A Sustainable Mindset Makes A Difference

Very simply, sustainability is the capacity to endure.  Enduring, of course, is crucial to everyone.  As a result, the idea of sustainable design, sustainable building, sustainable development, and sustainable living becomes universally important, making it possible to build common ground across different cultures.  Without common ground, tackling the big challenges of our time will not be possible.

It's simple enough to build consensus around the premise that we must find ways to conserve our planet's finite resources and protect the environment, but approaches to dealing with this challenge are varied and difficult to agree upon.  However tough, environmental issues such as global warming must be addressed.  Solving tough issues like climate change becomes simpler when you approach the problem from a sustainable mindset.  From this vantage point, it's easy to see how a sustainable mindset offers atypical solutions to traditionally stubborn problems.  Let's look at two serious challenges, homelessness and hunger, from a sustainable mindset:

Shelter is critical to survival for obvious reasons, and the lack of shelter is a very serious issue for many in the US and abroad.  It is difficult to get an accurate figure of how many people are homeless at any given time.  During a given year, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, experience homelessness in America.  Most often, homelessness in the US is temporary - the result of an unanticipated financial setback or an environmental disaster.  The good news is that people who experience homelessness often get back on their feet within a year with help from public agencies, friends, and family as well as the abatement of the situation.  On the other hand, a smaller percentage of homelessness becomes chronic and life-threatening.  Whether temporary or chronic, focusing on homelessness with a sustainable mindset is important and yields creative solutions.

Interior of Shipping Container Home
Courtesy of A Place to Sleep

Sustainable Solution:  Shipping Container Housing -Shipping container housing is great because the container is large, easily retrofitted, recycled, and expandable. A shipping container can also be transported by large trucks, ships, and trains. (see video at bottom of post).  One person who sees the value of shipping container housing is Mike Wallace, and he is helping people facing chronic homelessness right here in North Texas.  His organization, A Place To Sleep, is the result of a sustainable mindset.

Another common challenge is hunger, a major issue in developed and undeveloped countries.  Many people in rural and undeveloped areas around the world still spend an inordinate amount of time collecting firewood in order to cook simple meals and firewood is often in short supply, making it very difficult to cook.  Approach this problem with a sustainable mindset and the problem is readily solved by harnessing the power of the sun.

Sustainable Solution:  Solar Ovens - This solution is great because it harvests the free and renewable power of the sun.  Sun Cooking USA has invented a solar oven that is helping people in underdeveloped countries and those areas struck by a severe natural disaster such as Haiti and Japan. 



Solar Ovens on Display in Haiti
Courtesy of Sun Cooking USA

Difficult problems such as homelessness and hunger can be solved with innovation and creativity borne from a sustainable mindset. A sustainable mindset can also help people build consensus as everyone has a vested interest in conserving the Earth's finite resources.  Furthermore, if sustainability is the capacity to endure and endurance is what it takes to make a difference, then it's easy to see how sustainability and green building will continue to have a very positive social and economic impact.