I believe in order to have a future where real sustainability can be accomplished, we must first have a future where deeper recognition/understanding of how “valuable” (not in the economic sense) natural resources are present within the society. Take water in Capetown for example, once people are alerted of the incoming crisis due to the shortage of water, actions are taken to cut down any wasteful behaviours that people normally turn a blind eye towards. This shows not just the power of collective action, but also how recognizing the values of natural resources can vastly improve societal behaviours towards sustainability. Capetown luckily managed to avoid their day 0, but we need to take action before such crisis arrive at our doorstep.
Therefore, we must push for a wider recognition of the consequences of wasteful practices that exist in the society, and through that we can forge societal values where people live and act in sustainable ways with an awareness of reducing unnecessary wastes. This can happen through a bottom-up approach, where changing societal values can push the government/corporations towards sustainable behaviours as well.
Hi Tom! Great post! I also found the example in Cape Town really surprising. I like how you mentioned that this demonstrates the power that is in collective action. It truly is the collaboration between people that can make a difference and your idea of pushing for more awareness and changes in societal values is definitely the right direction we should be going towards!
Hi Tom, I really like that you emphasized the need to find ways to value water that is outside of the capitalist, economic sense. I think the point you've made in highlighting this need, is that it is necessary to move away from putting dollar values to resources and services from the planet because the sustainable use of resources and services going forward will require us to let go of our existing notions of value that are rooted in money and wealth, which is a system that has caused many problems and inequalities that cannot continue to exist if we wish to create a more sustainable and just world.
The Capetown point was great! It actually demonstrated that through coopoeration, people could bette manage water resource as well as how many tons of water could we save if everyone keeps an eye on it. I totally agree with that we should never wait until the last minute to take action and value our resources. Additionally, I think government and corporations also have larger influence in changing societal values.
I'm very much with you on this, but people these days, they know the resources are finite, but they don't care, they don't care if the planet runs out one day because they won't even live to see that day, and if you talk to them about future generations, they will even care less.
There are too many people like this, and it is crucial to change the minds of these people, otherwise, the resources that others have fought to save will just be used up by another group of people.
Hi Tom thanks for sharing! I absolutely agree that we need to take the case of Capetown as an example of what might happen to us in the future. Capetown just showed us it is possible for people to reduce water consumption together and it also showed us how a big difference people can make if we act altogether.
Thank you for this great post, Tom! I, too, was so surprised by the ability of the residents of Capetown to decrease their water consumption by approximately 50%. Day 0 shows just how much collective mentality matters. I think you hit the nail on the head with discussing our perception of the "value" of water; this all comes back to the 'relational view' that we discussed in week 3, which should be more widely accepted in society.
Great post! I totally agree that when people realize how valuable natural resources are their behaviours change in great ways for sustainability.
Hi Tom!
I really like your "bottom-up" approach to motivating governmental change! Recently, in one of my Poli Sci courses, we discussed how"bottom-up" strategies and management models empower individuals, foster innovation, and ensure leaders receive key information more quickly - all key to conservation!
What were your ideas for initiating such an approach? Reading your post made me think of the BC Hydro ads I've been seeing all over YouTube. To prepare these ads, BC Hydro asks homeowners to apply to have their house featured in an ad campaign on reducing household energy waste. I'm wondering if something similar could be done by a different arms-length body to incentivize home owners to reduce household water waste?
Great post Tom! I think it's so true that awareness and recognition for this topic is what can truly bring people together to solve it.