The Better Earth Institute

Our main premises:

There are many major problems in the world caused by humans making bad decisions.

There are many conditions on Earth that would be preferable for humans to change.

Humans can be net positive on the world, and we should focus on that.

Focusing on restricting undesirable behavior may fail where focusing on positively reinforcing and encouraging desirable behavior succeeds.

In direct terms:

• Make local responsibly produced foods more desired and more accessible to people, like lowering their costs, and that will result in more people choosing that option instead of foods from far away that are potentially worse for the environment and less fresh so worse for the consumer.
• Make homes and shelters more responsibly produced, desired, and affordable (We can lower the cost by 90%)
• Identify more pro-active steps to make positive effects
• Promote lifestyle change

Read more details below

It's pretty simple. if responsibly grown foods are tastier, less expensive, and healthier... people will choose them over more expensive, less tasty, less healthy, foods grown in eco-harmful manners.

If a "green" home is more beautiful, more affordable, and just better than more expensive less attractive homes built in eco-harmful manners... people will buy the "green" home.

SO, instead of focusing on some kind of moralizing campaigns to get people to "change their bad ways", let's just lower the barrier for people to live eco-positive lifestyles

We've identified two primary pathways for this:

1. Decrease the cost of local organic sustainble food by getting people to buy in bulk as individuals or groups
2. Decrease the cost of eco-housing through consumer friendly development, collaborative consumption, and settling relatively less populated areas

The health and wealth house

The health and wealth houses are places where like-minded individuals who want to live a basically eco-positive lifestyle can live together.

Their costs are decreased through shared rental agreement (or ownership) and they also utilize their space as a central point for bulk purchasing and distribution of eco-friendly goods

They may also host events along these lines such as healthy food parties, physical activity classes, general working together etc...

At present, bei can provide training and software to streamline the eco-business

Here's a video we made that teaches how to start bulk-buying: video

Also available to read now: read about the green-way

Our most basic and vital claim: eco friendly living ought to cost consumers around 10% or less of listed prices - across the board from seed to shelter.

• A green home can cost less than $10,000
• A green apple can cost less than 10 cents

Projects

Bulk buying training: video

Discussion of housing/real estate development for sustainability: pdf

Developing communication software

Developing communication software is important because human behavior is largely driven by advertisements and communication platforms are driven by advertisement. If communication platforms were operated by people whose goal is to inspire eco-positive consumerism or none at all, we'd likely get better results. The alternative is having the world's leading marketers and psychologists working day and night to influence people to buy as many goods as possible - with no discernment on whether the purchases are truly good for the person or the planet.

If you're interested in getting involved in some way, here's how:

Join our social network!

Together we can form a global purchasing network to decrease the costs of sustainable goods and services

We can also advocate for better laws and share information about where and how to best accomplish our goals

Also, part of the whole point is that we already share the earth. We are all living on earth. If our behaviors as individuals are a net benefit, then that's maybe good enough!

What does it take to have a net positive effect on the world?