A quick thought on recycling

Paradoxically, recycling seems to be both a responsible practice from and an unfortunate by product of, our consumer-driven society. In truth, the recycling industry we have now is predicated on all of us living as unsustainable as we do, generating ridiculous amounts of waste metal, plastic and paper. (As a side note, it bothers me to no end that the success of our economy actually depends on me, and millions like me, being a 'good consumer', and doing nothing but 'buy, buy, buy'. Talk about offensive.)

Think about it. Would the recycling industry even exist in its present form if, instead of an economy based on unrestrained growth and consumption, it was based on sustainable lifestyles and practices? I doubt it. It almost seems to be nothing more than a cheap salve to soothe our collective guilt that so much is being otherwise thrown away. Look at how green I am - I recycled the cardboard box for the third TV we just bought. Oh, I do my part for the environment, I recycle all those water bottles I carry with me wherever I go.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for recycling. I just don't like the real driving force behind the concept. I mean, just look at the the "Three R's" - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Great words, but how many people do you really know that practice the first two? If you're like me, too few.

As we enter the age of energy depletion, I believe sheer necessity will shift the emphasis away from the last of the three R's, Recycle to the second, Reuse. Recycling can be very energy-intense, especially for metals and plastics, so much of that last 'R' will drop off. Reduction will simply be a consequence of the drastic drop in consumer spending. I'm not going to be buying junk I don't need when I have to spend more of my money on food, heating, electricity and transportation, all of which will see huge increases in price as the oil supply chokes off.

So, that leaves Reuse. Looking back to the turn of the last century (or even before WW2 for that matter), things weren't so casually tossed like they are today. Have a broken toaster? Send it to the small appliance repair man so you can get it repaired. Now? Just chuck it and buy another one at WalMart. Those days are numbered.

It's just a shame that it will be something like Peak Oil forcing the change to Reduce, rather than a genuine collective spirit to do so. I can't help but wonder how many people will reflect back on this time of waste, with anger and resentment to those generations who knew better, yet did not care and did nothing. I fear that will be a common refrain.

I can see business opportunity for individuals and communities that have the plans and skills to reuse the existing tools and 'things' we now have, and so casually throw out and replace when funtionality no longer exists due to breakage or style.

Now, more than ever, is the time to shine a light into the past to see how we did things that got old, required fixing, or that we no longer needed.

Talking To Youth

I have to say that after more than half a year of talking formally and informally to people about Peak Oil, climate change, and how their lives may be changed, I still struggle deeply with how to really discuss this with youth, my own included.

Most adults have a hard enough time coming to terms with the implications of PO, and how it will affect them. With every small “victory”, where I see that someone is beginning to comprehend what this is all about, it is tempered with the reality that I have brought the pain of bad news into their life, like a doctor telling a patient they have a terminal disease. The audience thus far has been a more mature lot – co-workers, and the like, most of which have the emotional intelligence to deal with this (and that is an article all in itself).

But the challenge remains – how do you talk to kids about this, especially those who are in high school – those who are more aware of the world around them and who have been conditioned by the system, their families and the media as to what their adult lives and expectations should be? How do you tell a kid that their standard of living is going to be much less than what our generation has enjoyed? How do you get the point across that they and their peers will have to adjust to what may be the largest socio-economic upheaval in modern history, and on a global scale? Worse, how do you get across to them that they are in this mess because of the selfish, shortsightedness of their parents and grandparents generations? I mean face it – this is scary stuff!

At the same time, we do them a huge disservice by avoiding the issue with them. We owe it to them to give them the heads up that change is coming, and that it will be hard, but that they will face it with the love and support of their family and community. I would love to be able to link up with a PO-aware child psychologist, and then get the fruits of that dialogue out to the PO community and the community in general (so doctor, if you’re reading this, talk to me!).

I believe that children are actually a pretty resilient lot and that if the information is fed to them over time and in a careful, sensitive manner, that we’ll have a generation of youth more mentally prepared to deal with the coming changes than many of us were. In fact, to see a great example of how one group has spoken to youth, please see the video, linked below, for a group in Ireland, called FADA (the video is broken into three parts). The speaker, Brian Kaller, has done a wonderful job outlining the problem and presenting a vision of a more resilient, sustainable future that may be within our grasp if we all work together at making it happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8pPh1-KO_Q

A strong and resilent community, one which is aware of the reasons why we are in the mess we're in, must have its young people mentally, physically and emotionally prepared. They have every right to be angry and resentful at the individual and collective people and systems that led our society into this wasteland of blind and selfish consumption and greed, and a future that they did not ask for or deserve.

We owe it to them to change what we can, and to help them clean up the mess that we made.

PHCRI March 09 Newsletter

Newsletter #2 – March 2009


Is your family prepared for Peak Oil, and the dramatic impact it will have on the way we live?


Are you ready to reconnect to your community as we cross the threshold into a lower energy future?

We know how dramatic this sounds, and wouldn’t blame you if you thought it sounded a little far-fetched (especially with the low oil and gas prices we are currently seeing).

But here’s the thing – global oil depletion is already being talked about in the halls of government and in oil industry boardrooms. The concept of oil depletion is called Peak Oil.

Peak Oil is the historical point at which the annual volume of oil production is the highest it has ever been or ever will be again. Once we pass the peak, global oil production will begin to decline, following a downward trend until finally, decades later, the oil that remains in the ground is unrecoverable at any price because it takes more energy to extract the oil than one gets from using it.

The issue is not one of "running out" so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running. This will – not may, but will – affect just about everyone globally, as food production, transportation, heating and manufacturing all are dangerously dependent on cheap and available oil.

Within a decade (plus or minus a few years) we’ll hit the point of Peak Oil, the consequence of which will be an unremitting contraction of economies, leading to a lower standard of living for people, families and communities, and lost revenues for business and government.

If you’ve read this far, you might be thinking that this is either a serious problem that hasn’t been given the attention it deserves, or that this flyer is filled with improbable, alarmist hype that couldn’t possibly come to pass. After all “they” wouldn’t let something like that ever happen. If the latter, please consider the following comments on Peak Oil from industry insiders and government officials, otherwise known as “they”;

“Over the next few decades, our reserves of oil will start to run out and it is imperative that governments in both producing and consuming nations prepare now for that time.”
Fatih Birol – International Energy Agency (March, 2008)

“We’ve embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil.”
Mike Bolwin, Chairman of BP subsidiary ARCO

“Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.”
Jeroem van de Veer – CEO, Royal Dutch Shell (Jan., 2008)

"It's obviously unsustainable and the world is increasingly drawing on the bigger, older fields. You couple that notion with the irreversibility of decline and you've got a very alarming picture."
James W. Buckee, retired President and CEO of Talisman Energy (January 2008)

“The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented.”
Robert L. Hirsch - Energy Advisor, in testimony to Congress (2005)

“Fuel is our economic lifeblood. The price of oil can be the difference between recession and recovery. The western world is import dependent.”
Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister (April 2002)

"It's not about believing. It's about facts."
Gord Miller, Ontario’s Environment Commissioner (2007)

“We are not good at recognizing distant threats, even if their probability is 100%. Society ignoring Peak Oil is like the people of Pompeii ignoring the rumblings under Mt. Vesuvius.”

James Schlesinger, former US Energy Secretary (Sep., 2007

Poplar Hill/Coldstream Resilience Initiative (PHCRI) is a group of area citizens with a plan and a mission. Around the world, a growing number of communities, both large and small, have been embarking on responses to this looming crisis. PHCRI is an organization encompassing the power of community in Poplar Hill/Coldstream, dedicated to an awareness of Peak Oil, and the promotion of a back to basics approach to bring resilience to the community through innovation and imagination.

Resilience: (noun) an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change; the ability to absorb shocks

The paths to building resilience are many, and have several personal, community, business and government approaches. All are important, but the heart and soul of the process is the power of community.

We urge you to learn more about Peak Oil and how it will affect you, specifically your job, your family, and our community. If you are interested in helping to prepare for the changes ahead, or if you are looking for more information, email us at phcri08@gmail.com.

In the meantime, please type ‘peak oil’ into the search engine of your choice, and begin reading. Alternatively, please check out the web sites provided below.

Credible online resources include;

ASPO (Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas) http://www.aspousa.org/index.php/peak-oil/

ODAC (Oil Depletion Analysis Centre) http://www.odac-info.org/peak-oil-primer

Peak Oil article in Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/article/587901

Other Peak Oil news http://www.energybulletin.net/