Sustainable Living

The Self Sufficiency Lifestyle

This sustainable living site differs from other websites on self sufficiency.

Here we share our real-life experience – from the research that’s inspired us, to the hands-on Permaculture techniques we are using to achieve it on our small farm in Western Australia.

Sustainable living is defined as…

…”a lifestyle that can be sustained without exhausting natural resources…”

That is: living simply and efficiently, and making everything we do use go as far as possible and achieve as much for us as possible!

Self sufficiency – providing much of your own needs – is an important strategy to achieve this.

It is sobering to realize that self sufficiency and sustainable living are necessities of life for 80% of the world’s people. By comparison even the poorest of us in western societies would be considered very wealthy indeed. And our ecological footprint (impact on the planet) is 8 to 12 times  that of people in developing nations.

But are we any happier?

The happiness research I’ve been poring through strongly indicates that we are not!

This may explain why materially well-endowed westerners are turning their backs on conspicuous consumption in droves.

In fact, it’s emerging as a mega-trend in Western societies. There are many names for it – downshifting, eco-frugalism, voluntary simplicity… At the core is the desire to live a simpler life, achieving authentic happiness while using fewer resources.

Whatever is behind your quest for sustainable living it is a valuable journey that can achieve many things:

Happiness:

Materialism has failed miserably in its promise to deliver greater joy into our lives. Authentic happiness is about the things money cannot buy!

Sustainable Health:

Good health is a prerequisite to personal sustainability. Your pathway to good health starts with adequate nutrition, something that modern foods just CAN’T deliver.

Environmentally responsible living:

Over-consumption is the root cause of all our environmental problems. Everything we use and then dispose of inflates our ecological footprint burden on the planet. Green consumption and simple living is the only authentic solution.

Time to live:

Many of us are caught in the wheel of the rat-race to support our addiction to conspicuous consumption and maintain the illusion of material prosperity. Simple living offers an escape from the live-to-work trap, freeing time for the things that matter.

Financial freedom:

It’s simple really – the less you need, the further what you have will go. And establishing a modest income from a low-key business working at home can keep you going indefinitely…

Future shock security:

Many global trends are gathering momentum – for example, looming climate change, peak oil, and financial meltdown. All significantly threaten western living standards. Learning to live more with less is a logical preparation strategy.

Our sustainable living goals encompass all of these. Agritourism (reconnecting with the local food supply) is a good place to start, progressing to becoming more personally self sufficient. And, like other families downshifting to sustainable living we’re taking the opportunity to teach our children about sustainability and self sufficiency skills.

In sharing our journey with you…

…we hope to inspire and inform, while creating what we hope will be one of the best websites on self sufficiency lifestyle around.

If you are looking for personal sustainability facts and information as well as different methods of achieving self sufficiency and personal sustainability at home or on a small farm you’ve come to the right place!