User:David (davd)
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[edit] I am living sustainably at a very low level, and have done so for more than 10 years now
* I have independent "proof" that my very frugal living is sustainable. I have put my living conditions into the Ecological Footprint calculation. This is based on Mathis Wackernagel's extensive studies. These have been reported in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (media comment here). He says:
<> "Nature provides an average of 4.9 acres (2 ha) of bioproductive space for every person in the world.
With a global population of 9 billion for the year 2050, the available space will be reduced to 3.3 acres.
{Neither of those include leaving} room for the 25 million other species."
* Some comments in my letter to the Positive Futures list: http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/pfvs/2000/msg03696.html show why I count my footprint as only 3.4 acres, or less than 65% of what's "available" to a human.
{01 Oct.2001: I've just used: http://www.futurenet.org/18Commons/merkel.htm and find that borne out:
this more detailed calculation gives me 3.2 acres, but still assumes American style housing.}
* So everyone, everywhere, could live like me and still about 35% of the earth's productive capacity would be left untouched for all other other living things on earth.
[edit] I call what I do extreme Voluntary Simplicity; but there is some room for living higher than my ascetic level
<>We haven't yet reached 9 billion people, though my life would still be sustainable then, so currently one could live at a 50% higher level (which would decrease as the population on earth increased).
<>The Ecological Footprint calculation makes the assumption that one is living in a North American style, with: car, winter heating (and summer air-conditioning) and meat eating. I'd guess there was a further factor of 2 there, allowing people currently to live at a consumption level up to 3 times higher than mine (though with no space reserved for other living things). (My "diet" page is here.)
I could go back to my 1992 consumption level. (It includes my front page newspaper photo.) Living sustainably, voluntary simplicity, can be done somewhere between my extremely low level and Diane Fitzsimmons' list. It's a matter of choice.
We in New Zealand in the early 1950s used to live as she describes; she's in Norman OK. {in 1957 I gained Amateur Radio callsign: ZL1ASX }.
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How we live at home, part of: Should one work hard?, {94 kB}; original letter, in Aug.'99, no longer available.
Living on little; some philosophy; & My reason for existence.
what I think of my life.
My wife and I (both over 66yo) planned to retire to an autonomous house; I now have the PV electrical system.
our family travels in Malaysia and India; (what we learnt).
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Two years' solar PV energy use; daily measurements plus a cosine fit: (see link to image, below graph) 
http://au.geocities.com/davdnz/DMsDailyPVenergy.gif - image created by David MacClement.
