What I learned at the Island Sustainability Conference
I learned a lot this weekend. I took workshops on residential power systems and the history of island farms. I heard speakers warn of oil and water shortages and brighten the room with encouragement for front lawn kitchen gardens. I ate locally harvested, masterfully prepared meals and discussed the current (chronic?) economic hardships of island living. I took away piles of power point presentation handouts and brochures for working waterfront businesses.
I am proud to be an islander for the time being, even if my allegiance is wavering.
During talks of how to efficiently heat 4,000 square foot homes and the seemingly prohibitive cost of photovoltaic systems perched on snowy rooftops and the ridiculous real estate values for being able to glimpse the waterfront from a tiny island home, my thoughts kept returning to one thing:
Get back on a boat.
On a boat of simple design you can charge all your batteries to run your lights and electronics with a couple of fairly cheap solar panels strapped to the deck.
You know how much fuel you need to use to run your engine because you pour it into the tanks and watch the numbers click over on the pump and so you try to sail as much as you can.
You have sails! The wind pushes and pulls and gets you to your destination. Not always quickly, but eventually.
You know what happens to your waste, both consumer and human. You don't throw plastic overboard. You try to buy things in bulk so you don't have to deal with a stinking bag of dirty plastic baggies and jars. Or you reuse peanut butter jars for beans and rice or dirty oil that you dispose of at a boatyard (where yes, if its not recycled it may go into a landfill- its hard to be totally out of the loop). You shit into a toilet and that waste goes overboard into the ocean, dissolving and feeding fish (don't think about that one too much) or into another receptacle where it waits and stinks up your boat until you can get it pumped into some city's sewer system (which eventually leads back into the sea).
Space is limited but totally livable and efficient. Why do two people need thousands of square feet to take care of and heat and maintain and barely use?
So I am glad I went to the sustainability conference because it made me angry. In a good way. In a I need to change the world way. In a I need to change myself and live how I preach way.
Gitane, get ready for a refit. I'm coming home.
I am proud to be an islander for the time being, even if my allegiance is wavering.
During talks of how to efficiently heat 4,000 square foot homes and the seemingly prohibitive cost of photovoltaic systems perched on snowy rooftops and the ridiculous real estate values for being able to glimpse the waterfront from a tiny island home, my thoughts kept returning to one thing:
Get back on a boat.
On a boat of simple design you can charge all your batteries to run your lights and electronics with a couple of fairly cheap solar panels strapped to the deck.
You know how much fuel you need to use to run your engine because you pour it into the tanks and watch the numbers click over on the pump and so you try to sail as much as you can.
You have sails! The wind pushes and pulls and gets you to your destination. Not always quickly, but eventually.
You know what happens to your waste, both consumer and human. You don't throw plastic overboard. You try to buy things in bulk so you don't have to deal with a stinking bag of dirty plastic baggies and jars. Or you reuse peanut butter jars for beans and rice or dirty oil that you dispose of at a boatyard (where yes, if its not recycled it may go into a landfill- its hard to be totally out of the loop). You shit into a toilet and that waste goes overboard into the ocean, dissolving and feeding fish (don't think about that one too much) or into another receptacle where it waits and stinks up your boat until you can get it pumped into some city's sewer system (which eventually leads back into the sea).
Space is limited but totally livable and efficient. Why do two people need thousands of square feet to take care of and heat and maintain and barely use?
So I am glad I went to the sustainability conference because it made me angry. In a good way. In a I need to change the world way. In a I need to change myself and live how I preach way.
Gitane, get ready for a refit. I'm coming home.
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