The Great ‘Simple Living’ Survey
Alternatives to Political Systems, Consumerism, Economics, People Systems, Society — by Simon Ussher March 18, 2011
Editor’s Preamble: Regular readers will know I’m fully behind any efforts to enact policy changes which would incentivise/facilitate/incubate a rapid and peaceful transition to a society that can live in harmony within the limits of Earth’s resources. The Simplicity Institute seems to be working to the same ends: "…by developing an understanding of the challenges people face when embracing post-consumerist lifestyles, we will be better able to develop policy proposals for the purpose of facilitating the transition to a world of sustainable consumption." I would therefore encourage readers to complete the survey linked to at bottom of this post.
If you live a ’simple’ lifestyle in one way or another, we need your help!
The Simplicity Institute is an organization dedicated to research and policy analysis around the topic of simple living, downshifting, and similar lifestyles. This research is profoundly important as it touches the core of global problems such as climate change, over-consumption, work-life balance and a host of other social and ecological issues.
The Simplicity Institute’s current research project is focused on people who have chosen a ’simpler’ lifestyle, including changes such as reduced or restrained income, reduced consumption or reduced working hours.
If this sounds like you, then you are part of the most promising social movement on the planet. Learning more about people like you is therefore extremely important, so if you can spare 4 minutes to answer some quick questions then please do! As an added incentive, if you participate you’ll go into the draw to win an exciting collection of the finest literature on ’simple living’.
To learn more and help build a better future, click here.
Comments (4)First Earth – A Cob Building Film for Inspiration
Building, Consumerism, People Systems, Retrofitting, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Oyvind Holmstad March 17, 2011
First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture by David Sheen is meant as an inspirational film about earthen buildings, or more specifically, what they call ‘cob’. Cob is the oldest and easiest way of building from earth. You can find information and relevant literature here, and inspiring pictures here.
The architect Rolf Jacobsen at Gaia Tjøme, Norway, has, together with his son, built an experimental cob building on their property. Because of the cold climate they chose a two layer wall with perlite in between for insulation. You can read a discussion about cob in humid climates in this article, looking especially at the comments thread.
No matter whatever you live — in a hot, cold, dry or humid climate — lean back and watch the video below. If you enjoy it the DVD can be ordered here. (The DVD version of the film has high-quality video and audio and includes extras.)
Chapter 1: What’s Wrong With Architecture
Industrial Era Assumptions
Consumerism, Economics, People Systems, Society — by Roger Burton March 16, 2011
I no longer work with corporations much because the heart of the conversation and action in my own life has to do with considering the implications of the industrial era and the anthropocenic era and working to dissolve and disentangle many of my associations and way of participating in that regard. I have found that this is increasingly difficult to consider these questions in organizations that are themselves self-identifying with the institutions of the industrial era or where people directly associate their well-being and ‘way of life’ with those institutions. I feel that the industrial era is over and that the institutions and epistemologies of this era are collapsing rapidly. My understanding of the anthropocenic is that humanity as a whole is acting (unconsciously) at the same scale as the systems of the biosphere and indeed, at the same scale as the biosphere itself. This brings up the question of systemic resilience. I have been talking with major corporations about this in one way or another for about ten years and the conversation has gotten very explicit in the past several years. Recently I have been discussing several things with organizations and individuals willing to talk together:
Comments (2)A Solar Powered Life – Part III
Consumerism, Energy Systems, peak oil — by Chris McLeod March 10, 2011
When the band Bananarama penned the ditty, “A cruel summer” back in 1983, I’m sure they must have been singing about solar power. Well, upon reflection, they probably weren’t. Anyway, it is an appropriate metaphor for solar power generation in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria and indeed elsewhere across the country for this summer given the La Nina influence on our weather. In the article A Solar Powered Life – part II, I wrote about how many solar panels you would need in order to generate your average electricity requirements. These were all based on a best case scenario which is rarely achieved in the real world. Not to fear though, as solar power has plenty to offer people even in less than perfect conditions.
Solar panels are affected by all sorts of factors in the real world. Usually, anything that affects the performance of a solar panel will tend to reduce its electrical output, so it’s worth understanding these factors so that you can set-up your solar panels so that they provide the best possible output.
Comments (21)Head-Banging for Britain
Consumerism, peak oil — by George Monbiot
by George Monbiot: journalist, author, academic and environmental and political activist, United Kingdom
Should we reduce the speed limit to cut oil consumption? Should we impose new taxes on the banks? Should we stop hawking weapons in the Middle East? The answer in all these cases is obvious, but none of these reforms will happen until we’ve brave enough to tackle vested interests.
Earlier this week, Spain reduced the speed limit on its motorways by 10kph. The British government should follow it, and then go further. Here’s why.
Comments (5)The Ancient Taberna in a Future World
Biodiversity, Building, Community Projects, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, Markets & Outlets, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Village Development — by Oyvind Holmstad March 4, 2011
Ladakh, India
All photographs © Craig Mackintosh
A taberna (plural tabernae) was a single room shop covered by a barrel vault within great indoor markets of ancient Rome. Each taberna had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway. A famous example is the Markets of Trajan in Rome, Italy built in the early 1st century by Apollodorus of Damascus.
According to the Cambridge Ancient History, a taberna was a “retail unit" within the Roman Empire and furthermore was where many economic activities and many service industries were provided, including the sale of cooked food, wine and bread. – Wikipedia
Some people claim that the Markets of Trajan was the world’s first shopping mall. But there is a difference to today’s malls. Trajan’s Market was beautiful and it offered ingenious personal services and variety, something which is rare today. I’ve yet to see a beautiful shopping mall built in the era of consumerism. Those few nice examples are all reused train stations and so on, from a lost time. No, the Trajan Market was not at all like today’s ’supermarkets’ — it was a superb market!
Comments (1)A Solar Powered Life – Part II
Consumerism, Energy Systems — by Chris McLeod March 2, 2011
In case you hadn’t realised it, I’m a big fan of renewable energy systems. In the article A Solar Powered Life – Part I I gave an introduction to both grid connected solar power systems and off-grid (or standalone) solar power systems and described some of the differences between the two.
In this article I will cover some of the common questions that I am asked by people and look at how the off-grid solar power system at PRI’s Zaytuna Farm conforms with the three ethics of permaculture.
One of the questions I am often asked by people is:
How many solar panels do I need to buy and install in order to cover my daily electricity usage?
This depends on how much electricity the household uses on average every day. In Australia, as I covered in my last article, various sources state that the average electricity used per household varies from around 15kWh (kilowatt hours) per day to about 20kWh per day (Wikipedia gives a figure of 24kWh per day for US average daily household consumption (1)).
This is the equivalent of a household having 10 x 100W (Watt) incandescent light bulbs switched on for between 15 and 20 hours per day every day of the year.
Being an optimist, I’ll use the best case average electricity usage of 15kWh per day, to determine the number of solar panels that you would require.
Comments (17)The Burning Building
Consumerism, Economics, Global Warming/Climate Change, Society — by Roger Burton February 26, 2011
Among world leaders there is no longer an actual debate about climate change. It is clear that the CO2 molecule traps heat. It is clear that there is more CO2 in the atmosphere than at anytime in the past 50,000 years and the gross amount and rate of emissions are both growing. World leaders also recognize that we, humankind, are, if not the cause, at least a major contributor to this condition.
This is all well known and socialized. None of this is actually a debate among leaders. World leaders are now in a negotiation about it. In that negotiation it is strategic to assume certain positions, some of which are even counter to factual conditions. This is true for many corporate leaders in multi-nationals as well. They know we need to do something about climate change, but strategically, cannot say so publicly. Or conversely, they say something about this publicly and strategically, but are not engaged in really meaningful activity about it.
Consider the nature of the negotiation. It is simple. Who will bear the cost of the changes we must make? Who will own and reap the benefits of the solutions we must create? If this seems crazy to you, you are not crazy. Imagine it this way. There is a diverse set of people in a burning building. They all know the building is burning, but it seems to be burning slowly. They can see the smoke. Occasionally a wall collapses on some of the people, but they are not yet be consumed by the flame itself in any way they collectively notice. In some parts of the house people are more vulnerable and effected than others. I am sure the analogy is clear.
Comments (6)The Need for Sustainable Agriculture – It’s So Obvious and Inevitable That Even The UN Has To Admit It
Biodiversity, Consumerism, Deforestation, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss, peak oil — by Rhamis Kent February 25, 2011
Editor’s Note: Quite some time ago, I shared the big 400-scientist-strong IAASTD worldwide study that concluded that small scale, localised, ecological agriculture was an imperative we cannot afford to ignore any more. The post was titled The Food Crisis: “A Perfect Storm” – and How to Turn the Tide. If you missed it, do check it out, and if you’re already conversant in the multiple crises we’re dealing with, then simply jump to the ‘The Solutions’ section. Now, halfway through 2010, whilst I had my head down, working on a tool to help fast track the aforementioned solution — www.permacultureglobal.com — yet another study shares the same holistic, science-based vision. Read on.
The great need to stop burning out our soils, wasting precious water, and polluting both, is no longer open to dispute. A rapid transition to sustainable methods of agriculture simply needs to be implemented on a massive scale — and it needs to be done yesterday.
This is the great task of our age.
"Agroecology outperforms large-scale industrial farming for global food security," says UN expert. — The United Nations Office at Geneva
In the aforementioned article (first reported 22 June 2010), UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor Olivier De Schutter "makes an airtight case for a global policy shift toward agroecological production."
Comments (1)The Myths of Globalization, Business and Money – Part I
Consumerism, Economics, Society — by Matthew Lynch February 24, 2011
Permaculture teaches us to look at the physical and invisible forces at work in nature, communities, and society, and to neutrally observe how these energies impact the elements within a system, so that we may reorganize the resources we have available to use in a way that harnesses the useful aspects of these forces, while simultaneously minimizing their harmful aspects.
Everything works both ways. — Bill Mollison
Let’s take a closer look, and explore how we might apply this fundamental attitudinal principle of permaculture to some of the words permaculturists are quite emotional about, and may use frequently in our journey to live happier, healthier, sustainable lives in alignment with our guiding ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Resource Share.
Comments (15)A Solar Powered Life – Part I
Building, Consumerism, Energy Systems, Urban Projects, peak oil — by Chris McLeod February 21, 2011
Photo of the house showing some of the solar panels and solar hot water system
I was happy to read that Zaytuna Farm had installed an off grid solar power system for their electrical requirements — “Advanced Solar, and independence, at PRI’s Zaytuna Farm”. However, upon reading the comments relating to this, I could see that there was quite a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation relating to solar power. This inspired me to write a series of articles covering pretty much all things solar power, what it’s all about and how it works.
My solar power knowledge is comprehensive and growing all the time. This is because I live in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria in a house I built myself which has an off grid solar power system. Having a mild dose of technical geekiness (although this is not necessarily a prerequisite!), I obtained and installed all of the components myself . This system now provides all of the electrical needs of the house. I received no government subsidies or RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) in the process (because it was cheaper not too) and maintained electrical compliance and Australian standards relating to the power system.
Comments (17)All Washed Up
Comedy Break, Consumerism, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Society, peak oil — by Marc Roberts
Courtesy: Marc Roberts
Climate Belief Forensics II
Consumerism, Economics, Global Warming/Climate Change, Society — by Thomas Fischbacher February 17, 2011
Editor’s Note: This is part II of a series. If you haven’t already, read Part I first.
Considering the Latin root of the word, "forensics" is about bringing something before the forum the public perhaps should know about. And certainly, exploring the question where influential beliefs about the climate come from seems quite relevant.
These days, all the world is talking about all sorts of things that were before secrets of the U.S. government but which have recently been revealed to the public — and occasionally these are quite dirty secrets too it seems. One should, however, not be misled into thinking that all those things actually were ’secrets’. Concerning, in particular, the very important question over why our present-day collective resource management is so catastrophically bad, there are more tangible, and more immediate answers than the lofty "there is something wrong with us as a species" statement. Indeed, there are answers that are not secret at all, yet mostly unknown to the public.
What are the most evident problems with our resource management? It is not as if we utilized critical (especially: mined) resources in a disorganized way — far from it. And, as finding and exploiting such resources is done in a highly organized and systematic fashion, there evidently must be people claiming to be experts in this field. (The reason why I write "claiming to be" is that a discrepancy between actual and claimed insight might explain a lot about our problems.)
Comments (11)Seller’s Market?
Comedy Break, Consumerism, Economics, Global Warming/Climate Change — by Marc Roberts
Courtesy: Marc Roberts
Final Frontier?
Comedy Break, Consumerism, Global Warming/Climate Change — by Marc Roberts February 12, 2011
Courtesy: Marc Roberts
