In past years I used fossil fuels for transporting myself around, used fossil fueled and nuclear electricity to power my workshop and purchased groceries dependant on fossil fuels. I suddenly woke up to the fact that we have based our entire existence on finite fossil fuels and anyone can easily figure out that if we base our livelihood on something that will eventually run out we will be in serious difficulties and the industrial processes currently used will be useless. We need to make serious changes to our lifestyle!

There is no magic fix to all of this and with a little thought one can only see our way through this if we have sustainable systems. So what is sustainable? Well the sun has been around since the beginning of time so why not use it? And yes a lot of our economy is based on processes that will not be able to be supported by the sun. So that means we need to make drastic changes.

Lets look at food production. We have relied on fossil fuels to increase our farm yields not only to drive the machinery but for use in fertilizers. Going to the grocery store is easy as long as you have money and the time it takes to shop is rather small compared to growing ones own in a garden. Grwoing a garden is part of the life of maintenance. But look at the energy savings.... no fertilizers if you make your own compost, no driving to the store, no tractor as you are the energy. And yes it will take time so that means you cut down on your working for others.

Then there is putting out the compost, insulating the house, devising more efficient ways to do things, working with friends when more labour is needed, collecting the eggs from the chickens, weeding the garden, preparing meals instead of ordering in a pizza, making bread, preparing food for the winter and on it goes!

This life of maintenance leaves little time for golf, television watching or going to the movies but it does seem to have many other rewards such as being part of a community and knowing just where your food comes from. You learn to share your abilities with others and together you encourage a growth in sustainable living.

Waiting until fossil fuels are no longer financially affordable is too late. We need to do it now, learn the difficulties, find solutions and share our knowledge.

-mat