Fall Arrangement Flowers

I wanna be the weird lady who lives in a small house and grows lavender and wears sundresses with straw hats and always has a book to recommend

About 50 people answered “What does solarpunk mean to you?“ during my first giveaway—both new and familiar to solarpunk—and this is the word cloud of their replies. Reblog to “show don’t tell” what solarpunk is all about.

Can I watch a great film knowing the actresses in it were terrorized and mistreated the entire time? Can I watch a football game knowing that the players are getting brain injuries right before my eyes? Can I listen to my favorite albums anymore knowing that the singers were all beating their wives in between studio sessions? Can I eat at the new fancy taco place knowing when the building that used to be there got bulldozed eight families got kicked out of their homes so they could be replaced with condos and a chain restaurant? Can I wear the affordable clothes I bought downtown that were probably assembled in a sweatshop with child labor? Can I eat quinoa? Can I eat this burger? Can I drink this bottled water? Can I buy a car and drive to work because I’m sick of taking an hour each way on the subway? Whose bones do I stand on? Whose bones am I standing on right now? 

Self Sufficiency, 1970s

low impact places around the world

belgium, europe

bhutan, asia

“bhutan mantains this by making the country a carbon sick and has set world records for planting the most trees per hour. they’re also aiming for zero net greenhouse gas emissions and zero-waste by 2030 as well as 100% organic food production. the bhutanese government has also formed a partnership with nissan to provide thousands of electric cars to the country” - @greenmatters on instagram 

it also probably helps that tourists are very limited and it is intentionally not as easy to travel there.

chile, south america

china, asia

“china recently announced they would spend more than $360 billion on renewable energy through 2020″ - @greenmatters on instagram, june 29, 2017

colombia, south america

“colombia is the first country in latin america, and the third country in the world, to pledge to produce deforestation-free coca. the pledge is part of the cocoa and forest initiative, which ghan and cote d’ivoire have also signed.” - @greenmatters on instagram

costa rica, central america

“costa rica’s renewable energy comes from hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar” - @greenmatters on instagram

egypt, africa

england, europe

ethiopia, africa

“energy produced by the new geothermal power plants will be used locally and exported to surrounding countries in africa” - @greenmatters on instagram 

france, europe

“instead of throwing away or destroying unsold clothing, france may pass legislation to make clothing companies donate or repurpose items in an eco-friendly way.” - @greenmatters on instagram

INSTEAD, they should make efforts to not overproduce. donating clothes should be thoughtful. many times, when clothes are donated abroad to “developing” countries, it destroys their local economy and opportunities for local clothing stores to sell their clothes cheaply enough. it is good to think of ways to responsibly get rid of “waste” and excess we do create, but the first step should be to stop the excess from being produced in the first place. #preventative measures.

india, asia

ireland, europe

“the irish state investment fund holds more than 300 euros in fossil fuel investments in 150 companies. the bill defines a fossil fuel company as a compnay that derives 20% or more of its revenue from exploration, extraction, or refinement of fossil fuels. the bill also allows investment in irish fossil fuel companies if this funds their move away from fossil fuels” - @greenmatters on instagram

germany, europe

new zealand

“new zealand hopes to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035″ - @greenmatters on instagram 

palau

“the pledge is tamped on every visitor’s passport and must be signed before entry into the 13th smallest country in the world. palau’s hoping the pledge will help guests understand the vital role they play in protecting palau for future generations” - @greenmatters on instagram 

peru, south america

scotland, europe

“scotland has hit its 2020 emission target five years early and has gone from 10% to 60% of its electricity consumption from clean sources over the past 15 years” - @greenmatters on instagram 

sweden, europe

“so far, sweden is on track to meet their 2030 goals nine years early, thanks to a surge in wind power installations” - @greenmatters on instagram

united states of america, north america

maui, hawaii, usa, north america

san francisco, california, usa, north america

nebraska, usa (winnebago tribe), north america

“the tribe started to transition towards renewable energy over a decade ago and now has 400 kW of installed solar panels. by switching to solar power, their saving roughly $46,000 annually on electricity” - @greenmatters on instagram

minneapolis, michigan, usa, north america

“minneapolis, minnesota is the next city in the united states to commit to a goal of running on 100% renewable energy. they plan to have all their city facilities running on clean power by 2022 and the entire city by 2030. the [sierra club] notes that minneapolis is now the 65th city in the country placing folly renewable goals” - @greenmatters on instagram 

new york, usa, north america

“[governor cuomo] says the offshore wind farm will be critical to help new york state reach their goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050. in total, the wind development will generate 2.4 gigawatts of clean power.” - @greenmatters on instagram 

“the money will fund 26 large-scale projects that will help new york reach its goal of using 50% renewable energy by 2030″ - @greenmatters on instagram 

denton, texas, usa, north america

“the city of denton (pop. 130k) will install enough solar and wind to power everything by 2020. currently, georgetown, tx (30 miles north of austin) has the title of the largest community (60k) that relies on renewable energy in the u.s.” - @greenmatters on instagram 

taiwan, republic of china

“to prepare their citizens for the plastic ban, the taiwanese government will be adding additional charges to plastic straws, utensils, cups and containers over the next several years. additionally, the taiwanese government will be launching a number of marine clean-up programs. currently, the average taiwan citizen uses 700 plastic bags per year” - @greenmatters on instagram 

wales, europe

“the welsh government has spent roughly $10.4M to improve recycling services through their collaborative change programme, which gives local authorities money to improve recycling programs in the way they think best. by working closely with citizens, who are thrilled by the zero-waste goal, wales could show the world that a country can accomplish extraordinary things when the will of the people is supported by the government” - @greenmatters on instagram 

copyright infringement is not intended, simply trying to share credited work that will help make the world a better place to live a quality life

Meet the Women Behind California’s First Open-Water Seaweed Farm

They’re on a quest for a delicious solution to global food insecurity

Tessa Emmer, Catherine O’Hare, and Avery Resor constitute the all-female braintrust behind Salt Point Seaweed, a fledgling Bay Area company that launched last June. They’ve been harvesting wild seaweed off the coast of Mendocino County, located a few hours north of San Francisco, for two years and selling it to chefs at local restaurants, seafood CSAs, and at retail. Now, they’re striving to become the first West Coast seaweed farming operation to establish an active, open-water farm.

The idea to launch a sustainable seaweed syndicate came to Emmer, O’Hare, and Resor after living in East Africa and witnessing the burgeoning role of seaweed in those communities—as local fishing stock dwindled, resourceful women had found a reliable replacement in seaweed. Seaweed grows rapidly and easily without help from external inputs. Emmer and Resor, who share a background in natural resource management, drew inspiration from a hardscrabble female aquafarming operation in Zanzibar. “There were so many women farmers using it as an alternative revenue model in declining fisheries environments,” says Emmer. “We started wondering why it wasn’t happening in California.”

(via Meet the Women Behind California’s First Open-Water Seaweed Farm | Sierra Club)

Salt Point Seaweed is a three-woman team - Tessa Emmer, Catherine O'Hare, and Avery Resor - living in the Bay Area and working throughout California.

Tessa and Catherine met as undergraduates at Oberlin College and have spent many days exploring the Pacific Ocean from Oahu, Hawaii, to Mendocino, California. Tessa fell in love with the coastal and riparian ecosystems of the Pacific coast when she came out to California for a restoration internship with the Presidio of San Francisco. Her drive to work at the intersection of ecological conservation, economic development, and climate adaptation led her to pursue a master in sustainable development at UC Berkeley, where she met Avery.

Catherine has a background in coastal ecology and sustainable agriculture. She grew up next to the ocean, splashing around the sunny tide pools of southern California. After graduating with a Biology degree from Oberlin College, she worked for small scale organic farms and a small food business, solidifying her passion for local food, regenerative food systems, and health.

Avery grew up living and working on a cattle ranch and has been working in sustainable agriculture ever since. At Duke University Marine Lab, she studied marine biology and environmental science and was captivated by the parallels between aquaculture and land-based agriculture. She is integrating her agriculture experience with 10 years of professional cooking experience to bring farm-to-table culinary expertise to our team.

Avery, Catherine, and Tessa are all committed to using business as a force for environmental protection, community development, and food system transformation.

https://www.saltpointseaweed.com/about

You can find out more / follow them on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/saltpointseaweed/

After finding out recently that most gift wrap isn’t recyclable I decided to wrap my holiday gifts in the least amount of material possible. No tape, no waste. It’s the little things sometimes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

[Image description: Two simply wrapped gifts in brown paper bags and red string.]⠀⠀⠀

⠀#zerowaste #giftwrap #diy #solarpunk #holidays #genretomovement

Solarpunk winters

As we observe the winter solstice, my thoughts have turned to how solarpunks approach winter. As the days turn dark and cold, how does a society dependent on the sun continue to prosper? Finland If…

[Shameless self-promotion]

As we observe the winter solstice, my thoughts have turned to how solarpunks approach winter. As the days turn dark and cold, how does a society dependent on the sun continue to prosper?

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