blog

A mere 1% of the population causes half of global aviation emissions, The Guardian reported recently.

My friend/colleague Chris Searles has a nonprofit called BioIntegrity that’s putting the word out about nature-based climate solutions. Chris polled a climate-action Facebook group the other day, “Should this 1% pay — out of their own pockets — to offset their aviation admissions?”

My response:

Yes! They should. At one point in my working life, I was part of this 1%, flying up to 11 times a year for a total of over 40k miles a year.

After I stopped the work-related flights, I purchased carbon offsets for them, and for every other flight I could remember taking in my adult life. I chose Gold Standard credits at the recommendation of a colleague I trust as a “low-footprint expert.”

The price was peanuts, maybe a couple hundred dollars or so if memory serves.

I have quit flying. And, I feel I should not fly again except possibly in extreme emergency (if such a scenario even exists), and if I do, I should purchase triple carbon offsets.

Just because I have made this choice doesn’t give me any right to tell anyone else they should. (More about that later.) But I do hope a lot of people, particularly those of you who agree with this blog’s message, will quit flying entirely, or radically curtail your flights, and when you do fly, purchase carbon offsets. They’re cheap. If you can afford to fly, you can afford to buy carbon offsets. (I made a post about carbon offsets awhile back; will dig it up for you. –> OK, here you go! Mitigating Your Footprint with Carbon Offsets.)

Further Exploration:

• The Systemic Climate Action Facebook Group

• BioIntegrity Facebook page

• BioIntegrity website

• (Update Jan 5, 2022): I just found out there’s a “Flight-Free Community,” with branches in the USA, UK, and Australia. I just visited the Flight Free USA website and took the flight-free pledge for life; was going in that direction anyway but this helped me make it official. I love the personal stories from people on the Flight Free USA page. My favorite observation is from a guy named Joshua Spodek in New York City: “People think of planes bringing them to distant loved ones, forgetting that flying in general makes them far away in the first place, relying on planes to fix the problem that planes created.” And the story from a guy in Cali who looks my age or older and has pedaled 100,000 miles on his electric bicycle!!! Wow!! (I heard about the FF community when a friend in the Socially Conscious FIRE Facebook group shared about it. I’m so happy to be constantly finding more deep-green-supportive communities to add to my resource files, for you and for me too!)

Over the years, without my really paying much active attention, my attitudes about tourism have shifted. I mean, I’ve never been super keen on conventional tourism, as in going on “getaway vacations,” cruises, or package tours (though I have done some of that). And I imagine many of you probably have similar feelings.

I’ve tended to prefer long stays and immersion. Like when I spent five weeks roaming around England, Scotland, and Wales back in the 80s. (My first time going overseas by myself.) Or when I took a month-long rail trip around Japan (I was living and working in Tokyo at the time). On those trips, the streets and everyday shops were always more of an attraction to me than the comme il faut visits to ruins or museums (though I could see the value in visiting ruins and museums, and did a good bit of that too). Really though, I would almost always rather just sit around chatting with some local in a pub or café. Or walk into a grocery store or convenience mart and see what’s on the shelves.

So it’s not as if I was ever a very tourist-y tourist. But, in recent years, I’ve started to feel more cautious about even the “educational” type of travel. Some of it is concern for carbon footprint. (But to address that concern, a traveler can purchase carbon offsets, something I have written about on this blog.)

But even beyond the environmental concerns of long-distance (especially international) travel, I have noticed within myself a more humanitarian, social, economic concern that until recently I might have had a hard time articulating. In the past few months I’ve stumbled on some readings that not only expressed a lot of what I’d been feeling, but also brought me to a deeper level of awareness around travel. A few months ago I started building an electronic “scrap file” of links on this topic. I added and added to it, but then turned to other topics and forgot where I stashed the “tourism” scrap file(s?). But as I find it/them, I will be sharing the links with you here. Watch this space! (Update: Yay! I just found one of my link-stashes! See below.)

Further Exploration:

• “Are We Doing Vacations Wrong?” (Yes Magazine): “From the economic instability that tourist cultures bring to their overuse of natural resources that exacerbate climate disasters, to glaring labor exploitation and gendered oppression that keep poor women of color living under the boot of White supremacist patriarchy, participating in the mass tourism industry is more likely to spread social inequality than staying home would.”

• “Lovely Hula Hands” (Haunani Kay-Trask, Revolutionary Frontlines blog): “I would imagine that most Americans could not place Hawai’i or any other Pacific island on a map of the Pacific. But despite all this appalling ignorance, five million Americans will vacation in my homeland this year and the next, and so on into the foreseeable capitalist future. Such are the intended privileges of the so-called American standard of living: ignorance of, and yet power over, one’s relations to Native peoples.”

• “Pandemic Returns Hawaii To Locals” (AP article in Daytona Beach News-Journal): “Locals, many of whom depend on tourism jobs, have long felt ambivalence about living in an island paradise that relies heavily on visitor spending, but many saw an upshot to a health crisis that threatened their livelihoods – reclaiming favorite areas long overrun by crowds. … ‘What the pandemic did was give us all a moment to pause, a number of months, to rethink everything,’ said state Sen. J. Kalani English. ‘What it proves for us is that old model of tourism, which is, you know, mass bring 11 million visitors a year, didn’t work and people were tired of it.'”

• U.N.: Skiing May Not Spread Coronavirus But Slopes Still Risky (AP article in Daytona Beach News-Journal; article focused on European countries known for ski tourism): “… the danger of coronavirus spread from skiing is from many of the other activities linked to the sport. The real issues are going to come at airports, tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts, ski lifts … and places where people come together,” Ryan said. “We would advise that all countries look at the their ski season and other reasons for mass gathering,” he said, warning that indoor socializing after skiing might be particularly risky.” (I’m including this article because it made me wonder if a few Euro ski-resort town locals are — like some Hawaiian locals mentioned in the above-linked article — breathing secret sighs of relief because maybe the lack of tourist crowds will give them leeway and time to enjoy the natural attractions of their own places.)

“Bad blogger! Bad blogger!” is what I’m saying to myself right now. Not in too stern a voice, because overall in my world I am feeling kissed by grace and have much to be thankful for. So I can’t manage to get as annoyed with myself as I usually do over my electronic “scrap habit.” Still, I am a bit irked with myself.

Back in the 80s, I was one of legions of young women who carried a giant purse. (It went well with my tall, puffy, DIY-frosted hairdo and my hot-pink leopard-print headbands and such.) The mega-purse would get filled up with a tangle of various papers and receipts and jewelry and junk, and periodically I’d have to disgorge the purse’s contents onto a table or something to sort things out. Well, friends, I haven’t changed all that much; I just do it with smaller purses (or mini hip packs) now. Therefore nowadays there are natural physical limitations on how far-gone I can let myself get!

Unfortunately, though, I also do an electronic version of that dysfunctional scrap-tangle habit. And the electronic version is a lot less self-correcting, let me tell you! Not only do I have multiple places to store stuff (my favorites are the iphone Note Pad app, Drafts section of this blog, and texts I send myself), but there is pretty much infinite space to store it! Unlike my purse, which (even those gargantuan purses from the 80s) has limitations on space, forcing me to clean them out eventually!

Well, in the spirit of one of my favorite permaculture design principles, I’m going to turn a problem into an asset. Make lemonade from the lemon of my organizational foibles, as it were.

Lemonade part 1: First, I’m sharing this foible openly with you, which I hope will help you feel comfortable with any glitches you have in your own organizational style and creative process. Thus (I hope) helping you in your work.

And lemonade part 2: I’m going to be giving you an unvarnished glimpse of my post-building process itself. This post, expressing my thoughts on tourism, may take awhile, as I try to either find the links from memory, or locate the electronic “scrap box” where I have been saving up all the links for you. You know, the links for the “Further Exploration” section, which I provide with posts on big topics when I feel compelled to share with you more voices than just mine. This sharing of my post-in-progress is also in hopes of helping you feel more comfortable with your own organizational quirks (if you have them), so you can get your creative activities flowing.

Right now, I’m starting from zero-ish. The file “scrap box” for my post “Thoughts On Tourism” is not in the Drafts area of this blog where I thought I had left it. If it’s not in either of my other two favored locations, I will attempt to cobble together the links from memory.

Human memory is a wonderful thing. Sometimes it works better than we expect.

Because, for various reasons, travel and tourism are a very emotional subject for me (a big part of why I let my “blog post gestation period” drag on for so long!), I may start the post by building the Further Exploration section first, and letting that lead me into writing my actual thoughts.

I’ve been “pregnant” with this post now for weeks-turning-into-months! Yikes! It feels great to make this “confessional” post though, and to get started (re)creating the actual post.

I hope you have found this preamble post helpful. We all (well, most of us) procrastinate from time to time, and we all (most of us anyway) misplace our “file folders” from time to time. And probably most of us feel blocked in our self-expression from time to time. I’m happy to be expanding my “bag of tricks” for navigating through those self-created rocky shoals. And I wish you the best in your own navigation, and am here to help you in any way I can.

And I thank you for blessing me with your presence, Dear Reader!

Over the past few years I’ve noticed that some people are so anxious about preserving their home’s resale value, that they never do anything to personalize their houses! Some people won’t even paint a wall the color they want, for fear it’ll affect the resale value.

I say why go to all the trouble of owning a home if you’re not going to allow yourself to enjoy the pleasure of making it yours? (And actually, even as a renter for most of my adult life, I always seemed to have landlords who were OK with me painting walls of my apartments, and planting fruit trees and other plants in the yard and such. Maybe I was just lucky.)

The water-heater discussion referred to in my previous post led to a tangent about home resale values; one commenter cautioned that choosing too small a water heater could harm a home’s resale value because typical buyers would want a larger one.

Of course, resale value is a key consideration for folks who plan on selling their homes someday. I’m lucky, my home is my forever paradise palace (unless climate change makes our area unlivable and the residents have to evacuate forever, in which case no new buyer would be buying my place anyway). Those of us who don’t ever plan on moving don’t have to worry about resale value, and get to enjoy much more leeway with our choices. (Just one more reason to choose a place to call home — “declare yourself native to a place” as Wendell Berry phrases it — and put down roots.)

When I expressed this idea that people who plan on living in their houses for life don’t need to worry about resale value, another person pointed out that if my family were to need to sell my home later, it helps if it’s sale-ready.

My take on this: True, but I wouldn’t want to live my whole life with an expensive appliance I don’t want, just so my family can sell my house more easily if I die before I’d planned to.

Same goes for creative things I choose to do such as painting flowers or lines of poetry on my walls. Or getting rid of the large airconditioner exhaust thingee I never use — because I don’t use a/c — to free up space in my yard for a birdbath. What do they call that giant, noise-emitting box that sits outside the house as part of a central A/C system? Air compressor? Condenser? (Note to self: google this.) I’m so glad I don’t need one; it took up a lot of space and I much prefer the birdbath; it causes no noise pollution and it attracts birds!

As it happens, my siblings are well-off enough so they would not need to worry about a few thousand dollars’ difference that my unconventional after-market touches might make in the proceeds from selling my house. But even if they were not well-off, I’d just sign up for life insurance right now, or some other thing that would help them out with some cash in the event of my death.

Much better than not being able to live the way I want to in the house I own. I figure why own a house if I can’t have the fun of modifying it to my wishes?

This is one of the USAmerican cultural norms around homeownership that I always find depressing: Some people are so focused on resale value, that they never fully LIVE in their houses while they are living there! Carpe Diem, homeowners!

Speaking of creative painting on the walls of houses one owns, an interesting story: My cousin, Jim Kay, was an artist (he died a couple years back, in his late 80s). In 2009, when I went up to visit him in his hometown (our ancestral hometown) of Fall River, Massachusetts, Jim took me to see the house where he had grown up.

We knocked on the door, and after we introduced ourselves and explained why we were there, the current owner very graciously let us in.

We were able to see, still on their livingroom wall, a tree mural Jim had painted in his teens — back in the 1940s! I was touched that the house’s subsequent owners had chosen to keep Jim’s mural.

Growing up in a military family, we moved every couple of years. Still, we always bought rather than rented. Even though they always knew we’d be moving, Mom and Dad never seemed to hesitate to paint a wall or do a bit of an unconventional renovation in a bathroom. Or put in some pretty wild wallpaper on at least one occasion I can recall! Wild, metallic, gold-and-orange pattern. (Hey, it was the 1970s.) Right smack-dab in the front hall. It was pretty darn cool actually. As was the large bold multicolored arrow that my Mom painted on the stairs that led down to the family room/”rec room.” I was so proud of that arrow, and of my parents’ taste and creativity in general.

By the way, my cousin Jim Kay didn’t just make art. He also taught the joys of art and performance to underprivileged kids, and to veterans. That was a huge part of his life, especially in his later years. Every year he guided his groups of young people in putting together a float and making masks for the local Earth Day parade. Jim was a strong believer in the power of art. To heal; to energize; to unite.

One of Jim’s favorite sayings was, “Everyone has a song to sing. And unless you sing your song, you won’t ever be truly happy in life.”

I think the little choices we make in our daily lives, including how we personalize our living spaces, are a big part of “singing our song.” I believe that if we allowed ourselves to express our natural creativity more fully, we wouldn’t feel such a need for outside-sourced “entertainment” and “escape.” (I’m talking mainly to my fellow United Statesians here.) That’d go a long way toward reducing our footprint, while also adding back into our lives a layer of richness that’s waned in recent decades.

To embolden you to get creative and enjoy altering your home to meet your needs and desires, I did a search on “homeowners obsessed with resale value.” Here you go!

Further Exploration:

Forget About Resale Value (finehomebuilding.com): Good read; practical advice from James Krengel, a kitchen and bath designer. No matter what you do, or don’t do, to your house, some buyers will like it and some will hate it. “If you listen to all the experts telling you to do this and don’t do that because it will affect resale value, you’ll essentially turn your home into the equivalent of a motel room. It’s your home; do what you want.”

Discussion thread on city-data.com: Lots of good sensible comments here, will fortify you to take up that hammer or paintbrush!

A super-green/permie friend posted in an online forum* seeking advice about the most eco-friendly water-heater option. (Her water-heater is electric and she says it will need to be replaced soon.)

My response, edited slightly for this blog post:

As you may know, I made the transition to totally water-heater-free a couple years back.

Even in winter, I can still bear to take a cold sponge-bath (or cold outdoor “Peace Corps shower” with a small dipper/pot) because I first make sure to get my body very heated up from doing yardwork, walking errands, etc.

BUT in the colder months I do sometimes heat up 1-2 liters of water a day in an electric kettle and store it in an old Stanley thermos. Stays very warm, even hot, for 24 hours, mildly warm for several hours longer. Perfect for a warm spongebath or a warm version of that beautiful al fresco “Peace Corps shower.” (One of my favorite things is a shower under the stars. Great option in an urban environment, especially if you don’t have a seamless privacy fence, tall dense hedge etc. Or just make yourself a little outdoor shower stall; those are popular. Of course you can just shower indoors but I love outdoors.)

If I were to end up with family members living with me longterm, I would probably accommodate them with a small water heater, for shower only. Say 10-20 gal.

My problem with a tankless heater is that it removes the feedback loop of limited quantity. People get accustomed to infinite availability of hot water– not a good thing for planet or wallet.

Huge bonus: I love having one less appliance that can leak, break down, etc. Such a load off one’s mind! My approach may sound extreme, but it’s hard to beat the peace of mind of just not having to think about this at all.

You could also just experiment by turning your water heater off for a day or two at a time, or only turn it on when you have guests. That’s what I did for a while. (IMPORTANT: In cold climates, where the temperature gets below freezing on a regular basis, just turning off your water heater might not be a good idea; your water might end up freezing, breaking pipes, etc. I would not try this in a cold climate without doing a lot more research. At the very least I would drain the water heater, not just let the water sit in it with the heater off.)

*The “online forum” mentioned above is the “Socially Conscious FIRE” group on Facebook. I highly recommend it. Once you join, you can find the water-heater discussion I’m referring to by doing a search for November 28, 2020; or “I’m likely going to have to replace my (electric) water heater.” Laura’s post elicited lots of good alternative suggestions, including heat-pump and gas-powered water heaters.

And, the “super-green/permie friend” who initiated this discussion is Laura Oldanie of the Rich & Resilient Living blog, one of my top go-to resources about finance, thrift, and abundant simple living. Laura’s blog is delightful and packed with high-quality information.

Dear Readers,

I love you all so much! And thank each of you for being you. Your emails and other communications are filled with adventure, surprises, deep wisdom, practical know-how, rich emotion. By your generous sharing of life-slices, you transport me to distant countries and hidden worlds; you allow me to live alternate lives simultaneously. I am honored to share your joys and your burdens.

Through your stories, I dwell in a palace of a thousand rooms, and each room has within it a thousand doors leading to a thousand more rooms.

Even if you have never actually communicated with me; even if you are a “read-only member”; even if you just got here today — I still feel the wealth of our connectedness, and will always seek to keep that wealth circulating; to give more than I get. Which is a very tall order, considering how much you all have given and continue to give me!

Thank you especially for everything you are doing to take care of yourselves. Please keep doing those things, so we can share many more years together, and maximize the good we do in the world.

Did I mention I love you?!

Consider yourself hugged.

The dreaded “TP Shortages” are back! And shortages of some other everyday household supplies too. Once again, “the most sought-after items at grocery and department stores this pandemic-impacted holiday season is — again — cleaning supplies, paper towels, and yes, toilet paper.” (Article in Daytona Beach News-Journal.)

But you don’t have to be affected! Here is my DEEP GREEN take on those shortages:

Once again, we have shortages. … And once again, all three items are STILL things a person can do without!

• Cleaning supplies –> Instead use water, elbow-grease, bit of baking soda & vinegar, drop of essential oil for scent if you like.

• Paper towels –> Never buy em again!! cloth rags are free, reusable, and far superior in terms of absorbency. Tear up old worn-out clothes & towels, and voilà! Endless supply of multipurpose household cloths.

• TP –> many North Americans are “discovering” a great thing that folks in other parts of the world have known about all along: bidets, or bidet-bottles! (I have posted about the latter, as have many others — look up “bidet bottle” or, as they are called in some countries/cultures, “Lota”). For wiping remaining water off the skin afterward, many people use washable “toilet cloth,” which is far easier on the skin than paper TP. Easier on trees too! Toilet cloth can be made by cutting up old sheets, old cloth napkins, etc.

To me, this “second wave” of shortages serves as a reminder of how liberating it is to have so many categories of stuff that we simply don’t need to buy! #FreedomFromPanicBuying

I have blogged about all these topics, and you can type keywords into the search field of my blog. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, or if you have questions after reading, give me a shout! I’m here for you!

Remember, one of the best ways to be instantly wealthy is to learn ways to just not need as much, while still having abundance. I am always here to help!