Ted Trainer and the Simpler Way

Radical Vision or Impractical Utopia?

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The 90% Prescription

Resource Reality

Ted Trainer's "Simpler Way" presents a startling diagnosis: affluent societies must slash resource consumption by 90% to avoid ecological collapse and enable global equity 1 6 .

Footprint Analysis

Extending Western lifestyles to 9 billion people would require 9 Earths—a trajectory worsened by capitalism's growth addiction 8 .

Trainer dismisses "tech-fix" decoupling hopes, citing studies showing GDP growth remains tightly coupled to resource use 3 6 . His conclusion? Only decentralized, self-sufficient economies can deliver dignity within planetary limits.

The Egg Experiment: A Microcosm of Localism

Trainer's research spotlights a humble object—the egg—to quantify the savings from community-scale production.

Methodology: Comparing Systems

Industrial Pathway
  • Global supply chains (feed production, transport, packaging)
  • Energy for automated henhouses, refrigeration, retail
  • Waste management (manure as pollutant)
Community Pathway
  • Local feed (food scraps, free-ranging)
  • Manual labor for coop maintenance
  • Integrated waste cycling (manure → compost)

Results and Analysis

Input Industrial System Community System Reduction Factor
Energy (MJ/dozen) 120–150 0.6–1.2 100–200x
Dollar Cost $4.50 $0.05–$0.10 45–90x
CO₂ Emissions 2.7 kg 0.02 kg 135x

The data reveals hyper-efficiency in community systems:

  • Circularity: Manure fertilizes gardens; food waste feeds chickens.
  • Labor substitution: Eliminates energy-intensive automation 6 .
  • Collateral benefits: Builds community skills and reduces isolation.

Trainer argues this model scales to housing, clothing, and food—cutting consumption while enhancing wellbeing 4 .

The Scientist's Toolkit: Testing Simpler Way Principles

Suburban Retrofitting Models

Simulate land-use changes (e.g., road-to-farm conversions)

8–15% of suburban land can provide all vegetables 4

Ecovillage Metabolic Audits

Track resource flows (energy, water, waste)

Settlements like Dancing Rabbit use 6% of avg. US energy 6

Labor-time Banking Software

Quantify non-monetary community work

Reveals 70%+ "livelihood" labor replaces paid employment

Frugality Wellbeing Surveys

Measure life satisfaction vs. consumption

Low-consumption communities report 20–30% higher happiness scores

Dancing Rabbit: Living the 90% Reduction

Ecovillage

The Missouri ecovillage Dancing Rabbit serves as Trainer's flagship case study. Rigorous audits show:

  • Energy: 18% of U.S. average per capita, with surplus renewables exported 6 .
  • Transport: 90% car-use reduction via bikes and shared vehicles.
  • Waste: 82% less landfill contribution through composting and reuse 6 .
Metric Dancing Rabbit U.S. Average Reduction
Electricity Use (kWh/day) 0.65 7.6 91%
Liquid Fuel Use 6% 100% 94%
Solid Waste Generated 18% 100% 82%
Critiques
  • Scalability: Can 29-million-person cities like New Delhi adopt this? Trainer's response: "Future systems must center small towns, not megacities" 2 .
  • Cultural leap: Dancing Rabbit's 70 residents self-select for simplicity—voluntary peasantry isn't a global sell 2 7 .

The Urban Scaling Paradox

Trainer's suburban retrofit study claims 90% resource cuts are feasible 4 6 . But real-world barriers loom:

Infrastructure Lock-in

Digging up roads for farms clashes with car-centric planning.

Skill Gaps

70% of Australians can't grow food; transitioning requires massive reskilling 2 .

Equity Tensions

Low-income urbanites lack land access for self-sufficiency.

Barrier Trainer's Solution Critique
Land scarcity Convert roads/lawns to edible landscapes Ignores property rights and density constraints
Economic dependency Local currencies + cooperatives Vulnerable to global market shocks
Governance Direct democracy via town assemblies Scalability beyond 1,000 people unproven

The Degrowth Dilemma: A Movement Adrift?

Trainer critiques mainstream degrowth as a "rag-bag of utopian dreams" 7 . His charges:

Reformist Illusions

Policies like green tech or fair trade ignore the 90% reduction non-negotiable 3 .

State-centric Myopia

Governments can't impose simplicity; it must emerge from communities 8 .

Cultural Blindness

Materialism is entrenched; collapse may be needed to spark change 7 .

"Building earth houses is easy and good fun," he claims—a tough sell in Luton's rain. 2

Conclusion: Necessary but Not Sufficient?

Trainer's genius lies in connecting biophysical limits to social design: we must embrace radical simplicity. His egg study and Dancing Rabbit data prove alternatives exist.

Yet conflating viability with feasibility risks irrelevance. The Simpler Way works best not as a global blueprint, but as transitional sanctuaries—proof that dignity survives consumerism's end.

"You cannot design a sustainable society without Trainer's logic... but you might starve waiting for his revolution."

In an unraveling world, these experiments—however imperfect—may light our only viable path.

References