In this precious, chaotic, frightening and enlightening time on this planet it takes a warrior spirit to face the shadows of our civilisation and learn the unfolding lessons. Everything swept under the mat during the high days of capitalism is coming up for recognition and transformation. Indeed, the chickens are coming home to roost. Whatever doesn’t work for the planet as a whole will no longer stand up to the light of awareness. So too in our personal psyches…
It seems the era of Post Capitalism started with the 2008 financial crash and its resultant negative global growth ever since. Of course a non-sustainable system was doomed to reach its peak, then break down. Of course social injustice will have a backlash for corrective measures to emerge. All delusions are crumbling and the process is slow and painful.
Modern life had over-used the planet’s resources, draining energy sources which took billions of years to build up, wasting water on our entitled golf fields and exotic lawns, in the consumptive fashion of bring-it-on, the more I use the better my status. To a more or less degree all of us got swept along living ‘the way’ that was, and still is to the bulk, the only one. Nobody reading this was exempted, hence nobody can point fingers either.
We know that the climate is no longer going to cushion us in comfort. Survival is becoming a different game. But the emerging new share economy is also liberating a creative spirit of innovation and learn-as-you-go. Now information is king, as we connect to like-minded folk across the planet. I would even call this a Voice Economy, as we can air our views and are heard. So if one dentist comes to Africa to shoot a beloved lion for fun resulting in a slow and cruel death… then we now know about it. Yes, the public outcry is not just about this one lion, but about cruelty and violence in general, about using Africa’s pride for pleasure – about taking advantage of a continent ravaged by poverty. Indeed, said Avice Hindmarch, it is also about saving the lion heart of humanity. What we do to the world we do to ourselves.
Whilst resources are dwindling, information is abundant – and being informed is exactly how we upgrade ourselves into the new human who thinks beyond the here and now and personal convenience. Our new driver is a more heart-based, consciousness and conscience based life in sync with nature, our supplier and our teacher. We are once again remembering our place in the cycle of life.
As ego is replaced by eco, we are in for a rough ride. That climate change is escalating is undeniable. The debate about whether it’s real is dead. It has been replaced by questions… when, how, where should I be – and then, hopefully, what can I do? That we have to rethink entirely how we do life is now unavoidable.
Yet there is also this brilliance inside humans which emerges when there is a crisis. Suddenly all the artificial constructs fall away and the core and caring human springs into action… not always, but often enough for it to flip a transition into a higher state of being. I don’t remember who said “Human beings don’t grow when they see the light, they grow when they feel the heat.”
In this knowledge economy it is up to each of us to figure out the most harmless way forward. Personal leadership has never been more urgent. As we assess every aspect of our lives and devote it all to posterity, a new flame is ignited. And so we craft a new way in humility – sharing it always and inspiring others.
Join me in the Climate Fast, starting tomorrow. Join us on the Climate March to drive home the message of planetary pressure to perform at COP21 in Paris. Now is the time to pull out all the stops. Making a difference is an honour, no matter what the price. Please forward this newsfeed to your friends and ask them to subscribe.
With love
Elma and the team
PS. Remember to check out the green events on our calendar and lots more news and conversations on our Facebook timeline.
The biggest climate summit of the decade is just four months away, and our leaders could agree to a revolutionary target to get the world off fossil fuels.
Elma Pollard and the Green Times has joined the Climate Fast on the first day of every month to stand with thousands of others fasting for action on climate change.
Governments across the world have failed to grasp the risk that population booms in coastal cities pose as climate change continues to cause rises in sea levels and extreme weather events.
The Obama Administration has rallied some of the largest companies in the nation to commit billions of dollars to slash their environmental footprints to help combat climate change, in an effort to gain momentum before the Paris climate talks in December.
Now faced with a proposal to double the amount of renewable power sources by 2030, Japan is now looking for solutions, including their putting their many abandoned golf courses to use.
Without us noticing, we are entering the post-capitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of working and the sharing economy.
The former US vice-president and climate champion Al Gore has made a rare criticism of Barack Obama as Royal Dutch Shell prepares to drill an exploratory well in the Arctic Ocean.
U.K. tabloids, conservative media, and others are (mis)reporting that the Earth will enter a “mini ice age” in the 2030s. In fact, not only is the story wrong, the reverse is actually true.
Since the swine flu panic that was widespread in 2009, prompting more than 60 million people to get vaccinated against it, countless amounts of individuals – predominantly children – have developed a range of alarming health conditions.
The Rainbow Nation Recycling Club in Kini Bay outside Port Elizabeth is where the local children can exchange used PET bottles for credits. These can then be used to buy essentials and discounted day-to-day consumables from the swop shop.
Al Gore and Pharrell Williams want us – one billion of us – to “take climate action now” by signing a petition that they will submit to the UN’s Climate Change Conference in December.
Massive companies are rushing to mine the fragile ocean floor. But the twenty-four people who make the rules are meeting this week, and we can stop this plunder if we back scientists’ warnings with a massive wake-up call.
The time has come for the Eco-Logic Awards 2015. Through these awards, The Enviropaedia recognises and honours organisations and individuals that provide products or services that nurture Planet Earth.
“‘n Boer maak ‘n plan,” we say in Afrikaans. Literally translated, it means a farmer makes a plan, and refers to a farmer’s ability to think on his feet and devise a new way of looking at something.
Royal Dutch Shell has been accused of pursuing a strategy that would lead to potentially catastrophic climate change after an internal document acknowledged a global temperature rise of 4C, twice the level considered safe for the planet.
Nigeria’s decision to adopt coal as alternative source of generating electricity has attracted several reactions among industry players over the long term health and environmental effects on host communities.
These are the most challenging times in our history. With a thirst for higher living standards and the need to support a global population set to hit 9bn by mid-century, we are overwhelming nature.
An “induced implosion” of the fossil fuel industry must take place for there to be any chance of avoiding dangerous global warming, according to one of the world’s most influential climate scientists.
“EVERY single piece of plastic that has ever been created since the 19th century is still SOMEWHERE on our planet. So if it never goes away, where does it go?” — this is the startling idea behind the eye-opening documentary, Plastic Paradise.
There is increasing concern about the proliferation of captive facilities holding a range of carnivores in South Africa for the sole purpose of tourism and financial gain.
Confusion surrounds the future of a number of wild cats which were reportedly darted during an attempt to remove them from the Jugomaro Predator Park, in Limpopo.
In a ground-breaking decision, and for the first time on record in the Eastern Cape and possibly in South Africa at large, an Encephalartos cycad poacher has been sentenced to ten years direct imprisonment by the Jansenville regional court.
