Learn About the Compression Community Here.
Starting February 4, 2020
A Series of 12 Compression Thinking Teleconferences
Each Teleconference will be Based on a Podcast. Listen to all 12 here.
All teleconferences are free, but please sign up in advance.
We are squeezing the planet more than it can stand. To stop squeezing it, we must squeeze our consumption — cut our use and disposal of resources much deeper than “sustainability.” We can’t sustain economic growth and save the planet on the side. Deep squeeze is a revolution in how we work, live, and think. Why? What to do? Keep exploring this site, digest it in bite-size chunks, join the Compression Community and let’s figure out what we need to do.
What Do We Need to Do?
To live in a modern balance with nature, we have to change what we do. We know a lot of basics: the “Rs:” Re-use, repair, re-manufacture, recycle … revitalize ecologies — stop spewing excess toxins all over. Why isn’t everyone taking action? Because our deepest issues are with our own hang ups understanding and motivating ourselves. So please keep exploring.
How Can We Change Ourselves?
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Why do we need to “Compress”?
Climate change and excess CO2 is only one abuse of the planet. Suppose we were able to “siphon off infinite energy from the dark matter of the universe” without generating CO2. If we kept using energy to do what we do now, we would still do ourselves in. The case for totally changing what we do is very strong. However, we are mesmerized by economic expansion and growth formulas. We don’t want to think about living differently. When we do, we struggle to think clearly and learn vigorously. We all do.
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How must we change?
No “magic bullet” will let us continue the status quo. Changes will be drastic. To make them we must drastically change how we think. Everyone’s local situation is different. No paint-by-numbers program will fix your ecology. Compression Thinking is a guide for clarity assessing your situation, and wisdom setting a new direction. A start is learning to live as well or better while using (and wasting) much less. But learning to be in balance in nature will take much more than that.
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Why can’t we get on with it?
We now live by expansionary thinking. Economies are based on it. We fear questioning it. A yawning chasm separates expansionary thinking from Compression Thinking, which seems strange. It promotes Profligacy-to-Frugality transformation. Ask “How little do to I need? instead of “How much will this cost?” Physical transformation requires our psychological transformation. We must use technology to live in balance with nature, not let it separate us from nature.
An Overly Simple Version of Compression
For a little less simplistic diagram, please click on What is Compression.
Get Involved
Join Our Compression Community
The intent of the Compression Community is to stir more environmental action, and try to assure that it is effective. That is, stop adding to human consumption, help nature revitalize itself, and remediate one or more of a long list of environmental dangers without making any of the others worse.
Join the Compression Thinking Series of Podcasts and Teleconferences
Starting February 4, 2020: A Series of 12 Compression Thinking Teleconferences. Each Teleconference will be Based on a Podcast. Listen to all 12 podcasts here.
All teleconferences are free, but please sign up in advance.
We are squeezing the plant more than it can withstand. To stop squeezing it, we must dramatically squeeze our consumption — our use and disposal of resources. Compression differs from sustainability, a term that implies that we can keep advanced economies much as now, and save the planet on the side. But squeezing our consumption implies huge changes in how we work, live — and think.
Support Us
Start Saving & Giving Free: Join Giving Assistant to start donating 3-30% of every purchase to Compression Institute while you shop online at places like Gap (4%), Best Buy (1%), eBay (1%), and Lowe’s (4%). Go to https://givingassistant.org/np#compression-institute or click the Start Saving & Giving Free button below to get started.
Donate!
| General Donation: Just helping us cover the expenses of day to day operations would be a great start. Support our goal to expand community and organizational learning groups that will serve as our primary communication and action network. Click on the Donate button to donate. |
Learning Circles
Form a Learning Circle. The Compression Institute is looking for people like you to create and lead Learning Circles in organizations and communities. Sign up to learn more about Learning Circles. We’ll help you facilitate until you’re comfortable with doing this on your own. These circles may start by building a base of active participants who meet regularly to discuss problems affecting their workplace or their community, by example by holding Lean Coffees. In time these should transition into working out what they can do to promote Continuous Regeneration.
Participating in a Global Learning Circle is one way to prepare for this. We now have one Global Learning Circle in progress. We will form other Global Learning Circles. And/or Sign up to learn more about Learning Circles. We will also announce a date and time for a teleconference in each newsletter, a few days after each one is published.
Events
Find out what we’re up to by clicking here and maybe we’ll see you at the next Compression event!
Tell Us What You Do
What cool things are you doing that support the Compression Institute mission? Describe them and we’ll publish a profile highlighting those practices for others to learn from. If you are struggling with a complex problem you can’t quite resolve, ask for a 90-minute one-on-one call with Doc Hall or another board member.
Teleconference
We have one teleconference series on Complex Systems, on the last Tuesday of every month. We can form more teleconferences on Compression Thinking, Vigorous Learning Organizations, or on major Environmental Risks. If you are interested in one of these topics Sign up to join a Teleconference Series.
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Meet Doc Hall and Learn About Compression
Additional Recent Blog Posts
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