topic…we don't need to replicate this.
Here are our stories
Five questions with Jon Coe
1. What does sustainability mean to you?
JC. Let’s talk in terms of lifestyle. A sustainable lifestyle is one in which we take what we need rather than what we can get, leaving the opportunity for similar choices for future generations of plants, animals and people. Sustainability also means seeking and maintaining equilibrium. This means eschewing the polarization of contemporary politics, distribution of wealth and population. However we may feel about the morality of exaggerated divides between wealthy and poor, this situation is unstable and inevitably leads to war . Monocultural mass production of cash crops (including forestry and fisheries) and mining of non-renewable resources is unstable economically and ecologically. Most unstable and unsustainable is the practice of using up more than we have and thus driving ourselves and our decedents into debt. Also I believe there is a natural economy to be sought. For my taste, a good poem or painting says what it has to say without extraneous and wasteful flourishes or ornament. A good meal produces little waste. I value the future more than the past and friendships more than possessions.
2. What got you inspired?
JC. I grew up relatively poor and we wasted nothing. Nevertheless life was good. During the late 1960’s my wife and I served as American Peace Corps Volunteers and lived and worked in a Brazilian favala among economically desperate yet culturally wealthy people. Then in the 1970’s we were very active in the conservation and environmental movement in western Canada. This was the time of the Club of Rome study which predicted economic and environment tragedy unless world population growth rates were curtailed. I helped organize a conference on the ‘Dynamics of Change’ (after a book by the same name) where we examined steps necessary to influence population growth and resource exploitation. One result was that my wife and I subscribed to the “Zero Population Growth” movement and limited ourselves to having only one child. And we are delighted with the outcome!
3. What have you been doing lately?
JC. The main focus of my work for the last two years has been helping plan national parks in Afghanistan based upon a new concept of community-based management. Working with the dirt-poor farmers of high (3000m) desert mountain villages reinforces my belief that a rich cultural and social life is more important to well-being than wealth and ease. At present these people, of necessity, are over grazing their land and harvesting brush for fuel in disastrous ways. The result is the increased risk they are very aware of flood, drought, avalanche and rockslide. Over population is the problem. We are trying to introduce more sustainable farm and home heating practices and community technology as well as very modest tourist income in exchange for reduction in the size of grazing herds and bush cutting. Our village partners are very receptive and initial success is very satisfying. Long-term success…we’ll see.
I’m also helping out as a planning and design advisor at ECOSS, as you know, and find this very rewarding also. I also designed the Healesville labyrinth park as a model of sustainability and recycling.
4. What lessons have you learned?
JC. That giving up a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption and separation from the rest of the world and living modestly, seeking balance, is both liberating and sustainable. Opponents of carbon tax and environmentally sustainable lifestyles and technology claim we advocate impoverishment, a giving up of hard earned wealth and privilege. Gaining social wealth in friendships is the better path. Making our own food, art, crafts, and music is more rewarding to me than buying the ephemeral styles of elite taste makers and industries dedicated to intentional obsolescence.
5. What’s the most important action we can take?
JC. Live life fully yet modestly, savour the colours and flavours of daily challenges and blessings while leaving aside enough for tomorrow and tomorrows generations. “Live lightly upon the earth”, follow your passion, do good and at least do no harm.
Jon Coe has lived in the Yarra Valley for the past 7 years and has designed zoos and animal reserves around the world. Jon designed the Healesville Labyrinth and is a valued member of the ECOSS Strategic Planning team. Jon is also presently assisting with the establishment of nature reserves in Afghanistan through the United Nations. These reserves will provide tourism opportunities for locals and hopefully replace present income sources which are environmentally unsustainable.