About

"Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity." - Gary Ryan Blair

The experiment with mass consumption is failing quickly. Humans have broken the sacred trust with the earth. Increased quality of life has given way to unprecedented rates of depression, suicide, environmental degradation, and a growing gap between rich and poor.

The consumer culture was invented in the Roaring Twenties to exploit the masses (and the environment) through the mass production of new consumer goods. Now, just 90 years later, we stand on the precipice of collapse with consumers, the global economy, and the environment tapped out.

Not wanting to be passive global citizens, my partner and I upgraded our efforts to lower our ecological footprint. Our approach does not dwell on sacrifice, discipline and hardship, although it could involve one or all those things from time to time. Rather, we emphasize the joyful aspects of our simple life - using fewer resources, consuming less energy, and being free to pursue dreams and goals that are important to us.

In our experience, a slower, less complicated life with fewer possessions and desires has given us a calm and sense of freedom that was only fleeting when we were fully plugged into the system. Not that we didn't enjoy being plugged in, and we were good at it, but as J. Krishnamurti said, "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." We wanted to get better, and we wanted to help make society better, too.

What we needed to develop to get better was contentedness. It is the antidote to consumerism and its onslaught of manipulative, enticing advertising. We have fewer things, and appreciate what we have more. We are working to live, rather than living to work. Our lives revolve around our immediate locality - we like it so much that we rarely travel.

We choose a small footprint, [more] sustainable life because we feel that global conditions give us no other responsible choice. Plus it is more enjoyable than the alternative for us. Lao Tzu said, “Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

My partner and I hope NBA will inspire readers to take action and institute simple changes in their lives, their communities, and around the world. Changes that will free us from lives we don't feel right about, and that will create a more balanced planet.

There is nothing lacking - we have everything we need to turn things around. We have many reasons to turn them around. Let's seize the opportunity.