Resilience and Mitigation: My Cup of Tea.

I was chatting with a dear friend and colleague about the burden of our knowledge related to resilience,  adaptation, and mitigation. As professionals and designers, rising in our fields, with vibrant personal lives, our relative personal cups are full, so to speak.

Our cup is full. So how do we add in the aspects of our current climate emergency, that we MUST consider, without the cup overflowing? There is so much to manage.

Instead of a cup into which we add more and cause overflow and panic, I think of my cup as full of hot water intended for tea. I add in a tea bag or loose tea, and the flavors permeate the water, becoming integral and inseparable to the drink. 

Have you ever had a cup of tea in which the flavor remained “on top of” or otherwise separate from the water? I don’t think so. Also, the cup that is infused with the tea does not overflow. Instead it becomes richer, deeply colored, fragrant, and one with the flavors of the tea. 

This is what we must do with sustainability, resilience, and mitigation…we must make these integral: core principles to inform all decisions. They need to become second nature for every designer, every facility manager and owner, every product manufacturer.

In this way we can reap the essential benefits and not overwhelm our capacity. And just as the essential benefits of the tea, maybe a ginseng or green tea, or a tea that soothes your throat, are imbibed with every sip, each moment of engagement with that cup is engaged in the informative and healthy goals of resilience and mitigation. 

I think I’ll have a spot of tea….and maybe a scone, thanks.

Jodi

1 Like this post (no login required)