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Comments I’ve posted recently in response to fellow eco folks’ comments on social media:

“[W]e’ve spent a few decades voting with our wallet by not flying, and it’s made absolutely zero difference. I think we need change at the system level – governments, local authorities, national and international companies, that sort of level. And I just don’t know how we achieve that in the necessary timescale.”

— I actually think the airlines have been systematically working to undermine buses and trains, but I don’t have any data about that.

I think the key is that in addition to our own behavior, we have to try to find ways to communicate publicly in such a manner that certain types of consumption become unfashionable.

Lately on social media, for example, I have been posting comments about how unpleasant flying is, and how much more pleasant it is to take the train. Nothing about carbon footprint and all that; just emphasizing the comfort and enjoyment aspect.

And of course now there have been some scary airline accidents so maybe some more people will become averse to climbing into a flying object.

“The only trouble with taking a train vs flying is that it can end up a lot more expensive. And usually takes a lot longer without high speed rail.”

— True, so the people we reach will tend to be people who prioritize comfort, and who don’t like to be up in the air with no escape.

And people who like to not have to worry about having their shampoo thrown away, And people who are done with not being able to bring anything from home to drink for the trip, etc. Some years ago, the last time I flew, I couldn’t even bring in a sealed store-bought smoothie. That thing was pricey and I wasn’t going to give it away to the security dump, so I had to sit there and drink it in line which was silly but at least I got my vitamins. 😆

Trains are so much more civilized in such a basic way. Also I find that the various airport hassles (Including having to get to and from the airport) ends up taking up so many hours that the train trip doesn’t end up being that much longer.

Also, on a train or bus, a person can keep their electronic devices on and get work done if they need to. I have done entire webinars aboard a train trip.

Much harder to do that on a plane.

Air travel is really quite grueling. Plus there is the fact that you’re stuck up in the air.

Regarding cost, I have noticed that plane tickets these days are shockingly inexpensive.

The cheap ticket prices totally do not reflect the damage that we are doing to the planet, and to our own transportation security/resilience, by flying. I suspect that the airlines are systematically undercutting ground transportation.

It seems like bus and train service is getting eroded with each passing year. More people should really be more alarmed about this. I know I am.

Actually alarm may not be the right word. I’m actually quite furious, disgusted, heartbroken, and outraged.

Someone in my social-media universe posted about her water heater breaking down.

I can relate to how she feels; about not wanting to impose on a friend for the costly repair or replacement.

Love what she said about her grandmother who raised her kids without having access to electricity or running water. And it was in a place with cold winters! Good reminder to us all! Especially in times when the conventional infrastructure & conveniences seem to be getting more precarious.

For some years now, I have chosen not to use a water heater (as in the big water heaters found in typical USA residences). I stopped using them for various reasons, including cost, eco footprint, and maintenance hassle.

Usually find cold water adequate for washing dishes. Those occasional times I need hot water, I heat it up in a little electric kettle, or the solar oven.

I have various ways to bathe / shower that don’t need hot water. (Have written about that elsewhere on this blog.)

But, for hot showers, the little inexpensive solar shower bags they sell at sporting-goods stores or online come in handy. Those things can get really hot!!

At an eco school I attended in New Mexico years ago, we even found out we could put the bags in an insulated cooler overnight if we wanted a hot shower early in the morning.

For people feeling anxiety about climate change & social/economic chaos:

I highly recommend reading fellow Deep Adaptation member Terry LePage’s excellent book “Eye of the Storm: Facing Climate and Social Chaos with Calm and Courage.”

The author points out that fear, calm, and courage are all contagious. And that we can be in service by cultivating calm & courage. She shares some unhelpful stories we’ve been clinging to; and offers some more meaningful, compassionate, authentic stories.

And please join the book discussion group on Zoom; details below.

From the author:

Hi all. You are welcome to join a book group starting next Sat. Jan. 13, 10am Pacific time. No charge. Facilitated by the author! I love the feedback I’m getting that this book gives people comfort and practical tools for coping and living well.

Free audiobook at https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets/eye-of-the-storm-by-terry-lepage-audiobook; paper and electronic editions available from all your usual sources including internationally. Let me know if you need a PDF.

Register here. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/opendoorcommunication1/1018746.
(Eye of the Storm book group)

A fellow author posted that question on their timeline.

My answer:

I’m doing it!
I wanted to be an environmentalist and now I teach people how to restore ecosystems.
I wanted to be a fashion designer and now I make my own clothes and accessories out of old clothing & scraps that were otherwise destined for landfill.
I wanted to be a psychologist/therapist, and now I help people explore their consciousness and liberate their minds.
I wanted to make art and now I do what I want.
I wanted to be a book author, and now I am.
One thing I might want to do next is secure ownership of a vacant duplex or fourplex in my neighborhood, and let the tenants become the owners, and I would be a Permaculture property manager.
Having a little community coffee shop / bookstore wouldn’t be awful either! In the meantime, I have a little free library out front of my place.

What a great post, thank you fellow author Ajay Howarth – Author!

Things just got a little bit easier for people like you and me who might want to invest in developing “missing middle” housing in our neighborhoods.

The following post is from Eric Brown, one of my co-authors of the FREE book. (You can visit his Facebook page Growingfree SimpleLife here.)

This is a HUGE Deal,……Can’t Afford a Single Family Home? Buying a 2-4 Plex Got Easier in 2023!

Important #missingmiddlehousing milestone: In 2023 Fannie Mae Made Missing Middle Easier to Finance, Requiring Only 5% down on 2-4 Plex Mortgages

Article Highlights:

This new option presents a great opportunity for individuals looking to invest in multifamily homes while also enjoying the benefits of homeownership.

Fannie Mae has announced that, starting from the weekend after November 18, 2023, it will accept 5% down payments for owner-occupied 2-, 3-, and 4-unit homes. This marks a departure from the previous multifamily financing requirement of 15-25% down payments for duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes.

The maximum loan amount allowed for these 2-4 unit properties is set at $1,396,800….

Additionally, the elimination of the FHA self-sufficiency test for 3-4 unit properties means that buyers will face fewer hurdles when seeking pre-approval for these types of multifamily homes.

For owner-occupant landlords, this policy shift represents a significant opportunity to reduce mortgage payments by leveraging rental income. The ability to make a smaller down payment not only makes multifamily homes more accessible, but it also allows home buyers to gain valuable landlord experience, as they have the opportunity to collect rent from other units while simultaneously building equity in their own property.

Here’s the full article Eric was describing: https://themortgagereports.com/107690/fannie-mae-introduces-5-down-payment-option-for-multifamily-homes

Someone in a different Permaculture group where I shared Eric’s post made a comment that sounded like they were questioning the relevance of this post to Permaculture. They typed “Relevance? Admin.”

Not sure what they meant by this question. I suspect they are questioning its relevance to permaculture because they think Permaculture is just about gardening? (That’s a very widespread and persistent misconception.)

BUT! One of the most important aspects of Permaculture is where we bank, how we invest, how we spend our money.

Also, housing is one of the core aspects of permaculture. It’s one of the basic human needs.

I immensely appreciate this post. Housing is a really serious issue, and the missing middle is a big part of the solution.

Another really serious issue is how much of everyday people’s money is parked on wall street (in the form of 401ks etc). Regenerative, community-building Investment options such as “missing middle” housing can help solve this draining of money from communities as well.

BTW one thing notable about this policy change making it easier to get loans for missing middle housing, is that it applies to owner-occupied missing middle housing. There is a great qualitative difference, in terms of communiy cohesion, between owner occupied rental housing, and not owner occupied.

A friend/fellow activist posted on her feed, asking fellow Floridians where are we thinking of moving when our state turns full fascist — because it’s happening before our very eyes.

My answer:

Staying here to be a part of helping to fix things. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t have much to lose. In that I am not in a vulnerable population. So I figure my best contribution is to stick around.

In any case, assuming it gets worse here it will definitely spread elsewhere. So I figure what better place to be to try to contain it than here, at the worst spot, before it spreads more than it already has.

Also, Florida is a hotbed of climate disaster in the USA. For someone like me who has relatively little to fear, I figure what better place for me as a permaculture activist to be to try to help people adapt & soften the suffering, than on one of the front lines.

Using the principles of permaculture design, we can pack innumerable useful functions onto even a very small residential yard, such as are commonly found in suburban and urban areas. A couple of excerpts from Mollison and Slay’s Intro to Permaculture book:

“Contrast the large cleared areas of Australia and North America with the small, intensively-farmed areas in the Philippines, where the total land around the house is usually only twelve square meters” (=less than 130 square feet!): “out of this comes most of the food for the family. The house is often on stilts, with animals penned beneath. Garden surrounds the house. Scraps and trimmings are fed to the animals; manures are used on the garden. Trellis, holding passionfruit, gourds, beans, and other climbing vegetables, shelters the house from extreme heat and provides food for the family. Fast growing trees … are coppiced for fuelwood. So stay close to the house, and work towards developing small, intensive systems. We can plant 10 critical trees, and look after them, whereas we plant 100 we can lose up to 60% of them from lack of site preparation and care.” …

And similarly, garden/orchard plantings grouped around houses in Central America:

“Close to the house and more or less surrounding it is a compact garden and orchard some 20 square meters” (=less than 216 square feet!) “in extent. No two of these are exactly alike. There are neat plantations more or less grouped together. There are various fruit trees … And a thicket of coffee bushes in the shade of the larger trees. There are tapioca (cassava) plants of one or two species, grown more or less in rows at the edge of the trees. Frequently there are patches of banana; corn and beans are here and there in rows or patches. Climbing and scrambling all over all are vines of various squashes and their relatives: the chayote (choko) grown for its squashes, as well as its big starchy root; and the luffa gourd, its skeleton used for dishrags and sponges. The cucurbits clamber over the eaves of the house and run along the ridgepole, climb high in the trees, or festoon the fence. Setting off the whole garden are flowers and various useful weeds (dahlias, rosemary, gladioli, climbing roses, asparagus fern, cannas and grain amaranth).”

Meanwhile:
“… European gardens, often extraordinarily tidy, result in functional disorder and low yield. Creativity is seldom tidy. Perhaps we could say that tidiness is something that happens when compulsive activity replaces thoughtful creativity.”

(From Introduction to Permaculture; by Bill Mollison with Reny Mia Slay.)

And one of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Permaculture is not energy- or capital-intensive, rather it is information-intensive. It is the quality of thought and the information we use that determines yield, not the size or quality of the site. We are using not only our physical resources, but our ability to access information and to process it. Information is the most portable and flexible investment we can make in our lives; it represents the knowledge, experience, ideas, and experimentation of thousands of people before us.”

#PermacultureDesignPrinciples #SmallScaleIntensiveSystems