Eric wrote:
Shall we put our collective 40 minds to work to define an ethic and to
solve Stuart's problem? I think it would be a great exercise in living an
eco-path!
Thanks Eric, enjoyed your view of this topic. I can contribute
some of the rules i use and a conclusion. Here are some rules:
1. Look for local solutions. "Local" can be broken into at
least three components: 1) each site is different and
needs different techniques. 2) each person is different
and needs to find their own solutions. 3) Each area has
different resources available.
2. Avoid perfection and guilt. There are thousands of small
battles and we can win the war without winning every
battle.
3. It is OK to compromise our actions, but not our objectives
and model of sustainability. In other words, we can choose
to use Blueboard in construction, but we need to acknowledge
it isn't an optimum choice for the ecology.
I try to follow these rules by suggesting ideas and possible
solutions, but not one idea that fits the site in question. The
eventual solution needs to come from the person doing the design,
so all i can do is give data or talk about experiences. This
way of discussion a problem is derived from the rule that all
designs need local solutions.
These views are discussed in many places. Bioregionalism has
some of the same ideas, most Permaculture literature talks
about local systems, many ecology books point in this direction
with their discussions of Deep Ecology and Chaos theory.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
