#solarpunk action

Hello SolarPunks, for a university project I'm working together with a government agency to build a new forest next to, and integrated into, a new city that's being built (I legally can't say where, but somewhere in the Netherlands). The site was previously farm land and production forest.

The goal is to have this new city live in synergy with nature. I'm planning on making this place as biodiverse as possible with relief and natural ponds using indigenous plants to promote insects and amphibians. There's plenty of trees for birds and bats. Wood piles for other critters and fungi to find shelter and food.

To integrate humans into this environment I was thinking about making a food forest where all the plant layers have some edible or medicinal indigenous plants with fruit/nut trees. Decking boards and stepping stones in ponds and marshy areas. As a community space I like the idea of a willow gazebo and a natural playground.

I'd like to keep some pieces of land restricted from humans by placing "fencing" made up of dead trees and branches and blackberry bushes so birds and other critters have some undisturbed nesting places.

wowwww im so good at short and snappy titles /s

I'm not someone who is wealthy, though I'm certainly not as poor as I was when I started this account like 6 years ago when I was 16. Still, I am always battling between choosing the cheaper option and choosing what I know is good for me.

Often, I choose the cheaper option even if I can afford the better option because I have a lot of poverty shame I work through, and I am very careful with what little money I have because I'm so worried about the future. It's all very unstable right now.

To combat this, I have been trying to find an in-between of making sustainable, ethical swaps that feel like a safe amount of money for me. Because I'm poor. We're all working class people trying to make it. Especially as we head into more turbulent times, I find myself going back to old remedies I made when I was a teenager with no money, and now I'm just jazzing them up a bit.

I know that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. But with what little money I do have, I try to give it back to my community or use it to make my life easier and more enriching, especially since I love to make things. Spending alone won't take down these mega-corporations, but conscious decisions greatly impact your neighborhood around you.

I live in an urban environment, so my money impacts the grocery stores in my neighborhood, my refill stores, my library, local farmers, and my local used bookstores as much as I can manage. Again, not because I think I can take down Unilever or something without some serious force, but because I want to make decisions that benefit me and keep these people in my community around, housed and OK. I think it's important for me to be person-first about certain things like this now that I have the means to. it's something I'm working on in therapy

Don't know if I already talked about this here. But even though is a Sunday and I come back very tired of this work, at the same time it really give energy back to me to keep doing the work that needs to be done now to make things better someway.

Okay I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on guerrilla gardening or anything. I'm still a novice at best, a shy little baby who feels awkward scattering seeds when even one other person is on the sidewalk with me. So lets consider this a starting guide, for people like me who haven't done it much before and want to try for the best results quickly.

So, first things first, let's talk about your seeds. Gardeners have got to consider what plants they're growing in their environment, but especially guerrilla gardeners. If someone plants an invasive plant in their backyard, they can attempt to wrangle it or at least contain it to only their backyard. Guerrilla gardeners are gardening out in the open, where things can probably spread even more easily and cause even more problems. Keep in mind that not all nonnative plants are invasive, but also keep in mind that a native plant will be better for your projects/environment than a nonnative one. That being said, if you wanna grow a nonnative noninvasive plant in your guerrilla garden, I'm not going to be the one to stop you, but maybe give it some native friends. They'll be more acclimated to your environment anyhow.

Next, let's consider location! If you're going to be guerrilla gardening, where you do it is of great importance, and may even impact your seed selection. Empty lots, grass along sidewalks, empty tree pits are all popular from what I've seen online. Roadsides can also be an option, as long as you stay safe. Consider how much sun your location gets, does it tend to puddle up with water when it rains, or does it stay dry a lot? Is the soil good, or is it dry and not very fertile? Are there weeds growing, or is it entirely barren? Do you need to clean up some trash before you start planting? Does it get mowed often, by private owners or the city?

Also while you're picking your locations, consider how often you can/would go back to that location, as it might impact how you choose to disperse your seeds. If you can visit it often to weed and amend the soil and whatnot, you can do your gardening differently from someone who can't return often or add to the soil. Also consider that, if you're planning to grow edible plants, you may want to get the soil tested first--as well as avoid planting super close to roadways. Not to say planting near roads is impossible or a 100% bad idea, but consider how such close proximity to cars and all their exhaust and other such things may affect your plants.

Consider the timing. Plants are going to need water to grow, whether you choose to use seeds or transplant seedlings. Take a look at the weather for the next week or so! If it's going to be rainy, you probably won't have to drop by to water it super often--if it's going to be hot and sunny, you might want to go back once every few days at least. Consider what month it is--is it even the right time to be planting the seeds you're planning to plant? Is it too hot, too cold?

At this point you might choose to reconsider what seeds/plants you decide to use for your project, which is 100% fine. Now you also need to consider how you're going to plant them. Depending on how easy the place is to access, you might be able to just plain scatter the seeds--I've just grabbed some from my bag and scattered them with my hands, but I've seen people use salt shakers and even salt guns for this same purpose. (While I'm sharing their links, the tiktok account SFinbloom is pretty rad. bee outfits optional btw) If you want to toss seeds out further, or make sure they don't get eaten by birds, options like seed bombs and seed paper/seed confetti are always good options! Though, I do recommend making these yourself, or at least making sure the seeds in any purchased ones are native to your area/noninvasive. If you don't want to plant seeds, you can always start seeds at your home, or buy seedlings/plants to then transplant in your desired location--this'll likely get you a quicker result!

If you want to cover a lot of ground, or make it more fun, consider recruiting friends! Or maybe meet people on social media and join up to guerrilla garden together! It could be a fun time, and you could make a day of it--grab lunch together while you're out or something. If you want, you could even get reflective vests for yourself/everyone, so it looks like you're working for a volunteer group/the city. It may keep people from asking questions!

About that, also consider that guerrilla gardening is a revolutionary act, and as such, some people may be more opposed to it than others. People may come bug you, and depending on the person, may even try escalating things further. Sprinkling seeds or using seed bombs is less likely to draw attention, but keep this in mind as you go out there.

Once the deed is done, the deed is done! Wait for the rains, or return to your spot and water things yourself! You can do guerrilla gardening in an anonymous sneaky fashion, you can share your progress online, or you can even be loud and proud about it everywhere! That's all up to you, this is just some basic advice I've garnered from online posts.

Feel free to add your own advice as well! And if I said anything incorrect, please let me know!

[photo id: a yellow colander with a mix of black raspberries, red raspberries, and blueberries.]

[photo id: a round outdoor table covered in garlic plants, freshly pulled with dirt still clinging to the bulbs.]

[photo id: a towel laid flat on a black cooktop, with rosemary branches heaped on it.]

What have you all been up to recently? What solarpunk projects have you been working on? Please share!

Unfortunately, where I live we’re still vacillating quickly back and forth between lightly snowing and sunny, so actual planting isn’t gonna happen for another little while BUT I’ve been meaning to do some more prep.

- research raspberry plant maintenance. I’ve heard some vague things about how you have to trim them, but I need to start figuring out specifics, because I’m worried ours might die if I don’t. This winter was weirdly both harsh and not harsh at all, and unlike many of our other plants, I haven’t seen any shift from the raspberries since winter so I’m a bit worried.

- Find a way to measure the amount of sun that different spots of the garden get over the course of a day. This will help with planning out the best place for each plant, because we’re not always the best at picking spots for them based on their needs. Some numbers or perhaps “sunlight ratings” could help us plan in a more analytical way, rather than a gut-feeling kinda way.

- Look up and hopefully buy this cool book I heard about on patchwork repair and how to make it really cute and fun. It’s called Joyful Mending by Noriko Misumi.

- Repair the button on a fast-drying hair-towel I have. The button’s been falling off from like maybe day 3 of owning it, but it’s generally held on well enough. I’ve been meaning to fix it for a while though so I’m using this week as an excuse to get it done.

- There was something else I needed to repair by way of sewing that I can’t remember what it was so I’m gonna look for that.

- depending on the weather, I’m gonna try and go pick up some trash in my area. My city was once held a label “prettiest city in-“ (I don’t remember the range) because the snow covers up the trash and kind of collects it over time, so when the plows come around they push it all to the shoulder of the road, and into big central piles in the parking lots. That means when the street-sweepers come around in spring, not only do they pick up all the gravel that they put in the roads for traction in winter, they also pick up a lot of the trash. However, that doesn’t get the more natural spaces, or the out-of-the-way spots, and with the pandemic increasing the usage of single-use-items, there’s more than usual to be found and cleaned up.

Refuse Dystopia vol.01

Refuse Dystopia is a SolarPunk zine created to inform and inspire its readers into living more sustainably and harbor hope for the future. This volume focuses on the basics of SolarPunk, self-help guides, and has interviews with people who've done work to make their work environment more sustainable. A more extensive list of resources can be found here, created by @justalittlesolarpunk.

The next volume will focus on space travel and how new (space) technology can offer a solution for sustainability issues here on Earth.

A guide for the hopeful.

🌞🌻🌞🌍🌏🌎🌞🌻🌞🌍🌏🌎🌞🌻🌞🌍🌏🌎🌞🌻🌞

Step 1:

Build your idea, and get creative. What type of people exist in your workplace? What would lift their spirits? What would be useful? For what do you have space? Are there areas of improvement?

💡: Community garden, give and take cabinet, library, space for art, one man's trash is another man's treasure-bin (for single use items turned reusable i.a. lab equipment or other disposable items), figure out how to lessen energy consumption, ask to adjust the cafeteria food into having plant-based options, or completely plant-based, organize events, etc.

Step 2:

Work out the logistics of your plan. Who do you need to ask permission for? Talk to your coworkers, do they agree with your idea? Do your coworkers want to help you, or add onto your idea? How long will this idea take? Make a plan of action. Figure out if you can add your idea into your work schedule or if it's a volunteer project. If there is no space in your company's building, is there a way you can organize something in a public place or at your own residence?

Step 3:

Create! Make flyers or stickers telling your company and coworkers about your fun new project. Make people enthusiastic. Let people know that anyone can make anything possible as long as they set their mind to it.

And remember:

When you want to change the world, you don't ask for permission.