A culture is a group of people sharing a belief system and a way of life.  We all belong to several cultures within our own community.  A family is a culture, as is a city, a nation and even a body of faith.  There are several components of a sustainable culture some of which are closely related to components of a sustainable earth.  These necessary components can be broken down into three main categories; sustenance, growth and communication.  Each subcategory offers a valuable tip on how you can secure the components of your culture.

Sustenance is a component of a sustainable culture.

H2O

Our bodies are made up of 80 percent water so the number one item pertinent to sustaining a culture is water.  Should there be a national disaster the EPA estimates that each person would need one gallon of water per day to survive (EPA, 2010).

Sustainable Culture Tip: Learn to harvest rainwater.

Renewable Food Source

Renewable food sources are another necessity for a sustainable culture.  Since the onset of super stores and corporate farming, small family farms and locally grown produce are gradually becoming a thing of the past.  This is detrimental on so many levels. Not only does it wreck the local economies, it forces us to eat vitamin deficient produce shipped in from far away.  Should there be a disaster or embargo in the location from where the majority of the food is sourced then the culture in question would not have food for any longer than the emergency food stores would last.  This is why it is so important to support your local farmers by purchasing direct or using a local farmer’s coop.

Sustainable Culture Tip:  Store up an emergency supply of non-perishable food as well as emergency seed packets.

Growth is a component of a sustainable culture.

Population Growth

Although the world is looking at a record population of 9 billion, it is important to note the scientific percentage at which a cultural population must grow to sustain itself.  In order to sustain a culture scientist estimate that each family in a developed nation must produce 2.1 children per family.  In an under developed nation the statistic will vary depending on clean water and the availability of medical care but the number is upwards of 3.4 children per family (Engleman & Leahy, 2006).

Education

Education is a crucial factor in sustaining a culture for out of any culture will spring up leadership and if the leadership is not educated then the population cannot grow and move forward.  Growth is a key component of sustainability.  An emerging concern is the leadership abilities of generation y and z as the onset of the information age has produced a generation that is not trained in problem solving and is accustomed to instant gratification.

Sustainable Culture Tip:  Make sure you get a good education.

Communication is a component of a sustainable culture.

Communication

For many cultures sustaining communication means language, be that a spoken language or the language of a generation.  Generation y and z speak the language of the digital age.  Some Native American cultures have recently adopted mandates to preserve the spoken language of their culture.  It is important to know and understand the language of your culture because it will tell you important details about yourself.  I speak the language of the digital age.  Through face book and text, I communicate with my world.  I have even learned one of my native cultural languages through lessons delivered on Skype. 

Sustainable Culture Tip:  Understand the languages of your culture and put a plan in action for how you will communicate should there be crisis in national communication.

Renewable Energy

Energy, when you think about it is not a necessity, but because of our dependence on it is worth mentioning.  We do depend on energy for mass transportation and cooking as well as communication.  Every year the growing black clouds of soot loom over our cities as air pollution rises.  We are seeing more and more earthquakes possibly do to all of the oil we are consuming from the earth’s underground resources.  A culture must build renewable energy sources such as wind and solar if it wants to be self sufficient for generations.

Sustainable Culture Tip: Learn what it means to live ‘off the grid.’

References

Engleman, Robert & Leahy, Elizabeth.  (April 3, 2006).  Replacement fertility:  not

constant, not 2.1, but varying with the survival of young girls and young women.  Population Action International.  Volume 1, Issue 4.  Retrieved August 7, 2010 from http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Working_Papers/Replacement_Fertility_Not_Constant/Summary.shtml.

http://www.epa.gov/