Hey solarpunk community! In light of several posts that have been going around, I was thinking it would be worthwhile to talk about the real, physical things we can do to make this world a more solarpunk place. Because speculation and aesthetics and thinkpieces are awesome, but a movement isn’t a movement without real action behind it. So what are things we can all do to make the present closer to our solarpunk future?
¤ Persuade your local gov’t and city mayor to support the Paris agreement! Call your state reps too!
¤ Be involved in local community and charity!
¤ Barter where you can, and buy local & thrift where you can’t! Make! Make! MAKE!
¤ Get some solar panels! Small ones, big ones, whatever you can afford.
¤ If you can get away, go forest bathing! Appreciate nature, and teach your children to do the same. Remember–leave only footprints.
¤ If you got a patch of land, garden it! Can’t grow it yourself? Volunteer it to someone who will!
¤ Collect your rainwater!
¤ Got kids or going to have them? Have two. Then stop. The third kid is SO much more expensive in terms of… Well literally everything. Bigger house. Bigger car. More resources.
¤ Cloth diapers, reusable wipes. Homemade laundry soap. Clothesline. (I realize this is house spouse territory, but do what you can.)
¤ Encourage your local school district to open an outdoor classroom, or a class garden! Or volunteer to help with one of those “circle of life” lessons that involve baby chicks or silk worms. (Tada! Now you have chickens!)
¤ Collect local deadwood (my area has loads), and either turn it into works of Art–or of it’s not good for anything else–Biochar. By removing dead wood from urban areas you reduce the ever increasing risk of fire.
¤ Time to end the rent rat race? Buy a tiny piece of land and build your dream house YOUR way. Natural building. Tiny. Reclaimed materials. Solar. High tech. All good.
¤ Eat less meat. I get it. We all have different dietary needs, and not all of is can go vegan. I know I can’t. I’m not here to shame anybody, but cows especially are particularly bad. It would be nice of they were all grass fed dwarf cattle (mini-moos) though.
If you live in NY State, you can lobby your town/city/county government to become a Climate Smart Community by adopting the pledges here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/50845.html
I’m assuming other states might have something similar (hopefully).
-Bee boxes, bird houses, bee gardens, bat boxes - make your neighborhood more friendly for flora and fauna.
-try composting. If your city has a compost program, opt in. If not, make your own!
-track your water usage. Then try to limit it in small ways. Do the same with your electricity!
-plant a tree. Or five. Seriously - they’re such a great investment.
- go to a co-op and buy…well…anything. Often they have eco friendly soap, shampoo and cleaning products!
So, I’d like to add in some more environmentally focused
options:
1) Familiarize yourself with your state and where
you live.
o
What types of ecosystems are near you
(Chaparral, Tropical Hardwood Hammock, Longleaf Pine Forest, etc)? What is so
special about them?
o
What rare species live in your state? What state-threatened
and state endangered species live near you? What federally threatened and
endangered species live near you? Pay EXTRA close attention to non-charismatic
species, such as reptiles, amphibians, insects (hello NATIVE BEES AND
POLLINATORS) and arthropods, PLANTS, crustaceans (there are TONS of threatened
crawfish), mollusks (Florida has at least one threatened snail and a few rare
clams!), fungi, etc. What threats do these organisms face, and what can you do
to help them?
o
What environmental issues are prevalent in your
state, and why? What is one local environmental issue that is very close to
you?
For example, in Florida, a major environmental problem
is the ongoing fight to restore water flow to the Everglades, an ecosystem that
NEEDS a continuous flow of water through it. However, the sugar industry would
rather use that to grow MORE sugar and divert its nasty ass fertilizer water
full of toxic algae to canals and rivers that dump into the ocean. I’ve seen
several articles detailing major losses for local economies that depend on
tourism, as well as more discussing how toxic algae is actually REALLY BAD for
people (who knew, amirite?) More info here.
“Martin Crawford, a forest gardening pioneer, based in the UK, explains in a short film by Thomas Regnault, ’What we think of as normal, in terms of food production is actually not normal at all. Annual plants are very rare in nature, yet most of our agricultural fields are filled with annual plants. It’s not normal. What’s normal is a more forested or semi-forested system.’
Forest gardens mimic natural ecosystems by using perennial plants and trees, which live for a long time and/or reseed themselves. The garden would have various vertical levels of growth such as tall canopy trees, shorter trees, shrubs and bushes, vines, consists of various vertical levels of growth, from canopy trees to shorter trees, to shrubs and bushes, vines, herbs, ground cover and roots. The levels work together, offering shade, wind protection, support and nutrition. Starting a forest garden from scratch will take time, work and money but once done, it will basically take care of itself for years with very little maintenance but plenty to harvest.”
Some ya’ll who are younger need to google Frank Serpico and read about his time in the NYPD and what the cops did to him and attempted to do to him up until the late 90′s. He literally had to go into hiding in Italy and Switzerland and multiple times people tried to kill him. He only came back to America after the mafia (who hated the NYPD a lot, obviously) said “you’re under our protection.”
Damn, NYPD is so bad, Mafia started protecting good cops
