In support of the Earth

On 22 April 2020 it will be the 50th anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day is marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and create global, national and local policy changes.  Now, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more and more apparent every day.

Our current pandemic is linked to this crisis -as humanity puts pressure on wild spaces, so we live ever closer to animals we used to be distant from, and some people are suggesting the transfer from animals to humans of diseases is now more common.

The Swan River at Walyunga in the autumn -the water level is low and we all wait for the winter rains -will they come this year? 

Now, I know that the pandemic seems like it is drowning out every other concern we have at the moment, but in fact we have been at huge risk of destroying everything that makes for a viable living environment for humans, animals and the biosphere for decades now. Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.  Link here 

We have an opportunity, in this time of self quarantine, to reflect on how we live and how we want to live. In all the things we are missing -and I guess you like me are missing a whole lot of people and a whole lot of social experiences (orchestral concerts, restaurant meals, parties, the library) - I wonder if we will find our true values. Just like we have discovered who is a truly essential worker -and often they are the lowest paid of our society-the cleaners, shop workers, rubbish collectors, transport workers- so we may find what else is essential and what we could let go of.

This week I was pleased to offer some of my garden produce to my neighbours. A basket of pomegranates was so well received by one person that they came back and put three chocolate frogs in my letterbox! A bucket of limes were also well received. Someone nearby had bought a box of compost worms only to find that they were nearly all dead -so I gave them some of mine and in return they gave me a banana pup, which will go to my son and daughter in law's garden.

We are continuing to support our daughter in law and the family as they set up their own garden of produce from scratch. It is such fun to see them getting excited by sowing seeds.

Meanwhile we are eating home grown pumpkins, mandarins and pink grapefruit as well as the mizuna, herbs and capsicums.

I have started a new quilt -celebrating all things gardening! I continue to work for a few hours each day in the garden -I am striving to get better at saving seeds, growing from seed and making compost.

I saved the seed from the pumpkin, which was just as well as DGS1 thinks a garden without a pumpkin patch hardly counts.

Inspiration 
Blog
https://www.shoestringcottage.com/20-things-i-dont-buy-to-save-money-and-waste/

Permaculture podcast!
https://pdcastsusworldradio.libsyn.com/

This episode is a good one https://pdcastsusworldradio.libsyn.com/a-diversity-of-solutions

And this one! http://www.futuresteading.com.au/

Women, art, struggle and community

On International Women's Day I attended an exhibition of traditional Palestinian embroidery, made by members of the diaspora who are now living in Perth. They had been brought together to learn to do their cultural designs and in the process learn each other's stories and connect with their community.  It was wonderful to see so many people supporting this, and to meet the women involved.  The exhibition was located in a community art centre, with funds and mentoring from a local art group.

It followed a Unionist rally on the Friday evening before, to speak powerfully about the struggle for women which is still going on. A young female 'sparkie" (electrician) spoke about her insurance for wage support during periods of sick leave, being set up in such a way that a woman with long term problems during pregnancy would not be eligible. Women unionists intervened for her and secured a win for her and for all other women. The wage gap between average weekly earnings for women and men in this part of Australia is a whopping 22% -mainly due to the difference that traditional women's work (child care for example) is paid compared to that of traditional male roles. We all agreed "a woman's place is in the struggle!"

This is important, because the COVID19 pandemic will hurt many people hard -and women are often in very vulnerable positions -they work in the 'gig' economy, they are employed as casuals, they have part time work due to family responsibilities. Many young people too are going to find this hard -people at the start of their mortgages, people who are still trying to get into the housing market, people who are unemployed and other groups like disabled workers.

This weekend we were to go to a lovely concert of orchestral music, which was cancelled. What will happen to the wages of the musicians, the hall cleaners, the ushers, the cafe and bar staff?  Our community choir decided very reluctantly to cancel our rehearsals until further notice -and thus our choir director, whose income comes from groups like ours -suffers a hit. Our quilting guild has suspended meetings -and so the Local Quilt Shops which have displays at our big meetings, will suffer a hit.

DH and I took a 'day off' this week from all the worries and travelled about 90 minutes south to a charming country town to visit the Harvey Art Centre Quilt and Craft show. The picture above is a quilt by Jenny Deering, who said that it was only when she joined the group that she had the impetus to finish a project which began 15 years ago! There were many lovely quilts on show, along with other craft work. We had lunch in a local cafe and then, on the recommendation of a local, found a wonderful garden to explore.

All of this has me thinking about the power of art and community and how they go together.  Art and beauty are part of our soul food - I know they are very important to my well being and my mental health.  Not more than food or shelter or water, of course, but quite close to the top of human needs. You might have seen some heartwarming clips from Italy, where people have been singing from their balconies during their lockdown -an expression of community and art, if ever I saw one! Artists of all kinds do wonderful things for us and deserve our support, especially now when their work is drying up rapidly.

Just as we must try to support our neighbours and check up on them, just as we are supporting local businesses, so we need to offer support to the arts community. If you have any opportunity to do so, maybe buy a piece of art (doesn't have to be expensive) or a music recording, become a patron of a creative person (patreon is often used for this purpose). 

Meanwhile, I will be here while DH travels interstate, in the process of helping our son, daughter in law and grandchildren to move back to Perth. This is hardly a great time for it, but it is what it is. I have my quilting and my garden, both offering creative outlets for when my anxiety levels begin to climb. I have been exploring water colours and I think it is high time I got back to having another go. I have a wonderful collection of music, and always find that music lifts the spirits.

I hope we can all find a sense of community and a lifting of the spirits.

Thank you for reading, and for the comments on last week's post.

What now? What does enough look like?

We have been recovering from our Sustainable House Open Day last weekend, giving ourselves time to just potter a bit in the garden. We are thinking about the list we created about how we might go further into sustainability ( in last week's post) and what we might tackle next. DH is intrigued about electric vehicles...and given the news about the rate of climate change, we might all need to take concrete steps towards changing our lives and our economies, even before it becomes completely cost-effective on an individual level. Every movement needs 'early adopters' who show others the way.

Here is a very important article from George Monbiot: written on the eve of the Climate Strike

"in seeking to prevent climate breakdown, what counts is not what you do but what you stop doing. It doesn’t matter how many solar panels you install if you don’t simultaneously shut down coal and gas burners. Unless existing fossil fuel plants are retired before the end of their lives, and all exploration and development of new fossil fuel reserves is cancelled, there is little chance of preventing more than 1.5C of global heating".

"Individually and collectively, it is time to decide what “enough” looks like, and how to know when we’ve achieved it."

Did you attend the Climate Strike where you are? DH and I were part of a large crowd here in Perth Western Australia. We estimate about 15,000 people were present - a large gathering for our city. Here is a picture I took early on- later the whole of Forrest Chase was packed and there was standing room only.

The challenge is clear. 

Top climate scientists issued a report recently showing that over the last several years, sea-level rise, planetary warming, shrinking ice sheets and carbon pollution have accelerated; a sobering call to action for political leaders headed to New York for summit-level climate change talks this week at the United Nations.  The scientists say that “only immediate and all-inclusive action encompassing: deep de-carbonization complemented by ambitious policy measures, protection and enhancement of carbon sinks and biodiversity, and efforts to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, will enable us to meet the Paris Agreement.”

This is sobering stuff. So it is important that we each take what steps we can, and encourage others to do so too. Our government must make it impossible to, say, open new coal or gas mines and new coal fired power stations. At the moment the Australian government doesn't seem to want to do anything of the sort. We are going to be in struggle for life on this planet, and I think there is a lot of struggle to come. I hope we can, through our own simple living/sustainable living blogs connect with each other and encourage each other on the journey. Thank you for visiting mine. 

Raising my voice

This is Anti Poverty Week, and so I went along to the rally in the city of Perth. I see this as part of my Simple Living practice: to engage with the community in ways to improve our lives together. If I want my life to be sustainable and simple I am sure the answer lies in assisting positive social change for all. I am not living this life in isolation. 

It is shocking that inequality is growing around the world. In Australia it is fueled by the lack of entry level jobs, wage stagnation and the fact that the Newstart allowance given to job seekers has not increased for 25 years.

There is an increasing tendency to blame the poor for their situation, instead of seeing it in structural terms. We can fix poverty by doing several basic things: raising Newstart, creating more social housing and ending the scandalous Robodebt fiasco, where welfare recipients are being forced to defend themselves from paying fake debts to Centrelink. It is estimated at least 1 in 6 is fake or needs to be corrected.  Then there is the punitive use of Cashless Welfare Cards, to stigmatise welfare recipients and take away their agency to make decisions about their use of welfare support.

Here is the St Vincent de Paul statement about the Cashless Welfare Card:  St Vincent de Paul Society does not support the cashless welfare card. There is no evidence it improves the wellbeing of individuals or communities, either by reducing substance abuse or by increasing employment outcomes. The cashless welfare card also carries a high risk of unintended and expensive consequences across government and the community, including social exclusion and stigmatisation, increased financial hardship, and the erosion of individual autonomy and dignity. Ultimately, this is a punitive and paternalistic measure that is driven by ideology rather than evidence.Find more here 

There was a major rally to call for a total ban on fracking non-conventional gas in Western Australia.  I went to that one, too! We are worried about the impact of fracking on our natural environment, particularly on our water supplies. 

The final thing I did in a fortnight of raising my voice was that I attended my local City of Joondalup council meeting, to assist with a campaign to get them to consider divesting from fossil fuels.  The group I went with comes from 350.org Perth. we are building the Divestment movement and resisting new fossil fuel projects to build a broad and effective climate movement powerful enough to create a safe climate future.

This is what I said:

I ask Councillors to support the motion that

"the CEO to prepare a report on the options for the city to change its risk appetite and investment policy to place a greater percentage of invested funds into institutions that have all (or a great majority) of their portfolio in fossil fuel free investments, providing that in so doing the City can secure a rate of return that is at least equal to the alternative offered by other institutions".

Climate change is, as you and I know, one of the challenges facing the City of Joondalup in the future. I refer you to the recently released “Coastal Survey Outcomes Report” which has been considering how our city might respond to the challenges of coastal erosion due to rising sea levels.

I also refer you to the City of Joondalup Environment Plan 2014 to 2019 which has a whole chapter on Climate Change Mitigation. If we are serious about this problem for our City, we won’t be undermining our efforts at reducing waste and supporting local environments by using the City’s assets to invest in industries which will make climate change worse! We can send a clear message to the fossil fuel industry: change your ways now and join us in tackling climate change
As the Mayors of London and New York said on 10th September this year that “We believe that ending institutional investment in companies that extract fossil fuels and contribute directly to climate change can help send a very powerful message that renewables and low-carbon options are the future. If we want to fund the scale of transformation the world needs, we must foster sustainable investment and use the power of institutional investors.”.

Do you get involved with local community actions like this?