Category: low-footprint living

A fellow author commented that they cannot do audiobooks because they can’t concentrate on the audio. Same here.

Yes, people take in information differently. I can’t do audiobooks. (Video news/documentaries either. I find it much easier to read print than wade through a video, even a short video.)

Myself, I am a lifelong, ride-or-die fan of the printed word. Whether the “printed” word is on actual paper or on a screen.

Of course I have a special place in my heart for a physical printed book. However, the availability of ebooks and digitized periodicals on the screen has been extremely life-changing for me as far as enabling me to access much more reading material. So I can deal with the screens as well as the paper!

But, even though I prefer to read visually, I am learning that huge numbers of people greatly prefer audiobooks. And some people would not read a book if it were not available via audio. So I have become a supporter of audiobooks too.

I’m really glad that both print books and audio books are available! For the sake of everyone who loves words and reading.

Just now I did think of another angle to consider. A lot of people are using audiobooks on their long commutes. I am in favor of anything that maximizes time for learning and enjoyment.

(I’m still against long commutes, however. We need to fix our public transportation system, and also retrofit more neighborhoods with the stores, local jobs, and other basics that would enable people to navigate their daily life without having to sit in traffic for hours and hours every day.)

One factor I’m not sure of is eco footprint. The eco footprint of making/shipping a print book versus making and electronically delivering an audiobook. But I wouldn’t want people to not be able to access words just because audio might have a higher footprint. Besides, printing and mailing physical books surely has an enormous footprint. I have a feeling it’s about the same. I will look into this and if I find out something else I will let you know.

Speaking of eco footprint: One thing I will say about reading e-books on my phone, it doesn’t require a light to be turned on in the room, because the book and the flashlight are combined in one unit!

First, let me start off by saying that I find the term “side hustle” extremely obnoxious. For one thing, it’s such an artifact of hamster-wheel capitalism.

For another thing, often people’s “side hustles” are far more joyful and meaningful to them, more enriching to their neighborhoods/communities, and better for the planet than the main “J-O-B” they feel forced to keep just to scrape by and pay the bills. My goal is for more people to be able to turn their beloved “side hustles” into their main occupation, instead of having to toil most of the week at some much less fulfilling “main job.”

(If you love your “main job” too, this does not apply to you. Unless you are starting to feel like your main job is bad for the planet and you want to pursue a more regenerative livelihood.)

So I’m not keen on the phrase “side hustle.” But, there is the advantage that when I use this phrase, most of you probably know what I mean.

Also, there is a chance that my use of this term in the title of a blog post might capture some algorithm or other and catapult my microblog into mass popularity. (Not that I necessarily need or want this little niche blog to be catapulted into mass popularity — that has its own hazards. But this cozy little moss-grown pond of a word-tank going viral might serve the greater good, and at the end of the day I am out to serve the greater good.)

To be continued … (I am writing on the fly from one of my ad hoc micro offices. Talk with you again very soon!)

“A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, “This is not just.” It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, ‘This is not just.’ The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence” (delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City) is as relevant today as ever. Maybe more than ever.

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Speaking out against #classism #colonialism #militarism is very much relevant to #degrowth and #environmentaljustice. We can’t only do some of this work; we need to do it all.

PS. And, some more essential reading: 6 Speeches and Works that Honor the Full Legacy of MLK (Nicole Cardoza; Antiracism Daily).

What a coincidence! Was just talking with a client about drawers full of old cell phones etc. Turns out they are needed STAT!! We can all be eco heroes. 😉

“Rare Earth Metals May Be Lurking in Your Junk Drawer

“And that’s a good thing. They’re critical for renewable energy, and a new study says recovering them from old cellphones and other waste could help meet the demand. …

” … reusing or recycling rare earth metals from old cellphones, hard drives, electric motors and turbines could meet as much as 40 percent of the demand for the metals in the United States, China and Europe by 2050. …

“The idea of reusing or recycling rare earths isn’t new. In the 1980s, Japanese researchers coined the term urban mining to describe collecting rare metals from discarded appliances and electronic devices, rather than from the earth.”

Read the New York Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/climate/rare-earth-recycling.html

PS. I would further go on to suggest that we can rather easily reduce demand for these materials by 60%. I say this based on my observation of how much excess stuff we buy and keep around, often unused. Therefore, if it’s true that the stuff in our drawers can meet 40% of current demand, maybe it could meet 100% of future demand in a society that has made downward adjustments appropriate to the carrying capacity of ecosystems, and the well-being of people and other living beings all around the planet.

Successful solar charging experiment today! From my studies of renewable energy, I have long known that solar panels (also known as solar photovoltaic, solar PV for short) will charge even on an overcast day,* at least on a somewhat bright overcast day.

Here we have a demo of that distinction in action. A small red light on the back of the panel shows that enough solar energy is hitting the panel to charge.

Since the clouds are actually pretty thick, I wasn’t expecting the charge to work at all. It was kind of cutting in and out, but some charging is happening for sure. As indicated by the battery indicator on my handy little generator.

The number on the indicator light shows the wattage that the solar panels are taking in. As you can see from the photos, the wattage can fluctuate from one second to another as the light conditions vary.

Of course, the panels work better the more direct sun there is. It would take a very long time to charge up the generator battery all the way from 0% to 100% in the type of cloudy conditions we have here right now.

The generator is my power source for my mini off grid studio/she-shed/glamp-partment (which would be the garage, taken up by a car, except that I have the good fortune to be able to live without having to own a car). 

*(Unlike the solar oven, which requires direct sun to do its work of cooking. The solar oven, also pictured here, is closed until the sun comes back out and until I want to cook/heat something.)

Update: The clouds got cloudier, so I moved the unit indoors to charge from the wall. The last two photos show that wattage coming in from 120-volt AC plug.

Photos here on my DEEP GREEN Facebook page.

Successful stitching experiment today: Fixed the sole of my left slipper.

These knitted bootie slippers are so super warm. There’s even a layer of foam padding inside the sole to add to the insulating powers.

But the rubber sole of the left one had gotten tattered in the front and started to get tattered in the back as well. (Sorry did not think to post the Before picture before starting into the project. I really should get better about posting Before pictures.)

Rather than rip off all the rubber, I just covered it over. I used what was on hand in my scrap bag, none of which was a piece big enough to cover the whole thing.

But I turned that into an asset. By using three different types of material, it’s kind of a research project as I will get to observe which type of material wears better.

BTW these booties were old when I got them, a couple of years ago. I actually rescued them from the waste stream. My guess is that they got discarded because one part of the upper of one boot had become unstitched from the sole.

But I was able to mend that gap pretty easily and have been enjoying the booties in cold weather all this time. Til recently the sole of the left one started to wear out.

My motive for taking the trouble to make these repairs? For sure, I am thrifty and love to not have to spend money on buying new stuff. I have so much better things to spend money on, like books and online classes!! And good food!

But even more, I do it because I love rescuing things that are still good, and giving them a long long life beyond what they were going to have. And keeping things out of landfill is always a worthy endeavor.

And, another aspect I really enjoy is adding my own distinctive touches when I mend things. Instant one-of-a-kind designer fashion!! <laugh emoji, green heart emoji>

See pics here on my DEEP GREEN Facebook page.

“Why do so many Christians follow the most anti-Christ person on the planet? Explain it to me like I’m two years old.” (Typical meme seen on the page of fellow Boomer who identify as liberal.)

This is an example of a type of meme that has been going around a lot. Us Boomer liberals bashing Trump, Republicans, etc.

Asking these kinds of questions in an echo chamber of fellow “liberals” can give a nice burst of feeling righteous. But a better approach, when we’re triggered by the “badness” of “the other,” is to go inward, work on ourselves, do shadow work.

Another aspect has to do with attention. When so much of our attention is tied up in self-righteousness about how “bad” the “bad guy” is, we have that much less attention and creativity available to actually effect positive change.

I wish more of us self-described “liberals” of the Boomer generation would put our attention on supporting actual progressive candidates. Then we wouldn’t have to be obsessing about whatever the “bad guy” or “bad party” is doing.

(It was also pointed out to me that Biden has done a lot of really good things. Maybe if more of Biden’s supporters would publicize some of the good things he’s accomplished, more of voters could get behind him and really vote enthusiastically, as opposed to just voting against the other guy.)

PS. Also I can see how this kind of meme comes across as bashing Christians, and I can see how a lot of Christians might be feeling sort of harassed by secular “liberals” these days.