Beau Miles, Sustainability & Consumerism

In the modern age, we live a life surrounded by consumerism. In this video, we'll take a look into the life of Beau Miles, and how his videos are able to portray adventuring in a stripped back way such as planting trees and working locally, as well as heavily planned exotic expeditions to afar locations via plane, giving a different contrast and how the meaning of the video can be found in either journey, and how this relates to sustainability.

We'd also like to say a massive thanks to Beau for allowing us to use clips from his videos.

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Credits:

Footage from Beau Miles and Adobe Stock

References

[3] - Berners-Lee, M. (2019). There is no planet B: A handbook for the make or break years. Cambridge University Press.

[4] - Helm, S., Serido, J., Ahn, S. Y., Ligon, V., & Shim, S. (2019). Materialist values, financial and pro-environmental behaviors, and well-being. Young Consumers.

Extra sources from Beau himself:

[B1] - Miles, B. and Wattchow, B., 2015. The mirror of the sea: Narrative identity, sea kayak adventuring and implications for outdoor adventure education. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 18(1), pp.16-26.

[B2] - MILES, B.L., 2017. The Secret Life of the Sea Kayaker: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Sea Kayak Expeditioning (Doctoral dissertation, Monash University).

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
00:31 - Beau Miles
02:00 - Fast Fashion & Consumerism
03:37 - Sustainability
05:03 - Could It Even Be Better For Your Wellbeing?
06:00 - Political Changed To Be Aware Of
06:38 - Thanks & Extra Info
07:07 - The Swanson Method

#BeauMiles #OurEden #Sustainability

[OurEden]

Video Transcript w/ References:

We live in a world where we are taught to seek happiness from getting a new job, buying the latest iPhone or looking forward to that next holiday abroad. We tend to find happiness in zooming out from our current state of being, and looking forward to some future possession or experience. In this video we’ll discuss the YouTuber Beau Miles, and how he zooms into the world around him, and explores the notion of finding enjoyment and meaning in the simple things, and how this relates to sustainability.

You might recognise Beau Miles as one of the more wholesome content creators on YouTube. His videos span from grand challenges, such as paddling across the Bass strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania, to smaller scale ventures such as eating his bodyweight in beans, and drinking wine he found on the side of the road. The remarkable thing about these videos is that no matter the grandness of the task, Beau strives to find meaning in the journey. Take this video, where Beau set out to only eat beans, until he ate his own bodyweight, and then ran an ultra marathon. In an interview during his bean diet, Beau discussed how he is trying to find a narrative in something, that is, on the face of it, as mundane as eating beans.

Often on this channel, we try to discuss the inherently interesting topics of climate change, such as renewable technologies or high profile politics; but one of the most important impacts you can make as an individual is in just being resourceful, using less, and talking about climate change with others. It’s inherently difficult to captivate an audience on these simple topics related to sustainability, yet, Beau’s videos are scattered with these kinds of ideas, such as in his latest video, where he makes a cabin, from scrap and excess wood.

This is rare on YouTube and media in general, where we are constantly shown videos promoting fast fashion and consumerism, pushing us to perceive that the items we currently own are obsolete and that we should get the latest phone, car, or fashion accessory [1], Take the latest iPhone advert for example, it literally shows a guy who doesn’t even notice he’s drowning because the screen is so good. This isn’t to say you should necessarily feel guilty when you buy new things, but you should be aware of the negative consequences of hyperconsumption. It’s much more cost effective for companies to either force their products to become obsolete quicker, or to convince you that your old products need replacing, than it is for them to just make products that last. So, it’s no surprise that the largest companies in the world are responsible for the vast majority of carbon emissions [2], and if we continue to overspend, and overconsume, we are being manipulated by these large companies to play our part in this damage. However, these companies can only continue to operate if a large number of people use their products or services. It’s a mindset that has driven a lot of the developed world to consume too much power, use too many materials and waste too much food [3].

Understanding this is a tough pill to swallow. In addition to constantly being convinced to overconsume, a lot of us have grown up with the standard ambitions of ‘Get a high paying job, get a flashy car, and get a big house’. The pursuit of happiness has been replaced by these materialistic life goals and status symbols. This addiction to buying new things and getting more social media likes has made us disconnected with the world and our place in it. Zooming in to a more day to day level, the dopamine hit of buying things is hardwired into most of our brains, so what can we do about it?
The simple answer is just to buy and use less. This is harder than it sounds, because the modern consumerism lifestyle is an addiction, and breaking an addiction is hard! So it’s important that we know what we would be gaining from making this lifestyle change. Most importantly, you would not be funding these large, and often, manipulative companies, thus reducing their damage to the environment through excessive emissions.

Instead of spending your hard earned cash on replacing your old stuff with brand new products that you probably don’t need, why not save your money for pursuing the things that matter most to you and learn to make your possessions last - like learning to sew your broken jeans, or building your own hammer? If we were a bigger channel, this is where you’d probably expect to see a skillshare advert, but that won’t stop us from recommending the approach of learning new skills. Beau's videos are a great inspiration for this; showing the joys of taking time and building something from scratch, often from excess parts, such as when made a paddle from scrap wood he found on the short journey between his workplace and train station.

As well as finding inspiration from Beau here on YouTube, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia has an interesting book discussing running a business from a sustainable point of view, with a focus on designing clothes to last and be repaired. If we as a collective society, can take on a transition to this kind of lifestyle from excessively spending to carefully repairing, it will make a huge impact on the drastic amount of waste we produce, and the drastic amount of greenhouse gases we emit. But, as well as the environmental implications, it turns out it would also be better for your own wellbeing.

This 2019 scientific article directly compared the impacts of buying less to buying ‘green’ and concluded that buying less is better for the environment and your wellbeing, while buying green was found to have no effect on wellbeing, even when compared to normal consumer habits [4]. This improvement in wellbeing is largely attributed to having a less cluttered headspace, allowing the individual to spend more of their thoughts on enjoying the present moment, rather than zooming out and focusing on some possession.

Perhaps this is a small part of the reason Beau is able to present simple topics in such an interesting way, the simplicity and lack of clutter in his videos allow for space to explore much more interesting and existential ideas. Taking inspiration from content such as Beau’s, and changing your mentality from finding meaning in material possessions to finding meaning in becoming more environmentally sustainable may be one of the most significant and rewarding personal changes you can make.


As well as making personal changes, you can also look out for upcoming political changes. The United States., EU, Australia and many others are campaigning for ‘right to repair’ laws to be introduced for electronic devices. This outlines plans to give consumers the ability to choose how to repair their own electronics, rather than being forced to use expensive manufacturer repair shops. So make sure you become aware of these movements and push your local governments to support them, as well as prioritising political parties that support these laws. We’ll leave some links in the description if you’re interested in finding out more about “right to repair” laws.

Also, the idea of ‘zooming out’ and ‘zooming in’ comes from a great video by ‘Ramble House’, we’ll leave a link to his video in the description and add a clickable card in the top right of this video. So be sure to check it out! [5]

Lastly, we'd like to remind you about our new Spanish channel, NuestroEden. If you'd prefer to watch our videos in Spanish or know anyone who would, we’d love for you to check it out and subscribe.

And, as always,

Look after yourselves, each other and most importantly, the planet around you.

Thanks again,
OurEden

[joelandrews]

Glad to see you guys are as big a Beau fan as I am. There aren't many ultra lecturers/micro adventurers out there! The man's a legend.

[RedcoatGaming]

Brilliant video, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the myth, the man, the legend, Beau Miles! I love his videos, and his attitude on sustainability, and just being content with what you've got around you. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the consumerism mentality. Our world is completely dominated by materialism and money, but a happy (and more sustainable) life is completely possible without.

[chloet]

Beau Miles and Laura Kampf are two of my biggest inspirations as a creator but also just as a person trying to live sustainably and enjoy the journey. I really enjoyed this video and your thoughts on the addictive aspects of consumerism!

[wiadv]

I bought Beau's book and I was so annoyed with the book blurb on the back comparing him to Casey Neistat. It makes no sense at all to compare Beau with one of the largest consumers on YouTube.

[likestomeasurestuff]

Also, simply buying less avoids falling for greenwashing

[CiterellicSunset]

Your content reminds me of OCC (Our Changing Climate) which is awesome. I also love Beau Miles and find his content so inspiring. You really helped me not only take more from his content but understanding more why I like there content. I hope others find his channel. Great video! SUBBED!