Sustainability from the Ground Up.

 Today is Earth Day, and I always have mixed feelings about that. When I was younger - a high-school student, starry-eyed and idealistic - each year was a new chance to rally people to the cause. A few years on cynicism and it's a day of green-washing, lip service, and singular feel-good activities. How does an activist spread the ethos of care into the other 364 days of the year?

Pictures from the first Earth Day, 1970

If I had the perfect answer to that I would be out on the streets, leading the charge. Instead, I am here to encourage the makers, the creative types, to think sustainably in their creations. Here's the simple, easy things to think of for sustainable design.

 1.)What is it made from?
        Obviously, this is where it starts. Let's say you have a great product idea, and it's gonna help people save water/conserve energy/not waste food etc... but it's made out of plastic and packaged in styrofoam. New materials are helping to solve this problem, but I opine that returning to simple natural materials is always the best choice!

2.)What happens when it breaks?
        Is the item made to last? Can it be fixed? Can it be repurposed? Seed paper cards are an example of an item that has an explicit second life.

3.)Where does it go to?
         This is where that nasty plastic causes problems, but any material can be a problem if there's nothing to do with a broken or worn-out item but throw it away! Can it be reused or recycled? Composted? Cradle to Grave is the ethos of designing an "afterlife" for an item.

4.)Does it work?
     This can be overlooked by a greenwashing company. Story time - back in the late 90s when the first bioplastic were appearing on the market my mother bought a few packs of corn plastic pens and permanent markers. How proud we were! Early adopters who are reducing our impact! Of course, the pen part didn't work for crap. So concerned, was that company, with making and marketing the bioplastic outers, that the insides of the pen were shoddy and non-functioning. If the product doesn't work very well or breaks right away, then no matter what it is made from it is not sustainable!

5.)How is it made?
     The other downside of those early bioplastics (see why I prefer natural materials?), was the manufacture. It involved toxic chemicals, those chemicals were not always handled properly, the energy required to manufacture was much higher than petroplastics. Problems like this lead to the idea of sustainability as a complex system! If an item pollutes when it is made, that's the same as if it pollutes when it is thrown away!

6.)Who makes it?
     Here's the tough part for many big companies, we handcrafters got this down pretty well. If an item is not socially responsible then it is not sustainable. This is not simply a matter of morality - oppressive systems are not stable or sustainable. And pushing people into poverty often forces them to make choices that are environmentally harmful and destructive to their culture and society. But handmakers must also be responsible about this! What are we outsourcing? What processes are they using? Are we charging enough for our time and talents?

7.) How is it used?
     Let us not forget the most important aspect of design - is it useful? What do we use it for? It drives me crazy to see the piles of "recycling" ideas that turn a throwaway item into a nominally decorative piece of bric-a-brac. I mean, sure, a few decorative vases is fine, and a pen cup or two made from old containers covered in pretty paper or such... but how many can you have in your house? And the item that is only decorative? That's like a garbage denial system, we store it on the walls and shelves awaiting it's inevitable doom. Good sustainable design make useful items that we want to use in environmentally responsible ways!

Happy Earth Day everyone! From a crabby environmentalist, and Crafty Bitch.

A Dead Hedge for a Lively Garden

As the season warms a number of garden projects are getting underway. This year, among other things, I am making some new beds in underused parts of the yard. And adding some privacy. Mr. Crafty has been asking for more solid fencing since he moved in, and we have a dog now who will pace and charge the fence when other dogs are about. (Yes, we are training her out of it, no it's not happened yet...)

I first heard about dead hedges in the BBC's fantastic history programs concerning  historic farming. It was commonly used as stock fencing in spots that a live hedge wasn't growing. But there are a number of important features of a dead hedge that make it useful in the modern garden as well.
1.) It uses up material that does not compost well unless you have a mulching machine.
2.) It offers important habitat to many wild garden friends, including native bees!
3.) It's basically free. I bought a few sturdy stakes to complement my scavenged branches.

 Here it is growing and shaping up. As other parts of the yard get cleared out and suckers get trimmed down I keep finding more and more material to add to it. I've been digging my new veggie bed right in front of it and that has yielded tree roots as well.

And now, spring has sprung, the grass is painfully green, there are rows of beets planted, and the hedge is almost to the top of the fence. It will compact with time so I will have to keep adding to it. Fortunately, I have plenty of pruning yet to go, so there will be no lack of materials!

Get out and put your hands in the soil@

Sacred Lands

I recently watched a number of clips from the Sacred Lands Film Project for a class, and I was moved like I'd been chopping onions. Here's the thing, in much of modern society, and particularly for Euro-Americans (we are a nation of immigrants after all), we don't have a strong local connection to places. The idea of a spot being sacred may be hard for many of us to imagine.

Watching these clips made me crave that connection, to love a part of the earth as a critical part of your culture. What makes land sacred to you? Are there any sacred spots near you?

Make Your Garden Water Wise

There are few things more enjoyable than getting your hands dirty. Studies have shown the health and de-stressing benefits of having a garden. Fresh veggies and herbs are of course a very nice perk as well! But a large yard and garden can strain your water bill and the local aquifers.

Around the world there is a crisis of fresh water.
780 million people lack access to an improved water source; approximately one in nine people.
3.41 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes each year. An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the average person in a developing country slum uses for an entire day. The most critical issue facing the American West right now is a lack of water for human activities and irrigation. The Colorado river drains the south-west half of the U.S., it no longer flows into the ocean during the dry season because there is so much water diverted.

1.) Choose plants that are low water needs, or create shade in much of your yard. Xeriscaping makes use of succulents and stone landscaping to create beautiful yards with very low water requirements. If that's a bit extreme try picking out drought resistant varieties that will thrive in summer water restrictions. Plant water sensitive plants in shady spots.

2.) Mulch around plants to slow evaporation and discourage weeds. I personally prefer grass clipping and last year's leaves to make a tight dense mulch. Wood chip mulch is a good option for trees, but using it in your garden will lead to years of wood chunks mixed into your soil. Acid and alkaline loving plants may do well with pine needles or peat moss respectively.

3.) Use drip water systems, or hand water. Overhead water leads to loss by evaporation, and puts the water where the plant cannot use it. Where practical try to give water just to the roots of the plant, sprinkling a small area at the base. Drip water systems are the most practical way to water permanent landscaping like shrubs and perennial flowers.

4.) Water at night, infrequently and deeply. Plants actually use the most water at night. After collection solar energy all day, plants grow at night consuming water in the process. There is also less water loss to evaporation. Water deeply, but don't water every evening, give the soil a chance to dry out so that the plants are encouraged to grow large root systems searching for water.

Earth Day!

As I did my daily blog reading yesterday, and skimmed an entry on The Wild Hunt, I mumbled something about Earth Day. The Boyfriend looked up
"Oh! When is Earth Day anyway...?"
"It's today." I replied nonchalantly
"Ooooh... are we doing anything special?"
"All the hippy-dippy stuff we do everyday."
This is the crux of Earth Day really, it isn't a single day to look at the world around us that sustains us. It's a single day to learn more, to become personally involved in the care of the planet. What good is one day a year of tree planting and organic foods, if the rest of the year is spent consuming mindlessly? It's like "those" religious people who are good one day of the week when at church/temple/mosque/circle etc. and a total lying asshole the other six. Weekend environmentalism made smaller.

The tradition of Earth Day as an educational time has been lost, but we can reclaim it. Don't think of it as a single event, it's the New Year's Day of sustainability. Make a slew of resolutions - turn off more lights, use less water, buy local, recycle more, get outside - and stick to them year round. The biggest impacts in creating a sustainable future do not come from governments and corporations. They come from individuals changing their lifestyles. From entire cultures changing their lifestyles. Companies sell us what we demand, so demand local sustainable goods, efficient appliances and vehicles, and soundly raised foods. The government must bend to the will of the people, make your voice heard to protect wild lands and agrarian systems, support small businesses, and improve water and air protections.

I will continue to post about environmental issues from time to time, all year! Because April 22nd isn't the only time you can buy CFL bulbs or fix a leaky faucet. What are your Earth Day resolutions!

Community Supported Agriculture

Perhaps you've got a friend who has one, a family member who is gushing about their's, you've maybe been offered one? I'm talking CSAs. That's Community Supported Agriculture for those who aren't up on the hip lingo. It's not a new idea, but it's grown beyond the hippies and whole earthers of the old days.Say you are a farmer who wants to produce veggies and fruits for local fresh sale. Prep your fields in the spring, buy seeds and manure, watering systems and labor. That's a big investment! Did you have the savings? Do you have to borrow money? What happens if there's a crop fail? What about a bumper crop, with no money to hire extra harvest workers?

A CSA solves many of those problems. To participate, one buys a "share" at the start of the season. The money goes upfront to cover the cost of getting started! Now every week for the rest of the season, you go pick up a box of fresh produce. If the beans went crazy this year, you get lots of beans. If the tomatoes got destroyed by hail, you get none. No guarantees about the quantities, but it will definitely be fresh! Food like this cannot be bought in the store, at any price.I've decided to join one this season. Least year a good friend signed up for one, and she loved it! But living alone she had far too much food and I was getting weekly gifts of fresh local goodies. A great incentive to cook good healthy food at home. An opportunity to stock up for the winter. What could be better?
There are farms offering CSA programs all over the world. Some offer discounts for doing farm work. Some offer year-round produce. Grant Family Farms offers collaborations with other local growers for fruit, eggs, mushrooms, cheese, fresh bread and other yummies.

Look for local options to get fresh sustainable foods around you. The Farmer's Market is only the beginning!

Climate and Peaches

See this? It's a Colorado Peach. It's juicy, sweet, and delicate. It travels about 75 miles to get to my house, so when I eat one it is tree-ripened and fresh. No other can compare, I do not buy peaches out of season shipped from South America. There is nothing quite like a Colorado Peach, accept no substitutions.

You have a local favorite, a fruit or veggie that is special to the region, best enjoyed right off the farmer's truck. Rocky Ford Cantaloupes. Wild picked raspberries. Fresh crisp arugula. Every place has a food which is best enjoyed close to the source and fresh as you can.

So What?

In 2003 a paper appeared in Science detailing a compilation of 180 years worth of layman's records. Bird watching observations, fish catches, an English manor which recorded the first sounds of frogs every year. The results? Species were moving, towords the poles (northward in North America and Europe) and to higher elevations. Furthermore, events that marked the dawn of spring - the songs of frogs and insects, the blooming of flowers and appearance of shoots - were coming earlier and earlier. An average move of 2.3 days per decade.

So What?

This spring we had lots of warm weather early on. The tulips appeared startlingly soon. The fruit trees in my yard burst into bloom alarmingly early. Here in Colorado, a late snowstorm is likely to freeze and ruin a crop that gets rolling too early. Luckly we had only a mild snowstorm. Unluckly, it was mild and dropped very little water on a parched state.
Our agricultural system is very cycle driven. Major food crops were developed for different climates, on the assumption that the yearly weather patterns would not deviate much. Early blooms can suffer from too much water, not enough, wrong temperature, lack of pollinators, susceptibility to disease, and other problems. Climate change is not just melting ice caps.

Consider the fragility of our food systems. It may not seem that way, we have long used chemicals, technology, and the care of thoughtful farmers to provide for us despite the challenges of shifting weather. But continued warming may lead to failures in the Orchards of the Western Slope, and a season without peaches.
Think about that every time you get into your car. When you switch on the lights, or the heat. Remember the cost of fossil fuels is not just in your pockets, it's also in your pantry.

What's you favorite local food? Have you had sparse years of it due to droughts, freezes, or flooding?

The Real Cost of Bottled Water

I have never been a bottled water drinker. Not originally from any concern for the environment, not because I loved our tap water (Tho here in Denver the water quality is quite high), I've never liked buy bottled water because - water? That should be free! Over the years however, I've seen an increase in people buying bottled water and a decrease in the number of public water fountains.
I've been reading "Bottled and Sold" for a class, and it takes an interesting look at the trends of taking a public product and privatizing it. Our society went from outbreaks of waterbourne diseases to clean safe public water in only a few dozen years. But now many beverage companies and trying to convince us that we must be paying more for it, and not trusting our taps.

Is Bottled Water Safer?

Who knows? No really, it's hard to say. Bottled water is loosely regulated, bottling plants are rarely inspected and testing is infrequent. Much bottled water (At least half) is simply municipal tap water. When a problem is found in bottled water recalls can take months, and are rarely publicized. City water systems however have strict regulations, test as often at 12 times per day, and when problems are found action must be taken within hours. Is tap water safer? Not necessarily, but it is more regulated and there is a lot more data available about what exactly you're drinking.

Then there's the issue of waste. Lots of it. About 850m gallons of bottled water are drank per year in the United States alone. Less than %25 of the 5.6 billion pounds of plastic bottles we use each year are recycled. The cost, in petroleum, of making a plastic bottle (this process also consumes a lot of water), filling and cooling the bottle, and transporting the bottles amounts to about a quarter of the volume of water within. So look at that bottle and imagine a quarter of it is oil. Plastics take thousands of years to break down in a landfill, and leach chemicals into the ground water all the while.

So what is the real cost of bottled water? Three to five times the cost of a equivalent volume of gasoline. Environmental degradation. A continued lack of access to clean water for the global poor. I highly recommend giving this book a read. It is quick and easy, with lots of data to back up the statements. What is your stance on bottled water?

TLDR - Buy a Nalgene, use it all the time, be happier.

Politics...

Ok, I don't usually broach the tough subjects on this blog. You are here for pictures of knitting projects and garden veggies. But I feel that I'd like to speak up about the current state of social affairs. I'll return to my usual light -hearted craft fluff in the next post.

There are a number of crisis facing the human race right now. We are staring at economic instability and inequality of unprecedented scale. There has been a lot of press recently highlighting the statistics about wealth concentration. There is also an uncomfortable closeness between this ridiculous wealth and the control of our governments. (Not a new phenomenon by any means, but rather extreme for any nation claiming to be a democracy.)

There is also that continuing specter of anthropogenic climate change and environmental degradation. For some reason hundreds of years after the realization that human economic activities can alter and damage ecosystems, we are still unwilling to do anything about it. Perhaps people forget that what we do to our surroundings, we do to ourselves. We have to live here after all.

But what to do? Take to the streets? Write your Representative? Cry and curl yourself in to a ball in the corner? Write and perform subversive street theater? Yes.

There is an interesting feature of modern democracy. Perhaps once a year, at the most, we are called to insert our opinion in a ballot box. A symbolic input into the political and social structure. But everyday we also vote, with our Dollars (or Euros, or Pounds etc.). We who do not have the resources to grease the wheels with extravagant purchases of political favors are still able to buy influence.

With everything we buy (or don't buy!) we speak out about how we want our society to be. Being an educated and responsible consumer is the simplest and most powerful form of social activism. If you want to correct income inequalities, support small businesses and independent proprietors. If you are concerned about the environment start with what you bring into your own home. If you are unhappy with the politics of a company, don't support them. It takes will power and time, but our world greatly needs people who are being conscientious in their lives.

And now, back to the making of things...

Seasons Changing

The leaves have long since changed and fallen here. The snow is covering the piles. As we approach the solstice and prepare for the cold nights of winter and return of the sun I like to curl up inside with hot tea and knitting. On the other hand, in my family everyone enjoys some kind of winter sport - skiing, telemark, snowboarding etc. It's the time of year for rich hearty soups and baking bread all day because it's nice to hang out in a warm kitchen. The changing seasons are always hard, either leaving behind a favored time of year or entering a challenging time, it's nice to reflect on the upside that each season offers.

We greet the snow with cookies, big sweaters, and sunglasses (in Colorado cold weather does not always mean clouds!). What is your favorite part of Autumn, that you will miss as the world turns? What are you looking forward to in the dark times?

Wheels a' Turnin'

The last few weeks have been wild around here, so sorry for the lack of updates! I've been traveling and having family and friends visit, I saw three new states, met lots of new family (there was a wedding!) and have been frantically putting up the last of the harvest.
So to tide you over until I return to normal activity here's some lovely wind turbines in a corn field in Iowa. The Midwest seems to be replete with fields of wind farms, turning slowly in the wind. Is there any better way to capture the energy? The fields here are not diminished by the occasional break for a base, and the spinning arms give a serene touch to the rolling landscape. I am thrilled to see the embrace of sustainable electricity sprawling across the plains!

Money and Action

The past several days the canvassers have been around campus, their clipboards say Environment Colorado and the question they have - "Do you have a moment for the environment?" The answer to that question should be obvious "Yes, everyday I have several moments for the environment."
The truth is I avoid them, I walk on the far side of the walkways and stare at the lawns. The truth is they are not asking for moments, they are asking for money. The moment they have with you will not be used to mitigate your environmental impact, or change public policy, or assist in lifestyle change; that moment is for them to pay their salaries, and to fund the lobbiest group they represent.

I will not insult these people, nor those who give them that moment (and a small donation, tax-deductible). But this is a case of people giving money as proxy, changing your lifestyle is difficult and requires great awareness, handing someone five dollars and signing a paper is quick and painless.
But what about the rest of those moments? I have never felt that my lifestyle is difficult. I have never felt that living in an eco-conscious way is painful, or expensive, or punitive. In fact, my life feels every bit as rewarding and easy as I imagine it should be. But everyday I take a moment (well many dozen moments truthfully) and consider "What is the impact this has? - on me, on the air and water, on the biosphere, on other creatures, on other humans etc..."

So if a person takes a moment to hold a young idealist' clipboard and dig into their pockets, how can we convince that person to take a moment to look at their own actions? What sort of moments do you take in your life to look at the full impact of your life?

Talkin' Trash

Sunday is trash night in my neighborhood. Everyone sets out their bags and bins for collection, I take a stroll to look for good pickings, and marvel at the piles of refuse we consign to the heap each week.

Many of the houses around me are piled every Monday morning with three or four big black trash bags, each and every week the people that live there manage to create that much waste! I can't tell you how to fill those bags, it's a mystery to me, but I do know the things I do around my household to reduce waste...

The most important, as always, is to reduce what comes into the house! When shopping I (of course!) use cloth market bags. But I also use cloth bags for bulk foods and produce, or reuse old plastic bags. Buying bulk foods not only saves on a lot of packaging, it reduces wasted food. One buys what their household needs, and never too much.

If you focus on eating foods that can be bought in bulk or reusable packaging you also see a change in your diet. Avoiding excess packaging often means avoiding processed foods as well.

Naturally, not everything you want to buy comes in reusable packaging. From food to clothing to household goods almost everything has some kind of wrapping nowadays.

When you're shopping you can however consider the fate of the packing material. Is it cardboard? Paper? Annoying hard plastic blister packs that require bolt cutters to open? When you can pick the item that has minimal packaging, and is recyclable. While it's better to not create the waste in the first place, if you have to try and recycle it!

Ready for the really hippy-dippy stuff? Compost. Seriously. If you have even a small yard or garden the soil enrichment is priceless. There are many styles of bins, turners and boxes - or you can just pile stuff in a corner. It assuages some of the guilt of a ruined dish if you know it's being composted into next years garden. Separating out all the food waste will also keep your garbage from smelling!

I keep a small flip top trash can in the kitchen to collect funky food, my parents always kept a yogurt container. You need something with a cover for inside, then empty it regularly. The pile shouldn't ever smell outside, after dumping kitchen scraps just toss a little dirt or leaves on top to keep away flies.

There are also options for the yard-less. Under-counter vermiculture bins are perfect for apartments or small houses. Some progressive cities are creating municipal compost programs with curbside collection bins. If there's a community garden in your neighborhood they will often have a compost pile you can contribute to.

There are a lot of small things you can do to reduce your environmental impact, and managing your waste stream is a good place to start. Consuming with the thought in mind "how much garbage is this going to make?" shows companies that we care about packaging. Recycling everything that you can preserves natural resources. It's easy to have a much smaller bag on the street corner on Garbage Day!

And then I created water and land...

Finished up the Earth applique! plenty of hours and plenty of pin pricks, but I'm temped to make more...

Special Bag Project...

If you don't know, I'm a member of the Carried Away Bag Makers Team on Etsy. We have team challenges from time to time, it's a great exercise in pushing our craft, and it allows us to interact with each other. I'm often feeling too busy to participate, but I had to jump in on an Earth Day theme!


Since all of my work is eco-friendly I felt like I had to kick it up a notch! I'm doing an applique of the world pieced from lots of little bits of recycled fabric scraps. This is a bit new for me, instead of cutting large pieces into shapes I get to put it together like a crazy puzzle.

The toughest part was pinning everything down, I think I used every pin in y craft room! And then I had to be very careful not to grab too many pins in my hand while I was appliqueing, only a few pricks happened...



Voilá! Finished the ocean sections, tomorrow I will go in and fill the land with browns and greens. And with the time this has taken, I think I may just keep this bag for myself.

Energy in the West

My drive home through Wyoming was long, cold, and oddly interesting. Yes, it is rather flat, and has long stretches without much of note to break the never ending view of sagebrush. But often what is out there is what's fueling our nation...
Sinclair is a small town on I-80, home and origin of the Sinclair oil company (yaknow, the green dinosaurs?) It has a large oil refinery, "company" housing for the workers there, and a gas station. There you can buy unleaded fresh from the pipes and without added ethanol (with no large urban centers in the state there are no rules about ethanol to reduce smog) which gets 3-5% higher MPG. This refinery is fueling most of the cars which drive by as the gas is trucked and piped all over the state and the west.

Then there is coal, along I-80 there is a stretch of open coal mining, where thick seams sit right below the surface. A huge dredge crane scrapes up piles of the stuff. With it's remote location, and the less than stellar quality of the coal it is not trucked nor trained off to big city plants. A plant near Rock Springs burns it and high tension lines transport it to the grids of Utah and Idaho. Electricity is much lighter to move than coal after all. Wyoming accounts for almost %40 of the nations coal production, and coal is still the major source of electricity for Americans.

The other big source is Natural gas. Now in many places natural gas production is simply part of oil drilling, but our demand has exceeded those easy supplies and so we have turned to coal seams and fractured underground rock layers. The geology of the state is actually fascinating, and makes for the importance of fossil fuels here. Sadly however, as the BLM has been offering up leases in areas that were formerly wild, they have relaxed rules on environmental impacts and the clean up of sites. Many areas that are important game and stock range and being crisscrossed with dirt roads large enough for heavy equipment and ponds of contaminated liquids related to drilling and pumping. The burning of natural gas is relatively quite clean, but with lax regulation the drilling has not been.

And a sight that brings me great joy! Ridges dotted with lines of wind generators spinning wildly in the almost constant wind. The power from these joins the I-25 corridor grid, and when you buy "renewable credits" you are funding the utilities investments in wind and solar farms. These are not without any impact on the area, a road must be built to construct the pylons, but after they're running they need only occasional maintenance. There has been concerns about birds, but the small number who are broadsided by a spinning blade is comparable to number who drown in contaminated ponds related to oil and gas drilling, or suffer the effects of pollution. Around the base of these wild animals and stock graze unmolested, and many are built on private land offering an important source of income to farmers and ranchers.
The future of energy in this country can be seen in a trip across the windy state of Wyoming, it will be a mix of sources, and work must be done to see that they get always cleaner and more responsible!