The Ecological Lifestyles Project (ELP)

This Free Range Ecological Lifestyles Project ('ELP!) is a new Free Range initiative on creating low impact lifestyles through changing our everyday actions. The environmentalism we see promoted in the media, from campaign groups to governments, is based around the idea of modifying consumption. 'ELP! seeks to take a wholly different route by putting greater emphasis on not consuming in the first place, and instead concentrating on managing our everyday needs in as simple, resilient and practical way as possible. This is, in our view, the only method that can address the challenges of "Peak Everything".

We're just in the process of developing new work in this area, so for now this page just summarises what we think the 'ELP! Project is all about

Latest info.

December 2011: After a number of requests, we've put the discussion sheet from the Summer Free Range Gathering, Thinking outside the Box, on-line. Please send any feedback to elp@fraw.org.uk.

Posit: "Environmentalism", as it has been popularised since the early 1990s, has failed in its mission. It has so compromised it's own objectives, by trying to work within the conventional/"business as usual" policy framework, that it can no longer address it's ideas and methods to the scale of the human ecological crisis that we face. The weight of evidence – wholly separate from the climate issue, such as the global peaking oil production, the impending peak in essential minerals production, a shortfall of food production as population continues to grow, as well as widespread ecological destruction of a scale now comparable to a mass extinction – clearly demonstrates that the so called "fundamentalist" message of the 1970s/1980s was in fact the "realist" position; at the same time the so called "realist" message of sustainable consumption and consumer-friendly/behavioural economic solutions was/is clearly delusional because it cannot internalise the clear ecological restrictions on the human ecosystem as part of it's primary message.

Inductive conclusion: We need to re-appraise, update and re-invigorate the "deep ecology" perspective that spawned the creation of the environment movement, and use it to contrast the various strands of "green" environmentalism, against the available evidence on human ecology and present global trends, to show that the "deep ecological" viewpoint gives a far more credible position from which to work. This takes use beyond a simple view based upon the "environment" and instead makes us look at present-day social and economic interactions, as well as inter-generational trends that are emerging today.

After rolling around some of the ideas and arguments that have condensed over the past year or so we've formed the concept of the "Ecological Lifestyles Project"; or, abbreviated, 'ELP!! We have to think outside of "consumerism", outside of modern conceptions of "environment" or "economy", and instead present a view of the human ecological crisis as a holistic entity...

To put it bluntly, this idea is FAR beyond any simple solipsism about soot!

At face value you might think that environmentalism is all about carbon (aka. 'soot'); every TV programme, major book and news article prefaces it's subsequent debate on the primacy of the climate argument over all other concerns. "Single issue" politics has become "one issue". To be concerned about climate change and the carbon emissions that are forcing it is not wrong. However, to elevate this single issue above the equally, and sometimes more, deleterious effects of other trends in human ecology (such as water supply, or the supply of certain essential minerals such as phosphates) not only gives it undue prominence, but it gives a false belief of where "the problem" lies. Also, significantly, for most people the abstract nature of the debate on carbon – because it exists outside of their everyday perceptions and stressed experiences – means that, relative to other pressing factors in their lives, it has little relevance to their outlook on existence (various opinion polls have demonstrate this over time).

How are the campaign groups changing their tactics as a result? Generally there's little appreciable change in their outlook. They simply chase the policy bandwagon, from global conference to national election, in the hope that a large enough proportion of the population will give them support. The evidence would indicate that this may be a forlorn hope. Data collected by National Statistics shows that, for environmental "campaign" (rather than "conservation") groups, membership has reached a static saturation point amongst the general population. Despite the various ups-and-downs of the economy, there's no significant change in numbers across the campaigning organisations.

As Einstein was reported to have said, insanity can be characterised as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The switch towards more mainstream/consumer-oriented environmental campaigns since the late 1980s has not created significant or sustained upswing in support – if anything, the 1990s was the decade when (as the National Statistics data shows) support reached a peak. Consequently the shift towards more "fluffy" and less "fundamentalist" approach did not create a ground-swell of support for more radical change.

In reality, what precisely does "green consumerism" offer? In terms of leadership, or inspiration, it does not offer a differing vision, but rather more of the same with a different colour and branding. Rather than a different model of living it offers much of what we have today, but with abstract and obtuse "benefits" to the planet. Most people know what the immediate reality of today's lifestyle means, irrespective of the abstract impacts that might have – and for many it does not satisfy them. The added pressures of our growth-oriented economy and consumer lifestyle has not led to any measurable improvement in national life satisfaction since the 1950s – why then should people want more of the same, just in a different colour? Are they looking for an entirely different answer to today's social models for change?

To put the case simply, "the fundos" of the early environment movement were right. You can't live on green energy tariffs and recycled napkins; in order to secure a viable future for society we have to re-forge the traditional link between people and the biosphere of which they are a part. That requires some fundamental changes to the way people view their place within society. However, if the traditional certainties of the growth economy are now pivoting towards a long-term decline then such alternative and divergent points of view are what is required. Accordingly, the way we'll structure information and workshops in order to do this is:

We won't apologise or seek to ameliorate the problems that lie ahead – we treat it as a clear warning that change is imminent, and suggest potential options people might like to adopt;
We won't ask people to work "en masse" – as a process of self-motivation, in order to envision a new way to live, this can't be based upon mass action (initially, at least);
Answer challenges not with facts, but with explanations; rather than sloganise in order to gain mass support the focus will be on communicating understand in order to allow individuals to form their own responses – that doesn't require slogans, it requires patient listening and tuition.

The vision for the Ecological Lifestyles Project is to revise and extend the range of information materials produced by the Network to focus more on basic skills and self-motivating action. If society is going to become less certain, and the resource situation is potentially going to become even more volatile than at present, then people will have to rely on themselves, and those around them, in order to provide their basic needs. That requires very simple, basic skills. We've developed these ideas as part of The Great Outdoors Project – taking people camping outdoors in order to develop their self-motivating skills to look after themselves. The purpose of The Ecological Lifestyles Project is to extend this work towards a more "everyday" situation; rather than camping, we'll be asking people to develop a new model for their lives, taking into account their own skills and attributes in order to find the set of options that best suits them.