DP: Self-Sufficiency
First of all, I would like to say that I chose this topic because of my personal interest about it. I’ve been interested in this topic since I saw a video explaining the concepts of earthship biotecture by architect Michael Reynolds. In this video he shows a self sufficient household that provides water, heat, electricity, and food, while living completely off the grid and using recycled materials for its construction. All of the sudden I started asking myself a whole lot of questions like: What if I was able to satisfy my basic needs and have a comfortable life? What would I work for then? What would I do with the money I earn? Where would I spend it? What would I do with my free time? What impact will my life have on the environment? What would life mean if we were self-sufficient? Sometimes I wonder is this what freedom is like?
In college I studied industrial engineering. In every class that I had, my teachers would talk about efficiency, waste reduction (if you reduce your waste production it means you are making an efficient use of the raw materials you are buying, thus reducing costs), packaging less (reduce littering and thus cost reduction), logistics in transportation (in order to reduce costs and make a more efficient delivery of services and products, reducing carbon emissions). Now, after reading about self-sufficient technologies used by some individuals and communities I was forced to rethink efficiency. Now, I cannot stop thinking that efficient society depends on our own individual efficiency on our use of resources and this is directly linked to sustainability.
Imagine what this implies throughout the whole supply chain of products and services, and the energy saved from the manufacturing processes. Less transportation of goods, less CO2 emissions, it translates to an overall decrease in the carbon footprint. Also, if seen from a household economy point of view it means money saved through a DIY (do it yourself) approach on your daily life. Wouldn’t this make sense in times of economic crises, poor countries, or even just to spend your money in things you really appreciate. Of course, there are different levels of applying the self-sufficient philosophy and I agree certain groups or individuals can take it a bit far, but I really think this topic deserves to be taken seriously as an approach to many development issues.
Finally, for this first entry on the development topic, I wanted to give you a brief introduction to the ideas I will be exploring throughout the development blog. I see this blog as an opportunity to formulate a structured opinion on this approach. Hoping some time along the way I will find answers to personal questions. In my next entries I will try to show you evidence that: technologies to implement a self-sufficient live style are available and at an affordable price, that they can cause profound positive impact on communities and individuals, and that they are a viable solution for development.