"I have a vision, that one day we can see a world of perfect sustainabilty..." -Dr. Lindsey Leanna Reents

When reflecting on my capacity for future consciousness, I would like to think I am an optimist; however, after thinking, I feel as though am I a bit of a pessimist. I too would like to think that all of these changes we are making will benefit our environment but in the grand scheme of things, we still have so much to learn about sustainability. The future is impossible to predict. Who is to say that in 50 years scientists won’t find that in our attempts to become sustainable we have only furthered ourselves into this unsustainable mess? The topic of sustainability is somewhat like cancer. You cannot predict it’s forth comings as well as how to effectively treat it. In essence, we are trying to fix our environmental issues (cancer) with Advil. We absolutely know that this is no cure for such a disease.

 In order to change my pessimistic outlook, I will need to see results from our actions. Without results, who’s to say our extreme efforts are paying off? Even just small results will affirm that our actions are indeed improving mother earth. I will need to change my attitude in order to optimistically see these changes. My vision for the future would be that all consumers were aware of their environmental impact and that companies with such extensive advertisements would realize that they are encouraging over consumption which will in turn hurt our environment. I vision a world where people are not greedy and power hungry. If people were to live modestly instead of trying to impress their neighbor, maybe our societies would not over consume. I would like to see a world where we knew our environmental impact; that science was so advanced, we knew exactly what our environmental impacts were.   

After reading about all of the hurt we are doing to our environment just through the apparel and interiors industries, other aspects of our lives are doing the exact same thing but possibly in a worse way. I agree with Alan Durning in his article, Limiting Consumption, when he says that consumers over consume because of low prices, these prices should reflect the environmental costs as well. I think consumer knowledge would play a big role in fixing and shaping up our environment. If we knew exactly where we stood in terms of sustainability, we could change much more than we can now.

The mental mode as of now is that our societies, no matter how hard they try will not and cannot help our environment. They believe we are doomed from the start. Because of this mental mode, we are seeing no changes. These patterns of thinking need to be changed. In my vision, people of the world need to see and believe that what they are doing is in fact harming our environment. If they knew their impact and the consequences things would be different. Mental modes will need to shift in order for my vision to be put into action. One mental mode that will need to be implemented is that life is not a competition. If our mind sets were not always focused on being the trendiest, richest, and greediest, our environment would not be in such a world of hurt right now. Societies around the globe will need to believe and practice that their efforts, no matter how big or small, will impact our environment in some way. People will have to understand that no matter what they do, all of their actions do impact something or someone around them. For societies to understand this and practice it, my vision would be being put into action. If people understood what they were doing, I think the sustainability of our environment would change. Do they really want their future generations to be negatively affected by their actions?

If societies were told today that competition were not an issue, people would fight this belief. Everyone wants to feel significant. Everyone wants to feel like their hard work is paying off. If your hard earned money was not being put to use by over consumption, what would we have to show for our efforts? I think many people would stop trying so hard at their jobs. They would not want to work as hard because their earnings in essence do not matter. If they do not have the biggest house on the block and do not feel as though their hard earned money is being put to use, what’s the point? People will have to sacrifice their egos in order for this vision to work. The political willingness to implement new changes is a factor that is lacking when it comes to the sustainability paradox. (Visioneering: an essential framework in sustainability science).  If people were first willing to fix their snowballing actions we would start to see a sustainable future even today.

In order for others to follow and implement my vision, they will need to understand that they are impacting our future generations as well as their generation. Being healthy is important to most. If they find that their harsh environmental impacts are harming themselves (the most important thing to them) as well as their loved ones and their future relatives I think they would be more aware and apt to change their actions. It was stated in “Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness” that if we are not more future conscious, our species will not flourish or survive. If people understood the severity of this they would change their actions. I feel that the greediness and self-fulfilling prophecy of most is the driving factor in over consumption. If their attitudes were to change my vision for the future would begin to unfold and a sustainable future would be ahead.