A Vision of a Sustainable Human Setting

Published in "In Context" Summer 1986

If a sustainable society is a lower energy society contained by renewable resources, what would a sustainable version of present western industrial society look like? What would our choices be? What new opportunities would open up, and what present options would close? How would we spend our day?

I think that it is obvious that the containment of our collective undertakings by the available regional solar flux will have considerable social impacts - from the largest to the smallest scales of human organization.

The large hierarchical pyramids of social organization that characterize contemporary society, and that require large energy inputs to support themselves, will progressively deteriorate. They will break up into more numerous, smaller jurisdictions, re-asserting what Schumacher describes as their "subsidiary function " - (a more humane and efficient organizational state in which the freedom and responsibility of lower formations is carefully preserved).

Correspondingly, at the other end of the scale, localities will become more productive as their subsidiary functions are re-instated. This new-found productivity will be geared to satisfying local needs from local resources. This is the essence of a sustainable society.

To better illustrate the differences between contemporary and sustainable lifestyles, consider a typical contemporary suburban setting as it is now, and how it might adapt. Echo Hill outside Amherst, Ma. is, by today's standards, a well laid out, attractive residential development. However, the site serves only as a place for houses - houses which are usually well separated, randomly oriented, and located on the flattest, most arable land. The spaces between are paved to accommodate the vehicular lifeline. The surrounding landscape consumes energy to arrest its natural succession. Expansive lawns, which require water (potable water) and chemical nutrients to grow lush, and gasoline to cut down the lushness, produce nothing except visual amenity.

The waste nutrients are channeled away - a problem to be rid of.

Here, the sun bakes the pavement and the rain runs off fast to aggravate the local storm drainage system. Here, on-site production is a negative number.

How much more could such a suburban setting contribute to the sustenance of its inhabitants?

In a renewable energy based society, Echo Hill would need to set some goals for local production of its citizens' needs. The guiding aspiration should be to harness the resources of the setting and would include at least...

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