Making Change, Big and Small

eco friendly

In a time when change is necessary and inevitable, leading by example is invaluable. Not only has Jane Davidson spent a significant portion of her professional life working on legislation to build a greener, brighter future, but she has also integrated green changes into her personal life. It’s easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk is much harder; Jane Davidson does both.

The following is an excerpt from #futuregen by Jane Davidson. It has been adapted for the web.


Wanting to bring about a more sustainable world was not a sacrifice, but an adventure, a journey to a better world than we have today; a world which does not suggest that our non-material needs – identity, community, self-esteem, love, joy – can be met by buying more stuff. This is another fundamental reset I’m advocating; what part can politics and government play in that?trainI remain a strong believer in evidence-led policy, so the conscious realisation that the actions I take as an individual as well as those I contribute towards collectively can make the lives of future generations worse is an absolute nightmare. For me the political has always been personal and the personal, political. I am a conviction politician and policy maker. I cannot promote what I do not believe in. What became abundantly clear to me in 2007 was that I could not continue to be part of the problem. As a human being and as a minister, how could I promote a different lifestyle if I wasn’t prepared to live it myself?

Having the responsibility of leading the government agenda on successfully living with only one planet available to us meant that I needed to consider not only policies to address that, but also what I was prepared to do in my own life. Since the key areas are related to food, buildings, transport, products, services, energy, resources and our lifestyles, I needed to make changes in all of these I could, as a politician, as a citizen and as a mum.

As a minister, I decided immediately not to fly unless it was absolutely necessary for my portfolio responsibilities – which meant I undertook some very long train journeys! Ironically, despite the inconvenience, the cost was always substantially greater to take trains and I continually had to argue the case, even within a government committed to sustainable development.

As a family, we decided to take at least one action to be greener every year, something we are still doing now; actions such as changing to a renewable energy supplier, cycling to work one day a week, using public transport wherever possible, not flying for holidays, buying local produce in season. These actions, which we started in 2007, led us by 2011 to move away from a single-glazed, badly insulated house with gas central heating to live on our smallholding with two fields and a woodland to keep us warm, in a well-insulated house, using energy from the sun, Earth and our woodland to power our lives (including creating our hot water and heating,) growing as much of our own food as possible (including honey and cider) and driving an electric car.

I can honestly say that this journey of ours to live lighter on the planet, contrary to the perceived wisdom of ‘sackcloth and ashes’, has been the absolute opposite. We have embarked on a wonderful adventure: adding purpose has improved the quality of our lives and our well-being, the more we consider what choices we make and why. We have met extraordinary people along the way who provide collective support and with whom we swap goods and services. We eat food grown without pesticides fresh from our land; we see on a daily basis the contrast between our organic holding and the wildlife-free, intensively farmed fields that surround us. Our lives and our land become richer as we carry on our annual commitment of being greener than the year before, not least because we are consciously acting in the interests of our and others’ children and their children. We are trying to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Surely that is the least each one of us should do.

I’m acutely aware that the actual lifestyle choices we’ve made as a family are not available to the majority of people who live in cities, or whose lives are governed by the lack of money. I can also tell you from experience, it is very hard work and we will need in time to pass the baton on to younger, fitter people! But adding purpose to your life not to be part of the problem is a choice available to everyone. Recognising the damage we are doing to nature, individually and collectively, and changing our behaviour accordingly is a choice we can all make – and in Wales we can now make those demands of our government and our public services to help us deliver local solutions.

sustainableIn Beyond the Limits, Donella describes three mental models to help us think about our behaviour, individually and collectively. Only one is hopeful, envisioning a better world. When faced with such a stark choice, what kind of world do you want to live in?

The world for all practical purposes has no limits. This model allows extractive industries to extract and the human economy goes further beyond limits. The result is collapse.

The limits are real, but there is not enough time. People cannot be moderate, responsible or compassionate in time, so the model is self-fulfilling. The result is collapse.

The limits are real and close, but there is no time to waste. There is just enough energy, enough material, enough money, enough environmental resilience and enough human virtue to bring about a planned reduction in the ecological footprint of humankind; a sustainability revolution to a much better world for the vast majority.

It’s your choice, but when you make it, make it consciously, recognising that the choices each of us makes will have profound impacts well beyond our own lifetimes.


Recommended Reads

A Conversation with Paul Hawken

The Motivation Behind Change

Read The Book

#futuregen

Lessons from a Small Country

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