If the march of progress is inexorably forward, what happens when we reach the edge of a cliff? This is the question asked by Yvon Chouinard, septuagenarian rock climber, surfer, founder of the Patagonia outdoor clothing line and philanthropist in the movie 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless.
This beautifully filmed movie features long-time friends Chouinard and Douglas Tompkins, founder of The North Face, and their attempts to save vast swaths of wilderness from the press of development. It begins with the 10,000 mile sea voyage of Jeff Johnson, a young rock climber inspired by Chouinard and Tompkins, who aims to climb Cerro Corcovado peak in Patagonia, in southern Argentina. During the voyage, the mast of the sailboat collapses and breaks, and the crew is forced to motor 400 miles to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) for repairs.
While on Rapa Nui, Johnson learns about the history of the island’s moai – the famous statues of large, stone heads carved by the indigenous population. The moai line the island’s coast, which is no small feat considering the lack of industrial tools when they were created. According to local legend, the problem of transporting these large rocks to every corner of the island was solved by cutting down trees and rolling the rocks on top of them to their destination. Unfortunately, in each clan’s or tribe’s desire to create more statues than the next tribe over, all the island’s trees were cut down, leaving a denuded landscape void of timber. The population of the island dropped from around 3,000 to 111 people by 1877. (The effects of deforestation on the population, some say, were less than the slave raiding and disease introduced by Europeans, however).
Fast forward to Santiago, Chile. Repaired, the sailboat crosses to the mainland and Johnson lands in Santiago, the capital. Larger than Los Angeles, it is a sprawling megalopolis. To provide energy to its urban population, the Chilean government has “sold” its rivers to power companies, which are rapidly damming them. Further, wood pulp companies have built huge factories next to waterways to provide timber for urban development, poisoning the water and air, and destroying the local fishing and agricultural way of life of the area’s inhabitants.
This is where Chouinard and Tompkins come in. Tompkins and his wife purchase 2 million acres of pristine, undeveloped land in Chile and Argentina, for the purpose of restoring, protecting and donating as national parks. Tompkins and local vaqueros then join forces and actively protest the construction of dams on two of Chile’s wildest rivers.
The primary consumers of the dam’s power are vast distances away from the dams, and, as pointed out by one Chilean researcher, are so removed from the process that they aren’t really aware of its true cost.
The Chilean saga is not unique – it has been repeated in its many manifestations since the Industrial Revolution. But how long can it go on? How long until, like the legend of Rapa Nui, there is nothing left?
Back to Chouinard’s question regarding the forward march of progress. Many believe that moving toward sustainability requires us to move backward, backward along the path of progress.
As Chouinard points out in the movie, however, when you come to the edge of cliff, you never walk backwards from the cliff edge. At the same time, you don’t continue moving forward right off the edge of the cliff. Instead, what you do is turn around and move forward – but in a different direction.
In reality, sustainability is not about going backwards. It is about using what we know now to make ourselves more efficient and more effective in our use of resources, both human and natural. Sustainability is about being creative, innovative, inventive and forward looking, not about returning to the Stone Age.
Sustainable business practices will improve your company’s profitability, contributing to its bottom line over the long-term. But it will also contribute to the bottom line of reducing everyone’s “footprint” on the planet, making the planet a better place, for all of us, and our children, over the long-term.
And don’t think that sustainability is only about big fixes and dramatic action. Small efforts add up quickly. Employees at Park&Co., an advertising agency, decided to limit themselves to one ream of paper per person per year, saving the company paper and saving trees in the process. What can you do to reduce your company’s energy demands? What processes can you implement to save resources?
Many people believe we have reached a tipping point with the world’s resources—that we are on the edge of the cliff. Can we turn around and move forward toward sustainability, rather than heading over the cliff? It is up to us to decide.
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