Rituals & Spaces
The One Point Five Degree Household
A 1.5 degree household is not a matter of austerity, stark minimalism, or involve an apocalyptic mindset. Instead, it focuses on the concept of enough chosen with intentional consideration.
A lifestyle with consideration for a lower carbon footprint and negative impact on the world can certainly include beauty, comfort, peace, and even luxury. When you pay attention to where products come from and how you use resources, you can meet the goals set out by the Paris Agreement: to live in a way that keeps global warming no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Sustainability or regenerative living does not involve a simple checklist of changes. Instead, the whole household must make a fundamental switch to more intentional consumption. Changing your lightbulbs to LED and bringing a few organic cotton tote bags to the grocery store each week helps, but it doesn’t create true alignment with the 1.5 degree goal.
Everyone must look deeper into the science behind the things they buy and use every day. Ask real questions about what you eat, how you travel, what you wear, and how your culture aligns with regenerative intentions. Everything from day-to-day choices like whether you buy coffee from a local shop in the morning to huge decisions about where to move or how to celebrate once in a lifetime events matters. The right choices multiply over time to create true change.
As explained graphically in the ‘Climate for Sufficiency’ report from HotorCool, individual choices matter little if the overall culture of consumption stays the same. While top-down reinforcement of smart and sustainable ways would be transformative, the average person can’t make these changes. Instead, you can focus on adopting and sharing individual preferences that have a ripple effect on your community and, hopefully, the world.
Food From a Planetary Table – A large percentage of resources goes to agriculture and raising livestock for food. Plant-based diets cut these needs considerably, but even if you don’t want to go vegan, you can make regular changes to minimize household impact. Lowering consumption of disruptive foods like sugars, tea, alcohol, and coffee helps, too.
Electricity: Light, Heat, and Usage – It simply makes sense to use as little electricity as possible in your household to save energy and minimize your footprint. Retrofit for efficiency. Choose renewable sources. Use natural light, heat, and cooling breezes rather than defaulting to flipping a switch.
Clothing for a Cooler Earth – Eschew fast fashion. Opt for a few quality pieces that will stand the test of time. Support brands with carbon reduction practices that support the world’s natural growth cycles. Learn to repair what you have. Understand that trends are manufactured for profits, not any intrinsic value or benefit.
Getting Around – While transportation options are frequent targets for more eco-friendly living, simply reducing how often you drive your car isn’t going to get the world closer to the 1.5 degree goal. Support public transportation and electric vehicles. Learn to enjoy things closer to home to minimize air travel.
Creating an entire culture of regenerative living feels overwhelming. When you start with the ideologies and practices in your own household, you can spread the knowledge beyond your own walls. Adopt community, non-consumption, and wellbeing as things to celebrate.
The 1.5 degree household can live with abundance of all the things that truly matter.
