This week has been really quite a journey. As I hoped at the start, there is something happening to me which is not just about tacking greener ideas on to my normal lifestyle.
It is happening at quite a deep level and feels like a flower blooming. Too much poking around to find out what it's all about might interfere with a delicate process. Some things happen better with a little benign neglect!...
But it is is possible to mention some of the outer manifestations of my journey towards greener living. What is on my mind, the books I'm reading, the things I've done. Here's the list!
1. Permaculture. Who knew? I thought it was just a way of gardening but it is so much more. Turns out it is about sustainable culture in many ways. Doing more with less, with less effort! Hurray! I've instinctively known that our current mainstream culture is just quite sick with it's complete addiction to hard work as the highest value known to humanity. Permaculture has a different view. Work should be about creating a good life for a community. That's why fair shares for all matters. So you don't work the land to the point of barrenness and then fill it with artificial replacements for its natural goodness. You don't work yourself to the point of physical and emotional burn out. You take enough, you share, you treat yourself, the land and other people with respect. It's great that there
is a free online course to learn about the basics. Now just need to manage my time so that I follow through on this. But it is so worth it!
2. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive - the Book, by Jared Diamond. I was in tears by the end of the chapter on Montana. People want to live in a beautiful place but how do they sustain their lives without destroying the beauty around them? It seems clear that one problem has been that we don't want to pay farmers enough for the food they produce. No account was taken of increasing costs. This wretched drive for mindless, soulless efficiency above all, which boomerangs in unexpected ways! For example, in trying, and succeeding temporarily, to suppress totally naturally occurring forest fires, they worsened the problem to a massive extent. It's a marvellous book and I am so bowled over by the sweep of it. Just to see it as it as shown by an estate agent, "the most beautiful mountain valley in North America." And yes, I would like to visit it one day.
3. A wonderful walk at sunrise in Hilly Fields Park....I do want and need to reconnect with the nature and near by urban green space. What a beautiful place. In my home I don't have much sense of the sunrise as the sun is blocked from view by other buildings. But from Hilly Fields there is a glorious view. I enjoyed exploring the park for the best vantage point and now I know. It's quite near the cafe as it happens. I'd have to agree it is
marvellous mood medicine!
Next time I'll take a flask of tea and time it so that I also have breakfast there. An added bonus was finding a completely unexpected sundial in the Memorial Gardens just round the corner from my home. So if I ever want to reinforce my sense of direction, I know where to go! This is part of a theme of digging deeper, metaphorically speaking, in my local area.
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A Glade in Hilly Fields: Sunrise
4. On a practical level, installing an Eco Friendly shower was a good thing. It is, as John says, a bit like showering in fizzy water rather than still. But the savings are potentially stupendous and it still feels like a good "shower experience." I also bought a sheaf of recycled paper to use for photcopying. It was quite expensive but maybe it's time that the true value of a resource is reflected in the cost. It will make me more careful not to waste it! I am more conscious of all use of energy, from lights to the computer. I started shutting it down completely and pulling out the lead when I am not actually using it. Small things but slowly the effect mounts up.
5. Several rich sources of inspiration and have come my way. I received my first copy of Earthlines a wonderful journal of "ecoliterature" which is full of original writing. It is edited by a couple who are also crofters on the Island of Lewis. So I specially enjoyed the television programme Islands on the Edge, about the Hebrides. It was so moving to see that the islanders are maintaining a naturally ecofriendly way of life. It's not for the faint hearted, with a tendency to be green when it's convenient. And another Channel 4 programme seems relevant. When the pain of the enviromental crisis is just overwhelming, music might be the very best balm for the soul.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/chopin-changed-my-life/4od
6 Other green matters this week: Fennel. Why does Nestle think it should be able to patent a naturally occurring substance? This is truly ridiculous. I feel impatient with corporations whose motives are solely greed, so far as I can see. So I signed the petition about it and if you also think we need to keep the freedom to use Nature's medicine chest without corporate fatcats getting in on the act, you can sign it. Nestle have made a statement saying they want to patent a compound, not the flower itself. Slightly reassuring, perhaps.
8. Fracking at Balcombe... The protests continue. I trust there is the sound of a Government shooting itself in the foot here, as Philip Carr Gomm says, this is David Cameron's poll tax.
7. Clearing clutter. why is this green? I am slowly but thoroughly clearing out cabinets and drawers. It's green, because it means using the resources I have, and not hoarding, just in case. It's also green because it's easier to manage my stuff, keep things clean, and not waste energy worrying or searching for mislaid items. It means that I have more time and energy for the things that really matter. It's also about living in the now. Much more could be said about this. It's part of being truly responsible for my own life and decisions.
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