Revisiting Packaging
Consumerism, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Keveen Gabet December 17, 2012
I’m not sure there is a real cure against the insanity that consumerism has reached, but what I’m sure of (well, almost) is that we can be a little smarter (and conscious) in dealing with packaging the goods we don’t always need. Granted, I wish people would buy less in the first place… or at least repair, re-use, recycle, or repurpose.
It’s a global plague. Mountains of plastic bags, styrofoam and cardboard are accumulating in landfills while people continue buying more. The bad news is that it will continue. The good news is that some people are racking their brains to do something about it.
Here are two innovative ideas that principally target this phenomenon: packaging.
Comments (3)B.Y.O.B. – Everything is Connected
Consumerism, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Keveen Gabet August 16, 2012
It might sound very reductionist and over-simplistic but the matter of fact is that everything is connected! We are one. You, me, them and every little atom existing on this planet (and beyond). Permaculture has clearly understood this message and is materializing the theory!
Our output will eventually become our input. It’s been said for centuries: You reap what you sow… and the good news is that you can empower yourself to sow the good stuff. It’s a matter of conscious choice, and a little bit of effort!
This short video illustrates this universal law by showing us the life of a plastic bag, from the moment it leaves a store to the moment it comes back to you….
Comments (0)StrawJet: A Solution to Deforestation
Building, Energy Systems, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Keveen Gabet August 10, 2012
StrawJet has developed a unique process in response to agricultural waste around the world.
They basically gather agricultural waste (stalks ranging from rye to corn) and bundle them tightly into ‘cables’; solid tubes of condensed stalks tightly wrapped in nylon thread. These cables are then either used as fuel (preferably in a rocket-stove like machine) or rebound into stronger cables to be used as a building material.
Comments (8)The Story of Food
Biodiversity, Biofuels, Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Keveen Gabet March 22, 2012
In this short animated clip, USC Canada shares the sad realities behind the food industry. Another alarming call for the urgency to radically change the way we perceive food consumption.
Further reading/watching:
- Supermarket Secrets
- Chemical Based Farming Systems Robbing Us of Nutrients
- The Rise and Predictable Fall of Globalized Industrial Agriculture
- The Story of Soil
Integrating Garbage in the Landscape
Eco-Villages, Land, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Keveen Gabet March 21, 2012
Filling tyres with trash bricks
We recently spent a month volunteering in Indonesia, on the beautiful and luxurious island of Samosir. We lent our hands to a small but emerging eco-village situated right on the shore of Lake Toba. At Eco-Village Samosir there are many projects underway, from mulching around the 3,000 newly planted trees to creating a food forest to feed the growing number of volunteers.
During our visit, we noticed that a major cause for action in Silimalombu (population: 200) was waste management and recycling. Granted this is a national issue, world wide even, but I guess for us it was more an in-your-face issue to tackle as the image of an eco-village doesn’t usually exist with a litter mentality. The community decided to ‘cope’ with the myriads of plastic bags and other garbage by supplying each home with waste bins and adding receptacles here and there in which they later burn their trash. So although the quaint village appears clean and tidy, the kids, dogs and local fishermen pay the price by inhaling toxic fumes twice a week. Not everyone has adopted the ‘dump and burn’ approach; some simply hide all their trash on the slopes of the lake, where, to this day, few people can see.
Comments (17)The Konohana Family Farm – Successful Sustainable Living in Japan
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, People Systems, Village Development — by Keveen Gabet March 12, 2012
This micro-documentary about the Konohana Family Farm will take you to the heart of a successful intentional community flourishing about three hours from Tokyo. Their farm was established on the foothills of Mount Fuji, about 18 years ago, by a handful of people who sought an alternative lifestyle. They knew almost nothing about sustainable living practices, eco-villages or permaculture.
Comments OffSeeds of Freedom, 2012 (Official Trailer Release)
DVDs/Books, Seeds — by Keveen Gabet February 22, 2012
To see things in the seed, that is genius. – Lao Tzu
I guess Lao Tzu did not factor that there would be two types of geniuses born. Those, like a handful of greedy corporations, who use seeds to control, govern and enslave, and those — like traditional farmers and permaculturists — who nurture the future of humanity through them.
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