For this post I'm going to deviate from the more technical aspects of sustainability. Although government policy is a significant factor in how we are able to live our lives, I also believe sustainability is a mentality. It's one which starts with us, the individual. It comes down to the way they live, work, eat, travel, spend our time and prioritize ourselves. We can talk government policy and regulation about how to be sustainable, but at the end of the day it comes down to the way we as humans choose to live life.
My Introduction to the Simple Life
Back during my time at Providence College, I enrolled in the class "The Simple Life of American Culture''. To be honest I chose the class for two reasons, I needed an elective to meet my degree requirements and I knew the teacher had an excellent reputation to engage and motivate students regardless of the topic. In retrospect, not the worst reasons for choosing the class. But, in the end I was very surprised at how much I took away from the course. It really opened me up to a whole philosophy and lifestyle of simple living. In some ways, it is the foundation for my interest in sustainability. It posed many simple yet thought provoking questions about money, work, happiness, wants vs. needs, ownership, government, community, social responsibility, consumerism and the value of the natural environment.
One lesson that really stood out to me was an exercise on time management, our dedication to work(money) and its correlation to our level of happiness. We spent a whole class period breaking down how we spend each day, analyzing which activities consume most of our day, which ones are necessary, which ones we do for pleasure, and which ones we do out of necessity.
Analyzing your Daily Routine: Are you Doing What Makes You Happy?
If you think about an average 24 hour day, lets say the average person sleeps 8 hours and works 8 hours. This already accounts for 16 hours (2/3 of your day). Sleep is obviously important for health and overall well being and work is necessary (traditionally) to make money to sustain ourselves within our current system. Then you have to think about all the other things in life that take up time like hygiene, nourishment and transportation/ commuting. They are simple, yet part of our everyday life, and they take time. If you give yourself 1 hour for hygiene, 2 hours for nourishment (including preparation and consumption) and 1 hours for transportation (based on the average daily commute for US workers), that's another 4 hours of your day. Leaving you with only 4 'free hours' for personal fun/growth/relaxation/enjoyment/family/friend time.
Living to Work, Not Working to Live
Unless you live to work, instead of the traditional work to live, those 8 hours of the day are not what you would consider personal enjoyment. You do it out of financial necessity and at almost any cost, to continue operating within the current system, in hopes that you'll have enough money saved for personal enjoyment and to live a 'happy life'. After this realization, the lesson then turned to focus on maximizing or increasing ones personal time. The biggest area of potential improvement obviously came from work. The options are to either reduce your working hours or find a way to make your job something you truly enjoy. Confucius said, ''choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.'' Therefore, does it make sense to sacrifice 8 hours of your day so that you can only have 4 hours of time to yourself. In an ideal world we would all work less hours and give more priority to our own personal endeavors, but in the world we live, most of us have student loans to pay, rent/mortgages, children to provide for, along with bills for things like cars, food, medical and clothing expenses.
Of course, some people may say that everyday things like cooking and eating are what they consider personal enjoyments. But the primary focus of this exercise is to step back and realize how our days, and consequently, our lives are broken down and spent. Are we really doing the things we want to do? Money (derived from work) is typically associated with a higher standard of living, thus a better quality of life and thus a happier life.
Study hard and you will get a good job, get a good job and you will make a lot of money, make a lot of money and you will enjoy a higher quality of life and thus a happier life.
Traditionally, the prosperity and standard of living of a country and its people has been measured by its GDP (gross domestic product) and GDP per capita (per person). Although GDP per capita does not measure individual income, it assumes in theory that GDP per capita equals the GDI (gross domestic income) per capita. Therefore, a greater accumulation of wealth has been the most widely accepted means of a greater and increased standard of living.
World Happiness Report: A Nations True Value
But recently, an alternative form off assessment has come from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the World Happiness Report. This study which just released its 2nd annual edition, takes a more practical approach to measuring a country's social and economic development, by addressing the national well-being. Many are in favor of this method as it is believed to reflect the true level of satisfaction among a certain nation's people while demanding that policy be more closely aligned with what really matters to people as they themselves characterize their well being, and not just the material wealth of the nation as a total average.
Where as the the US and China traditionally dominate the number one and two spots for total GDP, the 2013 World Happiness Report has granted Denmark the 'happiest' country followed by Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden respectively. In fact, according to this report's criteria, the US ranked 17 in the world, while China found itself at number 93. The rankings system built upon the factor of GDP per capita, but also included much more important factors: healthy life expectancy, perception of corruption, freedom to make life choices, social support, and generosity.
The Danish Model
So what makes the Danes so happy? A couple of articles here, here and here explain their general outlook on life. A few things remarkably different about the Danish perspective on life are their views of money, work, ability to take control of ones life, social care, and value of education- to name a few.
1. Empowerment- Danes feel empowered to be able to change something in their life if they don't like it.
2. Freedom of choice- Danish society doesn't focus on judging other peoples lives which allows them to choose the kind of life they want to live.
3. Wealth- Money is not as important in the social life compared to Britain and America. Danish people prefer to spend their money on socializing rather than large personal possessions.
4. Class differences- Society is not created for the upper class. Nearly all things are catered to the middle class. There is a sense of contentment, which is key. There is little of the mentality of 'keeping up with the Joneses' or a 1% vs 99% debate.
5. Social spending- Danes spend a considerable amount on state services (social welfare) which is derived from high taxes. This adds to the normalization of income and a much stronger middle class. Thus people choose their occupation based on what they like, not based on earning potential.
6. Work- employment is at 73% with less than 2% of employees working long hours.
7. Free time- Danes have the most leisure time per day of any country at 16.06 hours (including sleep).
8. Education- 99% high school graduation rate and reasonable price of university education.
Like I said ,these are just a few examples, and Denmark is of course a very unique case. However the main point I would like to reinforce is their views on wealth, working hours and time spent on leisure activities. Its no surprise that they rank first in happiness when they also rank first in most leisure hours. When the emphasis on accelerated consumption and accumulation of wealth is no longer stressed, people have the time and freedom to explore their personal interests. When your not competing with society's expectations of success, accomplishment, and happiness you are free to create your own interpretations of these ideas.
Although many people may be concerned with Denmark's seemingly very liberal and socialist approach to social welfare, government control, taxes and economic development- it cant be denied that a country of much happier citizens provides a much more sustainable future of content, productive, prosperous, healthy, educated and successful individuals, and thus country.
Although many people may be concerned with Denmark's seemingly very liberal and socialist approach to social welfare, government control, taxes and economic development- it cant be denied that a country of much happier citizens provides a much more sustainable future of content, productive, prosperous, healthy, educated and successful individuals, and thus country.
I hope to explore this topic more and to further delve into the unique example of Denmark for other instances of sustainability, including their progressive energy policy and renewable energy targets.
