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

[Deb Guildner]

Allotments are a very good way for preparing for life without soil.
Much more important than life without oil.....

Yes, and we are a bit more fossil-free after the election!
A few less old fossil-fogeys!!

Cheers!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Leahy" <alfski at gmail.com>
To: "permaculture discussion list" 
<pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 7:17 PM
Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] fwd of short article: "how should i prepare 
forlife without oil?"


> 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/
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