The ‘Survive and Thrive’ blog
Thanks Justin, this blogging idea sounds good, so here we go…
We all know that things could be better with the planet these days, particularly with regard to environment and energy. So I’m going to start addressing these issues by blogging:
· ideas worth pondering
· actions worth taking
Environment has been my hobby for many years now, so I’ve accumulated quite a lot of information on the subject. Climate change was always my primary interest, until that is, I found out about energy depletion. This was in December 2003, when I read an article in the UK Guardian newspaper entitled ‘Bottom of the Barrel’, which introduced me to the concept of Peak Oil.
Here’s the article…
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2003/12/02/the-bottom-of-the-barrel/
Please read this article now, in order that we will then share a common understanding of the issue for our further discussions.
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There are many opinions as to when the oil production decline will start, but ever more people are betting that it already happened in 2008. This seems logical to me also, as in that year we witnessed the sudden diversion of food crops to fuel production, with the associated protests/riots around the World against the resulting high food prices.
I feel sure that if the oil industry had been able to service the total demand, it would have. What do you think?
Whether it’s now or not, we do need to start thinking how to respond, both at the individual level, and at the local community level – because the new name of the game is ‘Localisation’ – of everything!
There is in fact a growing network of groups around the world that are addressing the oil depletion issue, they call themselves the Transition Network. There are already around 500 Transition communities in UK alone, all of which are engaged in developing an ‘Energy Descent Action Plan’ - each for their own particular community.
Take a look here for more…
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/
There are a few Transition Communities in Spain now, mainly in the north, and we do also have one here in the south, in the town of Coin, situated 20km or so inland from Marbella. I’ll be telling you more about what they’re up to in Coin in due course, like their huge ‘Community Farm’ and their now in circulation ‘Local Currency’.
But if you would like to take a quick peek at ‘Transition Coin’ right now, here is a short video clip featuring Coin Transition member Phil Spiers …
http://www.youtube.com/user/WillieJMachin#p/u/6/Cd_VJSj9jDs
Further subjects up here soon will be.
· how to run your car on sustainable and free fuel (diesel cars only)
· how you can ‘Work with a WormGang’ to your advantage.
· How to build a Raised Bed
· Hydroponics in the home
· Links to regular video updates on ‘Transition Coin’
· And much more
That’s it for now, back soon.
Best regards
James Machin
Please note:
You may have to copy and paste some of the above links into your browser – I don’t know why.