What is ecological literacy?
image: Elizabeth Simpson ~ Studio Patina
In the last 10 years, so-called "sustainability" has become a glittering, 21st century buzzword ...but what exactly does it mean?
Is "sustainable" transportation about the way we travel to and from a job, or do we need to ask deeper questions about our lives and our vocations, and how our choices in these areas affect us at the heart level?
When thinking about the food we eat, is it enough to buy a tomato labled "organic"...or do we need to reexamine our entire relationship to the care and feeding of our bodies--our 3D avatars?
And when we talk about "energy," is the issue really as simple as "renewables v. fossil fuels" or are there much larger questions -- and implications -- involved?
And where is soul and spirit in this conversation?
To be clear: making technical changes to how we live--such as insulating our homes more efficiently, composting and recycling our waste, supporting local farmers, or rethinking where and how we work--are important aspects of living responsibly during our time in Earth school.
But these actions merely scratch the surface.
Beneath them, there's a broader and more subtle set of adaptive competencies which are generally overlooked and tremendously important...competencies which involve how we do things...how we think, and how we manage our emotions and reactions.
These are the competencies of ecological literacy...and they involve our relationship patterns and mental models and how these influence and shape our behavior and therefore, the world we create.
These competencies concern the quality of our relationships...with ourselves, each other, and the world around us. And in contrast to technical fixes--which can be straightforward to identify and relatively easy to implement--the competencies of ecological literacy are acquired slowly...similar to learning a new language.
Developing the competencies of ecological literacy are neither more nor less important than making technical changes in how we live, work, and care for ourselves and each other: addressing the exponentially dysfunctional pathologies of present-day society requres that we do both. But in contrast to technical fixes which are typically external, with relatively obvious outcomes, the focus of ecological literacy is primarily internal, and its outcomes are more subtle.
Becoming ecologically literate involves thinking and acting systemically...noticing patterns, appreciating complexity, attempting to account for the impacts of our actions at varying levels of scale--including, and especially, at the interpersonal level. And a good deal of ecological literacy involves embodying design principles and practices as an artful method of problem solving...one where we place at least as much attention on the way we are framing and defining our problems as we do on developing adequate solutions.
Fundamentally, ecological literacy involves learning to listen and to take a more respectful, responsive stance toward other people, and toward the chronic, daily problems that plague society...a stance which involves slowing down, and developing our capacity to appreciate nuance and different ways of knowing.
At heart, practicing ecological literacy involves a willingness to change ourselves. It involves humility and the willingness to learn how to use our senses more fully...how to think in oblique and unexpected ways...how to see ourselves not as atomized members of an identity group or a constantly panicked herd, but as "works in progress"...as both aspirants, and over time, as increasingly skilled members of an interconnected, interdependent, worldwide community of unique people, unique places, and unique cultures, bound by our shared --and ultimately, restored-- relationship with the more than human world.
The green shoots of ecological literacy begin with learning to enjoy and appreciate the process of change...which involves how you deal with yourself...not with telling other people what they "should" do...a stance which relfects both arrogance and ignorance. Humanity's complex social, economic and environmental problems--issues politicians and the mockingbird media insistently define using a variety of outmoded 20th century "isms" followed by equally outmoded, draconian, and frequently self-serving "solutions"--are in fact, incredibly complex, with multi-factorial contributors. For these types of problems, there are no "one size fits all" solutions.
This doesn't mean we should throw up our hands and admit defeat...but it does suggest that humility is an essential aptitude for engaging successfully in the complex, unending task of making the world around us a (slightly) better place. And this is actually good news...because it means that you, in your own unique way, in your own unique life, can actually make your own unique (albeit small) contribution....your own unique butterfly effect. And butterfly effects can be very, very powerful.
Earth school is about individual learning, and about an individual soul's journey...and no one has the right to impose their utopian "solutions" on other people. On the other hand, we each have the right, and the responsiblity, to change own behavior so it aligns with our values....which, when we are being honest with ourselves, we'll usually admit is difficult to do, even at the best of times. But if we each did this-- if we each "swept our own doorstep" as Wolfgang von Goethe once said, "soon the whole world would be clean."
So consign to the trash bin of bad ideas that it's YOUR job to tell other people how to fix the environment, or your responsibiity to "save the Earth." Those are unrealistic and impossible tasks. Instead, focus on what you can manage: your attitudes, your behavioral patterns, and your day-to-day choices and their impact...including your responses to your own emotions.
Beyond that, if you're looking for a place to start, cultivate keen observation and listening skills. Doing so is useful in many ways: in problem solving, in working with others, and in coming to know yourself and your community more fully. The opportunity cost is low, and the benefits are high. Then--when and if you can--nerd out on technical stuff, like solar panels, backyard chickens, pervious paving, and the like. And whatever you're doing, make space for others to find their own path, in their own time.
And finally, give yourself permission to slow down and enjoy the journey--because even with all the problems we face in contemporary society, it is still an incredibly beautiful world.
peace.
~ sequoia