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Today’s NY Times online edition served up two articles highlighting the #footprint & other problems associated with high volumes of online shopping; cargo shipping.

Of course the best thing any of us everyday people can do is be very discerning about what, and how much, stuff we choose to purchase, be it online or in person.

1) “The City That Never Sleeps … or Shops in Person” (NY Times; Guest essay by freelance writer Sonja Anderson)

“A package enjoying its last mile on an e-bike doesn’t mean it hasn’t been made from plastic in another country, flown or shipped to this one using oil or coal and packaged in a plastic envelope or cardboard box. Waste abounds (even if recyclable, this material rarely finds new life). If we want to do better for the environment, we shouldn’t be taking steps to enable more e-commerce, but instead considering how much we could help ourselves by not buying online.
That seems simple, but our problem runs deep. Americans have been nursing a shopping addiction for a while, and e-commerce has only deepened our problem.”

2) “Shipping Contributes Heavily to Climate Change. Are Green Ships the Solution?” (NY Times; by Ana Swanson)

“The ship, commissioned by the Danish shipping giant Maersk, was designed with a special engine that can burn two types of fuel — either the black, sticky oil that has powered ships for more than a century, or a greener type made from methanol. By switching to green methanol, this single ship will produce 100 fewer tons of greenhouse gas per day, an amount equivalent to the emissions of 8,000 cars.

“The effect of global shipping on the climate is hard to overstate. Cargo shipping is responsible for nearly 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — producing roughly as much carbon each year as the aviation industry does. …

“Shipping is surprisingly efficient: Transporting a good by container ship halfway around the world produces far less climate-warming gas than trucking it across the United States. …

“That incredible efficiency has lowered the cost of transport and enabled the modern consumer lifestyle, allowing retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Ikea and Home Depot to offer a vast suite of products at a fraction of their historical cost.

“Yet that easy consumption has come at the price of a warmer and dirtier planet. In addition to affecting the atmosphere, ships burning fossil fuel also spew out pollutants that reduce the life expectancy of the large percentage of the world’s people who live near ports …”

shopping; shipping; cargo

Housing is one of the key categories of overhead costs-of-living that we can benefit greatly by — as my friend and fellow permaculture activist Eric Brown puts it — “crushing.”

In my talks and writings, I have often talked about how I was able to creatively turn a one-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom, in order to be able to get a roommate to share expenses with.

The roommate would get the real actual bedroom with the door, and I carved myself a little micro room out of the living room. The “walls” of my roomette were tall bookcases etc.

It was actually quite cozy and pleasant. I enjoyed the creative aspect, and there are certainly advantages to having pretty much all of one’s possessions at one’s fingertips!!

Nowadays, I live in a house, which I was fortunate to be able to purchase in 2018. But I get to continue to indulge my love of tiny spaces, while also providing a stable home for other people.

The photo on the right shows my current micro room, which I have in my house. It’s the tiniest room in the house at 6 1/2′ x 7 1/2′. It used to be a utility room but I don’t have a wish to have to deal with my own washer and dryer. I washed everything by hand, and the housemates use laundromats or laundry services. (I very occasionally use a laundry service as well, for large items.) 

My room is accessed from the kitchen. The entrance sign says “Jenny’s office,” but it serves as office, studio, and bedroom!

My housemates get the two large official bedrooms, while I get to continue to indulge my love of tiny cozy spaces!

You can see photos here on my art & design page on Facebook.

#housesharing #microdwelling #lowfootprintliving #DEEPGREEN #community #spaceefficiency

It struck me today: Never underestimate the potential for asynchronous following!

This is for all of you who are out there trying to help situations in the world by communicating via writing or any other medium; and who sometimes get discouraged when your efforts do not seem to be reaching very many people.

As someone who has only ever had a micro following, I sometimes feel disappointed and guilty that I am not really reaching people and not really being effective.

However, one thing I have been noticing is that posts, and radio shows and so on, often have a persistent existence. Many things are stored online. And oftentimes, I will notice somebody “liking” something that I have posted or has been recorded some months or some years back.

So, being that the real goal is not to have followers per se just to feel like a celebrity, but to actually make a difference, this is very encouraging and it’s something worth reminding oneself.

Audience reach is not just a thing in that moment; it’s a thing that extends over the axis of time as well.

(post topic tags: second home; goodwill; community-building)

Here’s another question that came “from the wild” this week. An Internet acquaintance posted this on FB, and I took it upon myself to insert my eco/permaculturist perspective even though I’m pretty sure the questioner is a civilian.

Q: “Any tips on winterizing a house? First time and going to be working on winterizing a house in Maine. Seems like a steep learning curve for someone from Florida.”

My initial response: “Why is a person from Florida winterizing a house in Maine if you’re not going to live in it? I know, I’m nosy but I just can’t help it! I guess what I would do if I were in that position is get help from locals.”

Their response to my response: “We are buying a second home.”

And my answer: “Oh. In that case, I would probably pay a local to do the winterizing work (and/or pay them to show me how), and also allow a local to stay on the property rent-free as caretaker.”

(post topic tags: ethical finance; questions from the wild)

This one is “from the wild,” so to speak; someone in my circles posted this on their personal page and I took it upon myself to provide my answer.

Question: “What brokerage do you use/prefer for your financial management and investments? I’m deciding between Schwab and Fidelity.”

My response:

Because of certain eco-spiritual beliefs that I hold, I completely refrain from investing in financial instruments. (Especially anything tied to Wall Street.)

However, I have a Permaculture design colleague who has done some deep research into ethical investing options, including many localized investment funds etc., and I think you and many other people in our shared circles might find it helpful to check out her website.

Laura Oldanie offers a huge wealth of free content too, along with her books and classes and personalized sessions. Visit her at Rich Resilient Living, https://www.richandresilientliving.com

As Laura words it: “I teach reluctant capitalists how to cultivate true wealth & financial resilience on a climate challenged planet.”

Yes, the original motivation of my book & blog is to provide guidance for fellow humans seeking to lower their eco footprint.

And, I myself am a staunch eco activist. However, the DEEP GREEN truth is that most of my choices are not motivated solely — or even primarily — by environmental concerns.

The fact is that I consider foot, bicycle, and bus, and train to be BY FAR the best modes of transportation, superior to the private automobile for numerous reasons!!

Less expensive, less risky, less brittle, more social, and better for physical and mental health.

On a personal note, public transportation made it possible for an Internet friend and me to meet up in person.

I immensely enjoyed walking over the bridge on a beautiful day to the main Votran transit station to meet up with fellow activist Jennifer H., who had traversed the county by bus to come do an errand in this area. And just like that, an Internet friend becomes a face-to-face friend too!!

Walking really is transportation, exercise, and internal medicine for me.

The various components of my day yesterday were beautifully stitched together by foot transport. Some writing and landscaping tasks in the morning, then walking to meet up with my friend at the bus station.

Then walking onward to meet up with a close friend for lunch. (And then we drove together in his car to while away the afternoon in one of our favorite pubs. Note, my pal doesn’t drink alcohol, so no drinking and driving was involved.)

And then later in the afternoon, walking to an opening reception for a chiropractor who shares office space with my primary-care practitioner, and then to local government Planning Board meeting to participate in the process of deciding things about our city. And then the beautiful walk home over the bridge with the almost-full moon overhead.

Fun fact: the chiropractor and my primary-care practitioner, and the therapist who shares office spaces with them, were first connected via our vibrant Daytona Beach chapter of 1 Million Cups.

Reflecting on yesterday, and what a typical day it was in many ways for me, I am really struck by how much of a difference spending significant amounts of time outside of a car has made in my capacity to make social connections and see things happening around my community.

(Written to one of the many fellow USA-born white people I know who have “escaped” the USA for Mexico or Costa Rica or Belize or some other country where the culture is supposedly nicer, and the living is supposedly easier, than in the harsh, brutal society we have co-created here):

“Sounds like you are happy living in Mexico. It always struck me as strange and a bit sad that people like you and me could decide to go live in Mexico, while apparently for so many Mexicans it has become unsafe and they have felt compelled to flee their own homeland. It doesn’t make sense to me. Probably way too big a subject to fit into an email.”

Admittedly, the society we were born into is harsh and brutal. But we share responsibility for co-creating that. And using our privilege to “escape” from it as opposed to using our privilege to help fix the mess is not going to work.

My personal opinion is that we should not feel at all OK about being able to buy ourselves some measure of security, and/or financial luxury, or cultural warmth, by moving to another country where the people are worse off than us. It’s doubly galling when the citizens of that country are having to flee their own homeland because of political violence, climate extremes, or something else life-threatening.

Same goes for USA mainlanders moving to Puerto Rico or Hawaii.