Don't Recycle Paper

It's bad for the environment. Really. I know we've been told since the late 60's that we need to recycle paper in order to save the planet, but it's just not so. Here are some compelling reasons why:

1. Transporting recycling materials increases the use of petroleum and electricity. Most of our electricity in this country is still generated by burning fossil fuels. See where this is going?
2. Before paper can be recycled it must be de-inked. Commercial recycling of paper requires the use of toxic chemicals to de-ink the paper. These chemicals are non-recyclable and are extremely hazardous to the environment. http://www.treecycle.com/papers/we_lived.html


3. Recycling paper requires huge amounts of energy input from non-renewable fossil fuels, much more than is used for recycling plastic. http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=7


4. Commercial recycling of paper puts money in the pockets of huge corporations, at the expense of the environment.

So, what's a Druid to do?

1. Use less paper. This is the single most important thing you can do. I make an effort to find products in reusable packaging, such as glass or metal.


2. Precycle. The second most important thing you can do is to be more selective about the paper that you do purchase and use.


3. Reduce paper recycling by collecting other people's paper. I use old phone books and newspapers as foundation fill for my rainwater harvesting landscape. It raises ground elevation quickly, and it breaks down beneath the soil on its own with no additional energy input.


4. You can shred it for compost, even bury it in your yard.


5. Just don't burn it, trash it, and especially, don't recycle it.

The Merry Month of May

May was rather a busy month for Mrs. Druid and I.

We went to Mexico for four days of fun and sun. We certainly got it, in spite of the concern for our health and safety expressed by friends and family. We were not decapitated by ruthless narcotrafficos, nor did we contract lethal cases of H1N1. Heck, we didn't even get Montezuma's Revenge, for that matter. Rather, we had a lovely time by ourselves, with only a few thousand desperate, out-of-work Mexican locals as compañeros. This is not a pejorative comment on the Mexican nationals. Rather, it is an observation of life in a third world fishing town. The town in question is only sixty miles from the U.S. border.

Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point, is a small fishing town on the east shore of the Sea of Cortez, in the estado of Sonora, Mexico. The old town is built on a steep rocky headland, reminiscent of mediterranean fishing villages. The recent slump in the U.S. stock market, combined with fears of swine flu and increased violence in Mexican border towns, caused fewer Americans to travel this past winter, the height of the tourist season in Mexico: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/05/01/20090501biz-rockypoint0501.html

Japanese expansion has had two major impacts on the development of Puerto Penasco. During World War II, Mexico allowed the U.S. to build a paved road from the Arizona border to the coast as a means to move troops rapidly, should the Japanese attempt a landing in the Sea of Cortez. Forty years later, Japanese commercial fishing had destructive effects on the sealife population of the Sea of Cortez:

http://www.baja-web.com/pto-penasco/index.html

Just as destructive, though, has been its impact on the local economy. As the supply of fish dwindled, the local small business fishermen were squeezed out of the picture. Attempts at protecting the upper portion of the sea are ongoing:

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3157-overfishing-in-the-sea-of-cortez-are-sustainable-fish-farms-the-solution

Another factor in the decline of a produce economy is the rise of mega-resorts along the region's coast. Tourism has been a part of the town's economy from its earliest days, but it was always within the town itself. The new resorts that dot the long sandy beaches are outside of town limits, and they draw the workforce out of the town itself, who take up residence in shanty towns that have sprung up closer to the resort buildings. These resorts now provide the majority of the cash income, upwards of 70%, leaving residents at the whim of foriegn travellers.

The second bit of busy-ness we had was attending Desert Magic Festival in Oracle, Arizona. That was a good bit of fun also. DMF is hosted every year by Sonoran Sunrise Grove of Ar nDraiocht Fein. We drove from Mexico on Wednesday, to the festival on Friday. There were no end of good classes, including one on ectstatic experiences using body stress techniques, and the usual drumming, dancing, and fellowship. Here is the article on last year's festival:

http://www.ssg-adf.org/photopages/DesertMagic2008/index.htm Afterwards it was back to work to make up the time and money spent.

Where Has All the Pig Iron Gone, Long Time Mama?

As one might have gathered from some of the posts here so far, I'm something of an adherent to self reliance, if not an outright primitivist. My leaning in this direction comes from several different personal viewpoints. Firstly, I'm just plain fascinated with the ingenuity of our forbears. I can pore for hours over diagrams of medieval and early modern mechanical devices. Secondly, I operate under a basic lack of trust that anyone besides myself can act impartially and in my own best interest. Thirdly, after seeing the massive bungling of the meteorological pile-up between New Orleans and hurricane Katrina, I have essentially no confidence in the ability of my municipal, county, state, or federal governments to adequately safeguard my interests, or even my basic survival. It seems to me that many of us are truly on our own.

One of the looming features that peak oil pandits (I can't resist the proper Hindi spelling of that word) often bring to our attention is that much of the US's manufacturing capability has been exported to overseas sweatshops. The ethical and karmic issues surrounding this aside, there is a very serious practical side to it that cannot be overlooked. As the price of energy and transport rises, so too will the price and ready availibility of all those imported neccessities. Many of our consumer goods are made to break or wear out quickly, and are cheaper to throw away than to fix. On top of that, an increasingly dwindling portion of our society actually knows how to make or fix something. Where once we had a nation of craftsmen, mechanics, and toolmakers, we now have a nation of marketing experts, retail sales clerks, and luxury service providers. To get around the possibility of a shortage of crucial tools and long-lasting implements of everyday life, I have begun replacing as much of the extraneous and disposable items around me as I can. For instance, I am replacing the plastic storage containers and ziploc bags in my kitchen with longer lasting stainless steel boxes and canisters. To me this is as much a wise investment of my money as it is an effort at conservation. I have every intention of passing these precious artifacts along to my grandkids when the time comes for them to set up house (I'd also like to rid myself of the microwave and the Xbox, but Mrs. Druid hasn't quite come that way in her thinking yet).

With all this in mind, I decided a short while ago to order my very own copy of the Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog. For those of you not familiar with http://www.lehmans.com/ , they are a family owned business in Ohio that specialize in (funnily enough) non-electric farm implements. Non-electric in this sense also includes non-internal combustion engines. The implied their sales blurb they supply a good many devices and sundries to Amish and Mennonite communities that those good folks can not necessarily produce for themselves, and they also sell Amish-made farm implements. Recieving my paper catalog, I set about doing my paper window shopping. My Hoosier go-to-it-ness was quickly replaced by realization and reflection. Aside from the Amish-made wooden implements, nearly everything else in the catalog is imported. The traditional American cast iron pots and pans are imported from South Africa and China. The traditional American steel milk cans are imported from India. Most of the hand tools such as planes, chisels, and axes are imported from Germany. The oil and kerosene lamps are imported from parts unspecified. Now, I'm not in any way incensed about buying foriegn goods, nor was I even particularly surprised. What I did experience, though, was a certain leaden appreciation of the reality of the dwindling US manufacturing base, and a quiet resolution in the pursuit of my own food and energy independence.

Naoi Beannachtai,
Eremon