The Scavenger's Manifesto: Why Dumpster Diving Can Save You from Going Off the Deep End

By Anneli Rufus, AlterNet. Posted March 21, 2009.

While consumer culture drowns us in debt, you can count every cent you save while liberating would-be trash.
When you scavenge, you absorb other people's pollution as would a sponge. Not only do you lower your carbon footprint, but you also consume less and thus lower your "economic footprint." When you reuse or recycle other people's trash, you decrease their economic footprint as well. It's nice to help strangers.
The following is an adapted excerpt from The Scavenger's Manifesto (Tarcher Press, 2009) by Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson.
My eyes are lighthouse beacons. Enroute to a family gathering, I spot a box marked FREE on a curb. This, right here, is the meaning of life. Swim goggles: Yes. Pink T-shirt: Yes. Blender: I already have one, so no. "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" apron: No. Six bars of hotel soap, sealed in their wrappers: Yoink. Into the backpack pops the salad fork, the crocheted scarf. Assess each in a nanosecond. Do I want this? Do I need it? Does my friend?
When they ask at the family gathering why I am late and I say I was garnering a stranger's discards, they laugh. When they realize I am serious, they flinch, their faces masks of pity, fear, disgust. They ask: But why? Weren't those discards dirty? What if someone bled on that T-shirt? Can't you afford a salad fork?
Oh, that. Scavengers hear it all the time.
And more:
What if it doesn't fit?
What if it's dented/scratched/stained/faded/ripped?
Wouldn't you rather pick the exact color/style/size/features you want?
Um, no.
In consumer culture, the very idea of getting stuff by any means outside the standard retail channel at any speed but warp speed is sacrilege.
A sin.
In corporate America, not-shopping is treason.
An abomination.
Yet a confluence of factors — style, politics, technology, ecology and the economy — is making more and more of us seek more and more alternate (but legal) means of acquiring stuff. We're scavengers. We're consumer culture's cleanup crew. Goods and services circle the world, connecting strangers: not a penny spent.
The Book of Genesis damns us. And the Book of Leviticus deems us untouchable.
We are thrift-shoppers, coupon-clippers, bargain-hunters, beachcombers, trash-pickers. We are treasure-seekers, recyclers, freecyclers.
We don't steal.
We don't scam.
But we don't pay full-price. We don't pay at all if we can help it.
Two thousand years ago, half the world's population survived by hunting and gathering. With the rise of civilization, old-fashioned hunting and gathering became virtually obsolete. But all modern-day scavengers are hunter-gatherers. Define hunter-gathering as foraging, taking what comes. Define it as sublimating choice to the bigger thrill of chance. It translates to saving money and potentially working less. It translates to dodging whatever market sector some genius thinks you belong to. Modern scavenging means wearing, using and eating castoff goods from countless strangers, thus you cannot be predicted, tracked, deciphered. You are the mystery. With lighthouse eyes, you find furniture, fashions, art, appliances, jewelry, food. You scavenge seeds. Sometimes you do not know what they are when you plant them, and find out only when plants rise: My garden grows parsley, purple tomatillos, three kinds of bok choy. You never know.
That is the point.
That is the challenge and the payoff and the thrill: the never knowing, then the waiting, then the finding out. Can you handle uncertainty?
This is the magic, the apotheosis, of the random. In a paved world, modern scavengers reclaim discovery. Adventure. Self-reliance. Self-sufficiency.
The modern scavenger reclaims the quest.
Some scavenge for fun. Some scavenge to save. Money. The world. Their souls. While consumers around us drown in debt, we liberate ourselves with every cent we save while liberating would-be trash. We know the difference between brand-new, full-price products and their dented, scavenged counterparts is —
Debt.
Some scavenge to recycle. Repurpose. Reduce. Reuse.
Some scavenge to revolt.
Some scavenge to survive.
Some scavenge for the sake of spontaneity. That is another primal ecstasy that consumer culture has quashed. Consumer culture wants consumers to imagine themselves free and democratic, decisive and bold. Consumer culture teaches that choosing the color of your phone is creativity. Up to a point, it is. A tiny calculated creativity comprising elements designed and sold by corporations. Control disguised as creativity. A short-leashed independence based on your ability and willingness to buy. But what is missing from this picture?
It's funny: Consumers think they're free.
How do we tell them how it is for us? How do we tell them that, for us, old stuff and stuff that has been previously owned attains a patina, almost a soul? How do we say that every find not only saves us cash but makes us wonder whose it was, our minds skittering down the years of all those whens and whys. How do we tell consumers that mass-produced new merchandise bores and depresses us? How do we say that it is we who pity them when they spend $90 on the same shoes that cost (or will, soon) $6 at the thrift shop? How can we describe the size of landfills, the islands of trash — ten million pounds' worth, experts say — floating at sea? Do we cite findings by the Clean Air Council that every American alive discards fifty-six tons of trash per year?
I last bought an umbrella thirteen years ago in Hong Kong. Since then, I have found them: striped ones, plain ones, plaid ones, flowered ones, large, small, fold-up or not. One replicates a painting by Renoir. Their former owners left them behind on benches and buses, leaning against walls under pay phones and ATMs. I buy my groceries at discount stores, bruised fruit marked down. Faced with a choice, I always ask: Is there a way to do this/get this/eat this legally for free? I have been this way all my life. It is a reflex. Not scavenging feels unnatural.
To me, ten dollars is a lot.
How can I tell consumers this? Here's what they see: In one sense, nothing. In one sense, we are invisible. But when they search, they see: Scavengers touch the ground. How gross. Who dares finger the sidewalk and the street? The scavenger as vector. Roaches, rats and vultures spring to mind — and football teams are not named after them.
We do not spend enough to please consumers. Worse, we do not spend at all. Consumer culture hates this. We touch trash. Consumer culture fears this. We think for themselves. Consumer culture hates and fears this most of all.
Scavengers are the last scapegoats in an almost-open-minded world.
We're freaks.
No matter how or why we scavenge, even if we’re just re-using Christmas ribbon or picking fruit from branches that overhang the sidewalk, we are radical. Without half trying, we are capitalism's naughty children, sprinting through the gate. By rejecting the standard retail cycle, scavengers reverse the basic order of consumerthink, which is: want-get. From infancy, consumers learn that whatever they want, they get. Must. Will. Right now. For scavengers, however, it's get-want. We find whatever, then decide whether we want it. Then — take it. Or leave it for a later scavenger. Committing yourself to not buying things full-price mandates having to wait. That is: waiting until something approximating your desire surfaces at the local thrift shop, yard sale, swap. It might mean waiting for the seeds on those strawberries and tomatoes you buried in your backyard to sprout. You just get used to waiting. While you wait, you realize how little you really need.
We do not expect to get everything we want.
Thus we want less.
We always get something, sooner or later. But in flipping the equation, in embracing want-get, scavengers trade choice for chance. We trade control for the lightning flash of surprise.
We sing their anthem backwards. No wonder we scare them.
Broke a shoelace? Ran out of giftwrap? Consumers replace lost or broken things right now with perfect replicas, brand-new, full-price. Not us. Scavengers improvise. For us, absent and broken things are hassles but brain-teasers too. Wrap presents in calendar pages. Knot the shoelace, or replace it with wire, yarn or dental floss.
Repurpose. Found something you think is useless? Use it. Cut-up mousepads become coasters. Doors are tabletops. Trophies, bolted to walls, are coat-hooks. Bandannas make dandy halter tops. Ever resourceful, scavengers plumb inner strengths. I am emerging from the rummage sale with seven white porcelain sake cups, a map of Uruguay, a pillowcase embroidered by someone sometime somewhere, and a baking pan shaped like a guitar. What will I do with these, and when? Scavenging links us to each other, to all former owners and all future owners of whatever we have now.
Yet ultimately we are on our own. Scavenging forces us to feel and act and think. I was out walking when a thought occurred to me which I longed to write down. I had no utensil, no pad. I was miles of sterile suburban sidewalk from the nearest store. I found a paper clip. I tore part of an outdated announcement from a phone pole. Unbending the clip, I scratched my thought with it into the blank side of the paper. Later, held up to the light at home, the letters revealed themselves like cuneiform.
I know: absurd. I do not ask you to admire this. I only ask you not to mock it.
The dictionary defines economics as the study of "the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services." What's missing from that picture? Um — what comes after consumption? Mainstream economic theory has glossed over this bothersome detail for centuries. It went like this: Consumer buys product. Consumer brings product home. Consumer consumes product. The end.
But hey: Will that consumer utilize that product forever, until the end of time? Of course not. Eventually, in five minutes or fifty years, the product — providing we are not talking about food or drink here — will become broken and/or outdated and/or unwanted and/or its owner will die, and/or sundry other eventualities could occur which land that item in the trash.
And then?
Welcome to the world of scavenomics.
To paraphrase Kristan Lawson, who coauthored The Scavengers' Manifesto with me: Scavenomics picks up where economics traditionally leaves off. Scavenomics is that other, too-long-ignored half of the cycle: the part that occurs after consumption. And just how do products find their way back to "production" at the so-called beginning of the cycle?
Scavengers are the driving force for this hidden half of the story. We are the ones who take society's trash and either re-use it, introducing it back into the middle of the standard economic system (i.e. trash is rechristened as goods for distribution and consumption), or recycle it, introducing the material back at the starting point of the system (i.e. trash is reprocessed into raw material for production).
Modern economic theory is not as blind as it used to be. These days, recycling is regarded as a valid economic activity, as yet another way to make money. (Re-using and re-purposing, however, are pretty much still off the radar screen.) But to the extent that it's been considered at all by economists, scavenging is regarded as a behavioral problem, a sort of consumer dysfunction that prevents people from properly purchasing and consuming their fair share of stuff. If too many people scavenge instead of buy retail, then the economy won't grow and a disastrous recession ensues. (Sound familiar?) But the reverse can also be bad: mindless, endless over-production, overconsumption, and then overdisposal. Hence, those endless tons of trash. Scavenging as a naturally occurring method of acquisition puts the brakes on what otherwise might be a runaway train of capitalism; by opting out of the consumer cycle, scavengers slow the system down to a reasonable pace.
If there is over-production, and everybody buys too much stuff, then sooner or later some of that stuff will be discarded, and if enough gets discarded, then an increasing number of people will see that the products they used to buy can now be scavenged for free. Once a sufficient number of people become scavengers, they stop buying new stuff, and production thereby slows down to sustainable levels. But the opposite is also true: If everybody starts scavenging, then production ceases entirely because no one is buying. But if nothing is being produced, then the inventory of scavengeable goods will shrink and finally disappear, and then (after scavengers harm or kill each other while fighting over the last few scavengeables) demand will rise again for new stuff, and production will restart. When a society such as Japan's in the 1980s engages in reckless overproduction and overconsumption, the principles of scavenomics dictate that a collapse is bound to happen. When a society such as current-day sub-Saharan Africa depends too much on scavenging (in this case on donated goods and food), that too portends economic havoc. Scavenomics is the economics of self-regulating moderation.
One of the principles of scavenomics is to unleash the creative power of scavengers. Often we, and only we, can find ways to use discards. A real-world example comes from the realm of chocolate production. For centuries, cocoa farmers simply threw out the husks left over after shelling cocoa pods. But in recent years, entrepreneurial scavengers thought of selling the otherwise worthless cocoa husks as gardening mulch, because so many consumers love anything that smells like chocolate, as the husks do. So today, many nurseries sell scavenged cocoa-husk mulch. Multiply that scenario by thousands of times and the power of scavenomics becomes clear. So green economics and scavenomics are not always in opposition. Often they are complementary, and scavenomics can be viewed as a subset or a variant of green economics.
Economic activity is not a line, but a circle. A continuous cycle. The missing steps are: this manufactured or refined material, whatever it might be, is eventually used up or becomes broken or obsolete or unwanted, and is then discarded. And then somewhere, somehow, by somebody or something, it all gets fed back into the beginning of the system and the cycle begins all over again. This can happen on a very short time-scale (the discarded product is immediately scavenged and re-used or re-purposed) or on a medium time-scale (discarded products are broken down into their original constituents and recycled back as the raw material for manufacture) or on an extremely long time scale, in which everything is at first just unceremoniously "thrown away," which essentially means returned to the Earth far from its point of origin in a new place such as a landfill or a dump, and perhaps a million, or ten million, or who-knows-how-many years in the future, some distant civilization will discover a rich "deposit" of iron ore in a location formerly known as Melvin's Salvage Yard and U-Find-It Car Parts Emporium.
The goal of scavenomics is not simply to focus attention on this missing step of the economic cycle, but to minimize the time frame and energy expenditure of that step. So, from a scavenomics point of view, waste disposal is the least desirable and least efficient behavior, because the raw materials contained in the trash become lost to us for an extremely long time. Recycling is one step better, because the aluminum molecules or cellulose fibers are reintroduced into the human ecosystem as raw materials fairly rapidly, with a moderate amount of energy expended. But scavenging is the gold standard of economic efficiency, or at least of this part of the economic cycle. Because when anything that is unwanted and discarded gets scavenged and re-used or re-purposed, it immediately re-enters the global economy with practically no energy expenditure at all. It doesn't need sit around for a million years turning to rust or topsoil. It doesn't need to be shipped to China and melted down and recast as ingots and then shipped to a factory and turned into a simulacrum of whatever it was in the first place, to be then transported to other continents in pollution-spewing ships, trucks, trains and planes. Without having to travel anywhere, or use any energy, the scavenged object once again becomes useful to humankind, without any processing or time-wastage whatsoever. You can't get more efficient than that.
When you scavenge, you absorb other people's pollution as would a sponge. Not only do you lower your carbon footprint, but you also consume less and thus lower your "economic footprint." When you reuse or recycle other people's trash, you decrease their economic footprint as well. It's nice to help strangers.
But scavenging is work. Getting stuff, getting enough stuff to survive or to even call yourself a scavenger requires discipline. Skills. Special knowledge, as does any other profession or sport — and scavenging is both.
First, see. Scan every surface, every crevice of every landscape for telltale colors, shapes and signs that literally or figuratively say: TAKE ME. Scavengers sleep with eyes half-open. For us, this is basic math: The more you see, the more you save. Observe, retrieve.
Experiment. Forever ask: What's this? A public trained to demand brand-new brand-name products is a public drained of curiosity. Consumers are brainwashed to replicate the same exact sensations time after time as if that was happiness. They do not wonder how another product by another brand might taste or feel or what would happen if I went without this? In consumer culture, such thoughts are anathema. Enough such thoughts would smash the system. Industries bank on incuriosity.
Accept. Taking what comes, scavengers tolerate what comes. You've never worn a poncho or listened to Turkish techno music? If that's what you've found, that's what you do. For us, diversity is a necessity.
Each act of scavenging is one step out of safe, clean, streamlined social normalcy. We take trash home. Thus we must overcome some primal instincts, drilled into us all our lives. First we must overcome our fear of misbehavior, those imaginary angry-mommy slaps on our hands, angry-mommy voices in our heads hissing Don't steal, because scavengers are not stealing — the first Scavenging Commandment is Thou shalt not take what rightfully belongs to someone else. Then we must drown out Angry Mommy snapping Don't touch that, it's dirty, because yes, it is, but it won't kill me and I want it and I'm grown-up now. Most scavengeables are not clean or perfect when we find them. Some are dirty, just as Mommy warned, and they're dinged-up or scuffed or past their sell-by dates. So we must overcome another reflex, the age-old terror of contagion, once legitimate but now unwarranted in an era of hot water and antibacterial soap. I can wash this, and I can wash myself after taking it home. Until that washing, we must tolerate the presence of this unclean, damaged thing in our hands, pockets, purses, backpacks, cars.
Collecting castoffs keeps us humble.
Watching, waiting, going with the flow means scavengers are accidental Taoists.
So is this religion?
Well —
How do you define religion? As a source of values? Check. Source of hope? Check. Source of compassion? Check. Compassion in the sense that we cannot help but wonder about those former owners: Who were they? How and why did they part with this? On purpose or not? If so, in anger or in apathy? Did they regret it afterwards? Where are they now — happy or sad, alive or dead?
Standard consumption affords no such touchstones. Brand-new full-price items just reflect consumers back upon themselves.
Is religion a source of charity? Check, albeit mostly inadvertent. Strangers transfer souvenirs into our safekeeping without intending to, neither knowing nor caring who we are. By becoming their beneficiaries, we transform them into benefactors. We transform their loss and their waste into generosity. Thus we redeem them from themselves.
Is religion a way to heal the world?
Is religion surrender? Check. In a consumer culture, choosing not to choose is brave. No towels in your bathroom match, and some who visit you might actually care. The scavenger surrenders to the magic and, depending on your level of commitment, the cruel humor of the random. One day when you are out and it turns very cold and you are unprepared, you notice, through the window of a laundromat, a box of items which, unclaimed after a few weeks in the lost-and-found, the manager put out. The box says FREE. Along with insubstantial slips and single socks you find a heavy sweatshirt. It says FIREMEN HAVE LONGER HOSES. It is clean. You're cold. Six hours remain before you can go home. You put it on. Another day, two guys are handing out free bookbags on the college campus near your job. The bookbags bear the logo of the college polyamory club. You are not polyamorous. But these are well-made bags, the right size and shape for your gym gear. Passersby will misread you and misinterpret you, based on the bag.
You might not mind. The most committed scavenger would say: I must not mind. Is this religion?
Other scavenging commandments:
Don't break laws.
Don't be aggressive or abusive.
Don't leave messes in your wake.
Don't harm plants, animals or people.
Don't endanger your safety or health.
Don't gross yourself out just to prove a point.
Don't be a parasite.
Don't mooch.
Consumer culture is a shiny sparkly whirling waste-producing world-engulfing pick-your-favorite-product fusillade at hyperspeed, nonstop.
We wish not to participate. Except to follow, gathering detritus, in its wake.
We might look like consumers but no: We are the fringe-dwellers, the bottom-feeders, living in the realm of never-knowing. We are the revelers and rescuers out here among the lost and the abandoned and the trashed, the designated-worthless which we pluck and scrub and sometimes love.
We know what is worth what.

Turn Left for Sustainable Growth
Josep h E. Stiglitz

Both the left and the right say they stand for economic growth. So should voters trying to decide between the two simply look at it as a matter of choosing alternative management teams?

If only matters were so easy! Part of the problem concerns the role of luck. America’s economy was blessed in the 1990s with low energy prices, a high pace of innovation, and a China increasingly offering high-quality goods at decreasing prices, all of which combined to produce low inflation and rapid growth.

President Clinton and then-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan deserve little credit for this—though, to be sure, bad policies could have messed things up. By contrast, the problems faced today—high energy and food prices and a crumbling financial system—have, to a large extent, been brought about by bad policies.

There are, indeed, big differences in growth strategies, which make different outcomes highly likely.The first difference concerns how growth itself is conceived. Growth is not just a matter of increasing GDP. It must be sustainable: growth based on environmental degradation, a debt financed consumption binge, or the exploitation of scarce natural resources, without reinvesting the proceeds, is not sustainable. Growth also must be inclusive; at least a majority of citizens must benefit. Trickle-down economics does not work: an increase in GDP can actually leave most citizens worse off. America’s recent growth was neither economically sustainable nor inclusive. Most Americans are worse off today than they were seven years ago.

But there need not be a trade-off between inequality and growth. Governments can enhance growth by increasing inclusiveness. A country’s most valuable resource is its people. So it isessential to ensure that everyone can live up to their potential, which requires educational opportunities for all.

A modern economy also requires risk-taking. Individuals are more willing to take risks if there is a good safety net. If not, citizens may demand protection from foreign competition. Social protection is more efficient than protectionism.

Failures to promote social solidarity can have other costs, not the least of which are the social and private expenditures required to protect property and incarcerate criminals. It is estimated that within a few years, America will have more people working in the security business than in education. A year in prison can cost more than a year at Harvard. The cost of incarcerating two million Americans—one of the highest per capita rates in the world—should be viewed as a subtraction from GDP, yet it is added on.

A second major difference between left and right concerns the role of the state in promoting development. The left understands that the government’s role in providing infrastructure and education, developing technology, and even acting as an entrepreneur is vital. Government laid the foundations of the Internet and the modern biotechnology revolutions. In the nineteenth century, research at America’s government-supported universities provided the basis for the agricultural revolution.

Government then brought these advances to millions of American farmers. Small business loans have been pivotal in creating not only new businesses, but whole new industries. The final difference may seem odd: the left now understands markets, and the role that they can and should play in the economy. The right, especially in America, does not. The New Right, typified by the Bush-Cheney administration, is really old corporatism in a new guise.

These are not libertarians. They believe in a strong state with robust executive powers, but one used in defense of established interests, with little attention to market principles. The list of examples is long, but it includes subsidies to large corporate farms, tariffs to protect the steel industry, and, most recently, the megabail-outs of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. But the inconsistency between rhetoric and reality is long-standing: protectionism expanded under Reagan, including through the imposition of so-called voluntary export restraints on Japanese cars.

By contrast, the new left is trying to make markets work. Unfettered markets do not operate well on their own—a conclusion reinforced by the current financial debacle. Defenders of markets sometimes admit that they do fail, even disastrously, but they claim that markets are “self-correcting.” During the Great Depression, similar arguments were heard: government need not do anything, because markets would restore the economy to full employment in the long run. But, as John Maynard Keynes famously put it, in the long run we are all dead.

Markets are not self-correcting in the relevant time frame. No government can sit idly by as a country goes into recession or depression, even when caused by the excessive greed of bankers or misjudgment of risks by security markets and rating agencies. But if governments are going to pay the economy’s hospital bills, they must act to make it less likely that hospitalization will be needed. The right’s deregulation mantra was simply wrong, and we are now paying the price. And the price tag—in terms of lost output—will be high, perhaps more than $1.5 trillion in the United States alone.

The right often traces its intellectual parentage to Adam Smith, but while Smith recognized the power of markets, he also recognized their limits. Even in his era, businesses found that they could increase profits more easily by conspiring to raise prices than by producing innovative products more efficiently.

There is a need for strong anti-trust laws. It is easy to host a party. For the moment, everyone can feel good. Promoting sustainablegrowth is much harder. Today, in contrast to the right, the left has a coherent agenda, one that offers not only higher growth, but also social justice. For voters, the choice should be easy.

Letters commenting on this piece or others may be submitted at

http://www.bepress.com/cgi/submit.cgi?context=ev.

A Modest Proposal for Sustainable Eating

by Katrina Heron

Ten points to better health

1. Know what you’re eating. Find out where it comes from and what’s in it. Think about what’s in season now - what’s ripe, not just fresh. A lot of these foods will turn out to be local.

2. Get cooking. And try making things from scratch. You’ll save money and rediscover skills you forgot you had.

3. Plant something. It could be an herb pot on your kitchen counter or, if you have space at home, a small kitchen garden, or a communal plot in your neighborhood that you tend with family and friends. (The Victory Garden on Civic Center Plaza is a landscape of ideas, staffed by experts who can guide your hands to the soil.)

4. Pack a bag lunch.

5. Drink tap water. It’s healthier for you, and it’s free. [Consider a tap filter which would be less expensive than bottled water a WalMart].

6. Learn about and celebrate the food traditions your family still possesses. These are like seeds, long stored and just waiting to be planted.

7. Invite someone to share a meal. Strengthen the bonds of friendship and community by cooking and eating together.

8. Learn about endangered foods and how we can bring them back to our tables.

9. Conserve, compost and recycle.

10. Vote with your fork.

Slow Food mission

“Slow Food” considers itself both a movement and a message - an alternative to fast food, industrial agriculture and the standardization pressures that it believes threaten local food variety and traditions as well as the health of humans and the planet. Slow Food Nation plans to encourage individuals to get involved in the food debate and to call for new initiatives from national leaders. It is urging the government to:

– Identify and support food practices that are good, clean and fair - that is, that produce healthful and delicious food, humanely and without harm to the environment, in a manner that is socially just to both producers and consumers.

– Ensure access to affordable, nutritious food for all - especially to residents of many low-income areas, commonly known as “food deserts,” where fresh food is unavailable.

– Provide and maintain resources and economic incentives that enable citizens, community groups and organizations to secure food directly from the source, thus strengthening the network of small producers.

– Protect the rights of all farmworkers.

– Support edible education, providing children with the tools they need to choose healthy food and to understand the impact of food choices on their health, the health of their communities and the planet.

– Implement measures to restore and protect biological diversity.

– Support the development of renewable sources of energy for the agricultural sector.

Related Information

Here is a list of top resources for finding out more about food issues - and finding food.

The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of thousands of family farms, restaurants, markets and other outlets for fresh, locally grown food throughout the United States and Canada (eatwellguide.org).

LocalHarvest maintains a public nationwide directory of small farms, farmers’ markets and other local food sources (localharvest.org).

Community Alliance With Family Farmers is building a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and promotes social justice (caff.org). Go directly to alliance’s local food guide at buylocalca.org.

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service provides directory information and technical assistance for farmers, ranchers, extension agents, educators and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States (attra.ncat.org).

Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a national alliance of grassroots family farm, rural and conservation organizations that advocate for federal programs supporting economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities (msawg.org).

The California Coalition for Food and Farming is on a mission to build and mobilize a diverse coalition that will improve California’s food system. (calfoodandfarming.org).

Slow Food USA, of which Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary, seeks to catalyze a broad cultural shift away from the industrial food system and toward the cultural, social and economic benefits of a sustainable food system (slowfoodusa.org).

Katrina Heron is chair of the board of Slow Food Nation and a director of the Chez Panisse Foundation. Contact her at insight@sfchronicle.com

Habitat ReStores

Restore Directories:
U.S. Restores / Canadian ReStores

Habitat ReStores are retail outlets where quality used and surplus building materials are sold at a fraction of normal prices. Proceeds from ReStores help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat houses within the community. Many affiliates across the United States and Canada operate successful ReStores—some of which raise enough funds to build an additional 10 or more houses per year.

Materials sold by Habitat ReStores are usually donated from building supply stores, contractors, demolition crews or from individuals who wish to show their support for Habitat. In addition to raising funds, ReStores help the environment by rechanneling good, usable materials into use.

Donate Building Supplies

If you or your company have materials to donate to a Habitat ReStore, please contact your local restore. U.S. Restores / Canadian Restores

If you don’t see a ReStore located near you, contact the Habitat affiliate nearest to you.

Habitat for Humanity

What Do You Really Need to Survive?

“Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.” ~ Cervantes

Ask yourself: what do you personally need to survive in case of an economic meltdown, in case of sudden hyperinflation, a global resource blockade, a sudden declaration of martial law--or a simple nuclear exchange resulting in national panic?

I’m sure readers at STR have given serious thought to the question, especially in the present time when our political leaders appear to have given so little serious thought to the consequences of their actions and what those actions do to the average citizen.

What do you need to survive?

Money, you say? A handy supply of cash and a fast car to rush down to the store and amass more supplies? Suppose your friendly grocery store is already besieged—or empty—when you get there? Suppose your paper dollars are declared worthless under a new martial law? Suppose—worse case scenario--gold is declared illegal to own, as it was under friendly old FDR.

Suppose a limited nuke strike and a resource blockade in the Strait of Hormuz (Day One - The War With Iran) causes prices of everything to skyrocket and hoarding to occur on a huge scale? Take a quick look in your pantry. If your cupboard is like mine, we both have, maybe, a week’s worth of grub. Suppose a can of Bush beans is suddenly no longer available at $2 but $20, while a 10 lb bag of rice is now $100--if you can get it.

The US economy is in a freefall, resembling that slow motion film footage of the airship Hindenberg, crashing into a massive fireball.

Okay, maybe not yet that bad. Not yet.

But a five-year graph clearly indicates the US dollar descending like the backside of the Rockies versus other currency. You know the dollar has a problem when the Philippine Peso outperforms it. Not to mention gold and silver, platinum and copper. You know the US dollar is in trouble when a pound of copper pennies (pre-1982) is worth more than $3 and federal law prohibits you from melting them down into ingots and using them as legal tender.

A friend of mine who subscribes to SEVEN mainstream “news” magazines is heavy into stocks. Too bad: those magazines only seem to tell readers what they want the subscribers to know. Not what occurs in the real world or who are the guys behind the curtain pulling the levers.

In the past seven years, during the Bush imperial junta, stocks have fallen and the US dollar has plummeted vs. ALL precious metals. Gold went from around $230 an ounce to nearly $950 today, while silver (poor man’s gold) went from around $4 to nearly $18 an ounce now.

Aside from Alan Greenspan, the Wall Street Journal and the millions of regular readers of the MSM, everyone on the Internet seemed to know precious metals would rise. Seriously, I knew it four years ago (Buy Gold--Before They Sell Out), and I’m no economist. Simply on the huge indebtedness of the US dollar, and the worldwide loss of confidence in US leaders, gold had to skyrocket (Naturally I bought no gold). Rule #1 in the con game of fiat currency: People must have confidence in the con of paper money, otherwise confidence ebbs, and the con is over.

So aside from a small, convertible amount gold and silver, what really does a man, woman or family need to survive? Thoreau asked that very question in Economy: Walden - Chapter 1-A.

“It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization (italics mine), if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that is, what are the grossest groceries . . . The necessaries of life for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under the several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel; for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success.”

Food, shelter, clothing, fuel and also a source of income, both spiritual and monetary, to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success. As STR readers know, that ONE chapter of Walden stands the entire Federal Reserve on its head with economy to spare.

Can the Federal Reserve guarantee a steady supply of those necessities in a crisis? N-O. No. Easier to predict, indeed expect, the FedRes to continue printing paper money to carpet the countryside and devalue whatever you earn or have saved. Modern followers of Thoreau know we are pretty much on our own.

Reading the comments from a Mormon website, New Cool Thang » My Beef with a Year Supply of Food, I found a few valuable insights.

“In case of a true catastrophe lasting for even a week, the store shelves would be empty. At that point, it wouldn’t matter how much money you have in the bank. Only those with a large surplus of food would be willing to sell,” wrote a fellow named Floyd.

Before the forum deteriorated, as forums almost always do, another writer named Jamie wrote: “Brigham Young said that there will come a time when gold will hold no value in comparison to a bushel of wheat. (Wheat futures skyrocketed recently) Money can become valueless quickly. I store both food and money . . . . Last week I taught an Enrichment Lesson on ‘where to store it’ (food). I had a display that had an entire years supply under a twin bed and the bed was only about 3 feet off the floor. It can be done.”

Cigarettes store easily, and work wonderfully as trade goods. Indeed leaf tobacco served as trade currency in the American colonies once (before the Federal Reserve). Chocolate, coffee, ammo and humor: all useful necessities in a crisis. Barter between neighbors makes better neighborhoods. Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory. A hundred cans of soup and a hundred pounds of rice sounds about right. Plus a thousand rounds of ammo--humor, right?--and coffee beans and shotgun shells to trade as wampum.

Survival of The Fittest, or why Darwin was partly right. Ask yourself: The Federal Reserve is doing a good job or a bad job, or simply doing their intended job on America? Why are we all taught to read the fine print on the backs of soup cans but not the small, fine print about the CFR and ingredients in the fractional banking stew?

Another website, Seven Year Mormon Food Storage Blog, advised seeking the spiritual side rather than about simple hoarding. Some of the remarks on the forum were rather revealing: “My Mormon grandfather built a 20-year food storage,” wrote Rachel. “He put a huge concrete bomb shelter in the backyard, stocked it to the hilt for his 12 children and grandchildren. Grandpa died after he retired. Property was sold, they bulldozed the shelter and now a Walmart sits on top of it. I guess you could say that's an even better food storage than what Grandpa built.”

Until Wally World is depleted of food, of course, or cordoned off by Blackwater mercenaries and the guns inside and out confiscated. As was done in New Orleans, even among homeowners, after hurricane Katrina.

Perhaps the best survival item to store then is a strong sense of neighborliness. Forewarned, forearmed. Not only neighborly on the same street or the same block but neighborly two nations over. With no need to conquer, spread “democracy” or illegally occupy any of our neighbors. Self reliance and interdependence instead. Churn the butter, keep the guns handy, trade openly with the natives, and heed a healthy mistrust of central bankers and the nefarious intentions of the government, as Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson advised.

So what do we really need to survive?

Bikes and beans and gasoline,

Bread and grain and a wooded plane;

To hunt, to fish, and raise a few fowl,

And friends beside us to howl, loudly,

At the foul deeds done by the state machine,

In pursuit of profits selling war & gasoline.

by Douglas Herman

published in STRIKE THE ROOT

There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil

to one who is striking at the root.

Voluntary Simplicity

Some of us may feel at times that simplicity isn't a choice and we feel forced into it by circumstances (accident, financial loss, health and medical issues, divorce, whatever). You can look at these as a life lessons and make the best of them. Whatever your reasons, simplicity can be and is a good thing for all of society as a whole because the planet cannot sustain us all forever.

Remember that the cost of simplicity is always less, and in this case, less is better. Don't try to change your life in a few weeks or months; most people need an initial period of three to five years to complete this transition. Sometimes circumstances force us into a quick transition. Small, gradual steps are best. In fact, simplicity is a lifelong path.

Here are a few simple thoughts...

1. Don't let any material thing come into your home unless you absolutely love it and want to keep it until it is beyond repair. Too much stuff - it's suffocating us. Purchasing, maintaining, insuring, storing and eventually disposing of our stuff sucks up our precious life energy.

2. Live in a home with only those rooms that you or someone in your family use every day. Create a cozy home environment that fits your family. You will find this is much more satisfying than living in a museum designed to impress your friends. Spending time and money to maintain a home that is larger than you truly need diverts these resources from more fulfilling endeavors.

3. Limit your work (outside of the home) to 30 hours a week, 20 if you are a parent. To live a balanced life, we need "down" time - time to daydream, to relax, to prepare a leisurely meal, to take a walk. If we surround our structured activities with empty spaces, those activities will become more productive and meaningful.

4. Select a home and place of employment no more than 30 minutes away from each other. Commuting time is dead time. It nourishes not the body, the mind, nor the soul. Preserve your energy and money for more rewarding life experiences.

5. Limit your own (and your children's, depending on age) extracurricular activities to one to three a week. Otherwise, you will exhaust yourself and your children will grow up addicted to constant stimulation.

6. If you are working, but even if you are not, make sure to take regular vacations and get away to whatever extent that you can for a change of pace. Spending some time in a different location fascinates, excites, and vitalizes us. It teaches us to live in the present, a core practice of simple living. We gain perspective when we experience something new or different. By stepping out of our routine , we can experience that we do have a life that we can be grateful for.

7. Spend at least an hour a week in a natural setting, away from crowds of people, traffic, and buildings. Three to four hours of nature time each week is even better. There is nothing more basic, more simple, than the natural world. Gardening is a good example. You may already do this but do so intentionally.

8. Do whatever you need to do to connect with a sense of spirit in your life, whether it be prayer, religious services, journal writing, meditation, or spiritually-related reading. Simplicity leads to spirituality; spirituality leads to simplicity. Cultivate a practice of silence and solitude, even for 15 to 30 minutes a day. Your sense of spirit will evolve naturally.

9. Seek the support of others who want to simplify their lives. Join with others who seek simplicity as a virtue and a lesson or blessing. Living simply in our culture can be a lonely journey. Your friends and family may still be on the work-and-spend treadmill, or worse, a treadmill of blame and complain, and are unlikely to give you support. Participating in a positive group will give you support and validation for your choices.

10. Practice saying no. Say no to those things that don't bring you inner peace and fulfillment, whether it be more material things, greater career responsibility, or added social activities. Be vigilant with your time and energy; they are limited resources. If you say yes to one thing (like a job promotion), recognize that you are saying no to something else (perhaps more time with family). Live consciously and deliberately. Remember that every yes is balanced by a no. So take charge of those choices.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

For the Home

Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR helps you make the energy efficient choice.

If looking for new household products, look for ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR. They meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.
If looking for a new home, look for one that has earned the ENERGY STAR.
If looking to make larger improvements to your home, EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your energy bills and improve home comfort.

For Business

Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings — for the bottom line and the environment — as typical approaches, EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating system which businesses have already used for more than 30,000 buildings across the country. EPA also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR.

BURNING WOOD FOR HEAT IS GOOD!

A growing awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels (such as natural gas, oil and coal) along with the desire to be more energy independent have encouraged a renewed interest in heating with wood. Not too long ago, even the best wood stoves weren't terribly efficient. In fact, the haze they produced was a sign that homeowners' hard earned heating money was literally going up in smoke. A lot has changed. That was when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated strict particle emissions standards for stove manufacturers. Today, all new wood stoves are EPA-certified. And that means they are much more efficient, and friendlier to the environment as well.

But doesn't burning wood produce pollutants just like coal or oil? Well, the answer is yes...and no. When fossil fuels are taken out of the earth and burned, they produce an overload of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And since these fuels are produced far from where they will ultimately be consumed, mishaps such as oil spills cause other problems. Once burned, fossil fuels are gone forever. Wood is different. As all plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and convert it to fiber. The carbon dioxide is released after they die, whether they are burned, or simply left to rot in the forest. This process is part of nature's cycle. Heating with wood can be both satisfying and economical. But it requires special care right from the beginning.

Shop around for the best stove.

Your stove will be part of your life for a long time, so it's smart to get the best stove you can afford. Ask dealers about the their own products and the competition. Most important: talk to one or more chimney sweeps or wood stove owners about the brands you're interested in, and get recommendations from them. There's no substitute for a third- party opinion based on practical experience.

Installing your Wood Stove.

Once you've chosen your new stove, your best bet is to have it installed professionally, for safety reasons. The record is not good on self- installations. Above all, don't install your stove in confined spaces. Proper clearances, and professional installation, are vital elements in the safe, efficient operation of your stove. The installation guide included with your new wood stove will contain precise information about safety measures for that particular model. To insure a safe installation, call your local fire department and ask for an inspection.

Ten Steps to maximum wood burning efficiency.

Wood smoke is caused by the incomplete combustion of wood. This can pollute the air indoors and outdoors as well as contribute to higher heating costs. Fortunately, the cure for cutting down on pollution and waste also cuts the costs by burning wood with safety and efficiency.

1. Burn seasoned wood. Up to 50% of the weight of green wood can be moisture, which has to be burned off before heat can be released into your house. Seasoned wood burns hotter and more efficiently, helps decrease the amount of creosote buildup in your stovepipe. Seasoned wood saves you money and saves the environment.

2. Make your fires small and hot. This burns volatile gases more quickly, producing fewer safety hazards and air quality problems than a fire that is over-damped. Smaller, hotter fires mean more frequent loading and tending the stove...but the improved efficiency and air quality are worth the effort.

3. Install a stack thermometer on the stove flue. This will help you monitor the temperature of the gases as they leave the stove. Optimum range for most efficiency and least pollution: about 300 to 400 F.

4. Remove excess ashes. Too much can clog your stove's air-intake vents and cut down on the amount of oxygen needed for wood burning.

5. Tighten up your house. Insulation, weather stripping, storm windows and caulking~ can all reduce the amount of wood required to heat your home, which in turn helps decrease the amount of air pollution.

6. Check your "smokestack." Burn your stove at different rates, then go outside and check the emissions. The absence of smoke indicates that your stove is burning cleanly and effectively.

7. Inspect your stove. Once or twice a year, depending on how often it's used, your entire stove and chimney should be inspected. Look for warping, check the baffle to make sure there are no gaps, check for creosote. Your dealer can make regular inspections, and so can a chimney sweep.

8. Choose the proper size stove. A properly sized wood stove will do its job efficiently even on the coldest days. One that's too big needs to be damped down, which increases creosote production. The insulation in your home is a factor as well. To be sure you select the right-size stove, take along to your dealer the number of square feet to be heated, and the amount of insulation surrounding the area to be heated.

9. Buy the most efficient design you can afford. It'll pay for itself in the long run. Research has made great strides in designing fireboxes, drafts, catalytic combustors and other devices that improve combustion and reduce smoke. Maybe it's time to retire that old "smoker" and modernize.

10. Burn only the fuel your stove was, designed for. Don't burn coal in a wood stove, for example, unless your stove was designed to handle both wood and coal. Trash shouldn't be burned in your stove either besides increasing the chance of starting a chimney fire, some plastics and other trash emit harmful gases, and can ruin your catalytic combustor. Driftwood, treated wood, artificial logs, or anything containing plastics, lead, zinc or sulfur will damage your catalytic combustor.

UPGRADING YOUR EXISTING FIREPLACE

Glass Doors, improved dampers, firebacks and heat exchangers can help.

Ah, the Fireplace....that icon of luxury and relaxation that represents an escape from the pressures of everyday life. The flickering flames mesmerize and make one forget that most fireplaces add significantly to the cost of home heating! Yes, that big hole in the wall can be responsible for your having to work HARDER to pay your energy bills...and very few folks enjoy higher monthly bills.

Open fireplaces can vary greatly in their efficiency, typically being anywhere from -20% (meaning they lose a lot more heat than they gain) to as much as +10-20% positive.....which indicates that they deliver a small portion of the wood's heat back into your home.

You could certainly convert your fireplace with a fireplace inserted stove, but this can be an expensive proposition (approx. $600 to $2,000). Many of the units offer a built-in heat exchange for the same price of a quality heat-exchange alone. The wood stove insert offers many of the features of glass doors, improved dampers, firebacks, improved dampers, firebacks and heat exchanges all for one reasonable price. The inserts do not modify the look of a closed fireplace in use although they may not look like a fireplace without an insert. The appearance is not radically changed. The improvement in function far outweighs all other considerations.

Occasional fireplace users may not want to change the look of their decor with such an installation. There are, however, some less expensive steps you can take to assure you are getting the most from your existing fireplace.

Grates

Having a good fireplace grate can increase the efficiency of a fireplace AND make fires easier to start and tend. Some grates are specially designed to make the wood fire radiate better into the room. An example is "The Grate Wall of Fire", which uses clever design to make the glowing part of the logs project heat forward. Note that this type of grate works best with open fires, when a glass door is either not installed or left open during the hottest parts of the fire.

An example of a high quality standard grate can be found in a product called The Self Feeding Fireplace Grate. These grates properly cradle the wood and allow for air to enter from underneath. The rounded design allow the wood to settle toward the middle of the grate, therefore requiring less tending.

Firebacks

Firebacks are upright panels which sit behind the grate and serve a number of purposes. They reflect heat off the rear wall, creating a safer installation and helping to throw heat forward into the living area. The cast iron models are also decorative and can add an heirloom quality look to your fireplace. Some of the highest quality firebacks are produced by the artists at Pennsylvania Firebacks.

Fireplace Heat Exchangers

If you are looking to heat a room or two with your fireplace, a forced air (blower) heat exchanger may be just the ticket. My recommendation is to shop carefully and select a unit which will hold up to the high temperatures and corrosive effects of the fire. Check the warranty carefully as well as the owners manual and manufacturers literature and reputation. I would not recommend the cheap heat exchanger grates commonly sold by home centers and hardware stores - expect to spend $450-$700 for a quality unit. Two brands names which appear well made are The Fireplace Radiator and Eco-Fire.

Glass Doors

Another way to improve the efficiency of your fireplace is to limit the available air by the use of glass doors. Using such doors will control the intensity of the fire and slow the rush of heated air up the chimney. These are especially useful when the fire is burning low and you cannot yet close the damper. The idea method of operation for most glass doors is to leave them open when the fire is burning hot and to close them when it is lower and going out.

Most fireplace doors are built using tempered glass which is only good to approx. 600 degrees F. This glass can break due to shock or excess heat if kept closed during hot fires. Some manufacturers offer an upgrade to Ceramic Glass, which is good to 1400 degrees F.

Note: Pre-fab (metal) fireplaces can only be fit with glass doors made by the fireplace manufacturer or approved by another testing authority for such use.

Fireplace Dampers

A fireplace damper serves two purposes. It can be adjusted during the course of the fire to allow less airflow up the chimney and therefore less heat loss. It also should provide a relatively tight seal when closed.

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign

THE CURRENT SITUATION:

While US foreign policy finds us engaged in conflicts in different parts of the world, there is an unreported but deadly war going on within our own borders. This war on America's poor and working families has left many of us without our economic human rights to food, housing, healthcare, education, communication and living wage jobs.

There are now over 31 million Americans living in poverty. 12.2 million children in our nation are poor, with over 1.35 million of them homeless. Over 43 million Americans have no healthcare and there are currently over 10 million unemployed Americans.

Our Vision...

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is building a movement that unites the poor across color lines. Poverty afflicts Americans of all colors. Daily more and more of us are downsized and impoverished. We share a common interest in uniting against the prevailing conditions and around our vision of a society where we all have the right to health care, housing, living wage jobs, and access to quality primary, secondary, and higher education.

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign includes people of many backgrounds. We are mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents; we are the unemployed, the working poor, the downsized, the homeless, the victims of welfare reform and NAFTA, the cast-asides of the new economy; we are social workers, religious leaders, labor leaders, artists, lawyers, and other people of conscience; we are young and old; we live in rural areas and in urban centers.

We are committed to uniting the poor as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty everywhere and forever. We work to accomplish this aim through the promotion of economic human rights, named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Articles 23, 25, and 26. These articles state our right to such provisions as housing, health care, a living wage job, and education. The founding creed of the United States of America, which asserts our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, inspired the formulation of these human rights. Our government signed the UDHR in 1948; its full implementation would mean that our country would be living out the true meaning of its creed. This American Dream is possible because our country is the richest and most powerful in the world.

We do not seek pity. We do seek power to end conditions that threaten all of us with economic human rights violations denying us our birthrights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

On the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international standard for Human Rights, expresses the rights due every human being - including food, housing, communication and living wage jobs. While claiming to defend human rights, the United States has consistantly ignored and undermined the global consensus on economic human rights.

How to Survive Nuclear Winter

– by James Roberts - September, 2007 - SecretsofSurvival.com

Suddenly, you hear the explosions in the distance while sipping a cold drink from your mountaintop estate. You've heard guns being fired before. You're a Desert Storm veteran, so you've heard bombs as well.

But you've never heard anything like this. After all, as the explosions continue and you look out the window, the mushroom clouds swirl up into the sky like tornados in the distance. Suddenly, you realize that this is the worst case scenario. It's something that your mind only allowed access to in nightmares.

It's a nuclear war.

The good news? The nuclear bombs are being set off a great distance away from you. The bad news?

Nuclear winter is shortly on its way... and you don't have a dog sled.

What is Nuclear Winter?

Nuclear winter is a theoretical concept. In short, many scientists believe that a large scale nuclear war would change the global climate in great proportion. This is because such a war would likely catapult large amounts of soot and smoke (aerosal particles) into the Earth's stratosphere. Along with this, the ash and dust ( which could settle in the stratosphere for months or even years ) would likely travel by wind over a great distance to create a wall between the Earth and sun.

Subsequently, sunlight would have difficulty breaking through, and this would cause the temperatures to drop.

In 1990, a group consisting of R.P. Turco, O.B. Toon, T.P. Ackerman, J.B. Pollack, and Carl Sagan ( called TTAPS based on the last names of the participants ) wrote a paper entitled, "Climate and Smoke: An Appraisal of Nuclear Winter". In this controversial paper, the authors attempted to outline what would happen weather- wise as a result of a nuclear war. Here's what they predicted.

First 1-3 months: Ten to 25% of soot injected would be removed by precipitation. The rest would ride wind and spread across the Earth.

If it were to happen in July ( a July smoke injection ): There would be a 22 degree C drop in mid-latitudes and 10 degree drop in more humid areas. Further, the authors surmised a 75% drop in rainfall, and as much as a 90% drop in visibility in high smoke areas.

Beyond that the authors hypothesized that the ozone could be depleted greatly, leading to a huge increase in dangerous UV radiation seeping through to our world.

Not exactly great news, huh? Good thing is that many scientists have more recently theorized that nuclear winter wouldn't have anywhere near an effect so devastating.

Still, a study gone over at the annual American Geophysical Meeting in December of2006 cited that even a small scale regional nuclear war could mess with the global climate for a decade or more. So, even if the TTAPS crew did overestimate things, the possibility of nuclear winter, especially considering the fact that we're experiencing obvious global climate change without any such happening, is something to worry about. After all, the possibility of these strange climactic events all coming together at once couldn't be a good thing.

Add in the fact that countries like Iran and North Korea are getting into the nuclear game, and the prognosis becomes even bleaker. Oh yeah, and there's also those terrorists wanting to do everyone harm.

Taken together, this would all seem to beg the following question.

Will I Survive Nuclear Winter?

Dealing with UV radiation -First order of business is the fact that ozone depletion could cause an abundance of UV radiation to seep through into our atmosphere. Thus, we would need to deal with this excess radiation, which in high amounts can cause skin cancer and eye problems ( especially to the cornea ). In fact, eye damage can actually occur without any pain or discomfort.

In other words, without warning. Thus, here are some things to consider.

1. Be covered from head to toe when under UV exposure. In other words, protect your skin!

2. Wear a hat and stay in the shade as often as possible ( this is one thing that may be easier than it used to be if a nuclear winter were to occur! ).

3. Use sunscreen with a high UV protection factor.

4. Protect your eyes. Sunglasses can do this, as can lab safety glasses and / or goggles.

5. Remember that children are more susceptible to UV radiation. Protect them without fail.

Dealing with the cold -We really have no idea how cold it could get during a nuclear winter. Some, like the TTAPS crew, have proposed that it's going to get real cold. However, there is a growing feeling in the scientific community that these projections were way too strong. Regardless, with the already changing global climate, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Therefore, here are some considerations in dealing with a longstanding cold spell.

1. Have emergency heating supplies on hand. - Remember that if a nuclear war were to occur, electric, gas, and oil might be off the table. Thus, it might be prudent to have a stove and a surplus of firewood at your home. Further, it couldn't hurt to have excess supplies of your preferred heating fuel stored away safely somewhere.

2. Have appropriate clothing on hand. - Remember that clothing in frigid conditions should keep the body warm, protect the outer extremities, allow perspiration to disperse, allow free movement, and be comfortable. Thus, it is for the most part better to have several layers of clothing on rather than just one very thick layer. This is because the extra layers allow easier movement. Further, perspiration disperses more readily with several layers than with one.

Beyond that, it would seem important to have boots, gloves, and sunglasses / goggles on hand. This may seem obvious to northerners, but remember that a nuclear winter could also reach those in warmer climates not accustomed to such weather.

Then there's food -Remember that a longstanding winter would, of course, impact our ability to grow food ( also remember that in a nuclear winter, the amount of sunlight and precipitation would change ). Thus, food would no doubt become an issue even if the rest of our social structure remained intact.

Therefore, finding ways to produce food on your own or within your social network would likely become vitally important. Initially, though, you might want to have a significant amount of non perishable food and water on hand. In fact, no matter what the emergency this could become needed ( tsunami, regular war, a terrorist attack of a different sort, etc. ).

In other words, having a food supply on hand is a necessity in this day and age. Have one ready.

Last, remember that a nuclear winter indicates that a nuclear war has occurred

Seems silly to mention, right? On the other hand, the point cannot be overstated. After all, the consequences of a nuclear conflict will go well beyond global climactic change and a nuclear winter. Depending on the size of the nuclear conflict, there could be widespread social disorder and chaos.

In other words, be ready to protect yourself. How? Check out the following hypothetical article that will point you in the direction of things to consider:

How to Survive the Collapse of Civilization

In sum, no one really knows how a nuclear winter would look. It's a hypothetical set of circumstances. However, scientists all do seem to agree that climactic change would certainly occur because of a nuclear war ( even a small, regional conflict ). Therefore, as with anything, you need to assess whether you believe we're on the doorstep of a possible nuclear conflict. If so, best start getting ready now.

In the end, it's always up to you to decide.

REFERENCES:

Nuclear Winter Climate Change

Ultraviolet Radiation From the Sun

Massive Economic Disaster Seems Possible -- Will Survivalists Get the Last Laugh?

With multiple crises on the horizon, survivalist views don't seem as marginal as they did before.

By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted July 26, 2008.

From Personal to Global Coherence

(A Journey With You and HeartMath)

Personal Coherence

This project has been initiated because many people are showing an increased interest in participating in activities and organizations that can facilitate positive change at a global level. We believe the Global Coherence Project offers a unique opportunity to increase personal coherence and improve the well-being of the planet.

GCP Is the earth affected by mass human emotion, whether positive or negative? Through science and technology, The Global Coherence Project will be doing experiments to find out. You can learn more about the technology and become involved with the project by going to www.globalcoherenceproject.org

This is something I am personally very excited about as it encompasses many aspects of our work and offers an opportunity for people all over the world to come together in a meaningful, effective way.

Please visit the Global Coherence Project Web site, sign up for free membership at www.globalcoherenceproject.org and help us build a better world.

Think of a time when everything in your life seemed perfect: your mind was as clear as a cloudless day high on a mountain, your heart full with purpose and promise, your emotions true and unburdened as in the first moment of new friendship. You could feel the energetic life coursing through your body and you looked upon yourself and all persons with genuine caring and appreciation, simply for being. Life was good and everything was just so! Oh, to be in this a place for more than a few hours or a few days.

This idyllic state is known as coherence, in this instance personal coherence. It is a very real psychophysiological state that can be measured in the waveforms, or rhythms, of our hearts, which, like all of our bodies’ systems, are orderly and harmonious at such times. Virtually none of our energy is wasted when we are in coherence and we enjoy a synchronicity between the heart, brain, respiratory and other systems. We are in sync, in the flow and the sky’s the limit.

"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."

—Confucius, 551-479 BC

Community Coherence

Perhaps you can recall another time when your own or another’s personal coherence seemed to permeate a gathering of friends, members of an athletic team, colleagues collaborating on a project or likeminded persons embarked upon a noble quest.

Science tells us this community coherence actually generates a measurable connection from one person to another through the electromagnetic field of each when they are in close proximity to one another. Moreover, researchers with the Institute of HeartMath have shown, the heart’s powerful electrical signal shows up in the brain waves of people in this close proximity, establishing a scientifically measurable connection between people that does not involve touch, and suggesting a threshold of communication we may one day master.

Global Coherence

The intelligence of the human heart and the powerful electromagnetic field it generates are of great interest to the Institute of HeartMath because we believe they may soon provide the vehicle for achievable mass global cooperation in the healing of our planet. Through the attainment of heart coherence on a global scale, the human family may at last achieve the wisdom and the will to solve its greatest problems.

IHM’s dedicated researchers and staff are committed to joining with an international cadre of individuals and organizations who wish to promote and achieve heart-based living and global coherence – the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the greater community of human beings acting in concert with their own hearts, each other and nation to nation in harmony with our living planet.

"In the shelter of each other, the people live."

—Gaelic Proverb

The Global Coherence Project

(A Call to Action)

Now, perhaps more than any other time in history, the health and well-being of our planet and its life forms are severely threatened and the need for clarity of purpose and commitment to action is critical – whether from the stewards of governments or caretakers of the afflicted, the captains of industry or the guardians of children.

The great concerns of our time – the melting of the ice caps, war and terrorism, rapid depletion of nonrenewable energy sources, entire nations at the brink or in the throes of starvation – have led to critical levels of individual and collective incoherence. Stress is pandemic in many of the world’s industrialized nations and the result is a crisis of anxiety, anger, depression and a host of other negative emotions and debilitating conditions.

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

—Gandhi, 1869-1948

For these reasons and out a sense of heartfelt caring, compassion and community, the Institute of HeartMath has embarked upon a grand quest: the Global Coherence Project, whose aim is to nurture and sustain our planet through global coherence by enabling millions of people to connect with the power, wisdom and guidance of their own hearts. HeartMath aspires to no less than a planetary shift to heart consciousness and we respectfully request your participation and the benefit of your heart’s wisdom as we enlist groups of people around the world to take part in the Global Coherence Project.

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

—Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865

The Global Coherence Monitoring System

A key component of the Global Coherence Project is the Global Coherence Monitoring System (GCMS), an undertaking that is unique in human history and which the Institute of HeartMath envisions will have vital and long-lasting implications for the health and well-being of our planet.

The GCMS will measure how fluctuations and resonances in the earth and ionosphere’s magnetic fields affect or are influenced by human heart-rhythm patterns, brain activity, stress and emotions. Together, HeartMath and astrophysicist/nuclear scientist Elizabeth Rauscher will build an elaborate system of tracking stations around the world to gather data.

Researchers will examine this date to determine whether the magnetic fields can be influenced by collective human emotional resonance following major events and whether the emotional energy generated by collective intuition about major future events is measurable in these fields. Analysts also will examine the data to assess whether the magnetic field shows indications of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other planetary physical events.

Your Ecological Footprint:

Ecological footprint (EF) analysis measures human demand on nature. It compares human consumption of natural resources with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. It is an estimate of the amount of biologically productive land and sea area to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and to absorb the corresponding waste, given prevailing technology. Using this assessment, it is possible to estimate how many planet Earths it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle.

Ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires? You're about to find out.

This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.

CAUTION: THIS QUIZ MAY SURPRISE YOU, SHOCK YOU, OR MAKE YOU THINK. PLEASE REMAIN CALM...BUT NOT TOO CALM!!

CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO. Answer the questions.

A sustainable goal is 4.5 or lower. You can get suggestions on how to reduce your footprint. Don't feel badly if you are above 10 and under 20. It's those people far over 20 we have to convince that they are killing the planet. Image those with a footprint above 200 or more! Don't blame me, mine is around 4.5 which is our goal.

photo images and text by Skidway Lake Area News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Skidway Lake Area News

Prescott, Michigan 48756

Turn Left for Sustainable GrowthJosep h E. Stiglitz