Having a sense of purpose and mission is pretty fundamental both to our life satisfaction as individuals and to the cohesion of the communities in which we exist.
But what does it really mean to live purposefully?
Perhaps the ultimate meaning of “purpose” is to work hard today, to ensure a better future for the next generation (or at the very least to ensure that the next generation has the same quality of life as our current one). If we’re all doomed, at some point in the future, it’s hard to find meaning in our actions today. Why put the effort into looking after your kids if some future catastrophe will wipe out your entire blood line? Why encourage your kids to work hard at school and become successful? What does “success” mean if the whole of civilization is doomed?
At the most fundamental level, environmental sustainability is simply ensuring that we act upon our environment, not only in such a manner as to meet our needs and wants today but also to ensure that future generations will be able to use that same environment to satisfy their needs and wants for the indefinite future and that the ability of our surroundings to supply those needs and wants will not deteriorate.
Thermodynamically, all living creatures are open systems which exchange both matter and energy with their environment. The second law of thermodynamics demands that all living creatures must do this to increase their order – which is necessary to live and reproduce. This implies that we depend completely upon the quality of our environment for our very existence and that, in the long run, an ethic of environmental sustainability is every bit as important as an ethic of good health.
In practice, there are several environmental problems which threaten the health, quality of life and, in some cases, the very existences of future generations:
- Climate change resulting from emitted CO2
- Topsoil degradation
- Fossil fuel energy source depletion/deterioration
- Ground water depletion
- Build up of toxins (plastics/pesticides/herbicides) – possibly contributing to the observed insect die-off
- Microwave bombardment? – a major recent change to our environment whose biological effects are still unknown
Once financed, Socibuild intends to facilitate prosumption and the local production of food (especially fresh food) and thereby moderate the energy needs of its communities’ inhabitants. We also intent, in the long term, to use contract law to promote farming practices that use water efficiently, reduce pesticide use and build up valuable topsoil.
Beyond this, we will strive to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy production such as solar heating, or batteries and photovoltaic cells, either through purchasing them directly or through renewable energy loans to the inhabitants of the community.
Another major goal of Socibuild is to promote a frugal yet rewarding culture, a community whose health benefits and rewarding social life more than compensate members for forgoing some of the ostentation and convenience of our current throw away culture.
We also place an “ethic of re-use and recycling” at the center of Socibuild’s company values.