Strategies for Climate Change
I’m personally not interested in the debate about whether climate change is happening or what or who is at fault. The reality is glaring that we have grown accustomed to a lifestyle that is going to bring the planet to a breaking point. Between the pollution and the exploitation of resources, how long do we have of clean water? Not long, public water is often contaminated with chemicals and pharmaceuticals. (Tiny amounts of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, hormones, mood stabilizers, and other drugs -- are in our drinking water supplies, according to a media report. In an investigation by the Associated Press, drinking water supplies in 24 major metropolitan areas were found to include drugs.Mar 10, 2008)
When I think of sustainability, and renewable resources, and a healthy future, I personally don’t think about technology coming to our rescue. And when multinational corporations and non elected figure heads step in to tell us now is the time to take action, I get a little weary.
To think that our lavish western lifestyle can be mimicked across the globe let alone continued in the “developed" nations is a naive day dream that I think the sooner we come to wakefulness about the better. We will not have any mountains left to mine if everyone is driving an electric car. Odds are, these electric cars are going to be charged using fossil fuel power plants. Solar panels, windmills, pipelines, dams, water turbines… this is all big industry. Large scale band-aides to a diverse array of wounds that are just as nuanced in their individual needs for healing as they are in their interconnection of cause and solution.
We need to consume less of everything. And these need not be some globally mandated cause. We need to take the conscious step towards integrating with nature again. If we get to the point where politics get involved, no one will agree. So we stick to the facts, we use a lot of stuff and it all gets wasted in the end without being consumed by the Earth to be recycled through the natural cycle of life and death.
It seems to be that a conflicting narrative of too many people, at the same time we are going through great lengths to extend life and even merge our natural selves into the virtual world. So, are we going to live forever? Or are we going to acknowledge that what we leave for the next seven generations needs to be healthy to provide an environment for growth from the decay of our old ways.
The ways in which we live now, plugged in and synched up, plastic wrapped and sanitary, are new ways that if left unchecked, could become part of our evolutionary path. This departure from the natural cycle will lead to a weakening of humanity. Our bodies, minds, and spirits will become weakened as we depend more and more on an artificially created and subsidized world.
The solutions to these problems are not complex. So, green cars aren’t good either huh? Maybe we should oh I don’t know, not drive? Could we perhaps, produce for our community, in our community, from our community? No, not if everything we do is virtual and outsourced for cost and made of plastic. But if we use the Earth, we can create everything we need. (Clay, basket weaving, hempcrete etc.)
Do you know what large corporations do to “offset their carbon”? They basically buy stock in other companies that are more green than they are. Companies they likely also have stakes in, and thus profit when they do well on the markets from their investments. All the while, doing absolutely nothing for the planet or people. just the pockets of their pants and those of their buddies.
Do you know how nature offsets carbon? It captures it and recycles it. Meanwhile, there is a whole “machine” or facility in Iceland dedicated to “capturing carbon”. No, I’m sorry but that machine is not a tree. It is not recycling carbon from the air and soil to produce oxygen, shelter, food and water for all of life which then dies to return to the soil and fertilize future carbon sequestering organisms. (Maybe if we call trees something fancy people will plant them?)
My point is, we can’t be fooled by the people who say “don’t let a good crisis go to waste”. We need to get ahead of the game, and create resilient communities. Quit that stupid job, protect some land with good stewardship, and be a productive creative human like we have evolved to be. If we don’t use it, we are going to lose it. That goes for our bodies, minds, spirits, homes, and our freedoms.
The short answer is, grow plants wherever you can. Stop mowing your lawn, let nature rehabilitate the soil, or plant a meadow or forest or garden. Stop consuming: anything in plastic, anything shipped globally, mindless media. Reduce and reuse come before recycling for a reason and reusing is the best form of recycling because recycling is just big industry. Compost all your kitchen and yard waste. Keep your family and friends local, part of the problem is everyone moves and people don’t identify with Home anymore. Accept diversity in thought and culture, if not we will lose it and we all see how bad monoculture farming is. I am as big of a hypocrite as anyone when it comes to this list, but if we can make small changes everyday one day we will live in a radically different world. Where we don’t need to ship fertility for farms from across the world. Where people don’t hate or fear each other because we understand we all have a unique perspective and a place in this world. Without challenges to our beliefs we would not be to a point in human history where we can recognize the projection if we continue scaling up our ever connected and cushy lifestyles we are in for an abrupt disconnect and discomfort. So let us take this special moment of clarity and make a conscious shift before the only way out is virtual reality or Mars.