Visions of a Sustainable World

Visions of a Sustainable World

This 10 minute video presents highlights of an interview with Dr. Paul Raskin about his views on the pathways necessary to achieve a sustainable planetary civilization in the near-term future. Dr. Raskin posits that a global citizens movement and a Copernican shift in how humans perceive their relationship to earth are both necessary. Dr. Raskin is the President and Founder of the Tellus Institute, the Founder of the Global Scenario Group, and a leader of the Great Transition Initiative. The interview is a companion to the Visions of a Sustainable World Speaker series at Yale, which brings scholars and practitioners to campus to help articulate positive, concrete visions of a sustainable global future and roadmaps for getting there.

Some of my thoughts on how trying to live more sustainably led me to minimalism and why they can work so well together.

Want to shop more consciously? Check out my sustainable/ethical brand directory http://verenaerin.ca/brand-directory/

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19 thoughts on “Visions of a Sustainable World”

  1. I do think they're connected! I wrote a blog post about the intersection of minimalism and zero-waste, because it all comes back to limiting what you bring into your home in the first place!

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  2. Finally someone that says how it is. I see a lot of minimalism videos where the just throw away (donate) there stuff, but there are so many items donated that there is a hole new problem. In Africa there are villages completely overcome with the clothing that we are donating. If you want to go in a more minimal way just don't buy any new stuff and use what you already have bought and when it's used up don't replace it. Or sell the items or give them away so you now that the items will be reused in stead of being dumped in Africa. And if you really want to donate just look into the place where you want to bring you're items and check what happens with you're stuff, is it's really going to be reused again or if there is just an overflow of items and because of that items just will be tossed or dumped. Thanks for making these videos and letting people see an other way of being a minimalist and living with less. Maybe you could make a blog about those dumping grounds in Africa to let people realize that donating isn't all that it seem and that just wearing what you have and just don't buy any new stuff is a better way to go!

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  3. I love your channel it has really inspired my journey of self discovery, awareness, and the healthy minimalistic approach ❤ thank you for sharing your life and inspiring others

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  4. A well thought of video. Thank you. I have only recently come to minimalism awareness, although in my own way I've being on this journey for about four years without recognising it as minimalism. Veganism has been, and continues to drive my consciousness. As you say, for me at this stage, it isn't how little I can own, but rather reinspecting everything I do have and letting go of what is not loved, needed or truly wanted. Certainly a journey rather than a destination.

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  5. Love this! I am so happy these ideas are being spread on YouTube. I love the platform of this website, but there is a large culture of hauls within the beauty and fashion community. Not that hauls are inherently bad, but there are certain YouTubers where 50% of their videos are hauls. When I was young, maybe about 7 or 8 years ago, when I was about 16 years old and I started watching YouTube videos, the culture was extremely consumerist. As I said, I was very young and so this really formed how I acted at that age. I began to think that having more clothes and shoes and makeup and so on was something that would make my life enjoyable and complete. Boy was I wrong, for many reasons. When I was 18 I began living more minimally, not out of choice but because I had started university and was very broke after paying tuition. However, I soon realized that this was a much better way to live with less stress and anxiety from my environment and my bank account lol. Anyways, long post but I hope channels like yours will inform adolescents in a better way than I was informed at that age. So happy to stumble upon your channel, looking forward to more videos!

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  6. I agree. I think sustainability, minimalism, and zero-waste concepts work together beautifully to make me think my purchases all the way through. I came to these three via my vegan journey, and while I have perfected none of my quests, I am definitely so much better than I've ever been before. I've always wanted to know how I could make a difference…and now I believe i do.

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  7. Man, I wish I had found your videos before I did the obsessive KonMari declutter. For some reason I never put it together that minimalism is connected to sustainability. I'm cringing thinking about how much stuff I just threw out. But now I'm almost completely zero waste so maybe I can reverse that impact?

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  8. Loved this video, you addressed some tough ideas very eloquently! I'm a college student so I value good prices but am working away from that and focusing more on reusing and recycling as well as supporting ethical/sustainable brands. It can be tough to explain these concepts to friends and family who just seem to want it all at cheap prices – how would you start a conversation and try to open their eyes to the impact of such a lifestyle? Thanks 🙂

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  9. I really appreciate your approach. I agree with you completely about being intentional about already using what I already have and not massively decluttering but working to be intentional about where things go. Thanks for making this video!

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  10. I like to say I live an essentialist life. I have what is essential/important for me.
    Everyone is different and needs different things. some of us need less, some of us need more.

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  11. i care a lot about being responsible and keeping my values, but then when i buy something not second hand i feel guilty so i keep on buying second hand clothes for really cheap which i actually don't need at all

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  12. I'm sort of the opposite of you — I discovered minimalism first and my minimalism journey has led me to the sustainability aspect of things. I started with a lot of massive declutter (but did make sure to donate and properly recycle things instead of just throwing them away) and after about 18 months of paring down my stuff, I've now started to shift the rest of my lifestyle to more simple and sustainable things like natural beauty products, ethically made clothing (minimalism lead me to do a lot of research on fast fashion as well), and the like. While I don't think they always go hand in hand for everyone, for me the sustainability aspect of things was the logical "next step" once my initial declutter of everything was done.

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  13. I too came to the idea of minimalism because of my concerns about unsustainable practices in the clothing industry, etc. I agree with what you're saying, minimalism is great, but it isn't a sustainable practice unless your focus is also on minimising the damage that your purchases and practices have on the planet and on people. Great video, great channel and great messages!

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