Author: jennynazak

In this blog, my posts seem to take a gradation of tones.

There are the encouraging, nurturing posts. I might call those “sweet.” They are designed to soothe people’s anxieties; ease burnout; let you all know you have love and company, and that your presence makes a difference however you choose to show up.

Then there are the posts that have a slightly curmudgeonly tone. I might call those “salty.” The mood is like, “Yeah, we are all on the same team, and I’m not trying to shame anyone, but we really have to do better, and here are some tips and resources.”

And then, there are the way-amped-up, super-cranky posts. I might call these “spicy.” These are mostly venting my frustration with industry, politicians, and “my demographic tribe”: my fellow white Boomers of the privileged classes who identify as environmentalist. The tone is like, come ON people! We call ourselves eco activists and this is the best we can do??? SHAME ON US!!! We need to do a LOT better.

Although a gradation of tones might be necessary, and sometimes entertaining, I sometimes find myself going back and toning down the super spicy posts. I love my fellow human beings. And shame doesn’t tend to help anyone. And besides, anything I am railing against is something I myself do or have done in some form. I certainly make impulse purchases. And I sometimes buy in more quantity than I need. And in my days of flying, I sometimes took an impulsive weekend flight, feeling very glamorous at the time and not thinking at all about the planet or any of my fellow beings.

The spicy posts are mainly motivated by my own fear and panic. It’s when I allow myself to go down a doomy rabbit-hole. But as much as I have sometimes gotten off on being snarky, I think that in the future I am going to tend to reserve my snarkiness more for characters in my fiction books, and keep the content of this blog holding steady at a sweet to salty range. Well OK there might be some spice sometimes still! And always, I appreciate your feedback on how the tone of some post has helped you, impeded you in your efforts.

And I think you ALL for caring enough to be on a path of reducing our footprint on the beautiful planet that is our only home.

And: If you run across a cranky post when you need a sweet nurturing post, please feel free to skip the cranky post! And, conversely, if the sweet posts aren’t quite getting you motivated, keep reading — you are sure to run into a salty or spicy post before very long! It’s like that joke about the weather, that everybody in every place seems to think is unique to their place: If you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes!

Added an hour later: with typical beautiful synchronicity, one of my teachers posted this quote about compassion. It definitely fits in with my ego activism including this blog. Nurturing my fellow humans, as opposed to othering them and calling them out, is really the direction I want to move in more and more.

“The practice of seeing clearly is what finally moves us toward kindness. Seeing, again and again, the infinite variety of traps we create for seducing the mind into struggle, we feel compassion for ourselves. And then, quite naturally, we feel compassion for everyone else.” — Sylvia Boorstein, “The Wisdom of Discomfort”

If you’re the kind of person who likes to explore your creative inclinations while celebrating and protecting life on our beautiful planet, you might enjoy following my page Art & Design by Jenny Nazak (on Facebook) if you aren’t already! It’s a public page and you might not need a Facebook account to access it.

It’s a mix of my own creative efforts, beautiful artwork and creativity from other people. Media range from landscaping to sewing to painting to DIY upcycling and more.

And of course I sprinkle in ecosocial activism elements, because I don’t believe I can separate activism from my artwork, nor want to.

Here’s a recent post:

When you’ve entered a phase of your fashion life that takes “shabby chic” to new heights (or depths haha), right when the most uber-upscale glossy magazines are showing designer-ripped, artfully stained t-shirts and distressed jeans for $700 or $3,000 …

#lifeisgood #livinthedream #myfashioncareer #ecostyle #landfilldiversion

And such a delightful afternoon at Marina’s place for high tea with 10 or 15 other women! Ended up being good business networking too.
@golden magnolia marine resort

PS. My hat was borrowed from Marina’s vintage collection which she keeps on hand for guests. Necklace purchased from her reasonably priced vintage boutique collection a few months back. Earrings: Paparazzi.

Sorry, in order to see the photos you’ll have to check out the post on my Facebook page.

And here’s the overall page link. Page name is Art & Design by Jenny Nazak. I appreciate any Likes and follows.

Welcome to my deep green blog! I’m so glad you are here.

On this blog, as on my Facebook page and other platforms, I strive to always provide realistic and empowering suggestions / options, for everyday people living in the everyday world with everyday wallets.

While being accessible and realistic, the wide-ranging menu of perspectives that I share, from people in all places & circumstances, also ensures that you will always be able to take the next step, the next challenge, the next adventure that will be fitting and enriching for YOU on your green path.

I look forward to seeing you on my various platforms, and please feel free to comment on my posts with any questions or thoughts you might have. I share a steady stream of first-rate content from fellow activists, scientist, artists, permaculturists, and other concerned & creative & compassionate citizens from all around the world.

Someone in one of the low-footprint groups who’s living without fans or air conditioning is looking for tips on how to not be so hot in the house.

I responded:

1) I make sure that the outsides of the windows are shaded from the sun all day. Particularly paying attention to where the sun hits the house in mid to late afternoon.

It really makes a difference, having curtains or awnings etc outside the windows, preventing sun from hitting glass, versus just curtains inside the windows. (On that note I have planted a lot of trees at my place over the 5 years I’ve lived here, and that helps.)

2) On extra hot nights I sleep on the bare tile floor. I realize that may not be an option for everyone but in mid life I have gained enough weight to be able to sleep on a bare floor without my bones protesting much. I’ve actually gotten some really good nights’ sleep that way lately.

3) I haven’t done this yet, but an outdoor screened area is a much much cooler place to sleep at night than indoors. I keep telling myself I’m going to build one but I never get around to it, and the mosquitoes are really bad here; otherwise I would just sleep on the ground outdoors without the screened room.

4) I dump cans of rainwater on myself and let whatever slight breeze there is cool me off a bit.

5) I take naps in the hottest part of the day. And I get up super early to enjoy the coolest part of the day.

6) I try not to cook indoors; either I eat cold salads and other cold food, or I cook outdoors in the solar oven or portable high-efficiency twig-fired stove.

— For what it’s worth, from a person living without fans or air conditioning in Florida long-term. (I happen to dislike fans and AC because of the noise and the artificial airflow, so that makes it a little easier. But still I also do it to save a bit of electricity — and even more, to reduce my dependence on electricity. And yes, as other people have mentioned, the risk of heat on the body is very real and we have to keep an eye on how we’re doing.)

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis

I posted this on my timeline, and a fellow boomer friend commented in response: “Angela was our darling during that age when we were certain that indignant screaming, raising our fists & storming federal buildings would effect change.”

To which I replied:

1) Angela Davis was and is a hero.

2) Yeah, good thing we wised up and became a bunch of venal, Wall Street -worshiping yuppies who veered sharply away from all that foolish activism in order to trash the planet and hoard resources from all future generations. Yay for us. Team Boomer. <exasperated and sad emoticon faces>

3) Actually, it WAS effecting change. We just stopped too soon. The Woodstock hippies should have kept listening to Angela Davis, Fred Hampton et al. Black Panthers and standing in class solidarity.

4) You know, as long as we are above ground, it’s never too late to restart, get back on track.

Our modern economies are designed to rely on constant consumption. If people are not constantly buying stuff, the economy goes down. I would actually call this a primitive economy: one that relies on extraction and overproduction, and a steady supply of willing buyers.

What brought this to my mind today was noticing how a cake of soap that’s been sitting in a cup on my front porch for a couple of years still isn’t used up, although I use it often to wash my hands and feet (with collected rainwater) before walking indoors.

And inside the utility closet which contains towels, batteries, lightbulbs, and other everyday supplies, there is a bag containing about 10 bars of soap that have been gifted to me over the years, or came to me via decluttering gigs. I definitely have enough soap to supply an entire household through the zombie apocalypse and beyond, unless zombies eat soap.

Ditto paper and envelopes. Granted I could be writing letters a lot more diligently than I have been. And today I sit out to start remedying that. But, I have enough writing-paper probably to last a lifetime.

Same with art paper. And thread, fabric.

Stuff just doesn’t get used up that quickly. I mean sure, some stuff like toilet paper does (unless you happen to be one of the growing number of us who use a bidet and toilet-cloth).

I start to really beat myself up over this, but realize the problem lies pretty far upstream of us, and all we can do is try our best to not accumulate more stuff in categories where we already have a surplus. I can also search more diligently to find people who have immediate need for some of my surplus stuff. Although, to be honest, a lot of the stuff I have was inherited from people who were trying to get rid of their stuff. These days, there seem to be a lot of people out there who are in the same boat trying to get rid of stuff they’re not using or likely to use.

Of course I understand this is a first-world problem. (Oh, except wait (added about an hour later as it belatedly occurred to me): In this case what starts as a “first-world problem” shows up downstream in a much nastier, more toxic way in the less-privileged countries. For example, the Atacama desert in Chile has become a major dumping ground for the world’s discarded clothing. Much of it never worn. And many cities and beaches are overrun by plastic waste generated by the United States.)

On a positive note: I could finally get around to doing what I’ve been saying I’m going to do, which is put together a group of people who want to play and make things and enjoy using our supplies together. Maybe it’ll happen this year, maybe even this month!

Also on a positive note: I have ended up finding steady use for my box of 5000 staples, which looks to be several decades old. (I purchased that box of staples — and the beautiful, sturdy, turqouise-enamel-painted steel old-school stapler — from a thrift shop or yard sale, can’t remember which, a few years back.) I still may not use up those staples in my lifetime, but it looks like maybe I’ve used a couple hundred at least.

This might be one of those posts that really only have an audience of one, as in nobody besides me needs to hear it. But just in case.

Sometimes, as I’m going about my day attempting to make ongoing improvements in my living environment, work processes, etc., I will talk myself out of trying some little thing that pops into my mind. The idea will occur to me, and immediately I’ll say to myself, “Oh, that probably won’t work.” And I allow inertia to prevail.

Today I caught myself doing that with the placement of the laundry drying rack that I have in the kitchen for hang-drying dishtowels, rags, etc.

And I had to remind myself, it’s an effing dryer-rack for gosh sake, just try this idea! It’ll take two seconds!

Maybe the new placement will help with air circulation and space-saving, or maybe not. I like it so far though.

Of course in addition to doing this with tiny things, we human beings also do it with large things. Oh, that business idea will never work. That new approach to talking to my neighbor isn’t going to help. Writing this letter to the newspaper or to my elected officials isn’t going to make a difference. Our efforts to normalize low-footprint lifestyle aren’t going to help move the needle, so what’s the point. Etc. etc. etc. and on we go.

I suggest we all do tiny, low-stakes experiments as often as possible. Not only do they cost little or nothing, but they can result in an improvement in our living environment and everyday life. And furthermore, they serve as a useful on-ramp to the higher-stakes experiments we all need to be tackling.

Thanks to tiny, low-stakes experiments that ramped up, I have a nice little bamboo trellis fence. First it was just a bunch of bamboo poles that I gathered from curbside where someone thinning out their bamboo patch had left them. Then I cut them to desired length; sorted them based roughly on circumference. Then I tied two poles together, experimenting with different types of string and ways of tying till I got it right. Building on that experimental beginning, a whole rustic fence is emerging.

And also thanks to tiny, low-stakes experiments I have a pretty little shade/privacy structure, made of palm fronds and bamboo pieces, outside my office/bedroom door. And lots of other things: deepened or renewed friendships; neighbors who know each other’s names; a growing number of wildflower yards in the neighborhood; five years worth of blog posts and counting; a book; working knowledge of multiple foreign languages; the ability to quiet my mind at will. None of this, and a lot more besides, would have happened if I hadn’t been willing to be a little bit vulnerable and expend a little bit of effort at some point.

It’s important that we exercise this muscle, because as I said, there are much bigger-stakes things we need to tackle, and meanwhile the naysayers are exercising their naysayer muscle 24-7. I believe that in their hearts the naysayers are feeling a lot of pain, and by refusing to be naysayers to our own selves, we can be in a better position to ease those people’s suffering as well.

By the way, there’s actually no such thing as an experiment that doesn’t work, because there is always a yield. Experience and data are valuable yields in themselves.

PS. One person’s low-stakes experiment might be another person’s high-stakes experiment, and vice versa. If something is big for you, it’s big, and don’t let anyone make light of your efforts.

Further exploration:

• “Living-space experiments” (This is a post from way back in 2018, the early days of this blog. It’s fun to notice how much my setup has changed since then. But it worked great back then, and what I have now works great now.)