Years ago during our bi-weekly team meeting at Package Costa Rica, one of my employees nailed me for having certain non-sustainable habits…like leaving the office and forgetting to turn off the lights.  He was right, there’s no doubting that.  Sustainability, if you’ll remember, is about managing our interactions and impacts and it requires focused thought, or mindfulness, until you can engage in sustainable actions as unconscious habits.  I admit I am not there yet, not anywhere close, but I am working on it.  In the meantime, it helps to be surrounded by sustainability experts, since I am hardly one.

I wrote a lot in my old Costa Rica Guy blog on the topic of sustainability, not from a position of expertise, but from a deep love of nature that I have carried with me all of my life. Also from what I believe to be a strong sense of what is right…and sustainability is the right thing to do.

I heard Obama speak in the earlier days of his presidency about his goal to move the U.S. towards more of a “green economy,” or one in which economic activity related to creating a more sustainable world becomes a significant GDP component.  He said he just felt it was the right thing to do.  I agree.

I would never want to be one of those people who throws blood on Hollywood celebrities as they exit fancy restaurants wearing animal hide or fur.  Being judgmental never wins converts, but generally only inspires rebellion.  People think for themselves, well usually, and don’t really want you doing their thinking for them.  They must choose to be sustainable in their own way, or else it just doesn’t matter.

Being judgmental never wins converts, but generally only inspires rebellion.

Sustainability and impact mindfulness is not about competition, but rather the antithesis of that concept…it is about being in harmony, with nature and with other people.  Jesus, for example, was a decidedly sustainable fellow.  He lived a low consumption lifestyle and was a pretty nature loving kind of guy…at least from biblical accounts.  Yet he was never judgmental.  In fact he admonished his followers whenever they began to criticize and compete.

In our rush to be better, prettier, faster, stronger, richer and to have our backpacks more overloaded with useless stuff we have become completely unsustainable.  Much more of that and, well, who knows, but the outlook isn’t too great.

I believe impact mindfulness without judgement is the best path to inspiration. Your practice of it should be influential, but by example primarily.  Walk the walk and others may just be inspired to follow in line.

photo credit: Mr. Flibble via Compfight cc