Terry Kok
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BEYOND THE LIE – PART 1
What if you, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and maybe ancestors further back. were told a really big LIE, one they based their life and counted on to be true? If this LIE unraveled before your eyes and all that you thought was true collapsed and crumbled, leaving you and your friends and family in dire straights, what would you do? Would you suicide? Would you attempt to keep living like you did even though it is an impossibility? Or, would you learn how to adapt?
ADAPTATION is a big word for some folks. My thesaurus defines it as an alteration, adjustment, acclimatization, modification, change. The BIG LIE says that a corporate controlled industrial civilization is sustainable, that it can continue to rape nature to provide us with life support with no consequences to be faced, that it is the best and only proper way to live. It is a LIE designed by the industrialists so that we would buy and consume their products and work in their factories. The LIE is currently being exposed by time and nature.
The corporate controlled industrial civilization is crashing, running up against the wall of population growth, diminishing natural resources, environmental destruction, and internal corruption. Rome is falling and those who relied on it are in dire straights. The truth is that no stimulus package is large enough to replace what we’re losing and restore what we once knew. There are too many forces converging for that. Rather, we should learn how to adapt, how to acclimatize to our emerging situation. We don’t have much time to act. The whole planet is experiencing the same thing. We are not alone in our realization that we have been lied to.
The consequences of past actions are knocking on at the door. Look around you. Read the news. We see wild weather, polluted waters and tainted air, and a collapsing economy built on non-sustainable practices. We see war, murder, rape, pedophilia, and dying oceans, melting glaciers, rising waters. We’re not stupid. We can read the signs. Yet, most of us do not know what we can do, how we can get out of this mess, and what should we build in place of it. We have gathered here to seek (and possibly find) viable solutions. We did not come here to argue the fine points, to divide ourselves with political proclamations, or to revel in the horror of what is coming down. We leave those topics to another time and place. Right now it is the appropriate moment to consider our options.
First, let us consider what we need for basic life support and how we might provide for ourselves and our family and friends, maybe even our neighborhood, community, nation, and the whole world. Yes, its good to think globally but we need to act locally and the most local place to start is with one’s own life. Let’s take a quick survey:
1) Who here walks instead of drives down the road?
2) Who here composts their garbage?
3) Who here composts their toilet waste?
4) Who here recycles their wash water?
5) Who here plants trees, berry bushes, wildflowers?
6) Who here grows an organic food garden?
7) Who here harnesses the wind?
8) Who here harvests the sun?
9) Who here knows how to maintain their health with natural foods, herbal medicines, and massage?
There is so much we can do. Yet, before we delve deeper into the alternatives we should take a bit of time exploring some of the things we can do to conserve energy in our homes:
Efficiency is the key here. If we leave the lights on or keep the TV plugged in (even when off), we are using more than we need. Did you know that almost every electronic plugged-in appliance is draining power even though it is not turned on? It is called a “phantom load”. Lots of phantom loads add up to a large steady power drain. Plug those electronics into a plug strip and turn off the plug strip when the appliance is not being used.
Turn off the lights you are not currently using. Do you really need to light the whole room with a big bulb when reading a book or would a small high intensity reading light conserve more power? Standard incandescent bulbs waste power in the form of heat. Compact fluorescent bulbs make less heat and are thus considerably more efficient than incandescents – unless the incandescent is used for a short time (like in a closet) because fluorescents take a bit more power to “fire up”. The most efficient lighting to date is a sulfur light. These use microwaves to stimulate sulfur to produce light. These bulbs pump out light like miniature suns. The light from one bulb is channeled to other locations via fiber optics. So far, these are very expensive and are not available on the open market. The next efficient light is an LED (light emitting diode). There are some great LED flashlights on the market these days and the screw in version are just starting to penetrate the mass marktplace. LEDS do not get hot, last almost “forever”, are hard to break, and use very little power. In my opinion, LED lighting is the way to go.
In a normal home, lighting takes considerable power but refrigeration takes much more. Super insulate the refrigerator with 6” more insulation. Put the compressor on top so that the heat from it rises away from the refrigerator, not up through the cold box like standard models. With a front opening door, every time the door opens the cold falls out. Use a model which opens like a chest freezer. The most energy efficient location for a refrigerator (in the northern hemisphere) is on the north (shaded) wall of the home close to or in contact with the ground (which is 55 degrees F). Do not put a refrigerator where the sun can shine on it!
Also, during the winter when water turns to ice, fill some jugs, let them freeze, then put them inside your refrigerator.
AC (alternating current) engines/motors/compressors, including those in refrigerators, are not as efficient as DC (direct current) models. DC refrigerators usually operate at 12 volts and can be run directly off a battery bank, which can be charged by solar electric panels (photovoltaics), wind generators, and microhydro units (which usually produce DC power). The refrigerators mentioned above are “compression cycle” machines. They are more efficient than the propane fired “evaporation cycle” refrigerators found in RVs and in many off-grid homes. Solid state refrigeration can be accomplished with Peltier Junction chips (some coolers which plug into cigarette lighter sockets are available) but the are not very efficient. Ultrasonic refrigeration (very efficient) is possible but not yet available on the open market.
Electric stoves, ovens, hair dryers, plug-in heaters, base-board heaters, hot plates, or anything which uses electricity to heat a coil of wire are very inefficient. Gas stoves are more efficient. Wood stoves work if you have a steady wood supply. Yet, wood smoke is also polluting and you need to plant more than you burn just to keep up. Solar energy is free. Consider your options. If you need a clothes dryer, a propane or natural gas dryer is better than an electric one. Try hanging the clothing in the sun on a line. It will save you much power.
Room heating should not be electric. A well-designed solar home that is super insulated can get by quite well with a woodstove or a small propane or natural gas powered heater to augment the sun’s power when it is not shining on the home. Super insulation is the key here. So is using an “air lock” hallway (with two doors) to keep the cold from getting in. Air conditioners are a huge drain on power. It is best to use the coolness of the earth itself (55 degrees F.) to cool your home. It is easy to construct a simple system of parallel pipes which run through the ground and into your home. Outside air is drawn in through the pipes and is cooled by the earth. The moisture in the outside air condenses in these pipes to produce distilled water. This is called an “air well”. During the summer, the home should be shaded by trees. Homes which are bermed or built into the ground (earth sheltered) are easier to cool and heat.
Water heating can be made more efficient by switching to an on-demand tankless style water heater which provides a steady stream of hot water for as long as you keep the faucet open and there is fuel to power it. There is running out of water because the tank is empty and no need to waste power keeping a tank of hot water waiting for when you want it. Tankless heaters make hot water as it is used and are available in propane and natural gas models. Some brands have a solar connected model where the tankless doesn’t turn on if the incoming water from the solar collector is already hot enough. Enterprising individuals have turned their old tank style heater into a solar water heater by stripping off the outer casing and insulation, painting the core tank stove black, and exposing it to the sun inside an insulated box with a glass cover made of an old shower door. Other folks have used coiled hose, PEX tubing or, if you can afford it, parallel runs of copper pipe.
Water use can be reduced in may ways. Don’t let the faucet run when not in use. Use misting shower heads and the ones which have a built-in button to push to turn off the flow while scrubbing up. Wash water, if not contaminated by harsh chemicals and old medicines poured down the drain or by toilet water, can be piped into the garden to keep it watered instead of down the drain, overburdening the aging sewage treatment infrastructure or filling the septic tank. Other folks are recycling their water inside greenhouses attached to their house, also acting as passive solar space heaters. Wash water is also called gray water. Gray water should not be mixed with the water which leaves your toilet bowl. This is called black water. Gray water is sometimes used to flush toilets. Yet, is the flush toilet such a great invention? Consider a composting toilet. With one of those, coupled with a gray water system, you can not only disconnect from the sewer lines and stop discharging into United States waters, you also end up with rich compost for the flower garden.
Cooking should be as efficient as possible. Solar box ovens (insulated boxes with black interiors, a piece of thermal glass on the front, and a reflector to focus more sunlight into the box) work great as long as the sun is shining – even in the winter! Electric stoves should be avoided. If you must use electricity for cooking, a microwave oven is more efficient than an electric stove because it cooks faster. Natural gas or propane stoves are much better. Steamed vegetables have more vitamins than over-boiled ones and steaming saves a lot of power. The more raw food we eat the less cooking is needed and the healthier we become.
In the electronics world, small is better. A laptop computer uses far less power than a desktop model. A small screened TV is more efficient than an large one. AN MP3 players uses a tiny amount of power compared to a CD player. Choose your appliances, electronics, and tools based on efficiency as well as performance. Do you need your a VCR in your home or would it be more fun to watch a movie with others in the community shelter? At the very least, turn off the lights when they are not being used! Conservation starts with awareness. If we are going to adapt to the changes we have to start by learning to conserve nature’s gifts. Remember: the more power we use the more power we have to produce.
We’re not trying to live like primitives here. We value a high level of peaceful and sustainable civilization. We simply realize that we can no longer be supported by big business must now adapt to the changing situation. Conservation on all levels is important. We need to do more with less. We need to plan ahead. We need to take control of the situation and show our neighbors how we did it. We need to step outside of the box, dare to be different, and take personal responsibility for providing ourselves with life support, including the energy we use.
By now I hope you know that the grid, as it is currently constructed, is not capable of handling the growing demand for energy. Huge storms bring the grid to the ground. Rebuild is expensive. Rates are raised. Fuel sources are hard to find and exploit. On top of that, many water delivery and sewage treatment systems are old, antiquated, breaking down. The industrial level infrastructure is in bad shape. Much of the groundwater is either tainted with industrial and agricultural chemicals or has been or is being depleted. Drought is becoming endemic in many regions. Deserts are spreading.
Of course we wonder what we can do besides conserve and recycle our resources. We need answers. Yet, while we may learn from others, the most important thing is to implement what we learn on a personal level, to the best of our ability. We need to take personal responsibility rather than wait for our substitute parents (big government and big business) to do it for us. Remember, Rome is in steep decline and cannot afford to keep us all alive. In the Empire’s eyes, more and more people are becoming expendable. The support net is frayed and torn. The mothership is sinking. There are not enough lifeboats.
We need to build backyard arks, life supporting waste recycling greenhouses, and renewable power systems. We need to build cooperative networks of friends and family, cooperative buying clubs so we can get those things we cannot produce ourselves or get from our neighbors – at a good price, below retail. We can learn, once again, how to barter, trade, and swap, or simply give our excess to those in need. We need to start our own power production companies, organic farms, building materials recycling centers, natural healthcare and disease prevention sanctuaries, and encourage our local and regional governments to use their political clout to bless and promote them.
We need to get the media aware of the situation and working for the people and not the BIG LIE. We need to put ourselves to work, pool resources, teach classes, get personally involved in the school system, upgrading it so that our children learn what is useful, not just what big government and big business wants them to know. Practical skills need to be shared. Grandmothers and grandfathers need to be questioned and asked to explain. Folk knowledge needs to be recovered, recorded, and made into instructional programs we can run on the Internet. We need art which shows us a positive sustainable future, pictures of a re-greened environment, people living sustainable ecovillage lifestyles, energy efficient long distant mass transport bullet trains, electric vehicles for local travel, bike lanes, walking paths, a rewriting of zoning ordinances to allow home scale businesses.
I’m not suggesting that we get rid of big business and it’s industrial prowness and employment opportunities. That would be foolish. I, for one, enjoy and thrive in a high level of civilization. I just want to have more control over my life and help big business clean up it’s act. Every watt I produce is one they don’t have to. Every vegetable I grow and chicken I raise does not have to be produced on a factory farm. Every drop of water I catch in my rain barrel and cistern is another which I don’t need to purchase for the utilities. I can dig mini-ponds in my yard and line them with recycled advertising tarps, maybe raise some fish, build a composter from an recycled plastic barrel, a solar air heater from aluminum cans, and run my gray water into the garden so that I don’t overburden the public sewer system and treatment plant. There is so much we can do, alone and together.
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