The total energy consumption by the world across all sectors is increasing exponentially. To give a perspective, the total energy consumed in the last 30 years is more than what was consumed over the earlier 500 years. Energy consumption is driven by global economic growth, new products, services, and technology development intended towards better living standards. 

Economic growth is rooted in increasing consumption levels but it comes with its own perils and problems.

Why consumption is rising exponentially? Of course to make life easy and better. But this doesn’t explain the complete picture.  Often, people acquire the things because either it’s a fashion statement, or it’s affordability or their neighbors have it!. It’s not always because those things are needed. There is a famous quote from Fight Club.

“We buy the things we don’t need from the money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like!” 

Ironically, sometimes money is spent to buy problems than solutions, and sometimes in creating liabilities than assets. Although It feels great to add the things to the basket, excitement soon melts like candy in the mouth and people crave for another one.

Lord Buddha’s teaching mentions craving as the single root cause of all sufferings. That means, If the cravings are widespread so will be the sufferings. And here we are with looming threats for the planet earth, ranging from an increase in natural calamities, climate change, soil loss, water degradation, solid waste disposal, Pandemic, and its future variants just to mention a few.

Human beings are intelligent, resilient, and creative. We don’t lose hope and continue to battle against impending forces by developing new solutions. Look at the trends and you will observe that, though the solutions are new and advanced, they bring their own detrimental effect. This sets new ventures to further develop next-generation solutions. It’s making us go in never-ending circles. 

It all sounds natural and there is nothing wrong as such with circling and growing on the way. The real problem is the mismatch between the rate of problem generation against the rate of deploying sustainable solutions. It’s like a supply and demand gap between problems and solutions. It’s an imbalance!

Let’s take an example, to reduce air pollution due to the burning of fossil fuel, the world is moving to electric or battery electric vehicles with zero emissions. However, on the flip side, the batteries need mining of chemicals like Lithium and Cobalt which use a significant amount of water. The process toxifies the clean water sources and degrades the soil quality.  When the solution is scaled up across regions, the problem will just multiply and worsen. This will continue till the industry stumbles upon new solutions like recycling of battery materials or producing electricity directly from renewable energy sources.

In Hindu mythology, a long back, it was assumed that Earth is supported on the back of four elephants balanced on a celestial Turtle. The movement of the turtle creates an imbalance that can bring disasters like earthquakes.

In the case of uncontrolled growth, we also have imbalances that go completely unnoticed for some obvious everyday behaviors.  People want to continuously consume the goods and services and producers will produce more to earn profits. It’s a perfect win-win game but with underlying dire vicious ramifications. 

A small reflection suggests that the continuous equilibrium should solve our problems now and also for future generations. Although industry, research institutes, and policymakers are doing their job, the onus also lies at the level of personal consumption. More importantly, bringing discipline at the household consumption level has an advantage for reducing clutter, complexity, and maintenance annoyances. On the other hand, excessive consumption of goods and services creates stress and restlessness.

This reminds me a of story I heard in my childhood.

Once a kind summoned all his ministers. He expressed that the royal palace and luxuries are not able to provide him true happiness.  

He ordered ministers “Go and find out something which will make me happy. I am ready to shell out the part of the royal treasure”

Ministers turn by turn took King to all exotic places but it didn’t bring any sense of a happy moment to King.  One of his ministers made a clever plan. One day he took King deep in the forest for hunting. They kept walking for long on the insistence of the Minister without food and water. Towards evening, tired and fully exhausted, they came across a small hut that belonged to an old lady.

Woman came out of her hut and offered them water. She looked at them and said, you must be hungry.

Let me make some food for you.

That was the best food, the king had ever tasted in his lifetime and in his royal palace. He found his true happy moment! 

He immediately announced his offer to old women.  I am the king, tell me what you need from my royal treasure.

The woman smiled and said. You don’t owe me anything for this food.

Why? The King asked

it’s free! The old woman replied.

The best things in the world are free. Just notice, the charming smile of a child, the favorite dish made by the mother, a warm hug from loved ones, the natural shower of rain, fresh delicious fruits from trees, the clean air on the top of mountains – it’s all free!

We are free to consume those free things as much as we want. At a minimum, for other things we should support Recycling and Repurpose of the stuff around us on daily basis.  The pack of wafers may say that “No one can eat just one”, however, let’s pause before taking the second bite.  Let’s pause to help that little turtle who is relentlessly trying to balance the planet earth. It’s now our turn to unearth our own freedom and the future.