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Christmas is coming. For many people who are trying to practice de-growth and disengage from the consumer treadmill (and free themselves from having their houses and garages jampacked to the rafters with unused stuff), gift-giving holidays can bring anxiety.

For those whose families are big into gift-giving, a short note might help. Or it might not! But if you feel strongly about this, you could try writing a short note. I wrote this as a possible example after someone in one of my groups was looking for guidance on how to convey to her relatives that she and her husband don’t want holiday gifts:

Dear Family: Christmas time is approaching. For many reasons, we are no longer celebrating the gift-giving aspect of Christmas. For those of you living nearby, we hope we will get to spend time together with you, simply enjoying each other’s company. We’d love to have you over for coffee, drinks or a meal. We could play some cards, play board games, tell stories, or do a puzzle together. For those more geographically distant, let’s enjoy each other’s company in a similar manner by Zoom.

(Some people may still end up giving you stuff — but you have made your wishes clear. Just quietly give the items away, and take joy in knowing that someone who really needs them will use and appreciate them.)

Have you succeeded in conveying to family or friends that you don’t want material gifts? Have you been able to do it without hurting your loved ones’ feelings? And do they abide by your wishes? If so, please help others who are on the same path by sharing what you said/did that worked!

Some people in the rich industrialized world have gotten way too comfortable with the idea that we can’t possibly cut consumption enough to live on renewables. Do you consider nuclear to be an acceptable option? I do not.

It’s probably no news to people in the USA that consumers here are being battered by inflation. (I assume things are just as bad or worse in other countries. But people in the USA have tended to be insulated from the worst of world conditions.)

One of the beat ways to deal with inflation is to minimize consumption; cut out whole categories whenever possible.

Google is our friend, as are various anti-consumption groups on social media. Formulas for making our own household cleaners, bath products, etc., abound. As do tips for minimizing our household energy consumption. Making or mending our own clothing, furniture, and so on. And although most of us have to buy food, most of us can grow at least some of our own. And we can avoid or cut down on foods that have gone way up in price.

In some cases, supermarket prices are rising enough to be more on a par with farmers’ market prices. This is good news for local farms and for our health.

Americans used to be known for thrift and ingenuity. We can be again. Thrift is a skill that can bring great joy and help us reduce the power that advertisers and big corporate entities have over us.

Inflation can be alarming and upsetting, especially for those who’ve never before lived in inflationary times. But, you can handle it. Double up; make do; tighten up; get really focused on the things that are most important to you.

One thing that’s still cheap or free is online classes. Over the years I’ve availed myself of more classes than I can count. Right now I’m taking a class in architectural sketching, so I can get better at presenting my ideas for integrating nature into the built environment.

Have you taken any good classes lately? What would you like to add to your knowledge base or skillset today?

(Also: YouTube videos. And library books!)

Being able to choose what you cultivate is one of the delights of the gardener.

That said, the plants you refer to as “ugly weeds” each one has a name and a place in the ecosystem. Many times they have been the only vegetables available to me. And occasionally during harder times, even the only food on my plate.* They are also deeply medicinal.

Humans aside, they support the native pollinators who enable our tender cultivars to survive and flourish!

You have so much going on that I doubt you need another activity. But if you ever want to learn about Florida native plants, our local chapter of Florida Native Plant Society is a sweet group, and many of the people have formed lifelong human friendships there as well as befriending plants, and helping to restore Florida ecosystems.

*(Added later to just this post: The comment about wild plants often being my only vegetables, and a time or three even the only food on my plate, is NOT seeking sympathy for myself — I have forged my path in life, and any modest hardships I’ve experienced have made me a kinder and stronger person — but rather, seeking RESPECT for plant allies and for all species. A “weed” is just a plant we haven’t bothered to learn the name of. I bet that to other species, we sound like hicks and rubes and doofuses when we talk like this. And of course we (industrial nonindigenous consumerist critters) sound like the ecosystem-ravagers that we’ve become, by marinating in the synthetic Anglo-centric colonialist-consumerist “culture” we have co-created over the past several centuries.)

“As someone seasoned in working with dangerous situations, deep adaptation seemed to me to be an eminently sensible and simple framework for reducing harm and suffering and being able to adapt to uncertain situations.”

This article in the Irish Times by Fred Ehresmann offers a concise and easily understandable summary of the Deep Adaptation movement and the 4 R’s. Resilience, Restoration, Relinquishment, Reconciliation.

It’s been good to see DA getting into the mainstream press. The title of the above-linked article is “Response to climate emergency set to shape our children’s future.” But as the author himself points out, it’s not just about the future and not just about our children (or ourselves); it’s about helping people all over the world to mitigate and adapt to emergency conditions that many are experiencing right now.

On a personal note regarding efforts to raise awareness … Last week, I used the citizens’ comment time at my City Commission meeting to draw people’s attention to COP-26 and the climate crisis. I wore pieces of burnt toast clipped to my hat and shirt, and carried a cutout painting I’d made of a thermometer in flames. I pointed out that there’s only so much big government can do to build real resilience (which as I see it includes both mitigation and adaptation); that the real power to build resilience rests with neighborhoods and local communities.

The visual/theatrical sort of approach got people’s attention; I may use a similar approach in subsequent efforts to boost my community’s climate awareness and willingness to face the situation.

Speaking of a visual/theatrical approach, a friend and fellow activist has dressed up as a “toxic mermaid” (complete with sickly green face paint) to raise awareness of pollution and wildlife deaths in our waterways.

If you try (or have tried) anything of this sort, drop me a line and let me know what you did and how it went!

In a frequent sequence of events, a developer is applying for a zoning variance to build a residential development on their land. This piece of land is located within an area that has been defined by the city and state as a “Wildlife Corridor” or “Conservation Corridor.” This allows the public to ward off development by purchasing conservation easements rather than have to buy the land outright. And it means the owner gets to keep their land rather than feel forced by development pressure to sell. Which all sounds great to me!

At the same time, as I wrote in my local eco Facebook group just now (and will also be emailing local government officials):

More and more, my thoughts are turning to how we need to get beyond the “nature OR housing” struggle … it is a zero-sum game. What we need is new modes of development in which nature is more fully preserved/integrated IN the housing development or shopping plaza or whatever.

The two perennial worst things I notice about the mainstream approach to development are:

1) the so-called “landscaping” (causing wildlife habitat loss, vastly increased water consumption, pollinator deaths, water pollution, death of aquatic/marine life, and a host of other woes), increased car traffic;
and

2) the car-dependent design (causing traffic congestion, chronic illnesses from sedentary lifestyles, disempowerment of kids and nondriving elderly folks and others who don’t drive, water pollution and intensified heat from asphalt runoff, and many more woes).

We need to start insisting that all new developments really get beyond these toxic and destructive patterns. Eco-minded folk can and should be offering creative suggestions to developers. People and wildlife can and do live side by side, if the humans are required to learn about and respect the plants and animals.

I’m not expressing myself in a manner that anywhere near adequately encompasses the expert perspectives I’ve been tuning into over the past couple of years. A conference called The Nature of Cities in particular was a huge turning point for me. 2000 people from 70 countries — connected by Zoom in a multi-day conference. There are so many examples of human settlements all over the world that don’t wreck the landscape or kill wildlife.

Nature needs to be (re)integrated into human settlements, for our benefit as well as that of other species.

What might a housing development along a wildlife corridor look like? Tiny houses closely clustered along a walk/bike path and transit route to reduce car-dependency and encourage people to get outdoors and enjoy nature? Covenant restrictions to minimize private yard space and maximize preservation of large areas of trees and other native vegetation? “Strong Towns”-y emphasis on compact street layouts, eliminating sprawl? What else?

We have lots of local expertise and I have a feeling that if a bunch of the local environmental experts I most admire were to all get together, they could design a gorgeous “Wildlife Corridor Neighborhood”. [Tagged list of local eco folk] and anyone else who would want to be involved — how bout it? Creative eco housing complex design collab, anyone?

PS. AND i bet people would be lining up to live there even with the restrictions! Maybe even BECAUSE of the restrictions!! (Oh – how about no herbicides, pesticides, etc.)

A lot of people these days are “re-wilding” their yards, or parts of their yards. Many of the popular methods require a lot of work, time (cardboard layering, I’m looking at you!), money, or all the above. Here’s my method of choice, which minimizes time, labor, footprint, and financial cost:

Assuming you have not been spraying your yard, you can probably get a nice meadow just by letting the grass grow. The ground (in areas not drenched by poison) is a local seed-bank of native wildflowers, tall meadow grasses, and forbs. Some unwanted grass will grow along w the natives but you can pull that out bit by bit. Much faster, less expensive, and less work than other popular approaches. And good for you, those of you who are facing fussbudget lawn-lackey neighbors and refusing to back down!!

In some places, there might be rules on how tall the grass is allowed to be. (Other than tall native/prairie/coastal grasses.) Eight inches, a foot, etc.

Fortunately it takes a long time for grass to get that tall. You’ll have a time-window in which you can get some wild plants growing.

Some things that can help ensure a “deliberate, not abandoned” look:

• Make or buy a little sign saying pollinator meadow, wildflower meadow, etc.
• Mow a border maybe a foot wide around just the perimeter of the yard.
• Make a border with whatever free materials you have available: rocks, logs, old railroad ties
• Mow a walking path thru the yard.