Energy and resource conservation are a priority for everyone. Sustainability is not about doing without. It's about doing more with less and meeting our needs without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Fundamentals of Sustainable Living reveals how you can participate in the sustainability revolution. Over 12 practical and inspiring lectures, learn strategies to reduce your cost of living.
Fundamentals of Sustainable Living
Learn practical strategies for sustainable living that can help you cut costs, live healthier, and promote a more regenerative world.
Overview
About
Professor Lonnie A. Gamble is a founding faculty member and Co-Director of the Sustainable Living program at Maharishi University of Management, where he has taught since 2003. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and has completed additional studies in renewable energy, cognitive science, and computer science at the University of Maine; Maharishi University of Management; and the University of California, San Diego. Having lectured around the world, Professor Gamble has received numerous teaching and service awards, including the teacher-of-the-year award at Maharishi University of Management; an award from the Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club; a mayoral award for his work in Fairfield, Iowa; and a fellowship and award from the Agrestal Fund. He has received $250,000 in grants from a wide range of foundations in support of his work. Professor Gamble is a co-founder and former board chair of the Sustainable Living Coalition, and one of the founders of the emerging field of deep sustainability. He has founded half a dozen companies in the areas of renewable energy, telecommunications, sustainable building and development, and sustainable agriculture, in addition to a consulting practice in the design of high-performance buildings and renewable energy systems.
Trailer
01: Making Your Lifestyle Footprint Regenerative
What does it mean to live sustainably? How can we better live within the biophysical limits of the planet without engaging in self-denial? Begin to answer these questions here as you consider how your choices of home, food, transportation, energy, and more promote a sustainable lifestyle. ...
30 min
02: Sustainable Energy Options
Every day, the sun delivers 14,000 times more energy than the human economy uses. Discover how solar energy in all its forms can be harnessed and used in efficient ways, in addition to the financial benefits that come from using it. Learn how you can use energy wisely in your home....
28 min
03: Sustainable Building Choices
Buildings and cities have a huge impact on our well-being, sustainability, and ecological footprint. See how architects design green buildings that are regenerative-giving back more energy than they take-by using natural daylight, nontoxic materials, and superior levels of air quality and thermal comfort, all for about the same cost as conventional building....
32 min
04: Cultivating Sustainable Landscapes
If we make our landscapes beautiful and functional, many of our needs can be met where we live. That's the idea behind sustainable landscapes, the benefits of which you'll explore here, from the surprising abundance of edible plants and household materials that can be produced, to the valuable services they can perform. ...
32 min
05: Fresh Food from Your Own Garden
Explore the benefits of local, sustainable food production and find realistic ways you can become more involved with your food, from seed to fork. Learn simple methods for growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs-even if you live in a city apartment-and about revolutionary gardening philosophies and gastronomic movements, including Slow Food....
28 min
06: Winter Gardening
Local produce is readily available year round when you know tricks for off-season gardening. Learn the advantages of and methods for planting during the "second spring," including tips on building a simple, inexpensive structure that creates a microclimate, making it possible to harvest fresh food all winter long....
29 min
07: Sustainable Water Use
Sourcing clean water and using it wisely are key to sustainable living. Consider how systems can be designed to sustainably provide water for drinking, washing, irrigation, and other uses, and find smart ways to get the same or better services using less. Also, examine ecological approaches to handling storm water....
30 min
08: Transportation Alternatives and the Ecocity
Turn your attention to how settlement patterns-from rural to suburban to urban-and their existing infrastructures affect sustainability by defining how people can travel within and between locations. How can cities transition to ecocity design? What are the greenest modes of travel? How can we continue to drive cars and still live sustainably? Find out here. ...
35 min
09: Sustainable Products for the Home
Learn how you can live a greener lifestyle and establish a regenerative ecological footprint through the choices you make every day as a consumer, whether you're shopping for groceries or replacing your carpeting. Find out why organics cost more, how you can make safe and effective cleaning products at home, and more....
29 min
10: Green Economics: Living Well
What does a sustainable economy look like? Take an in-depth look at the core concepts necessary for an economy that meets people's material needs while respecting the hierarchy of sustainability and working in service to humanity and nature. Such ideas include a steady state economy and the movement for degrowth....
30 min
11: Inner Dimensions of Sustainability
Move from outer elements of sustainability-such as solar energy, ecocities, and organic agriculture-to inner dimensions of sustainability: spirituality, holistic health, and well-being. Learn what faith-based organizations have to say about sustainability, investigate meditation, and delve deeper into the Slow Food Movement....
29 min
12: Shifting to a Sustainable Worldview
Integrate everything you've learned in this course with a high-level review. Look closely at permaculture and its ethics; consider the customs of the Tlingit, a self-sustaining people indigenous to the Pacific Northwest; and discover biomimicry, an emerging discipline that uses nature as a model for technological design....
34 min
