One Planet: I Intend to Live like I Belong Here

Dear community,

My personal consumption and the overall consumption of the human community have been on my mind a lot these days.  I think the reason I think about this all the time is because I have children, and it makes sense that the resources of this one planet are finite, and that if humanity were to continue to inhabit this place called Earth, we do have to start thinking about our consumption.

In other words, what constitutes sustainable consumption? What is a regenerative way to use resources, materials, energy?

I tend to ruminate over things (much less so since I started meditating and I catch my unproductive and sometimes nefarious thoughts!) and to feel lots of shame and guilt, sometimes for no apparent reason or clear fault of my own.  However, recently, I have  decided that I am done with those emotions, I do not like them, I do not want them in my life, so instead of ruminating and marinating in these most unpleasant states, every time I get triggered I will start becoming curious. The time between trigger and curiosity is getting shorter and shorter and my level of happiness increases with each productive question I ask.

A major source of shame and guilt for me used to be my consumption. Every time I took out my credit card, every time I clicked “Buy Now” on Amazon I would feel like I am failing again. And not just failing myself, and the things I say I stand for (like low carbon footprint, sustainability etc)., but also future generations, my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A pretty big burden to carry, right?

So I have decided to dive into the work of ecological economists like  Jason Hickel, Kate Raworth or Tim Jackson and ask the question of what is the maximum amount of dollars that one person can spend in order to keep resources in a regenerative state? (Meaning, if everyone on the planet lived in a way that honored their needs, did not waste, and we placed communal good above the individual need for luxury or destructive consumption)

It turns out here is no single, universally agreed dollar amount that guarantees planetary sustainability, because money itself doesn’t consume resources. However, what the money buys does consume resources (energy, materials, land use, emissions).

Eventually, researchers have converged on credible ranges by translating planetary limits into per-person consumption levels.

The core idea: “One-Planet Living” (If everyone on the planet lived  roughly like you or I do—spent like us, consumed like us, traveled like us—how many Earths would it take to sustain that life?

Right now, the global average is somewhere between 1.6 and 5 planets, depending on where one lives).

Apparently, scientists start with planetary boundaries (climate, biodiversity, nitrogen, freshwater, etc.) and divide what’s safe by the global population.

Then the next question is :What level of material and energy use per person stays within those limits while allowing a decent life for everyone?

The most defensible estimate (2020s science)

Sustainable consumption per person

≈ $7,000–$12,000 USD per year

This range comes from work by ecological economists  linking carbon budgets, material throughput, energy use and basic human needs.

What this level can support:

At ~$10k/person/year, societies can sustainably provide adequate nutrition, housing, healthcare, education, sanitation, mobility, digital access, leisure, long life expectancy IF systems are efficient and inequality is low.

How this compares to today

Region	Avg. consumption
United States	~$60,000–$70,000/person/year
Western Europe	~$35,000–$45,000
Global average	~$13,000
Sustainable target	~$7,000–$12,000

The planetary crisis is driven primarily by overconsumption in high-income countries, not population growth or poverty.

A more physical (and clearer) framing

Many scientists now prefer biophysical limits, which are harder to game than dollars:

Carbon

~2 tons CO₂ per person per year (long-term average)

US average: ~14–16 tons

EU average: ~7–9 tons

Materials

~6–8 tons of material use per person per year

Rich countries often use 20–30+ tons

These limits roughly correspond to the $7k–$12k consumption range.

A crucial nuance here is that sustainability is not about everyone living small—it’s about everyone living well within radically different systems.

At $10k/person/year:

-Excess luxury consumption disappears

-Care work, creativity, healing, education, and community become central

-Health outcomes often improve

-Time replaces stuff as the main “currency” of a good life

This aligns strongly with:

integrative medicine

healing-centered economies

community-based wealth

non-extractive value creation

(Which maps beautifully onto the kind of worlds  I’ve been imagining.)

The shortest honest answer

A globally sustainable level of consumption is roughly $7,000–$12,000 per person per year (PPP), paired with low inequality and low-carbon systems.

Above that, the planet is depleted.Below that, dignity becomes fragile.

Living with limits as an act of love

I used to think freedom meant more: more choice, more stuff, more travel, more money. But what if freedom means less? Not less joy, not less connection, not less meaning—but less extraction, less waste, less pretending that infinite growth is possible on a finite planet.

So I’m inviting myself (and you, if you have any interest in this topic), not to be perfect, but to tell myself the truth:

What would your life look like if I  lived on One Planet?

What would I let go of?

What would deepen?

What could I plant, create, repair, or reuse?

Where could I  say no… so I can say yes to something more enduring

I believe this is the sacred work of our time: not just healing our nervous systems and relationships, but healing our relationship to the living world.

Because maybe—just maybe—those are the same thing.

One nervous system. One relationship.

One planet.

One of my intentions for this year is to live like I belong here.

With love, rage, and reverence,

Corina