Low Impact Life

Dave Cantebury and Cody Lundin

There is a survival show I watch from time to time that pits two survivalists, with acutely differering approaches to the subject, against various forces of natue.  One of these guys is Cody Lundin, a self-described "minimalist" who has spent the last 20 years of his life barefoot.  The other is Dave Cantebury, an ex-military guy who always seems to be good at "rustling up some meat" while the two are battling against the elements.  Cody is more of a gatherer than a hunter, but I have noticed that he never refuses one of Dave's kills.  Their survivalist approaches differ almost diametrically in that Cody is bent on making the smallest impact possible, whereas Dave really doesn't care about all that, as long as he survives the ordeal he is up against.  Dave's theory of eat or be eaten is similar to the general everyday approach to life of "upwardly mobile" people in developed countries of the world.  I will call it the "island unto myself" theory that all that really matters is whether or not I get mine.  A "survival of the fittest" mentality, if you will.  And "mine" is whatever I can kill driven by my hunger to eat, to survive.  Cody on the other hand usually stays back at the camp and gathers the bare minimum the two need to get through the night.  Personally, I like Cody's approach.  That is, not to fight against nature, but to "go with its flow."  Society has now reached the point where we have actually become a formidable foe against nature.  Wasn't that way 100 years ago, but technological and population advances have made it so today.  In short, we are making our impact....we are getting what we claim to be ours....and then some!  But nature is beginning to fight back.  Our planet is beginning to reveal the consequences of our increasing impact.  Maybe it is time we begin to adopt more of a Cody Lundin attitude about life.  That walking lightly upon this hallowed ground we call home is a better way.  Maybe Cody's low impact style is the best method to insure our future survival.