Category: low-footprint living

This post will be added to on an ongoing basis.

Landscaping fabric:

In my experience (in my own yard and in my eco landscaping business), landscape fabric is way more trouble than it’s worth.

1) It makes it harder for water and nutrients to reach the plants you are trying to grow.
2) Makes it harder to pull out the plants you don’t want growing in there.
3) Over time, it leads to soil compaction.
4) The fabric disintegrates over time and makes a mess.
And 5) The fabric gets in the way of raking; makes it difficult to impossible to rake out beds.

Oftentimes, you’ll see a story in the media about some very scary insect or spider or snake or what have you. It’s always good to do research to investigate what’s being claimed. A nice public service is to post on social media to ease peoples’ fears.

The most recent example I encountered was when somebody posted a link to an article about a supposedly “giant venomous flying spider” that’s getting ready to invade the Northeastern US. Known as the Joro spider.

It looked to me like a cousin of what we used to call a banana spider, which are very large and brightly colored but not dangerous. Even though it can feel alarming for a second when you walk into one of their big webs, which I have many times!

Inevitably, as usually happens, several people had commented on the article, saying that’s terrifying, I would have to light myself on fire, where can I move to avoid these, etc.

So I looked into it and based on what I found I shared the following:

Not to worry!!

1) Almost all spiders are venomous. They almost all have venom. However, the majority of spiders do not use their venom on humans. It’s for subduing the insects that are their food.

And 2) The Joro spider is not dangerous, according to websites of multiple pest-control companies. It “can bite humans and pets, but as is with all orb-weavers, it has small mouth parts and is not aggressive. Because of their small mouth parts, the Joro has been deemed as harmless and typically not a safety concern. If someone were to be bitten, it would be comparable to a bee sting.” (from Arrow Exterminators, Texas)

3) No spiders fly. Rather, some use a technique called ballooning whereby they shoot silk out their spinnerets and use it to ride air currents. It’s really pretty cool, and lots of spiders do it!

“Once baby spiders emerge from the eggs sac, they stay close to their nesting area for many weeks before traveling to new places.
They normally stay within the egg sac until they go through their first molt. After a few more days or weeks, the spiderlings start to disperse and explore new territories. Through a method called ballooning, they take on their first journey away from their birthplace. Some adult spiders undergo ballooning as well. Garden spiders, for instance, use this strategy to look for potential mates in other locations. If you see a flying spider in your yard, don’t be scared. These little arachnids don’t pose any threat and are nothing to be concerned about.” (from Stampede Pest Control, also in Texas)

4) The Joro is an orb-weaver. So mostly, when it’s not ballooning, it weaves a web and hangs out waiting to catch bugs.

And finally 5) Ooooooooh, awwwwwwe, pretty colors! Such a garden beauty!!!!!

PS. I really appreciate that the pest-control companies did the public service of letting people know that they don’t have to worry.

Oh, and kudos to this news station WKFR103.3, for posting an article on why Michigan might want the Joro spider to come to town.

One easy way to promote low-footprint living is to talk up the simple attractions of the place where you live.

Somebody posted on NextDoor that they just moved to Daytona Beach, with their child, and they are looking for different activities and to meet people. A lot of people chimed in with great ideas and recommendations.

This is just a few things I thought of off the top of my head to share. Everything I mentioned is either right in the downtown area, or accessible by public transportation.

I love my adopted home city!

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Welcome! I second the recommendation of Sweet Marlays coffeehouse. Also City Island library and the riverfront esplanade park. And first Fridays food truck nights on Beach Street.

If you want to experience beautiful beach nature, go down to Ponce Inlet. There is a nature trail and learning center and various restaurants and a lighthouse you can visit. It’s quite a climb if you take the stairs up to the top!

Of course there’s the beautiful ocean right here in Daytona Beach too if you like to take a dip. And if you like a water park as well, there is Daytona Lagoon which is right near the Ocean Center. They offer games / indoor amusements as well.

One really interesting spot that a lot of people don’t know about is the historic cemetery on Main Street, across from boot Hill saloon. It’s so interesting reading the old headstones, and it’s beautiful in there with lots of big oak trees and colorful dune wildflowers.

Speaking of history, if you like history museums check out the Halifax history Museum on Beach Street. You can find out so many cool things about the history of this area. They have lectures and other events there too.

We also have a minor-league baseball team, the Tortugas. They play at the historic Jackie Robinson stadium right downtown. The games are a fun and reasonably priced way to spend an evening. And the Tortuga’s organization does so much for the community. They have special fun activities for kids, and they are very supportive of seniors as well with various senior discounts.

And concerts at the Peabody Auditorium, there are quite a variety!

And I keep thinking of stuff I forgot… Concerts at the bandshell and so on!

Recently I made a post summarizing the advantages of cutting out the following: clothes-dryer, dishwasher, car, air-conditioner, water-heater. It might seem unthinkable to choose to live without these conveniences, especially if you have been heavily steeped in USA American mainstream culture. But, there are great advantages both personal and planetary. And you can read about them here: “Cutting out the Big 5”; May 23, 2024.

It struck me that one of the items, car, is not something within the house. (Unless someone drives a car into your house by crashing through your window, which I hope never happens to you, but has been known to happen to people and businesses on occasion.)

This morning, I thought of something within the typical USA American house that would be good to include in the big five. So here I’m doing a “within-the-house” version of the “big five” post.

The replacement item #5 is … wide-screen TV + cable service.

Now, to be clear, I am not judging anybody for liking wide-screen TV and cable. To tell you the truth, I enjoy watching shows and could easily get hooked on them if I had a TV and cable service in my house. When I visit my family, I totally enjoy watching TV with them. Also, I periodically go to a friend’s house and we watch movies together on Netflix etc.

In my ideal fantasy universe, maybe we would have one “entertainment center” on each block or something, like the TV in the village in India where everyone gathers around and watches together.

That probably isn’t going to happen, so usually I just content myself with watching TV in bars or restaurants, or at the homes of family or friends. And it is a very occasional treat.

I don’t think that the footprint is very large in terms of electricity. I mean, yes, it uses electricity.

The bigger problem I have with it is that it’s expensive! Not only the monthly bill, but also the repair service and so on when something goes down. And, the same as the other four of the big five, it always seems like a terrible urgent disaster when it goes down.

Where I see the largest footprint of TV and cable, though, is encouraging consumerism. There are products and services, fashion looks and things, that I had no clue about and then when I see them on TV I can suddenly understand why people want to buy so much stuff! Very very tempting.

Another problem that I see is that it keeps us indoors and not connecting with neighbors in the public sphere.

Having TV and cable in each residence can also foster a reduced concern for budgets for things like the small independent cinema, film showings at the public library, and other public amenities.

I’m sure there are other advantages as well to giving up cable and TV. And again, I emphasize that when I have a TV in front of me it can be very very enticing. In fact, I get more into the shows since I don’t have the option to just watch them anytime. So when the show is on, I really want to pay attention to it and get irritated with friends who constantly flip channels.

And then I start to wonder if I am putting TV ahead of an actual person who is right next to me!

I think what sums up my attitude toward TV + cable is that it’s very enticing when it’s in front of me, but when it’s not in front of me all the time I don’t miss it. I really don’t even think about it except inasmuch as it is a way to hang out with loved ones.

One advantage I get from not having TV and cable is that I have tons of time for reading, watching informational videos on YouTube, and taking online classes. And taking walks. Walks take lots of time!

Speaking of walks, having an entertainment bonanza at our fingertips inside of our living rooms can end up discouraging us from enjoying the outdoor space. We can end up consuming more fossil fuels for heat, air conditioning, and so on.

On the social media pages of fellow liberals of various stripes, there have naturally been a lot of discussions about the upcoming presidential election.

Some say we need to vote for the “blue” mainstream candidate, because otherwise we will be wasting our vote and the “red” will win.

Others are fed up with the two mainstream parties and insist that we have just got to choose different even if it means taking a risk.

I have tended to side in the latter camp more and more, although I certainly understand why people want to play it safe. And in fact, in the past two elections, I have “voted blue” just to be “safe.” (In years-past elections where I voted for an alternative third candidate, we liberals ended up getting the presidents we really didn’t want.)

And really, Biden is not a bad candidate; he means well and he has accomplished some good things.

But, we need to really push to dismantle the persistent belief that war is necessary or helpful in any way.

What I see as the task of grassroots citizens is to keep pushing all of our political leaders to stop seeing war as an option. Dropping bombs on “enemies” only enriches the pockets of the defense contractors, who often supply both sides.

Even the apparent “victors” of war, their lands and societies are left in ruins. It’s a dead-end path.

I have often felt that USA society suffers from collective PTSD as a result of waging war.

The question inevitably comes up, what are we supposed to do when another country invades one of our ally countries. For example, what were we supposed to do when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Well, we can’t invent a time machine, but it would be great if we could go back to when Russia threatened to invade Ukraine if NATO expanded. We could’ve listened, and not admitted any more new members.

And, we needed to tune in to Russia’s motive, which is/was likely fear-based. (Same with Israel, in regard to Palestine.)

Since we didn’t do it back then, we have to start now. We could start by stopping the flow of weaponry. Stop feeding the war. Knowing that it doesn’t work.

If we decide that war isn’t an option, people have to stay at the table and talk. Even if they can’t talk directly to each other, they need to get intermediaries. And also to get alternative perspectives from other nations, various organizations.

One organization we should all follow and support is Veterans for Peace.

Recently I have become a life member of Veterans for Peace (I am a civilian but civilians can join too.) The group is a great source of strength and inspiration for advocating the stance that war is not an option. It won’t happen overnight, but it is a very worthy and necessary task. If we pull together, we can help our leaders muster the political will to stop making war an option.

Almost all of the politicians, even the so-called left-wing ones, are too entrenched in the military industrial complex. It’s not that they are bad people, it’s just that that’s how politics goes. I think the only way to get out of this war trap is very strong grassroots pressure. We can talk about how expensive war is; we can talk about how bad it is for the environment; we can talk about how it destroys the fabric of community.

We just have to keep harping on all of these unacceptable factors.

One of the best ways to be an eco activist is to push our politicians to make war not an option. I really love that Veterans for Peace focuses so strongly on the relationship between climate change and militarism.

Suggested action step: Become a member of Veterans for Peace.

In this blog, I have always had a mix of tones. Some of the posts are what I would call salty or spicy. Recently, though, I have been reconsidering my approach. The fact is that most people care about the environment, and harsh words are not going to help.

A lot of our consumption is emotionally motivated, and that merits kindness and understanding rather than a judgmental tone. So I will probably be going back and, over time, tempering the salty posts as they occur to me.

In the meantime, if you encounter a post that feels harsh or otherwise unhelpful, you are always welcome to get in touch with me and I will provide you with a more user-friendly nugget of advice, assistance, and/or encouragement.

It’s a given that we all care about the environment here. And I am here to help. The fact is that it can be very very hard to make ethical choices in a hyper-consumerist industrial society.

It can also be hard to voluntarily choose to do without something, if you have the money to obtain that thing, and the thing is satisfying some deep emotional need. Having multiple houses; flying a lot — it’s easy for me to judge, but the fact is that circumstances in this society have played out in such a manner that, for example, people live a long distance away from their families. And if they have the money to fly across the continent to a brunch or a graduation ceremony, or to own multiple houses in multiple countries, they are not likely to forgo that unless they have a better way to meet the underlying emotional need. I’m here to help people (including myself) identify our root emotional needs, and find gentler and more sustainable ways to meet them.

And of course, there are physical needs too. For example, if I’m away from home and I need to drink some water or get something to eat, and the only options available are packaged and single-use plastic. Or, if I need to get from point A to point B, and the built environment and transportation infrastructure are hostile to pedestrians or anyone else not in a car.

If you’re like most of us, being berated isn’t going to help; we’re already beating ourselves up over it, and I suspect I’m not the only one who has at least on occasion skipped a meal or done without water rather than taking on single-use plastic.

But, if somebody points out that there’s a nearby shop that sells sandwiches wrapped in paper; or tells you that the minimart over there allows you to refill your own reusable cup, then that is going to help!

Same with transportation options. Maybe there’s a nicely tree-shaded street parallel to the pedestrian-hostile one I’m trying to walk on. Or maybe there is a trolley or bus route I didn’t know about.

(Note: When I say “people” here, I am referring to fellow eco-minded citizens. This blog, and my book, are not attempting to change the mind-sets and behaviors of people who are not concerned about biospheric collapse.)

As I’ve mentioned earlier, choosing a low-footprint life is a strictly voluntary task — no one can force it on you — and a lot of it involves internal “marketing” within ourselves. Behavioral economics!

PS. I truly have a deep abiding love for snarky humor. But I’ve realized it needs to be channeled in a way that is aligned with a higher purpose. Fortunately, in addition to being a sustainability educator, I am also a fiction writer (under a pseudonym). So I allow some of my fiction characters to be snarky. The only catch is that the characters have to evolve by the end of the story, and become more sensitive and empathetic.

Question on my social feed: How can you easily divert grey water from your place to your plants? Maybe catch the water coming out of your clothes washer hose in a container and put it into jugs to carry outside?

We don’t have a clothes washer at the house. (There was one here when I bought the house, and a dryer too, but I got rid of both to make an additional sleeping room.)

I hand-wash clothes outdoors in a bucket or small tub, and then distribute the water to shrubs and mulch piles and such.

(I have extensive experience living/training in arid environments, and also in camping/festival settings, so I know how to economize on water, so it is only ever very small quantities of water we are talking about here. A gallon or two a week at most usually.)

My current housemates use a laundromat.

Previous housemates have sometimes used a laundry service.

We wash our dishes outdoors, and distribute that small amount of water onto shrubs and mulch piles and so on.

I have experimented with washing indoors, saving the greywater and then transporting it outdoors. It worked OK, but the greywater tends to get nasty very quickly so it’s best to carry the jug/bucket outdoors and distribute it as soon as possible after washing.

I still prefer to wash outdoors, because it eliminates the extra labor of having to haul the jug or bucket through the door(s) from indoors to the outside.

Brad Lancaster, author of the bestselling “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands” books, has mentioned (when I heard him give a talk some years back) that he has an outlet hose leading from his washing machine to his yard. He rotates the hose among multiple fruit trees.