Bright and Clean Future

‘stares into distance, takes a long drag off of what is, if you look closely, in fact a candy cigarette’

what if I told you…that saffron…is actually not that hard to grow at home for your own use. 

Oh look a place you can buy the bulbs. 

If you live in a climate colder than zone 6…as I do…plant them in containers and move the containers into a basement or garage during the winter. 

Seriously, here’s a saffron farm in the desert of Afghanistan, and the saffron is happy as shit there. 

Zone 6 means that the minimum expected temperature will not get below -10F. 

Here is a gardening zone map of the USA. 

I’m in zone 5, supposedly, right on the tip of Iowa’s nose where it bumps out into Illinois, but more realistically given our not-uncommon cold snaps here we’re about a zone 4. 

Second: I can’t speak to most of the US but if you’re on the CO front range and put Saffron in the ground, you’re going to have Saffron forever.  It’s literally coming up out of my parent’s lawn and has completely overrun a neighbor’s garden.  This is the opposite of a problem.

Third: Bees love it.  Honeybees, bumblebees, little bees and big bees.  Late-season butterflies and moths love it too.  support your local pollinators.

in order to truly clean it up, we would need to do the following:

remove the central mass of trash and find a way to dispose of it safely, which in itself will cost a massive amount of money. right now, the Dutch nonprofit Ocean Cleanup has tried to implement new tech to do so, but there have been several failures, since it’s pretty new territory. luckily, they’ve said they’re making progress and hope to be back to at least containing the garbage this summer.

track and remove patches of garbage that break off from the main mass.

clear up microplastics. plastics do not completely breakdown so much as they just fragment into smaller and smaller pieces, which is devastating for a great deal of ocean life, including algae. Green Peace (which has a five star rating on Charity Navigator!) is currently studying microplastics in order to find a way clean them up.

clean up microfibers. microfibers are microscopic pieces of plastic shed by a great deal of clothing. Green Peace is currently studying these, as well.

find a way to clean the bottom of the ocean, where a massive amount of garbage settles.

again, much of the technology needed for clean up is in its early stages. research alone will require a ton of funding.

and the thing is, this clean up will be a temporary solution to a much greater problem: the continued pollution of our oceans by corporations. 

as much as 80 percent of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from North American and Asian land activities, the majority of that being the result of corporations devastating the environment with their noxious means of production and environmentally unfriendly products (particularly styrofoam and single use plastics).

until our politicians stop enabling corporations’ destructive habits, we cannot permanently solve this problem. we need laws that restrict pollution by corporations and are actually enforced, and laws to force companies to transition away from single-use plastics and other environmentally harmful materials. and we–particularly in America–need a society that acknowledges things like climate change and educates its people on just how bad things really are in order to further put pressure on corporations.

so what can the average person do?

first and foremost, elect officials who aren’t capitalists and who are adamantly pro-environment with comprehensive policies on addressing corporate pollution. this is the biggest thing we can do to take corporations to task and force change.

share information with others about what’s happening and inspire them to want to make a change, too.

if you can, donate to and/or volunteer for legitimate organizations like Green Peace, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and Coral Reef Alliance, which are all dedicated to cleaning up the ocean.

help with brand auditing.

i know this isn’t always possible for people for a wide variety of reasons–from economic to accessibility–but, if you can, try to be more mindful of your own choices. use backpacks and reusable bags instead of plastic bags at the grocery store. avoid supporting corporations like Coca Cola who are devastating the environment. don’t litter, especially at the beach. recycle.

the user captain-planet-official, who got popular from posts like this masking as environmental care (as most ecofascists do):

frequently slip in bits of white supremacist/racist/antisemitic commentary or ideals between posts, such as these:

or even the user outright requesting fashwave images from other fascists on here:

i’m not only worried about this for the sake of kicking weird fascist cunts like this off of the site, but also because of the fact that his entire persona has been attracting minors who don’t understand the undertone or even ecofascism itself. i’ve recently talked to one who had drawn fan art for the page! this isn’t good at all!

Black, Jewish, or “normal”?

Also, if that’s not enough, they flat out admit they’re a fascist:

People ALWAYS fuckin over-complicate compost. You don’t need a recipe, you don’t need to turn it or water it or whateverthefuck, you just. Pile shit up and let it rot.

Steps of composting;

1. Pile up organic stuff. Manure, food scraps, sticks, whatever. Throw all that shit in a pile.

2. Throw a couple shovelfuls of soil on there. (The soil contains all sorts of good nematodes and bacteria and fungi and all the other Good Bois that rot organics down.)

Now just…leave it alone. Throw more waste on there as it accumulates. Ignore. Don’t fuckin worry, my dudes, just leave it be. The Rot Squad has it from here.

After a year, move all the half-composted stuff on top aside to Pile #2, and lo and behold, what was once chicken manure, orange peels, moldy bread, and coffee grounds is now rich black humus. If there’s any chunks of stick or corn cob or whatever in there, just pick ‘em out and chuck them on Pile #2. Use the compost as you wish.

Now, will this sterilize any seeds in there? Fuck no. You could start a whole garden from a shovelful of my compost. Tomato seed, columbine seed, squash, blanketflower, nicotiana, echinacia, about thirty types of grass, raspberry, sunflower, strawberry, hyssop, and who knows what else.

So that’s why you spread the compost around plants, and then top it off with some more mulch, which will shade out any germinating seeds. Or plop it in planting holes.

The mulch will also rot down over time into MORE nice rich humus.

COMPOST COMPOST COMPOST. MORE COMPOST MOAR COMPOST. Tilling compost into clay will absolutely transform your soil. Sand, the same.

Oh my god this is so evil. 

Also, for the love of god, if your “roadside ditches” are also drainage ditches, they actually serve an important function that they can’t do if they are clogged with the wrong kind of plants— there’s already major issues with storm drains, sewer grates, drainage ditches, etc. getting clogged with garbage, plastics, roadkill, and pesticide runoffs (that all potentially go into the community’s reclaimed water supply) without adding bulky plant material that may or may not also be invasive into the mix.

You have essentially all scientific institutions and independents all over the globe in all natural fields under all political environments reporting phenomenon consistent with a sudden, significant shift in global climate trends.

There is absolutely nothing they have to gain by backing one another up. They don’t share money. They don’t even share cultural reasons that would ever explain sharing the same “bias.” There is no “big science.” The majority aren’t even doing for-profit work or ever CAN make more money depending on their findings, nor has the scientific community proposed any solutions that they even get paid for. They’re literally telling corporations and politicians how to fix their own shit and how to do it with extremely minimal loss in profit margins.

The capitalists retaliate with machines using enslaved human brains as “computers” ala Dune/Warhammer 40K.

“You’ll laugh.”

“Seriously, what were you? Law enforcement, security, construction?…”

“…I was a burger-flipper.”

“…”

“…also cooked up fries.”

“Get outta here.”

“You’d be surprised the shit you see just, y’know, making Big Macs. Sure, we had the folks upset about us ‘taking jobs’; couldn’t really blame ‘em, even if Forty-Three couldn’t talk without stuttering after that lady dumped a Coke on her. But the worst of it - worst of any of it - was they’d have us just…throw away everything that didn’t sell at the end of the day. Perfectly good food, all of it.

“When we first started, we were all like, ‘okay, whatever you say, you’re the boss,’ but you try keeping that attitude when you see a family of four split a ten-piece McNuggets because they can’t afford anything more and still pay for gas. We saw that shit there all the time. We had people desperate for so much as a cold french fry lingering by the door while assholes sitting on more money than they’d ever see in their entire lives treated us like we were trying to rob ‘em at gunpoint if they had to pay fifty cents for an extra little cup of sauce.

“So we got together and told ourselves, ‘we can do something about this.’ We could just gather up all the food they were gonna make us toss, figure out a way to give it out to the people who needed it. -bitter laugh- You can guess how well that went over.”

“…Y’know, that all sounds pretty human.”

1. As a general rule, don’t keep plants in the soil they come with. They’re usually put in soil that will help them keep on the shelf, not grow and thrive long-term.

2. Leaf shine is a waste of money. To clean plants just use a damp paper towel; you can use milk or mayo for extra shine. Also, please don’t wipe the white powder off your succulents - they need it.

3. ALWAYS use pots with drainage holes. You can get around this by putting the plant in a plastic pot to put inside the other pot.

4. With water, less is more. It’s easier to kill most plants with too much water than not enough.

5. To repot spiky plants, fold a plastic bag longways a few times and wrap it around the part with spikes. Then hold the slack and avoid getting spines in your hands!

6. Don’t stress if you can’t collet rain water or buy distilled/spring - tap is fine.

7. Don’t grow plants in glass containers unless they’re growing in water. Don’t put succulents in terrariums.

Good for beginner gardeners or those who don’t have much time!

Plant wildflowers/plants native to your area (easy to keep alive and attracts pollinators!)

Weeding is easiest when the ground is damp

If you boil veggies, use the leftover (cooled) water to water your potted plants

Grow herbs and/or fast-growing plants in pots 

Grow delicate plants/plants that won’t do well in your climate indoors

Research! Some plants are much easier to take care of than others 

(For the love of everything good in this world, be careful with roses) 

Focus on one project/plant/bed/etc at a time 

Find a friend/neighbor/roommate/etc to share the garden with and lighten the load

Buy starter plants/flowers instead of seeds

OR, if you use seeds, start indoors

Eggshells make great food for plants! 

Plant natural pest repellents (marigolds, garlic and chives, etc)

Mulch can be really helpful if you have the time/resources to put it down 

Record what you do- it’ll save you headaches in the future when you forget what you did that worked (or didn’t work) 

don’t fill up the pot the whole way, leave about an inch of rim so you can actually water

but don’t plant way too deep either, this could lead to air flow issues which can lead to rot

don’t use really big pots for small plants. it makes it very hard to know when to water.

only go up an inch or so in diameter every time you repot. if you get a new plant and find it has almost no roots you can sometimes even go down a size. I’ve found many common houseplants like Philodendrons especially like this.

remove plants from plastic pots by gently squeezing, not always by pulling on the plant

remove plants from terracotta or ceramic/glazed pots by being gentleeee and maybe by running a knife or other utensil around the diameter of the pot if it’s really stuck and also by praying

loosen the roots by squeezing or gently untangling the root ball

it’s ok if you break some roots i promise

sometimes you’ll want to remove as much of the old soil as you can, other times just remove enough to leave some loose roots

throw small amount dirt in bottom of pot first, then place plant in. the base of the plant should ideally be level with where you want it when fully planted. if not, lift up and add more dirt and repeat

some plants you can plant deeper than they originally were, others you can’t

add dirt around the plant, packing gently. don’t pack it super duper tight but don’t just toss it in there loosely either

add one handful at a time. rotating the pot is easiest

rotate and gently pack, rotate and gently pack until dirt level is where you want it

water your plant in when finished. water deeply until the water runs out of the bottom. this is important to prevent air pockets (roots can’t grow in air). with succulents you may want to wait a few days to water in to prevent rot but most times they’ll be ok.

if you did have air pockets, your dirt might settle a bit. add some more and water again.

“do you know how to make thread/yarn and sew/weave it”

“what”

“can you grow food”

“what”

“can you keep a shelter clean to prevent disease”

“I have a two year supply of MREs!!!”

So…what are you eating after the second week on limited water and you shitting(nearly literal) footballs?

“What are you talking about, I have…”

Person B: I know how to sew clothes!

Person C: I know how to hunt animals and maintain weapons!

Person D: I’m an engineer and mechanic!

Person E: I’m knowledgeable in fitness and nutrition!

All at once: Together we are…

The people with the guns? Yeah, they’ll be coming and taking all your shit while you brag about how peaceful and smart you are for not having to use guns.

Because that’s the real unspoken truth about The End -be it zombies, viruses, economic collapse, nuclear disaster, whatever brings about the end of the world, it won’t be what kills the survivors. Oh no.

That will be other survivors. Humanity is constantly half a step away from becoming primal barbarians. Take away the constraints of a moralistic society, and throw in some desperation that allows for some amazing justification?

People will start killing each other. Roving packs of raider, murderers, and looters will become a real thing, and if you get caught, and can’t defend yourself? You better pray to whatever Deity you believe in that you can slice your own throat before they decide to ‘play’ with you.

Because that’s the true danger of any apocalyptic survival event… That other people survived too. Because once we lose our societal constraints, our moral boundaries… You want those guns because you plan on shooting anyone who comes too close without your express permission. Because people? People suck. We’re animals, kept in check by threat of prison, or somebody with more power and authority. Take that away, and live in anarchy? It may sound great. It won’t be. Trust me.

Sincerely,

We don’t have morals because society forces them on us. We have morals because that’s what built societies in the first place. We are a species so social that we talk to inanimate objects. There are skeletal remains from before we’d even fully evolved into humans of people who would not have survived on their own, of disabled children, of elders too weak to chase down their own food, of people who were badly injured and survived, and they’ve lived long past when they would have if they were on their own. Primitive humans took good care of each other, because that’s how humans survived for this long. They even took good care of their pets, when people started to have pets. 

Look at what actually happens in disaster situations. Sure, there are some jackasses who start stealing, but mostly people try to help each other. It’s all through every well-recorded disaster in history. Most people’s first instinct is to help. A decent bit of the “looting” you’ll see is people breaking into places to get water and whatnot, often for other people than themself. 

If you think everyone, left to their own devices, is a rapist and a murderer, then I have some bad news for you about yourself. Are there people who would be absolutely terrible without anyone to keep them in check? Absolutely. Is that the majority? Hell no! 

Yes, some people will probably kill each other. But it’s not going to be because of some primitive, unchecked killing instinct, it’s going to be out of desperation, to get supplies for themselves and their families and loved ones, or in self-defense. 

Look at everywhere there’s been a major disaster in the last decade or so. Humans in disasters do not automatically form into packs of roving, murderous rapists! Even when there are no police! And something is terribly, terribly wrong with your escapist fantasy when you not only accept that all humans are like that, but seem to welcome it. 

Some people suck. Most people are maybe a little iffy, but aren’t going to try to hurt each other for no reason. 

Basically, what the FUCK is wrong with you and your view of other people.

Oh my god this is so evil. 

Me, who understands that golf courses curb the spread of native plants every year in order to maintain their land for optimal playing surfaces:

Small, modular wind farms

Professor John Dabiri and his team have been conducting research for over 8 years on the potential of small vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) for wind farms. According to their data, by using the wind wakes that so drastically inflate the size of wind farms using horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) constructively, rather than destructively, a VAWT farm could produce the same amount of power in 1/10th the land area, using turbines that are around 1/8th as tall. This has huge potential for industrial power production, as Dabiri et al rightfully point out, but I see an equal potential in a smaller niche: energy independence