The Pre-Apocalyptic Lifestyle

Good Evening SuperForesters!

A term that has come up many times over the past few months that I find incredibly interesting is "Pre-apocalyptic."

I don't know who coined this term. Could've been me. But it basically means that you are not waiting for some giant global catastrophe to begin regulating how much you consume versus how much you produce.

As in, you don't have to wait until things are destroyed to start rebuilding.

SuperForester Severine would refer to this philosophy as "the Retro-fit Future." Again meaning that you don't have to tear everything down and start from scratch, not when an intermediary period of adjustment is necessary.

So living "pre-apocalyptic" can mean everything from growing your own food, to making your own clothes, to taking "Navy showers."

But what it means at its heart is: Be willing to look with objectivity at your resource consumption, and attempt to moderate that use by being productive.

A friend told me about a guest at her Thanksgiving dinner, who had fashioned his own canteen out of a glass juice bottle. He had attached a leather strap so that he could more easilly carry it.

How pre-apocalyptic!

It is an important mental step to say: "Hey, I understand now that we cannot consume our way to sustainability. What then must I do?"

The asking of the question is the victory here. For once you begin to think in terms of use vs. consumption, you won't be able to stop. Once the mindset is achieved, every decision will be influenced by it.

What are the pre-apocalyptic steps you are taking? What have you seen others doing? Do you agree with the definition? With the mindset itself?

Love to you all and thank you for reading SuperForest.

-Jackson