Our entire economy is based on finite fossil fuel resources and wholesale destruction of the environment in the interest of providing for an ever growing human population. Of course, most of the "wealth" created by this economic model goes to a small fraction of the human population, so essentially we are destroying our planet to make a very small segment of the human population so rich they don't even know what to do with all their wealth. But there are some who are trying to change the way humanity interacts with the planet.

I've lived at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a model for a more sustainable way of living in community, for over 13 years now. My impact on the planet is about a tenth the impact of the average American. It's taken a while to get set up to live this way, and living this way hasn't been easy. It's a struggle to try to live in a way that mostly defies everything every American has come to depend on to make their lives easier. Technology provides many sustainable alternatives to replace fossil fuel equivalents. But inevitably living sustainably requires harder work and doing things the old fashioned way. Having lived this way for 13 years, I have a story to tell. Sustainable living may be a different way of life in many unrecognizable and unimaginable ways to the average American, but the average American might not imagine any of these could be positive on a personal level. They can only imagine negatives in a life without luxuries and conveniences they have become utterly dependent on, but there are so many benefits to living this way above and beyond the direct and indirect ecological impact. It's a holistic way of living that doesn't just apply to reducing your environmental impact, it restores your energy and life force in many ways on a daily basis.

There are ecovillages all over the world. Not all may be as radical as mine, but you might find one that suits you, or you might start one of your own.