Most adults in the UK, and I guess the ‘developed’ world are aware of the economic recession that is in progress, along with some of the unprecedented actions that governments are taking to ease us out of this situation (but hopefully not back into the one that created the problem in the first place).
David Korten
David Korten, a psychologist, presents a different view on economics, specifically in relation to ‘Peak Oil’ (ie the fact that oil production has or is about to peak, and from this point onwards oil will become increasingly more expensive).
I watched a short film clip of Korten, taken from a new movie called Blind Spot (all about Peak Oil) and found his view interesting to say the least. Here’s a transcript of the excerpt:
There’s no way we’re going to fix this mess by adjustments at the margin.
This is about a fundamental rethinking of what it means to be human. A fundamental rethinking of our relationships with one another, our institutions, our culture.
And it means exposing and penetrating the stories of empire that keep us locked in to this system, that create a kind of cultural trance that say this is just, this is right, it’s the only way it can be.
So all our economic stories about economic growth, about you need wealthy investors to grow the economy, that you shouldn’t have welfare programs because they just coddle lazy people, all our stories about money - money is wealth, people who are making money are creating wealth so therefore they own it. This is all clouding the reality that economic growth is all about rich people expropriating the property of poor people and turning it into garbage to make money for rich people.
If you’re interested in the effect that consumption of goods has on the environment and other people, do check out Annie Leonard’s ‘Story of Stuff‘.
If you’re anything like me, do you walk through the lanes, pathways and woods and see the lush green growth that nature has provided, and wonder what plants you can eat or might be useful in some other way? The answer comes in the form of this handy and inexpensive downloadable guide that you can print yourself - The Handy Foraging Companion and Hedgerow Herbal from ‘Judy of the Woods‘.
Just £3.95
This latest version of The Handy Foraging Companion And Hedgerow Herbal comes in a portable post card size. The downloadable and easy to print feature-laden guide contains a list of over 350 edible plants in a handy format, as well as detailed illustrated profiles on over 50 common edible plants of Britain and Northern Europe. More
Sunday August 3rd is the official start of Climate Camp 2008 at Kingsnorth in Kent. I wish I was able to go but work and other commitments means I can’t, which is a shame ;-(
On Wednesday afternoon, a hundred climate campers secretly converged and occupied the site for this year’s Camp for Climate Action, a kilometer away Kingnorth power station.
Dozens of marquees were slowly put up, neighbourhoods arrived from all over the country, solar panels popped up, a central kitchen dished out three delicious meals a day and compost toilets were being built. A vision of a sustainable self- managed world is being put together piece by piece in a field in Kent, less than 45 minutes from London. All are welcome to come down as soon as they can to join in with the creation of Climate Camp 2008, in preparation for the opening on Sunday, 3rd August, when hundreds more will come and begin the week of workshops and action preparations. More
Back in 2006, Ryan bought a big car. He says it’s a “beautiful but totally excessive Range Rover Sport”. A big part of the motivation then was the huge tax write off for heavy SUVs (in the USA), combined with a short commute and weekly trips to go hiking with friends.
Since he moved back to San Francisco, Ryan doesn’t need a car, so he wants to take this SUV off the road for good. More
Greenpeace has made a wonderfully suggestive video and asked everyone to show forests some love! Those who are rather prudish should realise that everything is ’suggested’ and if you are offended it’s because you have joined the dots - they have not been joined for you! More
Mercedes have made plans to make their whole car lineup fossil fuel free by 2015. Does this mean that fossil fuels will run out by then? Of course not, however Mercedes are clearly concerned that due to ‘Peak Oil’ the price of fossil fuels will only be going in one direction!
Mercedes (which includes the Smart Car) plan is just that, a plan and in reality they may not achieve their goals, but the key fact is that a major automotive manufacturer has set such a significant goal. More
The New York Times reported on some startling examples of silly food miles. All made possible because of (relatively) cheap oil/transportations costs and lower wages in some parts of the world. Unfortunately whilst this may keep some people in work in china or wherever, it does mean that the local people who used to do the job are out of work, and all in the name of cheap food…
Here are some of the silly examples:
Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale
Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground
Half of Europe’s peas are grown and packaged in Kenya
Britain imports -and exports- 15,000 tons of waffles every yea
Fuel used for international transport is tax-free, thanks to a treaty signed in 1944 to help the airline industry - so who is paying for the pollution and carbon dumped into the atmosphere? It’s about time that the governments of the world got together and put forward a unified ‘polluter pays’ policy that would help see an end to this ridiculous practice.
Hat tip to TreeHugger for reporting on the above article.
That locally-produced, free-range, organic hamburger might not be as green as you think.
An analysis of the environmental toll of food production concludes that transportation is a mere drop in the carbon bucket. Foods such as beef and dairy make a far deeper impression on a consumer’s carbon footprint.
Modbury is a small market town in Devon, UK. Although there is seasonal (holiday) trade, many of the local shops serve and rely on the local community. In May 2007, Modbury became the first town in the UK to stop issuing plastic bags when goods are purchased.
Every single trader in Modbury has signed up for it (which is pretty amazing in itself) and they encourage their customers to use their own shopping bags, or where this is not possible, the shops offer reusable and environmentally friendly carrier bags.
Some plastic bag facts:
A person uses a plastic carrier bag on average for only 12 minutes
A plastic bag can take between 500 to 1000 years to break down in the environment.
In the UK at least 200 million plastic bags end up as litter on our beaches, streets and parks ever year.
When a plastic bag enters the ocean it becomes a harmful piece of litter. Many marine animals mistake plastic bags for food and swallow them, with painful and often fatal consequences.
One of the many interesting aspects to the campaign within Modbury has been the spin-off benefits and the depth and breadth at which people have looked into. Rather than just replacing the plastic carrier bags with a bio-degradable bag, or a paper bag, they asked the question “what is the cost (to the earth) of producing that paper bag in the first place” in other words, they looked in detail at the current alternatives to plastic to see whether they were in fact better or worse. They also looked at where and how the alternatives where made ie where jute bags made in sweatshops, was the glue used environmentally benign and so on.
A year on, Modbury has thrived on being plastic bag free and the whole experience has made people take a wider look at their impact on the environment, both locally and farther afield.
The Modbury Plastic Bag Free website is packed with great information on the reasons why, their community, the transition, facts on bags, the alternatives, suppliers and so on. Well worth a visit.
Electric vehicles conjure up different emotions for people - some see them as having no place on the road (people like Jeremy Clarkson, although I think there is no place on the road for Jeremy Clarkson!), others see them as salvation to our modern congested cities.
Video from Danny’s Contentment (link at bottom of post)
They certainly work well in cities where their small size, zero-emissions, and in London, preferential treatment within the congestion charging zone all go in their favour. The most popular vehicle is G-Wiz, sold by GoinGreen and made in India by Reva. Although there has been a couple of recent upgrades (AC-Drive and different battery technology, improved brakes & safety etc) which have improved both the range and performance, in my own opinion, they do look rather quirkly - not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but they invoke memories of those little blue invalid carriages that were around in the 70’s.
One car that didn’t look so bad was the Norwegian developed Think City. Originally the company that developed it was bought by Ford, but shortly before the final development of the ‘Mark II’ version, Ford pulled the plug on the company - see earlier post for more. However, new investors were found and the Think City 2 is now in production.
Looking more like a ‘proper’ car (which helps it gain acceptance amongst the population at large), it has some innovative features.
Built-in Telemetrics - you can text/sms your car to check battery status, pre-heat the interior and pre-start the engine
Lithium Polymer batteries give 120 mile range and 50 mph top speed. The batteries will be permanently leased from the supplier which means they will be automatically changed when performance drops below a certain point.
Fully homogenised - essentially means that it is classed as a proper car rather than a ‘quadracycle’. As such it has undergone crash testing etc like regular mainstream cars
High quality production - it ‘feels’ like a mainstream car rather than a kit car
The new Think City is due in UK in RHD (right-hand drive) towards end of 2008
Danny’s Contentment has some video footage of driving the Think City (plus lots of other great stuff on the life and times of an Electric Vehicle owner in London)
