#2 What do you REALLY need?

Simple living, Kyrgyzstan style

Humans like stuff.

We like a lot of stuff.

We currently live in a world when the person who has the most stuff when he dies - wins.
And the funny thing is, we can't take it with us when we die.

But really we spend a fortune to put our stuff someplace else. It has been said that in America self storage rentals make more money than Hollywood. We spend a fortune to keep stuff we don't want in a place we don't want to go.

And what do we do when we need a boost? When we want to show someone we care? When we are bored, or something breaks and we don't want to fix it. We go shopping. To buy more stuff. Stuff we don't need, probably don't really want, and will probably put away where we don't use it or see it in a short period of time.

There is a sweet irony that best selling books instruct us to get rid of our stuff. We buy them with the best intentions, we may even read them, and possibly even let go of some of our stuff. 

Yet we accumulate more stuff once we clear out stuff. 

There are all sorts of reasons for our attachment to our stuff, but when it comes down to it, what do we actually need?

I travel a lot for work. I go long distances, through multiple airports. I have to look like a grown-up within hours of arrival. I can't afford to lose my luggage, So I travel with carry-on luggage only.  I can live for 6 weeks from when I can get in my carry-on bag because I have gotten VERY GOOD at deciding what I need. 

Not what I want, what I need.

And need is the key term here. 

Multi-purpose items, simple color coordinates, more with less.

The funny thing is, until about 100 years ago most of us, most humans on the planet across all of human history lived with less stuff for a lifetime than I carry in my small suitcase for 6 weeks of urban camping. 

Our ancestors could carry their material possessions because they knew what the needed. Sure some very wealthy folks had more than they could carry and had others to carry it for them. The significant majority of humans could carry their own stuff, long distances if needed, on foot, by themselves. (And without a rolling suit case!)

Mass consumption, the industrial revolution, the rise of cheap-throw-away goods, has led us to amass huge quantities of stuff. And when we clean it ends up in landfills.

It's not good for the planet. It's not going to make it easier to adapt to climate change. 

When it comes down to it, we need to think about what we need.

And we need to let go of the rest and share what we have with those who really do need it.

And I swear, really soon I'll get that storage unit cleared out!! 

Prepare for sudden shifts in your routine

This week has been a special kind of challenge for me. The confluence of the cat, the keyboard of my lap top computer, and my first hot cup of coffee proved that not all three things could exist in the same space at the same time. 

The end result?
The 
I did not get to drink my coffee.
The cat ran off.
My 5 year old much loved computer is getting replaced sooner than I expected - in 2 WEEKS!

I've spent a few days feeling very lost. I use my computer to write. I have to write to do my job. I like to write. I like to write on my computer where everything works and I don't have to think about it.

When I have to learn a new way to write (currently on an iPad mini),  everything is thrown into chaos. TOTAL CHAOS!

My files are on the hard drive, lovingly salvaged by my husband the Mac Guru. I am forever grateful he's here to help me in my time of crisis. But they are on an antique Mac Air. So I have to learn how to use the old fashioned track pad. I must remember how to be patient when something takes weeks to load. I must embrace my inner zen and not lose my cool when something I spent hours writing can't be saved easily.

So what does this have to do with adapting to climate change?

Simple.

I'm painfully aware of how much I depend on rituals that are so minute I don't even recognize them until they are gone. The sense of disarray resulting from having to use a different set of tools to write with has pushed me way outside of my comfort zone. 

Climate change will throw our routines out of whack.

When ports can't function due to storm surges, when droughts, invasive fungus, or civil unrest makes it harder and harder to get my beloved Tanzanian Peaberry coffee, I will feel it.

When floods wipe out the routes I usually travel to get to the grocery store because bridges have been neglected for years, I will feel it.

When the water from my kitchen tap becomes unsafe to drink because drought has led to water sources reaching dangerous levels of pollutants, I will feel it.

None of these scenarios are insurmountable. But they throw off a routine.

And we have to learn to adapt.

Today, I'll be honest, if I am feeling this challenged by a seemingly minor change in my routin, I wonder how well I will adapt to climate change myself?

A few clever fixes, knowing how to adapt to the crisis has let me keep working, even with a few inconveniences. Sort of. This time...

Adapting your yard - Fruit Trees

If you are thinking of adding something special to your yard, go with fruit!

Fruit trees can provide pollen for bees, increase available food sources for local wildlife, and provide you with fresh, accessible, delicious nutrients.

I have a friend in rural Azerbaijan. More than fifty years ago his father planted an acre of fruit trees of all varieties. Today this man's children, grandchildren and great grand children feast on fruits from this orchard almost year round. The fruits are so good, and you can taste the love and sunshine in each bite. It is a wonderful legacy to him, and a gift to his family.

Look for local species that are well suited for the climate and micro-climate of your yard. Ideally, you want something that is native to your area, will drive WITHOUT extra water, fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides. A good fruit tree will provide shade, habitat, color, and lots of fresh fruit. Talk to your local county extension agent about the best variety for your yard and plant several trees if you can.

Be sure that it is a fruit you like, you will hopefully have a lot of it in for years to come!

Climate Change, the Zika Virus, and You

Climate change is expected to have some wide ranging impacts we don't think of immediately, but could have some very immediate and personal implications for each of us. 

Climate change is not only about severe storms, debilitating droughts, and other extreme weather events. It is a shifting of climates over the longer term, so that areas that were once prone to annual freezing have milder winters, or some areas that were once dry are more humid. Initially that does not sound bad at all, especially in the middle of winter storm season in the US. 

However, this can also mean that disease prevalence can shift as climatic conditions for critters that carry the diseases also shifts. This means that species of ticks and mosquitos that normally could not survive (or thrive) in some areas are now becoming more established in the US. This is know as "changes in vector ecology".

http://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), UN World Health Organization (WHO), and now many universities, research centers, and others are increasingly confident about the direct impacts these changes in climate will have on human populations. Being scientists, they often do not draw immediate cause and effect relationships because of many variables that can impact human health. However, the evidence that climate change shifts the vector ecology is becoming more convincing.

Most recently, the Zika virus has surfaced in Brazil and Latin America, spread mainly by mosquitoes, and is having tragic impacts on families. Thousands of babies born in Zika affected regions have the birth defect microcephaly. The exact link of microcephaly to the Zika virus is not 100% certain yet, but the impact of the potential linkage on health care workers, family members and pregnant women, the media and general public is growing daily. 

While the Zika virus has been around since 1947, the spread and the linkage to birth defects is growing rapidly. The symptoms of the virus are minimal. Any symptoms that occur can be easily mistaken or overlooked when someone is infected. According to recent news reports, roughly 500,000 - 1,500,000 cases of the Zika virus infectious outbreak have occurred in Brazil. And it is spreading very quickly. 

We know it exists. We know it is spread by mosquitoes. The current spread of the disease shows us that the infection, and impacts are increasingly serious. 

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pan American Health Organization

Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR For a detailed report on the history of the spread of Zika please visit NPRs "Goats and Soda" 

With winter firmly upon us, most in the US are not too worried about mosquito borne viruses. Yet soon it will start to warm up, and mosquitoes will be our outdoor companions once again. And for those of us who are having milder winters today, we might have more close encounters with these little blood suckers, and their diseases, than we used to. Thanks to climate change.

So what can we do? How can we adapt?

To start with the US CDC has some great immediate recommendations at: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html, including these nifty informational posters:

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/fs-posters/index.html

While the particular species of mosquitoes that spread this virus are not prevalent across all of the US, the established populations are prone to spread as climate change continues to march forward.

And we have to adapt.

We also have to recognize that humans, as a species are also vectors for diseases and illnesses that we carry as we zoom around the planet. But more on that another day...

#1 Preparing your Go Bag - Part 1

The idea behind a "go bag" is to have a bag of personal items that you want to take with you in the event that you need to leave your home in an emergency situation. The military has these, also known as bug out bags. But essentially if you had to leave your home in a matter of moments, what do you need to be able to survive?

First, why would you need to leave your home and what does that have to do with climate change adaptation?

Good question. The impacts of climate change can be disasters that strike suddenly and with little warning. This can include: floods, forest fires, sudden power outages due to storms, infrastructure collapse (more on that to come), sudden contagious illnesses, civil unrest,  Donald Trump actually becoming president. The list goes on. The point is, you need to be prepared to go quickly and it's reassuring knowing you have a "go bag" ready.

So what goes in your "go bag"?

If you google "go bag", you will find a lot of recommendations, some from natural disaster preparedness sites, some from government agencies, some from "preppers"/survivalists, some from people planning to go sight seeing. 

For now, let's assume we are looking at the first two categories. The survivalist go bag is a good idea, depending on the threat level. We can always upscale as needed. The sight seeing go bag is great for sight seeing tourist, but those won't be enough, likely.

For each family member you should pack an individual bag for each person to carry. Assume you may get separated so don't leave everything with one person.

Some key things you need to have in your go bag:

• Copies of your important documents (health, home, care, and life insurance caazrds, house deed, photo IDs, passport, bank information, cell phone number, photo, and descriptions of each family member, including pets, physician contact information, family contact information, list of family member medications, general medical records and vaccination records for all family members) in a waterproof container. This can be a ziplock bag inside another ziplock bag. Do not assume having all these in your email or on your phone will work. You may need hard copies. Go ahead and do that now.
• Cash - up to about $300 in small bills, more or less. Have it in the local currency if you live abroad, or travel abroad. You may want to have more cash on hand, but for the "go bag" this should be enough. (Kids could have less money in their bags, but should have some cash. The amount should be based on age and responsibility.)
• A first aid kit with medicines you (and family members including pets) MUST take regularly. Include pain medicine, both aspirin/NSAIDs and tylenol. Multivitamins and supplements may be nice to have on hand, but in an emergency, you don't want to carry too much. You may want some pro-bitotics if your stomach is sensitive. Also, if you have anyone in the family with serious allergies, please keep an up-to-date epi-pen in your "go bag". 
• Phone charger, including cords, and hand crank or solar powered charger unit, ideally with a radio function.
• A flashlight - high efficiency if possible. 
• Granola bars/power bars/etc. each person should have at least 5-6
• Water bottle - sterilized, full, and refillable. Make the bottle durable - metal or nalgene are good.
• Dry dog/cat food for your pets - depends on size of the animal but enough for 2-3 days, in a sealed ziplock bag. 
• Collapsable water bowl 
• A full change of comfortable clothes, including socks and underwear - focus on durable, and comfortable first. Fashion doesn't matter much in an apocalypse.
• A towel - because the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is right - always take a towel. You can use it for a blanket, a towel, a ground cloth, etc. It doesn't have to be a big fluffy towel - but something with a little heft.
• A plastic poncho to use as a tarp, rain protection, ground cover etc.
• Strong nylon rope - at least 20 feet to use for everything and anything.
• Bungee cords - again 2-3 are useful for everything. 
• A bandana - because you can use them for EVERYTHING also. And they look really cool.
• A can opener - because you may need one. Please, only hand held. NOT electric.
• A full cigarette lighter - because you may want to light something on fire, plus if you cut the nylon rope, it will fray if you don't burn the ends to seal it.
• A swiss army knife - this should be obvious. No really. Please do not ask me to explain this... Unless you really need me to. 
• A deck of cards - because you will get bored at some point. 
• What else? Seriously, please add your suggestions.

No two bags are exactly the same, but:

Just a note on what sort of "go bag" you should use. 

This is good:

This, not so much. Don't be stupid. No one could outrun zombies or hike for 5 miles in this. No. Just  No. 

I don't care how good you look in heels, and love your rolling carry on-bag, we are talking disaster preparedness, not a trip to New York City. No one else should have to carry your bag over ground it won't role over and those shoes...? Lovely, but not practical in an emergency, or for long hikes over uneven ground.

Okay, now to be honest, I do not have a "go bag" prepared for myself, as of 3 February 2016. But, I promise I will do it, and let you know how long it takes.

Do you have one? 

What's in it? Or what will be?

Living in the End Times - February 1, 2016

For much of human history we have been entertained by the notion that we are living in "The End Times"

It makes us feel special. It makes us unique. It makes us matter. And it makes life a little less boring, really, when it comes down to it. 

And historically speaking we really think, or thought, we were living at the end. For example: 

• 50 years ago it was the Cold War. The specter of Nuclear War was serious apocalyptic scariness.
• Just about 100 years ago, the global economy first collapsed after World War I. Seriously nasty grim times.
• 150 years ago, in the US, the Civil War was ending. More US soldiers were brutally killed in that war than in all other US wars combined. An entire civilization had to be reordered. Man's inhumanity to man as on out door step. Again, not a great time.

Plagues, Famines, War, it is all there, and has been over and over. 

And every generation seems to have a narrative about how they will be "the last".

Usually, that has not quite been the case, though we've had to make some serious adjustments in how we manage, how we function as individuals and communities. We suffered losses, and horrible sorrows. And yet, we, as a species, have survived.

Climate change is easily apocalyptic too. When we look at the threats we will face our own survival can seem insurmountable. 

But like our history shows, we are amazingly adaptable as a species. 
We can adapt to this too. We may have deaths, sorrows, horrible conditions and losses (This would be why they call it "an apocalypse" people.) But with preparation, ingenuity, and hard work, we have a chance. 

Not everyone will make it. With our species exploding population on the planet, population dynamics suggest not everyone should survive, in principle. The carrying capacity of the planet is being seriously overstretched. 

And Mother Nature will win this. Have no doubt. Because she always does.

To us it is an apocalypse. To her, it is a shift. Our apocalypse is her rebalancing. 
That is terrifying. 
That is serious.
That is coming.
We will see it. 

We need to be ready. 

That I am posting this today, the data of the Iowa Caucasus, is only a little bit ironic. 
And this topic - of apocalypses and Mother Natures, is something I'll spend some time on here on this blog. So we can be prepared. 

Coming up next:
Packing your "go bag": The first step in being prepared

*Graphics from:
http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/52f9178d-00a3-4c1f-a7b9-14976b33ca7d/3b07446d-9570-4275-93f5-47a55d56d9b6.jpg

Housing for the masses?

This is something that I want to come back to soon, but as we face the specter of climate change we will be facing some serious challenges of housing lots of people.

It goes like this:

• Most major cities are in areas very close to coasts. 
• Sea level rise, due to global warming, thermal expansion, and storm surge, as well as ground water inundation is going to make living close to the seas and oceans more difficult. 
• Other people who live in arid areas will find there is not enough water available to sustain them and will need to move. 

These simple facts will result in mass portions of the population on this planet moving away from where they have lived for hundreds of generations to safer, more secure places. 

We see the problems  across the Middle East and in Europe with this with Syrian refugees today fleeing the horrors of their homeland. In Kenya, in Haiti, in refugee camps around the world, thousands of families are barely managing to survive the elements under plastic tarps, with no insulation or protection. The structures that are built are designed to be temporary. 

But when Miami is under water, when New Orleans has slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, or when London is awash in waters over people's heads, where are all those humans, those families going to go?

The horrors will be different from Syria today, but the same questions remain:

How do we house people? 
How to we make sure they are safe and even improve the environment of the area? 
And do we quickly build homes are more than "temporary"?

A friend of mine in Sierra Leone shared this with me on Facebook. 
I'm not sure it's THE solution, but it could be a start.

http://www.boredpanda.com/hobbit-holes-eco-friendly-houses-green-magic-homes/

I'm a huge fan of sustainable, low cost "green" building. I'll spend more time on this issue in the near future, but for now, we all need to start thinking about solutions to the challenges we will be facing. 

For more information on these structures, visit: http://www.greenmagichomes.com/main.php

(yes, I know, these would need to be mass produced, low cost, made from sustainable materials, have appropriate zoning, and infrastructure design and support, etc. - but it is a start, and that's what we need to start working on now. Plus hey, build one of these in your yard and you know your neighbors will all be super impressed - and building social capital is very important too.)


And if you want to learn a bit about my own green building project check out the blog I wrote about 8 years ago, as I was building my own environmentally friendly office space: 
http://greened-house.blogspot.com