A Better Course of Human Civilization?

I've had to do a lot of traveling over the last few weeks. That means I've had a lot of time to sit and ponder about various subjects while "on the road". Here is one question that I've been thinking about, and for which I haven't reached any definitive conclusions:

Would human civilization be better off had the scientific and industrial revolutions that mark modern civilization never occurred?

I've actually made this into a poll question, which you can find in the upper right of the Sustainable Future website. After reading this essay, please take a moment to leave your answer.

Considerations

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the world's population is estimated to have been approximately 450 million people (in the year 1500).

According to most scholars, the Scientific Revolution began in 1543 with the publication of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body).

The Scientific Revolution continued to unfold into the 1700s with major advances in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. At the core of the Scientific Revolution was the development of the scientific method, a major shift in how people viewed the world (away from a religious and superstitious worldview to one more firmly rooted in observable facts).

The advances made in the Scientific Revolution, as well as the paradigm shift of the scientific method, made possible the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s, which brought into being modern agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transportation.

Modern medicine, sanitation and agricultural methods have resulted in reductions in infant mortality and increased longevity. Today, world population is approximately 6.7 billion, up more than 1200% in 500 years.

The Bad News

Of course, this progress has come at a cost. To support the expanding human civilization, greater demands have been placed on the environment. One billion hectares of forest have been cut or burned down worldwide over the last 100 years to make way for people and agriculture. This has lead to a growing problem of desertification around the world, as well as being a contributing factor in current climate change.

The burning of fossil fuels has dumped millions of tons of carbon and pollutants into the atmosphere that otherwise would not be there and may be a leading cause of current climate change.

Many plants and animals have gone extinct due to human activity (to name a few - Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk, Carolina Parakeet, Bali Tiger, Java Tiger, Arabian Gazelle, Red Gazelle, Xerces Blue Butterfly, Steller's Sea Cow, Caribbean Monk Seal...) (see my essays on Insect Extinction and Insect Conservation.)

Man-made toxins create numerous health problems and have been linked to the dramatic increase in many cancers and other diseases. Modern lifestyles in industrialized countries are "soft", lacking adequate physical activity and with high-calorie diets containing lots of sugar, unhealthy refined grains, and unhealthy fats, which have created epidemic levels of obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

Modern civilization is currently running into very real limitations for many non-renewable resources, including oil and natural gas. Renewable resources, such as agricultural products (food) are also being effected since modern production methods require large inputs of non-renewable resources. (see Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? and Is Sustainable Agriculture an Oxymoron? for more on the problems with modern agriculture)

Modern human activity is also causing a freshwater crisis (see Underground Water Depletion, Disappearing Lakes and Shrinking Seas, Major Rivers Running Dry, and Crisis: Aral Sea).

The Good News

Modern medicine and technology have allowed many people to live longer and healthier lives than they otherwise would have if the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions never occurred. The average lifespan at birth in Classical Greece, Classical Rome and even Medieval Britain was 30 years. Today the average lifespan at birth is 70 years (worldwide average).

If you know someone who has a pacemaker, or has had an organ transplant, or requires daily insulin shots, that person is alive because of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. Many horrible, painful and often deadly diseases (small pox and polio for two examples) have been mostly eradicated.

Modern agriculture, for all its faults, is wonderfully productive and is capable of feeding many, many more people than the agricultural techniques available in 1500. If we were suddenly forced to give up modern industrialized agriculture, there would be mass starvation around the world. The Great Die-Off that many doomsayers fear would become a horrible reality.

Human knowledge has expanded greatly. We have explored the seven continents of our world and traveled to the Moon (and even beyond with our unmanned spacecraft). The average person today has much more opportunity to learn, travel, and pursue art and leisure than the average person in 1500 could even dream about. We have near instant global communications.

The Poll

I've outlined just a few considerations regarding this question. There are many more to think about. I can see many problems that have been created by the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. I can see many good things that have been created by the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions.

Would human civilization be better off had the scientific and industrial revolutions that mark modern civilization never occurred? I don't know. I am curious as to what you think. Please participate in the poll question in the upper right of this page.

Index to Lessons in Permaculture

Here is an index to the Lessons in Permaculture series presented on Sustainable Future. It will be updated on an ongoing basis.

Lessons in Permaculture #001 - Observe and learn from nature

Lessons in Permaculture #002 - Catch and store energy

Lessons in Permaculture #003 - Obtain a yield

Lessons in Permaculture #004 - Appropriate vs. inappropriate growth

Lessons in Permaculture #005 - Favor renewable resources

Lessons in Permaculture #006 - Zero permenant waste

Lessons in Permaculture #007 - Design with nature

Lessons in Permaculture #008 - Integration of systems

Lessons in Permaculture #009 - Prefer small & slow solutions

Lessons in Permaculture #010 - Value of diversity

Lessons in Permaculture #011 - Use Edges and Value the Marginal

Lessons in Permaculture #012 - Creatively Use and Respond to Change

Lessons in Permaculture #010

This is the tenth installment of a multi-part series on permaculture. Future installments of Lessons in Permaculture will be posted at a rate of one or two per month. Be sure not to miss upcoming installments by subscribing to the Sustainable Future website (it is free & you get only one email a day). The sign-up box can be found at the top of the website's right-hand column.

Lessons in Permaculture #010

From David Homgren's booklet Essence of Permaculture comes this discussion of his 10th principle of permaculture design:

Principle 10: USE AND VALUE DIVERSITY
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

The spinebill and the humming bird both have long beaks and the capacity to hover - perfect for sipping nectar from long, narrow flowers. This remarkable co-evolutionary adaptation symbolises the specialisation of form and function in nature.

The great diversity of forms, functions and interactions in nature and humanity are the source of evolved systemic complexity. The role and value of diversity in nature, culture and permaculture is itself complex, dynamic, and at times apparently contradictory. Diversity needs to be seen as a result of the balance and tension in nature between variety and possibility on the one hand, and productivity and power on the other.

It is now widely recognised that monoculture is a major cause of vulnerability to pests and diseases, and therefore of the widespread use of toxic chemicals and energy to control these. Polyculture is one of the most important and widely recognised applications of the use of diversity to reduce vulnerability to pests, adverse seasons and market fluctuations. Polyculture also reduces reliance on market systems, and bolsters household and community self-reliance by providing a wider range of goods and services.

However polyculture is by no means the only application of this principle.

Diversity of different cultivated systems reflects the unique nature of site, situation and cultural context. Diversity of structures, both living and built, is an important aspect of this principle, as is the diversity within species and populations, including human communities. The conservation of at least some of the great diversity of languages and cultures on the planet is arguably as important as the conservation of biodiversity. While inappropriate and destructive responses to energy descent will have knock on impacts on both human and biodiversity, in the longer-term, energy descent will slow the economic engine of diversity destruction, and stimulate new local and bioregional diversity. While many environmental and social movements only recognise prior biological and cultural diversity, permaculture is just as actively engaged in how to create new bioregional diversity from the melting pot of nature and culture we have inherited

The proverb 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' embodies the common sense understanding that diversity provides insurance against the vagaries of nature and everyday life.

My Comments

Modern industrialized agriculture has left most of us with a particular image of a highly successful farm - the image of acres and acres of neatly planted rows of the same type, be it corn or wheat or even cabbages. This image is often repeated in miniature in our backyards where one usually finds gardens planted with neat rows of a single crop each.

Modern industrialized agriculture can be wonderfully productive, but that production can come at quite a price. That price includes soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, a food supply more susceptible to disease, introduction of chemicals into the environment and the resulting health and environmental problems, among other things.

Rarely in nature do plants line up neatly in row after row of the same species. That is not how nature was designed. Getting those neat rows of monoculture to be successful requires forcing nature into a unnatural state. This means deforestation, lots of plowing with machines, artificial watering techniques and the application of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals. It has also meant relying on only the most productive crop varieties and excluding less productive, or even less attractive, varieties.

The requirement that modern industrialized agriculture has for vast inputs of petroleum products for both production and transport means that the food supply is highly vulnerable to high inflation or even disruption by events far from the farm.

The situation requires some examination and reconsideration. Agriculture, as it is practiced today, is simply not sustainable for much longer. I highly recommend Toby Hemenway's essay, Is Sustainable Agriculture an Oxymoron, for additional insights.

What is the answer? There are many potential solutions, among them relocalization of food systems, people raising a portion of their own food, permaculture, forest gardening, and the organic food movement.

Communities should encourage people to produce a portion of their own food (see my call for a Modern Victory Movement). This can be done by reviving the Victory Gardens idea of the first two world wars. Communities should also promote local sustainable agriculture.


Ways to Encourage Local Food Production

1. Promote the idea Victory Gardens (both private and community-based) and food co-ops.
   
2. Provide training courses in gardening and permaculture through local community colleges and agricultural extension offices.
3. Remove unnecessary restrictions on people growing their own food (maintaining needed restrictions to promote health & safety and prevent animal cruelty).
4. Remove unnecessary restrictions on local farmers selling their crops to local markets (often put in place due to lobbying by big agri-business).
5. Require that government food services (such as school lunch programs) spend an increasing portion of their budgets on locally produced food.
6. Encourage the formation of farmers markets.
7. Local relief agencies should provide vouchers or special debit cards for use at local farmers markets as part of their assistance programs.
8. Promote the health, economic and environmental benefits of low-meat diets (educational programs only - what people eat should be their choice).
9. Public tree-planting programs should include fruit and nut trees.
10. Support programs to capture organic waste (food scraps, animal & human manure, leaves & other yard waste, agricultural waste) for composting to improve soils.

Additional Resources

For those interested in raising a portion of their own food, I particularly recommend Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon, and Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens by Patricia Lanza.

David Holmgren is one of the co-founders of the permaculture movement. His latest book is Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability.

Toby Hemenway is a permaculture expert and an associate editor of The Permaculture Activist. His most recent book is Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. A collection of his essays can be found online at the Pattern Literacy website.

Lessons in Permaculture #009

This is the ninth installment of a multi-part series on permaculture. Future installments of Lessons in Permaculture will be posted at a rate of one or two per month. Be sure not to miss upcoming installments by subscribing to the Sustainable Future website (it is free & you get only one email a day). The sign-up box can be found at the top of the website's right-hand column.

Lessons in Permaculture #009

According to David Holmgren, the ninth principle principle of permaculture is to use small and slow solutions. This doesn't mean doing things at a snail's pace, but rather it means building community. Community is a notion that has been lost by many in today's fast-paced, highly mobile society.

Holmgren goes into some detail on this principle in his booklet, Essence of Permaculture:

Systems should be designed to perform functions at the smallest scale that is practical and energy-efficient for that function. Human scale and capacity should be the yardstick for a humane, democratic and sustainable society. This principle is reasonably well understood as a result of the pioneering work of E. F. Schumacher. Whenever we do anything of a self-reliant nature - growing food, fixing a broken appliance, maintaining our health, we are making very powerful and effective use of this principle. Whenever we purchase from small, local businesses or contribute to local community and environmental issues, we are also applying this principle. Despite the successes of intermediate and appropriate technology in addressing local needs in development projects, cheap energy has continued to provide a subsidy to large-scale systems in recent decades. The end of cheap energy will shift the natural economies of scale in favour of small systems, while relative differences in economies of scale between different functions will continue.

On the other hand, the idea that movement of materials, people (and other living things) should be a minor aspect of any system is a new idea to modernity. The convenience and power from increased mobility and information technology has been a "Trojan horse", destroying community and increasing energy demands. Mobility and speed in affluent countries has become so dysfunctional that the 'Slow Food' and 'Slow Cities' movements are gaining much support. The communications and computer revolution has given new impetus to the ideas that speed is good, but again characteristic downsides are emerging such as the storms of spam which threaten the amenity of email.

Many practical examples provide a more balanced view to counter the natural attraction of both fast moving processes and large-scale systems. For instance, the fast response of crops to soluble fertilizers is often short lived. Manures, compost and natural rock minerals generally provide more sustained and balanced plant nutrition. A good result from a little fertilizer does not mean better results from more.

In forestry, fast grown trees are often short lived, while some apparently slow growing but more valuable species accelerate and even surpass the fast species in their second and third decades. A small plantation of thinned and pruned trees can yield more total value than a large plantation without management.

In animal nutrition, rapidly grown livestock fed concentrated nutrients are often subject to more disease and have a lower life expectancy than more naturally raised animals. Overstocking is one of the most widespread causes of land degradation, and yet small numbers of managed livestock are beneficial if not essential to sustainable agriculture.

In crowded cities the apparent speed and convenience of cars stalls movement and destroys amenity, while much smaller, slower, more energy efficient bicycles allow freer movement, without pollution and noise. Bicycles can also be more efficiently manufactured and assembled in smaller and more local factories than the economies of scale necessary for the automotive industry.

The proverb 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' is a reminder of one of the disadvantages of size and excessive growth. While the proverb 'slow and steady wins the race' is one of many that encourages patience while reflecting a common truth in nature and society.

Additional Resources

David Holmgren is one of the co-founders of the permaculture movement. His latest book is Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability . You can learn more about David Holmgren in the Wikipedia article on him.

E. F. Schumacher, mentioned in this article, was an economist who wrote the books Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered and Guide for the Perplexed. You can read more about Schumacher in the Wikipedia article on him.

Click here for a website on the Slow Planet Movement. Here is how Slow Planet describes the slow movement: "Being Slow means living at the right speed. And that means giving each task the time and attention it deserves; being more creative and productive; forging deeper connections with the people around us; defending the environment instead of destroying it; living life rather than rushing through it. Slow puts quality before quantity in everything we do: work, sex, parenting, travel, design, food, medicine, you name it. The Slow Movement does not seek to turn back the clock to some lost golden age. It is a very modern revolution that learns from the past while embracing the future."

Click here for a website on the Slow Food Movement. Here is how Slow Food describes itself: "Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. To do that, Slow Food brings together pleasure and responsibility, and makes them inseparable."

The Ecology Store has lots of books on becoming more self-reliant. For those interested in raising a portion of their own food, I particularly recommend Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon, and Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens by Patricia Lanza.

Index to Preparing for Disaster on a Budget

Here is an index to my six-part series, Preparing for Disaster on a Budget.

Part 1 - Potential disasters and what you can expect

Part 2 - A word on personal finance, including twelve ways to spend less money

Part 3 - Ways to Raise Money; Silver and Gold

Part 4 - Lots of info on food storage

Part 5 - More info on food storage; Water Storage

Part 6 - Other ways to prepare for the future

Frankly, this series is packed full of the information, tips and details I hear people constantly requesting. Of course, it all doesn't do any good if you don't put some of it into practice. I hope you will.

Analyzing the New Economy Jobs

I just published a major new essay on the Next Strategies website. In it, I analyze the new energy economy, called the green economy by some, from the standpoint of the future growth industries that are likely to create lots of new jobs over the next few decades. If you are looking for work, or are thinking of changing careers, this essay is the place to start for ideas. Please fell free to forward it to family and friends that may be job hunting also.

Also, don't forget to check out the job boards listed on the right hand side of the Next Strategies website. These job boards list hundreds of jobs that are currently being hired right now. Just below the job board listings are links to educational programs for those looking for training at legitimate, accredited colleges and programs.

Read the new essay by clicking here.

EPI: Protecting & Restoring Forests

Earth Policy Institute
Plan B 3.0 Book Byte
April 14, 2009

PROTECTING AND RESTORING FORESTS

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Seg/PB3ch08_ss2.htm

Lester R. Brown

Protecting the earth’s nearly 4 billion hectares of remaining forests and replanting those already lost are both essential for restoring the earth’s health, an important foundation for the new economy. Reducing rainfall runoff and the associated flooding and soil erosion, recycling rainfall inland, and restoring aquifer recharge depend on simultaneously reducing pressure on forests and on reforestation.

There is a vast unrealized potential in all countries to lessen the demands that are shrinking the earth’s forest cover. In industrial nations the greatest opportunity lies in reducing the quantity of wood used to make paper, and in developing countries it depends on reducing fuelwood use.

The rates of paper recycling in the top 10 paper-producing countries range widely, from China and Finland on the low end, recycling 33 and 38 percent of the paper they use, to South Korea and Germany on the high end, at 77 and 66 percent. The United States, the world’s largest paper consumer, is far behind South Korea, but it has raised the share of paper recycled from roughly one fourth in the early 1980s to 50 percent in 2005. If every country recycled as much of its paper as South Korea does, the amount of wood pulp used to produce paper worldwide would drop by one third.

The use of paper, perhaps more than any other single product, reflects the throwaway mentality that evolved during the last century. There is an enormous possibility for reducing paper use simply by replacing facial tissues, paper napkins, disposable diapers, and paper shopping bags with reusable cloth alternatives.

The largest single demand on trees--the need for fuel--accounts for just over half of all wood removed from forests. Some international aid agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), are sponsoring fuelwood efficiency projects. One of AID’s more promising projects is the distribution of 780,000 highly efficient wood cookstoves in Kenya that not only use far less wood than a traditional stove but also pollute less. Kenya is also the site of a solar cooker project sponsored by Solar Cookers International. These inexpensive cookers, made from cardboard and aluminum foil and costing $10 each, cook slowly, much like a crockpot. Requiring less than two hours of sunshine to cook a complete meal, they can greatly reduce firewood use at little cost. They can also be used to pasteurize water, thus saving lives. Over the longer term, developing alternative energy sources is the key to reducing forest pressure in developing countries.

Despite the high value to society of intact forests, only about 290 million hectares of global forest area are legally protected from logging. Forests protected by national decree are often safeguarded not so much to preserve the long-term wood supply capacity as to ensure that they continue to provide invaluable services such as flood control. Countries that provide legal protection for forests often do so after they have suffered the consequences of extensive deforestation, such as in China and the Philippines.

Although nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have worked for years to protect forests from clearcutting, sustainable forestry is now seen as another way to protect forests. If only mature trees are felled, and on a selective basis, a forest and its productivity can be maintained in perpetuity. In 1997, the World Bank joined forces with the World Wide Fund for Nature to form the Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Use; by 2005 they had helped designate 55 million hectares of new forest protected areas and certify 22 million hectares of forest. In mid-2005, the Alliance announced a goal of reducing global net deforestation to zero by 2020.

There are several additional forest product certification programs that inform environmentally conscious consumers about the sustainable management of the forest where wood products originate. The most rigorous international program, certified by a group of NGOs, is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Some 88 million hectares of forests in 76 countries are certified by FSC-accredited bodies as responsibly managed.

Forest plantations can reduce pressures on the earth’s remaining forests as long as they do not replace old-growth forest. As of 2005, the world had 205 million hectares in forest plantations, an area equal to nearly one third of the 700 million hectares planted in grain. Tree plantations produce mostly wood for paper mills or for wood reconstitution mills. Increasingly, reconstituted wood is substituting for natural wood as the world lumber and construction industries adapt to a shrinking supply of large logs from natural forests.

Production of roundwood (logs) on plantations is estimated at 432 million cubic meters per year, accounting for 12 percent of world wood production. This means that the lion’s share, some 88 percent of the world timber harvest, comes from natural forest stands. Projections of future growth show that plantations can sometimes be profitably established on already deforested, often degraded, land, but they can also come at the expense of existing forests. There is competition with agriculture as well, since land that is suitable for crops is also good for growing trees. Water scarcity is yet another constraint, as fast-growing plantations require abundant moisture.

Nonetheless, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects that as plantation area expands and yields rise, the harvest could more than double during the next three decades. It is entirely conceivable that plantations could one day satisfy most of the world’s demand for industrial wood, thus helping to protect the world’s remaining forests.

South Korea is in many ways a reforestation model for the rest of the world. When the Korean War ended, half a century ago, the mountainous country was largely deforested. Beginning around 1960, under the dedicated leadership of President Park Chung Hee, the South Korean government launched a national reforestation effort. Relying on the formation of village cooperatives, hundreds of thousands of people were mobilized to dig trenches and to create terraces for supporting trees on barren mountains. Today forests cover 65 percent of the country, an area of roughly 6 million hectares. While driving across South Korea in November 2000, it was gratifying for me to see the luxuriant stands of trees on mountains that a generation ago were bare. We can reforest the earth!

In Niger, farmers faced with severe drought and desertification in the 1980s began leaving some emerging acacia tree seedlings in their fields as they prepared the land for crops. As these trees matured they slowed wind speeds, thus reducing soil erosion. The acacia, a legume, fixes nitrogen, enriching the soil and helping to raise crop yields. During the dry season the leaves and pods provide fodder for livestock. The trees also supply firewood. This approach of leaving 20–150 seedlings per hectare to mature on some 3 million hectares has revitalized farming communities in Niger.

Shifting subsidies from building logging roads to planting trees would help protect forest cover worldwide. The World Bank has the administrative capacity to lead an international program that would emulate South Korea’s success in blanketing mountains and hills with trees. In addition, FAO and the bilateral aid agencies can work with individual farmers in national agroforestry programs to integrate trees wherever possible into agricultural operations.

Reducing wood use by developing more-efficient wood stoves and alternative cooking fuels, systematically recycling paper, and banning the use of throwaway paper products all lighten pressure on the earth’s forests. But a global reforestation effort cannot succeed unless it is accompanied by the stabilization of population. With such an integrated plan, coordinated country by country, the earth’s forests can be restored.

# # #

Adapted from Chapter 8, “Restoring the Earth,” in Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), available for free downloading and purchase at www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm.

Milkweed

Milkweed
A truly remarkable wild vegetable

By Sam Thayer
Director of the Wild Food Institute
Bruce, Wisconsin

Milkweed isn't your average weed; in fact, I feel guilty calling it a weed at all. The common milkweed, Asclepias syriacqa, is one of the best known wild plants in North America. Children love to play with the downy fluff in autumn, while farmers despise it as a tenacious weed of hayfields and pastures. Butterfly enthusiasts adore milkweed as the sustenance for their beloved monarch. Hardly any country dweller can fail to notice this unique, elegant plant so laden with fragrant, multi-colored blossoms in midsummer.

Milkweed has served humans in many ways. During World War II, American schoolchildren collected milkweed floss to fill life preservers for the armed forces. This same floss is being used today by a Nebraska company called Ogallalla Down to stuff jackets, comforters, and pillows-and some people believe that it will become an important fiber crop in the future. It has an insulating effect surpassing that of goose down. Native Americans employed the tough stalk fibers for making string and rope.

Not least among the uses of common milkweed, however, is its versatility as a vegetable. Milkweed produces four different edible products, and all of them are delicious. It was a regular food item for all Native American tribes within its broad range.

Gathering and cooking milkweed

There is a beautiful patch of milkweed in an old hayfield near my house. I treat it as an outpost of my garden-one I never have to tend. Because milkweed is perennial, it appears every season in this same locality.

The milkweed season begins in late spring (just about the time that leaves are coming out on the oak trees) when the shoots come up near the dead stalks of last year's plants. These resemble asparagus spears, but have tiny leaves, in opposing pairs, pressed up flat against the stem. Until they are about eight inches tall, milkweed shoots make a delicious boiled vegetable. Their texture and flavor suggest a cross between green beans and asparagus, but it is distinct from either. As the plant grows taller, the bottom of the shoot becomes tough. Until it attains a height of about two feet, however, you can break off the top few inches (remove any large leaves) and use this portion like the shoot.

Milkweed flower buds first appear in early summer and can be harvested for about seven weeks. They look like immature heads of broccoli but have roughly the same flavor as the shoots. These flower buds are wonderful in stir-fry, soup, rice casseroles, and many other dishes. Just make sure to wash the bugs out.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here (opens a page on the Countryside & Small Stock Journal website).

Resource Miser #014 - Summertime Energy Savings

The Resource Miser is an ongoing newsletter published on the Sustainable Future website. Be sure not to miss future issues by subscribing to the website (it is free!) by email or feed reader. Look for the sign-up boxes in the upper right of this page.

The Resource Miser #014

May is here, so it is a good time to think about ways to save energy (and money!) during the summer. Here are some tips:

Cook With Less Less energy that is... A typical microwave uses two-thirds less energy than a typical stove. Over the course of a summertime worth of meals that savings really adds up. Also, consider meals that require little or no cooking at all, such as veggie salads, fruit salads, pasta salads, cottage cheese, sandwiches and so forth. My favorite summertime lunch is a couple of tomato sandwiches. My favorite dinner after a hot summer day is cottage cheese and a couple of different pieces of fruit sliced up. Both meals require no energy to cook and won't heat up your house.

Wash Dishes With a Push of a Button It seems almost counter-intuitive, but studies have repeatedly shown that a modern dishwasher uses both less electricity and less water than washing the dishes by hand. You can save even more by only running the dishwasher when you have a full load, as well as turning off the dry cycle and air dry dishes instead.

Turn Up Your Thermostat Set your thermostat to 78 degrees when you are home and 85 degrees (or turn your AC off entirely) when you are away from home. Using ceiling fans or room fans allows you to set the thermostat higher because the air movement will cool the room. Caution: Remember the health concerns of your family members, particularly the elderly or the very young. Make sure your home's temperature isn't too hot for them. And everyone should remember to drink plenty of water during the summer to prevent dehydration.

Change Your Air Filter A clean air filter will help your air conditioner or central air system operate efficiently.

Plug Air Leaks Letting cool air leak out of your home wastes both electricity and money. Caulk or weather strip any leaky doors and windows. Use a can of spray foam insulation to plug up holes where pipes run into your house (look under your kitchen & bathroom sinks and in your laundry room).

Keep Them Closed Closing your curtains or blinds during the day will help block the Sun from warming up your home too much.

Swimming Pool? If you have a swimming pool, reduce the operating time of your pool filter and automatic cleaning sweep to between four and five hours.

Don't Be Wasteful This is a good time to review the basics with your family, such as remembering to turn off the lights, TVs and radios when no one is in the room, or not taking too long in the shower. Also, remember to unplug those various battery chargers for your cell phones, I-Pods and other electronic gizmos when not actually recharging the batteries.


Index to The Resource Miser Newsletter

A complete index to all issues of The Resource Miser newsletter can be found by clicking here.


Project of the Week

Summer is a great time for driving, whether on vacation, to visit relatives or just a quick trip to the community swimming pool. This means most people will be using more gasoline in the coming months. Here are a few things to do this week to make sure your car is getting the best gas mileage possible:

1- Make sure your tires are properly inflated (you should check them weekly).
2- Change oil & oil filter (typically, this should be done every 3000 - 5000 miles).
3- Change the air filter (this should be done yearly).
4- Get a tune-up (done yearly or according to owner's manual).

Doing these things will help your car get better gas mileage. Perhaps a lot better if it has been too long since you've done them. Not only will you reap the reward of better gas mileage, but your car will last longer and require fewer repairs if you keep it properly maintained, saving you lots of money in the long run.

For more tips on saving gasoline, see my essay Three Changes to Save Big on Gas.