Value and Use Renewable Resources- Produce No Waste

It’s clear that humans will be sustainable soon- that or extinct…

I began the New Year doing some freelance work on a sustainable concept web-site. I was asked to research and define green criteria and standards for sustainable products as well as facts on where we are in relation to where we need to be.

Unholy Mega-Piles of SHIT People!!! We humans suck at being sustainable! There are now nearly 7 billion of us treading heavily and toxically upon our evermore fragile planet.

I’d somehow managed not to know that a plastic bag is used for an average of 15 minutes, or that 1 million of them are handed out every minute, and that 500 Billion to 1 Trillion of them end up in landfills or by the side of roads and middle of the Pacific… AND THEY take 500 to 1,000 years to bio-degrade! YIKES!!! Pop into the Dollar Store- 1,000 years, Petco- 1,000 years, the market- 1,000 years X’s 10,…  

One would hope that the picture brightens with recyclables- Shockingly- NOT! Only 2 out of 10 water bottles gets recycled, the rest (approximately 26 billion) end up in land fills or being incinerated. In the US alone we use 1.5 million barrels of oil just to produce water bottles.

In my day-job I work to support sustainable agriculture because the toxic residue of the industrial Ag is not sustainable. Chemical farming is devastating to our ecosystems, our bodies and alters the bio-chemistry of our minds. I felt that I was aware of the environmental threats we are living with.  It was an unhappy surprise to discover that the average American introduces 25 gallons of toxic, hazardous, chemicals into their own homes each year. These are mostly cleaning products and most of these end up in our sewage plants or ground water. At the sewage plant those toxic chemical along with human waste get processed into bio-solids then sold to conventional farmers as affordable fertilizers- (sewage sludge is not allowed in organic farm production.)

I was also asked to research the impact of our conventional clothes, electronics, toys and more. Too many issues to list and no good news… like cotton accounts for 25% of the plants pesticides use.

But there is great news- from energy to electronics and everything in-between corporations and individuals are making huge efforts to clean, green, and recycle, to incorporate renewable and sustainable elements at every step of production. The question will be- Do we reward their efforts with our purchase power? If the money is there, more will follow. And we will be that much closer to our destiny and evolution into sustainable humans.

Meanwhile- Take reusable bags to the market, don’t buy water in bottles, know your cleaning products, recycle, and research lifespan and renewability of purchases.  Oh yes, and buy organic whenever possible. Our collective futures depend on a quantum leap involving many baby steps. It all makes a difference.

Produce a yield

Somewhere outside of vows of poverty or lust for greed, nestled in a system of sustainability, lives the third tenant of permaculture…Produce a yield.

Is it just me or does that strike a chord of the profoundly obvious which wedges bits of sky into one’s imagination. For me, Obtain a yield- has an organic resonance of abundance.., a bushel of apples, a leg of lamb, and invokes an image of thriving land and community.

In permaculture, obtaining a yield can never live outside of a sustainable system which includes
Observe and Interact, Catch and Store Energy, Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback, Use and Value Renewable Resources, Creatively Use and Respond to Change. It’s capitalism with built in do-no-harm guiderails.

Obtain a yield. The yield can be love, health and wealth, art and beauty, or adventure, ecstatic, play and avocados. Think multi-cropping…Sweet!

So, how to apply Obtain a Yield to self?
Well…returning to permaculture’s agricultural roots, one must know the intended harvest before deciding on which seeds to plant. Intention becomes the key word once harvest has been identified.

It’s important to sow intention with care because life’s yield soon follows. There was a time when I lacked the attention span to notice that the manifest world I was stepping through with disregard and sometimes disdain was the litter of my yesterdays’ longings, each one dismissed for the next but with no real intent behind any. For me it took owning the outcome of the shotgun-spray of my mind’s vomit, (life drama which demanded loads of attention with no real Tah-Dah,) then learning to excavate beyond ever-changing whims of desire to tap into the deeper yearnings of soul. It is to those deeper yearning I marry my intent and creativity.

Somewhere between awareness and discipline I’m learning to articulate creative-intent in such a way that I can obtain a yield which sustain me… and can be shared. Intuitively I know my garden and grove both exist to produce a yield, and that my fruitless banana trees must be replaced by banana plants which yield bananas. And that our fledgling accreditation company, A Bee Organic must produce a yield to fulfill its function of Certifying the World Organic but just until the use of chemical farming, irradiation, growth hormones in livestock, sewage sludge, and GMO foods are outlawed rendering the USDA Organic seal obsolete. At which time we can joyously retire the Bee! If I refocus into the linear-capitalist perspective, the dictate is to make money. From make money I would not so want my industry to succeed as to make us obsolete. So at some level energetically I’d undermine the USDA Organic seal, which honestly happens (I’m sure unconsciously) within the industry.

Being a from-the-ground-up, systems-based doctrine, permaculture gives the blueprint for getting downright global and not losing connection with the lines of energy I know and trust, so Obtaining a Yield resonates a big YES!!!

Where else can we Obtain and share yield???

Catch & Store Energy

"In nature's economy the currency is not money, it is life." — Vandana Shiva

“…And taking one step back…its currency is life-force.”~Ro

Catch & Store Energy, is both practical and archetypal. On the practical side we really must lower our foot print on the planet. And along those lines everything counts. Capturing and storing energy may be as simple as channeling water from gutter downspouts into barrels and using the stored water to water plants in yard, wrap water heater in a blanket, invest in solar, or pre-cycle…that’s when we decide not to generate trash by buying unpackaged produce or bringing your own bags to market, there is then no need to recycle the bag and is referred to as precycle.

On the archetypal side Catch and Store Energy could be called Open and Value Energy.

If you really want to get esoteric, one can Transmute Energy.

Catch/Open: Einstein figured out what great Sages have long intuited… It’s all energy. Exercise is one form of opening energy, fresh organic food and great company would be other ways, creative expression yet another. One could go to the gym for exercise, meet friends for drinks, and the market for food, then go home to a crafts project on a Saturday…, or one could join a community garden and visit while shoveling, get creative while planting edible flowers and veggies, then harvest fresh produce from which to share and create original mouth-watering meals, meals which could be shared... Most of us can only uphold a to-do list for so long, then life happens and we get off track. In a systems approach there are living containers in place to support one’s life, creativity, goals and intent. A to-do list may get lost or forgotten but the container lives. An example would be my intended morning walk, where weather, business, or company would happen and…weeks later…. I’d start walking again. Now our community walks around the lake Mon-Fri. 9:00 to 10:00, three laps-three miles, with more dogs than people. We each have days when we can’t show but regardless the walking continues.

Store/Value: Fill self first. Learn to fill self on all levels, body, mind and spirit. Fill with the finest fuels of exercise, meditation, music, prayer, fresh whole organic food, loving relationships, stimulating books and conversation. And… stop feeding dead things. Dead things are people, work, ego…anything which does not grow or produce something life affirming with the energy. Learn to recognize healthy growth patterns and look for those in allocating time and energy.

Transmute: Further down the list of permaculture principles is Produce a Yield. Transmuting energy as a life-affirming gift or discipline should probably fall under produce a yield but it relates here as well. Joy, anger, fear, love, desire, sadness, are all energy flavors which can be used individually or in combinations to create. The act of creation is an act of transformation… be it a quiet act of kindness, setting a boundary, changing laws, planting a seed…

Sustainable Elements of Self

In the cultivation of plants and livestock there are some known formulas for success. The first being good land. Obviously farming a chunk of rock like the one we owned in Sedona, (while not impossible) has its limitations, as would farming a frozen chunk of land or a sand dune. I used to think that I could add a few amenities and farm anything. Sedona humbled me, teaching that although I could add all kinds of organic materials and improve what little clay/dirt lived on our rock; only god made soil.

Then there is water. There are cultures like the Hopi who have thoughtfully established effective low water farming practices, something mainstream farming is slowly wrapping its mind around. Water conservation and management are essential to sustainable farming practice.

Sunlight is a must, unless perhaps one is farming mushrooms & air is also vital for thriving plants & people.

Which brings us full circle, in an earlier blog the question was poised: What do you need to thrive?

The answer for each of us is unique and evolving but when organized into sustainable systems rather than the more daunting to-do list, a grace can begin to take root.

The body has wants, needs & appetites ranging from exercise to sleep, food to shelter, sex, reproduction & everything in between. Care & feeding of the body alone can seem a daunting chore, then there are the abstracts like tenderness, dance, competition, play.

Family, friends, lover, community can all play a big role in body health. A friend to walk, play work out with, family & friends to prepare and eat healthy food & give warm hugs, community for parks, team sports, gardens, farmers markets can all show up to meet you & support body health. Doing it all by oneself can feel like a never ending to-do list or it could all be reframed as quality time with loved ones and great fun.

Friends, family, work & community should also play a huge role in mental, emotional, and spiritual exploration. If they do not… I’m a big believer in one’s right to choose.

Do not settle for less than true family, friends, career and community hand chosen to inspire, challenge and meet in those places one needs to feel met. Mysteriously, once one has really been met by life…, that resonance can be quantized and returned to life & loved ones.

Patterns & Chaos

As avocado growers we count on our Northern San Diego County weather, coined, the banana-belt, because of the moderate climate. We grow semi-tropical plants, so when a freak cold snap came through, it killed a lot of our youngest avocado trees and bananas. When the thermometer hit 104 on April 5th, the tender blossoms and buds on the trees were toast. As of last year our water was restricted by 30%, this year it could be 40%, and avocados really love their water. Being adaptable, we found a free municipal source of mulch. It was not perfect as it had bits of trash but hey, it was free including delivery. We got about a dozen, 40’ semi truck loads of mulch and distributed it throughout the grove. The trees loved it.

Some of the mulch was used in the yard around the house. Soon out of the mulch all kinds of cool plants began to sprout. Oddly it wasn’t weeds but all kind of interesting flowers, shrubs and trees. Our landscaping is new and incomplete, so a lot of the plants were put to use. Flowers included sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos, and trees like ginko, fig, mimosa, jacaranda, pomegranate and some promising mystery plants began to grow. Granted I had to move some things and eliminate others but it has been an ongoing source of pleasure & discovery.

There are those times when rhythms and connectivity of nature, juxtapose its chaos. Random disruptions in the patterns fuel the two sided sword of extinction and evolution. This holds true from our internal stories, and patterns, our health, money and relationships all flower forth from the pattern. Just as weather is wonkie and we call that climate change, there is a deeper shift, in each of us…for better or worse…the pattern had been disrupted. This time there is the option to do it differently than by our forefathers and mothers. This time we have the opportunity to wake up within the pattern and have a say in the direction of variation, or not and stay asleep.

I know this can seem nihilistic or extreme but it can be a simple as taking a slow deep breath, centering oneself and making conscious choices and actions throughout the day.
This slowing can,
in and of itself,
make room
for awakening,
new lines of connection,
activating internal authority
and faith in the process.

We accept the waning and waxing of the moon,
the cycles of the seasons and tides,
as a comfort,
but when applying natural cycles,
to self ,
or gross national product,
we always seem surprised.

For better or worse, personal and planetary change is on the loose. And it affects everyone as our stories allow it, but like wonderful plants sprouting in my garden there exists a parallel mystery enfolded within the change. Surfing the wake of deconstruction is as simple as faith, spring follows winter, and high tides, and a full moon always cycle round.