Our Lifestyle

Increasingly we are seeing damage to our environment that is not easily repaired. If we as individuals wish to leave a safe and prosperous world to future generations, then we must consider our individual role in causing this damage.

The modern western lifestyle, the one we are prepared to go to war to defend, demands such a high level of consumption of resources that it now requires 6-8 ha (13-18 acres) to support one person.

This is what is referred to as the "footprint" of our lifestyles and estimates the amount of land that is required to supply food, water, energy, transport and all the other resources that we consume to make our lives what they are.

It is a general misconception that high standard of living means a high quality of life, but it can be clearly demonstrated that once an individual's consumption reaches a certain point their quality of life actually diminishes.

It is our aim to prove that on our 2.2 ha property we can supply 90% of our needs and reduce our "footprint" to less than 1 ha per person while actually improving our quality of life.

Many activities we undertake daily can contribute toward a more sustainable planet. Some of these activities can be incorporated into our lives with little additional effort, but can make positive differences to our health and our overall lifestyles.

Other pages in this section will discuss specific areas where we can strive to live more sustainably.