Sustainability 101 - Personal Post Oil Era Planning
What to do before YOUR last drop of oil: Think, your goal
must be elimination of oil dependence. Use it for transition to
something sustainable, or entertainment, but DO NOT be
dependent. Triage, what will continue to function, when will
significant disruptions start, what natural or manmade
disasters are likely for your area? How will the unprepared
react locally, nationally, or internationally? Will you as one
prepared be seen as unjust, unfair, or evil, your stored food as
"hoarding"? Do your present living conditions provide secure
clean air water and food, and shelter? Can your community
continue “on it's own” with the local ecosystem sustaining
the population? How do you deal with strangers, or friends
or relatives, who after the crash begins come calling because
you have food? What do you believe is a sustainable
population, and do you see a pleasant way to reach it within
the remaining time? Do you believe the ecology will be
preserved, or plundered in attempts to maintain the failing
infrastructure? Will governments be compassionate and
preserve rights as they struggle with local and external
challenges and dwindling resources? How do you envision
the post-fossil fuel era? What is needed for you, your family,
community, and humanity overall, to reach a better future?
When to act: Now, when demand exceeds supply it's too
late to make effective preparations. When a critical portion
of the population realizes there WILL be a problem, it's too
late. Now, while you can "click" on the web, or make a
phone call, and have unique goods delivered, or labour
performed. Now, before travel, moving, joining or creating a
new community is practicable.
Think beyond the crash: Post fossil fuel civilization
requires healthy, intelligent and educated people survive the
traumas of the crash. Knowledge, skills, physical resources,
and ecosystem lost in the crash may be lost permanently
Consult with a physician on improving your health and
getting more exercise. Your physical needs must be met
first.
Air-to survive beyond 3 minutes: Avoid areas where dirty
fuel use (coal & wood) is likely. Seal you home as air-tight
as you can, and reduce outside air infiltration by a device,
even homemade, that allows for the natural air pressure
changes without a physical exchange of air. (Think a hole in
the ceiling with a plastic bag sealed over the hole, lying in the
attic.). Mechanical air filtration helps even if only daytime
solar p/v powered. Air forced thru biologically active soil
will have many contaminants removed or neutralized. See
"earthlung" in SOLVIVA by Anna Edey. Plants can purify
air, see “Growing Clean Air” by Dr. Bill Wolverton, and
enough plants can balance the daily CO2 exhalations of a
person, and grow enough calories for sustenance.
Water-to survive beyond 3 days: Water may be cut off or
contaminated. Ensure you have access to water from all
available resources, including rainwater catchment, with the
largest personal storage capacity you can arrange. Be
prepared to purify all of your water. Filtering water thru sand
or even dirt can remove larger particles and some pathogens.
Water in contact with silver tends to kill microorganisms. A
small DC current (from a cheap solar battery charger)
through two silver electrodes (i.e. 1964 and earlier U.S.
quarters) submerged in the water will distribute silver ions
and kill bacteria. You can fabricate a still to use the heat of
the sun to evaporate water, then condense the vapor into
water for human consumption. It can be as simple as a sealed
bottle sitting in the sun, with a hose leading out of it to
another bottle, that is buried in cool, shaded soil. Expect to
drastically restrict your water use, and reuse wash water on
plants. To avoid toilet flushing use a composting, or solar
dehydrating toilet.
Food-to survive beyond 3 weeks: Industrialized farming
depends on fertilizers, chemicals and special crops. Ecology
Action & books by John Jeavons, growbiointensive.org
show you can grow a healthy diet of crops in an area as small
as 1,000 sq.ft. per person. The techniques take effort and time
to implement, especially if you're not starting with soil that is
healthy and productive. Look beyond farm crops, to find
robust plants suited for your location, see the online database
by the English folks at Plants for a Future. Absent good soil,
even shallow beds of biological scraps and rock dust can
work, see the Amaranth to Zai Holes, Meitzner & Price, full
text online from the folks at echonet.org. Aquaponics,
aeroponics, etc. offer higher yields if you can maintain the
technology. Store food for a year as insurance against lost
crops, see basic guidelines at Mormon church sites. Sprouts
are greater in bulk and nutrition than seeds. Many leaves are
edible, or protein can be extracted, see leafforlife.com.
Spirulina algae grows double it's mass every day, hey, it's
sold in health food stores.How many people do you need to
feed?
Medical-to cope with disease and injury: Take the CPR
and "First Aid" training. Commercial first aid kits are a start,
but look beyond them. Books such as "Ditch Medicine" by
Hugh L. Coffee provide insight into unusual techniques that
work.
Shelter-to survive harmful environments: Almost
anywhere earth bermed, equator facing glass, and insulated
construction can provide a livable contained environment
with minimal to no non-solar input. Earthships, with walls of
stacked tires, full of dirt, incorporate recycling and energy-
saving ideas of Michael Reynolds offered in his books and at
his earthship.org site. Earth sheltering and why to insulate
and waterproof the soil for 20' out from your home are
explained in the book "Passive Annual Heat Storage", by
John Hait. Stacked concrete block is advocated by architect
Bruce Beerup in his website thenaturalhome.com. Mike
Oehler, in "The $50 & Up Underground House Book"
presents his PSP system post/shoring/Polyethylene, basically
an underground pole building.
Power-beyond your own muscles: Animal or slave labor
can expand the power of a few, but is inefficient. For
technology today electricity is the key energy, but many uses
can be replaced by wind, water, or focused sunlight to
operate "steam" engines, or absorption refrigeration.
Electronics, and to an extent lighting have no alternative,
otherwise "downsize" your electrical use. Add non-fuel home
generating. P/v panels continue to improve in efficiency, and
for the moment, reduce in price. In all these some type of
power storage system is usually required. Micro-Hydro,
using a suitcase sized turbine, driven by a pipe of high
pressure water, can provide on demand modest power, even
if just using large water containers at significant differences
in height. Batteries can (now) be purchased to meet specific
needs, or made under low-tech conditions, see "How to
Recycle Scrap Metal into Electricity", by John Hait.
Electricity can be stored in batteries, or by performing work
compressing air, pumping water, splitting water for
hydrogen, etc., but present battery designs cannot hold the
same power per pound or volume as do liquid fuels.
Fuel-for portable power: The end of fossil fuels does not
mean the end of all fuels, alcohol from farm waste, even
algae, and plant oils are viable fuel. They require a tradeoff
though in cropland, meaning the greater energy use per
person of the society, the smaller the population. For now
there are NO prospects for a renewable fuel that provides
anywhere NEAR humanity's fossil fuel consumption. We
dare not burn the remaining forests merely to heat our homes,
or fuel an engine. Coal is also finite, not as efficient a fuel as
oil, and far more polluting. Heating & cooking will probably
need to be solar. Some biological or catalyst system may yet
though make hydrogen a practical fuel.
Location: Away from air, water, and ground contamination.
A first thought therefore is away from large concentrations of
people, but the priority is whether you can meet your life
support needs. Similarly concerned neighbors are invaluable,
as are laws and government which does not interfere.
Security: Transition to a post-oil paradigm world maybe a
distinctly unpleasant period. The unprepared may lash out in
bitterness, or desperation. Will you welcome or feed
strangers? How many, for how long? Whom of your present
associates will you welcome? How will you respond to
squatters, or raiders, or worse? Concealment is a security
option. But once concealment is lost, are you prepared,
mentally, physically, and materially, to perhaps use deadly
force to defend yourself, your family, and friends? Laws
about your rights of self defense differ from place to place as
to how you may defend yourself, and what you may use.
Know your local laws, and work within them. If you are not
satisfied with your physical condition, start an exercise
program. If you are interested in any martial art, begin
training. If you select weapons that require advanced
technology for parts or ammunition, "stock up" appropriately.
Rather than isolation, you may seek safety in numbers.
Appropriate technology: There is significant info on
technology for primitive situations at vita.org and attra.org.
"Ham" radio may be your most likely means of maintaining
long distance contact when phone lines and the web fall into
disrepair. With a modest collection of quality hand tools,
even a neophyte can make modest repairs, disassemble
obsolete equipment, or fashion vital devices. Imagine trying
to "double dig" a garden bed without a shovel, or taking any
device apart without basic hand tools. Stainless steel and cast
iron cookware have a much longer and varied useable life
than aluminum, or plastic, and present less of a health threat.
Many items widely available and cheap today to store may
become invaluable. (Nails & other fasteners, insulation, pipe
and fittings, even bricks) A good bow, and a high power air
rifle, represent weapons that can be maintained operable with
primitive tools and materials.
Transportation: Expect fuel for personal transportation to
be priced out of reach, with dwindling supplies reserved for
farming, emergency services, or war. In calories per mile,
the human powered bicycle is the most efficient vehicle. In
it's early development it was a serious means of transport,
which became overshadowed by fossil fuel engines. Various
bicycle designs are used to meet many transportation needs,
including "cabs" and delivery "trucks". With an athlete as
the "poweplant", an enclosed recumbent bicycle has
exceeded 65 mph. For the near future, plan your
"neighborhood" around modest walking, or bicycling
distances.
Knowledge: Mankind's knowledge is recorded in many
places, in many mediums, yet much of this information might
perish in the disasters of the crash. Information outside you r
hands may never again be available to you. Books, or other
printed means, are the simplest means of accessing
knowledge in a crashed society. Microfiche, once a popular
means to store large volumes of information, has become
"old fashioned". But in microfiche, one person can carry
hundreds, indeed thousands of books. Microfiche can be
adequately read using even a child's toy microscope.
Electronic media, whether CD's, tapes, disks, etc., all require
a functioning appropriate player. A quandary when you
looking for the instructions to fix the device. Today
tremendous knowledge is just a "click" away on the web. As
a minimum, download all that appears appropriate to you,
and printout that which you feel could be vital. It will be left
to those who prepare, and make it through the crash intact, to
reset the foundations of human society. What do you think
you, and the future, needs to know? The authors mentioned
earlier, Jeavons for agriculture, and Reynolds for housing, are
good examples of places to begin. Visit your local library
regularly, and keep organized notes. Ask about interlibrary
loans of books you need to see, but are not held locally.
Used bookstores, and web sales, can yield out of print
priceless "gems". Try A abebooks.com or powells.com/, or
of course, Amazon.
Finances: Dwindling fuel supplies should mean rising prices
of everything using such fuel. The present "fiat" currency
may lose real value and influence, and along with these
shocks expect the normal economy, tax system, pension,
welfare, etc. to disappear.
How long: It depends on preparations by you and your
relevant community. Conflict involving nuclear or biological
warfare could eliminate populations within days or weeks.
Despite horror stories of nuclear war, the relatively quick
death of large numbers may leave more natural and manmade
resources intact than would remain after a slow decline. As
supplies dwindle and the situation slowly worsens it may
take years before many realize the crash is already taking
place, and decades before we "bottom out". In the process,
remaining natural resources may be destroyed and manmade
resources worn beyond repair/reuse.
Community: A lone surviving individual or family is
genetically a dead end. Biology requires a minimum of six
unrelated families. Specialization in skills and security
requires a larger group yet, say 120 families. To maintain
modern technology, advanced knowledge and skills probably
requires a relevant sustainable community of nearly a
million. Guide those who will listen toward their own
revelation of the nature of the problem. Inventory the assets
of your organization, or your community, and identify the
shortfalls which could challenge continued viability. Steer
new development toward sustainable projects. Seek others
who are seeking solutions, or implement your own
community action.
Discussion forum: Location Specific - Tucson, AZ, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SustainableTucson/
Discussion forum: Implications, action:
www.egroups.com/group/RunningOnEmpty2
Printed Monday, July 17, 2006
COPY THIS ITEM FREELY