Category: low-footprint living

“Young people just don’t care about the environment.” I see various versions of this come across my feed every day.

But actually: I’m 60 and have actually been surprised at how extremely consumerist many of my fellow Boomers are. Not even trying to refuse single-use plastic or Styrofoam, accepting plastic bags at the store because it’s too “inconvenient” to remember to bring reusable bags or just do without, etc. I mean, my generation grew up knowing life without having these things all around us, totally rammed down our throats, so I would think we would be more resistant to them, but no.

Same thing with living in HOAs with aggressively anti-eco and antisocial rules; settling for homes in car-dependent environments instead of insisting on places where we can live without a car.

And flying in airplanes all over the planet even though we’ve already traveled all over the place in our youth.

I tend to think younger people are more conscious than we are on the whole. But I’m always glad to hear from my fellow Boomers who care as well. And I know there are many of you, because I talk with you every day. Thank you for caring and helping.

My absolute favorite dustpan I’ve ever owned … Is made out of a plastic detergent jug! You can see how I cut it. I used sturdy scissors. A sturdy pocketknife or other knife would also work.

I love the fact that it is made out of a sturdy plastic container that someone was throwing away. Yes, depending on where you live, these containers might actually get recycled. But all too often they seem to just end up in landfill or in the ocean. And there are so many of them. Think how often most people buy detergent.

Another thing I love about this dustpan is that it’s stored on the broom. Look how neatly it stows! Right there over the handle. It stays on better than the typical dustpan, which just clicks onto the broom handle. (That might sound really picky to some people but I find it very helpful.)

But most of all, what I love about this dustpan is that it just plain works really well. And fortunately it is extremely durable; has lasted years. But even if-when it breaks I will know how to get another one for free: I’ll just walk down the street the night before trash collection and I’m sure to find one in somebody’s recycling bin.

Some green-minded people who abhor the growing mountain of huge thick tough plastic detergent jugs are latching onto an eco alternative product: detergent sheets that come in a compostable wrapping or paper box. These are available from various companies online. I have read positive reviews of them. However, I prefer not to spend that money, and not to have to order from afar.

Speaking of packaging, I remember when laundry detergent used to be in powder form more often, so it just came in thin-walled cardboard boxes.

By the way, I haven’t actually bought a jug of detergent in years. Some years ago, I noticed (as many of you probably have too) that a so-called “empty” bottle of detergent still contains a significant amount of product. Enough that, after adding water to the bottle and shaking up the bottle, it can be stretched for several rounds of laundry.

So, when I need detergent, I just grab an “empty” jug from a curbside recycling bin, add water to dilute, and voilà, instant several rounds of detergent. Over time, as I’ve gotten more and more sensitive to artificial smells of detergent products, a little goes a long way. All it needs to be is strong enough to clean my clothes, and that happens at a surprisingly dilute strength.

Have you ever tried any of the above domestic thrift tricks? If so, how did it go for you?

#homeec #domestic #thrift #upcycling #plasticjugs

Lots of us in the collapse-focused groups are still maybe assuming that there’s going to suddenly be some abrupt collapse, after which everything will instantly be super bare-bones hardscrabble agrarian. But I really just don’t see that happening.

Periodically, people will make a post asking the question of which occupations will be considered essential. Most people tend to answer things related to growing food and nothing else. Well, some solar panels thrown in there.

But: A lot of the things we assume are just going to disappear and be bombed into the Stone Age will actually be around for quite a while, albeit in smaller and or spotty form.

Bicycle repair, small engine repair — yes there will still be small engines for a while — laundry, mending, counseling, legal — yes there will still be at least some of our existing legal system for a while, and some form of legal system will always be around …

Transport for both cargo and humans — either via a few available cars / buses or by pedicab or sailpower or handcart or what have you. Boat pilots (oars, sail, small motor) etc. will be needed.

Carpentry, building repair

Earthworks, landscaping — for water harvesting etc.

Waste management; sanitation. Many roles here, including various operations related to humanure composting. As someone in one of the groups pointed out, collecting pee and poo could become a full-time occupation that somebody would be happy to do. (I’ve done it at festivals; it’s actually a fine occupation.) Even just making/gathering the cover material (by finely grinding leaves or other materials, or collecting already-finely-broken-down materials such as oak leaf litter) could easily be a full-time occupation.

Engineering (someone’s gotta figure out how to rig up that bicycle-powered blender, make a radio out of a coconut à la Gilligans Island, optimize the solar cooking & distillation equipment, harvest methane from landfills which aren’t going to just disappear, etc.)

More:

Weaving baskets, bags, and other necessary containers from locally available grasses etc. (Including from locally available plastic bags and other trash that are not just going to disappear)

Cooking, fermenting, drying food — not everybody knows how to do these things or wants to; and some people will be doing the other things that those other people can’t or don’t want to do.

Shoe repair

Trade, logistics, storage (middleman depot for “stuff”)

Speaking of stuff, our huge inventory of people’s stored furniture, excess clothing, and other stuff is also not just going to disappear. To make optimum use of it and provide for people’s needs, we’ll need lots of “crafty” people who know how to make everyday necessary items out of old stuff. Repurposing, upcycling.

Conflict resolution, mediation – and there will still be some kind of enforcement of public peace & order for a while even if it’s only at a neighborhood level in some places

Archives, historian

Communication

Arts of all kinds such as storytelling, decorating, singing, performing will always be needed! Even the most seemingly hand-to-mouth societies have always seemed to have the arts in some form. I think the arts don’t seem to get enough credit in industrial capitalist society. I think they are actually necessary to our survival as a species.

Brewer, distiller, making use of locally grown plants

Proprietor/tender of pub, bar, coffee/tea house. Yes, the neighborhood public gathering-spot will continue to be necessary, maybe even more necessary than ever. Granted, in many traditional communities these roles this role is filled by a rotating cast of volunteers from the community. But at least one person could probably have an occupation of it and would be allowed to live on the premises in exchange for keeping the place swept and cleaned, washing dishes, maybe tending a small culinary/medicinal garden etc.

And speaking of medicinal, some sort of doctors or other healers will always be needed.

Teachers, educators

Scientists and researchers will always be needed; this need isn’t going to just disappear.

People with the soft skills and hard skills to direct unskilled workers; oversee a complex job; delegate tasks; know people’s skills and where they are best served

Counseling. Emotional regulation, mindfulness, inner resilience are going to become only more and more essential to our survival, both individually and collectively.

Spiritual guides; ceremony officiants

There will still surely be some kind of money and banking. Even time-banking requires management too.

etc etc etc

Even just within the category of growing food, there will be so many different occupations. Some people will be researching plant genetics and maintaining a local database of what varieties work best in the bioregion, some will be hauling manure to the gardens, some will be planting seeds, some will be harvesting, some will be taking care of trees …

One comment someone made that echoes a thought I have often had, is that we can probably get a lot of clues from the list of guilds and classic apprenticeships from a few hundred years ago. Or maybe even just a hundred years.

Predicting the future is hard, said Barbie. And it’s just one more way that humans try to control things. Me included.

Use whatever you feel is empowering. Whatever helps you keep moving forward and planning for a future that we really can’t plan for. I do really want to encourage people to see that there will always exist many different occupations. The way things are right now, it feels like a lot of people are assuming that everybody who doesn’t have their own private food forest and a green thumb is going to be immediately rendered useless to society and starve.

The thing that will see us through is a determination to not lose our humanity, including fundamental values of compassion, ability/willingness to cooperate.

In a post-collapse economy, it is less and less likely that any human beings will be sidelined. From tiny children to the elderly, all will be involved and needed and valued. We will really respect each other more. I’ve seen it everywhere I’ve been in life, from a personal-finance level to a community economics level: The most cold, lifeless, inhumane atmosphere prevails in the “nice” neighborhoods where people don’t need their neighbors. It tends to happen that when people actually need each other, we become more humanly decent toward each other.

PS. I’ve said it in various ways before, and I’ll say it again here now: Those of us who have the leeway to do so, it would behoove us right now to transition into whatever occupation(s) we envision having post- collapse. (I’m pretty much doing mine, though I imagine the mix might change.) The truth is, whatever occupation it is, is needed right now even if it’s not compensated financially. Obviously we all have to make a living, but to the extent that we can minimize our overhead expenses right now (“Reduce your need to earn,” as we learned on day 1 of my first permaculture design certificate course back in 2005), we will have leeway to pursue occupations that are currently unpaid or minimally paid but are nonetheless necessary. (Even if we continue to work a few hours a week in the conventional economy, or take the occasional conventional-economy gig, to support our transition.) By decisively embarking on this transition we will benefit ourselves for sure, but also likely benefit society every bit as much. Building skill base, emotional resiliency, and so on will help to soften the collective landing.

By the way, social skills, just plain connecting and getting along with people, are every bit as important, if not more, than what we think of as “practical skills.” People who have never been economically advantaged to the point where they have the “luxury” of not needing their neighbors, will be better off than those who have become accustomed to (the illusion of) not needing community.

Also, I strongly suspect that traditional societies are and will be a lot better off than the Global North. “Collapse” is the collapse of excessively complex, petro-dependent society. And when we collapse, we’ll no longer be standing on their necks. (Within the Global North, some scattered pockets where people still know how to “do community” will be relatively better off. These include some rural and some urban communities.)

Further exploration:

• “Upskilling for post-growth futures, together“; Donnie Maclurcan on medium.com. ” … The above ‘kitchen sink’ list appears, at times, focused on individualistic approaches to self-sufficiency that are more about surviving than thriving. Yet resilient leadership has little to do with creating bullet-proof, invincible fortresses of individuals. It’s more about engaging with others in vulnerable ways that drive human connection.”

• Article includes a link to the Post Growth Institute, “an international, not for profit organization working to enable collective wellbeing within ecological limits.”

• This post I wrote a while back. “Climate doomerism is a rich white Boomer thing.”

I second the sentiments of a dear friend/fellow activist who wrote:

This is a conversation that’s happening frequently in my circles. So many people leaving. I find myself repeating “everyone can’t leave.” “Everyone can’t run.” “Somebody’s got to stay behind and save Florida.” Not just for Florida, but for the nation.

I just said “everyone” can’t leave, and by that I mean if they do we lose the fight because there are no fighters. I do know there are circumstances which make it impossible and dangerous for so many to live in Florida now and I do know that it’s a personal choice. I would never impose my personal choices on anyone. Nor can I my own children who are having that same conversation. I respect the gravity of the decision that must be made. Just making an observation really. Hopeful that we don’t lose our best fighters.

And to this I added:

Exactly! Because the whole country is affected. Where Florida goes the rest will eventually follow, so those of us who feel able & willing do so need to stay here and stop the creeping fascism. There is no “away.”

This question came after I had commented in response to an ad on Facebook. The advertiser was some “international retirement living” promotion company, touting some quaint rural French village where the culture is supposedly unspoiled, the restaurants are cheap and authentic, the locals haven’t sold out to tourism or the super-wealthy, etc.

I commented: “Hey fellow Americans, retire to France and spoil the unspoiled culture!”

And then: “First thing, we need to widen these streets. And let’s get all these grimy old buildings pressure-washed. And what about these village stores, the selection is really limited and the hours are terrible. We need a 24-hour CostcoSamsWalmart. …”

Then someone asked in response to my comment: “What if I want to get away from U.S. culture?”

To which I replied:

I mean… Without knowing you, I’m not qualified to say what kind of influence you’d be.

All I can say is that many many fellow Americans I know have had the same sentiment about wanting to get away from American culture, and yet we go to these other places with our norms of giant houses and big cars and roads and so on and we end up buying huge amounts of land, using more than our share of resources and spoiling those places physically and culturally. We end up jacking up land prices for the native residents, displacing people who were born there. Why should we get to go trash someone else’s country instead of fixing up our own?

There is a lot about our culture that I don’t like, but I’m hoping there are enough of us who care, that we can be a beneficial influence and turn things around.

A final thought: if there’s anything USA culture needs right now it’s elders. Our wisdom, stabilizing influence, experience, perspective. Even though our culture treats elders like crap, the fact is that we are needed.

And actually we have an obligation! Those of us who are of a certain age grew up in cushy times. If we think life is hard for us, think how very much harder it is for pretty much everybody else.

In my mind we have an obligation to stick around and fix the mess that has been largely caused by our own complacency.

Also, haven’t we Anglo/Euro’s done enough damage already by colonizing the entire planet? Are we going to re-colonize it now?

I have friends who were crowing about how cheap land is in Mexico. We have to think about why the land is so cheap. What farmers got driven off their land? What misery is underwriting our cheap retirement aspirations?

Further Exploration:

• Get on TikTok and search for Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rico, Mexico, other countries where people from the global north like to “escape” to for their retirement. And search gentrification. Lots of people talking about this.

• Read The Divide, book by Jason Hickel (who is also author of one of the most popular books on Degrowth). I’m still in the middle of reading the book. It’s horrifying how much misery the policies of “developed” nations have wrought worldwide.

From Sierra Club: Two excellent articles. Read and save for reference!

1) Summing up the connection between white supremacy culture and the destruction of our biosphere. “Racism Is Killing the Planet — The ideology of white supremacy leads the way toward disposable people and a disposable natural world,” by Hop Hopkins (who is Director of Organizational Transformation for the Sierra Club).

“You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones, and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people, and you can’t have disposable people without racism.
We’re in this global environmental mess because we have declared parts of our planet to be disposable. …”

2) And also by Hopkins: “Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Diversity in the Environmental Movement.”

“… Is the Sierra Club trying to expand our base to include more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) to validate the work we’re already doing? Or is the Sierra Club attempting to transform our culture and share power in such a way that BIPOC folks would want to join our organization?”

Sierra Club, systemic racism, white supremacy culture, DEI, talking points

#housingsecurity #activism #stablecommunity #YIMBY

An article I just read in NY Times — “Imagine a renters utopia; It might look like Vienna” — is fascinating. See link below for whole article; I have included some quotes here.

One very interesting aspect of public housing in Vienna is that anyone can live there even if their income becomes quite high after they move in. This has the effect of avoiding concentrations of poverty. It also maintains a wider base of support for public housing.

By the way, the studio apartments they show in the article are gorgeous and I would totally live there. (And I really love the apartment building shown in the photo that I screenshot below.)

As someone who lived as a renter at apartments, duplexes, trailer park, etc., for almost all of her adult life before coming into sudden money which I used to purchase a home five years ago, I am very often keenly aware of the trade-off of owning a free-standing house. It affords stability (not just for me but for my two housemates), and at the same time, ownership ties up a lot of one’s time and energy.

Puts me in mind of that quote from the 1950s regarding Levittown etc., to the effect that “If a man has his own house and yard he won’t have time to think about being a communist blah blah blah.”

The public housing the way they’ve done it in Vienna creates a huge amount of stability for renters and this has a very positive impact on their well-being, including their occupational freedom. Not just a benefit to individuals; society benefits as a whole when people can become doctors, artists, or whatever their calling is, instead of just having to take whatever job just to pay the bills.

“Soaring real estate markets have created a worldwide housing crisis. What can we learn from a city that has largely avoided it?”

Many quotable quotes in this nice lengthy article; here are a few that particularly struck me:

• ” … This constituency of middle-class homeowners is what the Dartmouth emeritus economist William A. Fischel calls “homevoters”: a coalition of Americans who — consciously or not — vote to protect the value of their property. They tend to oppose local development and favor exclusionary zoning — which ensures maximum appreciation and prevents their tax dollars from extending to poorer neighborhoods. This tendency, alongside stagnant wages, has transformed the nation’s housing stock into an ever-scarcer and ever-more-expensive class of speculative asset.”
• “When Karl-Marx-Hof opened, it housed 5,000 people in 1,400 apartments. These apartments were coveted. “It had two central laundries, two communal bathing facilities with tubs and showers, a dental clinic, maternity clinic, a health-insurance office, library, youth hostel, post office, and a pharmacy and 25 other commercial premises, including a restaurant and the offices and showroom of the BEST, the city-run furnishing and interior-design advice center,” Blau writes.”
• “Today limited-profit housing accounts for half the city’s social housing. Limited-profit housing associations are restricted to charging rents that reflect costs. Investors — banks, insurance funds — may buy shares of the limited-profit housing associations, generally to help fund initial construction. They are paid a low rate of annual interest on their shares. Any profits beyond that must be reinvested in the construction of new social housing. “It creates a revolving flow of financing for social housing,” said Justin Kadi, a professor in planning and housing at the University of Cambridge. Vienna’s main outlay toward housing is now providing low-cost financing for construction — and the government gets that money back.”
• “The spiral of overvaluation in housing, which makes the housing-haves rich and the have-nots desperately poor, has brought us to a point where only something radical can solve it. The problem with housing in the United States is that it has been locked in as a means of building wealth, and building wealth is irreconcilable with affordability.”
• “…I asked him, as I asked every Viennese tenant of social housing, what he did with all the money he saved thanks to his cheap rent. ‘I haven’t invested a single penny in the stock market,’ he told me. ‘I would consider it an enormous waste of time to sit in front of my computer and study what the stock market is doing. I prefer to use my time writing, editing an online newspaper supporting interesting initiatives and having fun. … If people don’t have to struggle all day long to survive — if your life is made safe, at least in social conditions — you can use your energy for much more important things.'”

NY Times
Imagine a renters utopia
It might look like Vienna