This rain and warmth is amazing for plant growth.
Too much effort to embed images in here when you can click and see them all over at my gallery.
Some of them you'd have seen before but there are new ones:
- beans growing beautifully and just today poking out of the cage
- pots where we planted tomatoes and got some volunteer cucumbers or something
- passionfruit vine from the neighbour's place going nuts on our chook pen
- first ever mangoes on a tree planted by a previous resident
- what we think is an avocado that I lopped off ages ago due to disease, regrowing
- tomato bush which "died" with some kind of wilt suddenly springing back to life
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Friday, 5 December 2008
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Living History
No, this is not a post about American politics, as historic as this day might be. It's about Aussie back yards.
When I was as young as my son is now - four years old - I lived in a tiny little outback town called Jericho, west of Rockhampton. We were only there for two and a half years but that experience of country life had a big influence on me.
I have some very clear memories of that time, like getting my first bike and the first day I rode it without training wheels. I recall going for a day out in the bush, catching yabbies (crayfish) from the creek and cooking them up for lunch. I remember visiting a property where two huge bulldozers were dragging an enormous chain between them, making one hell of a mess as they tore down the eucalypt forest, clearing it to become grazing land.
Just down the street from us lived another family whose children were too old for me to play with, but Mrs Bonham and my mother became good friends and I spent quite a bit of time playing around the Bonham house and yard. The yard had one particularly distinguishing feature: a thriving green bean vine growing on a free-standing trellis. This so impressed my younger brother and I that we came to gigglingly refer to Mum's friend as "Mrs Bean-Bonham". (Gosh four-year-olds think they're funny.)
We were free to pick and eat the beans as we wished. Sometimes we'd be given big bags of them to take home. Formed in my earliest years, that simple memory epitomises the notion of a bountiful garden. In the past 18 months of mucking about in my own back yard I haven't really come close to recreating that ideal.
But just recently, something special has happened.
The friendship my mother formed has been a lasting one, and from time to time she and Mrs Bonham will exchange a phone call or find an opportunity to meet if travel plans are favourable. In one of their recent conversations, Mum happened to mention that I've been playing about with veges and the like. And this past weekend, Mum handed me a padded envelope which was postmarked in Jericho.
Mrs Bonham's beans have been growing in her garden for nearly 30 years since I used to pick them as a boy. Inside the envelope was a paper-thin, dried out husk of a bean, its green flesh now turned creamy pale, itself acting as a natural envelope for the seeds contained within. Six seeds: richly dark, almost black, except for a bright white protruding ridge running about half way around the centre line.
Joshua (4), Caitlin (7) and the neighbour's boy (7) helped me to plant them. Each pressed two seeds into the moist potting mix and I put the covered tray outside where it will catch the morning sun. Three days later, a living piece of my own childhood is forming roots and shoots which - if I don't manage to kill 'em - will bring that remembered bounty back into reality for me and my kids to enjoy.
Yes, I'm getting all sentimental about bloody beans. I've talked for ages about growing some beans in the back yard. But it's just so special to me that these aren't something which came in a packet from a shop. These beans are living connections for me, to community, to my own history, and to the natural providence of the Earth independent from modern industrial society.
Mrs Bean-Bonham, thank you so much for your gift. Wish me luck as I try to grow these seeds and get the vines scaling up the side of the chicken coup. I'll keep you posted.
When I was as young as my son is now - four years old - I lived in a tiny little outback town called Jericho, west of Rockhampton. We were only there for two and a half years but that experience of country life had a big influence on me.
I have some very clear memories of that time, like getting my first bike and the first day I rode it without training wheels. I recall going for a day out in the bush, catching yabbies (crayfish) from the creek and cooking them up for lunch. I remember visiting a property where two huge bulldozers were dragging an enormous chain between them, making one hell of a mess as they tore down the eucalypt forest, clearing it to become grazing land.
Just down the street from us lived another family whose children were too old for me to play with, but Mrs Bonham and my mother became good friends and I spent quite a bit of time playing around the Bonham house and yard. The yard had one particularly distinguishing feature: a thriving green bean vine growing on a free-standing trellis. This so impressed my younger brother and I that we came to gigglingly refer to Mum's friend as "Mrs Bean-Bonham". (Gosh four-year-olds think they're funny.)
We were free to pick and eat the beans as we wished. Sometimes we'd be given big bags of them to take home. Formed in my earliest years, that simple memory epitomises the notion of a bountiful garden. In the past 18 months of mucking about in my own back yard I haven't really come close to recreating that ideal.
But just recently, something special has happened.
The friendship my mother formed has been a lasting one, and from time to time she and Mrs Bonham will exchange a phone call or find an opportunity to meet if travel plans are favourable. In one of their recent conversations, Mum happened to mention that I've been playing about with veges and the like. And this past weekend, Mum handed me a padded envelope which was postmarked in Jericho.
Mrs Bonham's beans have been growing in her garden for nearly 30 years since I used to pick them as a boy. Inside the envelope was a paper-thin, dried out husk of a bean, its green flesh now turned creamy pale, itself acting as a natural envelope for the seeds contained within. Six seeds: richly dark, almost black, except for a bright white protruding ridge running about half way around the centre line.
Joshua (4), Caitlin (7) and the neighbour's boy (7) helped me to plant them. Each pressed two seeds into the moist potting mix and I put the covered tray outside where it will catch the morning sun. Three days later, a living piece of my own childhood is forming roots and shoots which - if I don't manage to kill 'em - will bring that remembered bounty back into reality for me and my kids to enjoy.
Yes, I'm getting all sentimental about bloody beans. I've talked for ages about growing some beans in the back yard. But it's just so special to me that these aren't something which came in a packet from a shop. These beans are living connections for me, to community, to my own history, and to the natural providence of the Earth independent from modern industrial society.
Mrs Bean-Bonham, thank you so much for your gift. Wish me luck as I try to grow these seeds and get the vines scaling up the side of the chicken coup. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Alexander F Mayer
This is not a topic I ever thought I'd be posting about on this blog. To be frank, it's a bit of a stretch to call it relevant, though I'll do my best. Mostly I'm choosing to post this because it's freaking awesome and also because if it turns out to be correct I'd like to go on the public record as having been among the first to acknowledge it.
Alexander F Mayer is what most people would call a serious geek. Way geekier even than myself. I'm not entirely sure of his background and qualifications but he's not a recognised authority amongst his peers in his field of study. Most of them would probably call him a crackpot, or worse.
What makes him postworthy is his rather persuasive and potentially revolutionary theory about the nature of the universe - and I mean the whole universe, from the smallest particle through to the largest supergalactic cluster and the complete extent of time. The theory is published as a digitally signed PDF at www.sensibleuniverse.org, but most people I know wouldn't enjoy reading something that, um, geeky. (If you do - I would really love to hear from you!)
The fundamental idea in Mayer's cosmology is that the conventional understanding of time is as misguided as the ancient belief that the Earth was flat. We are accustomed to thinking that the universe as a whole experiences time just as we do, and that we can represent a history of the entire universe using a single timeline. This naturally leads people to ponder how the universe started and how it might eventually come to an end. If it started in a "Big Bang", then what came before that? And if it started small and is growing larger, what lies beyond the edge of it?
Without going into too much detail, I will say merely that Mayer's universe has no beginning, no end, and no edges. Just as you can travel forever in one direction around the surface of the Earth (a full circle brings you back to your original position) you can imagine a straight path through space in any direction leading you eventually back to the exact point you started from. And just as for every point on the Earth there is a place at the precisely opposite side of the globe, for every point in space there is a precisely opposite place in the universe through which you would pass if you could follow that straight line in any direction for a very, very long time.
Now to make this relevant to my blog.
Black holes, says Mayer, are actually the "in" end of a tunnel through spacetime (ie a wormhole) which leads to the opposite side of the universe. And at that end one finds a "white hole" spewing forth raw energy and fundamental particles. Dead star goes in, elemental ingredients come out. That means 100% recycling of material and energy, occurring everywhere in the universe, for all eternity. Can't get much more sustainable than that.
Beyond the physics, Mayer's publication concludes with some fascinating comments on the interaction between science, philosophy, society and even religion. If the universe really is as he describes, then human psychology might have some adjusting to do. Instead of a one-way trip from bang to bust, the universe continually recreates itself. Theoretically, our descendants could inhabit Mayer's universe forever. If only we can avoid destroying this one little part of it in the meantime.
Alexander F Mayer is what most people would call a serious geek. Way geekier even than myself. I'm not entirely sure of his background and qualifications but he's not a recognised authority amongst his peers in his field of study. Most of them would probably call him a crackpot, or worse.
What makes him postworthy is his rather persuasive and potentially revolutionary theory about the nature of the universe - and I mean the whole universe, from the smallest particle through to the largest supergalactic cluster and the complete extent of time. The theory is published as a digitally signed PDF at www.sensibleuniverse.org, but most people I know wouldn't enjoy reading something that, um, geeky. (If you do - I would really love to hear from you!)
The fundamental idea in Mayer's cosmology is that the conventional understanding of time is as misguided as the ancient belief that the Earth was flat. We are accustomed to thinking that the universe as a whole experiences time just as we do, and that we can represent a history of the entire universe using a single timeline. This naturally leads people to ponder how the universe started and how it might eventually come to an end. If it started in a "Big Bang", then what came before that? And if it started small and is growing larger, what lies beyond the edge of it?
Without going into too much detail, I will say merely that Mayer's universe has no beginning, no end, and no edges. Just as you can travel forever in one direction around the surface of the Earth (a full circle brings you back to your original position) you can imagine a straight path through space in any direction leading you eventually back to the exact point you started from. And just as for every point on the Earth there is a place at the precisely opposite side of the globe, for every point in space there is a precisely opposite place in the universe through which you would pass if you could follow that straight line in any direction for a very, very long time.
Now to make this relevant to my blog.
Black holes, says Mayer, are actually the "in" end of a tunnel through spacetime (ie a wormhole) which leads to the opposite side of the universe. And at that end one finds a "white hole" spewing forth raw energy and fundamental particles. Dead star goes in, elemental ingredients come out. That means 100% recycling of material and energy, occurring everywhere in the universe, for all eternity. Can't get much more sustainable than that.
Beyond the physics, Mayer's publication concludes with some fascinating comments on the interaction between science, philosophy, society and even religion. If the universe really is as he describes, then human psychology might have some adjusting to do. Instead of a one-way trip from bang to bust, the universe continually recreates itself. Theoretically, our descendants could inhabit Mayer's universe forever. If only we can avoid destroying this one little part of it in the meantime.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Renewing my energy
Just a quick one. I haven't mentioned yet that I attended a forum this past week at City Hall, where I heard talks by Andrew McNamara, Judy Wicks (www.whitedog.com), Gilbert Rochecouste (www.villagewell.org) and Robert Pekin (www.foodconnect.com.au), and saw a new peak oil documentary produced locally (aquilaproductions.com.au).
It was wonderfully inspiring, if a little sobering... not so much a pep rally as a recruitment drive in a war effort. Hmm.
So I have a renewed sense of urgency which has already prompted me to consider a carectomy, cut way back on my meat and dairy consumption (even on Ice Break) and have another stab at the backyard gardening. I also wrote letters (emails) to various people at the state, city and local community levels expressing my concern regarding the issues and my desire to be part of the solutions.
Would have been at Northey St Community Garden this morning if it weren't for the badly interrupted sleep #2 and #3 gave us last night. Instead I'm going to look at designs for chicken tractors.
Some time soon I'm going to review and update my action plan.
It was wonderfully inspiring, if a little sobering... not so much a pep rally as a recruitment drive in a war effort. Hmm.
So I have a renewed sense of urgency which has already prompted me to consider a carectomy, cut way back on my meat and dairy consumption (even on Ice Break) and have another stab at the backyard gardening. I also wrote letters (emails) to various people at the state, city and local community levels expressing my concern regarding the issues and my desire to be part of the solutions.
Would have been at Northey St Community Garden this morning if it weren't for the badly interrupted sleep #2 and #3 gave us last night. Instead I'm going to look at designs for chicken tractors.
Some time soon I'm going to review and update my action plan.
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Vaguely like eBay, but free!
I love it when I have an idea and then discover it's already a reality. Not only does it mean the idea was probably a decent one, but it means I can enjoy it without having to put in the effort of making it happen.
Case in point: Freecycle.
This kind of voluntary community-based recycling via the internet is something I've been idly thinking about over the past couple of weeks. There's a group with 300+ members based in Strathpine (the suburb immediately to the west of where I live) so I've just sent an email off to join up. Hopefully I'll be able to reduce some of the clutter around my place by simply finding better homes for things, and avoid creating "waste" in the process.
Case in point: Freecycle.
"The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns... When you want to find a new home for something -- whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door -- you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group. Or, maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member's offer, and you just might get it."
This kind of voluntary community-based recycling via the internet is something I've been idly thinking about over the past couple of weeks. There's a group with 300+ members based in Strathpine (the suburb immediately to the west of where I live) so I've just sent an email off to join up. Hopefully I'll be able to reduce some of the clutter around my place by simply finding better homes for things, and avoid creating "waste" in the process.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Is it just me, or did the world change?
It's only been about three months since I committed myself to the cause of "sustainability". It was largely a response to the despair I found myself sinking into as I was bombarded with bad news about climate change, energy depletion and ecological disaster. Immediately I was stepping outside of my comfort zone and feeling somewhat exposed, a "tall poppy" as we say. In comparison to my regular circle of family, friends and colleagues I suspect I quickly became the most extreme greenie among them.
Such was the initial shock that my own dear wife soon started referring to me as an "eco nazi". It was at least partly deserved - hopefully I'm a little more gracious now about the occasional light left on or a plastic bottle accidentally placed in the landfill bin instead of the recycling - but it helped reinforce my feeling that I was forging new territory.
There months later it feels like nothing of the sort. I've discovered so many people, both online and in real life, who share similar concerns and values but who are doing a far better job of applying those values in their lives and promoting them throughout the community. SBS did their "Eco House Challenge" program, and the ABC has just started "Carbon Cops". Four Corners this week focused on how a very significant chunk of Australia's GHG emissions could be cut through improved energy-efficiency in homes, except that the government appears to be refusing and even blocking action in that direction. Brisbane City Council is set to at least acknowledge the majority of the points raised by a task force report into climate change and peak oil, even if they're watering down their commitment to action on the more politically-sensitive recommendations. There are independent groups and programs springing up all over the place all aimed at reducing GHG emissions, improving energy efficiency, decreasing energy dependence, and so on.
But it was a kind comment by Crazy Mumma this week in response to one of my earlier posts that finally led me to realise that I only thought I was going it alone because I was looking in the wrong direction. Instead of comparing myself to where I've come from I should be looking at where I'm headed, and it turns out there are a whole lot of people there already. Just check out the list of other Aussie bloggers on her site!
In the end I find myself reassured and remotivated. Yes, we're facing a crisis (or three), but it appears that people the world over are getting involved with their communities and actually being effective in bringing about positive change in individuals and entire societies.
That's gotta be a good sign for our prospects in 2050.
Such was the initial shock that my own dear wife soon started referring to me as an "eco nazi". It was at least partly deserved - hopefully I'm a little more gracious now about the occasional light left on or a plastic bottle accidentally placed in the landfill bin instead of the recycling - but it helped reinforce my feeling that I was forging new territory.
There months later it feels like nothing of the sort. I've discovered so many people, both online and in real life, who share similar concerns and values but who are doing a far better job of applying those values in their lives and promoting them throughout the community. SBS did their "Eco House Challenge" program, and the ABC has just started "Carbon Cops". Four Corners this week focused on how a very significant chunk of Australia's GHG emissions could be cut through improved energy-efficiency in homes, except that the government appears to be refusing and even blocking action in that direction. Brisbane City Council is set to at least acknowledge the majority of the points raised by a task force report into climate change and peak oil, even if they're watering down their commitment to action on the more politically-sensitive recommendations. There are independent groups and programs springing up all over the place all aimed at reducing GHG emissions, improving energy efficiency, decreasing energy dependence, and so on.
But it was a kind comment by Crazy Mumma this week in response to one of my earlier posts that finally led me to realise that I only thought I was going it alone because I was looking in the wrong direction. Instead of comparing myself to where I've come from I should be looking at where I'm headed, and it turns out there are a whole lot of people there already. Just check out the list of other Aussie bloggers on her site!
In the end I find myself reassured and remotivated. Yes, we're facing a crisis (or three), but it appears that people the world over are getting involved with their communities and actually being effective in bringing about positive change in individuals and entire societies.
That's gotta be a good sign for our prospects in 2050.
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Notes from Caboolture Sustainable Living Fair
Well that was interesting. CREEC wasn't hard to find, and I was pleased to see it's quite close to the Burpengary train station. I might find myself heading that way for a bike/train outing every now and then to participate in some of their events. It was about 22km from my place by car.
I went along to this fair with a few priorities in mind:
1. Find out more about growing food in the back yard and/or community gardens
2. Ask about distribution schemes for locally-grown produce
3. Try to make contact with people who live nearby and are focused on sustainable living
4. Maybe clarify the Greens' position on alternative nuclear energy technologies (there are some which don't produce waste that lasts for thousands of years and are almost useless for making weapons... but you don't hear about them much)
Amazingly enough, I scored four out of four.
I met some very nice and enthusiastic people from Permaculture Caboolture (not sure whether they're technically a club, society or what) who have heaps of information to share about growing food and who know heaps of other people to link up with to promote food gardening at home or in community gardens or in school programs. I'll be following up on a number of the suggestions I received and will be sure to note them here online.
There's apparently a meeting somewhere in Brisbane this coming week regarding a program which teaches organic gardening and food preparation to primary school children as part of their routine curriculum. Will make an effort to get along and check that out.
Regarding local food distribution, there's an organic farm at Beerwah which sells "subscriptions": each week you give them $60 and they give you a big box of assorted veges. The Permaculture Caboolture people are hoping to start a monthly organic farmers market at CREEC starting on the 14th July. And another bloke is talking about establishing a community garden program at Petrie, which would also link up with the regular markets which are held out that way.
And I did enjoy a chat with a guy on the Australian Greens stand about the theoretical possibility of safe, clean nuclear energy production using technologies which are quite unlike the uranium fuel cycle that everybody associates with the term "nuclear". I was very pleased with the open-minded and sensible reaction - he'd even heard of thorium before I mentioned it.
A few other quick observations to wrap up:
I went along to this fair with a few priorities in mind:
1. Find out more about growing food in the back yard and/or community gardens
2. Ask about distribution schemes for locally-grown produce
3. Try to make contact with people who live nearby and are focused on sustainable living
4. Maybe clarify the Greens' position on alternative nuclear energy technologies (there are some which don't produce waste that lasts for thousands of years and are almost useless for making weapons... but you don't hear about them much)
Amazingly enough, I scored four out of four.
I met some very nice and enthusiastic people from Permaculture Caboolture (not sure whether they're technically a club, society or what) who have heaps of information to share about growing food and who know heaps of other people to link up with to promote food gardening at home or in community gardens or in school programs. I'll be following up on a number of the suggestions I received and will be sure to note them here online.
There's apparently a meeting somewhere in Brisbane this coming week regarding a program which teaches organic gardening and food preparation to primary school children as part of their routine curriculum. Will make an effort to get along and check that out.
Regarding local food distribution, there's an organic farm at Beerwah which sells "subscriptions": each week you give them $60 and they give you a big box of assorted veges. The Permaculture Caboolture people are hoping to start a monthly organic farmers market at CREEC starting on the 14th July. And another bloke is talking about establishing a community garden program at Petrie, which would also link up with the regular markets which are held out that way.
And I did enjoy a chat with a guy on the Australian Greens stand about the theoretical possibility of safe, clean nuclear energy production using technologies which are quite unlike the uranium fuel cycle that everybody associates with the term "nuclear". I was very pleased with the open-minded and sensible reaction - he'd even heard of thorium before I mentioned it.
A few other quick observations to wrap up:
- A lot of paper brochures being given away - how ironic.
- Good representation from Caboolture Shire Council, but with an unsurprising emphasis on economic considerations and "waste management" as opposed to true sustainability.
- I was surprised to see fast food and pre-packaged drinks on sale. (Thumbs up to the organic sausage sizzle though for good taste and the single paper napkin.)
- Local businessman pushing a carbon sink program: $40 for 17 trees, 100 year expected lifespan. It's probably a good thing.
- Greens guy reckons that ethanol being produced for fuel in Qld is derived from the waste material left over from sugar production as opposed to the sugarcane juice itself. I need to do some more research: that might tip the overall energy balance in favour of that particular scheme... but you can bet your Porsche that it's not scalable to the point where it replaces even a small fraction of the state's fuel requirements.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Adelaide shows the way
The southern Australian city of Adelaide is the target of many an unkind word from the mouths on the eastern seaboard, but I wish I could spend some time at Christie Walk and talk with the people behind its design.
Many aspects of sustainable living are reflected in this gorgeous building complex, from the use of natural light and ventilation to solar hot water heating to the rooftop gardens. I would love to live in a house that was something like this.
Many aspects of sustainable living are reflected in this gorgeous building complex, from the use of natural light and ventilation to solar hot water heating to the rooftop gardens. I would love to live in a house that was something like this.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
My real-life hero?
Am experiencing an unfamiliar feeling.
Obviously the term "hero" is nothing new to me. But I don't think I've ever experienced an emotional response to the words or actions of another person such that I would consider them to be my hero. Until perhaps now.
One of the documentaries I mentioned in the previous post was "Waste Equals Food", which featured the ideas and achievements of William McDonough. It was his book, "Cradle to Cradle", which I ordered after watching the film. (Which was at least partly the aim of the film, I'm quite sure.)
And just now I've come across this speech from almost exactly ten years ago.
It's inspirational reading. Mr McDonough might just have become "my" very first hero. Will let you know what I think of the book.
Obviously the term "hero" is nothing new to me. But I don't think I've ever experienced an emotional response to the words or actions of another person such that I would consider them to be my hero. Until perhaps now.
One of the documentaries I mentioned in the previous post was "Waste Equals Food", which featured the ideas and achievements of William McDonough. It was his book, "Cradle to Cradle", which I ordered after watching the film. (Which was at least partly the aim of the film, I'm quite sure.)
And just now I've come across this speech from almost exactly ten years ago.
It's inspirational reading. Mr McDonough might just have become "my" very first hero. Will let you know what I think of the book.
Monday, 14 May 2007
The sustainable marriage
My vision of 2050 involves the majority of humankind having developed a good sense for living sustainably in terms of resource consumption and the environment, but I'm also hoping that the world will have its fair share of people who are this wise when it comes to human relationships.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Caboolture Sustainable Living Fair: 2nd June
I just found out about an annual sustainable living fair which is held at Burpengary, just north of Brisbane. This year it's scheduled for Saturday the 2nd of June.
Haven't discussed it with Michelle yet but I'm going. (Thanks, hon, I appreciate the support!)
There are several solar energy firms listed as exhibitors so I'll be checking out all their info. The permaculture club sounds like a good group to ask about making some productive use of my "lawn". And along that theme of localisation, I'll hopefully be able to make contact with some other people from this area to share ideas and encouragement with.
Anybody want to join me? We could car pool or something, depending on whether my kids come along and how much time everybody wants to spend there.
Haven't discussed it with Michelle yet but I'm going. (Thanks, hon, I appreciate the support!)
There are several solar energy firms listed as exhibitors so I'll be checking out all their info. The permaculture club sounds like a good group to ask about making some productive use of my "lawn". And along that theme of localisation, I'll hopefully be able to make contact with some other people from this area to share ideas and encouragement with.
Anybody want to join me? We could car pool or something, depending on whether my kids come along and how much time everybody wants to spend there.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Can despair be helpful?
Remember that I started this blog as part of my own fight to avoid falling into depression over the constant barrage of bad news and terrifying predictions regarding humanity's impact on the Earth and our chance of surviving the first half of this century.
Well here's an interesting perspective on that same topic, "The point of despair", where it's suggested that despair can be the springboard for positive action.
Well here's an interesting perspective on that same topic, "The point of despair", where it's suggested that despair can be the springboard for positive action.
Monday, 7 May 2007
Visionary thoughts from the UK
I know I only just introduced Transition Culture last night, but the latest entry on that site is such a good, easy-reading summary of the ideas there that I can't resist plugging it again.
It's the transcript of an interview conducted with Rob Hopkins earlier this year and if you're at all interested in what I'm on about in this blog I urge you to check it out.
It's the transcript of an interview conducted with Rob Hopkins earlier this year and if you're at all interested in what I'm on about in this blog I urge you to check it out.
Sunday, 6 May 2007
When I was a kid, we had something called a "car"
For the average Aussie nothing on this blog so far would have been too surprising. I've talked about global warming due to CO2 emissions, the terrible drought we're suffering and some fairly obvious approaches to reducing electricity and water consumption. So far I'm pretty much in the mainstream.
But to live up to the title of this blog we're going to have to go quite a bit further. Time to get back onto the topic of oil, I think, and how utterly dependent we are on the energy it provides us for transportation.
To recap, there are two essential problems with our oil supply: our burning of it is a major contibuting factor to global warming, and we're burning it so fast it's probably not going to last more than another couple of decades anyway. What's more, there aren't yet any technologies which we can confidently say will be ready to step in to keep our vast fleet of vehicles moving as the oil wells dry up and/or global warming gets so serious we don't dare drive any more.
Stop for a moment, and try to imagine a world with only half as much fuel available for transport as we have today, and at twice the price. Imagine that every second airline flight was cancelled. Imagine that you could only drive your car to work every second day (or for two car families that one car had to be taken off the road). Imagine half of all road-based goods delivery being cut. Half of the bulk cargo ships permanently anchored.
It should be immediately obvious to you that any significant decrease in oil supply is going to have a huge impact on the civilisation we call "the developed world". And in stark contrast to the basic assumptions of economic growth, the availability of oil would continue to decrease quite rapidly.
Civilisation in 2050 will either be based on some revolutionary transportation technology... or it will have dramatically restructured in a kind of reverse-globalisation. Actually there's already an accepted term for this: "localisation".
This idea is going to feature pretty prominently on this blog in the future. I know there's already plenty to worry about with the warming and the drought, but I think this one's probably just as important and equally urgent.
Tonight I'm going to add permanent links over on the side to two other blogs. The first is Chris Rhodes' Energy Balance and it's become essential reading for me. It can be a bit technical/analytical at times but frankly that's the value of it: Chris manages to put actual numbers against things like the comparison of present oil consumption vs the amount of land required to grow the equivalent amount of corn etc for producing ethanol. He helps separate fantasy from reality. And he has a great grasp on the implications.
Please take a moment to at least skim some of Chris's posts - this link gives you about half a dozen of them which include reference to localisation.
The other blog I would like you to check out is also from the UK. There's a fascinating movement springing up over there in which small communities (mostly rural but there's also some city action) are quite deliberately adapting their local economies and infrastructure to become vastly less reliant on oil. They're operating under the moniker of "Transition Towns" and there's a blog called Transition Culture dedicated to documenting their experience and promoting the broader adoption of the idea.
Now none of us can say for sure what will happen in the next forty years. Maybe we'll develop the technology to permit us to continue something like our current society in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. But that's a bloody short period of time. It seems smarter to me that we should look for wisdom in the culture of our pre-oil ancestors rather than gamble the future of everything on us actually pulling off a technological miracle.
For the time being, my vision of 2050 involves a lot less moving about of people and products. We'll still have the ability to travel... but as with so many other things we'll have learned to appreciate it more and will use it much more wisely.
But to live up to the title of this blog we're going to have to go quite a bit further. Time to get back onto the topic of oil, I think, and how utterly dependent we are on the energy it provides us for transportation.
To recap, there are two essential problems with our oil supply: our burning of it is a major contibuting factor to global warming, and we're burning it so fast it's probably not going to last more than another couple of decades anyway. What's more, there aren't yet any technologies which we can confidently say will be ready to step in to keep our vast fleet of vehicles moving as the oil wells dry up and/or global warming gets so serious we don't dare drive any more.
Stop for a moment, and try to imagine a world with only half as much fuel available for transport as we have today, and at twice the price. Imagine that every second airline flight was cancelled. Imagine that you could only drive your car to work every second day (or for two car families that one car had to be taken off the road). Imagine half of all road-based goods delivery being cut. Half of the bulk cargo ships permanently anchored.
It should be immediately obvious to you that any significant decrease in oil supply is going to have a huge impact on the civilisation we call "the developed world". And in stark contrast to the basic assumptions of economic growth, the availability of oil would continue to decrease quite rapidly.
Civilisation in 2050 will either be based on some revolutionary transportation technology... or it will have dramatically restructured in a kind of reverse-globalisation. Actually there's already an accepted term for this: "localisation".
This idea is going to feature pretty prominently on this blog in the future. I know there's already plenty to worry about with the warming and the drought, but I think this one's probably just as important and equally urgent.
Tonight I'm going to add permanent links over on the side to two other blogs. The first is Chris Rhodes' Energy Balance and it's become essential reading for me. It can be a bit technical/analytical at times but frankly that's the value of it: Chris manages to put actual numbers against things like the comparison of present oil consumption vs the amount of land required to grow the equivalent amount of corn etc for producing ethanol. He helps separate fantasy from reality. And he has a great grasp on the implications.
Please take a moment to at least skim some of Chris's posts - this link gives you about half a dozen of them which include reference to localisation.
The other blog I would like you to check out is also from the UK. There's a fascinating movement springing up over there in which small communities (mostly rural but there's also some city action) are quite deliberately adapting their local economies and infrastructure to become vastly less reliant on oil. They're operating under the moniker of "Transition Towns" and there's a blog called Transition Culture dedicated to documenting their experience and promoting the broader adoption of the idea.
Now none of us can say for sure what will happen in the next forty years. Maybe we'll develop the technology to permit us to continue something like our current society in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. But that's a bloody short period of time. It seems smarter to me that we should look for wisdom in the culture of our pre-oil ancestors rather than gamble the future of everything on us actually pulling off a technological miracle.
For the time being, my vision of 2050 involves a lot less moving about of people and products. We'll still have the ability to travel... but as with so many other things we'll have learned to appreciate it more and will use it much more wisely.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Yes Dad
If I were to embellish this blog's tale a little, it would be the story of a sudden and dramatic change of heart and mind: chapter one would end with me leaving my old life behind and setting out on a new adventure to save the world.
The truth is somewhat less exciting. No, don't stop reading! It's still a bit exciting, I promise! It's just... there really wasn't any obvious pivotal point where suddenly I decided things had to be different. Rather there's been a gradual increase over time in the sense of how important this all might be and therefore how much time, money and effort it might be worth commiting to the cause.
But in some really fundamental ways the essence of what I'm advocating goes way back to my childhood, to values my father tried to instill in my brother and I. That's not to say Mum didn't share those values or the experiences I'm about to describe - it's just that for some reason I have more vivid memories of what Dad said and did in relation to this. In particular, he was (and is) very conscious of avoiding needless waste.
I don't know enough to say whether his family was poor by the standards of the day, but Dad grew up with much less wealth than my friends and I did a quarter century later. Clothes were made rather than bought. You really were expected to eat what was put in front of you, including lambs brains or tripe, because there really wasn't anything else. In these and many other ways Dad learned to make do and be satisfied with what he had and to be as conservative as possible in the way things were used and consumed.
Whether it was switching off lights when we left the room or eating up the last few slices of bread which had started to go a bit dry or washing the car on a regular basis or (and especially) considering what kinds of things were actually worth spending money on, I was always encouraged to make the most of what I had and to waste as little as possible.
To some degree I think I learned the lesson. But almost certainly not as much as I suspect he was hoping.
Well today, at 30 years old, it's time for me to say, "Yes Dad." We all need to learn how to be more conservative in the original sense of the word. We need to choose what we consume with a view to what will be available tomorrow. We need to waste as little as possible so as to get the most value out of what we already have.
Imagine how much of a dent we could make in our greenhouse gas emissions and our consumption of oil, water and other natural resources if we all started taking Dad's lessons to heart.
I think that'd be a fitting next post: switching off the lights when I leave the room.
The truth is somewhat less exciting. No, don't stop reading! It's still a bit exciting, I promise! It's just... there really wasn't any obvious pivotal point where suddenly I decided things had to be different. Rather there's been a gradual increase over time in the sense of how important this all might be and therefore how much time, money and effort it might be worth commiting to the cause.
But in some really fundamental ways the essence of what I'm advocating goes way back to my childhood, to values my father tried to instill in my brother and I. That's not to say Mum didn't share those values or the experiences I'm about to describe - it's just that for some reason I have more vivid memories of what Dad said and did in relation to this. In particular, he was (and is) very conscious of avoiding needless waste.
I don't know enough to say whether his family was poor by the standards of the day, but Dad grew up with much less wealth than my friends and I did a quarter century later. Clothes were made rather than bought. You really were expected to eat what was put in front of you, including lambs brains or tripe, because there really wasn't anything else. In these and many other ways Dad learned to make do and be satisfied with what he had and to be as conservative as possible in the way things were used and consumed.
Whether it was switching off lights when we left the room or eating up the last few slices of bread which had started to go a bit dry or washing the car on a regular basis or (and especially) considering what kinds of things were actually worth spending money on, I was always encouraged to make the most of what I had and to waste as little as possible.
To some degree I think I learned the lesson. But almost certainly not as much as I suspect he was hoping.
Well today, at 30 years old, it's time for me to say, "Yes Dad." We all need to learn how to be more conservative in the original sense of the word. We need to choose what we consume with a view to what will be available tomorrow. We need to waste as little as possible so as to get the most value out of what we already have.
Imagine how much of a dent we could make in our greenhouse gas emissions and our consumption of oil, water and other natural resources if we all started taking Dad's lessons to heart.
I think that'd be a fitting next post: switching off the lights when I leave the room.
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