Natural ecosystems are all about balance. Due to the factors that play a role in this - most importantly, the interdependence of all species – the ecology of the earth in general keeps itself in check.
In the most simplistic interpretation of how an ecosystem operates, everything essentially relies on other things within its environment for sustenance.
Look at birds for example. They live entirely from resources found in their natural environment. They get their food from eating insects, fruit, seeds, plants, and other sources, depending on where a particular species has evolved and adapted to. Water is obtained from rivers, lakes, the ocean, or even from food, depending again on the species and where it has evolved. Shelter, when needed, is created from resources local to the area as well.
Considering this, one important point to keep in mind is that most species in the natural world use only the resources they need to survive, and no more. So that brings a further point to emphasize…
In natural ecosystems, virtually nothing goes to waste. There is a remarkable sense of efficiency apparent when a variety of interdependent biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components of a given environment are studied.
Although there is much to learn from our natural earth as a whole (but without going too much further into the vast complexity of it), I want to extract the most important principles of what keeps ecosystems in balance, so as to examine how they might be applied to our households. This can potentially benefit the economy and environment as a whole by helping keep our human-created systems and infrastructures in better check.
So what are these principles?
Interdependence. – We all play a very important part in the economy and human environment as a whole. How we use resources in our households, in our businesses, in our corporations, and in our countries directly or indirectly affects each other in one way or another. For example, a large majority of the American public relies on grocery stores as their food source. The grocers rely on farmers and corporations to produce the food. The food producers rely on the natural environment to produce the food sold to the grocer.
Natural resources are sourced locally. – Using the example of birds, they utilize resources from the local environment with which they are currently in.
Frugality is the norm. – In general, species in the natural world use only the resources they need to survive, and no more.
Conservation is automatic. Efficiency abounds. Wastefulness is essentially non-existent. – Many species plan for scarcity. Instinctually, they use resources with this in mind. Whether this means gorging themselves to build up their fat stores to get them through a winter with relatively no food, or the fact that there may not be much food currently available in their environment (so they have to consume sparingly and to maximum benefit), in either case, they are essentially following the ideal of conservation. The concept of wastefulness doesn’t come to mind, because resources generally don’t come easy. The concept of interdependence integrates into here as well, since some species also may conserve so as to save more to share with their immediate groups, for example.
Now of course there will have to be interpretive applications of these concepts to many areas within a household or area of the human environment, but much can be derived from them.
Check back soon for an examination of each of these principles and how they can be applied to your household, which can not only create more balance within your finances and well-being, but within society as a whole.
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