From sustainable to regenerative
'The same system just in a green coat'
By Harriet Trower
I remember the first time I heard the word 'sustainable'.
I was at university in Leeds (Leeds Leeds Leeds), and by year 2 I was able to choose a lot of my own modules.
Year 1 was a mix of both Human and physical geography modules. The fact that they were compulsory already made me want to rebel...
So in year 2 I chose ones that called me, ones that made me feel curious. Deforestation, Social Geography, GIS. And then I saw one called 'Sustainable Development' and I was eager to learn more.
Instantly I loved it, like wow yes this is it. This is the answer to all our problems. I even focused my dissertation on it.
'How sustainable can music events be' - 2012. There was hardly any data or research papers back then on this subject. I thought it would be fun to collect data at the music festivals I was going to that summer.
LOL
That was the last thing I wanted to do...
A comparison of 3 music festivals turned into a deep study of 1 - Bestival on the Isle Of Wight.
My conclusion was simple really. An event cannot be sustainable if there are artists flying in from all over the world, if they use generators to fuel the speakers and the amount of light and noise pollution is crazy.
The festival organisers can create the boundaries for a sustainable festival; solar powered stages, recycling schemes, local artists. However a large percentage relies on the estival goers, what they bring, how they get there, and what they take home.
Now I am happy to see multiple music festivals in the UK fully run on renewable energy, with cheaper tickets to those that cycle there, public transport deals, no plastic packaging, and catering that honours the land - instead of fast food.
Shambala doesn't sell anything in plastic bottles and has no meat for sale. Green Man Festival has the most wonderful, educational workshops where festival goers leave feeling inspired to transform their lifestyles.
The focus was always - how can we lessen the negative impact. To be sustainable - to sustain - to keep going - to endure.
Hold on.
What are we enduring? Why do we want to keep going as we are?? Business as usual for as long as possible. Maintaining the shitty state we're in??!!
No thank you!
Then I wondered - who came up with this word? I like diving into rabbit holes - I got the researcher in me from my mum.
The phrase was coined in the late 80s in a UN document about development.
Sustainable definition: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
AKA "Keep growing, keep consuming - just make sure future generations can still do the same."
This isn't about ecology, or relationships, or about our precious earth. This was about 'development' and we alllll know what that means... MONEY, 'PROGRESS', CAPITALISM, CONSUMERISM, COLONIALISM.
We'd all been greenwashed.
Eco-friendly
Green
Sustainable
Even now we still are...
Carbon neutral
Net zero
Carbon offset
Climate positive
Same shit different branding.
We've been made to think if we choose paper straws and paper bags we'll be heroes.
I'd been educating, campaigning, protesting, boycotting.
Yet we're still buying buying buying.
Metal water bottles. Bamboo pants. Bamboo toothbrushes. Bamboo everything (made in china).
It's the same system just in a green coat.
We feel good choosing a more 'sustainable' material. Yet do you ever contemplate how that metal came from the mine? How has that bamboo has been processed? How old was the human that made it?
The emphasis is always on us - the end user.
You and me.
Offset your air miles. Buy electric cars. Get solar panels.
While the mega conglomerate businesses who actually create the problems just keep going.
The 1% create RIDICULOUS emissions. That you couldn't rack up in hundreds of lifetimes.
Private jets. Rockets exploding. Fresh truffles flown in over the night to be grated on their eggs in the morning (!!!)
When I found out about the origins of the word I felt deflated. Honestly, totally disappointed. I felt like I'd been running really hard in the wrong direction - for years!!
I knew that we couldn't keep doing what we're doing only slightly greener.
We need a complete overhaul.
A complete reimagining of how we think about ourselves, the land, materials, products. Each other.
We need to stop thinking of the earth as a 'resource', just there for us to use.
Water as a resource.
Wood as a resource.
Precious metals as a resource.
The sun, the air, the seed, as a resource.
They are not commodities.
They cannot be bought or sold. Yet they are.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
And let's just take a deep breath together. I've ranted enough...
There is a mindset shift that needs to happen. One that comes from our hearts.
This is only possible if we slow down enough to become aware of what's really going on. To see through the thick fog and mirrors. To get out of own limiting ways.
We need to not only limit our damage, AND to actually make a positive impact here on earth and help generate life.
Not to sustain and endure business as usual.
We need to approach life, business, relationships, schools, etc, with a fresh perspective.
How can I make a positive impact here?
What does this place need from me?
How can I show up as part of the ecosystem and be of benefit to the whole web of life?
How can I be more regenerative?
Gloriously regenerative ;)
The key is to feel like you belong here, that you are part of nature and connected to all living beings. To love and care for this beautiful place we share and call home.
Indigenous communities feel this every second of the day. Yet the western world has forgotten our ways. We've been stripped of our animistic heritage over the last couple of thousand years. Water has gone from family member to commodity that we can poison.
I invite you to feel the difference between sustainable and regenerative in your body.
It will reshape your lifestyle, reimagine how you show up and reorder everything you thought you knew.
What if the most radical thing you could do today wasn't to buy better things... and instead belong more deeply to the place you're already in?
Thank you for reading,
Love and long hugs,
Harriet Trower
Founder of Glorious Regeneration
💚🌱🌳🌱💚
