Right, now take your head out of the wardrobe and look around your home.
Anything made using wood or metal probably required machinery to manufacture, machinery driven by- electricity? Oil? Sure even the fabric of our houses cost the earth in terms of fossil fuels; do you know how much ‘making’ goes into cement blocks? Plasterboard? Flooring of every sort including lino and carpets? Have you PVC windows, fascia boards, guttering, outside doors? The wiring- plastic coated, the piping-some plastic. Solar panels?
How about the contents of your home? I’m writing with a plastic biro, will type this on a plastic computer keyboard. Does any room NOT contain plastic? And every single bit of plastic is processed oil- EVERY BIT! Now imagine removing every single plastic item, or items with say 50% or more plastic parts from your home: Oh whoops! There goes the laptop, computer, all my CDs, cassettes, DVDs, toiletries, cleaning agents, sandals, trainers, kitchen implements, scissors, the loo seat (aargh!) some cupboards and furniture (coated chipboard), vacuum cleaner, crockery, food containers, bottles, kettle, freezer possibly and fridge…chairs…Gee guys! My house looks awfully empty and inconvenient, not to mention UNCOMFORTABLE!
So when we consider the consumption of fossil fuels we can NOT simply think in terms of transport, or fuel, or even electricity production; fossil fuels and their spin-off impact upon and permeate our lives. We are not just dependant upon them, we are so dependant that we take them for granted and are blind to them.
Personally I have no desire to live like a Flintstone, or return to the Stone Age, or even Medieval times really, but folks we are wasting resources daily here at a rate of knots- and I haven’t even BEGUN on water! And we are the so-called enlightened ones, the aware, the ground-breakers, the crusaders- what about the folks who are ignorant of their actions, who don’t care, or who are too impoverished to change?
Action is a luxury, morals and ethics and choice even greater luxuries: if a person is barely surviving they don’t have the energy or mental resources to care what effect their deeds have in the broaderpicture, and why should they? What choice have they been left? I’m not just referring to people in the third world either, but the poor within our own countries as well.
I know I am skidding lightly over many, many issues here- I could talk for Ireland! We need to be aware, thoughtful, looking to the future as well as learning from our past and conserving what we have that is good in the present- and there IS good, but we need to shake awake more people too.
Even toothbrushes are made of plastic…and imported…
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
'Stuff'- Part 2
Back to the ‘stuff’: so we have fed our family, what happens after food? Home and clothes would probably be next on our list of essentials. Even cutting back to as minimal as most of us are prepared to do and still be comfortable there are still issues with fossil fuels.
Of what are my clothes made? Anything with nylon or man-made fibres has oil as its base ingredient. Man-made fibres include elastic, buttons, lycra, shell suits, tracksuit fabric, the stretchy stuff in underwear and socks, and my jeans which mean I can actually sit down in them after dinner. Then there is waterproof clothing, fleece fabric, gumboots, slinky evening wear, shiny posh frocks…should I stop now?
Look in your wardrobe- how many items are only wool, cotton, leather, hemp and bamboo… are there any other natural fibres? Quite apart from the price rise in producing all these man-made clothing fabrics, what happens when the oil can not be spared for clothing? Flintstone style here we come!
Recycling fabric is one way of making garments last longer, and buying second-hand or trading is also useful. It is my experience though that a great many people simply lack the skills to sew their own clothing, or to mend, darn, replace buttons, make-do and look smart- a Worzel Gummidge look really isn’t for everyone!
Returning to food- a by-product of sheep farming is wool; we could be needing it soon, and not just for insulating our houses either. There’s a reason the Irish, Scots, Icelanders and Northern folk knitted Aran and Fair Isle jerseys, they didn’t like being cold. News flash- nor do I! And apart from wool production here in Ireland and Britain, post oil and locally, what will we have to wear? Seen any cotton fields in your vicinity lately- uh…no? Bamboo groves- enough for fabric production? Hemp?
Granted, I am looking at extremes but in order to figure where we are going with our lifestyle choices, don’t we need to do so? Sure we can import cotton and other fabrics…by ship? Train? What will fuel the transport- fresh air? Is anyone building cargo sailing ships? Bring back the Cutty Sark- all is forgiven!
Laugh away- the idea of fleets of tall ships delivering imported fashion clothing to Southampton Docks, and being distributed to retail stores via horse and cart is too hilarious to take seriously, but if fossil fuel use is reduced to ESSENTIALS where will it leave us? And will there be enough to go round everyone?
Of what are my clothes made? Anything with nylon or man-made fibres has oil as its base ingredient. Man-made fibres include elastic, buttons, lycra, shell suits, tracksuit fabric, the stretchy stuff in underwear and socks, and my jeans which mean I can actually sit down in them after dinner. Then there is waterproof clothing, fleece fabric, gumboots, slinky evening wear, shiny posh frocks…should I stop now?
Look in your wardrobe- how many items are only wool, cotton, leather, hemp and bamboo… are there any other natural fibres? Quite apart from the price rise in producing all these man-made clothing fabrics, what happens when the oil can not be spared for clothing? Flintstone style here we come!
Recycling fabric is one way of making garments last longer, and buying second-hand or trading is also useful. It is my experience though that a great many people simply lack the skills to sew their own clothing, or to mend, darn, replace buttons, make-do and look smart- a Worzel Gummidge look really isn’t for everyone!
Returning to food- a by-product of sheep farming is wool; we could be needing it soon, and not just for insulating our houses either. There’s a reason the Irish, Scots, Icelanders and Northern folk knitted Aran and Fair Isle jerseys, they didn’t like being cold. News flash- nor do I! And apart from wool production here in Ireland and Britain, post oil and locally, what will we have to wear? Seen any cotton fields in your vicinity lately- uh…no? Bamboo groves- enough for fabric production? Hemp?
Granted, I am looking at extremes but in order to figure where we are going with our lifestyle choices, don’t we need to do so? Sure we can import cotton and other fabrics…by ship? Train? What will fuel the transport- fresh air? Is anyone building cargo sailing ships? Bring back the Cutty Sark- all is forgiven!
Laugh away- the idea of fleets of tall ships delivering imported fashion clothing to Southampton Docks, and being distributed to retail stores via horse and cart is too hilarious to take seriously, but if fossil fuel use is reduced to ESSENTIALS where will it leave us? And will there be enough to go round everyone?
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
'Stuff'- Part 1
Much has recently been written about ‘stuff’- the clutter in our homes, excess materialism of a first world life, the acquisitive nature of us humans. This week the Autumn issue of Permaculture Magazine arrived (paper stuff?) and as usual I’ve been stimulated into thought and re-examination of my surroundings by its articles.
In particular, this issue has several articles about food; its production, where it comes from, where it WILL come from, practical and ethical questions of its production and distribution…all of which need to be addressed by ALL of us. This should not be a government or Farming or specialist issue- you’ll be sorry later if you have go hungry through lack of engagement and foresight!
As a somewhat disorganised, haphazard person with (I think/ hope) deeply rooted morals and ethics, (Mrs Average?) the food question post Peak Oil raises a combination of issues, many of which I wrestle with without conclusion.
A couple of observations: firstly, having lived through drought, flood and famine in East Africa I have experienced a little of the desperation of neither being able to harvest from the land, nor afford the inflated prices of imported food. I’ve pooled hoarded resources and inadequate vegetable crops with surrounding African families and staggered through the bad times.
Secondly, back in Ireland, depending upon the solid fuel stove for our cooking and heating these last few winters (the price of oil being a problem for us) I have also experienced the inconvenience of running out of stored fuel and having to cast about for more. I can see why people used to burn the furniture during long, hard winters! (We didn’t, quite!).
I know I am not alone in these and similar experiences, everyone has stories of shortfall and making-do, but it gives me a perspective from either end of the spectrum.
Even after we have put the most basic necessity, food, on the table, what then?
Fuel to cook with- oil? Electricity? Where did the power come from?
How many packets did you open and use, or discard, in preparing the meal- tin? Plastic? Glass? With the best will to avoid waste packaging there is bound to be some- even the salt and spice jars eventually head off to the Great Package Heaven in the Sky…or a hole in the ground?
Where am I going with this? It comes back to ‘stuff’.
Recycling is all very well, and certainly a step away from Landfill; but ONLY a STEP- where does it all GO? There was a truly appalling article in the National Geographic Magazine last year about where our recycling goes; it made me literally sick with disgust and FURY. And so it ought- our waste is OUR problem: as the Shell (I think) ad says, ‘When you throw it away, there is no AWAY.’
Consider the amount of rubbish you accumulate in a month and imagine there is no bin collection, what would you do? Rats? Stench? Dirt? Disease? Space to store?
Consider the amount of space this month’s recycling is taking up and how much do you/ are you/ can you actually re-use? A fraction, I’ll bet. A few tins as plant pots or to hold pens and loose items, a few glass jars for chutney and jam making, and vases for flowers, some of the card and paper into the compost, some to start the fire, some plastic bottles to carry drinks or to make ‘fertilizer factories’, or mini cloches for the veg bed, and a few containers as seed trays or children’s art projects. That’s it. That’s probably just kitchen recycling too, what about packaging and containers from the rest of the things we use?
In particular, this issue has several articles about food; its production, where it comes from, where it WILL come from, practical and ethical questions of its production and distribution…all of which need to be addressed by ALL of us. This should not be a government or Farming or specialist issue- you’ll be sorry later if you have go hungry through lack of engagement and foresight!
As a somewhat disorganised, haphazard person with (I think/ hope) deeply rooted morals and ethics, (Mrs Average?) the food question post Peak Oil raises a combination of issues, many of which I wrestle with without conclusion.
A couple of observations: firstly, having lived through drought, flood and famine in East Africa I have experienced a little of the desperation of neither being able to harvest from the land, nor afford the inflated prices of imported food. I’ve pooled hoarded resources and inadequate vegetable crops with surrounding African families and staggered through the bad times.
Secondly, back in Ireland, depending upon the solid fuel stove for our cooking and heating these last few winters (the price of oil being a problem for us) I have also experienced the inconvenience of running out of stored fuel and having to cast about for more. I can see why people used to burn the furniture during long, hard winters! (We didn’t, quite!).
I know I am not alone in these and similar experiences, everyone has stories of shortfall and making-do, but it gives me a perspective from either end of the spectrum.
Even after we have put the most basic necessity, food, on the table, what then?
Fuel to cook with- oil? Electricity? Where did the power come from?
How many packets did you open and use, or discard, in preparing the meal- tin? Plastic? Glass? With the best will to avoid waste packaging there is bound to be some- even the salt and spice jars eventually head off to the Great Package Heaven in the Sky…or a hole in the ground?
Where am I going with this? It comes back to ‘stuff’.
Recycling is all very well, and certainly a step away from Landfill; but ONLY a STEP- where does it all GO? There was a truly appalling article in the National Geographic Magazine last year about where our recycling goes; it made me literally sick with disgust and FURY. And so it ought- our waste is OUR problem: as the Shell (I think) ad says, ‘When you throw it away, there is no AWAY.’
Consider the amount of rubbish you accumulate in a month and imagine there is no bin collection, what would you do? Rats? Stench? Dirt? Disease? Space to store?
Consider the amount of space this month’s recycling is taking up and how much do you/ are you/ can you actually re-use? A fraction, I’ll bet. A few tins as plant pots or to hold pens and loose items, a few glass jars for chutney and jam making, and vases for flowers, some of the card and paper into the compost, some to start the fire, some plastic bottles to carry drinks or to make ‘fertilizer factories’, or mini cloches for the veg bed, and a few containers as seed trays or children’s art projects. That’s it. That’s probably just kitchen recycling too, what about packaging and containers from the rest of the things we use?
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