Leverage Point to Eliminate Disease
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Dear Friends,
What is the ultimate leverage point that can profoundly transform the system causing our diseases today? My answer will surprise you! In last week’s Forward Thinking, we talked about the genesis of our rising chronic disease pandemic; the multi causative forces—pollution, pathogens, stress, life style and diet. I always have hope for our future. One reason is the growing numbers of organic farms and therefore organic food. We pointed out how the use of the Therapeutic Foods Platform on top of a good diet can secure profound effects toward restoring ones health, and I promised that I would spell out the how of this more succinctly this week and I will—but only it will be next week. This week I want to talk about how systemic solutions, like organic farming, is the key to our existence. I want to share one single focused intervention that could unravel the whole mess, neutralize the negative forces that cause disease, and bring about a more sane, healthy and fulfilling world. What am I talking about? In systems theory it’s called a leverage point. According to systems theory, life is a series of causes and effects that operate not in a linear fashion, but in a circular or cyclic fashion. Life is cyclic—birth, growth, old age, death and birth again. Carbon based life is one big circle of cause and effect. What each of us does every day affects the whole of our earth. In order to change a system that has gotten off track, one must look for the leverage point (point of intervention) with the most punch to change the system. The following is, I think, one of those, paradigm-shifting intervention. I would like to introduce you to Annie Leonard and her creation—the video called The Story of Stuff The Story of Stuff has been viewed by over 10 million people worldwide! That’s a lot of viewers. In fact, it is the most watched video of its kind. But when you see it, I think you will agree that 10M is a drop in the bucket to the numbers who should see it. This video is a brilliant educational and motivational tool that focuses us on a leverage point that if acted upon by enough people—would set off a domino effect of change that would right our world. The leverage point is simply to change our consumption habits. I know, I know, you have heard that before. But Annie Leonard is different. She brings to life the systemic perspective that tips the scale. Read on! This is Leonard’s argument : We live in a materials economy. Stuff moves through a system from extraction to production, from production to distribution, from distribution to consumption and from consumption to disposal. The driving force in all this that keeps the system producing at a break-neck speed is consumption. Consuming stuff, owning stuff, buying stuff has become our obsession/our addiction. If we had unlimited natural resources this would be no problem, but we live in a finite world and you cannot run indefinitely a linear system in a finite world. This will become very clear when you view her video. See the picture below with each of the component parts of the production system. The system is in crisis because we are trashing the planet with more stuff than we have a space for. At every step in the materials economy there are major problems. The leverage point is that it is us, the consumer, that keeps the system going. This all becomes abundantly clear in Leonard’s presentation below—learn how to move from a linear collapsing structure to a cyclical natural system that will bring health back to our bodies and planet. The bottom line has two parts: one is that we must begin thinking systemically. The linear structure must be transformed into a circular natural system. And two, we must address our consumption addiction and the cost it is inflicting on the world. Annie Leonard spent ten years studying where our stuff comes from and where it goes to when we’re done with it. It is a brilliant presentation. Click here on The Story of Stuff to view it. You will be rewarded and impacted. It takes only 20 minutes to view it. Her website is a great resource. Sincerely yours, Seann Bardell Clinical Note: One of the changes at BioImmersion is that we are changing the bottles and pots so they are easily recycled. We have chosen our packaging carefully to ensure the purity of our product remains clean and fresh. The new packaging will continue to serve us well plus it will be easier to recycle and use again. Using the online ordering system enable us to conserve paper and resources. Our catalogue is online, and so are the brochures, monographs, and briefs. It is tempting to use papers but let’s remember The Story of Stuff. Where can we conserve more in our daily life? The Last Quiz Answer: Another amazing photo from the National Geographic 2009 Best Photo Collection.
In another section from the Geographic article it link us to this questionairre—Test Your E-Waste IQ. How did you do? |
