Overdraft notice

Image via WikipediaEarth's Overdraft Notice

The Global Footprint Network has announced that Earth Overshoot Day is fast approaching:

This Saturday, we will reach Earth Overshoot Day: the day when human demand on nature surpasses what nature can renewably supply...as of August 21st, humanity will have demanded an amount of ecological resources equivalent to what it takes nature 12 months to produce. From now until the end of the year, we will meet our needs by liquidating stocks and accumulating greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

According to the Global Footprint Network humanity crossed a threshold three decades ago when we stopped being able to live off of nature's interest -- "consuming resources and producing carbon dioxide at a rate lower than what the planet was able to regenerate and reabsorb each year" -- and started living beyond nature's capacity. They call this gap between human demand and nature's supply "ecological overshoot" (a concept that was devised by the UK-based new economics foundation).

Problem with this overdraft? No returned checks or bank fees - the penalty for overdawing is much more "expensive."

Be afraid...

"Climate Wars" Author Gwynne Dyer

While some humans choose to deny the existence of climate change, many have responded by changing the way they live. However, as freelance journalist and specialist on international affairs and geopolitics Gwynne Dyer warns, it's gonna take a lot more than recycled toilet paper to deal with the mess we've created. "We are heading for the brink very fast," he warns, and that's why his new book is required reading. "Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats" has been called "a truly important and timely book," but I'd go much further than that. In fact, I'll declare that this may be the most important book you'll read this year...
There's another three or four years lost, at least and meanwhile we get closer each year to the point of no return. Once we have passed it, there is no obvious stopping point short of +5 or +6 degrees C (9 to 11 degrees F) and remember that that is a rise in average global temperature. Temperatures over land are typically a good deal higher than they are over the oceans, so increase those numbers by fifty percent or more for the interiors of the continents. At those temperatures things dry out and it becomes impossible to grow food in large parts of the world. There will be global food shortages, not just local ones, because the rising temperatures will be killing the crops in many places at once - and so there will be famines and waves of refugees and regional wars over what little water is left. That is the real problem we face and it can only be dealt with by switching from fossil fuels to other sources of energy. Changing the light-bulbs is not enough; you have to close down the coal-fired power plant and build something else in its place. Driving less is not enough; we have to find alternatives to oil for fueling our vehicles. We need deep cuts in fossil-fuel use right away and we must virtually eliminate fossil fuels in the next fifty years. That is technically and financially possible, but it is probably not politically possible. In which case we will pay a very high price for our failure...
I know a great deal more about the problem than I did three years ago, when I started the research and interview for this book and so I know that there are probably ways of getting through this without suffering massive losses in human lives. Even if we don't cut our emissions fast enough and deeply enough to stop short of the +2-degree limit, there may be ways of holding the actual temperature rise down (they're called geo-engineering) that would let us avoid runaway temperature rises and give us more time to work on the problem. We need to start doing research on these techniques now, because we may need them quite soon. We are in very deep trouble, because the fuels we built our civilization on are destroying the climate in which that civilization has flourished. But human beings are smart and tough and we are capable of cooperation on a global scale, which is what is needed to get us through this crisis. Success is not guaranteed, but we do have a chance.

Smart and tough...but willing to really change lifestyles and sacrifice?

Tire Pond

Fish pond from tractor (or car) tires

There are many Instructables (and other Web pages) on using tires (tyres, but I'll use the other spelling) for gardens, which I have been very motivated by, but here is how I used two tractor front tires to build a fish pond . The original inhabitants were our two surviving bronze goldfish, who after years inside, finally bred in the pond and had three babies.
This pond was built in December 2007 in the earlier days of my turn-the-front-lawn-into-garden project.
The tires came from a park mowing tractor so are wider than normal tractor tires, giving extra height to the pond. You can usually pick these up free, in New Zealand anyway, from large tire repair and supply workshops: mine came from the parks maintenance company I work for - free disposal for them and free supply for me!

Great instructions for creating a unique pond. Wonder if this can be used to raise some tilapia?

Striving...

Deep vs. Shallow Organic, and Why Gardeners Need to Know the Difference

Eliot Coleman is an organic farmer, author, and agricultural innovator. He farms, year-round, in Maine, thanks to systems he's developed for taking advantage of certain plants' ability to grow even in the most frigid temperatures. In his latest book, The Winter Harvest Handbook (a fabulous read, by the way) he makes a distinction between what he calls "deep" versus "shallow" organic. I think it's an important distinction, and one that any eco-minded gardener would do well to keep in mind. From Coleman:
"Deep organic farmers, in addition to rejecting agricultural chemicals, look for better ways to farm. Inspired by the elegance of Nature's systems, they try to mimic the patterns of the natural world's soil-plant economy." He goes on to say that they do this by:
* Using cover crops or green manures
* Making and using compost
* Avoiding pest problems in the first place by managing soil tilth and moisture levels, rotating crops, and continually working toward improving the levels of nutrients and organic matter in the soil.
In short, "deep" organic farming works with nature, and the farmer's (or gardener's) main goal is to ensure both healthy crops and a healthy planet. As he says, this agricultural philosophy is worrisome to the agro-industrial powers that be, because it is impossible to "quantify, control, or to profit from."

It is what I strive for. But after coming home to see a plague of squash bugs...Well I guess I am coming close to "deep", just not "deep" enough.
Pulled the devastated squash plants. Next year - row covers.

Prophetic Words?

Cover of The Year of the Flood: A NovelFrom The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood:

Nobody gives a hoot,
Nobody gives a hoot,
And that us why we're down the chute,
Cause nobody gives a hoot!

For the Waterless Flood is coming, in which all buying and selling will cease, and we will find ourselves thrown back  upon our own resources...

Rereading this book for the ? (I really can't remember) time and these two points continue to stick out. With all going on in the world, and so little really caring and even trying to do something about it, the "Waterless Flood" may be just around the corner.  Consumerism done, factory farms done, self sufficiency mandatory.

Another crazy train rider for your pleasure

Image via Wikipedia

Bike-Sharing Program May be Unconstitutional

Last week, we reported that a Republican candidate for the Colorado governorship had declared that Denver's bike-sharing program was a threat to our personal freedoms. Since then, Tea Party-backed Dan Maes has faced some scrutiny in the press for his ambiguous statements: Along with threatening our freedoms, he claimed that bike-sharing was part of a deeper plot to turn the city into a "UN community". When asked what he meant in a television interview, Maes had trouble explaining himself -- and dug himself further into a hole by alleging that the bike-sharing program could be "incompatible with our state constitution".

Bike sharing is a UN program? Wow and here I never gave the UN enough credit for an ecological stance.

Now we know that similar programs take place around the world with great success and are applauded by citizens.  But why should we do something that  is good for the environment and good four our health. 

Wonder if he checks under his bed for monsters before nighty-nighty?  The scariest thing is that he will garner support and votes even with this madness.

Rice's turn to crash

Asian Rice Yields Drop As Climate Change Warms Nighttime Temperatures

Just as Lester Brown writes about rising temperatures leading to rising food prices, a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details the connection, already evident and likely to become more so, between rising temperatures and declining rice yields in parts of Asia. It's decidedly not a pretty picture.

Not a pretty picture for grain and rice production across the world.
I know I can grow some grain in my yard - but rice?

Peak Oil - Everyone should prepare

How Will Small Businesses Survive Peak Oil?

From Yahoo to Virgin, big business is waking up to the threat of peak oil. So much so, that Virgin bross Richard Branson believes we should be mobilizing for peak oil as if for war. But what about the little guy? It's often assumed that because peak oil will make global shipping a challenge, that we'll just transition back to smaller, more local economies. I suspect the truth will be a little more complicated than that.

As much as we TreeHuggers like to espouse the virtues of local business and human scale economies, there can be few businesses out there—big or small—that find themselves immune to the threat of rising energy prices or economic volatility. And as recent events have shown, while corporations may find themselves on shaky ground, there is often a helping hand out there to stop the giants from failing. Will that be the same for the small operators? A small social enterprise in the UK is aiming to ensure that we head the problem off before it becomes a crisis.

Started as part of the Transition Towns movement that is offering a community-led approach to planning for climate change and peak oil, Transition Training and Consulting is working with businesses and non-profits to offer comprehensive "Energy Resilience Assessments", and then develop strategies for broadening revenue streams and eliminating over reliance on fossil fuels or vulnerable economic models. Early clients have included a National Trust stately home, and a kayak and canoe business—and the team are currently looking for willing UK businesses to trial some of their other offerings.

The future may be uncertain. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't plan for it.

While the focus here is on business, the individual will be impacted as well. How are you preparing for the "World Made By Hand"?

Crops and climate change

Image via Wikipedia

Russian drought could push up food prices

Shoppers could see the cost of the meat and poultry in their baskets rise as the price of barley has more than doubled over the past six weeks due to continued fears over the drought affecting Russia and Ukraine.

Russia is the world’s second largest producer of barley after the EU and the cereal crop is used by many farmers as animal feed. The recent price rise could also have a possible knock-on effect on the cost of beer as a significant proportion of the remainder of barley production goes into the brewing trade on both sides of the Atlantic.

Barley is the latest commodity to see a dramatic price rise in recent weeks.

The worst drought for generations in Russia has already caused a 50% jump in the price of wheat, the world’s most-consumed cereal, since June, and last week president Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would freeze grain exports. Attention is also being focused on Australia, the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat, where this year’s crop may be hit by dry weather in Western Australia, which accounts for 40% of exports. Prices have also been put under pressure by very wet weather in Canada at planting time, which reduced acreage.

That does it - grains are on the garden menue for next season.

Conservation Pyramid

A Terrific Tool For Figuring Out Where To Start

The choice to be more energy efficient may be clear, but the starting point can be more difficult to determine. The Pyramid of Conservation is designed to help you prioritize steps and develop an action plan that's right for you. By establishing a foundation in energy efficiency and gaining a better understanding about how you use energy, you can more effectively work your way up the pyramid...

Like the food pyramid, it's read from the bottom up. Homeowners who are uncertain of the best way to lower their energy bills should start at the lowest level of the pyramid and work their way up. In general, one shouldn't proceed to a higher level until the actions below that level have been completed.

Actions near the bottom of the pyramid are much more cost-effective than actions near the top of the pyramid. At current energy prices, in fact, the actions listed on the top two layers are never cost-effective.

This is an easy to understand tool. Now no one has an excuse to get started in "greening their homes."

Titanic Redux

Image via Wikipedia

And you thought the iceberg that the Titanic hit was big...
Greenland Iceberg Four Times Bigger Than Manhattan Breaks Off Glacier

A giant ice island has broken off the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland.

A University of Delaware researcher says the floating ice sheet covers 100 square miles – more than four times the size of New York's Manhattan Island.

No threat to travel lanes yet... But a sign of climate changes to come.

Post vacation Gardening

A week away but not too bad in the garden - of course spent a few hours weeding..  My bush beans are kaput (a technical term) but the pole beans have taken off.  Picked a mess (another tech term) of pole beans and cooked them for supper - a few were a little past prime and not for my dilly beans.

Pulled and shelled black beans, cattle and pinto beans - enough for two meals or a bunch of soup pots. Pulled about a dozen tomatoes.  Just lost a few cherries that fell off.  Pulled some tomatillos as well - what to make with them?
The three plants that took my absence the worst were the cukes (still will get some more I hope), the cousa squash (more to come I hope) and the kabocha squash (have just a few nice sizes to pick).  Also not taking my absence too well - along with the heat and dry weather - were the potato plants.  Still there and growing but needs some TLC.  It looks like some deer feasted on the leaves as well.  Didn't think they would feast on the potato plants but their chomping should not be a major issue. 
Everything else - beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, kale.. look great and should supply a nice stock for some fall/winter soups and meals.
Love vacation but it is great to be back in the garden.

Carnivalesque Rebellion

Tactical Briefing #1 from ADBUSTERS:

Between November 22-28 the whole world will light up with seven days of Carnivalesque Rebellion!

Think of it as an adventure, as therapy, as Buy Nothing Day times a hundred … think of it as the World Cup of global activism – a week of postering and pranks, of talking back at your profs and speaking truth to power. Some of us will poster our schools and neighborhoods and just break our daily routines for a week. Others will chant, cut up their credit cards in big box stores and pull off theatrical stunts that provoke mass cognitive dissonance. Others still will drop stink bombs in strategic locations and engage in the most visceral kind of civil disobedience.

In all, millions of people around the world will walk out of their schools, offices and factories for a week and live!

To pull this off, we need to learn from the failures of the recent G8/G20 protests. A few sensational and spectacular acts of violence (police cars on fire, window smashing) will not provoke the kind of global mindshift that our world so desperately needs. And neither will sitting at home yelling at our screens. If our Seven Days of Carnivalesque Rebellion are to succeed we’ll need a plethora of actions that cannot be dismissed as petty acts of vandalism, that genuinely challenge the power of megacorporations, that make people think about the climate tipping points now descending upon us and that highlight the perversity of a system that has brought us to the zero point of systemic collapse.

What would you do if you could mobilize thousands of connected protesters in cities all over the world? Send your best ideas for coordinated acts of civil disobedience to memewarriors@adbusters.org and we’ll share the most compelling ones in subsequent briefs.

To get the ball rolling here’s a personal plunge you may want to take right away: Vow never to walk into a Starbucks ever again. Instead, search out the most interesting indie coffee shop around where you live and work … get to know the people who own and run the place and get your friends and co-workers to join you there. Individually this may feel like a drop in the bucket, but if all the 86,000 of us in this network do it collectively, then we can begin to shift power from megacorporations to our friends and neighbors.

This little shift in our lives is a good way to get in the mood … and during the week of rebellion in November, these indie coffee houses will become our meeting places and bases.

Step 1 - are you willing? Down where I was vacationing, not a Starbucks in sight. A Dunkin Donuts but also enough places to "keep it local."

You know you are insane when...

Here on vacation with sun and surf but all I can think of are my plants and kombucha. How sad is it that I miss my plants and culture.