how to make a useless world

The world needs to become more useless. It needs to cut down on consumption of the planet's resources and quickly if we are to have any chance of leaving it in a livable state for our children and their children, one that has enough food and water for them, that isn't unbearably hot or in a constant state of war as desperate people fight for scarce resources.

This used to be a doomsday scenario but it's starting to look frightening likely. As the population creeps up from 6.77 billion now to nine billion by 2040 and the average temperature rises somewhere 2.0 and 11.6 degrees Farenheit before the end of the century (IPCC projections), sea levels will rise, millions of people will get displaced and whatever natural resources are left by that time will be fought over by governments and warlords. The wars in Sudan and Darfur as primarily the result of people trying to grab or hold onto land that can produce food and water.

James Lovelock, described by the British 'Observer' newspaper as "one of the environment movement's most influential figures," like many others who understand the science of climate change, says that "global heating," as he calls it, is inevitable. There's no way to stop it now, all we can do is find a way to cope with the inevitable effects. He says that even if we stopped all further grabbing of land for food and fuel production and stopped poisoning the air, "It would take the Earth more than a thousand years to recover from the damage we have already done, and it may be too late even for this drastic step to save us" (from his 2006 book, 'The Revenge of Gaia').

But of course, even if we know in our heart of hearts we're causing irreversible damage to the planet, we find it too difficult to change until it's too late. Lovelock uses the analogy, "We are like the smoker who enjoys a cigarette and imagines giving up smoking when the harm becomes tangible. Most of all we hope for a good life in the immediate future and would rather put aside unpleasant thoughts of doom to come." So we keep the air conditioning cranked high, leave the engine running in our cars, buy another package of conveniently wrapped foods. This is how we make a useless world, by carrying on as we always have, trying not to think of the consequences.

We think we also have the chance to make it into a use less world, one in which we think before we use or buy something that depletes resources and so are making responsible decisions that reduce our negative impact on the world. That's the point of useless, to use the power of consumerism to make a difference by conveying a way of thinking about ourselves and what we do, or don't, consume. Don't buy a useless tee shirt, don't buy a useless bag, don't by a useless bottle if you don't need a new shirt, bottle or bag. But if you do need one, and want to tell others that you've made a conscious choice to use less, then a useless one is a good choice.

Over the next few blogs we'll be giving some ideas on how else to make the world useless, so please help us spread the message.