A letter to the the President

I wrote this letter to the White House today:

"Dear President Obama, I voted for you in both of the past elections. I am a citizen who is very concerned about the future of our beautiful planet and humanity. New evidence coming to light regarding global warming and the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima have made my apprehensions about our future even stronger. I do and have always believed that you are a good man at heart. I reach out because I see the need for policy change at the highest levels if we are to save ourselves and our great country. I see that humanity, as a whole, needs to sit down at the table together, putting aside our political, religious and ethical differences and get real about our future. I picture a great meeting happening. This would have representatives from all over the world including business leaders, religious leaders and average human beings. The goal would be to acknowledge what we, as a species, are doing to the planet we depend on for survival and for us to come up with a workable plan quickly. There is some very sobering data now available on the rate at which global warming is happening. Nuclear energy is unsafe. Renewable energy options are plentiful and becoming more inexpensive all of the time. I have some real ideas to help. I recently learned that I will be a father soon and this realization has changed my world. I would love to meet with you and to make this great meeting of humanity a reality. I don't know if you will ever hear of this letter I wrote but I pray you do. Your presidency could leave the greatest legacy in human history--the time when we came together as a species and decided that the beautiful planet we live on is worth saving. Thank you."

Why live sustainably?

Why did I change my life so that I live more sustainably? Because I saw the necessity of it. I realized that if I didn't do it, I couldn't depend on anyone else to. I started becoming educated about the destructive systems we depend on for energy, like coal power and nuclear power, and decided to quit being a part of it. Of course I still have a long way to go to complete sustainability, mostly in terms of driving less and becoming food independent, but the community group I'm part of is an attempt to address that and take it to a larger scale. If we turn a blind eye to what we're doing to ourselves and the Earth, who do we expect will save us?

Which would you prefer?

Would you rather live in an industrial wasteland or a green, fertile paradise? We have a choice in the matter. Much of what we humans have created, infatuated with the ego-idea of isolation and blinded by greed, has matched the former but we could, just as easily, make our abode an ecological heaven. The key insight is that, when we see a picture of Earth from outer space, we're looking at a self-portrait. Everyone out there, no matter how hurt and confused they are, is really love. We are capable of such great things. Why NOT live a happy, healthy fulfilling life? I think it's important to realize that such a thing is entirely possible, with technology available NOW. We have a choice in the matter. Education is important. Most of us haven't been taught about sustainability and unsustainability from a young age. It's very simple, commonsensical stuff and easily overlooked when your society's frame of reference is looking somewhere else.

The bottom line is, would you rather live here:

Or here?:

Happy Earth Day!; A change in content; easy steps to make easy steps.

Happy Earth Day! I suggest we make every day Earth Day by living more sustainably. A lot of small steps will eventually add up to a BIG difference! It only makes sense to take care of our larger body and our smaller body. Be kind to yourself. Any harm we do to the planet, we do DIRECTLY to ourselves. Separation isn't real or possible in this interconnectedness that is life.

 Yesterday I decided to make this blog more about hands-on projects and hopefully a little less about philosophical musings on the state of the Earth. My first post will be about how to make an easy set of very solid steps.

Step 1: Level a spot where you will build the steps and tamp it well. I sprinkled sand on the earth so it wouldn't stick to the tamper, I also sprinkled cement on the area to give it more stability.

Step 2: Set your cinder blocks where you want them and make sure they're relatively level. I left a gap between the rear and front blocks to fill in with plaster and bind them together. I also left a gap between the back block and the wood so water wouldn't come in contact with it. I used a big block and a small one, as you can see. I then stuffed them with plastic bags as a filler so I wouldn't need so much plaster.

Step 3: Mix some plaster up. I used earth from on site with a good bit (15% - 20% maybe?) of cement in it to hold the mix together. We'll see how it works. Trowel the mix onto the steps. When you go over the areas with the bags, hold them from behind to keep them in place while you're applying the plaster. Make sure you angle the steps slightly so water will flow off of them and down and not pool up. I also sprinkled sand on the still wet plaster and pushed it into the finish to make sure the steps will have good grip and won't be too slippery when wet. Very easy, very durable steps. I will try to remember to report back on how the mostly earth and a little cement plaster holds up.