Deep Thoughts

Moving somewhere new and far away is kinda like a cross between ripping off a bandaid and cliff-jumping. The anticipation is often worse than the actual experience. Parts of the process are just not going to be fun but once you get it over with you're fine. Sure it stings and it might be a little raw and pale there for a few days, but you'll recover. Other parts are exciting and scary both at once and the only thing that's guaranteed is a sudden and dramatic change of scenery. You half wonder the whole time what you were thinking but you know that if you don't go for it you'll regret it. And really, what are the chances of anything happening that would be worse than having to explain to everyone why you chickened out--not least of all yourself? Run, jump, take a deep breath, and shut your eyes . . .

Spinning Gold into Straw

Unless alchemy has improved since last I read about it, no one has yet figured out how to turn digital currency into food and water. Just sayin' . . .

Part of the Solution

Truly sustainable development will require more drastic measures but the more we do now the more time we have to do anything. Here's how to get started:

CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES

10 WAYS YOU CAN REDUCE your personal contribution to GLOBAL WARMING and improve your Earth stewardship ethics in general:

1. Conserve fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions by keeping your car well-maintained, buying more fuel-efficient vehicles, carpooling, taking public transportation, and (better yet!) biking or walking. Drive less! Reducing weekly mileage is as important as increasing miles per gallon.

2. Plant trees and replace high-maintenance (Kentucky Blue Grass) monoculture lawns with native grasses and flowers. This will reduce pollution, absorb CO2, and conserve water.

3. Learn more about where your food comes from and buy local (farmers’ markets and CSA’s-Community Supported Agriculture) as often as possible. Most American meals travel 1,500-2,000 miles to the table—that’s a lot of petroleum spent and CO2 released in transit. Eat less meat, as the resource and energy cost of meat production is much higher than plant sources for the same number of calories. Seasonal fresh produce and minimally processed grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds are best for both conservation and nutrition. Game is good if the species is well populated in the region. Look for ‘free range’ or ‘grass fed’ on meat, dairy, and eggs. Fish? It’s complicated. For more info, read Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck.

4. Grow your own food and compost your kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, etc. There’s nothing like day-fresh produce, and your garbage output (and therefore disposal transportation and landfill impact) will be significantly less.

5. Get a home energy audit to improve the efficiency of your insulation and heating systems. Set your heating thermostat lower in the winter (62-65) and your A/C higher in the summer (80-82). Your body will adjust to the seasonal temperatures if given the chance and you might even be better able to enjoy the out-of-doors once you are acclimated.

6. Turn off lights and other appliances when not in use, including setting your computer to automatic low-power standby after 15-30 min. Leave occasional-use appliances unplugged, as most draw a current even when not turned on. Cut back on plugs and batteries altogether.

7. Clean with warm water and plant-based detergents or other non-toxic substances (vinegar or baking soda will clean just about anything). Plant-based dish, laundry, toilet, and all-purpose cleaners can be found at natural food stores. Most commercial cleaners are toxic and usually made out of petroleum. In addition to wasting energy, these can be dangerous to people exposed to them (vapor inhalation or absorption through the skin contribute to cancer, birth defects, endocrine system disruption (thyroid, etc.) and autoimmune disorders) and persist in the water supply after they have washed down the drain. Use, rinse, and re-use rags made from old T-shirts or towels instead of cleaning with paper towels and other disposable products.

8. Reduce the quantity of things you buy – manufacturing, transportation, and packaging all contribute immensely to carbon emissions and landfill expansion. Borrow, trade, share, salvage, or buy used items whenever possible. Buy in bulk rather than relying on (convenient but inefficient) individually packaged items. Invest in a refillable water bottle, travel mug, and a few canvas or nylon shopping bags to avoid wasting thousands of one-use containers annually.

9. Reuse materials both for their intended use and in creative ways. Buying well-made durable goods rather than disposable ones greatly reduces waste and often saves you money in the long run. Donate things you don’t use anymore to someone who will.

10. Recycle. This spares the earth the greenhouse emissions and habitat destruction caused by extraction and refinement of raw materials. Recycling saves energy, helps prevent land and resources from being permanently lost to landfills, and cuts down on health problems and community displacement caused by logging, mining, drilling, and garbage disposal.

The Usual Suspects

Who killed the economy?

Pointing fingers seems to be the new national pastime and I’m appointing myself referee of the blame game for a minute. I’m not an economist, I’m an ecologist, but since most people don’t pay attention to ecologists and they do pay at least some attention (and often a lot of money) to economists, lawyers, and doctors, I’ll pretend just for fun.

No doubt many of the recently alleged instances of mismanagement did contribute to the economy’s downfall. However, I would like to suggest that everyone is looking in the wrong place, or, more precisely, on the wrong scale, for the culprit. The problem is a great deal bigger and older than any of our current so-called leaders, and the absurdities and atrocities committed in the past decade have been more or less in keeping with the fundamental logic of the economy.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I humbly suggest a different solution to our case. The prosecutors have not given adequate consideration to the possibility of suicide as cause of death. I am prepared to offer evidence.

The opposite of ‘sustainable’ is ‘unsustainable.’ ‘Unsustainable’ means ‘can’t keep going.’ Think back to 11th grade American history. What happens when widespread buying on credit and speculation on real estate and the stock market combine with natural disasters, drought, and crop failure? Has anyone read the headlines lately? What is to prevent it from happening again?

Only through deceitful externalization of (real) human and ecological costs and elaborate manipulation of (imaginary) money has the economy survived this long. October of ’29 was not a fluke, it was a warning. We ain’t seen nuthin yet.

The economy is killing itself.

Our patient is in critical condition. Despite (or rather due to) recent periods of robust activity, the deferred maintenance on its infrastructure is reaching unmanageable levels and damage to vital organs may be irreversible. The military-industrial respirator that has kept the system chugging for so long now seems to be on the fritz and refills for the petroleum IV keep getting harder to come by. I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, folks, but the prognosis is touch-and-go. We’ll do our best to maintain homeostasis by every means at our disposal. Meanwhile, perhaps you’d want to go and call the family?

Sustainable?

People keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

Poetry: Diamonds and Gold

Here's to freedom--EVERYWHERE.

* * *

by Alice Walker

What can I give you for a day when the inequality of the world strikes you as so blatant that you are at a loss for words? When you weep instead of speak? . . . I can give you this poem:

THE DIAMONDS ON LIZ’s BOSOM

The diamonds on Liz’s bosom
are not as bright
as his eyes
the morning they took him
to work in the mines.
The rubies in Nancy’s
jewel box (Oh, how Ronald loves red!)
not as vivid
as the despair
in his children’s
frowns.
Oh, those Africans!

Everywhere you look
they’re bleeding
and crying
Crying and bleeding
on some of the whitest necks
in your town.


WE ALONE

We alone can devalue gold
by not caring
if it falls or rises
in the marketplace.
Wherever there is gold
there is a chain, you know,
and if your chain
is gold
so much the worse
for you.
Feathers, shells,
and sea-shaped stones
are all as rare.

This could be our revolution:
To love what is plentiful
as much as
what is scarce.

Just Lagom

('Lagom' is a Swedish concept that has no adequate direct translation in English. It has connotations of 'just right,' 'enough,' 'average,' 'in moderation,' 'so-so,' and maybe even 'lukewarm.')

How much justice is enough?

For fear of overdoing it, I have decided to stop trying to have a passion for justice and just take a polite interest in justice instead.

First of all, the highest virtue to which a good Christian girl can attain is 'niceness.' (Besides of course chastity, which in the case of females is synonymous with 'virtue'.) Justice and niceness are not always compatible, and I have been criticized on more than one occasion for my failure at the latter when attempting to pursue the former. (One could argue that having a passion for justice is an aid to chastity--or at least celibacy--in Christian circles. As is, I am thoroughly unmarriageable and probably a heretic.)

Second, everybody knows that only men really understand anything serious, important, or complicated about the world like money or power or politics or God or evil. For centuries, men have been running the world just fine with very little assistance from women (at least when it comes to calling the shots and writing the story afterward) and if anything really needs to be thought, said, or done the men will see to it like they always have. I would just be in the way. It's cute that I like vegetables and care about the malnourished children, but the sooner I grow up and realize that the problems are too big and you can't really change anything (especially not if you are a girl) the more comfortable everyone will be. (Aside: Unlike when pursuing justice, failure at niceness when attempting to pursue comfortableness is perfectly acceptable.)

The end.