12 months of sustainability

I want to make a promise to myself to get as environmentally sustainable - beyond even! - as possible this coming year. So, in that spirit and for this blog, I am going to make 2011 the Year of (beyond)Sustainability. Every month I will have a new goal - 12 altogether. The goals will all accumulate, of course, so by the end of the year I will have made some wonderfully radical and permanent changes. Now I do have limitations: I live in a  building; a housing co-op and so I can't just do what I want to my living space, outdoors or indoors. And as a permaculturalist, the goal is not to make these changes by buying lots of "green" products, that is generally not in the spirit of permaculture when we as a society produce such an amazing amount of waste. Actually I might make every month a different permaculture principle. I have to work through this - stay tuned I will post a list of goals on January 1!  

permi reading

Recently, I decided to drop out of the Urban Agriculture program at the University of Guelph. It was online and really not inspiring to me. I need a break from academia, I need to get my hands dirty and splinters in my fingers. But I do lkove to read and learn and I want to increase my permiculture knowledge along with my skills.

So, I am compiling a reading list - kind of creating my own intensive permaculture course. I hope to get these books read by the spring. in the spring I will start gardening again and doing lots of workshops so winter is the time to fill my head! I have read parts of all these books but I intend to read them completely and on a deeper level.

Here is my list so far:

1. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren
2. Tools for Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellog
3. Earth Path by Starhawk
4. Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1 and 2 by dave Jacke
5. Myceleum Running by Paul Stamets

My goal is to have these books read deeply by Spring Equinox,

I'll post my thoughts on them while I am reading. Join along with me if you want!

Multiplying worms

I just got around to giving some much needed attention to my worm bins. Two of them had been sitting for a couple months and had turned into bins filled with black gold with a bunch of slow-moving worms in them. They needed fresh bedding (damp shredded newspaper), food, and they still need a harvest. The third bin was a failed experiment. In the summer I tried to set up a worm bin for composting my bunnies' poo. It didn't work - it dried out and the worms died. Gasp! I have been meaning to add some new worms and have it going as a third bin (hey, I eat A LOT of veggies). After months, the ENTIRE autumn, I finally did it.

If anyone needs some worm poo for their house plants let me know! I have lots of gorgeous, rich, earthy poo!

Gift making

I love the winter holidays. I'm not Christian so Christmas is not a spiritual holiday for me but, as a pagan, I find great meaning in the Winter Solstice. The whole season is exciting. I love the first snow (my city is now completely covered in about 4 feet of snow!!!), I love all the lights people put on their homes, I love the feasting. No matter what is celebrated December is a time to be with loved ones (which can mean created families, birth families, or both) and a time for renewal and rebirth.

I hate the consumerism of the holidays, though. Even though I do engage in it to a certain extent, I find that all the shopping takes away from the positive aspects of the holidays. The more I shop, the more depressed I start to feel. My kids don't get into the consumerism at all which astounds me because I was a kid who made my Christmas list in the summer and by December had memorized the Sears catalogue to such an extent that I knew how much had been spent on each gift (and got upset if my siblings got something more expensive - I had middle child issues). My kids just like the excitement of the season and they are pretty happy with whatever ends up in their stocking.

There are a few traditions that I have started with my kids to counter the consumerism. One is giving as much money to organizations of our choosing as we do (on average) to one of the members of our immediate family. We usually divide it between an organization that deals with environmental issues and one that works for social justice. We try to find organizations we feel good about which usually means small organizations that engage in grassroots advocacy. I try to make a big deal about this giving and my aim is to give as much as we spend on each person in our immediate family.

Another tradition is that we make a lot of our gifts for family and friends. To be honest, we don't engage in tons of gift-giving. The other day I listened to co-workers discuss what they give to family and realized I don't give a lot of gifts. But I love giving special gifts to people especially gifts that are homemade. The main gifts that we make are cookies and squares, lip balms and other "beauty" products, and art. I have collected some excellent lip balm recipes over the years and am always on the look out for great containers. In addition to lip balms I like to make salves (very similar recipes) for dry and damaged skin and this year I am also some facial sugar scrubs. All these things are exceptionally easy to make with kids. Earthboy has little interest in helping make the gifts which is ok but Earthgirl loves to help. She especially loves to decorate the containers afterwards with stickers and "jewels"     

I also buy blank canvases and have the kids paint pictures for family. This is something that Earthgirl also enjoys more than Earthboy but both kids take it very seriously. And we make cookies - lots and lots of cookies.

I sometimes have dreams of knitting lots of fancy sweaters and hats for family and sewing my own toys. Plus i would love to make even more more complicated health and beauty products. maybe in the future. I know some people get very serious about their gift-making. But, I think even making small and simple things are symbolically so important. It allows us to participate in the important ritual of gift giving without participating in the destructive practice of mass consumerism. It allows us to be creative and expressive. It gives us an opportunity to spend time together having fun while also putting a lot of time and effort into doing nice things for people we love and appreciate.

And it is a million times better than dragging my kids to the bus stop, pushing our way into a busy busy and shopping for products made in sweatshops at malls filled with people spending lots of money they don't have!

(I just want to add, though, that I do sometimes shop in yucky stores and malls. I'm not perfect, there are many things I can't make, some things I will not buy used, and a few things I can't find fair trade or in small shops. The world is not perfect. However, I do what I can and look for positive and creative ways to do more.  The point of this post is not to induce guilt but to give ideas and encouragement!)

Let it snow!

Today is the aftermath of a big snowstorm - or actually, I think it is the calm between two big snowstorms. Over the next 24 hours 40-60 cm will fall on my city. I know all this snow will be difficult for many folks but I am happy that it is finally snowing. It doesn't make me happy when it is unseasonably warm. The month of November had lots of days that were warmer than usual and that was really starting to upset me. I know that climate change will bring about weird and wild weather and isn't just a simple matter of creating warmer weather. It will mess with the seasons though and that scares and saddens me. Even though winter often leaves me feeling depressed by mid-January, it has an important biological function in this part of the world. It's a time when plants rest to conserve their energy for the next growing season. Plants that exist in this part of the world need the break of winter in order to be healthy. The freeze is also necessary to regulate bacteria and insects. Change, of course, is part of nature but drastic change caused by human abuse of the Earth will have serious affects on all life and I don't welcome it.

Psychologically, winter is also useful for humans. We need a time to retreat as well. A time to reflect and a time to move slower. We know the sun will return, green things will grow again, and we will be out in our gardens in a few months. But before that we have a chance for renewal, a time to think about what we are happy with in our lives and what we want to change. Even though I will be sick of the cold in a month or so and will yearn for warm and sunny days, I hope this winter isn't unseasonably warm. I hope to use the winter to plan eco-education workshops for the Spring as well write grants for a children's garden. I also will use the time to think about how to change my life to bring about more happiness and to joyfully live in line with my principles. Maybe it's a good opportunity to facilitate the permaculture bookclubs I have been thinking about for a few months? So that thinking about how to live more sustainably can be done with other people as well - we can plan together how to heal the earth while also being collectively healthier and happier.