Because It's Friday
4 hours ago
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Solutions don't have to fix everything
There are a lot of naysayers when it comes to alternative systems. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes they have a point. It's impossible to run all the diesels on vegetable oil. If we tried to heat every house with wood the forests disappear. Hunting and gathering can only feed a tiny percentage of the world's population. You get the idea.
They are right in thinking we have not one thing to replace fossil fuels. On an individual level there's no reason to not do the things that work. Even if they don't work for everybody, they can work for some. It's been my experience that even those limited solutions are not used to their maximum effect.
Blame it on herd mentality. Most people want to fit in. Doing something alternative is “weird” so should be shunned. I've had people get angry with me for the things I've done. One guy was mad that I was able to build a dome home -and it didn't leak. (like all domes are supposed to leak) Another guy told me that running a vehicle on waste vegetable oil is impossible -after I'd been doing it for over 10 years. Heck, I've even see people freak out that I was eating wild plants on a hike. That's not were food is supposed to come from. I could go on but you get the idea.
You don't have to save the world. Taking care of you and yours is hard enough. If some niche solution fits your situation and lets you live better, don't worry that everyone can't do it. They won't want to do it anyway -unless it became the trendy and approved new thing. If you happen to have a site where micro hydro works then go for it. Good solar exposure? Then go with solar thermal and solar electric. Live in a forest? Then wood heat is the thing for you. Maybe your location is good for windmills. Perhaps you live in a place with good soil for growing things. Do what makes sense for where you are, but by all means do something. If something can improve your life and lessen your negative impact on the planet, make it happen.
Don't feel guilty that you are doing something to better your life and not everyone can do that exact same thing. Noah didn't stop building his ark just because no one else was.
-Sixbears
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I have no problem with this concept as the approval of others, or the lack thereof, rests lightly enough upon my shoulders.
ReplyDeleteWith that worry out of the way you have a lot more freedom to act.
DeleteYou've probably heard of the old "crabs in a box" analogy. That's exactly the kind of folks you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be careful so as they don't pull us down with them.
DeleteNow Noah was an interesting guy wasn't he,
ReplyDeletenot afraid to think outside of the square.
You don't hear much of him these days.
I wonder what ever happened to him...
Well . . . like anyone else who goes to sea . . .
DeleteAll your naysayers are just jealous of you, Sixbears. You found your solutions and they were too lazy not to.
ReplyDeleteSome folks rather complain than fix things.
DeleteWhich is exactly why the simple alternative ways will work for a few of us. For the most part the masses are just too damn lazy to look forward !
ReplyDeleteAs I lie in this lousy hospital bed with a very messed up pelvis and femur on my left side, I've had plenty of time to think about why I prep. It certainly is paying off in spades. For sure SHTF in the Spud house !
Spud, I'm sorry to hear about your injuries. It's tough to be doing everything right then get struck down by some random act. SHTF hit individuals all the time. I know when I was laid up in the hospital it was good to know my family had some resources.
DeleteGet well soon.
Some call me a nerd or a crazy prepper but I don't care, they can kiss my butt, I'm happy! One of the ways I look at it is we are; being self-reliant, preparing for difficult times ahead, saving money over the long run, driving energy efficient home designs and most importantly, we are a "Test Bed" for small market new technologies that is to small to be considered for development by large companies and the driving force to improve small market old technologies such as wood stove efficiency, used veggie fuel and look how solar power has grown and become affordable.
ReplyDeleteSpud, get well! You weren't racing Tony Stewart were you! :-)
It's amazing what can be done on a small scale. All it takes is being willing to try.
DeleteWe all need to work on using fewer fossil fuels but I don't see the earth supporting the population as its growing now. I know a lot of folks don't like it but Nuclear power is the only 24/7 real power that can compete with oil/coal. Its far from perfect but I think there are newer reactor designs that are much safer than the 40/50 year old units we are running now. We are heading for a world wide depression when fossil fuels really start slowing down, imagine the price of fuel when it really starts getting scarce?
ReplyDeleteNuclear is not a renewable. Uranium will run out. There are some promising designs, but I don't know of any being built anywhere in the world.
DeleteI heard where they just found enormous reserves of oil in Mexico and that Mexico, the U.S., and Canada will out produce and start shipping oil to the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteThere's a pattern. They announce big new oil finds. Later they quietly downgrade the amount. Then there are problems actually getting the oil out of the ground using less energy than they recover.
DeleteEven if they find a big, easy to pump supply, that will run out too. We should use any fuel bonus we get now to help with the change over to a more sustainable life.
between the large population growth versus available tech and resources; a lot going to waste or excessive use; it be a matter of determining over the next ten years how many will survive by how they utilize what is left a bit more wisely than the generation before them
ReplyDeleteit is going to make mad max look like a plesent day in the park versus the reality of hard survivail
the ones whom will survive is because they learned to do it wiser than the dead failures...
yes it is a nastier future for all you pollyannnas out there than you will ever think of happeninG
NUIFF SAID
Wildflower
There is the potential for a "Mad Max" world being the good outcome. Things could get that grim. It doesn't have to, but that would require a lot of wisdom, and we haven't seen much of that.
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