In my first Permaculture Design Certificate class, back in 2005, we were presented with a classification of “basic human needs.” And the Permaculture design principles and ethics introduced in class offer us a way to meet these needs sustainably and equitably.
The categories presented to us were food; water; shelter; transportation; energy; and community.
Not coincidentally, these six areas are also major categories of household expenses.
In my experience, the key to living a lifestyle of creative and occupational freedom is to radically reduce at least one of these expense categories. Ideally several or all of them.
It’s also the key for slowing down the trashing of the planet. Possibly buying ourselves a little more time to get our act together. Note, traditional and indigenous cultures already have their act together for the most part; we “rich worlders” need to get ourselves in order so we stop hogging all the resources and trashing ecosystems.
Now that more and more everyday households in the white entitled rich world are falling into financial precarity, it becomes more worthwhile to cut these expenses whether or not one is trying to cut eco-footprint.
And, there’s an additional motive for looking into our relationship with each of these essential categories of our needs. And that is that being overly dependent on large, impersonal, distant entities to meet our basic needs makes us extremely vulnerable. Unacceptably vulnerable! Particularly in times of weather disaster and other disasters. It makes our households brittle, and our communities brittle.
I’ve written and spoken extensively about how to reduce our dependency on such distant and impersonal entities, be it government or corporations or whatever.
Here I’ll just give a quick little overview of each category and some really basic things we can all do to make our households and communities more resilient. And, not coincidentally, less financially vulnerable. Stand by, I’ll be back a little later to finish this.
FOOD. Learn at least 3 to 5 wild plants in your area that are edible. Develop a relationship with them. (Look up your local native plant society or permaculture guild for guidance.) That means learn what their various phases and seasons are, and start foraging and using them well before you’re facing some kind of emergency. BTW always harvest in moderation. Never take the first one or the last one. Err on the side of LESS. Also, to the extent that you are able, cultivate something edible even if it’s just a little pot of greens or mint or something. Greens go a long way to maintain health. And, they are some of the hardest things to transport long distance because of their perishability. By growing them in your own neighborhood you’re doing yourself a favor as well as working for the greater good. And, to the extent that you can afford to and have access, buy direct from your local farmers. Learn to eat in seasons; wean yourself off of exotic produce from far away.
WATER. Calculate your household’s basic water needs. Start collecting water off your roof. Even one little barrel or tub is a good start and it’ll get you rolling. Additionally encourage your neighbors to start doing the same. If you live in an apartment building, ask management to let you set up a rainwater barrel. Fun fact: For every 1-inch rain, a 1000 square-foot roof can collect over 600 gallons of water. Most water demand is from outdoor use. Therefore you can vastly reduce your water needs by not irrigating outdoors. Choose plants that grow well naturally with the available rainfall.
SHELTER. If you have room in your home and are able, invite people to live with you for cheap or free. Many people are willing to barter chores and so on. If you don’t have a stable roof, do what it takes to go in with people and get that huge cost down. Sometimes the miraculous key to getting along with people is that we simply need to. Part of why we haven’t found it easy to get along with people is that a lot of us in cushy times and places haven’t needed to. On a related note, if you see people getting harassed by neighborhood busybodies or government for “having too many people in their house,” speak up and defend your neighbors. Because that nonsense is classist and racist.
TRANSPORTATION. If you can share a car, or do without a car entirely, do it by all means! This is a huge category of expense and worry. House-sharing can help with this. One great housemate who lived here for almost 3 years had a car and was very generous about sharing it when people needed.
ENERGY. The biggest energy users are air cooling, water heater, clothes-dryer, and air heating. Try to focus on cooling the people rather than the air. Same with heat. A very simple energy saver is the humble clothesline! If you live in an HOA or apartment or something that does not allow clothes lines, please push for that to be changed. It’s very important. Important for many reasons. One thing people don’t always think of is that sunlight is a natural disinfectant and reduces our dependency on detergents, many of which contain toxic ingredients, or simply cause skin problems in people with sensitivities. (Ask me how I know this – wink.)
COMMUNITY. Community is probably the most basic need, but it’s the one that gets ignored in our materialistically focused culture. Lack of community is very expensive. The person who won’t talk to their neighbor ends up going out and buying some yard appliance they’ll only use once a year, instead of being able to borrow from a friendly neighbor. Same with everyone burning gasoline and driving to the store instead of checking to see if a neighbor wants you to pick up anything. Or you might not hear about a job opening and you’re looking for a job. Or, you assume that your neighbors aren’t worth knowing, so you’re always running around to other cities and even other countries to try to find enjoyment and interesting company. Such examples abound. Along with providing the most essential thing that people need — the company of other people (and yes, this applies to us introverts as well) community also allows us to meet our material needs much less expensively. And not coincidentally, with much less drain on planetary resources and ecosystems.
There’s lots more to all of this, but the main thing I want everyone to recognize is how our self-interest in CONSUMING LESS is stronger than ever.
PS. For every point I made, it’s desirable and even necessary to extend your care to neighbors and others in your community regarding that resource. And don’t give up. For example, If you give a rainwater presentation and it’s not well-attended, try doing it on zoom. If that doesn’t work, post a simple little “getting started” flyer on your neighborhood app, or bring a flyers to your neighborhood meeting or city commission meeting. And you shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel; many free pamphlets and other resources exist. In fact, your local government’s own public works department or other related department might already publish (for example) free info resources related to collecting rainwater. And your local native plant society probably already has a handout flyer showing a few of your main local wild edibles.
PPS. Even if you do nothing else on the above list, you and I and all of us really need to build community with neighbors. Do what it takes. Even if you can’t share housing, you can make a little pod with three or four neighbors and alternate food prep, cooking, maybe as things get tighter (which they will), start sharing a fridge or a car among multiple household. Any initial inconvenience or extra time investment you find objectionable, be aware that it will more than pay for itself in terms of reducing your vulnerability to these large distant entities that basically have all of us held hostage. Seriously it’s priceless to disentangle from that vulnerability.
If you would like a zoom for your neighborhood or other group to ask questions about these issues and get some pointers for getting started, drop me a line and we’ll arrange it.