Can't Stop the Screaming (Pipes)

There is something about water pressure that screams "civilization."  The rest of the technological markers don’t come close.  Humans have been using fire for hundreds of thousands of years.  So all the variations of that (light-bulb, oven, toaster, etc) are passé.  But, to have a waterfall at your disposal?  That is the highest marker of human achievement.  Unfortunately, our gravity fed water-catchment system works perfectly in every sense except for that one.  It takes an eternity to fill a coffee pot.  The wind blows our shower water away.  I have to get about a foot away from my garden to effectively water it.  Washing dishes takes an entire evening.  Until yesterday…

I finally pulled the trigger and installed a Davey Torium 14-45 booster pump (just the name makes me giddy).  After just one burst valve and a drenched Iphone we were ready to go.  We went from a pressure gauge that never moved to a solid and consistent 70 PSI.  The difference is incredible.  Our shower literally roars when you turn it on.  Washing dishes has become fun.  And watering the garden?  I can do it all without getting off my deck.  The wild chickens in the yard don't stand a chance against my hose.

I went to sleep thinking that we’d finally reached the pinnacle of off-grid living and joined the ranks of the civilized.  We had every amenity that you could ever hope for in a grid-tied house. But something was wrong.  The water pressure felt forced and artificial.  Our barely dripping faucet used to be a constant reminder that we could live with less; that water pressure was a luxury that we didn’t need.  The slow and laminar flow of the water out of our faucet was a daily check to take it easy.  That water couldn’t be rushed.  That it would move with a pressure mathematically pre-determined by the height from the waterline in the tank to the faucet.  And there was no bending that. 

But I did more than bend it.  I took our laminar flow and cranked it up 700%.  The roar of the shower and the kickback of our faucet are now reminders that, no matter how hard we try, we are not peacefully co-existing members of this Earth.  We are hard-wired to lord over the elements and all of nature.

The scary part is that I could undo all of it with a simple turn of three valves.  Cut off flow to the pump and let gravity do it’s thing.  But there is no going back now.  As much as my Thoreauean ideals tell me to turn it off, I can’t do it.  Something deep inside of me just woke up.  And I can admit that I love my screaming pipes.

Our Life

We went from an ordinary couple in a nice house in suburban Kailua to the crazy hippies in the forest.  When I used to see friends on the street they would start the conversation by saying “how’s business?”  Now they say “how is it up there,” with a hint of mockery. 
           In most respects, we're as conservative as people in their mid-twenties come.  We don’t smoke, we rarely drink, and we believe in “the system.”  I run a business and spend most of my day on the computer.  The highlight of our social schedule is to hang out with my niece and nephews.  Our nightly routine is to light some candles, cuddle on the couch, drink a cup of tea, and read a book.  Yet, last night a duck slept by our bed.  Once a month I bury our semi-composted shit in the ground.  We drink only rainwater.  Today all I’ve eaten is a lilikoi I found in the hau and a papaya from our neighbors tree.  The biggest tragedy of recent memory is pigs wiping out my taro.  Our biggest inconvenience is the 15 bull frogs that moved into our ponds and keep us up at night.  Our biggest success is six beautiful star fruit from our tree. 

So who are we and what are we doing?  We’re not hippies, conspiracy theorists, revolutionaries, or even libertarians.  I believe in big government and “the grid.” I believe that we should support those who can’t support themselves.  But, I  also believe that there are some fundamental problems with the society that I’ve supported all my life.  We’ve lost touch with our surroundings, are losing touch with each other, and are entirely dependent on infinite growth.  We’ve built a civilization that will collapse if it doesn’t grow and we've convinced ourselves that humans can live outside of Earth's ecology.  From the first light of consciousness, we are taught to consume.  Turn on the TV or open a magazine and it’s almost entirely about consumption.  We have become hard-wired to live beyond our means.  

So, while there isn’t a title for who we are, for once I do know what I’m doing.    We are trying to live with what we have.  If it’s a cloudy day, we turn off our power at night.  If it doesn’t rain, we don’t use the washing machine.  If my chickens don’t lay eggs, we don’t eat eggs.  We are trying our best to become producers, not merely consumers.  And in the three months that we’ve been disconnected from “the grid,” we’ve started to connect to the planet.  This isn’t an experiment anymore.  This is our life. 

However, I know it’s not the life for everyone.  Even though I rarely use my truck and we produce our own electricity and water, our  impact is still likely larger than the average city-dweller.  And many times larger than the average subsistence farmer in a third world country. But, it’s a start.  For a couple with basically no survival knowledge, we’re making big strides.  A year ago I’d never planted a tree, I didn’t know AC from DC power, I didn’t know that the full moon rises at sunset, and I didn’t know Permaculture from Agriculture.  I’m still an infant when it comes to all of that.  I have 100,000 years of forgotten human knowledge to catch up on.  But we’re moving forward.

Smart Meters

Am I turning into the crazy guy in the woods who rants daily letters to the paper?  I hope not, but sometimes I worry.  And I know my wife does.  This was in Saturday's Garden Island.  

I dream of a sustainable Kaua’i.  One where we grow our own food and produce our own electricity.  Where we live with the resources we have without having to import those we don’t.

Then I wake up.  I read the letters in The Garden Island and I realize that it’s not going to happen.  Depending on the month, all we can talk about is the greatness of our cars, the sleaziness of a Co-Op that explores renewable energy, the inefficiencies of solar water heaters, or the health affects of Smart Meters.  We are looking backward at a time that we need to look forward.

Smart Meters are not some evil conspiracy for world domination by our local energy cooperative.  We have the potential to revolutionize our inefficient and outdated energy infrastructure.  Yet we are stuck debating whether the occasional burst of information from the Smart Meter is going to kill us or whether KIUC is going to sell our energy use information to the highest bidder.

Smart Meter technology is the first step towards a Smart Grid, which is one huge step towards energy independence.  Energy supply will accurately meet demand, but demand will be tempered by accurate pricing.  Those who use energy wisely (off-peak) will be rewarded, while those who don’t will pay the actual costs of that electricity generation.

We can live in the past, when oil was cheap, climate change a myth, jobs plentiful, homes worth something, and government worked.  Or we can look to the future.   

One Year

It's been one year since we began this blog. I was hoping to write a happy update about all being perfect in Yurtville, but... that's far from the truth. We just got back from a 10 day trip to New York. Our home, which we'd left in close to perfect shape, is in disarray.

- I'm writing on an IPhone because my Internet tethering no longer works.

- Our catchment tank is inexplicably empty. 4,000 gallons of water vanished through some leak.

- We are officially at war with the rats. After catching five rats in a row and realizing that they were just walking in under the flap of the canvas, we finally sealed it with cable the day we left. But, the unforgiving rats have chewed holes in the canvas in two places. From the inside and the outside.

- In June I planted about 40 'Uala (sweet potato) starts. Since then they've filled in beautifully around my ponds. However, the pigs picked up on the lack of human presence and destroyed both patches.

- The day we left I planted in our garden about 50 Kale and Arrugula starts that I'd seeded a couple of weeks prior. They are all gone. Presumably the ducks and chickens wiped them out.

- A few days before we left I seeded about 20 Balinese Papaya trees. Every pot has been cleaned out. Presumably by the chickens.

I'm going to sleep.

256 Words

Living in a Yurt is a sure way to get in tune with the weather.  Because my walls and roof flap, not a gust of wind or drop of rain escapes my attention.  In a house it's easy to close the door and forget there's a storm outside.  But in a Yurt, it's impossible.  So, while it likely could be paranoia, or just a new sense of heightened awareness, I am scared shitless of the weather nowadays.  And when I'm cowering in my shaking home I generally think of all the world ending possibilities.  So, naturally, in a moment of despair I tried to write a high handed primer for saving Kaua'i in less than 250 words.  I didn't succeed.  But here it is: 

We, as inhabitants of Kaua’i, are in a unique position.  Our small population, geographic isolation, and global integration allow us each to shape the future we want to see.  The next century will be the most problematic and transformative in human history.  Recognition of the problems that we face can lead us to a framework for how to live our lives and control our future:

• Climate change is occurring and humans are causing it.  Extreme and unpredictable weather patterns will increase over time.  
• Any widespread attempt at capping carbon emissions will prove ruinous to the global economy.  Not capping emissions will prove ruinous to human civilization.
• Demand for oil will outpace supply.  Prices on everything will skyrocket.  Especially on Kaua'i.
• There is no renewable energy source that comes close to the work output of stored carbon (coal, oil, natural gas). 
• Infinite consumption is incompatible with finite resources.

Every decision that we make in our lives must be made with acknowledgement of those fundamental problems.  While the path will be hard, the decisions don’t need to be.

·      Support politicians who understand the problems and are willing to fight for solutions.  

·      Support alternative and mass transportation options.

·      Support local businesses, local agriculture, and local manufacturing

·      Consume less of everything. 

·      Drive less and make fuel efficiency a priority.

·      Start growing food.

·      Strive for zero population growth. 

Humanity’s problems are not insurmountable.  But we can't wait for others to solve them for us. 

Humanure saving the world!

Solar Water heaters part II

Here is the long version of a letter I just submitted to the Garden Island.  Fortunately, the G.I. has a 250 word limit, so I had to cut this in half.

The County Council’s decision last week to allow Kaua'i to continue to exploit a loophole in a state law which mandates solar water heaters on new homes is disappointing.  But the fact that we allowed this to happen is crushing.  The Kaua’i County Council is not serving the people of Kaua’i, but there is nobody to blame but ourselves.  Every Council member ran for office on a platform of sustainability.  But now they are not making the hard decisions that we voted for them to make.  The tragic part is that it’s easy to understand why.

            There would be an outcry from us, their constituents, if they made a move to mandate solar water heaters.  We’re all guilty of it.  We complain about the bike path and the price of the Kaua’i Bus, while at the same time bemoaning our lack of alternative forms of transportation.  We complain about GMOs and the inedible monocultured corn on our island, while at the same time purchasing produce at a local supermarket which carries everything imaginable except for local produce.  We complain about the high cost of electricity on Kaua’i, while doing everything we can to stop KIUC from pursuing renewable forms of electricity. 

We like to complain.  And the Council is very aware of that.  So they will do everything in their power to not take a stand.  As often as possible.  By the time it came time to vote on the solar water heater mandate at last weeks meeting, it had been proven that solar water heaters are significantly cheaper over time than the alternatives and that they cut down significantly on greenhouse gas emissions.  The mandate wouldn’t cost the people of Kaua’i or the County anything, yet it would reduce 1000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per family, per year.  Basically it was a no-brainer.  But only two supported it.  The rest said that they don’t want to limit personal choice.

Personal choice is what got us into this mess.  Free market capitalism is not working and Earth is facing unprecedented hurdles.  An exploding population which has already exceeded our planets finite resources.  And climate change is the specter in the air.  It’s tangible, but always just out of sight.  While we know that we can’t feed the world, that we’re running out of oil, and that water is going to become scarce.  We don’t know exactly what affects climate change will have on us.  Biblical floods, devastating fires, ocean acidification, sea level rise, collapsing grain and rice yields.  This is all happening right now.  And we are just beginning. 
            This will be the hardest century of humanity’s history.  For once, we can’t rely on someone else to fix the problem for us.  The Federal Government has become impotent.  Big business isn’t going to do it.  It’s up to local governments and individuals.  By ourselves our efforts will be insignificant.  But as an isolated island community, we not only can have an affect but we can be an example for the world.  And if we don’t solve this now, it’s game over. Not only for us, but for our kids, and every future generation. 

Let’s do this one step at a time.  Today, solar water heaters.  Tomorrow, food security and local agriculture.  Next week a carbon tax.  And in a decade we have transformed the world.  But it takes all of us working together.  There is nothing more important.