Rogue

I am a 911 operator. People call in ridiculous things all the time. I'm not talking about someone calling to report that they're home alone and they think someone is in their attic, only for us to discover that there are squirrels in the roof -- we actually get that sort of call somewhat often and it's ALWAYS worth a check, so never feel bad about calling for something that ends up not being an emergency! No, I'm talking about someone calling 911 because Ulta won't give them a refund on used cosmetics or some bullshit like that. That kind of call is annoying, but it is what it is.

But the wildlife calls...

"There's a deer in my yard! Is it injured? Well, no, ma'am, but that's not the problem. Can't you get someone out here to remove it?" No.

Or "I'm the president of the HOA here and one of the homeowners is letting all these weeds grow instead of mowing their lawn. Maybe you could send an officer over here to give them a chat?" No.

Or "There's a fox in my neighborhood! No, no, it's acting normal and I only see it in the evening...but ma'am, this is a gated neighborhood, and it's a nuisance!" No.

Repurposing is a key component of living more sustainably. Instead of throwing items away once they have served their original purpose, repurposing allows you to extend their life, reduce waste, and avoid the need to constantly buy new products. You also learn to indulge in the creativity of designing new ways to use old things.

This practice is inherently sustainable and has become an ingrained part of how I live. Whenever possible, I try to repurpose items in ways that are both functional and resourceful. It is a simple but effective way to reduce consumption and make better use of what is already available.

Below is a list of items, along with pictures, that I or my family have repurposed.

Altoids container as mini sewing kit

Mints container as pencil sharpener and eraser container

Mason jars used as containers

Used metal, wood, faucets and plumbing for making outdoor kitchen

Old pavers into fire pit

Old plates as water saucers for overwintering plants

Old playstructure into picnic table

Used plastic bags for garbage

Dryer lint and pencil shavings as fire starter

Baby food formula containers now used to house screws, hardware, and work pens&pencils

15 year old stump from fallen tree repurposed as lawn ornament

Old fence made into planters

Steeped teas leaves into homemade soap additives

Cardboard boxes into storage bins

Old Christmas tree into Christmas wreath using 15 Year old ornaments

Here is another list of things that I would like to do to be more sustainable:

Using sawdust to make into a tailor's ham

Using silica gel packets for clothing storage

Reloading ammunition

Living off grid

3, 2, 1 – liftoff!

The Artemis II Moon rocket lifted off from our Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT on April 1, 2026. Our live launch day coverage continues on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_UjBMIzNo

I don't live in a walkable city.

I live in a mid-sized Texas town that only realizes that there are people who don't drive when TXDoT gives them money for active transportation infrastructure.

People constantly tell me that you just cannot walk or ride a bike in this city. It's impossible!

I do it anyway, because I firmly believe that solarpunk is a useless aesthetic if you aren't living it as best you can. We don't need technology to solve our problems we need will.

Also I do volunteer work on the political side of the local animal shelter and so I find myself at city hall several times a year and there's no bike rack.

Or rather there wasn't a bike rack.

I complained to someone, politely, informing them that I am doing this volunteer work and I don't have any safe place to lock my bike and that locking it to a handrail is inconvenient for everyone and also hideous.

A few months later a single staple-style bike rack was installed at city hall. It's not much, but I got sent a photo of someone else who got to use it before I did, clearly there was a need, if small.

Then I turned my gaze to the local grocery store, which had a bike rack, but the bike rack was terrible. It was too short for modern tire sizes, it was placed too close to the wall so one side was useless, and it was generally pretty cramped.

It took some time, but an advocate friend told me to contact the property owner instead of banging my head against the wall contacting HEB itself, and so I sent another polite complaint with a photo, explaining why it wasn't a very good bike rack and it would be really cool if we had a different one with better placement.

And about two months later, we have new staple-style racks at the grocery store, properly placed for maximum parking.

It's not a new bike lane. It's not a removal of parking minimums. It's not infill development or an active transportation advisory board.

They're just bike racks.

But that's the beauty of it. I, a person with an email address, some basic "how to be firm but polite while making an argument" skills, and a willingness to work out who to contact, fixed two problems for the local community. Trust me, I have had people wait on me to unlock my bike so they could have the "good spot." I was not the only person annoyed at the old rack.

It can be done. You're not powerless. Solarpunk doesn't have to be a wishful aesthetic.

Technology will not save us.

It also didn't pass democratically but rather by voice vote, i.e a fucking guess was taken as to how many supported/opposed it. This bill has introduced the following policies:

- criminalising transition and helping someone do so

- people no longer have the right to choose what gender you label yourself

- lessens the punishment for rape if it's against a trans woman. One of the most evil things I have ever read and i wish i was making this ul.

- a medical procedure needs to be done by a doctor for you to be considered transgender, wherein the definition of transgender is seen only as being intersex. This basically erases perisex trans women, nonbinary people and trans men and even if you are considered transgender, you have to wait in lines for hours outside magistrate offices to receive a fucking official document declaring you as such.

- criminalises any kind of exposure of 'transgenderism' to children which is extremely vague

KEEP PROTESTING

Some important Statements and perspectives below the cut:

"Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner" - Exodus 22:21