The Party's Over Part 10

The Solar Living Sourcebook, John Schaeffer, ed. This catalog for solar and wind technologies as well as for composting toilets and energy-efficient appliances is produced by Real Goods, and is updated periodically.

Solar Today magazine 2400 Central Ave., Suite G-1, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.

Home Power magazine, P.O. Box 520, Ashland OR, 97520, USA.

Home The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources, Joseph E. Kennedy, Michael G. Smith, and Catherine Waneck, eds. (New Society, 2002).

Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques, by Donald Kiffmeyer and Kaki Hunter (New Society, 2004).

Finances Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin (Penguin, 1999).

Stepping Lightly: Simplicity for People and the Planet, by Mark A. Burch (New Society, 2000).

Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, by Jim Merkel (New Society, 2003).

The Simple Living Network Appropriate Technologies When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance and Planetary Survival, by Matthew Stein (Clear Light, 2000).

Microhydro: Clean Power from Water, by Scott Davis (New Society, 2003). ?

Health Care Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook, by David Werner (Hesperian Foundation, 1992).

Natural First Aid: Herbal Treatments for Ailments and Injuries, Emergency Preparedness, Wilderness Safety, by Brigitte Mars (Storey, 1999).

Herbs for the Home Medicine Chest, by Rosemary Gladstar (Storey, 1999).

Food The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields, by John Jeavons and Carol c.o.x (Ten Speed Press, 1999).

The Solar Food Dryer: How to Make Your Own Low-Cost, High-Performance Sun-Powered Food Dryer, by Eben Fodor (New Society, 2005).

Permaculture is a holistic approach to sustainable homestead systems design, integrating food, housing, water, and energy. Look for local cla.s.ses.

Ecology Action seed catalog, from Bountiful Gardens, 18001 Shafer Ranch Road, Willits, CA 95490, USA

Harmony Farm Supply specializes in supplies for the organic gardener. Catalog: 3244 Hwy. 116 North, Sebastopol, CA 95472, USA

Plans for a home-build solar oven are available at

Transportation Divorce Your Car!: Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile, by Katie Alvord (New Society, 2000).

From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel, by Joshua Tickell and Kaia Roman (Greenteach, 2000).

Consider the possibility of living car-free. When Katie Alvord, author of Divorce Your Car!, went on a national book tour, she traveled by bus, train, and folding bicycle just to prove that, even in our auto-dependent society, it can be done. As a first step, go car-free one day a month, then one day per week. Drive only when necessary and walk, use ma.s.s transit, or car-pool whenever possible. Vancouver and San Francisco now have car co-ops: if you live in either of these cities, join one; if you don't, start one. If you must have a personal vehicle, give some thought to the kind of car you drive. When it comes time to replace your metal monster, consider the alternatives: buying an older used car will entail a smaller energy cost than buying a new one, and buying a gas-thrifty model may save both fuel and money. Electric and hybrid cars are now available, and it is possible to operate a diesel vehicle on biodiesel fuel - or, after a small alteration to the fuel system, to run it on recycled vegetable oil that can be obtained at little or no cost.

Your Community The strategy of individualist survivalism will likely offer only temporary and uncertain refuge during the energy downslope. True individual and family security will come only with community solidarity and interdependence. If you live in a community that is weathering the energy downslope well, your personal chances of surviving and prospering will be greatly enhanced, regardless of the degree of your personal efforts at stockpiling tools or growing food.

During the energy upslope, most traditional communities became atomized as families were torn from rural subsistence farms and villages and swept up in the compet.i.tive anonymity of industrial cities. Security during the coming energy transition will require finding ways to reverse that trend.

The first steps can be taken immediately. Get to know your neighbors. Look for people in your community who share a similar interest in voluntary simplicity and self-reliance, and begin to form friendships and habits of mutual aid.

Your community may be a village, a neighborhood, or a city. Regardless of its size, you will find opportunities for building alliances. There are inevitable challenges inherent in this project: your community no doubt includes people whose interests conflict with your own. Rather than identifying "wedge" issues and highlighting disagreements, find areas of common interest that are related to the goal of community sustainability and security regarding universal human needs: food, water, and energy.

The Post Carbon Inst.i.tute (www.postcarbon.org) has prepared materials to a.s.sist with creating community responses to peak oil (see sidebar p. 240). Consider starting a Post Carbon "outpost" in your town or city. Begin by hosting community meetings on the subject, then organize action committees.

Food. Few communities bother to examine the security and sustainability of the food system on which they rely. Berkeley, California, is one of the first cities to deliberately undertake such an a.s.sessment. In 2001, the Berkeley City Council pa.s.sed the Berkeley Food and Nutrition Policy, which provides the community with a clear framework for the next decade to help guide its creation of a system that, in the words of its mission statement, is "based on sustainable regional agriculture," that "fosters the local economy," and that "a.s.sures all people of Berkeley have access to healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate food from non-emergency sources." Berkeley's schools have adopted a policy of serving organic food to students and identified the goal of having a garden in each school.

Community gardens provide good food and build community at the same time by transforming empty lots into green, living s.p.a.ces. Members of the community share in both the maintenance and rewards of the garden. Today there are an estimated 10,000 community gardens in US cities alone.

A particularly innovative community gardening project was begun in Sonoma County, California, in 1999 by a group of idealistic college students. Calling their loosely-knit organization Planting Earth Activation (PEA), the leaderless collective offers to dig and plant gardens for anyone free of charge; all they ask in return is a share of open-pollinated seed saved from those gardens, with which they can plant still more gardens. Garden plantings occur in a party atmosphere, with music and food to accompany the hard work. PEA chapters have recently sprung up in neighboring counties as well.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a fast-growing movement that operates on the premise that the consumer contracts directly with a farmer. The CSA model of local food systems began 30 years ago in j.a.pan, where a group of women concerned about the increase in food imports and the corresponding decrease in the farming population initiated a direct purchasing relationship between their group and local farmers. The concept traveled first to Europe and then to the US. As of January 2000, there were over 1,000 CSA farms across the US and Canada. CSA members cover a farm's yearly operating budget (for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc.) by purchasing a share of the season's harvest, thus directly a.s.suming a portion of the farm's costs and risks. In return, the farm provides fresh produce throughout the growing season.

Water. Unless you have a well or live next to a stream or lake, access to water is a more of a community issue for you than an individual one. And since water inevitably flows - both above and below the ground surface - all water issues are ultimately community issues.

Because water treatment plants and pumping stations use energy, communities will need to conserve water and find new ways to distribute water and prevent water pollution as energy resources become more precious.

Some communities have already made some efforts along these lines. After suffering through years of drought, Santa Barbara County, California, inst.i.tuted a Water Efficiency Program, which offers information on home and landscape water conservation as well as educational materials on water conservation. And a gra.s.sroots group in Atlanta, Georgia, has initiated Project Harambee: they distribute free ultra-low-flush toilets, low-flow shower heads, and energy conservation information to low-income households in an effort to reduce water and energy consumption. There are similar programs in dozens of other towns and cities across North America.

Watershed protection groups and Water Watch programs also exist in regions throughout the US, monitoring rivers and streams and identifying sources of pollution. Members collect data, which they share with county and state agencies, and educate the public through literature, cla.s.ses, and tours.

Natural waste-water treatment facilities, which rely on the purifying characteristics of marsh plants, are operating successfully in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; in the US, a natural waste-water treatment facility began operations in Arcata, California, in 1986. Arcata's project uses a marsh system to provide both secondary treatment for the city's waste water and wildlife habitat.

Despite initial steps like these, few communities are prepared to meet energy-based challenges to their ability to supply clean water to citizens. The development of alternative low-energy water delivery and treatment systems in large and small communities everywhere will require creativity and cooperative effort. As communities begin to prioritize their energy budgets, they will need to devote whatever power they obtain from renewable sources, such as photo-voltaics and wind, first toward water, as a foundation for their collective survival and sustainability.

Local economy. Corporate globalization has. .h.i.t local economies hard. In town after town, local businesses have succ.u.mbed to "big box" chains like Wal-Mart, which buy in huge quant.i.ties and often sell mostly imported items made by low-paid workers. Once a local economy has been destroyed by dependence on the "big box," the chain frequently pulls out, forcing members of the community to drive tens of miles to the nearest larger town for basic consumer needs. Several communities have successfully resisted Wal-Mart; their campaigns have relied on group initiative, hard work, and hired consultants.

Resistance to chains must be accompanied by efforts to promote and sustain local enterprises: locally owned bookstores, restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, and product manufacturers. "Buy local" advertising campaigns can help keep regional economic infrastructures robust, enabling them better to face both the immediate threat of compet.i.tion from national chains and the approaching challenge of the energy transition.

Since national currencies are based on debt, their use subtly but inevitably saps wealth from local communities. Every dollar loaned into existence requires the payment of interest, some of which (even if the loan is issued by a local credit union) goes to a nationally chartered banking cartel. Debt-based money thus systematically transfers wealth from the poor to the rich. In addition, national currencies are subject to inflation, deflation, and collapse as well as to manipulations and panics beyond the community's control. One solution is the promotion of local barter systems; another is the creation of a local currency. Both are legal (if operated within certain guidelines) and have long histories of success.

Public power. In many cities, electricity and natural gas are delivered by publicly owned not-for-profit power utilities, as opposed to investor-owned utility companies. There are currently roughly 2,000 munic.i.p.al power districts in the US, which together deliver electricity to 15 percent of the population.

Public power enables every citizen to be a utility owner, with a direct say in policies that affect not only rates and service but choices as to energy sources as well. Citizens can, for example, decide to phase out nuclear plants and replace them with wind or solar plants - as happened in the case of the Sacramento, California, Munic.i.p.al Utility District (SMUD).

Starting a publicly owned power electric utility takes considerable time, money, and effort. Nevertheless, currently several large cities and many small towns in all parts of the US are considering establishing their own utilities in order to save money and provide citizens with more control. More than 40 public power utilities have been formed in the last two decades.

The necessary steps in forming a public power utility vary from state to state, but typically include authorizing a feasibility study; a.n.a.lyzing pertinent local, state, and federal laws; obtaining financing; informing and involving the public; holding an election to let voters decide on the merit of the proposal; and issuing bonds to buy present facilities or finance the construction of new ones.

Citizens in many states have formed energy co-ops, which buy electricity in quant.i.ty and sell to members at a discount. Energy co-ops are private, independent electric utility businesses owned by the consumers they serve. Distribution cooperatives deliver electricity to the consumer, while generation-and-transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) generate and transmit electricity to distribution co-ops. Currently in the US, 866 distribution and 64 G&T cooperatives serve 35 million people in 46 states. In distribution co-ops, members can decide what sources to buy from: coal, nuclear power, or renewables; G&T co-op members can choose what kinds of plants to invest in. Initial investment money can often be obtained from a local credit union.

Community design. Towns and cities are continually changing, and most communities have some process in place to plan their future direction of change. When citizens become involved in the urban planning process and bring with them the values of sustainability and conservation, important strides can be made toward successfully weathering the energy transition.

During the last century, most towns and cities grew around the priorities of the automobile. Today, it is essential that communities be redesigned around people. Public transportation, walking, and bicycling must be emphasized - and car traffic discouraged. A first step is the creation of car-free zones in midtown areas. Often such zones are a boon to local businesses; and as anyone knows who has visited old European cities like Venice or Siena, a car-free town or town center offers far more s.p.a.ce for cultural expression than is possible in a car-dominated city. Neighborhoods can be made more pedestrian-friendly with speed b.u.mps, snaky curves in roads, and prominent crosswalks. And towns can systematically reduce automobile traffic with carpool-only lanes. Meanwhile, funds can be diverted away from road building and toward the provision of light-rail service.

Cities and towns can also be encouraged to build more bike paths and bike lanes. Some cities are already far ahead of others in this regard. Portland, Oregon, for example, has a fleet of refurbished old bicycles available for free use within the city, showers and changing rooms for bike commuters, buses and trains that accept bikes on board, and a 140-mile bike trail encircling the city.

Usually, urban design priorities like these are articulated and promoted by citizens' advocacy groups. Concerned citizens have established sustainability groups in several cities and counties (including Sustainable Seattle, Sustainable San Francisco, and Sustainable Sonoma County); they perform sustainability studies using the Ecological Footprint indicator7 and develop and advocate plans to improve the community's environmental health, to stabilize its local economy, and to achieve a more equitable distribution of resources. Sustainability groups examine issues of air quality, food, hazardous materials, waste, water, biodiversity, parks, and open s.p.a.ces; their working groups include representatives from city agencies, local businesses, and academia.

The "new urbanism" movement, discussed in the doc.u.mentary "The End of Suburbia,"8 advocates making cities more pedestrian friendly by building up multi-use urban cores and neighborhoods and discouraging strip-mall corridors. A more radical approach is advocated by architect Richard Register, author of Ecocities: Building Cities in Balance with Nature (Berkeley Hills, 2001), who understands the challenge of the imminent oil production peak and envisions redesigning cities to virtually exclude the personal automobile.

Local governance. One way to make change within your community is to get involved in local politics. Politics is about power and decision-making, and it entails conflict and hard work. When the stakes are high, the political process almost inevitably becomes subject to corruption, and cynicism and burnout usually follow. However, in smaller communities, local government is still relatively open to citizens' input and partic.i.p.ation.

Involvement in local politics opens many possibilities for moving your community in the direction of sustainability. Find out what local issues are. Go to meetings of your city council or board of supervisors. Identify people and groups with concerns similar to yours and work with them to form research and action committees.

It is possible to influence officeholders by writing letters, actively partic.i.p.ating at public meetings, or writing opinion pieces for the local newspaper. It is also possible to run for office - even though it takes a certain kind of personality to want to do so. This requires knocking on doors, but it also presents an opportunity to educate the public.

Intentional communities. For many centuries, idealists have sought to create a better world by building model communities in which alternative ways of living can be experimented with and demonstrated. There are thousands of intentional communities in existence today, and others in the formative stages, many of which are pioneering a post-industrial lifestyle.

Community Resources Food Information on community-supported agriculture (CSA):

and .

Growing Communities Curriculum: Community Building and Organizational Development through Community Gardening, by Jeanette Abi-Nader, Kendall Dunnigan, and Kristen Markley (The American Community Gardening a.s.sociation, 2001).

Information on the Berkeley Food Policy Council:

and

Information on Planting Earth Activation (PEA):