[Pil-pc-oceania] fwd of short article: "how should i prepare for life without oil?"

[Andrew Leahy]

Hi transitioners, the short article below is from the UK Observer, it
tips it's hat to UK permaculture teacher Rob Hopkins and the
Transition Towns movement, even tentatively introducing the p-word.

Oh, and they have some nice allotment piccy's at
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/allotment/2007/11/glorious_mud.html

Cheers, Andrew
(Permaculture Sydney West)


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2210342,00.html
(kudos to energybulletin.net)

The Observer. Sunday November 18, 2007.

How should I prepare for life without oil?

With claims that we've passed the peak of oil production, it's not
enough just to say
no to plastic bags, warns Lucy Siegle.

We aren't very good at envisaging a post-fossil fuel lifestyle.
Although we happily talk about the price of organic vegetables or even
the true cost of fish, the soaring price of oil remains anathema in
lifestyle circles. Odd because there's nothing that threatens our
hydrocarbon-dependent lifestyles more.

Unnervingly, many commentators claim we've passed the peak of oil
production. According to Richard Heinberg, we sailed passed it in May
2005 (Heinberg will give the Soil Association's lecture on 22
November: What will we eat when the oil runs out?
soilassociation.org). He suggests, in his new book Peak Everything:
Waking up to the Century of Declines, that we need to wean ourselves
off it. Fast.

It would, however, be dispiriting to wake up to this decline alone,
concentrating only on your own petro-calories. Because while you can
decide to say no to plastic bags (some 5 trillion are used globally
annually and it takes 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100m) or
decide to run your car on biofuel to 'future proof' your own life
(although Heinberg says biofuel  production also peaked last year),
cutting dependency on the black stuff needs to be a community-based
project. For that reason, you can sign up to the burgeoning Transition
Town movement (transitiontowns.org), the epicentre of which is Totnes,
South Devon. You will join 176 UK communities signing up to the
challenge of life after oil.

There is a blueprint: the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan
(transitionculture.org). Through the prism of transition thinking,
everyone is invited to take a fresh look at modern life in the light
of peak oil. And it's refreshing. The relocalisation of energy, food
supplies, building materials and even clothing is central, crushing
the 'monoculture of the supermarkets',  lacing the emphasis on local
food partnerships and procurement, and cutting down on all forms of
food miles. A 7 percent rise in urban transport last year was recently
attributed by Defra to the need to shop increasingly far afield -
distinctly non-transition behaviour.

To enable low-impact living on this scale requires a low-input but
high-yield agricultural system, provided by permaculture - a design
system that works in harmony with nature. Ultimately, the community is
'reskilled', learning to grow produce and fend for itself to increase
its resilience.

Everyone's a winner in a town that loses its dependency on oil. Apart
from those who proudly tend a lawn, however. Transitioners will view
that manicured patch as a potential allotment - and don't even get
them started on the fact you use a petrol-powered mower.

(Andrew: I must admit to friendly rivalry with my suburban neighbours,
the game is to see if I can push-mow my front "lawn" before they stop
to empty clippings or re-fill their petrol-mowers. It's sparked a few
Sunday afternoon conversations!)

--
Be The Least You Can Be
http://idletheory.info/