A Sustainable Life

Laurie Michaelis reviews a new book by Quaker writer Douglas Gwyn

by Laurie Michaelis 17th April 2015

A year or so ago I was chatting with a Friend about our Quaker engagement with sustainability. He said: ‘it’s part of our DNA now.’ And it is. It has long been the focus of conversations in Local Meetings about what it means to ‘let your life speak’. It features strongly in conversations with prospective members. And it was embodied in our Yearly Meeting commitment in 2011 to become a low carbon sustainable community.

Yet, I would characterise much Quaker action so far as ‘good citizenship’. It is what every organisation, community or faith group should be doing. There is a large next step, which is to embrace sustainability as testimony.