Have you ever wished that you had more time on your hands, time to accomplish things, time to appreciate what you do have, etc?
You are not alone!
You will see that this is my first Blog entry since January. What happened to the thousands of hours that have since passed? I suppose that I could account for many of them, but I still marvel at their passing.
The point of time at which we humans first became aware that we are running out of time to make a significant course correction was not very long ago. Relative to the time humans have walked this earth, it was only a few seconds ago that we realised we cannot continue to destroy our home indefinitely.
Yet we have had enough time to begin a serious move toward living in a truly sustainable manner. We began to head in this direction when oil prices went through the roof in the 80's, but quickly backed down when the oil crisis was over. Now we are truly in a fix.
There are many barriers to the urgently-needed (life-saving) transitions into which we need to throw ourselves. Life-style changes account for part of it. Mostly it is the fear of change, the politicians being pushed by the interests of certain businesses and even "environmentalists", the power of the media, and especially the way we collectively worship the economy.
The god we call "the economy" has to continue to expand indefinitely (even on a finite planet!) because the banking industry is predicated on such. If the economy does not continue to expand the banks go broke. Since jobs, taxes, wealth, and everything depends on money, we do anything to avoid the banking system from going down. We are seeing the degree to which governments are willing to bail out banks and major industries, all to keep the economy expanding.
This, it can become evident to all who see the bigger picture, is complete madness. We are sacrificing the planet, our home (and home to an amazing array of life-forms), all in order to keep producing more goods so that the banking system can stay alive.
In other words, we are converting the planet's wealth for the sake of digits on computers. In psychology this death wish would be quickly diagnosed. Yet we all continue on down this path.
Thankfully, and despite denial by governments, companies (especially media) and individuals, increasing numbers of folk from all walks of life are realising just how mad this process is, and are pushing for needed changes.
Just in time.
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Tips and ideas related to saving energy and installing renewable energy.
About this blog
Welcome to this practical blog, where I hope to give you down-to-earth tips and ideas that I have come across.
My hope is that reading this you will be inspired to move into the future -today! And in so doing save yourself money and worry (and maybe a bit of the planet), while simultaneously taking charge of your energy usage (not leaving it to the big energy companies).
If you want me to give you a hand in the process, do visit my company's website (www.shoreenergy.ca).
In the meantime, happy reading!
Ian.
My hope is that reading this you will be inspired to move into the future -today! And in so doing save yourself money and worry (and maybe a bit of the planet), while simultaneously taking charge of your energy usage (not leaving it to the big energy companies).
If you want me to give you a hand in the process, do visit my company's website (www.shoreenergy.ca).
In the meantime, happy reading!
Ian.
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About Me
- Ian Gartshore
- Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada
- I am passionate about the well-being of people, our collective and amazing home, and arriving at solutions that work for both.
Contact me
Do contact me through my company's website:
http://www.shoreenergy.ca/contact.html
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1 comment:
Wow, Ian, your post shook me. For a minute I felt scared, and I reverted to that "deer caught in the headlights" feeling that I experienced when I first started to become aware of these issues, a few years ago.
It's not that the point of your post is invalid. I consider it to be very relevant indeed. Rather, it's that the implications are worrying, potentially even terrifying.
On top of that, I previously didn't know (and to a large extent still don't know), what specific actions I can take to respond to the threat you’ve outlined.
You said, "Thankfully, and despite denial by governments, companies (especially media) and individuals, increasing numbers of folk from all walks of life are realising just how mad this process is, and are pushing for needed changes."
I hope that in subsequent blog posts you will share with your readers what you consider to be the "needed changes."
Speaking for myself, I eventually got past that frozen inertia, and changed my lifestyle.
The biggest single step I took was to buy into Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community in Nanaimo, British Columbia. My primary motivation was to surround myself with a more closely knit community, because I found it lonely to live in a detached house out in the suburbs. At the time, I had some idea of the environmental benefits cohousing offered, but have been discovering more of them as my education has continued.
Our location is within walking distance of every level of schooling, a supermarket, downtown Nanaimo, the harbour and Vancouver Island University. Every environmental guru I've heard lately has emphasized the importance of proximity to the amenities you regularly need to access.
The land on which we built was a real find. Although it's so close to the inner city, it's four and a half acres in size. This will allow us to grow vegetable gardens. We hope that, in time, the City of Nanaimo will allow residents to keep chickens. Growing food is another strategy that all of the environmental experts emphasize again and again.
Our complex is a three-storey apartment building. When 25 units are huddled together, with a single exterior skin, it reduces the heat loss and therefore the energy consumption. This is another thing that the environmental gurus advocate -- living in low to medium rise apartment buildings.
They say that high rise apartment buildings, on the other hand, are unsustainable, not least because of the increasing number of power outages that are anticipated in future.
We will have a car sharing club and other tool libraries. This too will save us money while simultaneously reducing our use of the Earth's resources (slowing down the mad growth you talk about).
When I reflected on my lifestyle shift, in view of your blog post, I realized something that I previously had not put into words. It seems to me that, as I have felt more and more uncertain about my financial capital (money), I intuitively have invested more and more in social capital (community) and environmental capital (food security).
I do not consider myself to be an expert by ANY means. Picking up on what I'm hearing environmentalists say, I just have a hunch that nurturing relationships, growing food, reducing my use of cars and planes, and minimizing my home's energy consumption are constructive actions that are within my reach.
Remarkably, although there are things I have given up (like my car), my life feels enriched rather than diminished. For example, when members of my cohousing community and I got together last December to string popcorn in order to make environmentally friendly (and I might add cheap) Christmas decorations, it was the most enjoyable pre-Christmas party I'd been to in a very long time.
For me there also is a spiritual dimension to this. I have faith that I am part of a larger plan that I cannot see, but that there is Someone who does see it all.
But, to be honest, I STILL don't know what I should be asking my elected representatives to do about the financial system. I hope you will address this point in one or more subsequent blog posts.
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