Everything is connected…

This blog debuts at a moment when so much is happening it may be hard to keep track. In Lawrence Township we’re pushing forward on a range of sustainability initiatives all at once: the Living Lawns campaign, indicators to measure our progress, a program to get everyone in town to pledge to reduce home energy consumption 3% every year, a project to help local business owners explore alternative sources of energy, water conservation efforts, local food promotion. The list goes on.

Sustainable Lawrence (SL) approaches sustainability comprehensively, and we do this deliberately. Having a long list of varied targets is nothing new for us. It’s been our modus operandus since we kicked off the program in the spring of 2006. It may gives some folks a headache from time to time, we admit this.

We’re abandoning the old mindset that says, “Do one thing at a time and do it right.” Look where it’s got us, ecologically speaking. The damage and the danger go far beyond headache levels. We have perceived the indivisible nature of sustainability, and we cannot go back. Elsewhere on the SL site, you’ll learn how we come to this. Look particularly at descriptions of The Natural Step. We base everything we do on that comprehensive, scientific framework.

So, if you think we should be doing more about recycling, for example, and paying less attention to the prosperity of local farms, for example, well, we don’t, we can’t, we won’t. No longer do we even know how. Everything is connected.

Ralph Copleman