Get out the reading glasses and heat up the kettle for tea — this is some long-winded reading here. But we want you to know why we think this project is so important.
It may sound cliche’d, but it’s no less true: A crisis is upon us.
The world has seen its first refugees from human-caused climate change. According to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “millions of people are already suffering because of climate change”. Each year, forces attributed to climate change, such as drought, famine, illness, floods, and extreme weather, are responsible for the deaths of 300,000 individuals and the suffering of a further 325 million, with damages totaling U.S.$125 billion. In total, 4 billion people – 60% of the world’s present population – are considered vulnerable. The result is the ongoing displacement of millions “environmental refugees” from their homes, their families, and the lives they have built.
The most poignant impacts of environmental damage are slow to reach us in North America. Rather, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations are the ones facing the heaviest consequences of humanity’s actions (and inactions). Global environmental degradation is no longer considered an externality; it has become a fundamental threat to human rights.
Of course, these harms are not the result of any person’s ill intentions. The forces behind the current environmental and human rights crisis – ecological and human exploitation, overconsumption, and lack of public and political will, paired with the often diffuse and delayed consequences of environmental damage – are largely systemic in our society. It would seem that in living our day-to-day lives, we inevitably, though unintentionally, contribute to the plight of the world’s environmental refugees.
Many believe that there are other, more positive ways in which to live our lives; that it is possible to build truly sustainable livelihoods. Yet many also believe that a fully sustainable society is presently unattainable, and that the pursuit of such a society, while desirable, is wholly unrealistic.
Few, however, realize that sustainable livelihoods have become remarkably widespread. In focusing on the actions of government, industry, international organizations, and other “major players” with broad influence over global environmental and social welfare, media outlets have often neglected the exemplary successes of everyday people.
In fact, countless individuals, families, communities, and grassroots organizations throughout the world have already developed, and are now demonstrating, the skills, technologies, and strategies necessary to live sustainably. These “sustainability models” are often closer to home than we realize, and they are showing, every day, that the answers are already out there – and that these answers are accessible, practical, and most importantly, effective.
These models are a powerful but largely untapped source of knowledge, innovation, inspiration, and empowerment. The challenge, as we see it, is one of communication and collaboration. Those who are already living sustainably are often disconnected from others with similar ambitions but who are just beginning to make the transition to sustainability. We all stand to gain a great deal from the insights gained by these models’ successes.
The desire to experience and share these successes led to the creation of the P.E.D.A.L. Across the Americas tour. As we bicycle from Canada to Costa Rica, we work with sustainability models of varying scales and areas of expertise. With the information we create in your sustainability TOOLKIT!, we communicate to as wide an audience as possible that truly sustainable livelihoods are already being practiced in all manner of places, by all manner of people, and with all manner of resources, skill, and knowledge.
In addition to simple awareness-raising, we draw specific attention to those proven sustainable-living initiatives that are broadly accessible and widely applicable, and direct the public to additional resources. We raise the profile of successful, independently-driven sustainable living solutions, and provide our audience with the information necessary to create a truly sustainable society.
