Jared Herman

Sustainability Vision Assignment

Part 1:
I grew up in Minnetonka, one of many sprawling suburbs outside Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Like most suburbs, much infrastructure, goods and services were located (and
still are) far apart from residential areas and required car transportation places like the
school, grocery and retail stores, hospital and other venues for extracurricular activities.
Cars were often the main mode of transportation after I received my license and no
longer took the bus to school. Interacting with friends from different neighborhoods,
teachers and mentors and requiring or desiring different services or goods to meet
physical, psychological or extraneous needs made having a car a necessity. Considering
what I know now, my suburban life (and present lifestyle as well) was most likely very
resource and energy intensive and not only incurred a high cost from local ecosystems,
but global ecosystems as well.
Its difficult to make an accurate appraisal if this suburban lifestyle was
sustainable because many of the resources (i.e. petroleum, timber, minerals, synthetic
compounds, food) which make the suburban existence possible are sourced from land
bases elsewhere in the country and world. It needs to be understood what is happening in
these respective ecosystems in terms of processes and long-term productivity. Though,
because these resources often require transportation of up to thousands of miles and burn
high amounts of fossil fuel before they reach their destination of use, its safe to say the
process uses more energy then natural systems can support and thus is unsustainable.
We can also conclude that since consumption of raw materials is so high in suburbs given
the heating needs of houses, energy needs in maintaining manicured landscapes, driving
automobiles, using energy inefficient household appliances, entertainment and using high
amounts of water, the suburban lifestyle places a higher burden on the earths ecosystems
than a rural or energy and resource efficient lifestyle.
Part 2:
In a sustainable city or neighborhood, infrastructure will be placed close to other
infrastructure and near residential areas. This will allow people to access essential
services (i.e. food, recreation, etc.) without requiring vehicles or expending much energy.
People may walk or use bikes to get places and consequently, the design of
neighborhoods and cities will be created primarily to suit the needs of the individual and
community and not vehicles or industrial apparatus. Many necessities food, water,
energy, shelter and sanitation will be produced within city limits by people and for
people of the community. Control over the means of production ensures that the
productivity and health of ecosystems, from which all goods and services derive, will not
be comprised to meet human needs. This is because human wellbeing is directly
dependent ecosystems. Externalities will internalized and all waste will be recycled,
composted or repurposed as an input for the system again. Examples of this vision may
include Crystal Waters ecovillage in Australia and other ecovillages around the world.

Im mostly indifferent to the biological characteristics of a person which our

culture has traditionally place much value on. People from diverse cultures with
traditional (and modern) knowledge and diverse experiences represent a more substantial
form of wealth than can be drawn upon knowledge can be shared which may enable
more sustainable practices to take root. Ideally, the basis for interaction between people
is cooperation, compassion and altruism. Whereas in our modern society the basis for
much interaction is to fulfill social needs and eradicate loneliness, a new understanding
arises where people realize they directly depend on one another and ecosystems to meet
all their needs, physically and psychologically.

Part 3:
My past experiences are not unique in comparison to others experiences. My
experience living in this culture provides an understanding of the flaws and shallowness
inherent in a consumer-oriented, individualist and competitive culture. These experiences
dont provide a vision for the future, but they do provide a premonition of what it wont
be. On the other hand, previous learning experiences in foreign developing countries have
shown me the timeless importance of self-sufficiency, subsistence living and agrarianism
for people living in rural areas. In a future with significantly less cheap and abundant
energy, our culture of consumers must become a culture of producers, producing in such
a way that preserves and enhances ecological integrity instead of blindly participating in
a harmful resource extraction-based economy.
If a transition from a culture of consumers to producers were to occur, many
values would likely need to change as well. For instance, people would regard
ecosystems as vital to their existence and not regard it as separate or trivial to their
wellbeing.
Values may change, at large, for a culture dependent on cheap and abundant
energy. The modern lifestyle, which relies on high amounts of energy, will by necessity
give way to a lifestyle that uses far less energy. Values that enforce sustainable decisionmaking may encourage people to think more consciously about the way in which they use
resources and inputs or how they manage outputs.
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