Eve of a New Day

Love Miles

Recently, when my parents came to town for a visit, I heard David Holmgren talk to my mother about love miles: the distance family members travel to see one another. With peaking oil, he said, and the rise in cost of fuel, it will get harder and harder for family members to just jump on a plane for a visit.

To help reduce their love miles, my folks are selling their house and are moving to this neck of the woods to be near my sister Kate and I and our families.

If you're in the market for a self-sufficient house in Tasmania that sits on a beautiful 200 acre block, check out their blog for more details.

High 5-ing the World

Resolution? Promise? Goal? I don't know what you'd call it, but a year ago we made one.

In a conversation about where we'd like to be as a family, we quickly realised that the future we were planning didn't include a car.

Three years ago we gave up shopping at supermarkets, a year ago we gave up air travel, two months ago we gave up eating out of season and we're slowly transitioning towards giving up our mobile phones. But giving up our car feels like the biggest decision we have made so far.

It took us a year of preparation. We started a log book so we could see all the reasons we were justifying using the car. We biked, walked, carpooled and used public transport as much as we could, and after surviving the winter, knew that we were ready.

The town we call home has limited public transport options—no trams and no trains—so we knew we'd have to be a bit more organised whenever we wanted to leave. But on the plus side, we live in town, so it's a five minute bike ride up to the post office or library.

A week ago, we drove our car to Melbourne and delivered it to its new owner. The second he drove away it started to pour, and it dawned on me for the first time, the reality of our decision.

The next day, PJ started converting our carport into a bike/tool/potting shed.

After researching and test riding several cargo bikes, we finally made our decision. Yesterday PJ and I bussed and trained to Melbourne where we picked up our Kona Utes. Our first ride was a two-hour stint from the nearest train station, home.

My legs feel strong today, though my arms are a little sunburnt. Not from waving down passing cars to give us a lift, but from feeling so overwhelmed with freedom, I couldn't help high 5-ing the world.

Sugru

Thank you Rachael for my care parcel!

I don't know which I was more excited by, the packaging or the contents.

The contents: Sugru.

Sugru feels like modelling clay, or Blu-Tack. It fixes in 30 minutes into whatever shape you mold it, and is ready to be used after 24 hours. It fixes soft because it's made from silicone. It sticks to metal, plastic, glass and ceramic. It's waterproof, dishwasher-safe, heat resistant, cold resistant, electrically and thermally insulating.

I don't write this to advertise, merely to explain.

Or if you're more image inclined:

After I fixed the ring and knife handle I was walking around the house like a woman possessed, trying to find broken things, considering what I could chip or bust or smash, just so I could mend it. I gave myself a high 5 I was so excited, when I remembered the missing bit at the bottom of the food processor.

I must admit I had hesitations at first, thinking of all the energy that goes into creating Sugru, but then I thought that anything that promotes the Repair Manifesto, over buying new gear, is definitely a good thing by me.

Parade

PJ and I took part in the annual New Year's Eve parade down the main street of our town last night. Here we are in our trashy costumes, as snapped by our dear friend Glen, moments before a giant storm came to wash away 2009:

And here we are last year:

Thank you again, Ian for helping us with the signs.

Happy, happy new year, y'all!

Mooncup

Last month when I blogged about our decision to give up international air travel, I asked if there is anything that you have given up in order to live a more sustainable life.

One reader emailed to say that she had bought herself a menstrual cup because she wanted to stop using disposable sanitary products. This is something I have also been wanting to do.

I hate that the Australian Government has placed the GST on sanitary items because they are considered non-essential, and even though I compost my tampons I still hate the waste of having to buy new ones every single month.

I have a friend who uses a Mooncup, so I bought myself one too. I have used it for one period now. It's recommended you empty it every four hours or so, but I found myself emptying it more often because I couldn't wait to see how full it was. The cup has measurements on the side so you can see how much you're harvesting. I was actually surprised how little blood there was as my tampons are usually soaked through, especially on the second day, my heaviest. I was also surprised by the colour of the blood - a rich, dark colour that tampons usually make look paler.

Each time I emptied the Mooncup I tipped the blood into a jar of water in the bathroom cupboard, then at the end of the five days I poured the bloody mix onto the soil around our budding fruit trees.

Why should I wait till I'm dead so my innards can be of use to the Earth?

We've Been Talking

Since we first got together, but more seriously for the last 18 months, PJ and I have been talking about the areas in our life that we'd like to change in order to live more sustainably.

Trying our best to avoid buying things that are made from or packaged in plastic is our ongoing mission. On the whole I feel great about it, although there's an organic grapefruit juice we no longer buy because it comes in a plastic bottle, that I really, really miss.

Buying local is another rung on our transition ladder, which we are incrementally working towards. As is only buying second hand clothes.

We recently made a decision that feels a lot bigger than the steps we have taken so far. And that is not to fly overseas by plane again. PJ and our friend Jason, who together make up the outfit WorkmanJones have been invited to show their work at a gallery in the States next year, accompanied by their respective partners. Airfares and artist fees were included. I was planning to see my sister Abby, among other people, but now it looks like I won't see her or them until they come to Australia or until air travel is powered by non-polluting fuel.

This feels huge! One of the sites I write for is a travel site. On my profile it says

As a writer, Meg is often asked about the one book that has been the most inspirational or influential in her life. For all the insights, adventures and revelations it has afforded her, she would hands down have to say her passport.

And I'm not just saying that. It feels like a huge thing to say I'm never going to travel overseas by plane again.

What about you? Is there anything you have given up or can't imagine living without?

Bike Week

It's Bike Week here in the Land of Meg; a whole week of posts dedicated to the wonder that is the bicycle.

Two days ago, this wonder was on display in our town for all the community to experience.

To celebrate International Day of Climate Action, two local green groups screened the film, The Age of Stupid, which I implore you to see if you have not yet.

To offset the carbon generated by the projector during the screening, 12 grid-connected bikes were set up in the middle of town on Saturday, the day of the screening, to generate the 2,000 megawatt hours needed to power the film that night.

As the bicycle is the most efficient means of self-powered transport, I have always thought that pedal power = a lot of power. But compared to coal power, which we receive at the flick of a switch, pedal power is an inefficient, time-consuming way of producing electricity. But boy oh boy was it a fun way to learn that it takes nearly all day to create enough juice to screen an 89 minute film!

Happy Bike Week, y'all!

The World's Best Worst

Cricket, swimming, tennis, music, fashion, design. Whatever activity your country can do, Australia can do it better. I wouldn't call it nationalism, but the flexing of our toned competitive muscles.

And so it was really no surprise to read this morning that Australia has the world's highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions from energy use.

Go Aussies, go!

You think your country likes burning coal and filling the atmosphere with carbon dioxide? Get in line!

On the CO2 Energy Emissions Index, Canada has come in third, while Australia has overtaken the US - responsible for 19.78 tonnes per head - as the worst per capita emitter.

The risk assessment company who conducted the study found Australia's overwhelmingly coal-based electricity supply meant the average person emitted 20.58 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

20.58 tonnes baby!!

Plastic bags? We love them! Water bottled in plastic and transported in big trucks around the country? Oh yeah! Solar panels and wind turbines? For losers!

A spokeswoman for our Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said:

"As one of the hottest and driest continents on earth, Australia will be among the hardest and fastest-hit by climate change if we don't act now."

But why would we bother to act at all? Global warming and peak oil? bring it on! Environmentalism and eco-consciousness is for sissies.

Pookie

Z loves this book. It was a gift from our friend Vivienne who had it when she was a girl.

Pookie is a little white rabbit who, after a nasty storm, tells Winter to go away and never come back. But then, when Winter shows no sign of returning, and Autumn is followed by Spring, "the Woodland Folk realised what trouble they were in."

"Who will wash away all last year's old leaves and rubbish?" they asked each other anxiously. "Who will spread a blanket of snow so that we can sleep snugly underneath in our cosy homes? We cannot manage with just Spring, Summer, Autumn... and then Spring again! Flowers cannot get ready to flower again without a rest during the Winter! Hedgehogs and Dormice and Squirrels and lots of other Animals must have their winter sleep!"

I used to be like that. If Winter wasn't going to go away, I would fantasise about migrating to some place tropical for a few months. But now that our plum tree is starting to bud and the time we have to lock the chooks up is getting later and later each night, I am sad that Winter is leaving, and that the bushfire season will be upon us so soon.

In this illustration Pookie is asking Winter to please come back to the woodlands, because the animals have realised that they need him. I don't know that I would go so far as to ask Winter to stay longer, but I am surely going to miss him when he leaves.

I Don't Know

The other day when Z and I were walking up to town we saw a whole pile of these discarded on the side of the road. Picking one up, he asked me what they were. I told him they were for packaging fragile things. We filled my bag with them to throw away when we got to town, and kept walking.

Z told me how he'd like to fill our whole house with them while we were inside it, so it'd be impossible to go from room to room. I told him that that wouldn't be such a good idea, which led to a discussion about the evils of polystyrene and plastic and how they pollute environments and don't break down.

"I can break them down," he said as he started to shred what was in his hand. As we talked some more about toxins and ecosystems and wild animals, he understood why we had filled my bag with the litter that, before we saw them, had already started to blow all over the place.

"Why don't the factories stop making them?" he asked.

"Why don't the police put the people who make them in jail?" he asked.

"Why doesn't God tell them to stop?" he asked.

Comparing Junes

We've had our solar panels since the end of last year. It's always exciting to receive a power bill to see how little electricity we are using compared to the same period last year. I'm not sure if you can read the words of my blurry photo, but the columns on the far left and far right are for the same quarter, one year apart.

We bought our panels through the solar neighbourhood scheme, where 50 local families all signed up to buy their panels so the supplier could buy them in bulk. This helped bring the cost right down, but what made it truly affordable was the Federal Government's Solar Rebate scheme, which has just been axed and replaced by the less than encouraging Solar Credits scheme.

Under this new scheme, we would only have received half the amount of money back as we did, which would have meant we were not able to afford our panels. So while the government is congratulating itself on the popularity of its solar rebate program, it is sabotaging the success of any future schemes by making it harder for everyday folk like us who just want to do their bit.

A Farm for the Future

Last night PJ and I went to a gathering organised by the Hepburn Relocalisation Network where we watched a fantastic film called A Farm for the Future.

The film is about wildlife filmmaker Rebecca Hosking's investigation into how to operate her family's farm in the UK without using fossil fuels.

She attends a soil conference, she talks to a guy from the Post Carbon Institute, she visits permaculturalists and forest gardeners and other farmers who are making the change from big tractors and monocultural crops to gardens teeming with life and biodiversity.

Inspiring stuff!

I recently read that the UK is undergoing a gardening revolution, which makes complete sense. Because if this is your average modern industrial farm, of course more and more people are going to opt to grow plots of food for themselves and their families in their backyards. Monocultural paddocks such as this are completely oil dependent and therefore completely obsolete as a future model.

Extra

I was a movie star yesterday. 

Actually, that's a big fat lie. I did spend all day on a film shoot, though merely as an extra.

As part of the bushfire recovery package, the Victorian Government is spending $7.3 million on a three minute advertisement to highlight all the great things about the region I call home.

Fifteen of us from our town were in it, making all the boring bits of waiting around and doing the same thing over and over and over really fun.

I don't think that any of the virtues espoused in the ad are the region's finest (but I'm still looking forward to seeing the ad when it airs).

In fact when I think about it, the qualities that marketers always attribute to this region concern decadence and indulgence; the very things that lead to global warming, to the bushfires and the need for this ad to be made.

The First Lawn

From One Green Generation:

Have You Heard? There Will Be An Organic Food Garden At The White House.

Michelle Obama is tearing up part of the South Lawn and planting an organic food garden for her family. How cool is that!

Michelle Obama has never grown a vegetable garden. The White House hasn’t had a garden on the South Lawn since Elanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden during World War II.

So How Did This Happen?

The Obamas have been lobbied to create a garden since before they entered the White House - even before Obama was elected!

Roger Doiron and Kitchen Gardeners International led that cause with their Eat The View Campaign. Roger created a YouTube video that became viral, a Facebook campaign continued the charge, the cause was joined by Alice Waters and other famous chefs, and people like you and I joined the cause by signing the petition, forwarding the idea to our friends, and so on.

The Obamas’ pediatrician had a hand as well. You see, the chaotic life of politics led the Obamas to eat out a lot, to have fast food and packaged meals regularly. Then Malia and Sasha gained weight! So the pediatrician gave Michelle a lecture in nutrition, and the family began to change their eating habits.

The family’s Chicago chef, Sam Kass - who came with them to the White House as assistant White House chef - is an advocate of the local food movement. He’ll be overseeing the garden himself.

The White House Executive Chef, Cristeta Comerford, and the Pastry Chef Bill Yosses will both be arranging their menus around the garden.

One of the White House carpenters, Charlie Brandts, is a beekeeper and has offered to keep two hives to provide fresh honey.

And you and I - who have come together to create a movement of local, seasonal, fresh, organic, home-grown food - we have had a large hand in making this happen. We have helped make it popular, we have helped make it important, we have helped redefine normal. Together.

From here, the White House garden will inspire many, many others to grow their own food, to pay attention to nutrition, to support local food systems. And we will all continue to do our parts as well. Together, we are changing the world.

Environmental Refugees

Because of the forecast of high winds combined with the threat of fire, we decided not to take any chances. When Z got home from school, we packed the car and are staying the night with our dear friend Nick in Melbourne.

(For those fowl friends amongst you: Our new birds are locked in their coop with plenty of food and water.)

On our way through town we stopped by the town hall to register our departure with the Red Cross. In the main hall they were still set up from the fires last week with mattresses and blankets and hours worth of offline entertainment.

Solastalgia

I first heard our friend Geraldine mention the word solastalgia, which, according to TreeHugger means: 

"a form of homesickness one gets when one is still at home," according to Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht; in essence, it's pining for a lost environment. It's the mashup of the roots solacium (comfort) and algia (pain), which, when combined, forms a term (and an idea) reminiscent of nostalgia.

Coined from responses from interviews Albrecht conducted over the past few years, the word describes Australians' deep (and growing) sense of loss as they watch the landscape around them change. "They no longer feel like they know the place they've lived for decades," he says.

Writing on the Wall

Yesterday after dropping Z at school, PJ and I trained to Melbourne where he had the job of painting the names of forthplaying bands on the wall outside the Prince Bandroom where my sister Emily works. While he chalked and painted and chatted to inquisitive passers by, I read and journalled on a nearby step.

At lunchtime, PJ munched on a sandwich while I ate in a small café. I cried big dollopy tears as I read the paper filled with updates about the continuing fires, the damage caused and the lives forever changed or forever lost.

Today we watched a video clip of a young firefighter reviving a heat-struck koala by letting it drink from a bottle of water. I cried more plump tears as I watched. Because of PJ's water activism and because we limit what we buy that's packaged in plastic, and especially don't buy bottled water, it seemed too tragic and too ironic to be watching footage of this helpless little creature being nursed by the very thing that helped destroy its habitat. 

Trucks burn up the highways transporting resources that are then encased in petroleum-based plastic.

"How much can a koala bear?" We hear the voice of the man filming ask off screen.

The Language of Things

PJ and I had a disagreement while I was reading Outliers. When I told him what it was about he asked what Gladwell had to say about the environment. I told him it was a study in sociology and cultural anthropology not an eco book.

PJ thinks it's too late in history for writers to use up resources publishing books that aren't ecologically conscientious, either by subject or in material. I can definitely see what he's saying though I disagree when it comes to knowledge, but wholeheartedly agree when it comes to things like junk made from plastic and multi-million dollar blockbuster movies that endorse violence and the role of women as love interests only.

But now I see that PJ has a point.

I have just finished reading Deyan Sudjic's The Language of Things, given to me for my birthday by my dear friend, E. As the cover suggests, it is about objects and the things we consume and surround ourselves with. It was published in 2008 in the UK, where Sudjic lives and works as the Director of the Design Museum, London.

Now, can you imagine a book about design and consumerables published only last year that does not mention eco-design, sustainability or waste?

That's not entirely true. There is one mention, on page 14, in relation to Apple products:

Earnest Elmo Calkins coined the term 'consumer engineering'. In Consumer Engineering: A New Technique for Prosperity, published in 1932, he suggests that 'Goods fall into two classes: those which we use, such as motor cars, and safety razors, and those which we use up, such as toothpaste, or soda biscuits. Consumer engineering must see to it that we use up the kind of goods we now merely use.' Apple has made it happen, just at the moment that the world is beginning to understand that there are limits to its natural resources. It has given the relentless cycle of consumption a fashionable gloss, cynically endorsed by hipsters in black jeans and black T-shirts, rather than corporate suits.

And that's it. In the book's 223 pages only 116 words are dedicated to ecological purposes. What a wasted opportunity and what a waste of materials. Sudjic points the finger at Apple for producing products that use non-renewable resources, but he has done the same thing by printing his book on chlorine-bleached, non-recycled paper from non-sustainable forests.

I guess I would forgive Sudjic's environmental oversight, as I have Gladwell's, if I thought the book was worth it. But I don't. I found it stale. So why did I finish reading it? In one sense I felt like I should read it, not just because the book was a gift and came recommended, but because I thought it would be good for me, like I feel in museums reading the wall label next to each old artefact.

All those pages and all those words surrounding me like objects in a stuffy old design museum. I'm with Will, the narrator in Dave Eggers's You Shall Know Our Velocity who says he would rather give things away than endure "the slow suffocation of accumulation".

Laneways

There's no point waiting for governments to take the necessary steps towards a more sustainable future for the planet. We haven't got forever.

If premier Brumby isn't going to pledge adequate funding to create more bike paths in his car-centic Transport Plan for Melbourne, maybe it's time we created our own?

More here.

In other laneway news, if you're in Melbourne tomorrow, my sister Emily is playing at the St Jerome's Laneway Festival at 2.30pm on the QV stage.