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The challenge of finding a way to live sustainably is the primary problem facing us now. All other social, political, and even environmental problems are secondary or tertiary because without a planet relatively friendly to human life those problems cease to matter. The level of taxes is a non-issue when there is widespread climate change caused famine and flooding. If our children's children are to be able to survive and thrive on this blue-green planet floating in space, sustainable living is essential.

What can be done to get us to a world of sustainable living? There are really two basic options: stop what we are doing and do nothing, or try to keep doing things but do them better, greener, and in a more sustainable manner.

We can all go back to a pre-Industrial Revolution lifestyle, somewhat like the Amish and Mennonites have. However, for many reasons, this isn't practical or even possible anymore. If the majority of people did this, the amount of resources being used would be astronomical because there are so many more people on the planet now than before the Industrial Revolution. Per person, advanced civilization uses fewer resources than the Amish, who actually use up lots of land and lots of fuel in order to provide their lifestyle. There isn't enough space or fuel everyone to do this. Lots of people would have to either die or go live on another planet in order to pull this off.

Besides, there are many benefits to advanced technological civilizations. I speak for myself and probably a big chunk of the population by saying I like computers, cell phones, cars, refrigeration, and so on. Let’s not get rid of these great, powerful things. This brings me to the other option: continue advancing technology, but in a different way. Technologies allow us to be more frugal with resources, to recycle, increase energy efficiency, and so on. To do this we need to go forwards, not backwards, when it comes to technology.

Technologies are both negative and positive, with both pros and cons existing in a single instance of technology. Technology is a main cause of the current ecological crisis, but it is also one of the most hopeful solutions. Technologies can increase productivity, conserve resources, and allow us to do more with less. This is essential to sustainable living.

However, it is important that humanity find a way to use technologies wisely. The role of technology is neutral. Technology is what we make of it. Unfortunately, the way that technologies have been used so far has hardly taken the long term into consideration.

Automobiles, for instance, have become immensely popular. People find them useful. They can travel faster than a horse. Goods can be moved long distances. Profits can be made by oil companies, car companies, and auto mechanics. All of this and more became possible with the automobile.

However, there is a dark side to this technology. Carbon emissions have been vastly increased by the widespread adoption of the car. Huge amounts of minerals, oils, and metals must be dug from the earth and processed in order to make car culture possible. Each action taken to perpetuate and expand the technology of the automobile has certain effects on the vibrant and balanced global ecosystem and micro-climates.

The car is both good and bad; it disrupts the environment while allowing humanity to come together faster than ever before. However, other technologies increase energy efficiency, wholesome food production, and other more sustainable things are, paradoxically, key to sustainable living.

It is this ambiguous and ambivalent stance towards technology that characterizes a large part of the human experience. Fire, for instance, can cook food or burn villages. Fortunately, sustainable living is possible if we can find a way to create and use technologies that do more good than harm. With time, effort, innovation, and education, green technology is possible.