Hopedance

It seems to me that some BIG changes in the way we humans interact with each other and our planet are required for the long-term viability of the human race (along with other species). It is challenging for us to change our way of living during a time when our economy is also struggling. There must be ways to mitigate this without digging ourselves even deeper into the mire.


What if every product produced on this planet became subject to a new rule. This directive insists that each item made (whether manufactured in a small shop or mass-produced via factories) meet certain criteria: 1) the product itself must serve a need; 2) the product must be made of non-toxic materials (especially no petrochemicals); 3) the product must be produced in a pollution and waste-free manner; 4) the facilities that produce these products must be fully sustainable themselves.

To achieve this, virtually every place of production will need to be re-tooled. The process of doing so will take years, probably decades, but by doing so we reduce greenhouse gases, stop adding to pollution, clean up the mess we made in the last 200 years and create so many jobs that there is more than enough work for everyone who can work.

Simplified, my concept is full employment for all who are able, while eliminating everything that does not serve to bring us into health and well-being. This would include both restoring and then shifting the way we treat this planet. We have already prepared ourselves by producing enough vehicles, clothing, appliances, shampoo and useless plastic to last for decades. We actually have the luxury of an over-abundance of stuff to give ourselves the time to stop making the same old stuff in the same old way. We can live easily on the surplus while we close down shop in order to re-tool.

I foresee major educational requirements. Let's start ASAP cranking graduates out at all levels who are trained Sustainability Engineers, Re-Tool and Re-Use Engineers and whatever else is needed to achieve the ultimate goals of creating a fully sustainable civilization. Teachers abound today who are qualified because they can teach Innovation and Free Thinking. The teachers don't need to know "how" because the students are more than capable of coming up with the actual ideas - so let the teachers simply teach them how to take their own visions and form them into reality. This particular concept allows young people to become problem-solvers and allows us older folks to be true Elders.

As I drove up into the Sierra Nevada, I saw great scars across the landscape, put there by human intervention. Massive road cuts, huge clear cut "roads" for electric power towers, hydroelectric plants, dams on the river, highways, train tracks, tunnels for both cars and trains. An enormous amount of human labor was required to build this huge infrastructure that criss-crosses our nation and the world. The power lines bothered me the most. That concern led to this idea...

Decentralize the production of electrical power to eliminate the power grid system. Technologies exist today (and are in the process of being invented) that allow electricity to be produced on a very small scale. Every rooftop in the world has the potential to be a solar collector. Arrays of solar collectors have already proved themselves viable, as have wind farms. But let's make it local. What if every community was responsible for providing electricity for its residents? Got rivers or streams? Install tiny hydroelectric units under the water that can be easily pulled out for repair and maintenance. Install windmills where there is wind. Use solar where the sun shines. Allow folks living on top of coal reserves to use coal but don't dig it out of the ground and ship it anywhere else. Using the resources available each community chooses how they want to do it. Put a time limit on the process with all kinds of incentives for early execution and superior innovation.

Once the communities switch over from power grid to local production, then a massive Re-Tooling can take place that will systematically disassemble every currently existing power plant and all of the miles of towers and cable. But do it smart. Come up with ways to re-use all of the materials. We can become Recycle Nation instead of the country that wastes the most resources.

Replace petroleum products. Leave the rest of the oil buried on our planet where it is. Cease and desist from all oil drilling and all other forms of extraction, stop mining unless it can be done in a 100% sustainable way. Stop tearing down mountains and removing trees with massive machinery. Re-tool all means of transportation so that our vehicles don't pollute and manufacturing them doesn't pollute. Start by converting trains and trucks to bio-diesel. Convert all passenger vehicles to hybrids, then convert them again so that they do not use fuel or lubricants made from petroleum.

Another example is paper. Most of the paper production in the world still depends on using trees as the raw material. We can shift paper production to sustainable in a number of ways. Perhaps we start with a mandate to make all toilet paper from recycled materials. I mean really, must we wipe our butts with virgin paper? Either we grow crops like bamboo and hemp that are quickly renewable, for making paper, or we make it all recycled. Traditional paper manufacturing creates tons of pollution. Ever been downwind of a paper plant? The stench is so bad that nobody wants to stay outdoors. Why do we do that to ourselves? Let's stop now.

GREENVILLE, CA DEMONSTRATION CITY

Look it up on a map. Then plan a reconnaissance trip to check out this small town in Plumas County. Formerly a bustling little mill town, Greenville has come onto hard times. Some businesses and homes are boarded up. Adjacent to town is a massive flat valley that is used for pasture. Beautifully scenic, with forested mountains surrounding the valley, Greenville seems to me to be a nearly perfect place to build a Demonstration City from the ground up using the most promising "green" technologies. Greenville could become one of many demonstration towns that show the rest of us that it is possible to live in a sustainable way and still enjoy life.

Create a buffer zone around the city. No petroleum products allowed inside. Take advantage of the existing railroad. Visitors and suppliers must leave their pollution-creating transportation in designated areas outside the valley. No airplanes or helicopters land or take off and even the airspace is restricted. No weapons are allowed. Put a university there. Offer state of the art medical care to everyone without charge.

Restore and transform the existing town into a showplace for green restoration and commerce. Encourage retail businesses of all kinds to set up shops that are fun to look at, inspiring, filled with arts & crafts as well as practical items – all that meet a sustainability requirements. This "Old Town Greenville" could be a tourist attraction as well as an educational venue. Imagine a weeklong stay at the Sierra Hotel during which every product you consume, every building you see, every manufacturing process you can conceive of, is fully sustainable. Imagine how relaxing it would be to be on vacation there while knowing that nothing you participate in is going to add to global warming or pollution? Imagine working in these conditions?

Intersperse organic farms with neighborhoods and commerce. Make it possible to walk everywhere, or ride a bike. Using greenhouses, grow most of the produce needed by the community. Encourage entrepreneurs to set up small shops in market places to sell their handcrafted products. Have performers coming through all the time. Build a library and museums. Take advantage of the local Native American community to add cultural diversity. Repatriate these aboriginal peoples and their ancestors. Include them in the planning, development and ultimately management of the city.

Allow the capitalists to compete with the government in building the city. Encourage corporations to invest in building sustainable structures for work and for living. I want investors to be stumbling all over each other trying to bid for a place in Greenville. Have demonstration towns and cities serve as training centers for city managers and civic leaders. Trained teams return to their communities and hire sustainability experts and armies of people-power to transform themselves from their current high-impact status to one of complete or mostly sustainable.

It seems to me that if conversion projects and demonstration towns were made a priority and were built with a sense of urgency, that we could ramp up employment and reduce our impact on the health of the planet, at the same time, and in time to make a difference.

I am willing to give the current inequitable economy a shot at getting this to happen quickly. If Starbucks wants to build coffee shops in Greenville that meet the sustainability requirements and which feature their fair trade and organic lines, then I want to encourage them. I want to walk into that shop confident that I am going to receive my caffeine jolt in a reusable cup. I'm going to know that the half & half I use to dilute that java came from a dairy down the road.

I understand that we are not going to be able to change the prevalent business paradigm for a long time. So let's get them involved. One of my biggest questions is how do we convince traditional businesses that Re-Tooling is such a great idea that they will only be winners if they participate. How can we make competition for the greenest more alluring than competition for financial gain?

If I can have big picture ideas then I know that I am far from the only one. I don't have any fancy degrees to qualify me to have ideas based on a thorough knowledge of what already exists.  I just do. I realize that some may not be feasible, others have already been conceived of and some are even happening. I humbly offer you my ideas in hopes that they may offer some solutions to the planetary challenges of global climate change and the destabilization of economies around the globe.

In gratitude for your work.

Please feel free to contact me by email or phone. I intend to send my ideas to a number of organizations and individuals around the world. If there is someone you would like to suggest to me, please do let me know.

Sincerely,

Scout Tomyris
aka Kathy W Tomyris
698 Echo Lake Way
Santa Rosa CA 95401