Saving the World Requires Radical Resources Paradigm Shift

Increased interest in green and sustainable products is encouraging, but in order to save the world a radical paradigm shift in how people approach resources is needed, says John Spears.

Spears is president of Sustainable Design Group and CEO and president of  the International Center for Sustainable Development.

“To save the world we need to make a radical paradigm shift about how we approach resources and we have to turn completely away from non-renewable sources,” he says.

He points to the discussions that natural gas has 100 years capacity in the United States, and says if infrastructure is built around using limited resources the current research and development efforts are being wasted.

“You could spend your money either way — one’s a short-term solution (and) one’s a long-term, forever solution.

“We need to focus our efforts on the long-term solutions and not just the short-term, band-aid solutions that still require non-renewable resources,” he says.

Maryland-based Sustainable Design Group builds homes and communities that have a zero-carbon footprint and are self-sufficient, using local resources.

Called Earth Homes, the group designs homes in harmony with nature and the environment while providing people the feeling of comfort, security and balance.

Spears created the first passive solar, sustainable community development project in Kimberley, South Africa.

The project was presented in 1997 at the UN Global Warming Conference in Kyoto, Japan, as an example of how developing nations can grow while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. The development was no more costly than a conventional development and created sustainable economic growth and a healthy community.

Regardless of location, Spears says whenever he has designed a project and conducted a renewable resource assessment all the resources needed to grow a fully modern community have been locally available.

Building self-sufficient homes and communities benefits the economy because it grows using local resources rather than spending money on imports, he says.

The sustainable homes also benefit the owners financially as the variable costs of running a home are eliminated. When utility costs increase the homeowner isn’t financially affected, notes Spears.

Earth Homes are constructed to always have power, clean water and sanitary waste processing providing people with security, he adds.

“Some people are concerned about the reliability of those central services, and so we disconnect from the central services,” says Spears, noting moving forward developments can be created autonomously.

He compares this autonomy to the development of global communication systems. Instead of using telephone poles and wires, many developing countries have gone straight to a wireless system with cell phones, he says.

“Our houses are very similar to that — no wires are required, they are autonomous,” he says.

“We build houses today with off-the-shelf technology with current economic opportunities,” says Spears. “It’s not in the future, it’s something you can do today.”

-- Part 2 of a Two-Part Series

Related Story:
Sustainable Design Group works with nature to create self-sufficient homes and communities

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