Ecotips No 3 about No. ONE (urine)

An entertaining if somewhat goofy look at the value of Wee. Close the nutrient cycle!

For a more in depth discussion of using urine in the garden download episode 29 of Emma Cooper's gardening podcast at The Alternative Kitchen Garden Website.

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION - Radical Change Taking Root

Path to Freedom presents 'A Homegrown Revolution' A collaboration of selective media clips which feature their urban homestead and farm which focus on the need of radical action -- growing food in the city.

This self produced, short music video was shown at Peter Seller's Cultural Art's class at UCLA followed by a short presentation by urban farmer, Jules Dervaes founder of Path to Freedom. The class focus was on the art of slow food and among other guests invited were Michael Pollan, Alice Waters and Eric Schlosser.

Like Victory Gardens of yesteryear, start your own homegrown revolution, grow your own food in your back or front yard -- for more information visit the urban homesteaders at www.PathtoFreedom.com

Since the early 80's the Dervaes family has slowly transformed their ordinary city lot into a self sufficient urban homestead.

(NOTE: This video's creation, concept, layout, sound pickups and editing was done in a marathon session of just three days so please excuse any choppy editing! )

VIDEO FOOTAGE COURTESY OF
Path to Freedom
Treehugger TV
CBS2 / KCAL9
SPA8 / Chris Klonecke
Gina Angelique / Chris Hall
EARTH RISE Dance Performance

INTERVIEWS COURTESY
Path to Freedom
Christopher Klonecke
Gina Angelique / Chris Hall
CBS2 / KCAL9

MUSIC COURTESY
"Revolution Cry"
Lifehouse / Blyss

"Paths of Victory"
Bob Dylan

"Looking Out My Backdoor"
Creedence Clearwater Revival

"Smoothie Song""
Nickel Creek

"Drive"
REM

"Green Grows the Rushes"
REM

"Footprints in the Snow"
Songs of the Hills

"Seneca Square Dance"
Songs of the Hills

New climate science from down under - by Robb

Australia, once the only other developed country that made denying climate change a central government policy, has made a turnabout with a new PM. Take heart America, soon you too could join the rest of the world community to tackle this biggest of challenges.

"New Australian research showed current policies did not go far enough to manage the risks posed by climate change, according to Dr Roger Jones, a climate risk analyst with CSIRO's energy transformed flagship.

Global action was needed by 2015 to adequately reduce those risks, he said.

The research, conducted by CSIRO and Victoria University, showed even if severe emissions cuts were implemented from 2030, warming of 2.2 to 4.7 degrees could still happen by 2100.

If the present high emissions path was followed, the most likely warming was between 3.4 and 7.2 degrees."

It's not all gloom and doom however;

"Work undertaken by CSIRO showed it was very likely cuts to emissions by 2050 would pay for themselves by 2100 in economic terms."

read the whole article here:

http://news.smh.com.au/world-may-be-heating-quickly-scientist/20080507-2bul.html

Lighter side of Al Gore

New Urbanism vs. Suburbanism

As population and pollution problems continue to develop in our world, new solutions to existing obstacles must be cultivated. Instead of expanding roads and building more bridges for more cars to congest, we must move to a different standpoint. New Urbanism sets out to make cars a source of secondary or even tertiary transportation in an interactive setting where people can prosper together healthily and ecologically. Getting to work in today's world involves high levels of stress, and poor use of time, not to mention the virtually eliminated element of social interaction. In a New Urbanistic environment, all amenities are within about 10 minutes of walking distance from either home or work. Roads are hidden behind properties in slow speed alleys, promoting walking, bicycling and other sustainable methods of transportation. In such an environment where social interaction is encouraged and sustainable lifestyles are both implemented and encouraged, a healthy culture can emerge and prosper. New Urbanism, in a small area, brings together people of all age, income, culture, and race, setting a standard of equality among all humans, regardless of background. It is imperative that new ideas such and New Urbanism are explored and provided for people to assess for themselves. In this manner we can move forward as a whole society, leaving no one behind.

The Suffering of Change - by Robb

While the Bush Administration has sticky black wet dreams about 30 years worth of oil in the arctic some of us are waking up to some basics. The answer isn't in more new cars that burn more fossil fuel even if more efficient. Einstein said you can't solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.

We can't consume our way out of overconsumption!

We must all simply find ways to consume less, much less, of everything.
I have been lucky for the last 2 years. I have no commute and don't drive. My wife walks to work and I walk everywhere unless we are going on one of our trips around the UK. For that we take our 10 year old diesel van powered by recycled vegetable oil based biodiesel. We could buy a hybrid or even a smart car. Why would we do that? Aside from putting us in debt, a cage we stringently avoid, buying a new vehicle to save carbon emissions is like giving an alcoholic a smaller shot glass. He'll just pour more self destruction. You need to take away the liquor. Cuba didn't respond to their oil crisis by importing or making new more efficient cars, they kept what they had going and drove less, if at all. They are now a model of sustainability.

The emissions involved in mining the metals, creating the plastics and other materials involved in making a new more efficient car, not to mention shipping all that stuff and the final product will take years to offset by the use of that vehicle. People with long commutes need to look at ways to change their lives to accommodate shorter or even better no commutes. Do it now before peak oil forces it later and you will be happier.

Folks here are complaining as gas reaches £5/gallon, that's close to $10/gallon, but always with the caveat, "What are you gonna do, you have to have it" What will it take to convince them that they can change? How do they become Enviro-mental? Research indicates that gloom and doom scarcity language won't work. It must be approached as a positive life enhancing option.


"It may very well be true that our future existence will be much more materially constrained than it is now, the way to 'soft land' there is to give it a positive spin." (De Young 2001)


My character tends the opposite direction. For instance, I have recently found it revelatory to consider recycling as a failure. Americans, myself among them, have thought for years that recycling would do the trick. Recycling is an indication of a design flaw.

“technological devices and products we use are in themselves potent sources of behavioural control...... Discrete physical properties of technologies and consumer products influence the ways in which they are used.” (Crabb 1992)

These properties have been named affordances.(Norman 1988) Items that should be recycled are actually designed to be thrown away, increasing recycling opportunities does not address the inherent design flaw. Recycling is a failure to reuse which is a failure to reduce. Shouldn’t we encourage citizens to reduce first? Shouldn’t we direct our efforts toward the cessation of the manufacturing of

“countless gadgets and products that have no defensible place in a rational energy efficient society”? (Crabb 1992)

This would address not only the use of resources involved in the personal use of products but in the creation of the products themselves. It is easy to suggest this but how to put it in to practice?

My father always said, "set an example, don't take one." My policy when I think I need a market good is to first try to do without it, borrow it, or make it myself, if that fails then to source it on freecycle, if that fails then to buy it used. For instance, when we need a lampshade in the house, for the lamps I've pulled out of skips, I make it out of old plastic protein powder containers. They are durable, diffuse the light from my CFL's nicely, and come with the product contained. Again, I have to thank my father for that idea, he practiced practicality as long as I can remember.

Change, big change, is thundering down the glacier aimed right at our lifestyles. We can begin the process in advance and thus lessen the crushing consequences of impact or simply stare into the headlights.

Paradox of Choice video

Here's a link to a video to remind us of Dave's excellent post on this topic.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/93