Sam's blog 2: Where Does the Urban Outsourcing End?
As a New Yorker, one of the most appreciated aspects of city life is having all of your resources at your fingertips. If I want some food I step outside and walk to the deli on the corner. If I need to fix something I walk two blocks downtown to the hardware store. Numerous examples can be cited when speaking of the availability of everyday goods in an urban environment; but what costs come with this concept of highly convenient accessibility? What is it about this process that makes urban citizens take what is provided to them for granted? Many urban populations are simply unaware of the methods and side effects that come with the outsourced production and transportation of goods ranging from furniture to food. The concepts of outsourcing are what make cities unique, and yet on the other hand, these same concepts are what make cities the largest waste and pollution producers.
Due to the onset of the “global crisis,” cities around the world are currently under pressure to become more sustainable. What is it that can make an urban environment sustainable? The answer is to put an end to outsourcing, mainly in the areas of food production. In our world today, one of the greatest contributing factors to excess CO2 emissions is food transportation. In taking a retrospective look at any city in the world, one would be hard pressed to find a farm or any means of local food production. Due to dense population and a general sub contraction of food production, transportation of food into cities is a tremendous worldwide contributor to carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, the most recognizable cause for global warming. Something must be done in order to curb this phenomenal contribution to global warming. What must take place is the localization of food production in urban areas.
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Macrina's blog 2: intentional community
Kibbutz Lotan is an intentional community that has adapted to a modern Israeli way of life. Lotan has experienced the same major crises that each kibbutz in the country has dealt with, and has survived. Lotan’s survival can be accredited to its stabilized income from many sources, its continued adherence to original kibbutz values and equal distribution of wealth, or its emphasis on community vision and togetherness. All of these factors are contributors. No matter the crisis, Lotan has evidently found a way to persevere, and an eventual solution. The determination and like-mindedness of the members has made Lotan a strong community that fully exhibits the possibility of maintaining a modern kibbutz with traditional values.
The kibbutz has survived two major crises in its short history. Most kibbutzim in Israel went through these crises in the early 1980s. They are an economic crisis, and an ideological crisis. For Lotan, these crises occurred later since it was founded in 1983, part of the Reform Youth movement. The first crisis for Lotan was put in motion around the time that many members turned 30, in the early 1990s. About a third of the members left to find either economic or ideological stability, as more members questioned their ability to raise a family and survive economically within the context of the kibbutz lifestyle. The major “crisis of faith,” as it could be called, put Lotan on the path to the creation of a vision statement.
The vision statement is a document that clearly states the intentional aspect of a community and its commitment to certain values. Lotan’s vision statement discusses such values as care of the earth, equal distribution of wealth, bettering the world, community cooperation and communication, and the religious values of Reform Zionism. Very few kibbutzim today have such a document. Although it seems almost obvious in its simplicity, the simple outlining and confirmation of these values makes it clear that Kibbutz Lotan means to survive as a certain kind of community with certain values.
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Laura's blog 2: sustainable economics?
Permaculture has got me thinking about possible paradoxes lately. Not unsolvable ones, but curiosities. Permaculture is being presented to us as a vision of the future. It is also presented as a radical change. This makes me wonder about all the radical changes that have happened in the past, all the visions for the future that have been presented but were then changed when reality gained a new footing. Permaculture is focused on taking a step back in time, going back to local economies and local production where focus is on individual needs. Modern infrastructure seems incompatible with this vision. Things that require government money - roads, police, hospitals – who will build these in small local economies? Not individuals, they don’t have the money or the promise that others will help them pay. The government’s main purpose is to take some of our money and put it into common goods that would not be organized otherwise. Though it has taken on other roles, this remains its most important function. If the focus becomes local barter economies, there will be no road repairs or funding for hospitals, because no one has any money. Maybe we can start paying for doctors in pickles.
Another paradox is modern technology. Will research into new technologies have a place in a permaculture system? I see healthcare as a positive benefit of modern society. Often, a technology is invented to serve one purpose and it then becomes adapted for a different, more useful purpose. So many technologies used to treat the sick were invented for some totally different situation. In my mind, this raises the question: Will lack of a market for electronics and gadgets slow progress in sectors like health and renewable energy? Will it raise the cost?
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Julia's blog 2: We meet at an impasse
I find myself at an impasse – I have endless ideas for what to express and no way to narrow them down. Here I am, stuck in the traffic of my mind, watching the birds fly by. Actually no, I am sitting on my bed, trying to filter through the mess. I’m overwhelmed, in fact. I’m overwhelmed because so much is wrong with this system, and I keep relearning this, and each time I do, I don’t really know how to fix it. Over and over, I watch documentaries about landfills, recycling, river dams, oil drilling, meat industry, sexism, slavery, consumer culture, pain, pain, pain, pain. I fill myself to the brim with information, with statistics from here and there, with opinions from all sides. I find myself reaching the end of this process with a swelling stomach of ideas with toxins and bile slipping out the sides of my mouth, burping like a sick frog.
How do I end this cycle, or rather, move on with my life cycle? This is an issue of sustainability, of self-love, of awareness, of…growth. How can I live a healthy life like this? Where would I learn the ability to step outside of habit, addiction and heal myself? I have already learned that buying things and eating things will not solve my problems of sadness and hopelessness, so just what will?
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Andy's blog 2: Water
Everywhere in the world, water is becoming more of a commodity than a standard. Slowly slowly, even in first world countries water everywhere is being pumped from lakes and aquifers all over the world. At the rate Israel is going, all the water in the aquifers that supply all of the water south of Ber'Sheva will be pumped dry. This crisis is hitting the world on a global level, and people need to start learning how to conserve and use water to its fullest capacity, and in the right ways.
Saving water alone could easily be a beneficial way to help the cause. Most people I have encountered love to take a nice, relaxing, long shower. I don't blame them, I used to do it myself, but only recently learned the effects of them. The best way to cut down on water is to cut down on shower time. If instead of that lovely fifteen minute shower, try to take one thats five. If you take a five minute shower, try turning off the water while you lather up. This has an uncanning effect on your impact on the enviornment as well as your water bill. Other ways to cut down on water usage are setting up buckets to clean dishes, using composting toilets, and just shutting the water off when you're not using it.
If your looking to take it one step further it is possible to harvest you're own water. Using gutters and a cistern, it is possible to collect rainwater. This water, if set up proparly can not only feed you're garden, but also become you're shower water, sink water, and even tap water. Using gutters to trap the rainwater running down you're roof, it will collect into a cistern. If treated properly, it could even be better than the tap water that runs from you're town. It is amazing that this idea and technology have been around for one thousand years, but you will very rarley see someone using this method. This is one of the most efficient ways of saving water, and money.
Water is becoming so scarce, so quickly in our world today. People need to realize that it is an issue, and quite a large one at that. There are many ways to find alternative water sources either for personal use in the home or outside in gardens, and these techniques must be taken advantage of.
Alison Gross Blog 2: Cars
For many people worldwide, especially in the United States, the car has become an essential tool to everyday life. Thanks to bad urban planning and suburban sprawl, it has become nearly impossible for people to get anywhere without driving. Although many cities have offered other options, like public transportation and bike lanes, many of us are reluctant to give up our cars, because they have become a part of our identity, as well has holding a representation of the individuals social economic status. As discussions of a future oil crisis and the role of oil plays on modern society heats up, the corporations and manufacturers stillgain monetary income from such a shrine.
But as the oil is becoming less available, the current and future generations of drivers need to realize that we need better means of transportation. The auto industry was built on an idea that gasoline would have an endless supply, but now, it has become increasingly clear that oil is a limited resource. Because we can no longer ignore the damage our cars do to our planet, we need to find solutions that can end our addiction to those things that the fossil fuels allow.
Right now, the market of cars offers only short-term solutions to gasoline run vehicles. They offer high profile hybrids, cleaner burning diesel engines, biofuels, and synthetic fuels, but the long term solution to this new generation of vehicles like electric. Only time will tell what the most efficient car is, but until that time, we need to support new vehicles that run on clean energy, and pave the way for future cars and fuel.
Sam's blog entry 1: Integrating Permaculture through Respect
What is it to be sustainable? What must be changed or converted in modern society in order to attain sustainability? These are both questions that involve a dramatic paradigm shift in man’s relationship with the naturally occurring world. This shift would entail the implementation of symbiotic interaction between human beings and the environments in which they live. In this author’s opinion, these relationships can be manifested and utilized through permaculture. Simply speaking, permaculture can be described as an ultimate humility and respect for the healing, maintaining and restoring abilities of nature. Permaculture and a humble respect for nature are synonymous phrases. One cannot practice permaculture without a level of humility when dealing with nature.
Theoretically, through clever design appropriated to specific regions, permaculture instills upon humanity the ability to create farms and gardens that yield highly diverse outputs and maximum yields with minimal input and maintenance. According to the guidelines of permaculture, man mimics and even improves upon natural processes with minimal to no invasion or tillage of the soil. Through careful observation of the specific environment in which a farm or garden is to be created, one can notate and implement the unique and interdependent relationships occurring in nature. These relationships can include composting, or the recycling and natural decomposition of all unused organic material into reusable, nutrient rich soil, and companion planting, or the usage of plants that complement each other’s growth and nutritional balance. If one plants tomatoes, the perfect companion plants for these “heavy feeders” or nitrogen consuming vegetables would be any type of legume, a family of plants that work to restore nitrogen levels in soil. Once a permaculture system is created, incorporating these and numerous other possible farming and gardening techniques creates a sustainable area in which a person or family can easily provide for themselves, and, depending on the scale, the community around them. Once a permaculture farm or garden is underway, minimal to no maintenance is required in order to keep things running. Fertilization of the dirt and the health of the plants are naturally regulated.
It is quite ironic how the most efficient method of agricultural self-sufficiency also happens to be the closest to natural processes with minimal amounts of human interference. While the complex symbiotic relationships of permaculture are easily executed, everything must start somewhere. In the practice of permaculture, everything begins with observation. Every permaculture farm or garden is unique. This is due to the unique micro-climates, environmental factors, and flaura and fauna of each and every location decided upon to be cultivated. Before beginning, every farmer or gardener, through careful observation of the natural environment, must familiarize himself or herself with his or her respective areas. Through this observation period, one can discover beneficial symbiotic relationships between plants, animals, and the earth that can be utilized. This, in combination with knowledge of climatic tendencies, provides the equation for a garden or farm that thrives in its own unique area.
The reader may now be wondering as to where a respect for nature coincides with the above information. A humble respect for nature is the first step in influencing a permaculture lifestyle. Traditional agriculture can in many ways be described as a selfish and opportunistic usage of what earth provides us. Traditional agriculture generally implies monoculture, or the cultivation of one type of plant, and constant tilling and invasion of soil. These factors highly degrade the soil to the point of infertility; thus is the fate of any traditional monoculture farm. This inefficient method of food production is generally due to a lack of respect for plants, animals, and soil; a complete ignorance of natural and therefore highly efficient processes.
When beginning a permaculture project, the process of observation requires a level of respect on the part of the person creating the project. The very concept of observation is in essence respectively learning what nature has to offer. When observing nature, humility instills upon the observer the ability to notice every natural process that goes on without the need or want to change or tweak anything. Being humble and respectful when dealing with nature creates an ability to listen to what nature has to teach us. Unfortunately, humanity cannot continue living and producing the way it does. Our lifestyles are simply too wasteful to be allowed to continue. Fostering a humble respect for nature is the first step to achieving a sustainable planet.
Macrina's blog entry 1: let it snow
In the G.A. program at Kibbutz Lotan we learn important tools for gardening, composting, and generally taking care of our Earth. But so often many of us are thinking, what happens when I get back to my snow-filled backyard in the dead of winter? I will not exactly be planting cacti. Because so many of the volunteers here are from cold climates, it is important for us to consider how the techniques we learn can be sustained and used in cold weather. During months of snow and bare trees it is essential to continue our consideration of the soil, perennial plants, and even whether there are plants that we can continue to grow during these months.
There are many ways we can be considerate to our soil before the winter months even begin. In the fall, laying down straw, wool, or even dead leaves on the garden as mulch will help to protect the soil and hibernating plants. Compost piles can be maintained throughout the winter so that healthy soil will be ready for plants in the spring. As long as a pile is kept covered and moist, and of course fed a balanced diet of carbon and nitrogen, it will generate its own heat and continue to decompose. It is even possible to build a sheet mulch garden, either dug underground for insulation, or as a raised bed, that will decompose throughout winter and become ready soil for planting in the spring.
Certain plants can also be used during winter to benefit the soil. Planting green manure, such as beans, clover, buckwheat, or almost any nitrogen-fixing ground cover is a great strategy. These plants, when protected with mulch, can grow in certain climates throughout winter, or in colder climates, will grow in the fall and decompose on their own during the cold months, feeding the soil with delicious nutrients. If the ground cover is still alive in the spring, it merely needs to be plowed or buried into the soil and will nourish the soil and the plants to come.
There are also ways that hardy vegetables, and many other plants can continue to grow during a harsh winter. Greenhouses are the easiest way to keep plants safe in winter, and harness sunlight as well as warmth to keep plants alive. Greenhouses have the added benefit of making an automated watering system very easy to set up. Many gardeners also use boxes covered with glass, or “cold frames.” These boxes, which are easily made from old windowpanes and some wood for a border, protect soil, amplify sunlight and warmth much like a greenhouse, but still allow plants to grow outside in the garden in the natural soil they are used to. Another way to prevent shock to plants that may not do well when relocated to greenhouses is to simply build a wire frame around the garden and cover the plants in a layer of thick plastic. Covering plants is yet another way to keep them warm and sunned, and in their favorite soil, throughout winter.
These and many other techniques and tricks can help us keep our gardens alive and productive during winter months. The basic principles we learn here at Lotan can be applied in these cold climates as easily as anywhere else. Although we are specifically seeing these principles in action in a desert climate, we can go back from whence we came and realize that gardening is not so different in different climates. Getting to know one’s local plants, local soil, weather patterns, and sectors, or energy that flows through the site, are the most important principles and apply no matter where you live. Know your local bioregion, know your own site, and let it snow.
Laura's blog entry 1: dreams and observations
Around 5:30 a.m. every morning I awake to the sound of wailing babies and parading soldiers, dog fights and hymns sung in Hebrew. Because I don’t have to be awake until 6:45, this early dawn hour is always incredibly surreal as my ‘conscious’ mind chases itself hazily through wakeful dreams. In fact, it took me a few days to realize that it was the dairy goats climbing the ramp to be milked, with encouragement from a pair of dogs and Israelis, causing my hour of fitful sleep every morning.
About a week ago I had a particularly vivid string of ridiculous dreams. In one I was standing with two friends and an old man who wanted us to saw through a tree trunk. He handed us a serrated knife with which to do the job.
In organic gardening we had a short lesson on companion planting. In companion planting, plants that maximize each other’s potential are planted together. Seems simple. Plant a nitrogen fixer with an avid nitrogen user. Plant a pest deterrent next to one that tends to attract pests. Maybe put some tap-rooted plants next to some shallow-rooted plants. Plant climbers next to plants that grow tall. But which plants like being shaded by the tall ones? Which ones don’t? And what about allelopathy? What if everything wants to be planted next to a tomato? Which one is the best combination?
All of these thoughts are racing excitedly through my mind when we go to Permaculture 3. There we learn about the Japanese farmer Fukuoka, who has spent most of his life observing the interaction of plants on his farm. This is when the ‘great unknown’ hits me with the same force that an eighteen-wheeler hits a dragonfly with on I-95.
Sawing through a tree with a serrated knife. That’s how I feel about the task that has been set before me. The only way to know is to experiment; the only way to improve is to be innovative. And to observe. And to reflect. And observe, and reflect. But how do we know we are observing correctly? Reflecting correctly? What if my solution is completely off the mark? My scientific education tells me there is a right answer, making me dependent on the scientist as farmers who use chemical fertilizers are slave to oil prices.
In a certain sense, being dependent on book knowledge is easier. I don’t have to think or problem-solve – or fail. It’s like having a chainsaw instead of a knife. But chainsaws are noisy, smelly, and anyone can use one; cutting a tree is no accomplishment, nor is the process enjoyable.
But am I ready to commit to using a knife instead? It’s time consuming and archaic, presenting every reason to opt for a faster tool. It’s easy to back out of things that seem slow and arduous.
When I think about my dream again, I think about the setting and the way I felt. I am with two of my closest friends, two guys I love having long, long chats with. It’s a heady summer day with the kind of warm, still summer air that’s filled with the sound of crickets and cicadas and lulls you into the deepest, most peaceful mid-afternoon nap. I am really happy to be where I am, with whom I am with. More than all this, I am not surprised when we are given the knife. In fact, it feels like the only tool right for the job. Even in my dream I know that sawing through that tree is going to take forever, but that thought is not at all uncomfortable. So, as daunting as it seems to try and observe complex systems and understand what it is I am observing, I think I am ready for the task. Maybe even excited.
And it goes beyond companion planting. In me I can feel a rising readiness to actively observe my environment – natural, built, and that strange intangible environment we have built through the centuries with our minds, encompassing currency and politics and territory – and to find solutions that move the world towards greater
Julia's blog entry 1: Goats
Desperate screams of goats at the crack of dawn worked well as my alarm this morning. Sure enough, I rose to greet the day, head pounding. Amidst the yelps and screeches, it occurred to me – what do these goats do here on Kibbutz Lotan, besides give milk? How can they be utilized for greater sustainability in this community? I know we eat plenty of their dairy and its also sold to make money. What about their crap? What about their hair? What about their bodies? Some of them still have a horn or two that didn’t get severed at birth – are those horns utilized? What purposes do these goats serve here, and what purposes could they serve? I decided to find out.
According to Leah Benamy, newest member of the Lotan cheese-making team, “…the only thing we use the goats for is to produce goat's milk which we make into a variety of soft and hard cheeses, as well as yogurt...” Wonderful! Cheese and yogurt provide lasting food that needs not be refrigerated, as long as its keep in a relatively cool place, and can last a whole season or much longer even. Potentially, cheese and yogurt could create less shipping costs, less pollution from importing foods grown elsewhere during the months of the year when food would be hard to grow here, in Lotan. Cheese and yogurt provide for the future.
Other than cheese, what do the goats do here? The only other thing Leah told me was “…it is a health code violation to use the body of an animal that has died from natural causes (i.e. has not been slaughtered in controlled circumstances) either for meat or for fur… In other words, the dairy goats are not being used for material potential after they die. As for whether they compost the bodies in some way, I have yet to find out, but certainly have not heard about it through my gardening class here. Meat is difficult to compost as long as any animals are around to disturb the controlled process. It is a shame there is not some sort of social service in place to utilize farmer’s waste in this way… certainly I am not surprised at this point in cultural time but all the same, it is time we reexamine such lack of social structures.
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