Reaching and Reveling in a Ripe Old Age

What’s your ikigai? In Okinawa, Japan, ikigai is that which gets you out of bed in the morning, that which makes life worth living. Being able to articulate your ikigai is associated with adding years—maybe even a decade—to your lifespan according to a team of academics and Dan Buettner, an adventurer, author and TED-talker. This National Geographic writer traveled the world to document communities where people tend to live longer, healthier lives than most everyone else. From Okinawa, Japan, to Ikaria, Greece (see The Island Where People forget to Die), Buettner, in collaboration with demographers and gerontologists highlight nine lifestyle characteristics of people who live a really long time.  

Genetics plays a surprisingly small role in longevity; genes dictate ~25% of how long we live. Rather, a web of lifestyle characteristics woven together with cultural threads explains much of why people in certain communities live longer than others.

What else did I glean from their insights?  Not only can I happily relish a glass or two of wine (or sake) every night, but I should embrace napping when I need it.

The vigorous centenarians interviewed in this research don’t run or pump iron or do exercise as most urban folk think of exercise. Rather, they live in places that nudge them to move. In many of their communities, people have little choice but to walk up and down hills to visit friends and do the shopping. Most tend large gardens full of fruits, vegetables and herbs that sustain their health. Dieting, as promoted by the diet industry, does not work in the long term. Instead, longevity studies reinforce Michael Pollan’s simple food guideline: “eat food, mostly plants, not too much.”

Stamatis Moraitis tends his crops.

According to official records, he’s 97

but Moraitis thinks he’s 102 years old. 

Photo by Andrea Frazzetta, New York Times

Communities where people tend to live 90 to 100+ years have routines or rituals that shed stress including meditation, prayer, napping or happy hour. Most belong to a faith-based community. Critically, these folks live in social circles that support and reinforce their lifestyles. Multiple generations tend to live in one house or close to each other. With their bright eyes and tanned skin, I want to look like these 90+ year olds when I’m that age (perhaps without the plaid shorts, pictured left). 

As I mentioned, consciously recognizing and giving voice to your ikigai is strongly associated with living to a century-long age. What’s my ikigai? As a graduate student in a sustainability program, my ikigai is figuring out how to enhance human well-being while also supporting the rest of life on this planet (marine renewable energy is my current focus). In my personal and professional life, I want to be part of creating places where people have ample life-enhancing food, love, purpose and a sense of humor (as evidenced in this priceless anecdote about Moraitis, pictured above, who outlived his American doctors after moving back to his Greek island from the US where he got sick).

One of the most encouraging findings of this research is the overlap of living sustainably, living well and living for a long time.  These food-secure communities are in developed countries with functioning public health and sanitation systems. They have a basic but adequate standard of living. When I read about these vigorous centenarians, I was struck by what I see as the relatively low environmental impact of their lifestyles. Buettner’s case studies give us insight on potential ways to refocus and redefine quality of life, and re-create our lives and communities accordingly in ways that are better for our minds, hearts and the planet:

• We can improve our transit systems. Many of the elders interviewed have primarily walked or cycled to get around rather than fully relying on motorized vehicles. We need to make the walking or cycling options easier and more convenient. 

• We can design better food systems. The elders in these studies consume mostly locally-grown food and grow much of it themselves. I’m getting more involved in community gardening and farmer’s markets with my friends, especially since I think it’s associated with living longer!

• We can consume less. Large houses, expensive health care products and procedures, non-essentials like fancy gadgets and other forms of conspicuous consumption are largely absent from their way of life. Enjoying modest, secure, and stable lives does not require high levels of consumption.

• We can help others and ourselves experience a greater sense of belonging. These 90+ year olds prioritize time with family and friends, who live near them and take care of them when they need it. I have no doubt that prioritizing relationships over accumulating material things is better for my happiness and the planet. Time to plan more neighborhood potlucks. 

Although I lack quantitative data to support this speculation, I bet these elders have very small carbon footprints over the course of their lives. I speculate their carbon footprints are likely considerably smaller than the average North American’s, so, despite living longer, the average environmental impact of their lives is likely less than the shorter-lived average impact of a North American’s.  If we want to stabilize our climate and also help more people live longer, satisfied, healthy lives, we have a lot to learn from their communities and lifestyles.

Sarah Klain, a PhD Student at University of British Columbia, hopes that her fondness for pragmatic idealism, friends, family, cycling, gardening and red wine will help her live to at least 90 years old. 

The Worth of Water

Protecting our Watersheds - a message from Mexico

Bowen Island is blessed by water, but do we value it accordingly?
Photo credit: Robyn Hooper

By Robyn Hooper 

MF and MSc Candidate (UBC and SLU)

What would we do without water? Clean drinking water, specifically, is something we take for granted on Bowen Island and British Columbia. Our wild environment provides the important service of cleaning and filtering our water. The lower mainland boasts of having world-class drinking water quality, thanks to the “ecosystem services” provided by our natural environment, which purifies our water for safe human consumption. All we need to do is “turn on the tap” so to speak. In Saltillo, capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila, people voluntarily put money towards the protection of Sierra mountain area where their water comes from. Would such a program maintain our local water supplies into the future and protect against threats to water quality?

Payment for Watershed Services Program in Saltillo, Mexico

The “Payment for Watershed Services” program in Saltillo started for the city residents to pay - voluntarily - for the Sierra catchment area to be protected. Although the catchment area is technically a reserve, increasing agricultural and human developments threaten the watershed. So, a group of NGOs started the program in 2003 as a scheme to encourage “local guardians of the watershed”. The first challenge of the program was educating locals about where their water resources come from, which initiated a campaign entitled “Por una razón de peso (a reason of one peso)”. Values from the watershed not only include water resources, but recreation and educational services as well. The program has been successful in gaining contributions from 14% of the population, but in small amounts, such as around ten to twenty five cents annually on their water bill. However, the small donations add up - about $6,000 USD was donated in 2008 alone. These donations are managed by a respected citizen support group with expertise from organizations such as the WWF. Project proposals by land-owners are submitted and analyzed by a panel of experts. Also, projects are not only about complete protection of the forest, but include conservation and restoration activities. 

Where our water comes from - the 7 Bowen Island municipality
water systems. Source: Bowen Island Municipality website.

There are many interesting elements to the program in Saltillo, Mexico that contribute to its success. Primarily, the voluntary payment scheme means that people are choosing on their own to protect the natural environment that provides them with services. In addition, the donations are kept by the local communities for projects as opposed to management by larger organizations or companies. However, the expert and global NGO involvement ensures that the projects are useful and worthwhile activities.

Payment for Ecosystem Services on Bowen Island?

Bowen Island residents currently do not have a program to pay for the services our ecosystem provides, such as water resources. However, this is because we are lucky to have clean water resources and abundant forest Crown land. In the long-term with growing population how can we develop programs to ensure water quality? While our context differs considerably from Saltillo, Mexico, payments for ecosystem services programs are springing up in more- and less-developed countries all over the world. Now that we have put off the idea of a National Park on Bowen (a conservation scheme that might have added more security to our water resources), it is important we consider how our land is managed to ensure protection of our water resources. Voluntary payments and protection schemes would be a concept to consider in the long-term. The message from Mexico is this: we are blessed with our clean water, so let’s ensure the protection of the land that provides that service.

Robyn Hooper is a graduate student at the University of British Columbia and candidate for a Dual Masters program (Masters of Science and Masters of Forestry). She has a background in conservation science and international issues. Robyn grew up on Bowen Island and continues to visit her family there.