We Don't Need Sustainability

Now, I know my business name is Sort it Out Sustainably, so it might sound contradictory for me to say we don't need sustainability. 

I do not mean let's not be sustainable.

I mean let's be more than sustainable because sustainability alone won't work.

The definition of sustainability

What it means to be able to sustain, is to be able to keep going with what we are doing. Right now humans are continuing to cause harm to the planet and it is very unsustainable.

The scientific predictions of what the future on the planet looks like if we keep harming it, are really quite scary.

Sustainability seems to very much entail doing no harm, however, it doesn't encompass making the situation better.

The damage already done

We are, currently, so far removed from being sustainable than just implementing sustainability will not reverse the damage already done. We have cut down most of the world's forests, polluted the waterways, washed all the topsoil away, filled the ocean with plastic, pumped millions of tonnes of gasses into the atmosphere, and killed most of the biodiversity on earth.

Switching to bamboo straws and putting some solar panels up will not fix our problem. Just being sustainable is not enough. We are in a situation that doesn't require us to just stop what we are doing wrong, but reverse what we are doing.

Regeneration is what we need

We need to heal the damage done to our planet. We need regeneration; Improving and restoring life on the planet. Beyond just sustaining life on earth, it is possible to work WITH life on earth to follow nature principles. Right now, we are at a critical point in time, where the world is so degraded around us, that the ecosystems are collapsing. We need to reverse what's happening by helping the earth regenerate.

We can transform the current, extractive based model that our culture operates from to a regenerative model that feeds the earth and in return feeds future generations.

The regenerative potential of the planet

The best part about regeneration is that nature designed itself to be regenerative. One plant will fruit many seeds to exponentially grow. Nature has infinite potential and if we start within with it, we can help our world become abundant again. We can make sure generations to come can breathe clean air, grown healthy as f*CK food, have resources for infrastructure, and appreciate the great biodiversity of the earth.

What we need is for our waste to not be wasted but used to create soil health, energy, new products, and technologies and lift billions out of poverty while we do it.

Let's do it!

Now, the best thing about regeneration is we all can take part! Having most of us humans supporting regeneration is essential for the future of the planet so while most people are far from even being sustainable, the shift will only happen when individuals like you and me decide that a future of life on earth is what we want to help support.

As part of that, sustainability is necessary. But creating a regenerative culture globally is what we really need on top of that.

We can start with just making the changes we know we can do. We can ditch packaging when it's not needed. We can compost our scraps either at home, through the council, or somewhere in your neighborhood. Most of us have access to biodynamic farms with produce boxes or farmer markets. We can shop with small businesses that support regenerative practices.

And the biggest thing we can do is ditch what is not serving ourselves and the planet and make room in our budgets, minds, and time for investing in a better world.