From the Bookshelf of The Transition Movement…

he would need to own one tenth as much stuff and make it last 10 times as long, that he would have to fly rarely, drive infrequently (mostly in efficient vehicles fully loaded with passengers), and become six-sevenths vegetarian.

Put simply, a 2,000-watt lifestyle looks like the way much of the world lives today, or better, but gone are the celebrated entitlements of the high-income lifestyle – 79 kilograms of meat a year … nearly daily access to a private car (often with only one passenger), air-conditioned homes, family pets, and unfettered access to flights around the world. In truth, these luxuries will no longer be routinely accessible to the vast majority of people in a truly sustainable society, though they may be available as rarer treats [like the once-every-three-years flight to visit his parents that Saul factored into his new energy allowance].

Sometimes these lost consumer luxuries will be difficult sacrifices to make … though rarer consumption of luxuries might actually make them more enjoyable... But offsetting these sacrifices… will in all likelihood be improved health, more free time, less stress, a strengthening of community ties … and, most important, a stop to the decline of major ecosystems on which a stable human civilization depends.