Crisis management, it would seem, is an all too human trait. Operating under extreme pressure, when our backs are against the collective wall of total ecological dysfunction, there will be a groundswell of public outrage at the indiscriminate greed and myopia that lead us to this sorry state. Collective fingers will be pointed at governments, industry and energy providers who knew all along exactly what they were doing (surprise!) but were making too much money to do anything about changing things. The powers that be simply hoped that the scientists’ dire predictions of global warming, resource depletion and widespread scarcities were exaggerated, and that by the time we run out of clean air and water the baby boom techno-whizz generation (conceived during the many power cuts) would have found a magic solution to pollution. Or maybe they thought they would be watching the show from front row seats in the hereafter. Until then, if indeed the end is nigh, let’s consume till we die! However, many reasonable people don’t agree with this approach and truly want to be “greenies” rather than “meanies”, but feel overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. What can we do about the thinning atmosphere, the shrinking rain forests, the garbage, industrial pollution, the chemical fiasco that passes for real food, the innumerable species being wiped out every year? The bad news is that there is much that is indeed beyond the control of you and me, unless you happen to be a politician, or the Head Honcho of a large oil or mining corporation. But if not, the good news is right here in your hands!
Ordinary People Can Be Heroes Too Greenprint has been created for you in the sincere belief that there is a great deal every single one of us can do to mitigate the environmental crisis in which we collectively find ourselves today. Eco-living might not always be cheaper or more convenient, and there may be less alternatives available in SA than other countries, but that’s no justification for perpetuating the cycle of waste and pollution to which we’ve become habituated. History is full of heroes who were actually just ordinary people who stood for something bigger than themselves; of social revolutions that created sweeping changes. Often it was people like you and me who finally decided that something was not right, and started in small ways, in their own lives, to use their inventiveness and natural creativity to find better ways of doing things. However, you may not be the heroic type. Perhaps you’re not keen on being a revolutionary, and feel that chaining yourself to a tree in the path of bulldozers will not only ruin your new Pucci Kazoochi shoes and designer hair style, but the mere thought of public exposure makes you book a year’s worth of appointments with that fabulously empathic therapist your friends all recommend. Maybe the sixties passed you by with nary a whiff of illicit substances, let alone an embroidered headband from Tibet. Perhaps you weren’t even a twinkle in your hip daddy’s slightly goofed eye during those psychedelic days of communes, organic farms, anti-war protests, yogi rock stars, flower children and free love (see article - page 66). Well maybe all that purple and orange psychedelia dated fast, but I can’t help thinking it’s a shame that the sixties revolution was discredited by a world order as terrified of revolutionary change then as it is now, and that free love and the use of mind-altering substances invalidated the principles on which the movement was founded. The underlying ideologies of the sixties were well-timed and fundamentally valid. If that generation had succeeded in making their dreams and philosophies a mainstream reality, we would not be in the ecological crisis we are experiencing today. There would be no need for “health stores,” because everything would be healthy; we wouldn’t need to take handfuls of vitamin pills because our food is nutritionally impoverished; there would be no wars, no wholesale slaughter of every species other than those that serve humanity; no need to attend increasing numbers of funerals of those who died of cancer and AIDS. So even if you never owned hemp overalls or mastered the art of rolling a joint single-handed whilst dancing naked to the Grateful Dead, you can probably recognise that civilisation is teetering on the brink of a slippery slope to mass extinction, and that the rock ‘n rollers were possibly the last generation to recognise the biological holocaust that humanity was about to unleash onto a hapless planet. At least they shouted their conscientious objections and proposed viable alternatives. At least they rallied forces to actually DO something about it. They marched, made love not war, they composed extraordinary music that lyrically pleaded for peace; they refused to eat flesh. They recycled everything (including their sex partners, but never mind that for now); they grew veggies and fasted on tehina, miso and brown rice (yuk); they invented solar panels and recognised that the world was becoming a global village; they burnt their call-up papers; they took LSD and wrote eloquently of mind-altering experiences; they boycotted unethical companies; they created music that rocked the world with its beauty and power; they smoked marijuana by the bushel. But most of all they tried to radically change the Establishment before it was too late. Perhaps you missed that whole hippie thing, and even now would appreciate some practical ideas that don’t involve having shrines covered in feathers and trinkets in the G r ee n L i v i n g “If we are the pinnacle of creation, I can only conclude that our creator is an under-achiever” - Woody Allen Greenprint Your Indispe nsable Guide to corner of the living room; maybe you would rather make your own decisions than consult sangomas or wave crystals about? It could be that you’re a little too busy to attend inner child workshops, bongo bashing fire-dancing rituals or pay hard-earned money to meet your angels?
Can Growing Vegetables Be Revolutionary? If that’s the case then Greenprint is for you, as well as for those who are quietly radical and are willing to sacrifice a little comfort, to question our sense of entitlement, to re-examine expectations and understand the urgent need for change. Are you willing to spend time developing less wasteful habits without necessarily sacrificing your whole lifestyle? This crisis is created by humanity and can therefore only be solved by us. That means you! So even if you are a moderate, conservative person, you are probably attuned to an intuitive wisdom that is quietly objecting to the frenzied dictates of the contemporary world. The only solution is to move out of your comfort zone and do the unthinkable - object, rebel, become more independent, speak your mind and say NO with your most ultimately powerful weapon - your money! Pottering around your garden hardly seems like a revolutionary activity, but imagine if we all grew our own fruit, vegetables and herbs, if we kept a few chickens and a pond of fresh water fish for protein and stopped buying any processed, packaged foods? What if we generated no waste because everything we ate was organic and could be composted to enrich the soil for the next crop? What if we lived so well that we rarely got sick, and died peacefully, in out home-made beds, of old age? We could have solar panels, sun stoves and rain water collectors so that we would need nothing from the system. We would hardly need money because we could exchange our excess resources with our neighbours. We could build our own homes from the earth or from whatever was lying around, including the waste of previous times. What if we barely needed to use our cars because we worked from home and had no need to go to offices or shopping malls? We would not need to work very hard, because our needs would be met by our environment. What if everyone could do the same so there would be no poverty? Our houses would be debt free, and would generate rather than drain us of energy. We would all be rich in the essential ingredients of an independent, healthy life.
Sacrificing Today For An Illusory Tomorrow Many ordinary people work hard for their creature comforts, and feel entitled to them, but would like to lessen their levels of stress as well as their environmental footprint - to tread lightly, conserve natural resources and teach their children to appreciate the price the earth is paying for billions of us to have the material excesses we have become accustomed to. We have bought into the social consensus of our times, and have grown used to the pressure of being in debt, of abandoning our homes and children to go to work, of squandering our youth, health and gifts in the pursuit of unnecessary excess, of sacrificing today to provide insurance for a tomorrow that never comes. Our insecurity leads us to inhabit a world of machines, of fancy widgets and gadgets that do almost everything for us, of shiny new cars that pollute the atmosphere and become obsolete every five years. We cannot remember a time when it was otherwise, or conceive of another way to live. Yet it was but a nano-second ago that there were no supermarkets, fast foods, chemical preservatives or packaging. Some of us who are not exactly doddering old codgers can still remember a time when fresh fruit and vegetables were harvested from the back yard and a few basic groceries were bought at open air markets or small, owner-run shops that were a pleasant cycle ride away. Groceries were weighed and put into paper bags. Just imagine - no non-recyclable polystyrene foam trays or shrink wrap! When food got old it actually got rotten... Paper bags were kept and used again, once the contents had been emptied into shiny rows of glass jars in the kitchen. Every single thing was used, recycled and re-used until it was good only for compost, and then it was recycled back into the garden to grow more fruit and vegetables. Previous generations that lived through two World Wars understood the value of very last morsel of food, every patch of clothing. Vegetable peels, bones and inedible gristly bits went into a big pot of soup or were fed to the animals; glass containers were washed and re-used till they broke; empty bottles were returned to the store for their deposit of a tickie (2.5 cents today). Every morning you knew when it was time to get up for school because above the symphony of bird calls and the hum of a myriad insects, many of which have quietly become extinct, the rattle of the milk van could be heard tootling down the street, On the back step would be cold, fresh milk and real orange juice to replace the empty bottles left out the night before. People greeted each other by name in the street, exchanging pleasantries and gossip. Low walls and flower beds separated houses, and communities developed organically out of rural villages that were designed around human needs and values, rather being dictated to by motor cars, high-tech security and this super-fast adrenalinepumping hyper-life that 80% of humanity endures today.
Money - The Seductive Illusion Money is a concept invented by human beings. The planet, however, is all too real, and it’s destruction is irreversible. We might measure everything in terms of short-term profit, but ultimately we all have to pay the price. Governments and global industries do not recycle effectively because it’s cheaper to make new products and throw used ones away. They use outmoded technologies because they have massive investments that yield huge returns and it’s considered too expensive to change. They provide us with energy derived from non-renewable fossil fuels because these are plentiful and cheap, even though we are systematically destroying the planet’s fragile atmosphere. Every one of us is guilty of the same wasteful ways. It’s easier to discard than to mend, to dump than to recycle. Somewhere the greedy opportunism has to stop. Even though the major human systems in place right now are unsustainable, you can start making practical changes that work for you, and grow from there. Greenprint is filled with ideas, revelations and constructive information that will inspire you to make significant changes that can make a difference. Let’s start the ‘evolution’ revolution! This is really and truly our last chance to save the world! Arlene Cameron - Editor
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