Add your ideas for happy planet living

Once we’ve accepted the aim of achieving sustainable well-being in the form of good lives that don’t cost the earth, the question of how we get there immediately arises. The Happy Planet 2.0 report provides some suggestions in its case studies, global manifesto, and strategies for a better life, and there are further broad answers in the Happy Planet Charter. But what do you think? Add your views to the debate by responding to the question below.

What one thing could be done – by governments, businesses, communities or by you – to help us achieve good lives that don’t cost the Earth?

Please keep your response relevant and constructive. Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comments policy.

Consider the framework for human happiness developed by the Human Givens organisation based in the UK.

Jeder Mensch sollte (privat) über 10 oder 100 Umweltpunkte im Monat frei verfügen können. Braucht er mehr, muss er sie von jemandem kaufen, der weniger braucht oder etwas gutes tun, wie z.B. einen Baum pflanzen. So ergibt die Summe aller Emissionen/Punkte eine für die Erde erträgliche Menge. In der Wirtschaft muss es genauso gemacht werden - weltweit. Alles muss CO2neutral werden und biologisch!!! Viele Grüsse:)

Follow examples of successful countries in terms of education and sustainability such as democratic education, free schools, require sustainable architecture, infrastructure and lower population growth for economic and natural sustainability.

Shec Energy Corporation has huge efficiency breakthroughs in Concentrated Solar Power and Storage. www.shecenergy.com

The map of Africa is incorrect when it comes to green living and high stress. Just the opposite. Visit the latest National Geographic for added correction to your data. Add China to that list as well. I've seen it first hand.

In the United States, something we can do is to agitate for better public transit and use that public transit. Where I live it is very difficult/time consuming to get transit to where I need to go. :)

I have just completed the HPI survey and the news was not all bad, but I have some real reservations about this kind of survey. Questions were asked about what kind of dwelling I live in, and with how many other people, but not the size of the dwelling, nor whether it has solar panels to power the dwelling (it has), nor whether I grow a substantial proportion of my food (I do), nor whether I am conscious of HOW I consume and the packaging that comes with buying consumer items. To my mind, this survey is not a true reflection of my ecological footprint. If you want a more accurate picture you need to include questions about how responsible people are for generating their own food and energy and dealing with their own waste. And possibly whether they have planted any trees in the past year. All that stuff matters.

I would suggest that employers implement programs to allow employees the time needed for daily meditation, yoga, tai chi or other activities. These activities should not be relegated solely to before or after work hours.

if we dont know where we want to go we wont get there. As with any project we need to start with a goal, attribute some key tangibles to it, and work out how we are going to measure it. then we need to generate buy in from everyone and educate them to share belief in the 'why' - a carrot works better than a stick. we all want to survive and prosper and if we have no planet we can't do that. People demonstrate against the large emitters but that really isnt going to work as its a battle - it becomes an argument and both sides will end up defending their stance with increasing resolution. people forget then when BHP starting mining the now known environmental issues were not apparent at that time. then we developed a huge reliance upon them so its not completely their fault. in sci-fi movies when aliens attack the planet the whole world unites - its us and them groups (read des morris for further insight into this social group theory) - suicides are at their lowest when a country is at war as it creates a large social groupm collaborating with a shared goal i.e. their country. we need to unite against the problems our planet is facing as opposed to picking a fight between ourselves or a company / political party - a company is after all a group of people so that approach is ineffictive in my eyes. it has been said the power is with the people so to generate the most power lets get all people together. in his book 'the happiness hypothesis', which is an incredible book i might add, Jonathan Haidt explains we are part ape part bee and that we do have a sense of species altrusim as opposed to pure altruism for reciprocity. this theory explains why non religious soldiers are prepared to die for ;the cause'. ultimately if people believe their and their childrens lives will be adversely affected and that they can do something about it we will have the basis for effective action. sustainable happiness is not material or economic wealth (past a base level) it is through social connections, love & attachments, altruism, elevation, healthy living and working with passion. quite literally - millions of people do not know this.

The one thing that could be done by everyone I believe is the total redesign of our infrastructure into green sustainable cities. Government must begin to end massive funding of military expenditures and allocate those funds into green projects across our country and eventually across our planet. Hopefully this would lead us to the end of our dependency of oil and into a bright future of abundant renewable energy. Most importantly the government must come up with a new economic plan which will end this wasteful production and consumption cycle which we call GDP. Our planet is finite we can't sustain this forever. We must become a collaborative society instead of a competitive society which is beginning to have consequences. I believe this is the way to a better future for all. Let us all begin to think green for better future, not just for us but for our children and there children. Peace.

21st Century ideas can also mean a complete replacement of 20th century ideas and so on as it has back throughout history. Therefore, such things that do raise to the occasion in the form of ruthless oligarchy tendencies should finally no longer be tolerated. Historically this form of governance that has forced history to repeat itself in a continuous battle many have called The Rise and Fall of Civilization is what we should bring into the light of transparency and deem obscene. When these policy imbalances have already proved their destructive affect, new ideas of a resource economy and a bright new paradigm must lead the way. Once we remove the ruthlessness from the management of humanities existence and start focusing on what we can truly deliver to the prosperity of all existence, then and finally then maybe we can see this generation’s fortunes turnaround. Corporations as a cover for fascism intertwined within the halls of Government has brought this obscene plague upon humanity and nothing less than a humanistic renaissance to dismantle and yet again replace the latest failure in compilation of economic monetary philosophy with the new form of democratically managed resource economics with a global constitution.

Also learn about The Zeitgeist Movement and educate the rest of the world about it. It basically wants everyone to live happier, healthier, sustainable lives and work towards shifting into a resource-based economy instead of a monetary based economy.

How to live happy sustainable lives: some suggestions... 1) Encourage sharing of assets/products. Many people don't use their stuff 90% of the time, so people who live near each other who all want trampolines should chip in to buy just one good quality trampoline that will last and they can put it in one person's garden and all share it whenever they want. Saves money and resources, and improves sense of community. 2) Instead of buying throw away consumables for birthday gifts and christmas, give someone a plant, or make them a nice personal gift - a little funny painting or collage of old photos, etc. 3) Learn to dance without being drunk. Too many people rely on being drunk before they can express themselves. Buy a little less alcohol to practice being confident. The money you save could be given to charity. I never drink any more when I go out dancing and it feels great! All my spare money goes to charities. 4) Create something with someone. Collaborate to make a song, a youtube film, choreograph a dance, design a house - stretch your imagination for the sake of working creatively with others for fun. It's the best feeling in the world, even if the thing you create is pretty rubbish; sometimes that makes it even better, because it's so funny! 5) Buy a gym ball instead of a chair. It keeps you exercising your back - reduces back ache and keeps you feeling awake. Plus you can use it to play with and exercise. 6) House competitions. My house often has little competitions, such as "how many steps can you jump up?" or "can you pick this off the floor with your teeth?" etc. If you live alone, set yourself challenges. These are very fun and you often get great sense of achievement :) 7) Every-so-often, force yourself to not use Facebook or the entire internet or watch TV for one whole day, or two, or three, and replace that time with learning about something else or doing something different; go to a library or phone someone up you haven't spoken to for a while, meditate in a grass field, whatever it is, anything at all, just not the internet or TV. 8) Use freecycle.org, couchsurfing.org and campinmygarden.com - these are all great for cutting costs, resources and creating a sense of community and trust between people. Spread the friendliness!

As we face the coming peaks of oil, food, water, and associated rising costs, one of the key factors to increase happiness while lowering resources intensities, will be to learn how to thrive together in shared housing. I intend to work on rebuilding intentional community with shared common space, shared tools and relationship practices.

To start with, I would suggest to legally limit the high salaries/revenues some CEO are getting : millions a year as you know ! A daily hold-up and nobody reacts/moves ! Indeed, what would any person really do with 1 million USD or EUR a year and even much more ? So far, we all end-up dead, right ? So, any CEO accepting not to get more than 1 million USD/EUR would demonstrate true commitment regarding ethics and would lead by example. This would at least send a message showing more respect toward human being. Who's first ?

Stop rain destroy ! Sto chemtrails ! Stop climate anthems ! http://chemtrails.foroactivo.com/

Just kind of occurred to me that the three HPI parameters, the three gandhian engineering principles are so much in harmony with our three guiding values. Am reflecting them here for your thoughts and inferences. Is it that I am kind of wishfully thinking there is harmony amongst the three or is this real! HPI Parameters a) Life Expectancy b) Life Satisfaction c) Ecological Footprint Valurevolution guiding values c) Enriching Life b) Creating Value a) Inspiring Values Gandhian Engineering Principles b) Do More (Create Phenomenal Value) c) From Less (Using very little resources) a) For More (Benefit asmany more people)

I propose a guideline for people in the developed world: Ask yourself, "what would happen to the planet if all 7 billion of us decided to use this product, or behave a certain way?" The answer is usually an unsustainable Earth. I have found that I want and need less than I ever thought possible.

VERY INSPIRING! I HAVE ONE OF YOUR SEMINARS ON MY SITE: I BELIEVE IN YOUR CAUSE AND WE ARE PROMOTING YOU! GO TO WWW.MELODYSHAPPYWORLD.COM LETS JOIN FORCES AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON HAPPINESS TOGETHER! ONWARD AND UPWARD, MELODY CEO AND FOUNDER MELODYSHAPPYWORLD.COM

It should be self-evident that the price we pay for goods and services includes external costs, or negative externalities. As a consumer, I at least need to be made aware of the ecological, social and health footprint of products and services I buy, so as a first step, this information should be included on all packaging. To reduce consumption, and particularly of goods and services that negatively affects the environment, workers in third world countries and my own health, governments should introduce a progressive VAT that consistently makes "good" products cheaper and "bad" products more expensive. This would also make manufacturers want to produce "better" products as a means of cutting costs. Most consumers (in rich countries, at least) would accept to pay more if they knew that they simply paid the external costs of the products, rather than being tree-huggers, socialists or health fanatics.

I am very energized by visiting this site, and by Nic Marks' TED presentation. I have been envisioning a replacement measure for GDP, or GNP, to be: NEW - Net Equitable Well-Being. A measure for net positive investments/growth (netting out $ spent on war, ammo, drug prevention, prisons), and looking at the well-being across all demographics to ensure social justice. I was missing the ratio against eco-footprint resources used. This is great! I will bring this to my Buddhist community and seek to get us all engaged in how we can help bring this forth.

In 2009, the UK advertising industry spent something like £14.9BN which excludes press advertising. A lot! Now we all know they aren't doing it for no good reason, its because advertising and media works! Fundamentally we're all insecure beings who want inclusion and we follow trends for acceptance. Currently the trend is consumption, we're living under false pretence that more is better. Advertising and the media has played a very significant role in creating this inflated level of consumption, it also holds the key to creating a better society. If just a quarter of that annual advertising bill was spent on educating people on global, health and social issues and voiced ways to improve well-being as well as steering people towards more united global targets, i'm sure we'd begin to make huge improvements. However at this moment in time, significantly during a global recession, this is extremely counter to productivity and growth and so unfortunately the 'powers that be' will not allow this to happen. Popularising the HPI through media outlets and advertising is the only way we can create a global mind-shift!

HPI is indeed an all-encompassing measure. I really like the idea of combining aspects of subjective well-being and eco footprint. But maybe instead of just looking at life expectancy, I suggest there be an added dimension that looks at the quality of life - in terms of level of social care, social participation etc. As long life doesn't necessarily mean good life (if there's poor health and lack of care for the aged). At the next level, I also suggest looking at drivers of HPI - what truly drives happiness in us? The culture of materialism has taken form for decades and not easy to change. but if we know the right buttons to push, it'd then be easier to convince the practicianers (policy makers, marketers) and steer them towards that line...

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As a "volunteer" happyplanetindex.org person ...i love asking HAPPY people WHY they are so happy....just hearing there answers increases my happiness factor.

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This is a great initiative. Thanks. My comment/question is on what we can learn from the differences between countries, expecially for the ecological foot print. It seems that countries where a relatively large part of the population lives in rural and poor conditions score well on the foot print. But these countries get richer and urbanize and thus will drop in "footprint" score. It is maybe also no coincidence that on average European countries in the middle like Germany and Netherlands score better than the colder Scandinavian and warmer Mediterainian countries. It would be great if for countries that are similar, it can be identified who are the top-performers and what are the crucial reasons that these countries perform better. We need to know where to focus if we want to have a chance to achieve the 2050 objectives.

I am in Guyana and I was wanting to complete the HPI survey to see how it compared to my UK score. I know that this is tricky but perhaps it could be a useful development.

I would really like to see how the Life Expectancy, Life Satisfaction, Happy Life Years, and Ecological Footprint independently vary over time on the Graphs. Viewing the individual components over time could show what causes HPI values to display the trends they do over time.

-Less consumption of meat. -Increased use of public transport, and projects to improve public transport/rail networks. - Taxation on goods that are not local- therefore encouraging use of local resources, produce, food etc. - significant tax breaks for citizens who can demonstrate their environmentally friendly practices. - School and gov't offices must use min 20 % renewable energy. - Government travel should be carbon offsetted. - All homes and businesses should have "off peak" power supplies for non essential household goods, for eg- of a night time.

A number of social factors appear to be missing (e.g. Employment, internal displacement, homelessness, maternal / infant mortality, crime, conflict / political stability) which need to be captured to give better reflection of wellbeing

We can revise education curricula to teach students (and teachers) about sustainable happiness. This is consistent with the HP Charter. I've developed a Teacher's Guide that links sustainable happiness with the health education outcomes for Canadian teachers. A general version is available (no cost) for educators in other countries. www.sustainablehappiness.ca.

I love the approach and ideas of this website! I'm a Belgian (Flemish) citizen living in a van. So I am a real wanderer, and living that way I have a very small ecological footprint, in this Western society. Not even half the common one, here! I'm also a bad consumer, as I have only 8 m² to live, which is really enough for me, and I never buy any fourniture (for example). :-) I can do with only 50 liters of water - a WEEK. And if necessary, 40 liters will do. One shower included. I have electricity from solar panels. My van has only about 15,000 kms a year, which is average here, and this includes the winter passage in the south of Europe. You see, I have made it a challenge and an art to diminish my ecological footprint and I feel very happy about that!

I'm glad you had put numbers and stats to describe my experience of 1 year backpacking and living in villages and towns across rural India. Good for those who need scientific formulas. www.myindiaexperience.com

Are we still rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic so we are more comfortable? HPI sounds good, almost as good as the Bolivian presentation to the UN about "Living Well", but I see far too much denial about our predicament to have much hope of dodging the consequences of the Fossil Fiesta. Can we really be a Happy Planet as we watch sea levels rise and swallow all our best farmlands, all our coastal cities? The momentum involved in climate change is not something we will change with mere attitude. It won't even have much effect now if we change our driving and flying habits. Too many now want what the west has won at an enormous price. The sequel to Overshoot is not pretty.

Efforts that demonstrate unity of purpose and deliver a consistent message. I am not sure how many websites there are but it would be very important to everyone I believe that an acute awareness of common purpose be demonstrated across all websites through links and endorsements of all relevant works that have been published. We need to work harder towards broadcasting this common purpose in the same way we broadcast made for television educational materials. I personally would love to see a movie documentary of the Global Scenarios Group - The Great Transition. The debate has made it clear that more action across the planet needs to happen. More must be done to prepare youth with the understanding and tools to interact and participate in making this level of education happen.

My suggestion is to check out this URL: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?Itemid=50 The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project have great insight into what has created the problems that currently plague us. They also have excellent suggestions as to how we might solve the issues and finally get rid of the monetary system that has ended up being the culprit.

Self-sustaining building (SSB) is the practice of building structures, communities and lifestyles that have low to zero impact on the environment whilst providing their own energy, water and waste services To avoid further environmental damage from buildings, there is an urgent need to identify, demonstrate and promote the best practices by location of the SSB options. See- www.self-sustaining-building.org

Hello! We are a non-profit start up in Brighton called the Sunshine Bank - an online bank that trades in a new virtual currency called Lumins - short for luminosity. You open an account and for every positive act that you bring to yourself, your communities and our planet, the bank grants you 1 Lumin. You can befriend others on the bank and share your Lumins with them. in this way, we begin to grow and share a wealth of a different kind - an inner wealth. We're building our Alpha site at the moment and aim to go live at the end of this month. We have a holding page here: www.sunshinebank.co.uk Our vision is of the good life for all - indeed, the second phase of our development will be to build a social game to explore and act on what this means. We believe that it is possible to come up with a formula for what the good life for all costs and our aim is to pay all our employees exactly that. When money is taken off the table, it is the purpose motive that drives us - see Dan Pink's presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&NR=1 We believe that this project is a genuinely new way of recognising the good that we bring into the world that cuts across cultures, languages and religions, as it gives us the space to discover and share the best that we can be. It also has real bridging potential to bring together the business, public and voluntary sectors - imagine teachers recognising their pupils with Lumins, charities their volunteers, businesses their staff and clients and you begin to see the possible scope of what we are up to!

Any way of adding a kid friendly component to this initiative? Let's get youth involved!

Change begins with each of us. First we must learn how to live with what we need rather that what we desire. Also a less individual and more pluralistic attitude. Respect yourself, your family, your land and your neighbours.

I would like recommend the following; the largest global economic expansion ever to be conceived at the most unprecedented growth rates imaginable. For this to be done would require the expansion to occur in phases. Phase 1 - Design a World Governance Body with teeth and prepare for its global adoption. The use of the internet combined with the talents of; Game theorists, Game programmers, social networking designers, the great thinkers of our time in creating a pseudo World government gaming environment with the intention of creating the largest online participatory gaming experience ever known. Within this environment the exploration of the governments design operability can be tested against the happiness of the users that experience it and be freely transparent with no partisan affiliations or influences. The main objective of this game would of course be to have a plan that dramatically increases the happiness of every last person on earth while mitigating or eliminating resource consumption where possible in the process. Once this is in place and hopefully stability and happiness reign, the possible enactment to reality could begin again with the upmost urgency always in mind. The happy planet as a bottom line in the decision making process.

I work in computer science and technology, and I think we all should take a deeper look in domotics. Improving your home with domotics technology may cost you some, but in the end we should be decreasing our ecological footprint and consuming much less resources when the lights, tv, radio and other devices shut off automatically even if you forgot to shut them down yourself. I just took the online survey and I must say, I'm ashamed that the outcome remind me several times to get out of my car and consume my own energy. We should always take care of our planet, every single day, and not just when someone or something reminds us to. Greetings from Mexico.

The Bible says: go forth and multiply and replenish the earth. We have multiplied. Now we must replenish the earth. At http://www.mypowerstation.biz, we believe that one's cost of living should be able to go down each month. This cost of living includes financial costs for oneself and environmental costs for our planet, earth. We offer ideas and products to facilitate these changes.

One of the beautiful things about GDP is that any one person or business can point to their contribution to it (how often are Americans told to "shop!" to help out the economy?). If the world were to move in mass to the Happy Planet Index, I believe local businesses, organisations, and even individuals will need to be able to show that they have had a positive impact on life expectancy, well-being, and their eco-logical footprint. Furthermore, they should be able to strategically plan to have a positive impact on these things and say so in their missions. The conversation on how to improve ecological footprint is pretty far along, so I'm interested mostly in what businesses can do to show and plan to have a positive impact on their internal and their community's well-being. I am enrolled in a journalism course at Peer-2-Peer University and will be focusing focusing on this question. I would be grateful for the chance to interview people working on this topic (at NEF or otherwise), especially anyone who has taken the steps to show their own or their organization's impact on well-being. more on my project proposal: http://p2pu.org/node/3838/forums/4123#comment-1270 My website, to reach me: http://ideaengine.nighttrainconsulting.com/2010/06/09/u-s-well-being-vs-gdp/ Thanks!

I think we who live in cities must get back to communal village style living where we all know and help each other. I believe there should be community style housing complexes with lots of gardens and self-sufficency, and simple dwellings that don't have kitchens or dining rooms. People instead could eat together in a communal hall where meals and conversation are shared and where people become friends to their neighbours. We have become too isolated - shut inside our own homes for safety from the outside world - and need to get back together. No one should be dying in their homes and not being found for days or months, or not knowing the people who live on either side. When there are no more strangers, there will be nothing left to to fear.

The most realistic thing I can think of is to let nature deal with it. Sufficient participation in any solution will likely never occur in the required time frame. Humans are not going to change fast enough, and will probably either die out or go through ridiculously crazy resource wars that will quickly invoke the full utility and efficiency of natural selection favoring the brutally intelligent and strong. Welcome to the Stone Age part deux. You can probably bet on nuclear bombs being part of the equation. Natural selection will start weeding out those individuals who cannot withstand climate change, OR the climate will experience such strong shifts and spikes that most species will flat out die. Whatever remains of life will continue evolving and changing. Or dolphins will start talking and they will instruct us. But we won't listen, we'll kill all dolphins because we will be made to believe that they are an immediate threat to our children, and we'll die anyway.

play with my

the only thing we can do to save this planet is a drastic reduction of peole(i know it is a cliché) but that is the only way , how to achieve that? Women education in the developping countries ,and other ways for de the rich countries(i have yet no answer to this problem

Making a safer London and reducing crime and working with the community and the young people for a better future. (then hopefuly the rest of the world will follow) (1)Everyone over 18 has their fingerprints and DNA taken to be put into the system regardless of any crime committed or not and when checks are done for anything on the system results come back quicker instead of certain crimes like murder to carry on being committed (2)At least two CCTV cameras installed in every street and watched back only if a crime is reported in that area and crime rates will fall (3)Children who don’t attend school more than 3 days if they don’t have a sick note from the doctors a social worker should check on them and work with any children who truant and their parents to make sure the parents bring them in themselves and also work with the teachers to keep an eye on them that they are attending their lessons, Children who are out playing or hanging around the street’s should be put into voluntary work like charity work to learn that they can do something good or make a difference with their time or and put into something creative like a scheme where there’s not only local youth clubs but drama/acting and music/singing lessons to keep them happy and off the streets and to not get involved with gangs, fights, drugs or alcohol and key workers to teach them about drugs and alcohol abuse and also offer a free counselling service to anyone who feels they need it to talk about anything at home or at school e.g. bullying, problems at home or with family or friends or anything that might be bothering them. round for homeless people on the street and give them temporary accommodation (making a place available for homeless people only) with other homeless people for a agreed certain amount of time to help them find a job or get some kind of short training and then apply for a job and as soon as they find a job and have enough rent for their own accommodation (for the first month and deposit etc…) and in the accommodation some key workers who live and or work there to help them finding jobs or to take up some training and then apply for jobs and offering same services as job centres e.g. using the phone to phone for jobs and internet access for job sites and emailing for jobs in adverts and newspapers to look for work and help with paying for suits for interviews. (5)People with Drug and or Alcohol addictions/ problems, leaflets through doors and more adverts on TV and outside informing of help with special key workers , support and counsellors and even rehab. This would lower crime and insure a better future for our kids and help people with drugs, alcohol and the homeless and offer more jobs.

Great stuff and I agree with many of the comments, such as the need for leadership to get this sort of thinking into the mainstream. One critique I have similar to another i noticed is that the survey does not contain adequate distinctions such as housing size, type of vehicle, etc. I live in the States and commuting to a job often requires a car, because public transit is not available.

Using myself as a guinea pig and the world as the judge I have started on the antonym of 'super-size me'; starting from regular Joe to happier, heathier me. With the HPI and Maslows Hierarchy of needs as a base tool, I aim to experiment with health, happiness and confidence and analyse the data with statistics to find correlations. Your site is a wonderful benchmark for happiness but to my current knowledge there is no theoretical formula for happiness or confidence, pre-defined variables useful in a dataset. Gathering as much data as I can I hope to find something useful, perhaps reducing it all to a simple all-in one smiley rather than 100 check boxes each time I undertake an activity. Keep up your great work and I shall build on mine. Perhaps in time there will be more fields available for inclusion in sample analyses.

We need a leading champion for the HPI. This project should aim to secure support from sporting or media cultural heroes. What about trying to get the Eastenders script writers to take it on with a new family? You can see where I am going. Managing our ecological footprint and our aspirations for happiness is something that many people understand and would get involved with. Behavioural science would indicate that we just need a few leaders to help us change. Rock on NEF. Keep pushing us forwards.

Work in the UK has been plagued by rigid thinking ever since the concept was created back in the industrial revolution. We have X% employed and Y % unemployed. The employed are assumed to be willing, eager wage slaves and the unemployed are assumed to be unfortunate non-volunteers, forced by circumstance or lack of qualification/experience into a non-contributing ghetto. What if we thought outside the box and created flexibility in the "working situation" by legislating to create a situation where those "in work" were entitled to volunteer to take a sabbatical every "N" years. "N" being determined by a simple calculation that would take up the "unemployment" slack inthe UK workforce. If unemployment became voluntary in this way the whole ethos of it would change. You could study for a new career, take time out to raise your new born, or parent his/her second or third year of life. The options are endless. The sabbatical would be unpaid by the current employer but tax and benefit arrangements/educational entitlements coupled with mortgage or rent holidays could be designed to ensure that anyone knowing that they would be taking 2012 off for a sabbatical could plan for it quite easily so that they wouldn't need to worry financially. To re-inforce it the legislation could limit a working life to say 45 years so that if you did not volunteer to take your sabbatical entitlement you would be required to retire earlier pro rata. We would then have a more flexible working environment. People could switch careers more easily, taking sabbaticals to try out new things or gain qualifications to enter a new career path. Once up and running and being used, the "N" could be adjusted to ensure a fairer share of the number of paid jobs available, effectively establishing a measure that designs a full employment policy into the system. ASs far as the economy is concerned it offers new areas of operation in supplying the needs of those taking sabbaticals. The holiday season would be more evenly spread, organisations providing locum workers for smaller companies, new educational or vocational course for career changers etc etc. Altogether a much less fraught situation all round. I imagine that it would also reduce crime and reap many other social benefits as work became more accessible to the whole population. Mal Williams

I live in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and alternate between cycling and using a small motorbike to commute to work. The motorbike gets about 56 km/l (131 mpg). As such, my average weekly petrol use is less than 2 liters. Although my work schedule sometimes makes cycling difficult, I am happy to substitute the motorbike (110 cc) for a gas guzzling car. :)

Wonderful - and useful! Please get going on a Facebook Page to spread the word ...and more happiness! :-)

As John Scharr is quoted on your "Sign up to the happy planet charter": [quote] The future is not the result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created – created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination. [/quote] This has to actually be done-- 1) we have to conceive as detailed ideas as possible of what we want the life on Earth to be like, and then 2) we have to reconcile our differences among our ideas of what life on Earth should be like into one, by all optimally acceptable design that we can 3) strive to realize! More on the subject at www.ModelEarth.Org/donella-vision.html and http://www.sustainer.org/pubs/Envisioning.DMeadows.pdf Thank you, Mr. Jan Hearthstone - ModelEarth.Org .

I've just discovered nef and commend it's purpose, consciousness and activity in service to humanity and the natural world in which we live and move and have our being. I would suggest that the focus necessary for the happiness and well-being is in one's continuous growth and development toward fulfilling one's purpose in life. In terms of systems, an education system dedicated to that discovery, growth and development is the center piece for humanity's evolution. nef rightfully identifies and works within a context of systems - government, economic, ecological, societal. I submit to you the appropriateness of identifying the education system - individual and collective - as the focal point of purpose for governnental, economic, societal, and cultural systems. From my perspective as Sustainability Director in Higher Education in the US, I view the education of a sustainable citizen be the root of well being for humanity - individually and collectively. It is vital we be educated to our human being's right relationship with one's natural world environment, leadership, economic, societal, cultural and spiritual systems. I am interested in sharing these emerging Sustainable Education system concepts and initiatives with nef and anyone interested in sustainable well being through education - focused on the growth and development of a fully consciousness, integrated, interdependent human being.

Along our research work we analized sustainability of production systems, based on native species in wetlands. I feel our results would be useful to many people, and your organization may be a way for anyone interested. Next is the abstract of my PhD thesis. if you wish I can send the full document. Abstract Production systems based on the utilization of native species are options for extensive production, which may fit to social, economic and environmental frames. Rational use of these resources must be based on a holistic management of the community, within a conservation and wise use approach. The objective of this study was to establish an experimental and diversified extensive multicultural production system applied to the local irrigation ponds environment, considering the native aquatic community as a homeostatic system. Assays were performed to evaluate breeding performance of some potentially productive species. Using sustainability indicators, the system was compared to the predominant monoculture system of ponds at the Lerma River high basin, where wetlands are suffering a desiccation process. Experimental cultures were grouped under five headings. Waterfowl: A resident population of Mexican duck Anas diazi was evaluated, eggs were collected and incubated, and ducklings were bred and nested successfully in captivity. Amphibians: Leopard frog Rana spectabilis was raised in tanks and a small pond, with little success. Fish: Small whitefish Chirostoma riojai were successfully captured, transported, and reintroduction was efficiently achieved. Invertebrates: Potentially productive and currently harvested species were identified: the crayfish Cambarellus montezumae and water fly Consella mercenaria, were evaluated. Orchards: The cultivation of water yam Sagittaria latifolia, water cress Hydrocotyle ranunculoides and spade Typha latifolia were successfully achieved. Present and potential use as well as marketing of these species is described. Experiment results supported the hypothesis regarding the technical and economical feasibility for the culture and utilization of native species. Application of sustainability indicators to wetland management is an objective and trustworthy methodological tool. Indicators show that diversified native species culture is a viable, profitable and self-sufficient conservation alternative.

We need self-sufficient communities. We need to learn how to take care of ourselves instead of allowing corporations and governments do it for us. This means a return to the land. A new Jeffersonian agrarian revolution. There are examples--Krishna Valley in Hungary and Ruizizi Village in Congo are already doing it. Young people need to be taught craft skills, not computing. There is enough land for everybody to live in self-sufficient rural communities. The Chinese could support over 3,000 people per square mile like this in 1900 (see Farmers of Forty Centuries). If the US had a population of 1 billion, it would still be half this density. No fossil fuels are required at all to live this way. Plant forests for fuel. No cars required, no television or advertising required, no unemployment, no misery, no poverty, no sickness. What are we waiting for?

Capitalism's gotta go! Quite simple. www.consumertrap.com

A few more thoughts on having a vegetable garden at home. Besides giving good exercise and tasty, vitamin-rich food (which should raise ones happy life years) a vegetable garden at home can also reduce ones global foot-print. Previously, when I rode my bike to town, the engine (my body) was being fueled by food with a relatively high fossil-carbon input. Now with my own vegetable garden my bicycle engine runs with a much lower carbon footprint. The success of my garden (no pesticides or commercial fertilizers) is based on ideas that I have gleaned from reading many gardening books and magazines. It just shows how important it is that everyone in the world is literate enough to be able read and understand such information. Universal literacy is necessary (but not alone sufficient) to drag the world out of poverty. Give to a charity that promote education.

1. America becomes the 111th signatory to the ICC's Rome Statute. Cost: 1 Signature 2. Adopt DeSoto's Economic strategy. Cost: change two laws. 3. Invest in Solar Islands, Cost: Nil, Its an investment decision. www.solar-islands.com. 4. Act.

Spread your words and promote your page on Facebook!

To make the world a better place and enhance your wellbeing try making a regular donation to charities. Choose at least three, to help people, animals and the planet.

It is true that poorer populations and developing nations do not consume nearly as much of the worlds resources as developed nations. The problem is that we need to tackle climate change and global poverty at the same time. As poor populations increase their wealth, they consume more, so if we are successful in reducing world poverty it will have an adverse effect on our efforts to reduce global warming and other environmental problems. Population "control" would be very unethical but education and availability of "family planning" would be a welcome asset in developing nations.

The only places on earth where I can see population reduction slowing or even reversing our current carbon footprint trend would be the developed world. Poorer populations and developing nations don't consume enough of the world's resources. Population control of these people wouldn't have a profound enough impact on the environment to implement.

With regard to the population issue, the consumption levels / carbon footprints of the Western world cannot be reduced significantly enough in the time available so we must see both population size and lifestyles as the problem. It seems to me that it's rather hypocritical to "manage" populations of all other species but not our own. In britain, for example, we are culling the Grey Squirrel in some regions because it is a threat to one other species, the Red Squirrel. Meanwhile the unchecked human population continues to threaten a large percentage of the diversity of the planet. We must concentrate on the bigger picture.

We need a new political system in which ethics comes before economy.

Interesting about lowering the working hours. A few years ago in -Denmark, people were given 5 days of flex-holidays. They could take time off or work and get extra pay. Almost everyone took the money. This was even though they almost universally complained of not having enough time for their families, because of work! A second note: With the wages earned by many in the developed world one can save quite a lot by living more frugally. Walking or riding the bike to work, buying a smaller car, and a smaller house, learning to cook good meals from cheeper foods. Then one can afford to retire earlier. Its nice.

Just did the survey and found it a bit frustrating. I wanted to differentiate spending with local businesses rather than multi-nationals but couldn't. I wanted to count giving money to charity (I don't have spare time at the moment) but couldn't. I wanted to count writing to councillors and MPs and supporting petitions but couldn't. I understand that it shouldn't be too long otherwise people won't do it but it does seem to miss out quite a few ways of engaging in our society.

Personally: Buy locally to support your local economy. This will benefit your neighbours and friends. Make a fuss if you find something is wrong. Grow your own food, even if it's just some peas and carrots in a tub. If you have too much then give it away. Go for a walk and pick up one piece of litter.

Government: Limit the working week to an average of 35 hrs combined with reducing the cost of employing people. This will increase productivity and reduce sick leave (as shown in France). It will also improve health and well-being of individuals and families by providing a better work: life balance, giving us more time for the important things in life.

Obviously, over population isn't the biggest responsible on our present situation. The main issue is how each of those citizens consumes and wastes. If 6000 billion people consume as Bolivia, we are still fine. If those 6 billion consume as U.S., we are in extreme troubles. Only when we change the volume of our daily "needs" and the ways we satisfy that needs, we'll start to have a chance. For a while, we persist on the same philosophy of "looking for happiness through consumption". Our real chance will only start the day we realize that those models don't conduce to happiness or realization. In this sense, the HPI is a perfect gift to the present world, showing altenative models that produce happy people without costing the planet. I'm from Chile but live in Costa Rica since 7 years and I see this daily. The real change must begin on peoples perception about life and needs...

Make a significant and positive change to your lifestyle about once a year. Give something up or start something new. It will transform you and your wellbeing will improve.

Yes that was a nice article to read. I have read it several times, but I am doubtful about the idea that a significant proportional of the worlds population are not consumers and thus population growth is not a significant problem. It looks like I am out numbered in this discussion group on this point. I fully agree a fairer access to the world's resources would enhance the happy planet index over the world and less consumption on our part would significantly reduce the threat of climate change problems. How to achieve that is the crux. I am wondering if one could initiate an international holiday or period every year (day , week, month?) where people promise to be vegetarians. A little like the practice of Lent in the Christian church. In this case one takes a pause from high consumption for the sake of a healthier planet. One should try to make it festive: restaurants could offer special menus. Competitions for the best vegetarian recipes could be made. It might be a way to gently introduce more people to good tasty vegetarian food.

Thank you for that article Saamah. It explains in detail what I'm trying to say. Obviously, humans can't go on increasing population numbers forever. The planet only has so many resources. However, the main point is that the population cap is determined by distribution and use of resources. If everyone on Earth lived like Westerners do, we would have run out of resources long ago. For example, the United States can and does produce enough agriculture to feed the entire world. However, a significant portion of that agriculture is used to raise cattle to support the U.S. demand for beef. All the while, 1 billion people will go hungry across the planet this year. Population is far from the culprit.

Interesting discussion. George Monbiot has written an interesting piece on the matter here: www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/09/29/the-population-myth/

I have come around to the opinion that both population size and consumption must be important for limiting the human impact on the earth. For China it is the size of the population, for the US and western Europe it is the level of consumption. Both aspects should be addressed. Here in western Europe we should undoubtedly be putting more emphasis on the level of consumption. Has anyone made a study of the environmental impact and cost of condoms? Its just a thought. What about the effect of population density on happiness. I have a feeling that it must have an effect. Perhaps its just because I prefer to live in a small town; I feel one has more time to think and relax.

read here http://www.apfanews.com/media/ghn_report_nov_2008.pdf thx

First of all, overpopulation doesn't deserve nearly as much blame as overconsumption does. The numbers vary depending on what study you look at, but they will all pretty much show that a small percentage of the richest people in the world consume a majority of the world's resources, while the poorest half of the world's population consume significantly less. If you want to educate yourself more on the population issue, check this out: http://www.newscientist.com/special/population. As industries go, the food industry produces more emissions than any other. Ways that you can help curb some of this damage is by buying locally rather than at grocery stores or supermarkets, eating less meat, especially beef, and plant your own food. The physical work from gardening also provides health benefits, especially for those that don't get much other physical activity.

I am surprised that there is not more discussion on this site. Anyhow, I am still thinking about the idea that people should be getting more sleep as suggested by another contributor. Perhaps good advertisement campaign (on late night TV) about all the benefits of a good night's sleep would have a useful impact? Including that a good nights rest helps one to look and feel younger, healthier and more attractive? It is human nature to want to look attractive. Any other ideas?

Getting more sleep is a good idea! But how do we achieve it in the "developed" countries? Ban late-night TV? Go back to limited store opening hours? Does Costa Rica limit TV viewing and late night shopping by law? I must admit that I often stay up too late watching TV. Not enough self discipline on my part.

Get enough sleep. Working adults in my country (U.S.A.) get less sleep than is healthy at alarming rates. Since we're not using resources when we sleep, just this one action could have an impact.

I agree that a reduction in population is a good idea but it is not a quick solution, if done humanly. While we should consider how to reduce the worlds population, we need a quicker fix if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe. Of course the latter might solve the population problem as agricultural production is hit hard. I think that dividing people's energy use into 3 categories: food, transport and shelter would help to organize how to reduce our ecological footprint. For example, according to the insulation company, Rockwool, a well insulated house gives a far greater reduction in CO2 than leaving the car at home and riding a bicycle. I still ride my bike but is this so? Perhaps governments and the news media should put much more emphasis on energy efficient housing and less on cars and car fuel. Cars seem to take up too much of the debate. I have an organic vegetable garden on 144 square meters. It provides my wife and I with more than all the vegetables and potatoes that we can eat throughout the year. It also gives good contact with my neighbors who often look over the fence and ask what I am growing. People here have been very friendly. We exchange plants, seed and garden tips. I get garden waste from some that helps me build a good soil and keeps them from driving it to the public composting site. However, I can not judge how much CO2 I am shaving by growing most of my own food. It must be considerable, but is it as much as the 20 cm of insulation on the outside of our house? To summarize I think that it would be useful to organize our thoughts into the costs of transport, food, and housing.

I believe that if we want to make a real difference to the planet's sustainability, we need to reduce our population. Each of us, no matter how big or small consumes energy on the planet. Like it or not, earth has a limited supply of resources and, as humans we cannot cantinue to grow at expedential rate and expect resources to be sustained ad infinitum. I subscribe to Sustainable Population Australia Inc,. newsletter; its August edition published a speach given by Andrew Mc Namara at the July QLD Conservation Council. In it he quotes James Lovelock recent book " The Vanishing Face of Gaia-A Final Warning". The book focuses on people being highly responsible for global warming. James Lovelock words as quoted say that: "the exhalations of breath ans other gaseous emissions by nearly 7 billion people on earth, their pets and their livestock are responsible for 23per cent of all greenhouse emissions". According to Lovelock, when these emissions are added to those of growing, packaging, transporting and selling the food, people are responsible for nearly half of total greenhouse emissions. Something to think about...

Buckminster Fuller used to say, " If I have a dollar and you have a dollar and I give you my dollar and you give me your dollar, we each have a dollar. If I have and idea and you have an idea and I give you my idea and you give me your idea, we both have 2 ideas." We need to learn to seek the limitless world of ideas and spirit rather than collect the limited material things.

I just patented a new turbine blade design for use on a hydrokinetic power barge which will generate electricity on just about any river in the world - big or small, and need help licensing the use of the patent in as many countries as possible. The barge can be small for a village, or utility size. There is no more need to build any dam for power generation. Please send me an email to hf1057@gmail.com and tell me about yourself, how you think you can help me, and I will send you more information.

That's a really good idea. I love new indicators which allow us to see the world and the development in an other way with other glasses...Would it be possible to developp this indicator for companies in order to see which one has the most "sustainable" employees, sustainable way of working?

Congratulations for the great work. My point of view is that the matter of veganism and animal rights should be upgraded as a main component of your manifesto.

First of all, congratulations to Costa Rica, a very small country yet rich in flora and fauna, who made it to the top of the list. Be proud of it! "Poor as it may seems, there is no other best place to live better than your home." That is my motto when it comes to the HPI issue. Well, HPI do very well in selecting countries who are considered "happy" and "satisfied." All of us deserves to be happy, yet many of us must do better that our best to win the struggle against the perils in life. We have no right to say to other country that they are unhappy because they are poor or a rich country contributed dangers to our planet because of their being highly industrialized. We are not pretty sure that a country with a stable political conditions is happier compare to that with a political turmoil. As far as HPI is concerned, it is evident that even a corrupt nations, in economic and political sense, can be happier than that of a stable. Even those who experienced civil wars, natural calamities, and political instability yet they are doing their best to recover can belong to the top ten list. Happiness here is not about how a country are well-off or stable, but how the people uses their own resources in order to satisfy their needs and wants, as well as their pleasures in life.

I am reading the 2.0 report mentioned above and the NEF is very right. The current system is unsustainable, there is no point denying it and we must switch to a sustainable system with sustainable objectives for nations, companies and individuals. Each one of us has the power to do something. My suggestion is simple enough for anyone to implement and would save precious resources, while not inconveniencing you one bit. Replace your hot water tank with an instantaneous heater. Your hot water tank constantly reheats water all day long when no one is even home to use it. A heater that heats water instantly upon demand uses much less energy and only when necessary. This winter, turn up your thermostat a few degrees or more. Use a sweater or warm up suit to stay warm. Look for other simple ways you can recycle or reduce your footprint, anything that saves energy or reduces consumption will help everyone. Pura Vida! Russ Martin, Coronado, San Josë, Costa Rica

The ecological part doesn't make sense, maybe because of what my job is, I can't take a chance on public transportation, and since I have to be to work at a moments notice can't wait for anybody else. On the other hand one could say that it'll be more beneficial to maove closer to the job, but the futher into the city you move the more it will cost. It's America, the setup is all screwed up, and it's contributing heavy to the destruction of its self.

Know yourself!. The knowledge and intimate relationship with one self automatically creates understanding, respect, tolerance and awareness not only about your own needs, but also the needs of other and the needs of Earth.

If you own a car, you are the problem, even if you work for NEF The car is the comun enemy Wipe off the cars, and it wont be any more problems. Admitted, And say no to cars TODAY¡ TODAY¡ TODAY¡

Stop playing games with people and the earth via: manipulating for profit and then spinning the idea that we all should go green now which is of itself a profit driven gimmick. Just BE ! Use what it gives us naturally to increase man and earth's potentional. You will profit even more- Law of reciprocity.

how did the eastern caribbean do in your report i guess we islands are too litttle to check huh

As a paediatrician I am interested in morbidity and mortality of children and infants. The countries with highest HPI have relatively high infant mortality rates compared with most European countries. Perinatal, neonatal, infnat and child mortality need to be included in a meaningful quality of life index. Best wishes eleanor

Share your DIY ideas to clean up the planet. My IT company funded a research to clean up car emissions: http://www.greenfuelbooster.com

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