Shifting Seasons, Cultures, and Climates

Every month our update could easily begin with the words, “Wow! What an experience”, and this month is no exception. Between the news on climate change and our own experiences with the Eco-Sense Project it has been another amazing month.

Our foundation is ready for pouring (or placing as our friend Bruce said). The foundation will sit right on the ground in curvy forms made from recycled wood with fabric forms hanging to contain the Eco-Smart concrete. www.ecosmartconcrete.com This is the same high fly ash concrete we used for the workshop. The fabric form we are using is a new product that is essentially an engineered HDPE tarp material that is stapled onto the screed boards on the forms, and doubles as the moisture barrier, (http://www.fab-form.com/products/fastfoot/fastfoot.html). Both the engineer and building inspector have checked it out and given us the ok to “place the concrete”. Once the concrete is “placed” and forms removed, the sub floor will be filled, leveled and tamped down with sand or recycled crushed glass. We have to laugh at ourselves and the Eco-Smart concrete, as it is delayed due to a shortage of flyash, a result of the railway strike. Hmmm, I wonder what else could be found locally to replace the flyash… Gord has some ideas but would need some research funding to pay for the testing.

We are also moving forward with the preparations for the cobbing season and are working out the logistics such as obtaining the materials and developing a method to make cob faster using a rototiller. Our initial thought was to use our own dirt and bring in the equipment and sifter to dig up the fill at the bottom of our hill. We have learned that our building material (an inorganic mixture of clay and sand) is normally a waste material at other construction sites and have contacted an excavation company who will deliver 7-8 dump trucks full of this material for FREE, almost; we will have to pay a small price in additional truck time that would be used to divert the trucks here rather than Hartland Land Fill. This is a lot of dirt, 120 yards, and is why we are exploring the rototiller option for mixing, with a 30 year old Gilson. Theoretically being able to mount an electric motor and use a cleaner power would be ideal; a cob machine. We have mounted the gas guzzling beast on a stand above a plastic barrel (cut length ways). The rototiller can tilt away while the cob in the half barrel can slide into a wheel barrow. Sounds good in theory! Stay tuned for the results and hopefully non-gory pictures. Despite our use of fossil fuels for delivery and cob mixing the carbon footprint of this construction will still be miniscule.

We are also looking to add a secret ingredient into the cob mixture that has never been done before. This additive is a renewable waste product that is highly insulative, extremely strong, and will never rot. Our engineer has one of his students working with Ann’s idea as a research project, and the test results have come back very good. Can anybody guess what our secret is?

The cob home will be load bearing meaning that the exterior walls will support the roof. This dramatically reduces the amount of dimensional lumber required. However we still need floor joists, rafters, and a few interior posts. Here on Vancouver Island there are a number of managed forests where sustainably harvested wood can be found. Upon discussing our needs with some of them it was suggested that we use some of our own wood. This immediately caused a NIMBY attack, (Not in My Back Yard). Then we thought about it, analyzed our emotional response, and decided that yes our own trees are sustainable. The two trees we chose were on the ledge at the bottom and doomed to fall across our driveway because of this winters storms and undercut roots. The rest of our lumber will come from recycled sources. (Ray from Island Muffler has been the main supplier of used lumber to date, as demolition/salvage has been his passion for 40 years).

Gord came across an interesting observation collecting wood from the old Mayfair Bowling Lanes and was surprised to see the insulation of the building being scraped up and piled. The mess was not what surprised him, it was the material. The insulation was beautiful golden straw that had been packaged in the same style battens as we see fiberglass insulation today. When did the culture change from using straw battens to fiberglass? And is it not interesting that the culture is beginning to shift again, as straw insulation is beginning to be used once more. What a segway…

Cultural Shift – A different way of being (or not)

What motivated our shift in values from the North American mainstream world view to one of the sustainable culture? We both have different reasons for this shift in values. Ann’s parents and Gord’s kids have been pulled into the sustainable culture too, a culture that they had not learned much about prior to embarking on our project. This sustainable culture has foreign new rules, and a social scrutiny on what you buy, where it came from, and how it was produced. Our family probably thought we were crazy, but as the past weeks’ headlines are awash with the coverage of climate change spawned by the IPCC report, it seems Canadians are finally waking up.

(warning coarse language ahead)

What made us give up on fitting in to this consumer and corporate driven rage? What made us give a shit? Ann calls this the “Give-a-Shit shift” or the GAS shift. What will it take to inspire others to Give-a-Shit? Ann’s shift came from being immersed in nature on Wise Island, and removing herself from the mainstream and marketed culture while creating a deep connection to her backyard, or should I say more appropriately, the birds front yard, the place that Ann shared with the lizards, digger bees, and the ocean. For Gord, the GAS shift came through the introduction to thought provoking alternative media, not filtered through consumer corporatism. Gord loved nature, but as Ann pointed out, he enjoyed nature to its detriment. Gord loved Ann and if he was to continue to hang around he best learn something. What about you? Have you been inspired to Give-a-Shit? What was your GAS shift and how has this changed your life?

The February 9 Globe and Mail says that of the G8 countries Canada is the worst. Just three weeks earlier the CBC was discussing eco-tourism saying that we better visit Kilimanjaro before the Glaciers melt. The RCMP prepared a report for how climate change is expected to impact their jobs; increased “climate refugees” and social upheaval. We listened to a caller on CBC’s Talkback saying that she won’t give up her incandescent lights because the fluorescents don’t dim. (this is not even true) The Vancouver Sun polled readers, and found that the environment is their main concern, but in the same breath they will not spend one additional dollar to choose more responsible alternatives. Have Canadians really woken up? Europe is way ahead of North America, and yet even when Tony Blair is asked if he is willing to give up his vacation to Florida with his family, he scoffs at the ridiculous idea. We are such a spoiled culture. Guy Dauncey, in his recent Common Ground editorial summed it up well by comparing the human species to that of the self focused and spoiled two year old. (http://commonground.ca/iss/0702187/cg187_guy.shtml)

I compare what we hear in the media with our own personal change or shift towards a carbon neutral lifestyle. Our lifestyle humors us at times, our sustainable house, our solar/grey water/ rain water systems, our composting toilet and humanure (thermophilic) compost, our cob house made of indigenous materials, and no TV, no ads, nobody telling us that we need to improve our physical appearance with their product, or what chemicals to use to make our clothes smell like they have been on a clothes line. Our humor comes from the observation of living just fine but without all the stuff. Living more sustainably translates directly into more living and a more reasonable life.

Carbon culture is a web of economics, political will and popular culture entwined into a machine that runs on the consumption of energy and stuff, where the individual believes their right to own/use/act is the paramount freedom, and where questioning what something is made of is of little concern. The carbon culture exists in the countries with the most and impacts the countries and the people who have the least. Like it or not we all drive this culture with the purchase of all things carbon intensive. Tropical holidays, RRSP investments, mountains of toys, bananas, short lived electronic gadgets, big houses, leaf blowers, and Sunday drives. Can you live without them? I bet the kids in Malawi (where Ann’s friend Anna is doing humanitarian work) won’t mind giving up these.

How do you inspire kids to Give-a-number two? Well quite simply you live by example and you show love for all things that share the air with you. We have watched our two children adapt to less stuff and we were nervous of what the other parents would think. “Hey, did you know Parker’s Dad won’t allow him to buy plastic toys, or go to McDonalds”. “Did you hear those kids only get homemade gifts, and they have to make the gifts they give away!” It is tough when your son wants Pokemon cards, and your daughter wants the Littlest Pet Shop, and we say no, only for them to get these items from others. It must be pretty boring to live sustainably and forgo instant material gratification. In response we say, “The kids whip us in Yahtzee, Gord makes a mean sheepskin slipper, and his juniper jewelry is cherished.” The kids have become advanced naturalists demonstrated by their sophisticated art and nature creations. Dare to be different and your kids will have the tools to live a sustainable future.

The culture will change and the economy will follow. Politicians have to realize that polar bears don’t vote, they don’t buy oil shares, and they don’t instantly evolve into sea creatures with flippers. Climate change is not a political ideology or cultural commodity; it is caused by our popular culture and political inaction. Any change involves some pain but this inevitable shift creates enormous opportunities for those who embrace the cultural shift into a more meaningful and less material way of living.

What can we as individuals do? We challenge all of you to do the GAS Shift. The easiest thing is use less electricity, less gas, and less oil. The BCSEA has put together a Personal Action Chart found at http://www.bcsea.org/climatechange/personalaction.asp . Maybe printing it out and putting it on your fridge, or in your classroom, on the water cooler, or just tape it to your stomach. Dare to be different, dare to set an example, dare to make a difference!

Plans are also moving forward to sell the Wise Island property ourselves. Our friends at iD2 communications (www.iD2.ca) have created an amazing web site for us. www.wiseisland.com. If anyone could link this web site on their own website we would really appreciate it. The sale of this property that inspired Ann’s GAS shift will help to finance the Eco-Sense project, a project that hopefully inspires others in their own GAS Shift.

As always your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Ann and Gord
GAS Shift members