Yesterday, Michelle Chandler and I spoke to 300 students at a UMass Sustainable Living class. The talk went well. I really enjoyed watching Michell’s powerpoint presentation of her yard’s transformation from typical suburban desert, flat and featureless, to a food producing oasis. She manages to raise rabbits (lots of rabbits), chickens and goats along with fruit trees, berry bushes, perennial food plants and annual vegetables in the space most people fill up with swimming pools, hot tubs and lawn ornaments. It was really inspiring. I left Michelle’s house with a rabbit (freezer ready) and four dozen eggs as my chickens are just not laying well. With that bonanza, I might make custard tonight.
On my way home, driving alone in my warm, dark car, my mind wandered around what I had heard and what I offered. As usual after these talks, I thought about what I had left out, what I wish I had said, would have said had there been more time or if I had not been afraid of offending or crossing some line. Here is what I wish I had said.
Look around you. Everything you touch, everything you’re wearing, every bit of food you put in your mouth today is a product. Your computer and cell phone, those jeans and the backpack, the water bottle and the water are all possible because someone has mined the soil or oceans or the rocks to pull out a resource that energy has transformed into some thing that you can probably not imagine life without. There was a bounty of riches out there and we have figured out how to use those riches up to make our lives easier and more comfortable and lots more fun. But we’re like the trust fund kid who squandered the gift. How shocking to find that you can’t keep on taking and never returning. What a concept. The bank account eventually runs dry. We have fouled the water, depleted the soil, wasted so much of the energy and now we’re overdrawn.
When you meet someone, the first question usually asked is, “What’s your major?” Once you graduate that morphs into, “What do you do?” That may not be so easy to answer in an energy constrained world. Occupations like social worker or travel agent are likely to be far less relevant than farmer or welder, seamstress or carpenter. Now is the time to be thinking about that. You’re going to need real skills. Whenever possible, do for yourself. You must realize that the service economy is only possible with cheap energy slaves to do for us. So bake some bread and ride an old bike. Mend your jacket and change your oil. Buy some books on gardening and cooking. Find out what grows where you live. Get used to living with less. Have some fun that does not require electricity. Figure out a plan B. Have a plan C. Watch the news and read some things that are out of your comfort zone. There is always more to a story.
I don’t want to be a fear monger but here’s the truth of it. Life is going to change. It will be smaller and require more physical work. We aren’t special and we aren’t entitled. The laws of nature and physics and mathmetics could not care less about what you want or think you deserve. The dumbest commercial ever produced says, “Go ahead. You’re worth it.” You wanna bet. Our hair color and piercings, our clothing and taste in music will no longer define you. What are you good at? How do you contribute? Really. What do you do?
February 22, 2012 at 11:39 am
Excellent post. Sadly, we’ve become a nation of consumers and not producers.
February 22, 2012 at 11:43 am
So well said…..
February 22, 2012 at 12:17 pm
We, as a nation, have gotten used to certain aspects being “normal”…the trip to the salon, the trip to the lothing store, food every where, electric gadgets. Relying on yourself/family for entertainment, food and support is now a “novel” idea. It’s the way life used to be, the way it needs to be in order to maintain our humanity. In Greece, the government started taxing electric usage to make up the budget shortfall to the point that it was taking 50% of a family income to pay it…that could happen here or anywhere. Imagine how you would get by…instant information via internet would be a super luxury. If gas goes to $5 a gallon, a trip to the store for food that has almost doubled will be a treat.
I’m “in training” for a more self reliant life style and couldn’t be happier. I feel safer, less stressed and more content with what I do…like a kid saying “I did it myself!”.
February 22, 2012 at 1:25 pm
I have a BS in Home Economics with a major in Foods & Nutrition earned in 1968. This was during Pres. Johnson’s War on Poverty. We took classes in Food & Nutrition, Clothing & Textiles, Housing, Child Development, Personal and Business Finance. Every time I was asked what my major was I was ridiculed as it was considered a ‘non-major’ sort of like basket-weaving – I wouldn’t be changing the world, making grand political speeches, certainly not changing a woman’s place in the world.
However, within those subjects I learned to plan a kitchen,design a house, sew, cook, raise a garden, landscape, make repairs to clothes, interior decorating, educate a child, plan and execute a budget, invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds ALL with an eye towards doing the most with the least. We were encouraged to find resources without spending anything much less buying at retail prices.
So..in today’s economy and with the horrific state of the world, my knowledge and experience is being sought out by my grown children & their friends, the neighbors and especially by strangers who stop to ask me if I’m going to eat those dead fish picked up at the beach – cold weather kill here in Florida and I plant them in the garden for fertilizer – or whatever other unusual thing I’m doing.
I’m always hoping that my knowledge can be passed on – one person at a time. We all need help with figuring out how to survive and I’m willing to share all I know. Having multiple resources – whether physical or intellectual – will make a difference in anyone’s lifestyle. We’re content with buying used, getting it for free, making it or making do and always have been, but for many it will be a major mind shift.
February 22, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Every time I read one of your entries, I am motivated to do more with what we have. I’m considered “frugal” by most of my friends, but we have no outstanding debt, our house is paid for (since ’97) and we have retired in our dream place. Life is good…
Thanks for the encouragement! Keep up the great work!
February 22, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Prior to 1492 there were about 130 million buffalo roaming the great plains. They squandered the resources and did not give back ( suppose you could count the dung as a giveback). Most of what animals do (we are animals) is instinctive and learned behavior that coincides with the reality on the ground. We were not wrong to use oil and coal and when it becomes depleted or more difficult to obtain we will use something else. However mother nature bat’s last and one of the ways that nature controls the envirornment is with a reduction in population. Our success has set us up for an inevitable reduction in our poulation to a level that can be supported once cheap energy is no loger available. The situation we find ourselves in would be comparable with a buffalo population on the great plains of 7 billion buffalo. A crash of some type is inevitable it’s just a matter of when and how.
February 22, 2012 at 5:38 pm
Ms. Harrison, I enjoy reading your posts.
I live in Tampa Florida and I am an Environmental Science and Health Major.
I would like to live self sufficient as I saw you do on National Geographic.
However, my wife and I do not have the space or funds to even be self sufficient in an emergency at this moment which scares me even more than not being prepared for “New Madrid” as you are.
I admire that you have allowed others to be apart of your community of preppers, and I wish I knew somebody like you so I too could at least assure my wife that we would survive without electricity. I’m so scared because I lack much knowledge to live on my own and support my wife without relying on the current system of unsustainable products and living situation. She is from Peru but too does not have much survival skill besides being a loving partner.
If you could please give me some suggestions on basic skills or items I can acquire to help my wife and I in becoming more self sufficient or at least being ready for an emergency.
February 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm
GoneWithTheWind –
You are so very perceptive. This is a growing catastrophe. The earth probably has capacity for 3 billion and the USA would be OK with 170 million, give or take a few million.
Rather than face up to it most politicians and economists spend their efforts expressing concern for any slow down in the birthrate as “who is going to pay for the social programs if the population growth does not continue?”
Also, they give no thought as to what happens when oil becomes too costly. That happens long before oil runs out since when the volume of oil used for extraction equals the oil extracted it is game over.
February 22, 2012 at 8:18 pm
You can start with a good book. It doesn’t have to be mine. Independence Days is very good. I can’t address this very well in a short response but for where you live, think water, then lighting and then food. Water is free and it can be stored in used soda bottles. Add a couple of drops of bleach and store it in a dark place. Every few months use it and refill the bottles. Don’t buy water. Now lighting. Hurrican lamps and oil are pretty inexpensive. You need at least two and a couple of gallons of oil. Don’t forget soome wooden matches. Now add some food. Save out $5.00 and get some meals in can. Don’t forget a manual can opener. Get some oatmeal and some brown sugar, canned or powdered milk and some raisins. Add some canned meats and some canned frutis as you can afford them. Go to the camping aisle of a depeartment store and pick up a small collapsable stove and a couple of cans of the fuel. These are very inexpensive but also check out Craigs List and tag sales and look for a camp stove. Each week add one storable food, (peanut butter and crackers, tuna, sauce and pasta, mac and cheese. I would rather people supported their food sheds but you need to do this first. Check out places to buy local food in bulk. Can you grow some veges in pots or in your yard? I think you see where I’m going. Little and often. Best of luck. Please let us know how you’re doing.
February 22, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Hi Kathy,
I enjoy your blog and book and have learned from both. A question – is Michelle’s powerpoint presentation on her yard’s transformation posted anywhere for viewing? I’d really like to get some ideas. Thank you.
February 22, 2012 at 10:22 pm
She posts here often so, if you see this Michelle, please chime in.
February 22, 2012 at 10:45 pm
Thank you for your post as always. I have so enjoyed learning new skills the past few years, it amazes me how much we are now able to do one day at a time, a little more each day. Thanks to you and others who are willing to cheer the rest of on as we try to do more to care for our families when hard times come.
February 23, 2012 at 7:52 am
That was a wonderful blog! So glad I started my day with it! Hope you don’t mind, but I shared it on my facebook page. I’m sure I have friends who are already preparing, but I am also just as sure I have friends that are too polite to tell me I am crazy! I think this post, if they chose to click the link, might just make them understand ! Thanks!
February 23, 2012 at 9:52 am
One more note to Michael:
Another excellent book to get would be Carla Emery’s Encyclopedia of Country Living. (Good for country OR city living!) It has such good information on such a wide variety of subjects. And please don’t be discouraged. Little steps will add up to some real changes, and each bit of information you learn will accumulate to make a huge difference in what you know. It may seem overwhelming at first, but little by little the knowledge will come. And it can be an exciting learning experience and adventure for you and your wife, if you approach it that way.
February 23, 2012 at 10:30 am
Kathy – that was SO much fun! I, too, thought of things I wished I’d added. I think that is the way of things, though.
Tom – you can contact me by email: gardengirlgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com.
February 23, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Conn1946, brava and right on!
I spent an hour this morning unraveling an old wool sock so I’d have sufficient yarn to repair other socks as they wear. Someone may grouse that my efforts took about as much time as it would take to drive to a store and purchase new socks. Well, yes. But I’ve saved my money and my gas, and I’ve banked time, skill and resources for a future when the success of many endeavors may depend upon comfortable feet in sturdy boots. Best wishes!
February 27, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Thank you for the lovely post. As much as you might wish you had said what you posted while in the classroom, I wish I had heard it said when I was in school.