Category: Sustainable Living
Lee Camp brings it
Over the past week, I’ve watched about 20 episodes of Lee Camp’s Moment of Clarity. Camp has the technique down well. Be well informed, then let it fly with equal parts wit and sharp sword. His targets are those who hurt or disparage honorable ordinary people. His videos are well-planned and executed, with the timing of an experienced comedian. Take a look at any of the four posted episodes below, and I suspect that you will become a Lee Camp fan too.
Germany’s renewable energy revolution
While we in the U.S. are barely moving forward on renewables, Germany is streaking into the future. Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute explains:
While the examples of Japan, China, and India show the promise of rapidly emerging energy economies built on efficiency and renewables, Germany—the world’s number four economy and Europe’s number one—has lately provided an impressive model of what a well-organized industrial society can achieve. To be sure, it’s not yet the world champion among countries with limited hydroelectricity: Denmark passed 40% renewable electricity in 2011 en route to a target of 100% by 2050, and Portugal, albeit with more hydropower, raised its renewable electricity fraction from 17% to 45% just during 2005–10 (while the U.S., though backed by a legacy of big hydro, crawled from 9% to 10%), reaching 70% in the rainy and windy first quarter of 2013. But these economies are not industrial giants like Germany, which remains the best disproof of claims that highly industrialized countries, let alone cold and cloudy ones, can do little with renewables.
Here’s an example of how poorly some of us in the U.S. are postured for divesting ourselves of carbon. This is an example from my home state of Missouri, where the utilities and the coal industry apparently owns the place.
Fox: Why solar power won’t work in the U.S.
Per FOX, solar is working great in Germany. Why can’t it work in the U.S.? Because Germany has more sunshine. Except that Germany doesn’t. By far. Amazing that such garbage passes as analysis.
Smaller houses, bigger lives
This article at Grist features many people who have discovered more happiness and a different attitude toward possessions after moving into tiny houses, as small as 100 square feet. Here’s a short article I wrote in 2007 describing houses as small as 40 square feet.
Living really close to the land at Dancing Rabbit
Tonight I was taught how to get serious about sustainability. Most people I know merely talk the talk, and they would rarely, if ever, consider making significant voluntary changes to their life styles in order to preserve the planet. Solar panels on the roof? It might offend the neighbors. Take public transportation? Outside of a handful of American cities, it is considered beneath one’s dignity to the extent that one can afford to own a car. Refrain from taking a pleasure trip across the world? Why would anyone do that? Car pool? Are you crazy? Ride a bicycle to work? I can’t because I might get sweaty. Eat only local food? I need more variety! 
Tonight I listened to Tony Sirna describe Dancing Rabbit, a community of people truly dedicated to shrinking their ecological footprint. He discussed his community, sustainable living options, and what the future holds for all of us. The following is from the introductory literature to the presentation:
Dancing Rabbit Eco-village in Northern Missouri has been at the fore since 1997 and its members are living one vision of a sustainable future right now.
Over the last 15 years Dancing Rabbit has built over 25 energy-efficient homes using reclaimed lumber and natural building methods such as strawbale and cob. By reducing electricity use to less than 10% of the American norm, the village is now a net exporter of renewable energy. Three vehicles are shared among the 75 residents, who drive only 7% of the US average. Food production is integrated into the design of the pedestrian-scale village. Cooperation, a strong gift economy, and a vibrant alternative currency support the economic stability of the community. Natural ecosystems are preserved and restored on the community’s 280-acre land trust. Sustainability is not just a dream. The residents of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage are living it right now.
I learned that the 75 residents of Dancing Rabbit use only 10% of the energy of the average American. They do this through the power of cooperation–a strongly interconnected community that strongly encourages each other. This is not a religious community. It is not a group that shares it’s income (every individual controls his or her own wealth).
The residents have erected a small village of homes, mostly built of clay, sand and straw. These are small houses by modern standards–about 1/3 the size of new houses in the U.S., but this is the size of a typical house from the 1950s. The community compact forbids the private ownership of cars. Three community vehicles are shared among the 75 residents. Ride sharing is strongly encouraged, and almost no one drives alone.
Water use is only about 12 gallons per day per person, compared to 135 gallons for the typical American. They accomplish this through composting toilets, cisterns for rain and constructive wetlands. They are getting fairly close to having zero carbon buildings. The aim is to be entirely free of fossil fuel. They grow much of the food they eat.
The residents include many college educated people, many of whom work jobs from the isolated village up in Scotland County, Missouri. Some of the residents run a B&B in the village. The original residents were transplants from Stanford University; that was 15 years ago. Sirna indicates that it is an extremely fulfilling lifestyle, where residents live life by their values, among those who share their values. The current plan is to recruit more residents in order to expand the eco-village to 500 residents.
Annie Leonard: Stay home on Black Friday
Annie Leonard (“The Story of Stuff”) urges us to stay home on Black Friday, offering us some stunning images in this one-minute video:
What else is there to do? Fifty years ago, people would have thought you were an idiot to even ask this question.
Although I have NEVER shopped on Black Friday, I signed Annie Leonard’s Pledge.
Preserving a corner of the world
Would you like to help preserve an ecologically pristine corner of the world? Here’s a project you will appreciate: The Children’s Eternal Rainforest. I’m personally involved with this organization, having conducted the interviews in this video and I composed the music. Take a look and you’ll see that this Costa Rican Rainforest is an extraordinary treasure that can and should be preserved.
Romney mocking climate change
Go to 6:15 of this youtube clip and you’ll see Mitt Romney mocking Barack Obama on the issue of climate change at the Republican national convention. As Amy Goodman then points out, however, neither candidate (and none of the moderators) bothered to mention climate change at the debates. This is an incredibly sad state of affairs.
The doubt industry
There’s no doubt that humans are changing the climate. I invite you to invest five minutes to see how big industries have historically manipulated doubt. That is exactly what is going on with regard to global warming.
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