Happy Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Day graph posted by the Sierra Club, Alberta, Canada 2011-04-18

Sierra Club: I remember hearing about the Sierra Club when I became involved in the green movement myself, back in Canada. It's a "grassroots" movement, meaning that it grew from the ground up (not organized from top down). Grassroots movements are truly altruistic, they don't actually have alot of power in that cold money based corporate climate over there - it's hard to understand unless you've lived there. In NZ I think so many things are already valued or protected - their battle is over there is very great. http://www.sierraclub.org/

Link for the article which follows:http://sierraclub.typepad.com/sierradaily/2011/04/happy-fossil-fuel-subsidy-day.html

"Apr 18, 2011
"Happy Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Day!

"While you're sweating out the value of those old shoes you donated to Goodwill for your itemized deductions, spend a moment to consider that Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Valero, and ConocoPhillips paid no federal taxes last year, and all received substantial refunds or rebates. But rebates are just the froth on the bubbly for Dirty Energy. Here's the ugly picture of how taxpayers subsidize the fossil-fuel industry, courtesy of the Environmental Law Institute:

"Yeah, you read that right: For the period from 2002 to 2008, Dirty Energy scarfed up $53.9 billion in tax breaks, with total federal subsidies totaling $70.2 billion.

Don't forget to postmark by midnight! --Paul Rauber

Posted by Sierra Editors at 12:52:18 PM

Reposted here on Nonnie's blog.

Breadmaker to avoid all the plastic bags

Another implementation I have been waiting a LONG time for, and is really fabulous is a breadmaker. Due to new home syndrome and unexpected blessing of some extra funds at this time, we bought one. Not only does it provide me the structure for baking bread (I used to make it by hand but I no longer have time since I work), and I can experiment with making all different kinds of bread and putting healthy ingredients in (seeds, whole grains) I CAN NOW AVOID the horrible packaging from buying bread.

We have been buying bread for a few years now. My novel idea was to get a breadmaker, and flour in bulk, and totally avoid the plastic bags. I met a lovely friend here already who told me of a local wholesale supplier of flour (MyBreadMix). Yay! I have also been saving plastic bread bags from my years in sin. And now I have many to use for the bread I make. My parents made bread using a very large, good quality food processor with a "dough hook". Memories of their drawer full of plastic bread bags, crumbs and all, and reusing them over and over again...

It's just a really good solution if you are living in the real world and want to make bread. Realistically, in the sped up world, I would never have made bread even with a food processor and dough hook. It takes about 5 minutes to throw the ingredients in, and while it is a pain to do it as frequently as we need bread, it is fun - and I do enjoy the feeling of avoiding all those plastic bags.

My theme song - "Hammer and a Nail"

"Hammer And A Nail" by the Indigo Girls

Clearing webs from the hovel
a blistered hand on the handle of a shovel
I've been digging too deep, I always do.
I see my face on the surface
I look a lot like Narcissus
A dark abyss of an emptiness
Standing on the edge of a drowning blue.

I look behind my ears for the green
Even my sweat smells clean
Glare off the white hurts my eyes
Gotta get out of bed get a hammer and a nail
Learn how to use my hands, not just my head
I think myself into jail
Now I know a refuge never grows
From a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.

I had a lot of good intentions
Sit around for fifty years and then collect a pension,
Started seeing the road to hell and just where it starts.
But my life is more than a vision
The sweetest part is acting after making a decision
I started seeing the whole as a sum of its parts.

I look behind my ears for the green
Even my sweat smells clean
Glare off the white hurts my eyes
Gotta get out of bed get a hammer and a nail
Learn how to use my hands, not just my head
I think myself into jail
Now I know a refuge never grows
From a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.

My life is part of the global life
I'd found myself becoming more immobile
When I'd think a little girl in the world can't do anything.
A distant nation my community
A street person my responsibility
If I have a care in the world I have a gift to bring.

I look behind my ears for the green
Even my sweat smells clean
Glare off the white hurts my eyes
Gotta get out of bed get a hammer and a nail
Learn how to use my hands, not just my head
I think myself into jail
Now I know a refuge never grows
From a chin in a hand in a thoughtful pose
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.

This is my garden.

Hello, imaginary friends! This is my potential garden space. I have been feeling the gardening vibe ever since learning how to worm farm. That sense of the richness in the soil... And experimenting in the land at our first rental place, which was by a forest. But now, after having a shared yard, where I couldn't dig anything up randomly, I have been giving a "ready, set, garden" home, with raised plant beds in the back, and a storage cupboard for storing later jars of preserves. No, I don't have any idea of what I am doing, but I did grow up in a veggie gardening family (albeit on the other side of the Earth, in Canada). But my instincts are pretty strong. I spent a day clearing the place out, and this is what my garden looks like.

The area to the right by the compost bin is just not really soil yet. I am going to have to hack it up with a pick, and introduce alot of biological matter (dead stuff).

The other night, I did buy alot of seedlings and plant the beds which were ready. In the approaching dark, with my little girl already planting the carrots randomly in a circle around her, there was no time to read up on which plants should neighbour which plants. I just had to follow my senses, and will learn from my mistakes for next time. But the moon was full, and I think that it was a great planting time. Rain began to fall, my husband thought I was crazy to still be out in the dark and mud. And so it begins...

Watch this land

We have done it. We've moved out of the city, to a place which is nearer to nature, more inaccessible but worth it when you get there. This place still has native skinks running around (small lizards) from under leaves or decaying matter whenever it is disturbed (they are considered rare, but their numbers been depleted here). The house we bought has raised garden beds in the back, and a great storage cupboard for storing food preserves. It has fruit trees as well. And room for an actual compost heap. I do have to travel further to work, but it will be on mass public transport. My children will not grow up stunted. Watch this space. (Or shall I say "land".)

I did it - I took my own containers to the supermarket

Mince (ground beef), chicken pieces, lunchmeat straight from the counter

I had SUCH an exciting experience about a month ago. It was the first time I implemented my plan. I had been buying good quality reusable containers, yes plastic - but durable. Then I brought them all to the supermarket and got my meat put straight into them at the deli counter, walking gleefully past the entire wall of meat cuts packaged in styrofoam and plastic wrap.

It was cool because it worked, they just shrugged slapped their sticker on the container - and I avoided the plastic waste and guilt like you avoid a middleman. It was also a great experience because they were alot more supportive than I had expected.

By now I am accustomed to people finding deviation in the normal pattern of things to be, well, insane, so I shyly said that I didn't mind if they had to include the weight of the container if they would just please use it, as strange as it was. Each person who helped me that day opened up to me as their individual selves, confiding to me that they thought it was a great idea.

Recently, when I again brought the containers for meats and also lunchmeat, my husband surprised me by commenting to the checkout lady supportively, "it's just a clever way to avoid the plastic bags".

You've got to try it! No guilt, and no middleman.

Bea Johnson's Zero Waste home video

See Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Tips

See an article about the Johnson family's lifestyle.