Santa Meyer Nandi

How “inner sustainability” can benefit the climate: Linking environmental to personal well-being

Tue, 12 May 2020 06:55:21 -0700

Environmental sustainability as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is the" idea that goods and services should be produced in ways that do not use resources that cannot be replaced and that do not damage the environment". In short, this could be interpreted as a state of “equilibrium”, which is “a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced”.

Could we apply the same metaphor on “inner sustainability"? We could define it as a balanced way of life that does not deplete our mental (i.e. avoiding burn-outs, depression...) as well as physical "resources" (e.g. preventing overweight, cardio-vascular and other conditions linked to stress and nutrient-poor Western diets).

In our presentation "Why aren’t...Read More

Relationships, Health, and Sustainability

Tue, 12 May 2020 06:55:14 -0700

Maya Cosentino,M.D., is a physician and fellow Think Tank 30 member who researches on connections between relationships (to self, others & the environment), health & sustainability. In the following interview we explore the power of social relationships and microorganisms on our personal health and well-being as well as their effects on our environment.

Do relationships influence our health?

There are many fields of research that illuminate how relationships to ourselves, others and the environment influence health. Examples that I have explored over the last years are related to the effects of social and microbial environments on health.

In cultures that promote principles of individualism and stringent body hygiene, the idea that socially isolated people have shorter life expectancies, and that our health depends on bacteria in our gut might come as a surprise. But, research actually indicates that insufficient social relationships present a mortality risk similar to tobacco and alcohol use, and greater than physical inactivity and obesity.

Bacteria and other microorganisms in the gut significantly influence interrelated physiological processes including the development and regulation of the immune system, gene expression, and brain function. A large number of predominantly animal studies also suggest that the gut flora affects mood and social behaviors via neural, endocrine, and immune pathways.

Do you think that relationships are relevant to socio-ecological...Read More

Being Voted "Best Sustainability Blogger" in Germany

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 05:01:05 -0700

This year the German ethical bank GLS Bank organised the sustainability blog awards to honour sustainability bloggers for their efforts to tackle climate change in Germany. Anna and me - co- directors of FindingSustainia- found ourselves nominated in this league of ambitious and inspiring sustainability bloggers. You may imagine how thrilled we are to be awarded the title "Best Sustainability Bloggers in Germany" for our Think & Action Lab, a journey that has started in 2010 and has ever since filled our lives with purpose, and also quite a bit of complexity.
We were blissfully unaware of what we were comitting ourselves to when we started our self-challenge journey and documented our progress on the blog. Very soon, with people starting to follow and co-challenge themselves alongside of us, we realised that we were not just doing this for us but that we had become part of a community - a community that started to rely on us for guidance, inspiration and solutions. As a lawyer and political scientist we had been used to applying a bird's perspective in our work - it was "them", and suddenly it was "us".
The same, with differences
What still strikes us is that we didn't really know each other when starting this project. We share a surname and a professional and personal interest in sustainability - and yet we managed that all that differentiates us from each other enriches our project. Just because we want it this way.
We believe a big part of what pulled us so close together is that we both committed ourselves to leave our comfort zones and explore possibilities TOGETHER. We chose to give our best to be the change we'd like to see in the world - but that didn't mean it was always easy. Going through this journey together, only the other could really understand the complexity of undergoing a different challenge every month and organising our lives around these challenges alongside our private...Read More

Global Warming as a Chance?

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 05:00:56 -0700

Comfort Zones in the Brave New World
At high school I remember reading Huxley's "Brave New World" and was strongly intrigued by the Savage's statement: "But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
Back then something resonated in me, and confused me at the same time. I felt it said something aspirational and noble about intrinsic motivation but at the same time I felt it was a grim perspective. I asked myself why would we choose discomfort just for its own sake?
Today - after many years of challenging myself, my community and clients - I see much more than intrinsic value in breaking out of comfort zones - I see it as the path to a better and happier individual and world, both in general, and specifically with regards to our environment. And yes, there is a bit of discomfort to start with but that is very soon greatly outweighed by the benefits.
Let's have a closer look at Habits and how they form our Comfort Zones.
Our brains are amoral, i.e. they don't distinguish between good and bad habits. They form habits in accordance with what we do and think. Quite obviously there is a lot of benefit in creating habits that serve us and the world - unfortunately a lot of us are trapped in habits that are rather detrimental on an individual and global level. Why else would so many of us be obese, suffer from burn-out and depression, be glued to our gadgets? And why else, if I may boldly suggest, would we as humanity suffer the consquences from global warming, wars, terrorism... ? What we are, we weigh, our level of mindfulness and ambition, our way of viewing the world, and the state of our ecological footprint is the consequence of habits.
It's not just about sheer willpower, as is often suggested, to break bad habits. If we want to create...Read More