Creating an eco-economy for an eco-society
Eco-society
We’re beyond the carrying capacity of Earth. We either rapidly redevelop human society into an eco-society, or accept the approaching collapse of our ecosystem homes and the extinction of humans with them.
What would an eco-society look like?
An eco-society would be structured around the necessity of humans living ecologically and environmentally sustainably on Earth.
Foremost we’ll need to set aside a certain percentage of global ecosystems in their natural forms to preserve the bio-diversity that is necessary to keep the ecosphere viable for humans.
And, where we do develop ecosystems for human purposes, we’ll need manage our activities to keep those ecosystems healthy — they’re all we’ll have to live within as long as humans live on Earth.
To stay within the developed ecosystems’ ecological boundaries:
Human agricultural cultivation and facilities that produce our goods would have that have a light enough imprint on the land so as not to prevent the local ecology from continuing to thrive.
We’ll need to keep our use of water in human consumption, agriculture, production, and manufacturing within the naturally sustainable limits of these ecosystems.
We’ll need to largely switch out our chemical use to non-toxic and keep our waste and both air and water emissions to a minimum — we can only pollute as much as an ecosystem can clean.
We should design our buildings with the best eco-principles possible. And our energy should come from green sources.
An eco-society would need to be non-toxic, have a light imprint on land and resources and be sustainable.
Eco-economy
An eco-economy will grow naturally to support a shift to an eco-society. We’ll need tools and information to transition … but every change in human society is always an opportunity for innovation.
An eco-economy will make use of less raw material, more recycled materials, more repurposing of objects, more repair, and much more innovation.
The challenge
The challenge is that — if we want to avoid catastrophic ecological collapse —we’ve got less than a decade to become an eco-society.
We’ll need to rethink how we grow, manufacture, build, and consume everything. We’ll need a global economy centered on this new thinking. We’ll need science, information, and innovation. We’ll need very practical advice for agriculture, industry, and cities. We’ll need edutainment and education for everyone.
We’ll be rapidly transforming the human way of life — not our cultures — but how our cultures interact with the natural environment. It’s both exciting and daunting. It’s a chance for humans to rise to a challenge — but also an immense undertaking.
