The Green One

A carnival of Green: Permaculture

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:45:44 -0400

I have decided that it may be fun to write a somewhat regular carnival of green issues in blogging at the moment. This first edition will focus on recent blog posts on the subject of permaculture. But next time - who knows.

first up we have permakent.com with a permaculture concept video. It's a good way to start off today's topic and set the tone for the remaining posts.

The next item I found was kyrasbw talking about Edges and Social Permaculture. For those that don't know the meeting point between two things is quite important in the concept of permaculture. Interestingly on a social level this news item looks at a similar idea of exploring the space we use. Meanwhile transitionculture.org takes a look at the early days of Transition in Flanders.

Caffeevino of Caffe e Vino blog gives thoughts on permaculture on the personal scale and how this might intersect with one's faith. Also looking at the personal scale is Deborah Fries who talks about The failure of backyard permaculture and the joy of growing vegetables in an older first ring suburb while rose works talks about using permaculture in garden design.

Now for the last few few odd bits.

Permaculture & Regenerative Design News talks about "Plan C" (some US based thing I think).

A little while ago Dismantle Civilisation talked about "sustainability in a nutshell".

What can you tell us about Financial Permaculture?

A small victory

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400

The UK's most famouse low impact building "that roundhouse" has finally achieved planning consent! This is probably not news to anyone else but me (call me Mr Slow). Read More.

The first little piggy

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 06:14:17 -0400

Over 700,000 just like me are priced out of traditional home ownership but for just £300 or less a home could be built from straw and a few other readily available materials.

It's not that hard. It is well documented. It is cost effective.

Honestly, what is the problem (other than narrow minded building and land rules)? Oh right that is the problem.

Sigh.

I dream all the time

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 19:05:33 -0400

When it comes to calling somewhere home were it just me these days I would have moved heaven and earth to get me licensed and owning a bus I could make into a home. Then I would live where I damn well chose.

I have three children and a wife and this is simply never going to happen. not at all. Forget it.

So aside from dreaming about that I am slowly planning towards a more refined and contributory (to society) lifestyle that is nevertheless alternative. It would be fair to say that every day, if only for a few moments I pine for a life close to trees and earth and nature. Yet I am not "a hippie" but a tech-head - that is an IT guy with every reason to dream about highly air conditioned mansions with lots of cool (if environmentally unsound) equipment.

I do find that all very tempting but some fundamental part of me cries out to live closer to the land. I don't mean that I fancy it a bit I mean that I literally feel like crying because I desire this life so much. Here I am, though, in a two bedroom council flat with myself a wife and three children to worry about (four if some things changed). So you can see that with the best will in the world I am currently dreaming.

Add in a credit crunch and the possibility sort of glimmers into the future.

It's enough to keep me going.

That hope and web pages like this one are all there really is for me to hold on to aside from the plan.

And plan I do. Endlessly. I refuse to accept a problem that I cannot overcome.

Financial Permaculture?

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 17:00:38 -0400

I came accross the concept of Financial Permaculture recently - what can you tell me?I've done my homework and I think I have traced the source of the idea to a person called Catherine Austin Fitts.

Catherine Austin Fitts writes: I am often told that financial tools are destructive and we should withdraw from them entirely. However, it is important to understand that millions of people have their life savings invested in that system. By choosing to not create sound, reliable alternatives, we ensure that their capital will stay invested in the old paradigm, financing destructive activities. Lets find a way to welcome and protect their capital. Think of the potential allies we could make.

Indeed this is linked to quite extendively. But beyond the concept I still know very little.

Local Drinking Water

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 12:16:52 -0400

One story that is never likely to show up on the water section of the Green Moral Eco Portal is that of Thanet's Water Supply. Possibly because it is "too local" to be noticed. Thanet is in Kent, which is just south of London in the UK (EU).

The big fear, aside from the concreting over of green spaces is that the entire island might end up with contaminated water. The reason for this fear is that large industrial complex (known locally as the China Gateway) is proposed to be placed right over the main aquifer for the island.

Local bloggers are worried that the donations made by the company building the project to local political parties may have clouded their judgement.

The issue is due to be heard before the full council shortly.

Effective Positive Personal Environmental Impact

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:35:20 -0400

When we talk of effective positive personal environmental impact we are talking about the change and improvement to state of our environment that we are able to make. In this article I look at how we can have an effective positive personal impact on the environment through the choices we make. Is recycling lemonade bottles enough or is there more we can do? Can we indeed ever do enough?

It is not easy to have a truly effective positive personal environmental impact. We could easily allow ourselves to think that by recycling the newspaper, using energy saving light bulbs and taking a shower rather than a bath we can save the planet. This is simply not true and as an assumption it could prove as dangerous as any other of the threats the environment faces.

Let us assume that you reuse, repair and recycle amazingly what difference have you actually made to your environment if any? As a green minded individual this question gives me a lot of pause for thought. So I feel the need to ask - how can I make a real difference?

Even if every person on the planet recycled 100% of waste, gave up cars (using bikes instead) and grew their own food the total result would, at best, be negligible. The problem is that although individuals do consume and waste an impressive amount of resources on a daily basis this is nothing compared to the way we do so as a group. It is the industrial process that creates the biggest negative impact.

The total weakly household waste for your street will fit on the back of one lorry whereas the same lorry would not be able to carry one day's waste from the average industrialised production process. Having worked in a range of factories I know from first hand experience that this is not due to wastefulness - that is the factories do not throw things away that can otherwise be used. The shear scale of production even on a highly efficient production line produces a large amount of discardable material, rejected product and off cuts too small to use.

Take for example a chicken in a supermarket. It's wrapped in plastic, sat in a plastic tray with a small absorbent lining and it has a paper label. The process for making the nice rounded edges of that label trims off some paper and printing onto it required coloured inks, paper and the adhesive. These things were produced in bulk and although efficient produced some wastage. The plastic production, the production of the tray, the glue, the absorbent lining and even the strong was a process that took materials and made as much of them as possible into product.

I have worked in a factory that makes those trays and can assure you that a lot of the time the trays are processed lined and stacked without any issues but there will be breakages in house, on route and at the final packing location and these will be discarded. Also the glue, the glue containers, the machine parts, the cleaning agents and so forth all require packages themselves and these are discarded as part of the process. Even with the bulky "industrial sized" packages of products used there is going to be a large quantity of used up packages.

Every step of the way there is packaging that products are placed into that are then discarded as those products are made into other products. It can not be helped - this is simply the way the system works.

Unfortunately for us this is not a sustainable way of doing things.

To have an effective positive personal environmental impact we need to use our personal behaviour to impact not just on our immediate environment but on the industries in which we come into contact. While this is easy to say this is far harder to actually do. It requires that we address some of the most fundamental aspects of who we are and what we do.

We in the west are primarily defined in marketing terms as consumers. Our role is to endlessly consume things and the more we consume the hungrier we become to continue to consume. It can equally be thought of as an addiction or as a new religion.

To change our personal and highly negative environmental impact as consumers we need to first throw off the mantel of consumer. Again this is a hard thing to do. Cultures are self reinforcing and our culture defines a person by the clothes they wear, the car they drive and the label on their items. Generic goods (such as, say, MP3 players) while at a fraction of the price of the otherwise identical branded one sell less well year on year.

Addressing Consumerism in the Self

If a single leading cause of environmental damage were to be identified I have no doubt that it would be the driving force of the rate at which we currently consume "stuff". This consumerism while good for the economic sector could, unchecked, prove devastating for the planet itself. An effective positive personal environmental impact must address the nature of consumerism within ourselves.

To opt to change from the swimming with the flow to moving in your own direction has costs that go beyond the common costs of money and embrace the cost of status and even friends. Yet it is a change that must be made for the good of all if we are to have a future at all.

There are two distinct ways that the culture that drives our consumer attitude can be addressed and both require determination and understanding.

Effective Change - Method One: Consumerism as an addiction.

Taking what we know about addictions and applying the process to a consumer-centric lifestyle we can learn to overcome it as if it were any other drug. To understand the drug we must see that we derive our Ego Satisfaction and Personal Fulfillment from consuming. In this way it creates an emotional dependence that is far stronger and much more binding than any class A substance on the market today.

I would suggest that you follow a simple "7 step program" such as used by groups like Alcoholics Anonymous

1. Admit that you have a problem
2. Acknowledge that you have surrendered control of your life to consumption
3. Recognise that it has damaged the way we relate to others and the relationship you have with friends and family and seek to make amends
4. Resolve to change the patterns of behaviour that have led to this addiction
5. Find others from whom you can obtain support
6. Stay always in contact with those who have supported you
7. Create a new lifestyle and patterns of behaviour that reduce the chances of a relapse

(8. Begin to engage with the political process to push for changes that will help others facing this addiction).

Effective Change - Method Two: Consumerism as a religion or false god.

With this approach to the issues of change we recognise that the process of consumerism is a diety that is contrary to the beleifs of your current religious world view. Taking as our example the Christian Faith (in all it's forms) any "god" aside from the diety of the faith (The One God) is contrary to the practice of the faith. As such it becomes a vital part of the religiouse observance to remove other gods.

This works best when you come to strongly see the deification of the industrial and financial process and the requirement of consumption as service to this "god". When one comes to a point where one sees the process not merely as a process but a system that demands our faithful obedience the effect can only be a change in the fabric of who we are.

Take for example the vale of currency. The value of currency comes largely from our faith that it has value. When this faith is weakened a currency can fail sometimes completely. The current global economic crisis and the fall in value of many currencies is caused by the fear that one might be left holding worthless currency.

The response of governments is an attempt to restore faith in the currency so that the system may continue. The truth is that money in and off itself is worthless and it is only our combined faith and agreement in the value of the currency that grants it any value.

This alone will help to create an effective personal environmental impact but must be focused intelligently for maximum effect. (See also the next method).

Addressing and Changing the Current System From Within

Some may argue that the system itself is not flawed or wrong but that the processes of the system are not sufficiently efficient or well regulated. For such an individual an effective personal impact can best be made by working within the system to create change. This approach is less clear cut as it allows people to contribute to the problem while attempting to push for a change. It also can be used to allow oneself to feel as if a contribution to the good is being made without causing any personal impact (other than the negative) at all.

Some Change - Method Three: Legislative Limits (the "law" solution)

This is the method favoured by governments because it shows direct action. The weaknesses shown here are that many of these laws are a little toothless and aim as much to placate the industries as to control their wastage. The result is that legislation is far more likely to be targeted at the individual as this can more easily and cost effectively be tracked but, as we saw earlier, this effort targets a tiny percentage of waste.

This solution is also lazy - we sit back and wait for someone else to magically fix things. This is a bit like chickens aware that they are in the slaughter truck sitting there blissfully waiting next to an easy release latch for some other chicken to come up with a plan. A week later they are all dinner because no one came up with a plan.

This means that we can not simply drop out and wait for people to wake up but have to be active in engaging with the political process. Doing this is a learning process that requires you to take risks, to ask questions and mostly just get out there and talk with people. As a geek my solution was to join my local blogging niche

I would rather take control of my own destiny and do something where there is yet time to do so. As a result I'm not exactly fond of the idea of leaving things up to other people to sort out when I could take action myself. That could just be me though. Even so I can have no effective personal impact without action and simply voting green would not have enough impact.

To change laws requires work, letter writing and over all badgering of political parties and representatives until change happens. However there is an additional caveat - what would a suitable legislative action be? We all have our own ideas on this and yet do we have any practical solutions to the needs of businesses?

Some Change - Method Four: Tactical Shopping (directed consumption)

Rather than reject the ideology of consumerism this method aims to redirect it by applying pressure on producers to produce less wastefully. The biggest problem with this method currently is that there is very little actual information indicating the level of waste and other environmental impacts created by the production process of the goods we consume.

This has created a market in "green goods" which are often steeply priced but not necessarily backed by any indipendant assesment of "green". This is an area where legislation or funding might produce an impact for good on the environment but it may also simply serve to create a new breed of "ethic based sales" - effectively a new and "trendy" brand.

Setting a new example

Sometimes the greatest personal impact can be made by setting a dramatic new example. By leading the way into a better tomorrow one might be able to have a personal impact for good that can not be measured.

Unknown Change - Method Five: A New Business (the practical solution)

For those of us not simply willing to change our ways and cease from our consumptive lifestyle the apex of the ideal solution is to create a business that produces product without waste and uses 100% already in use materials so that we do not use up raw materials but close the loop in recycling or other sustainable solutions.

To do this requires that we radically rethink the way we go about doing things but it may also require that we establish new models of best practice and create a framework in which such business solutions can be delivered. In No More Poverty (Part One) I looked at ho the current system works and started to ask some hard questions. In part two I am going to look at the solutions and the framework that will deliver those - the same framework that could be used to deliver a new paradigm for business processes and industry without masses of discarded and un-needed materials.

Concluding Thoughts

Striving for an effective positive personal environmental impact we will doubtlessly face many interesting questions and challenges as well as learning more about ourselves and the world in which we live. What other ways do we have to make an impact for good that you can think of? Can we hope as individuals to make even a dent in the decline our industrial system is inducing?

There are no magical answers but there are many good ideas - what is your good idea?

Pause.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:16:08 -0400

I have recently received some bad news. I do not know how well I will be able to maintain this or any other of my blogs for the next few months. I apologise now.

I was going to discuss these two news items but I no longer have the strength to cope.

Earthworms to aid soil clean-up and Compact and bijou - the slums of tomorrow?

Please feel free to talk among yourselves. The comments are still open.

Portal of all things Green

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:32:19 -0400

I am pleased to announce the completion of The Green Moral Portal - this still experimental portal pulls news and blog posts from a number of sources and agrigates them according to topic. Most topics have sub-topics and some sub-topics have sub-sub-topics.

While I did initially create the portal for my own use I have found such things too vital a tool for understanding the subject and what is being said to keep it to myself. I'll be exploring it over the next few months for sites to add to the Green Directory.

I hope others find it as usefull as I do. Feel free to make requests if I have missed out any topics of note.

We all must do our part to save the world

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:40:38 -0400

what practical suggestions can you offer on changes that make a long term difference?The website bdonline.co.uk recently carried a story - Navigating the green moral maze in which Jonathan Hines looks at an environmentally better appraoch for the architectual industry. But what of bloggers, work from home parents, executives, programmers, lorry drivers, sales people... and all the others - what things can we do to make a difference?