Recycling with the Keep America Beautiful Man – and the Hidden Life of Garbage
Consumerism, Economics, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Contaminaton — by Craig Mackintosh August 24, 2010
Prelude: People think of recycling as ‘green’ and environmentally friendly. The following post shares one rather frightening example of how recycle marketing has been used as a greenwash to allow corporations to slip environmentally unfriendly products through government regulations and to simultaneously encourage increased consumption.
Enjoy, or not, the KAB Man series from KABman.org, but whatever you do, stay tuned for the more serious side of recycling afterwards….
Episode I – Hiring a Superhero
Comments (10)The Holistic Flower
Building, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, Energy Systems, Land, People Systems, Plant Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, peak oil — by Oyvind Holmstad August 23, 2010
I’ve found a wonderful flower; I discovered it not long ago. Still, it’s not so much what I know about it that touches me, I’m just drawn to its colors. This flower is unique, it thrives in every country and climate, and adapts very well to the specific conditions of culture and place. Its colors, smell and form is therefore of unlimited variety and complexity, yet it is the same flower. It is the permaculture flower.
Some people think the permaculture flower is a remnant of the hippie’s flower power movement, or that it has something to do with New Age – just another consumerism idea to be sold to the confused and rich people of the middle classes. Oh no, the ‘flower power’ of the permaculture flower has real power. It has the power to reunite humanity with the complex systems of nature, so they can live in symbiosis, enriching each other. Nothing else possesses this power.
Comments (4)Anaerobic Indigestion
Comedy Break, Consumerism, Society, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Marc Roberts August 7, 2010
Click for full view
Courtesy: Marc Roberts
The Uk may have to import waste to burn as it builds more incinerators than we can use, whilst waste pickers in the majority world – the poorest of the poor – complain that their livelihoods as recyclers are being destroyed by incineration plans. Oh – and there’s a car that runs on shit.
Comments (2)Decoding Pattern
Building, Energy Systems, Food Forests, General, Land, Plant Systems, Retrofitting, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Adrian Buckley July 31, 2010
The modern-day education system is almost entirely bent on creating an army of university professors and other specialists. We have been systematically trained to specialize, and as a result we approach problem-solving by studying parts of a whole, where the connections between them are commonly ignored.
Comments (13)From Little Things Big Things Grow
Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, Markets & Outlets, People Systems, Retrofitting, Social Gatherings, Society, Trees, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Matt Lees July 30, 2010
Have you ever grown your own food? Studies have shown that people who eat organic produce from their own garden have an increased sense of well being and good health.
In September 2007 I met a group of motivated, hardcore volunteer gardeners. When I say hardcore, some of these guys where involved with the guerrilla gardeners. They turn unused trashy areas and transform them into edible, self-sustaining gardens.
It started like this….
Some groups even go to extremes like dressing up in council uniforms or go out in the middle of the night and load their vans armed with fruit tree seedlings, compost and shovels.
Comments (4)The Transformation of Our Urban Home
Biological Cleaning, Building, Energy Systems, Retrofitting, Urban Projects, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Harvesting — by Rob Avis May 28, 2010
by Rob Avis
In August 2008, my wife Michelle and I returned to Calgary, Canada, after spending one year traveling abroad in search of sustainability solutions. With backgrounds in mechanical engineering, our “sabbatical” started off in Denmark – we were drawn there by the lure of technological solutions to energy issues. After several months of volunteering and filling our brains with information (wind energy, solar applications, passive buildings, biogas, plant oil engines… and more) we ended up back in North America prepared to explore the U.S. and Mexico in our plant-oil powered Westfalia.
We knew that something thus far in our sustainability search was missing and were starting to suspect that the missing link might be permaculture (although we didn’t really know what it was quite yet). Our travels brought us to several eco-sites, including an ecovillage near Mexico City. We stopped to do some WWOOFing at a permaculture farm and then headed further south to visit the indigenous Mexicans of the Chiapas, interested to learn about their agricultural practices. An Earthship workshop and geodesic greenhouses in New Mexico and an education center and CSA project in Colorado to name a few other adventures. And to culminate this amazing year we signed up for a Permaculture Design Course at Bullocks Homestead in Washington. The entire experience was nothing short of amazing.
Next task – put all of this information to productive use! Oh boy.
Comments (9)Letters from Chile – the Adobe House and Potty Training
Aid Projects, Biological Cleaning, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Potable Water, Rehabilitation, Retrofitting, Soil Conservation, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Contaminaton — by Craig Mackintosh May 9, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part IV of a series. Be sure to catch Part I, Part II, and Part III.
The ‘Adobe House’, El Manzano’s ecological demonstration house.
All photos © copyright Craig Mackintosh
In the middle of the little El Manzano village, on display to all in the community, is the ‘Adobe House’. This demonstration house is a project by Eco Escuela El Manzano to demonstrate to the community several low-tech but effective techniques for improving quality of life whilst reducing a home’s impact on the environment.
Comments (12)Letters from Chile: Visiting Dichato – the Town That Was
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News, Retrofitting, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Craig Mackintosh April 30, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a series. Read Part I here.
A former beautiful, bustling and touristy coastal town in Chile clings to an uncertain future after being engulfed by the 2010 tsunami.
A Dichato fishing boat scene, in waning evening light, exudes a serenity that
belies the realities of the almost complete destruction behind.
All photos © copyright Craig Mackintosh
Up to 90% of the buildings of Dichato were destroyed, creating a graveyard
of rubble, peppered with dilapidated buildings – many of which may soon end
up the same way.
Yesterday I visited the little coastal town of Dichato. A few months ago, such a trip might have included a bare-footed wade along the town’s tranquil beach, and, depending on the time of day, could have included a friendly wave or greater interaction with some of the smiling local fishermen bringing in their hauls. Afterwards I might have had a nice meal at one of the sun-drenched seaside restaurants or a coffee break in one of the town’s modest cafes, frequented by sea-loving tourists from near and far. It’s the kind of place many could envision themselves retiring in, or where you might establish a small business to accommodate a more leisurely lifestyle choice. Framed by green hills and groves, lined by a long sandy beach, and embraced by a beautiful natural cove that passively calms the restless South Pacific ocean, Dichato was, simply put, a very nice place to be.
Comments (6)Make Your Own Worm Farm from Car Tyres
Compost, Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Structure, Waste Systems & Recycling, Working Animals — by Craig Mackintosh April 8, 2010
A certain truck driver in Asia has discovered the value of good road-hugging (or bridge barrier-hugging, as the case may be) tyres.
But, that’s not the topic of this post. Here, instead, we offer the suggestion of taking well worn tyres not capable of such extreme feats, and putting them to other worthwhile purposes – like feeding your garden with nutrient rich worm casts.
At Zaytuna Farm we use a couple of old bathtubs for this purpose, but if you don’t have a bathtub at your disposal, this simple car tyre system (700kb PDF) looks like a great alternative.
Comments (5)Green Burials
Community Projects, Compost, Consumerism, Land, People Systems, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Conservation, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Brad Lancaster March 24, 2010
by Brad Lancaster, who is, incidentally, co-teaching the upcoming PDC in Palestine – a course many may wish to attend so as to support this valuable regenerative work!
A conventional cemetery
When I was little I was terrified of death. I often cried myself to sleep as I thought of the end of life. It seemed so bleak, pointless, and severe.
Mom tried to comfort me with the concept of going to heaven. This did not reassure me at all. “How do you know there is a heaven?” I’d ask. “Have you been there?”
Comments (5)Please Get Behind Our Efforts to Demonstrate Sustainable Development and Relief for Chile Quake/Tsunami Victims
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Ethical Investment, Irrigation, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Water Harvesting — by Grifen Hope March 20, 2010
Editor’s Preamble: Permaculturists famously endeavour to ‘turn the problem into a solution’. At the moment we have a tremendous opportunity to apply this principle in wonderful, productive ways in disaster-hit Chile. The quake-tsunami combo that hit on February 27, 2010 has created a void just begging for sustainable relief and re-development. Grifen Hope, who writes below and who leads out at Ecoescuela El Manzano, a partner organisation to the Permaculture Research Institute, is well positioned to fill that void with all kinds of permaculture goodness – in the form of low-cost environmentally friendly buildings, improved sanitation and nutrient cycling through construction of composting toilets, water harvesting systems and in education in home garden design, etc. Grifen’s already established and successful project and his national contacts make this a particularly significant opportunity, to not only directly help people in great need at this time, but to also offer more holistic and community centred alternatives to local and national government – alternatives with far greater short and long term potential than those offered by the scores of contractors seeking to cash in on misery. PRI Australia feels so strongly about assisting Grifen with his noble ambitions, that we’re putting forward the first AU$1,000 donation. Both PRI Australia and PRI USA are taking donations for this cause (people in the U.S. will want to donate through PRI USA, to take advantage of their tax-exampt non-profit status). In the interests of transparency, PRI USA will take 5 percent of donations to cover administration and the work that had to be done to facilitate the legal aspects of sponsoring this project – but that 5% will help PRI USA develop its own projects). PRI Australia will pass 100% of donations to the project in Chile. Additionally, as we feel this work deserves significant exposure, and as we seek to ensure that valuable permaculture relief work gets noticed at the highest levels, to attract further governmental support for future disasters worldwide, PRI Australia and myself (Craig Mackintosh) will share the costs for myself to go to Chile to cover and report on Grifen’s work via photographs, writing and video. I would like to take this opportunity to ask people to get behind this in whatever way they can. Donations, large or small, will all assist in what is the very best form of aid work. Perhaps ask your employer to match your donation – many will. Additionally, people with contacts in government, aid agencies and other NGOs are invited to share this page with them. Thanks in advance to the worldwide permaculture community for getting behind this work. You never know – in the future you may be the recipient of such assistance.
Update: ‘Letters from Chile‘ reports from Craig are coming in. Check them out!
| Donate via PRI USA (USA residents)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| Donate via PRI Australia (rest of world)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here |
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| *Please be sure to click on the ‘Add special instructions to seller’ link, and then type ‘CHILE’ in the field provided, to ensure these fund are correctly diverted. | |
El Manzano in Transition – Towards Community Resilience, by Design
by Grifen Hope of Ecoescuela El Manzano
Comments (3)Letters from Costa Rica, Part III – Happiness Is….
Community Projects, Consumerism, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Energy Systems, People Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Juliana Birnbaum Fox March 18, 2010
by Juliana Birnbaum Fox, fellow collaborator with Craig Mackintosh on the Sustainable (R)evolution Book Project.
Editor’s Note: This is Part III of a series. Read Part I here, and Part II here.
Does Costa Rica hold the secret to happiness? According to a number of different studies, Costa Ricans are the happiest people on the planet, with a longer life expectancy than Americans. Over the past weeks, major news outlets such as the New York Times and the BBC have reported on these results. One figure, called “happy life years,” results from merging average self-reported happiness (where subjects rate their happiness on a ten-point scale) with longevity. Using this system, Costa Rica ranks first, the United States is 19th, and Zimbabwe comes in last.
Comments (2)Letters from Costa Rica, Part II – Parenting in the Jungle
Community Projects, Compost, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, People Systems, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Juliana Birnbaum Fox March 16, 2010
by Juliana Birnbaum Fox, fellow collaborator with Craig Mackintosh on the Sustainable (R)evolution Book Project.
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a series. Read Part I here.
 Yoga on the deck which will become our temporary bedroom |
We’ve been here a month now, and I’m actually writing from a hammock with my laptop powered by the sun, underneath a pair of orange trees. This is our new “living room” in this experiment in outdoor living, outfitted with a log bench, a couple of rocking chairs woven with cord in the local style, outdoor kitchen and shower and a repurposed buoy that serves as a swing. A few steps away are kitchen and shower, cross a little bridge to the bathtub/dipping pool, and another few meters is our newly finished wooden platform where soon we’ll be sleeping. For now it makes a great yoga deck and has a sweet view across the Machuca River valley to a steep hillside dotted with grazing white cows.
Comments (4)Life at Zaytuna: Closing the Loop
Compost, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation, Urban Projects, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Lindsay Dailey March 4, 2010
In a world where less than 1% of the planet’s fresh water is available for human consumption, it is curious to notice how people in overdeveloped countries choose to utilize precious water resources.
I often wonder what our grandchildren’s children will think of industrialized cultures; it is hope that inspires me to imagine them laughing. “Can you believe it?” they’ll say, holding their bellies and bursting with amusement at the ridiculousness of their elders. “They used our precious fresh water to flush their SHIT away!”
Over 884 million people globally lack access to safe water supplies – that is approximately one in eight people living on the planet whose water has been contaminated, generally by human excrement. In fact, over 5,000 people die worldwide everyday from drinking or bathing in water containing contaminants. [1] And we in the U.S. use over 5 million gallons daily just flushing away our waste.
From a health and a resource perspective, it’s hard to imagine a more inefficient system than a water flushing toilet. It contaminates water, and wastes our “waste.”
Anyhow, I digress. This blog posting was inspired by the chore of the day at the Permaculture Research Institute.
It was time to empty the composting toilet system, and I eagerly participated, curious to see how human “waste” could be utilized as a resource – quite a feat for our fecophobic world.
Comments (6)Life at Zaytuna – Meet Red
Animal Processing, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Livestock, Society, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Lindsay Dailey February 24, 2010
Editor’s Preamble: People are increasingly disgusted with the cruelty, disease and pollution associated with factory farms. Events like the recent Swine Flu pandemic, which appears to have originated with the world’s largest hog producer, Smithfield Foods, are helping us to see the error of our corporate ways. Large scale of any activity almost always compromises ecological and ethical principles, and the factory farming of sentient beings is a tragic example of this. The post below, from a recent Wwoofer to Zaytuna Farm (PRI’s home base), decribes a far healthier and more compassionate approach for those who choose to eat meat, and one where there is no waste – as all ‘by products’ are utilised by other elements of the system. It should also be noted that PRI is sensitive to individual food choices of students on courses run at PRI’s Zaytuna Farm, and thus are catered for accordingly.
Thanks to Lindsay Dailey for the submission!
This is Red:
9:30pm
