Category: low-footprint living

Another sub topic that came up in the Ecovillage thread I’ve been posting about. Is ableism. One person commented that they are not in an ecovillage because, in their current place:

“… the access to medical care … is beyond what we could find in a small community. Sometimes I struggle with the ableism in adaptation and prep discussions. (Not blaming anybody, just trying to see how we spoonies will find our place when we can’t contribute physically.)”

To which I replied:

Thank you and everyone else who is continuing to bring this aspect up, ableism is an extremely important thing to address. For any community! No community can be sustainable without addressing the needs of all of its members.

Prepper culture, and the dominant culture as a whole, is hyperindividualistic and focuses too much on the material aspect of things. So much is missed, many of us have non-material contributions to make that are every bit as important to the collective survival and thrival.

PS. I even challenge the notion that people don’t have something to contribute physically just because they might have chronic conditions or what have you. Our culture really does undervalue regular daily tasks like child-minding, watching over animals, serving as historians/archivists, and so on, all of which people of many different abilities can do. And people of all ages, right up to the most elder of elders!

Other essential functions include art, storytelling, music. All of these can be done by people who are not necessarily young and physically sturdy. In fact, some of the greatest artists and musicians and storytellers have been physically frail and/or living with mental health conditions.

And yes, the arts, music, storytelling, performance, and just plain FUN and JOY are absolutely essential functions to a culture. (I have written extensively about this elsewhere on this blog.)

If we don’t think they’re essential, that says a lot about the dominant culture we’ve been steeped in — and explains a lot about why more of our community efforts don’t take off and thrive.

I can’t say for sure, because I’ve never seen a study on this and never done one. All I know is that I hear from a lot of people who are supposedly trying to build a community, but they don’t acknowledge the validity of anything other than basic survival functions.

Back to the topic of ableism: Not incidentally, an ableist mindset also marginalizes children and elders. A viable, healthy society not only allows but actually requires the full, valued participation of all of its members, from the very youngest to the very oldest.

Basically a roof over one’s head, growing food, and catching water. Basically a modern-day version of that dour-faced couple in the American Gothic painting. That’s their business, as long as they understand that a lot of people will not want to move onto rural acreage and try to endure life without art, music, storytelling, and just plain fun and joy. And civilization cannot survive, let alone progress, without those things.

From a fellow author this morning on the feed of my deep Green book page:

People are paying $150 for pink Stanley cups and I’m over here asking 99 cents for my book smh #writerlife #writingcommunity #indieauthor

And my response:

Seriously! (And I’m going to have to Google to find out what a pink Stanley Cup is, because I thought a Stanley Cup was only if your NHL hockey team won the big tournament.)

Maybe it’s a cup version of a Stanley thermos. Which is awesome too, because I am all about reusable cups (instead of the disposable plastic cups which are so tacky and which everyone keeps using with such wild reckless abandon).

BTW I have one of those Stanley thermoses, super vintage and I got it for like five dollars at a yard sale and it works really great.

— But yeah, either way, the original post holds! Support your indie authors, buy their books!! A dollar spent on a book is a dollar spent on the collective knowledge and joy. I would even venture to say that a dollar spent on a book is a force multiplier out in the community.

I would even rather buy books than have a car. Books, and online classes, are two of the main things I spend money on instead of owning a car. I have never questioned that it is totally worth it!

(Yes, there are other major reasons I don’t want to own a car, but books and online classes and online conferences are some of the financial ones.)

The actual comment that came across my feed was: “Buying a new car sucks *ss. Why do you have to sign so many papers?”

And my response:

Having to buy a car sucks, period.

I wish more places had good public transportation and safer ways to get around without having to take on the expense and stress of a owning a car.

(I myself do not own a car, but most of the people I know do, and they are always going through some sort of hassle. Car repairs, insurance, losing their cars to floods or other natural disasters, dealing with gasoline expenses etc.).

In my first post under this title, a few days ago, I posted the original question as well as a link to the group where you can find lots of people’s answers to this topic.

Here’s mine, with a few exclusive additions for you who have found your way to this blog and been so kind as to read this far:

I prefer a neighborhood approach. Some of my neighbors are growing food and sharing seeds and things. Most of my neighbors do not collect rainwater yet, but I’m always promoting it and encouraging people to get started.

Also I educate people about solar cooking and passive solar cooling etc. For me it’s easier to try to create a more connected community in my own urban neighborhood than it would be to buy rural land and try to survive out there.

Plus, building from scratch has a high footprint, not only physical and financial but in terms of social capital as well.

I participate in efforts to protect rural land from development. And I support my local farmers by buying food from them and by helping them publicize their produce.

At my house I have two housemates and occasional guests. So the house itself is sort of a mini village. I provide extremely inexpensive, steady housing, and also have created space for emergency for refugees to stay here. And most recently, I created an extra sleeping spot in my little off-grid garage apartment for interns who want to come learn experientially about permaculture design and low-footprint, off-grid living.

Worthy of note is that even though I run my place as a low-footprint living laboratory, both of my housemates are “civilians” and both of them have continued to express that they are very happy staying here.

I have turned my garage into an off-grid mini “apartment” where I sleep and have my studio. (Not having a car is great because it gives me a whole extra building to use.)

There are a lot of empty houses in the USA. For some of us, it makes more sense to live in an existing house then to go out somewhere onto remote land and try to build everything from scratch.

Furthermore, my house has a public educational function.

As I’ve shared extensively in my Facebook posts, TikTok videos, and here on this blog, my house is on a corner lot and I have designed things to maximize the public education interface of my place.

So for example, we have the solar oven right next to the sidewalk where people can see it and smell food cooking; we have the little micro greens boxes next to the sidewalk where people can see them (and even pick if they like — though I don’t have a green thumb so things are a bit puny most of the time).

We have quite a few different types of native plants, and the site overall is an example of stormwater sponge and heat mitigation. We also have publicly visible rainwater collection, etc.

Furthermore, my place has elements of community in action, via my “porous property” at the corner. Several different types of benches where people can step off the sidewalk to sit in the shade or enjoy the sun. Many many people have expressed their appreciation of this amenity.

I also ran my little free library here for 10 years, although that is on hiatus right now while we are troubleshooting the persistent theft and vandalism that has suddenly become a problem in the past few months. At this point I am attributing it to a decline in foot traffic — either because some of the old steady users have moved away, or because some of those people got cars, etc. It doesn’t take much to make a shift in the chemistry balance of the social environment, for better or for worse.

Also, regarding a question posted by a friend/colleague, “How much land is required to grow all the food a household needs?”:

— Regarding growing all the food a household needs, many of us have decided that a better approach is to support local farmers. By supporting local farmers and growers, we widen our food-shed and weave a more resilient web of beneficial relationships that will stand the test of time. (Even if not every connection persists over time, the web as a whole is still in place. And able to keep growing.)

And, responding to a friend who has a great deal of plant knowledge but has a crushing work schedule, so there is an economic catch-22 at play when it comes to him maybe making a video or offering a workshop. (Even if we pay him.):

— Everything is a lot of work tho. Maybe there’s some other transmission pipeline that would be less work for you. I know you share my wish but this area would become more sustainable in terms of growing more of our own food right here locally.

I feel the same about YouTube videos , I do make them (TikTok also) but A) I have like seven followers; and B ) I don’t have four hands or my own personal videographer like a lot of people who make videos seem to — it’s a process.

Over the past few years of occupying my house, I have made it into a “Low-Footprint Living Laboratory” — kind of one big publicly visible “Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm,” which is “broadcasting” sustainability knowledge 24-7 in meatspace.

I take it as a testimonial to practicality that my two “civilian” housemates have managed to continue to put up with living here. <laugh emojis>

And regarding another person’s question, about why the costs aren’t lower in ecovillages:

— It seems like it should be more affordable, yes. Since people are pooling costs.

But I think because people build new buildings instead of using existing buildings, and also since a lot of people go out in the country they have to build new infrastructure instead of using what’s already existing. So I think that’s one factor that drives up the cost.

There can also be a lot of legal expenses involved when people try to buy one piece of land together.

I live in a small city and I consider my house a micro-village. We have three people living here, plus occasional guests, and we share expenses and help each other.

Also, a lot of neighbors are trying to build more connections in the neighborhood, sharing resources and helping each other. And we work together to try to promote sustainable actions by our local government.
It is not an official ecovillage but that is my intent.

And — My reply to a perennial city-hater who thinks that cities are doomed, no one should live in cities, etc.:

— I share your frustration, but ultimately I do not believe the consumption and paving will continue unabated.

A lot of cities are re-introducing nature, and de-paving large areas, And expanding native plants and food-growing areas, and so on. The Nature of Cities Festival is one organization/annual conference that has been highlighting and amplifying such necessary efforts.

And, that said, not everyone wants to live in a city. And no one has to!

But if all of us city dwellers were to move out to rural areas, the rural areas would become very crowded and resource-burdened, and I’m sure you rural-dwellers would not want that.

Yesterday’s culinary adventure at the off-grid urban garage glamp-partment started with harvesting a big bunch of Okinawa spinach.

This was a big win for me, because I really don’t have a green thumb, and any vegetable plants I manage to grow tend to stay small and spare. (When fellow permies post pics from their lavish vegetable gardens and food forests, I totally feel inferior and question the entire foundation of my existence. (Just kidding… Sort of… <nervous-smile emoji>))

Seeing that the Okinawa spinach plant had gotten so nice and bushy was a very pleasant surprise. It was even blocking one of the rain pots, so cutting off the big clump was necessary for that reason too.

One of my favorite things about Okinawa spinach — besides the fact that it grows perennially, and that it is delicious either raw or cooked — is the beautiful purple color of the backside of the leaves.

With all of that fresh yummy green matter, I decided to make a pesto. Or more precisely, a pesto-like sauce thing. And to make it vegan.

I didn’t have any pinenuts, and didn’t feel like using almonds or other nuts that I had on hand, so the pesto is lacking in a nut ingredient.

Cheese alternative: Instead of Parmesan, I used nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast has been a great addition to my diet. Together with avocados, nutritional yeast has allowed me to make many delicious vegan meals and be satisfied without my beloved cheese.

I’m still very much an omnivore, but have increased my percentage of vegan meals and been able to reduce my intake of cheese to a somewhat more moderate level. <laugh-cry emoji>

Seasonings: I just added some various odds and ends from my cabinet.

And of course a key ingredient in a pesto is garlic, and I used two cloves. And the other key ingredient, olive oil.

All blended together in my little bullet blender. This mini blender is easily powered by my patriot sidekick mini generator, which is the sole source of electricity in my glamp-partment.

I also heated up some split-pea soup in the solar oven yesterday. It was a jar I had frozen before Christmas because I had been eating split pea soup so many days in a row. It was nice to come back from my holiday visit with family, and remember that I had delicious nutritious soup that just needed to be thawed out and reheated.

The object you see to the left of the solar oven is an inflatable lantern called Luci, which I purchased from my local West Marine Sports & Recreation boating and sporting supply place. This little solar-charged lantern has lasted through all types of weather, and she still charges and works great.

And little Luci never gets mad at me and stops working, despite the fact that whenever I get near her, I feel the compulsion to repeat that old famous TV sitcom line — “Luuuuuu-ciiii, you got some SPLAININ’ to do!” (Boomers LOL. You can dress us up but you can’t take us out.)

You can see the photos here, in the post on my DEEP GREEN Facebook page.

#PrepperHomeEc #DoomerStyleFiles

Meme on my social feed this morning: (Photo of Taylor Swift with Travis Kelce; photo of a jumbo jet airliner). Text: “Taylor Swift produces 138 tons of CO2 emissions in 3 months to see her ‘soulmate’ Travis Kelce. And here I am drinking out of a soggy straw.”

And my response:

And all of this said, we do each personally need to do whatever we can do. I do not believe in letting ourselves off the hook.

No need to be a martyr, if you really hate that soggy paper straw then get yourself a reusable straw — or do without a straw entirely. I know a straw was just one example, but I’m using it to illustrate how we can be walking our talk without being suffering martyrs. (Although I personally am OK with making some choices that genuinely are a bit of a sacrifice.)

Our wallets may not be a big, but there are millions and millions and millions of us!! We create fads, which go on to become trends, which going to become solidified as cultural norms. What we do matters!! In a good way. We have a lot more power than we think to influence things for the good.

As leaders of the environmental movement, (by which I mean people who follow the science, see the situation in our communities, and really believe there is a crisis), we really really need to walk our talk. Fortunately there are lots of ways to walk our talk without putting up with misery. I live a very abundant life at about 10% of the average US citizen’s footprint. And I have written an easy practical guidebook, and companion blog, to help others who want to do the same.

The best way to shift cultural norms, behavioral norms, is for us to be walking our talk in many many every day practical ways in our daily lives. I call it beneficial contagion.

Back to Taylor Swift. If we the masses weren’t ourselves so willing to get on airplanes, her concerts wouldn’t be selling so many mega millions of tickets. (I personally have nothing against Taylor Swift, except that I hate to see a fellow white woman taking up so much bandwidth in a world where we need to be paying attention to a lot more important things.)

Thank you always Parkrose Permaculture for your excellent and thought-provoking posts. I wish you were my neighbor in real life, but I am glad to have you as my neighbor in cyberspace!

Posted on my Facebook earlier…

Public service announcement: We all trust different sources and accordingly believe different things about masks, the severe implications of Covid, etc. My personal belief, based on the sources I follow and trust, is that masks do help somewhat. So does staying outdoors or at home as much as possible. Or spaces with open doors and windows.

My request, as a person who is in multiple high-risk categories — as well as serving clients who are in multiple high-risk categories — is that you “live and let live” when it comes to seeing me or any other person wearing a hygiene mask.

I don’t harass people who are not wearing masks. Even though when I enter a room full of people not wearing masks, I feel very alarmed. It feels like an unnecessary risk, according to what I believe based on the sources I trust.

Another thing that feels like an unnecessary risk is people/groups not being willing to meet outdoors, in circumstances when meeting outdoors is possible. Yes it can be logistically inconvenient at times, but surely logistical inconvenience pales in comparison with things like long Covid. 

Along the same lines, indoor meetings feel like an unnecessary risk. And you will be seeing a lot less of me in indoor gatherings, especially where nobody else is wearing a mask. If I had my way we would all be meeting outdoors as much as possible. But I do not; that is not up for me to decide. What is up to me to decide is how I choose to mitigate my risk.

Last night I gave into peer pressure and I absolutely am disgusted with myself for taking off my mask at an indoor meeting.

An indoor meeting that I really did not need to be at — I could have listened online, and given my input by email, phone, or text. Or even postal mail! One very steady civic activist I know actually sends paper letters to local government on a regular basis. Yes, as humans, we build trust by seeing each other face-to-face. But there are ways to arrange that in a safe manner. We can get face-time with each other out in the community at outdoor events, and via serendipitous encounters on the street. You would be very very surprised to know how well this can work. If you have not yet experienced it, give it a try.

FINALLY: This is not a post inviting any kind of debate or discussion about the efficacy of masks, social distancing, staying outdoors instead of indoors etc. Any such comments will be deleted. You have a right to your beliefs but this is not the post to debate it.

Further Reading:

• CDC: Categories of people at higher risk for severe Covid symptoms (mayoclinic.org). They actually list mental health conditions such as depression as one risk factor; I had not noticed that before but I had myself come to suspect that such might be the case.