David Suzuki - Force of Nature (2011) Canada

I just got the documentary on David Suzuki. I ordered it from Canada, as it wasn't out here yet, and my parents posted it on to me.

David Suzuki is a great man - his talent is communicating science to regular people. He is a rare person, with both logical and intuitive abilities. First, he conducted genetics research, conducting experiments with fruitflies. Then he became a much loved TV host in Canada, a gentle, friendly Japanese man who helped people understand about nature in the show "The Nature of Things". Then as he saw how things were connected, he went on to speak all over the world about the danger of going past our limits as a species on Earth, consuming all the Earth's resources without allowing them to replenish.

He grew up not speaking Japanese, but integrated into Canadian culture, surrounded by Caucasian people. He wasn't allowed by his father to date white girls, so he would go off and explore a nearby swamp - observing and discovering many magical things.

The most freaky, and important part of this movie is a metaphor that he uses to help us understand clearly the science (and danger) of unlimited population increase on a planet with limited resources. It is so important, and crystal clear, that I have listened and written down every word of this part. It's something that we all need to think about, and try to live accordingly, with all of our ability. It is scary, but don't get depressed watching it! I am a fighter, this awareness can help us to change things:


David Suzuki:
"Our home, the biosphere, is finite and fixed. It can't grow. And if the economy is a part of and utterly dependant on the biosphere, the attempt to maintain endless growth is an impossibility. Let me show you why. Steady growth over time, whether it's the amount of garbage you make, the size of your city, the population of the world, anything growing steadily is called exponential growth. And anything growing exponentially has a predictable doubling time. I am going to give you a system analagous to the planet - it's a test-tube full of food for bacteria. So the test tube and food is the planet, and the bacteria are us. I'm going to add one bacterial cell to the test tube, and it's going to begin to divide every minute."

[Screen behind him shows one cell splitting into two, and from two into four behind him, which continues as he speaks...]

"That's exponential growth. So at the beginning, there's one cell; one minute, there are two; two minutes, there are four; three minutes, there are eight. That's exponential growth. And at 60 minutes, the test tube is completely packed with bacteria and there's no food left. So we have a 60-minute growth cycle.

"When is the test tube half full? And of course, the answer is at 59 minutes. 59 minutes, it's only half-full, but one minute later, it's completely full. So at 58 minutes, it's 25% full. 57 minutes, it's 12.5% full. At 55 minutes of a 60-minute cycle, it's 3% full.

"So let's suppose at 55 minutes, one of the bacteria says, 'Hey guys, I've been thinking...we've got a population problem.' The other bacteria would say, 'Jack, what the hell have you been smoking? 97% of the test tube's empty and we've been around for 55 minutes!' They'd be five minutes away from filling it.

"So bacteria are no smarter than people. At 59 minutes they go, 'Oh my God, Jack is right! We've got 1 minute left! What are we going to do now? Well, we better give that money to those scientists! Maybe they can pull us out of this.' But the world for the bacteria is the test tube and food. How can they possibly add any more food or space to that world? They can't. They can no more add food or space than we can add air, water, soil or biodiversity to the biosphere.

"This is not speculation or hypothesis, it is straight mathematical certainty. And every scientist I have talked to agrees with me - we're already past the 59th minute. So all the demand for relentless growth is the call to accelerate down what is a suicidal path. And by focusing on growth! growth! we fail to ask the important questions, like how much is enough? Are there no limits? Are we happier with all this stuff? What is an economy for? We never ask those questions.

There was also a great part where he traces the path of one breath of air to show our interconnectedness with our environment (video embedded below).



David Suzuki visited his daughter and new granddaughter, living in a Haida community in BC, as his daughter met and married a Haida man when David helped them defend their forest from logging. I felt the contrast between their lives, the community that they had, and the beautiful forest setting - with the far more lonely modern lifestyle of my family and other families in the developed world in comparison.



David Suzuki, speaking at his Legacy speech:

"And ever since that first encounter with Guujaw, I have been a student, meeting aboriginal people around the world, and witnessing that same attachment to place. Whether it's in the Amazon or the Australian outback, aboriginal people speak of the Earth as our mother and they tell us we are created by the four sacred elements: earth, air, fire and water. So I realized we had defined the problem incorrectly. There's no environment out there and we are here, and we somehow have to watch the way we interact with it. We are the environment.

"And the leading science corroborates this ancient understanding that informs us that whatever we do to our surroundings, we do directly to ourselves. The environmental crisis is a human crisis. We are at the centre of it, both causing the problems and as the victims of the consequences.".

NZ Herald: Action groups step up fight against extraction of South Island coal

By Simon Hartley 5:30 AM Wednesday Sep 14, 2011

Article found at
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10751520

Photo / Greg Bowker
The Government has been criticised for promoting coal and lignite use.

Opposition to the extraction of low and high grade coals in the South Island is mounting.

An Environment Court challenge has been lodged and the Government is coming under increasing attack for backing coal and lignite use.

The West Coast Environment Network has filed an appeal with the Environment Court against resource consents awarded to listed Bathurst Resources which wants to mine up to two million tonnes of high grade coal from the Denniston Plateau north of Westport, citing the 200ha as being of high conservation value.

Separately, state-owned enterprise Solid Energy started constructing its $25 million pilot lignite-to-briquettes plant in Southland last week. The Coal Action Network Aotearoa has criticised Deputy Prime Minister Bill English for supporting the use of "low-quality, dirty brown coal" which it said would cause a huge increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

At the forefront of environmentalists' concerns is the release of carbon into the atmosphere, while the Government and mining sector see coal and lignite as vast energy sources with huge economic benefits, regionally and nationally.

While operating separately, Solid Energy and Bathurst have adjoining coal tenements on the West Coast and have agreements to assist one another with infrastructure, access and transport arrangements - which could total four million tonnes of export coal between them every year.

Dual-listed Bathurst has spent more than $100 million getting to this consented stage, but in that time has raised about $242 million for the project, which covers 10,000ha of tenements but is at present targeting 200ha of the southern escarpment of the Denniston plateau.

Subject to the Environment Court challenge, Bathurst wanted to begin production by the end of the year and ramp up to full production of two million tonnes by the end of next year.

Coking coal is a key ingredient in steel making and is in demand from Asian economies.

Bathurst's resource consents came with many conditions, which the company has said are palatable, and claims its rehabilitation and replanting of the landscape would leave it looking original to the untrained eye.

On Bathurst's plans, West Coast Environment Network spokeswoman Karen Mayhew said the open-cast mining would dig up a rare landscape and habitat for threatened species.

"This mine would more than double New Zealand's coal exports. Once the coal is dug up, the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is guaranteed," she said.

"Given the scientific consensus on climate change and its impacts, we consider that this issue should have been considered properly by the resource consent commissioners."

Mayhew said the network's appeal would be based on ecological, climate and economic grounds and the group hopes to have eminent Nasa climate scientist James Hansen appear via a video-conference link.

On Solid Energy, Network Aotearoa spokeswoman Frances Mountier said developing lignite was significant for New Zealand because of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

And it was hugely significant to eastern Southland because of the damage large-scale lignite mining would cause to air quality, living conditions, and the high-quality rivers and streams on which Southland depended.

- Otago Daily Times

By Simon Hartley

ReThinkNZ.com cotton mesh bags for veggies and fruit

I shared this recommendation all over the place, but I have never put it in blog. I would like to share it for all time - use RethinkNZ.com organic cotton fruit and veggie bags! (To avoid using plastic film ones, of course.) They rock!!!

I got 3 multi-packs (2 large, 1 small bag) at $5.99 NZ each, and was set up for life.

The large bags are strong and hold alot of heavy fruit with ease. The checkout clerks just weigh the fruit in the bags. If they ever get dirty, you throw them in the washing machine with your laundry. We often leave the fruit or vegetables in these bags in the fridge as well.

Repairing broken pot handles with drawer knobs

Here is an idea!

Drawer knobs.

When your plastic crap handle breaks off your pot lid, as is likely to happen at my place, you don't have to throw the rest of it away due to this weak link. Just go to your hardware store, and purchase any sort of drawer knob (cupboard knob), and screw it on. A washer is good too, to keep the screw from slipping out the hole.

I used drawer knobs as they didn't sell replacement knobs for pots or pans. Since I had broken a few pot handles off, I bought a few wood knobs, and now the handles are solid as a rock and will last for a long time (unlike their original handles). I chose varnished wood, to help protect from steam. But there were many types there, even solid metal teddy bear handles, if this takes your fancy!



The ones that I bought from the hardware store came with screws and washers, so it was really easy.



P.S. If you don't already have a good screwdriver, get one - they are useful. 

Note from a later date:  USE STAINLESS STEEL SCREWS

Stillwater this week

How to make Jones Caramel Popcorn

The simple, sustainable lifestyle isn't about being boring and good. The Jones family (my family) used to make everything, and it was awesome! It's all a part of it.

To make caramel popcorn, first, make a huge bowl of popcorn -- either with a few batches on the stovetop or with a popcorn maker. Then boil the caramel candy mixture on the stovetop (directions below) and pour the hot caramel mixture all over it and stir well. It will very quickly set up - so separate into balls if you are not eating it right away!

To make the caramel candy part, throw the following 3 ingredients together into a saucepan on the stovetop, and melt on med-high heat while stirring (this is the Jones-size recipe halved, feeds a regular sized family):

half a block of butter (or 1 cup, or 1/2 lb, or 227 g)
1 1/3 cup white or brown sugar (brown sugar tastes richer, but I prefer just using white sugar as it's pretty rich anyways)
1/2 cup golden syrup

When it begins to boil, turn it down and boil softly, stirring.


Boil until you either reach "soft-ball" stage on a candy thermometer, or just dip a spoon into the mixture, and then drop some into cold water and see if it forms a ball. A candy thermometer is not needed! You can sense how it is and decide when you want to take it off that way. The longer you boil the mixture, the harder your popcorn balls will be.

Knitting Rhythms

There is something about knitting which is relaxing. If you follow a natural groove, just doing it, then there is a rhythm that you are following. Isn't it interesting how many of these old arts are being taken up by people again?

You see, the thing is, they bring natural rhythm back into people's lives. I can picture the many activities in people's lives, that modern living has taken out - activities to do with harvesting food from the garden work, sewing, quilting. Now that we don't have to do these things all the time, we can see the peace that they brought into our lives.