It’s simple. Our developed-world lifestyles are not sustainable for the long term. Many hope that technology will save us but I think our norms and expectations are going to have to undergo significant change if we don’t want to end up in a dystopian future where none of us are around or the few that do remain are living shorter, severely diminished lives. It’s hard to envision how we’re going to get to where we need to go because we’re so far from where we need to be. But one step we can work on right
NOW is making our domestic habitats (cities and suburbs) more ecologically sound. Most urban and suburban parks and open spaces are pretty close to being ecological deserts with all the lawn and non-native plants that we’ve planted everywhere over the last few hundred years. People’s home gardens are in a similar impoverished state. We should show everyone that all these spaces can be significantly enhanced ecologically if we replace the lawns and a significant fraction of the non-native plantings everywhere with native plants. Doing so will improve habitat for wildlife and enhance biodiversity. One organization that is already focused on this mission is Homegrown National Park (
https://homegrownnationalpark.org). I’d like to recommend that all Forward Party members check out their website and start taking action. It won’t solve our political problems, but it will start moving our society to a more sustainable future.
