Is it possible to live sustainably or is the word sustainable itself to be just a buzz word to sell "green" products and will corporate and consumer practices, which are currently pretty unsustainable, make this all just another practice in futility? Or can we, as Al Gore is suggesting, live with a little bit less dependence on carbon and become more aware of other options and move towards a cycle of constant recycling as W. McDonough recommends in his landmark book, Cradle to Cradle?
We believe that the questions that the word sustainable evokes are well worth considering for the sake of all parts of the community and environment, for the quality of life in general.
We humans seem to us rather omnivorous and insatiable in our longings for more, for better. Yet there are moments when we exceed ourselves as mere humans, moments of grace when what we create or destroy are done in ways that inspire, serve and, at least for now, seem just a wee bit wiser and more useful (i.e., "better"). In this section our hope is to tell stories of creation, destruction, change and the human spirit dealing with much that often seems paradoxical.
As community members and artists offering services for the promotion of beauty and usefulness, we also intend in this column to look at stories of how people create sustainable relationships with each other and the environment. Like tides, these things ebb and flow, hopefully ultimately nourishing and sustaining a graceful natural process even when requires disturbing, upsetting, downright messy moments.
This section is Nancy Peden's effort to salute the dynamics of living in creative relationship with all of nature. Sometimes I hope to provoke. Most times, I hope to honor with dignity, joy and tender remembering.
