Level 1: is thinking about the environment. Bought fluorescent light bulbs. Is trying to do a good job of recycling. Reads an article or two.And 10 was Sepp Holzer. His first post was a little more complicated and more like the number of people that were at each step in the scale instead of how one would be placed in each level (which I will admit confused me). You can read the thread buy clicking here for more about what they are talking about.
Level 2: 30% of purchased food is organic
Level 3: Has an organic garden and 80% of purchased food is organic
Level 4: Grow 40% of their own food. Studying permaculture.
Level 5: has taken a PDC and/or grows 90% of their own food
Level 6: Moving away from fluorescent light bulbs. Living a footprint that is 10 times lighter than average. Maybe living in community. Maybe living in something very small.
Level 7: Permaculture teacher
Level 8: Doing things that are currently improving the world in big ways
Level 9: masanobu fukuoka, paul stamets, art ludwig, bill mollison, ianto evans ....
If I followed this example I my family would be between 3 and 4. Some years are better then others. This year I had a baby and last I was pregnant and sick as a dog, so we haven't done much recently. The two years before that though we gardened quite a bit probably getting 90% of our food from the garden and anything we didn't grow was always organic. Maybe next year we'll be more of a solid 5, I hope.
Still there was another scale which I liked as well, posted here by Old Hammy:
I agree that there is a definite spectrum of eco-ness out there and I think I understand your need to try to classify things with an eco-scale... I'm not sure I agree that your scale defines what you are trying define though. Too much seems benchmarked against how much food consumption is home-grown while not taking into account what practices are used to grow the food. Obviously, there is also more to being eco than just growing food...I was just going to post a snippet of that, but the whole thing was so good I just had to post it all. Kudos Old Hammy! On this scale I would still say we are a 3 to 4, but like Old Hammy said,
I recently engaged in a debate over the usefulness of the term "green" specifically with respect to how it's used in describing a house. My contention was that the term "green" is essentially meaningless since its definition can be written to suit any situation you want. Ie: "I am green because my house is green. My house is green because I put in bamboo floors and curly light-bulbs." Never mind the fact that the bamboo was steamed across the ocean, the 4000 sq ft floorplan or the petrochemical foams used to insulate and "save" energy. Within these "shades of green" I think are where the 0s and 1s reside on your scale.
I would like to propose my own scale if I may:
0: People who just don't care, who don't understand or who view being "green" as a marketing opportunity.
1: People who care or think about being eco but who are not actually able to bring themselves to change anything meaningful about their consumeristic lifestyles and who think that simply buying "green" things is doing their part.
2-10: People who have gained the awareness that being eco or green involves constantly changing the way you live on the earth. 2 would be where most people start when they achieve their awareness and 10 would be a theoretical pinnacle of sustainable living. The numbers between 2 and 10 represent each individual's journey of self discovery and lifestyle change.
I like this scale because once you become a 2 or more, it acknowledges that you understand where you need to get to but gives people the room to not feel depressed about where they are (think of the guy who has an epiphany while in the middle of his 2 hour commute). I'm not sure anyone can be a 10 since there's ALWAYS more you can do to be more eco... like the Zen equivalent of reaching enlightenment.
Another thing I like about this scale is that it separates two totally different points of view. In other words, there's no reason for a 2 or more to disparage against another 2 or more since idealogically they should be on the same page despite the fact that one individual may not be as far along the same road to eco-ness.
...once you become a 2 or more, it acknowledges that you understand where you need to get to but gives people the room to not feel depressed about where they are....Very cool. Hopefully we continue up that scale at a decent pace, but if we don't it doesn't make us lower then other people. Sometimes fitting children and work into the picture makes things a heck of a lot more complicated. So we do what we can and continue on the path to enlightenment. :)
Of course, this whole eco/permy rating system is really just for the fun of it. But it did help me get a little bit better perspective of what we're doing here. Sometimes I feel totally "eco-er then thou" and other times like a complete loser because I'm not growing my own grain to make my own bread and raising cows or goats for cheese and butter and yogurt and meat. With this knowledge about where we are I can get off my high horse, or stop beating myself up and just be happy knowing I am doing the best I can at the moment and will always continue to grow and try harder.
So, the question now is: How eco/permy are you?
