Do you seek sustainability for your sustainability?

[freemotion]

It is very, very difficult to be 100% self sufficient or even 100% sustainable in today's world....sadly. That would mean no cars, no phones, no computers. There is no such thing as sustainable plastic or fossil fuels! But we sure can do a lot of things that are sustainable, and personally, I find it highly intellectually stimulating, creative, and downright fun.

Who but us ss'ers would hope for a power outage so we can test our skills???

 

[patandchickens]

Unless you can mine ore and smelt metal and then work it, or live virtually without metal at all, you're not going to be "truly" self sufficient.

That is sort of why society got rolling in the first place, because a whole big mess o' people (either in one place or, even better, distributed across the map) can do a lot of things that an individual or single family simply cannot.


Pat

 

[Denim Deb]

Unless they're the Swiss family Robinson!

 

[savingdogs]

I think that the goal should be to become less dependent and more self sufficient, not to achieve 100 percent isolation from the rest of society and banishment of all modern conveniences. That is just silly. The wheel has already been invented, there is no sense going back to walking.

However, we can be LESS dependent on the rest of society for our needs and supply more of our own necessities. I think that is a more realistic goal. I think there are already threads here about what would you not be able to give up....toilet paper and flush toilets, running hot water and electric light/cookware top my list.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I think a better goal to work towards, is a group of likeminded families that come together to create their own Agrarian society.
Its the only true way to to live outside of modern expectaions.
Each family has their own mini farm, but everyone is involved in the larger scale crops and gardens.This is not a pipe dream. It has been and is being done.
You just have to start that search for the likeminded people.

To shut yourself off fully is not at all healthy, nor is it actually feasible.
You have to have other people for sustainability on all levels.

Personally, I am not "self"sufficient. I am God reliant and striving to do the things that he gave me to do.
Work the land and be a good animal husbandman.

 

[patandchickens]

However, we can be LESS dependent on the rest of society for our needs and supply more of our own necessities. I think that is a more realistic goal.

100% agree.

I would add that, to me, self-sufficiency is also to a large degree about learning to be able to cope with whatever life throws at you and use whatever materials/resources are available to you, not just turning lemons into lemonade but also into wine and cleaning products and perhaps a fetching little hat for Sunday wear

Pat

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Barred, you might enjoy reading this book.
http://www.off-grid.net/off-off-grid-by-michael-bunker/

 

[BarredBuff]

Thanks BBrooks!

 

[Wifezilla]

While I like to be as SS as possible, I have no desire to go off-grid and become a hermit.

I like my toys!

 

[BarredBuff]

While I like to be as SS as possible, I have no desire to go off-grid and become a hermit.

I like my toys!

I would like to be a hermit only if SufficientSelf was destroyed.