Environmentalism – Page 4

WildernessPunk Quarantine

Friday the 13^th

It evolved slowly, much as a virus does, this split goal of mine. Could I prep for the incoming C-Virus in manner which of course would help keep me and mine safe, but also perform a test of sorts. While I protect my kids, lover, family, and friends from at least being contaminated by me, I would also try to quarantine myself and my boys to the best of our abilities. I heard the signs of sickness appear within 6-8 days. So 8 to go just to be safe.

Backgrounds and Baselines

I couldn’t start before Friday the 13^th because the kids were still in school.
I’m not a doomsday prepper, but I keep backup 2 weeks of food and water on hand.
My Lady and I did 3 trips to the store before we began.
I’m pulling the quarantine trigger at 2:25 when I pick my oldest son up as school.

3 bar cans

Saturday the 14^th

Fortifying our choice, three social engagements we were involved with fell like dominos in graveyard. Digging in, the boys and I plant chili peppers, broccoli and tomatoes. They won’t be providing food any time soon, but just in chase this lasts longer, I’ll have more things to add to my rows of lettuce growing in the front.

Sunday the 15^th

Some plans can’t be broken, and my sweet lady heads off to the little artist town of Bisbee, with her best friend. This leaves me alone with two boys, I’m sure this will be easy. Oh did they just take all the blankets, pillows, and sheets off the bed to make a mound of blankets in the middle of the room to jump into?

3 Bar Quarintine fun

Monday the 16^th

Yep that was a lot of laundry to wash. Going through our food a little but no issues yet. Hell, I still even have snacks for the boys, but if I run out, will they turn on me?

Saint Patrick’s Day

Can you say stir crazy? Not me, but the boys. I decide a germ free desert hike should help things and I have a full tank of gas. My lady is due back today. She’s a nurse, so I know she takes these things seriously.

Desert Kids

Kinda weird to have such a non-social holiday, but I’m happy to see my lady back safe and happy.

Wednesday the 18^th

The CDC states the average incubation for the C-Virus is 5.5 days and one can be considered in the clear if they fail to develop systems within 12 days of potential exposure. So with me and the boys having roughly the same level of exposure now, odds are, if none of us show signs by tomorrow, we’ll be clear…just in time for me to go to the grocery store before we take off.

Thursday the 19^th

The local Safeway turns out to be a strange and haunted place at 7am. Masked individuals mix with wild eyed shoppers. All of us amazed to see an absence of most of the things we’re accustomed to in this country. No prepared meat, the vegetables were nearly gone. Pasta and cans gone. Although I did get the last four cans of chili the store had to offer. Normal cheese, nope, but fancy cheese yep. I guess we’ll have a little luxury while camping.

3 bar east

5 hours later, I’m pulling up to the site, but after my new ride’s first off-road test, I have to pull the plug 200 yards short of my goal. The road itself has become a wash and a series of boulders leave me thinking perhaps having my little family allowed more privacy is better than bottoming out and cracking my oil pan on a rock. I have better ways to spend my afternoon.

I meet a new friend after lugging my gear uphill and my boys are happy to burn off the energy of six days of isolation.

Friday the 20^th

It has been a week since the schools have closed and I have done my best to keep the boys safe. Sure hope the plague doesn’t show up here. Ha ha, just kidding, ah… no I’m not.

A little about this area, the wonder we call 3-Bar. The usual sounds of the waterfall crashing into the wading pool is, this time, a torrent of raging foam as the snow run off mixes with the results of the recent rains.

3 bar waterfall

Another phenomenon I’ve rarely experienced has also occurred. All around us springs of clear water have opened out of the ground. Within just a few feet of our camp, I count five. Every hillside has pools and moving water like the entire mountainside has become huge sponges leaking water. Not the type of thing you see too often in the desert.

Saturday the 21^st

It appears reasonable to assume the two older hermits I am sharing this campout with have avoided the C-Virus as well, so this trip has taken social distancing to the a new extreme. “Don’t let anyone within 6 miles of you.”

Kids fire

Self-isolation is an unusual thing for some, but just a normal day for others. It’s odd to see the stranger as an ‘enemy,’ but this is what they could become if they are the one to spread a virus to you which could damage your lungs or risk your parent’s lives.

In the end, the hoarding and lack of food could become more of a concern than the virus itself, at least for some of us. The virus has in some ways done us a favor by exposing the frail deck of cards our lives sit at the top of. Few of us can live off the land or have the means to support our needs for food. We all depend on a huge web of supply to insure we have goods on the selves. It is the virus threatening us this time. But the next time could be gasoline or the power grind. All it takes is one dirty bomb to kill a city for generations.

Things like my garden help, but are not a solution. Hoarding can help, but we’re still playing within the rules of this house of cards. Cans don’t multiply if left alone in the dark. So what is the solution? There are too many of us to all buy 40 acres and become farmers. Things like this virus could lower those numbers, but no one wants to see their loved ones perish before their time.

3 bar mountian mount

However back to the now, we have to get over this C-Virus hurdle first. Part of me wonders how effective I’m being for my family. Sure I’ve keep my boys clear enough to be about 92% certain none of us have the virus, FOR NOW. How much use is this in the long term? Our lying president says it is due to last until perhaps August and since he downplays everything which makes him look bad… So am I going to all this trouble for my boys, saying, “Hey we quarantined ourselves long enough to be sure we don’t have it, just to get it later from the ice cream man?” I’m being careful now, but will I get sloppy in May and just have us all get it anyway?

We’ve been told to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection. So I guess we’re doing our part, but again will this matter if the lack of food becomes the real problem? Perhaps I’ll have to head up here again and try to live off the land. It might work as long as I can still get gas. Hopefully the cell towers will work too so I can get these guys out here again as well. I’m probably catastrophizing, but I guess we’ll see. And remember if I’m not, you heard it here first. Be safe out there and kick this Virus in the ass!!

3 bar river

Thanks for Listening

3 bar damn it

You can check out my own grim vision of a future where we lose control here!

bone tunnel

WildernessPunk: Self Control or The Next Time I See Them I’m Gonna…

There are times in everyone’s life when one is tempted to allow oneself to become overloaded with frustrations. There are many people who don’t cling to positive values, but instead embrace negative paradigms such as racism, narcissism, hate, and greed and I’m not just talking about our president. In 2017 I wrote a WildernessPunk article which reviews this situation entitled 1 in 3 which outlines how reasonable people can expect their logic and goodwill to be thwarted by, on average, every third person they encounter. ( http://bit.ly/2PQolKq ) But this article is not focused on others. Together we’re going to look inward and review how sane people attempt to progress within an insane world.

1 in 3

First off, if you believe everything you experience is normal and reasonable, you are dead wrong. Our current lifestyle is the result of billions of random occurrences which have floated together to create our current understanding of reality so we should be careful before we choose to get on some big high horse fighting to prove what we think is right. Just a simple example to set the stage: Cars. We all think of them as A+ normal even though we have only enjoyed being able to work more than two miles from where we live, get ambulance drives, and allow the elderly to have a chance to meet their needs independently for about .000025% of our existence. I’m not trying to go off on a tangent, I only seek to remind people the things we take for granted are here only through random chaos and our current normal will be almost unimaginable by your children’s grandchildren. I bring this up to point out most arguments we engage in couldn’t have happened a hundred years ago and probably won’t be applicable a hundred years from now, so it probably isn’t too important, and despite what people try to tell you, their opinion will most likely be proved wrong.

Back to the idea of self-control. I think we’ve all gotten so frustrated we feel like we might lose our cool and let anger take over the discourse. Most of us have lost this control, some more than others. While a smaller percentage let their own anger and self-righteousness rule their lives. Only they are right and everyone else is wrong.

The above is obvious, let’s look deeper. What about all those times you have felt the anger, perhaps quite justified, rise up, but you still kept yourself under control and behaved civilly. You might have verbally gutted someone like a fish or let your actions do so, but you did it all without a snarl or raising your voice. Where does this ability come from and why do we, or at least some of us, possess it?

Looking back to more basic times we could see the advantage of a hunter and gatherer becoming quick to anger. It would protect them and theirs. Still, if you are part of a tribe which needed to be strong to insure everyone remained fed and another tribe doesn’t steal your daughters, becoming quick to anger with your own tribal members could have dire consequences.

Lillies 8.19.jpg

We could theorize having self-control is an advanced social and evolutionary trait. It helps humans live side by side and keeps things from being an explosion of violent chaos on every street corner. In the USA violent crime has lessened in direct relationship to our improving technology and more people receiving a higher education. There could be a correlation to this or maybe there’s simply less human interaction because a greater percentage of people just malinger at home allowing Netflix and video games to steal their health and lives one sedentary evening at a time.

On a personal level, I do feel more advanced when I let logic, dignity, and facts fight my battles instead of violence, screaming, and curses. I view people who jump to anger and violence as more primitive. They don’t have the intelligence to rise above the base animal state of fight, flight, or freeze. In other words, they use the reptile part of their brain to solve conflicts. Yeah, let’s not be like them.

King Kong

Others could argue that turning our backs on our aggression is what allows us to become sheep for the state, but this does appear to be true currently for the under educated rural workers who are easily brainwashed into being foot soldiers by the ultra-rich, while the cities tend to focus on more equitable goals and strive to live in greater fairness and harmony.

Could it be higher population centers foster the need for greater control? If you lived in New York City and had to fight everyone who pissed you off, you’d never make it to work. While in smaller ponds, people are more likely to share more values, so an outside idea will be looked at with hostility and they would try to wipe it off the map before it could contaminate their homogeneity.

Some of these questions might remain unanswered and are up to you to decide for yourself. In the real world we have choices to make. Are you going to risk a huge fine or maybe jail time yelling at some Police Officer and cursing about how unfair the system is? Or will you suck it up for ten minutes and have the best possible long term outcome? Who really wins—the cop who thinks he’s dominated you with his power or you who proved smart enough to manipulate him and the outcome? This is the old Loki/Thor debate.

loki-red

Having self-control is obviously the better end game because it gives you options. Hell, you can always choose to throw a punch if you like. Sometimes it is also appropriate to meet violence with violence when we have no choice. Letting some meat head kick your ass isn’t helping your day get better. However being the one starting with anger usually means you’re the loser who is in the wrong and can’t come up with anything reasonable to say.

Yes anger is energy and a tool we all possess, but we need to control it and not let it control us. A modern individual should have more options than fight, flight, or freeze and as we move into a more crowded world we need to continue to evolve our ability to use self-control or soon we might not have a world to call our own.

Thanks for Listening

You can check out my own grim vision of a future where we lose control here!

banosword

WildernessPunk: End game

Sunday August 11, 2:50pm

As I sit here, with whirling daggers twirling through my stomach, I wait for the arrival of a Police Officer to try to assist me in getting my children. After 3 years and 124 Days, I’m finally been awarded custody of my children despite being falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit and having them taken from me for almost two years and only getting limited visitation later.

W Pirates

I’ve felt a building apprehension since the Judge came to the understanding the boys will be better off with me. It is a hard choice to take the children from their community, school, and mother, but rough situations require rough choices and the Judge made the right one. I have no option in the matter. If I want my boys to have a good and normal chance at life, they need to be with me. Letting them remain where they are, and not caring, would be an act of neglect on my part bordering on evil.

Will I get my children today at 3pm as court ordered? Will there be a scene? Will I be stuck in Flagstaff like the last time I was up here doing this? Will she even answer the door? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’m going to go back to wringing my hands and trying to read my book.

w. Lizard

Three Hours Later…

Well hmm, that was much easier than I thought it would be. Still, I’m more than willing to trade adventurous trips to the wilderness to do the delicate dance of riding the legal system in order to have things safe and simple for my boys.

Yet, despite my triumph, I will remain in Flagtown for a while longer so I can do a different dance, the paperwork shuffle. Groan. Oh boy can’t wait.

Um…er 14 hours 26 minutes and 8 seconds later

What might be the only thing more annoying than being forced to call the police in order to enforce your rights? Gee, I don’t know, going to a bunch government and other agencies in one day. At least I managed to complete 100% of my assorted buecratic and oh so manic tasks.

W Tombstone

August 13^th

My eldest gets a much needed haircut and his first, which for an 8 year old is pretty sad. I’m wasn’t able to legally get him one before and perhaps not now, but I don’t give a damn. Somethings decent people just have to do.

August 14^th

My eldest son starts school in Tucson.

August 22^nd

I get the boys locked in for preschool and/or daycare whenever the need arises.

w art

August 25^th

While I get the kids, she gets cuffs on her hands and goes to jail. Can we say Karma?

So yes, good people. Sorry to be so ecocentric this time around, but since having falsehoods torpedo my life and create the situation where WildernessPunk was born I’ve been reporting on this journey/quest. Sometimes tearing everything away is what gives one a fresher look at the world and in this case, being homeless, broke, and lonely for my children did stir a passion, a passion to rebuild, but in a different way than before. Do things right, not only for me and my radiant lady, but so I can have a strong foundation for my boys.

And now, things has come full curcle in multiple ways and most importantly, I’ll be guiding and protecting my boys as best I can while they grow. It just took 40 months, but like most good things in life, you need to battle for what you want and feel is right.

Thanks for listening and I’ll get back to the usual ranting next time.

W Mud

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

W Shark

WildernessPunk: Three Years

As the third year anniversary of WildernessPunk draws near, I’ve already communicated my thoughts on how both the country and myself have changed over the last three years. So instead of reiterating myself, I’m going to look back in a different manner.

17 - 1.jpg

This will be my 70^th WildernessPunk post. This comes to roughly a new post every two weeks or so. It would have been a better ratio if I haven’t hit that dry spell the second half of 2018. Why did that happen anyway? Oh yeah, I think I was too happy or something.

Along the way, I invented numerous new terms and definitions. Some of them were even used in more than one article. So to aid me in having them all in one place and perhaps have them easier to reference for archaeologists wondering how our generation destroyed the planet despite having all the knowledge to avoid doing so… I give you the WildernessPunk terms, the First Three Years.

Oh yeah, and they are in roughly chronological order, with the various WP defs in front. Enjoy, laugh, contemplate, or throw something at me the next time we meet, as you see fit.

Wilderness Punk. This is the concept one could embrace nature, enter it, live off the land or at least with it, but somehow maintain a cyber presence, a writing presence, and perhaps thrive while doing so.

WildernessPunk II: The idea one can survive without most of the mundane expectations of the day. It focuses on helping the environment by using less processes and items which destroys the land and instead living closer to it. Getting more involved with nature, while using less of what kills it.

WildernessPunk III is not something just meant to be mine, but rather an exploration of the topic of how nature meshes or could integrate into the lives of people so involved in a world controlled by technology.

WildernessPunk IV is the concept of moving past accepted norms in the pursuit of engineering a life which minimizes our environmental impact on our planet.

True Environment is a place existing the way it would whether humans lived on our planet or not. It is an area where humans have not altered the environment away from its natural state.

Animal state: Includes, sex drive, violence, selfishness, but also some of the better things in life like nurturing your offspring, mating, enjoying a good meal.

Cultural World View. CWV is, in as few words as possible, the way a person puts together their world. They create a framework of what is normal, right and wrong, fun and boring. It is a belief system. Opinions can be shared, many of us agree on certain issues, but like the whirling ball of chaos we all are, rare will we find a person who agrees on all our beliefs. Hell, if I get over 50% I know I’ve found a friend.

Humanocentric: Whether for good or for ill, our lives circle around the importance of our own species.

Earth Balance: The balance between the positive impact and the negative damage one commits against the True Environment.

825 Job: The normal office grind employment.

Negative Environmental Impact: The amount you tip your Earth Balance into the negative.

ShitIdoit: When evil combines with dumb.

Self-actualize. We can step back and analyze our life and experiences. With luck and knowledge, we make new and stronger choices.

half-shack

This is why getting stricter with what food we allow to go to waste is the Number One Thing we can all do in this country to combat Climate Change.

Smart Travel: Whether it is on foot, rolling with the bicycle, or to a lesser degree, public transportation, there are many ways we can leave the car parked and perform tasks, both fun and obligatory, without turning the key in our automobiles.

The Strive: Whether personal or natural, the search to find the techniques and methods which will allow us to complete our goals.

Oh you made it this far, wow. Here’s a band new one.

Americaned: A person taught to accept the USA’s reality and the manner it teaches a person how they are expected to live.

And here is a short list of dysfunctional Environmentalists just for fun.

End Game Recyclers: These are the folks who separate their trash, bring it to the curb, and then hop in their car to go buy a new set of lawn furniture.

Privileged Purchasers: These people feel they are ahead of the pack because their new custom made home has an energy efficient dishwasher and since they have solar power, the average person could never hope to be as cool to the environment as they are.

Cherry Picker: These are the people who pick an item or two, usually something easier for them or what they want to do anyway, then elevate themselves above anyone who falls short in this category. Sure, every positive thing you do helps, but helping the environment does not stop because you bike commute or have become a vegetarian.

Power Shoppers: Folks who might do some of the above, but then consume and consume. They buy new things while the old items get tossed into the landfill. They recycle their plastic, but purchase so many groceries they produce five time more trash than they can recycle.

wildernesspunk-1

Thanks for you time and let me know what you think, if you can.

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

beer Shades

WildernessPunk: June

June 3^rd, My Son’s Birthday

Those eight or so of you who have followed WildernessPunk since it’s inception almost three years ago will remember it started as more of a journal of my adventures mixing wilderness and technology. This involved making enough capital with the latter to live within the former. Although my intentions were close to noble, I hadn’t exactly volunteered for this assignment. It had been forced upon me when evil actions caused me to lose my job, my residence, and my ability to see my young sons.

After recently tackling the truth behind environmentalism, which proved to be an unpleasant subject, I thought I’d return to a more relaxed exploration of nature, because hell, it’s June. Yet, there are other reasons I’ve fallen into this introspection.

zzz

The first several episodes of WildernessPunk were all written within the wilds of Walnut Canyon, which is located ten miles east of Flagstaff. While writing these words, I find myself, almost three years later, back within the embracing lands of Walnut Canyon once more. Also, with a bit of a strange, but not unexpected twist, I am spending the night due to further inappropriate acts by the previously mentioned evil. But it’s a beautiful day and a large cloud just plunged me into shade, so like a good WildernessPunker, I’m going to turn my turds into ale.

It does feel odd to be back where this all started. How have I changed? How has this country changed? Three years ago, I would have had a hard time imagining my life would be so much better. Yet, I also would never had imagined the disaster our government has become. On the upside, Trump has proved every nihilistic punk rock song correct.

And damn, I hate to say it, but it is a lot easier to camp with a car than a mountain bike.

Looking out over this rich forest, it seems hard to believe we have humans actively fighting for the destruction of our globe. But we have to remember there have always been humans willing to put greed before all else. They just have greater abilities to annihilate now.

10,000 years ago, Blak might have been able to convince a few members of his tribe to go attack another village while they’re sleeping, but he could do little damage to the environment itself. A 1,000 years ago, a king might be able to slaughter thousands and destroy crops, but besides overgrazing, he could do little to hurt the planet before time ended him.

During our current times, there has been an increase in the ease and damage a person can inflict on our world. A man can sit in an air conditioned office and order a 100,000 acres destroyed with the click of a mouse. Whoa, hey Boneman, I thought this was supposed to be the light hearted June romp?

June 3rd

zzzz Right right, happy happy, summer summer, June June. I feel I’ve reached a moment of reflection. Here I am halfway between when my avalanche of crap started and the beginning of WildernessPunk three years ago. Strange to think where I was three summers ago. I had only a few backpacks worth of stuff, was sober and on probation. Ha, and now I’m the one who’s sent cops over to the nasty one’s house twice today.

Yet here I sit, in Dark Skies (My favorite bar this side of the Rockies). I was supposed to have had my children yesterday and should already be relaxing by the pool in Tucson. Instead I’m supposed to suffer these mild 70 degree days, camp out, and see my old buddies. Are there sixteen new beers of tap? I guess she showed me.

June 4th

A day, six cops, and one Judge injunction later and I’m still here in Flagstaff. Is this the end game of my three year struggle? Will the evil one flip the whole situation with my boys by denying me the time I’m due with them this summer? A cliffhanger feeling mixes with supreme annoyances. Will unforgiving narcissism win out over justice, goodness, and hell unexpected bells, I even have the forces of law on my side.

I’ve hatched plans and organized a few plots. Self-centered villains with no regard for anyone but themselves, might have their strengths, but we’ll see where the last Ace falls.

June 5^th

Flagstaff Police Department and I found no leads and after a three days search. On the third day of trying, grandma let the boys in blues into her home. But the inner door to the attic was locked. Ms. Gaslight hadn’t answered the door when the cops knocked on it for five minutes. Once the Officer left, I found the fortitude to talk to my former mother-in-law for an hour (Yuck) and the evil one appeared behind us in a dark hallway. It felt like something out of a horror movie to just have someone show up within a police searched house. I called the cops and got my kids. We’re currently safe in Tucson and I’m going to court next Tuesday.

Thanks for letting me indulge in my own voice for a while, because in the end, isn’t our own voice all we really have? I feel this recent development brings the beginning of WildernessPunk full circle and solves what lay in the center of my life being torpedoed three years ago. A new chapter, or in this case, a new book, is about to begin. The first page beckons…

Life always remains a battle, we fight against the ills, so we have a chance to enjoy our rewards. More often than not, life’s bounty is best enjoyed with others. Family, friends, animals, and nature. As many before me, I have persevered, obtained my goals, and learned more than a little along the way.

May the joy find you and let your battles be true

zzzzzz

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

WildernessPunk: Time – Health = Eco-Overload

What am I talking about this time, gentle readers? For those of you who know WildernessPunk you are familiar with its style of looking at important issues from a different perspective. While most people out there have their steadfast side of an argument where they hammer against those with a different view, WildernessPunk likes to tackle an issue sideways, which is easier because no one can see you coming.

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So let’s consider industrialization for a moment. Much of it has been for the greater good. The invention of the cotton gin and vaccinations, yep, they sure make life better. But what about those innovations which improve on something we’re already capable of doing? For example, we washed clothes before we had washing machines, we cleaned dishes before we had dishwashers, hell, we even got from one place to another before we had vehicles, so why did we invent them?

To save time.

One could argue it makes our lives easier and improves the quality of our existence, but let’s focus on time, and not just because it’s in the title. You’ll see why shortly.

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Let’s just hone in on something easier to wrap our heads around than the complex use of fossil fueled vehicles. I’ll pick on washing machines. Alright, in the past, or the present if you live in the other 80% of the world, when your clothes got dirty you washed them yourself. This might seem like more of a pain, but was it?

Positive benefits from washing clothes by hand

A person got exercise
You were aware of the resources used
You were more likely to recycle the grey water
Little or no carbon waste was created
You might get some fresh air and observe nature
No noise pollution
You didn’t have to waste capital on purchasing and repairing the machine
More space within your dwelling
Clothes got cleaner

Negative consequences of using a washing machine

Creates pollution during each use
Uses resources and creates pollution mining the metals to create it, during its construction, and through transportation
Takes capital to purchase and maintain
User gets much less exercise
More water is wasted and can’t be reused
Takes up space
Does not clean clothes as well as hand washing

I find it interesting how quickly these changes become mainstream. Modern washing machines appeared in 1907 and just over a 100 years later, many people can’t imagine wearing clothes which aren’t washed by machines. How did an unneeded luxury become a necessity? Perhaps more importantly, how does this effect our interaction with the environment?

Do you need a washing machine… No

Do you need to use a washing machine to clean your clothes… No

Are you a true environmentalist if you use a washing machine… No

Did I just piss you off? Well perhaps it’s time to put your money where you mouth is, or in this case back into your pocket with all the cash you’d be saving. Or another alternative is to just not call yourself an environmentalist and get on with your life. The upside is at least you won’t be a hypocrite. And in case you’re wondering… I did blow off using a washing machine for 10 years and look at my biceps, wow.

Moving away from the WM for a minute, I think we all need to reevaluate our intentions. What are your values? If you are crying out about climate change as you toss your clothes in the dryer, crank up the television, while you order something from Amazon, before you drive to the store, YOU ARE NOT AN ENVIRONMENTALIST, I don’t care what memes you post, what music you listen to, or how many piercings you have.

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Things which were luxuries are now demanded and if you don’t use them you’re a freak. Well perhaps it is time to, as Hendrix said, wave our freak flag high. Here is just a quick list of luxuries you can not have and still be an environmentalist.

Unrequired Luxuries

Washing Machines
Dishwashers
Imported foods
Beef and Lamb
Video Games
Driving to places less than two miles away (If not further)
Daily showering
Hygienic products
Pets
Lawns

This list could certainly go on and I’m not saying you can’t have some of these things, but if you claim to be an Environmentalist at all or care about Climate Change, you need to relabel these items as luxuries and not as the necessities we think of them as.

One final note. In 2018 one in four people in the USA was considered obese. We think we have saved time with all these labor saving inventions, but what we have really done is sacrifice our environment and our bodies for the privileges of spending more money to get tasks done. So yeah we might be saving time, but you could very well be paying for this time on the backside of your life by dying earlier because you lead a more unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle. All the while the environment is also paying the price because of the greater amounts of industrial waste you continually create. Oh yeah, and you’re paying for the privilege of polluting more and being less healthy. And if you spend money at a fitness business and drive yourself there, because you don’t think you have the time to do your own calorie burning tasks by hand, you just lost more time, used more resources, and created more pollution, while decreasing your cash flow.

I’m not trying to be the ultra-downer. I’m just trying to bring up the idea that if you need to exercise to stay in shape, perhaps you can do tasks which help the environment, instead of hurting it, and save yourself money instead of wasting it. It is a long road toward being an environmentalist, but we all just got one step closer.

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You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

Skinjumpers

WildernessPunk: Why are the Kids Inside?

What provides you with your inner strength? If I asked you this, you might list off the things which inspire and create the cornerstones of your life. Perhaps goals, projects, jobs, friends, and family would make the list. If you dug deeper you might move out of your normal lane and list more rugged skills like camping, hunting, bicycling, and hiking which provide you with a stronger inner core through stepping outside of your comfort zone. Some people take it up and notch and increase their positive self-regard by extreme acts such as sky diving, swimming with sharks, or trying to find a decent date.

Sure we can all list a few things we currently do or have in our lives which help maintain our self-esteem, but what about things which set the stage for who we are? What events fortified the foundations for who you became? What trails, which ended both well and badly, created the fortitude within you which helped establish the adult you are now?

Have you noticed how things which happened to us when we are younger are the most potent? How many of you reading this still listen to the same type of music you liked in your late teens? You are more likely to remember your first date or kiss than your 3,000^th. Hopefully I am talking about kisses and not my 3000^th date. That could indicate a problem.

Number of Television Watched

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Personally, I believe surviving challenges as a child set us up for success and a positive self-regard as an adult. I’m not suggesting you let your preteen be chased by a bunch of deviant Taliban predators. The task should meet the skill level or… maybe surpass it by a few degrees. Challenge brings out the best in us and of course children are challenged in school, in social situations, and through various competitions. But this isn’t what I’m talking about.

First off, sports don’t count. It is a group being told what to do by adults set within a formatted framework of rules. Sorry, but saying, “Golly, Billy sure kicked a ball a lot tonight,” just isn’t what I’m talking about here. Again, most of school is just following rules like a billion other kids. Do this, learn this, follow these math and science rules of thumb… And unless the social situations end up leading to violence, this isn’t what I’m discussing either.

What I’m talking about is an unexpected and unsupervised test of one’s metal. I’m not sure what it is about natural challenges, but they often seem the most potent. Sure being chased through the city by murderous addicts would be intense and coming through it in one piece could help establish positive self-regard, but still cities, have police, distractions, rival gangs, hell you might be able to escape by just running up to a random door.

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Perhaps it is a throwback to our roots as a species, but facing an obstacle out in the wilderness is a whole different situation. Here are some reasons this could be.

Reasons why Wilderness Challenges are more Potent

There are usually few or no other humans present
Nature doesn’t give a shit, it can’t be reasoned with, and doesn’t quit
Often solutions are long ordeals and not quick fixes
The items you have are all you get unless you make yourself more
The skills everyone present possesses become more important
Simple things like fire, water, or a knife can save you
Lack of getting these simple things can mean your doom
Nature is the great equalizer, being rich or poor, black or white, straight or gay, conservative or liberal doesn’t matter to the bear, the sun, or the blizzard

Let’s get back to character building and childhood. If you are chased by addicts you can blame them, but you can’t blame nature. When it challenges you, you can only blame yourself if you fail. Conversely, if you triumph, no one can take it away from you. Cheating is difficult, and hell, even cheating is something you could be proud of when faced with a true challenge.

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So how important is it to have respect for your own skills and abilities? How much do earlier childhood victories help shape who you are? I feel that knowing you can overcome obstacles, even smaller ones, independently, and owning the experience of winning out against adversity as a youth, can set the stage for believing you can do so again as an adult. If you have never been individually challenged, how would you know whether you could persevere?

Again these do not have to be huge tasks. I don’t recommend dropping your eight year old off in the artic, but knowing at an early age you have what it takes to kick it into high gear, problem solve, hang tough, and keep yourself and others safe gives children the positive self-regard which will help them make it through their much harder adult life.

But what if they aren’t challenged. How will they react to a random issue when they have no back up? Will they be lost? Could they feel they are ill prepared to tackle an issue which isn’t solved by a cell phone?

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“Kids are very nervous today—they have a lot of anxiety,” says child development specialist Rebecca Weingarten. “We need to promote constructive failure,” says Weingarten. “Kids can’t be afraid to face the normal repercussions associated with taking risks.”

Another study from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta shows that free play actually changes the way the neurons in the front of the brain connect in a positive way.

So we know free play is good, but how does this translate to daily activities?

“It means no adults, no restrictions and no added rules during playtime,” says Thomas Dittl, a kindergarten teacher who is a big advocate of free play. “When you give kids room to explore and learn on their own, amazing things happen. I’ve seen this happen time and time again with my kindergarten students. They figure things out on their own. They learn how to share. They invent new ways of doing things. Even at a young age, it’s setting them up for future success.” https://bit.ly/2KRNiiG

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So we know adventure is good for the brain and body. I’m not advocating forcing your kids to do things, but they should at least have the opportunity to gain the esteem boost which comes with self-reliance and risk. In the end it will make them healthier inside and out.

Alright now, just for fun, I’m going to make a quick list of a few of the things I did or had happen to me before I entered High School. I hope my mom isn’t reading this.

My early childhood adventures/risks/challenges

Faced off against a vicious dog, armed with a pipe, on a ledge above an abandoned junk yard. Age 5
Escaped from several feet of quicksand. Age 7
Saved my brother after he fell through a fishing hole in the ice. Age 8
Found and excavated an old trash midden Age 9
Explored and mapped out all the woods I could reach between the highway and river where I grow up. Age 10
Kept my brother from being swept over a waterfall. Age 11
Chased off 2 buglers with a baseball bat Age 11 (They robbed my neighbors that night)
Saved friend who was about to be swept under in an ice covered river and then made sure he didn’t get hypothermia. Age 12
Explored an abandoned three story house. Age 13

I’m not trying to brag, but I can look back with pride and mark my earlier years by accomplishments and not by what level I reached in the Halo game my mom bought me.

writers-chair

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem…. He’s dating one.

doorway

WildernessPunk: The Recycle Life Cycle

A few thoughts before I dive in. First, I know we all get hit over the head with the three Rs. The second is, since I’ve already covered Reduce and Reuse in the last few articles, we can fast forward to Recycle. Still bored… don’t worry I’m going to WildernessPunk this and get to the core of this issue. Recycle is the last of the our list of six ideas we can all accomplish to lower our Negative Environmental Impact (NEI)

Here’s a quick review of those six ideas

Minimizing Food Waste
Commuting by Bicycle, Walking, Buses
Use Energy Wisely such as high efficiency devices and keeping them unplugged
Consume less
Eating for a Climate Stable Planet
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

Yep, yep Recycle. All of us do it, or at least I hope so. But are we recycling enough? More likely, we’re trying to recycle too much. Too much, one might think recycling is one area where more would always be better. We might like to think the Recycle fairies find some use for all the items we imagine we’re keeping out of the landfill.

But what happens to the items we put into our recycle bins which can’t be Recycled? Could we be creating more problems by trying to Recycle to much? What happens to things which can’t be Recycled when they arrive at the recycling department?

So are we doing more harm than good by Recycling more than we should? Chances are… yes. So let’s dig in and hash all this out so we can be good WildernessPunkers, shall we.

First off, what we can Recycle will of course vary from country to country, state to state, and town to town. So um, we’ll just focus on where I live. It might not be exact, but at least it will help educate us on a general system which should be close to accurate for most of us.

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Like always, let’s strive to keep this simple and make a few lists. The first will be what we can recycle and the second will be things you might think are okay, but are not.

Commonly Recycled Goods

Cans, but make sure things like soup cans are clean
Plastic, water bottles, other drink bottles, clamshell fruit or take-out containers, rigid plastic like detergent bottles
Paper, junk mail (plastic windows on envelopes are fine), newspapers, office paper, shredded paper in clear plastic bags, and cardboard
Plastic bottle lids, but only if the bottle is dry and they are screwed back on
Plastic lunch containers, if they are clean
Cardboard cereal and pasta boxes
Aluminum foil, pie pans etc, but only if free of food
Milk containers, again as long as they are clean and dry
Shampoo bottles if clean and dry
Cardboard, but condense and remove tape
Glass jars, label can stay on but loose the lid

Items which cannot be Recycled

Plastic containers which have not been cleaned and dried
Styrofoam
Plastic straws
Juice bags
Plastic bags
Prescription bottles
Batteries
To go coffee and soda cups
Bubble Wrap
Pet food bags
Election Signs
Yard Waste
Hazardous waste, not in curbside, but some companies can help
Smaller items

Yes, I know some of this is a bit tedious, but if you really care about saving the Earth and stepping up to knock down your NEI, then this is good to know. Putting items into the recycle bin which can’t be recycled is much worse than tossing it into the landfill. It can break down the machines and cause whole truckloads to be contaminated and thrown into the landfill.

Also in case you were wondering…

“When done thoughtfully, recycling is cost-effective. Less energy is required to make products from recycled materials than to produce them from raw materials.” Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

And just for a fact teaser here are a few stats.

There’s a reason people say to recycle paper and save the trees. According to Waste Management, recycling 500 average phone books could save between 17 and 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 4,077 kilowatt hours of energy and landfill space. https://bit.ly/2JcL7JX

So I’m going to leave this here. Over the past few months, I’ve done what I’ve set out to do and covered, in a brutally realistic manner, what each household in the USA could, doesn’t, and should accomplish to lower our NEI as individuals and as a country. Of course more could be done and a greater insight gleaned with continued work, but more often than not, a simpler approach is more likely to succeed than an exhaustive data explosion.

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On a person note, I’m not sure about all of you, but I know I’ve learned a lot by collecting this information. We often suffer from accepted delusions and I hope I’ve helped pop a few erroneous thought bubbles.

I would also like to state, I’m pleased to have completed this process. Not only because of the positive benefits of sharing, but also because of some of the darker places my research brought me too. We have a long way to go, but as my uncle’s show used to say, “Knowledge is Power.”

And come on America, we got this. We’ve stepped up before and we can do it again, especially when this might be the most important thing our species has done in 10,000 years.

poker

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak has to decide between is lover and his job, but will either choice be able to save them?

WildernessPunk: Getting Rude About Food

Looks like I took another mini break from WPing after my last camping adventure. What have I been doing besides bingeing on ‘True’ Horror stories and proofing my newest novel which probably will never be published? After celebrating Patriot’s Day, I also hit one of the rare and lonely rivers which cuts through southern Arizona, the San Pedro. But enough about me, for I intend to finish something I have started. I hope my parents haven’t just fainted.

San Pedro log

What I’m talking about was addressing the list of the 6 things we can all accomplish, within our urban environments, which will help lower our Negative Environmental Impact (NEI).

Here’s a quick review of those six ideas

Minimizing Food Waste
Commuting by Bicycle, Walking, Buses
Use Energy Wisely such as high efficiency devices and keeping them unplugged
Consume less
Eating for a Climate Stable Planet
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

And as at least three of you might know, number 1-4 have been covered bringing us to… Eating for a Climate Stable Planet. No, I’m not coming for your hamburger, but I do intend to toss some data out there. But before I do…

I’ve noticed some interesting things since I’ve begun to seriously investigate our NEI. (Some of you might want to stop reading now) Most of the people I associate with all claim to be environmentalists and interested in helping the environment. But despite their claims, they do little more than the average Trump supporter to accomplish anything to really reduce their NEI. Most people, recycle, have maybe one small pet project, post a few anti-pollution memes on Facebook and call it a done deal. Meanwhile, in this country, the average person pollutes about 200 times more a day than someone living in India. Think about it, chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re 200 times worse than someone living in a more traditional environment. If we went back 10,000 years your current lifestyle would be causing about 1000 times more damage than Rutroo the Barbarian.

rutroo

I’m not demanding you change, but unless you’re living in a tent in Alaska, I think few are the Americans who can claim to be environmentalists. “Hello, I’m part of the worst polluters the world has ever seen, but I’m an environmentalist.”

Still, what are the, would be, heroes of the Earth to do?

I hope we wish to do more than admit we’re hypocrites and wander off mumbling. Part of having to power to change is the knowledge of how things currently are and what could be done. This being said, let’s look at the environmental cost of what we eat. Buckle up people, because for most of us, this is going to hurt.

Many may remain unaware the consumption of food creates to highest NEI for humans. It beats out the resources we use for running a house and transportation. So if eating creates the highest impact on our environment, rethinking and adjusting our eating patterns might be the easiest way for each of us to lower our NEI, or is it?

personalfootprint1

Obviously the first, but perhaps not the easiest step, would be for as many humans as possible to become vegan or at least vegetarian. Yes, this would help, but it’s really not so simple. For instance the difference between low meat eaters and vegetarians is only a 12% drop. This is great and if everyone did this, terrific, but this still doesn’t address the remaining 50% NEI vegans create. Even the difference between a guy who eats a steak every night and a vegan is only double. It seems strange you have to change your whole life, and make things rather difficult for yourself in multiple ways, just to cut this in half and then be stuck. We just can’t lose this 50% best case scenario NEI creation… or can we?

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So if we’re looking at a 50% NEI even if we’re trying our hardest with what we eat, lets looks at where this 50% comes from. It isn’t too complicated. Plants and meat cost energy and resources to produce. Then more to prepare and package. Then still even more to transport to our local store. Then a bit more to remain in a temperature controlled building until we purchase it. Still not done, even at our home we’re using energy to keep the refrigerator running and then cooking our yummies for consumption.

Since this is a lot to take in, I think we would be better tackling these one at a time. So here’s the list of

Food’s Baseline Negative Environmental Impact

Food Production
Food Preparation
Food Packaging
The Transportation of Food
Housing Food
Maintaining Food

Food Production:

We already know producing meat can up to double your NEI, depending on how much and what type you eat regularly. But whether you’re vegan or on the cowboy diet, this is still contributing to your food’s baseline NEI. Eating less meat will help this greatly but as previously stated the difference between a light meat eater and a vegetarian isn’t huge.

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Grow your own food, raise your own animals, and reuse grey water to do so whenever possible.
Eat foods which require less resources and energy to produce.

Food Preparation:

Apparently this is considered part of the food production process, although producing food seems different than preparing it to come to us. Interesting to note, whether one’s vegan or on the Cowboy diet, this is one the highest producers of NEI through the food cycle, if you include huge amount of food waste which occurs as is mentioned in WildernessPunk: The Number One Thing. https://bit.ly/2KVVHGQ

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Grow your own food, raise your own animals, and reuse grey water to do so whenever possible.
Do not shy away from purchasing food which appears imperfect.

Food Packaging:

There is less data available in regards to what percent of a food production of NEI is creating by its packaging. One interesting trend appears to be the more (better) food is packaged, the less food is wasted. Still part of me wonders how our dystopian ancestors will feel while walking through fields of Styrofoam when they hear “They had to make everything as perfect as possible for three generations or so and placed Styrofoam under each piece of meat. This helped people live to an older age, so they could pollute even longer, now go eat the caterpillar paste out of the communal pot and remember to share your fork with the whole village.”

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Buy bulk when possible, but be sure not to do this if it creates food waste.
Attempt to buy food with the least amount of packaging possible.
Recycle, reduce, and reuse this packaging as much as possible.
Buy unpackaged foods.

FoodPackaging-CountriesChart

Transportation of Food:

This is where vegans create as much NEI as the biggest carnivore. It appears transporting food creates roughly 11% of its NEI and is in many ways what we might have the least control over, but let’s take a stab at it anyway.

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Grow your own food, raise your own animals, and reuse grey water to do so whenever possible.
Research what types of food are produced near your area and try to eat these whenever possible.
Buy food at local markets.
Avoid exotic foods.

Storing Food:

This appears to be the smallest producer of NEI. Only 5% of the overall NEI is created by maintenance and storage.

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Use energy efficient transportation when buying food.
Smaller more focused trips to the store help reduce food waste.
Research which of your local stores are more eco-friendly.

Maintaining and Preparing Food:

The average citizen of the United States’ use of electricity makes up 14% of their NEI. Refrigerators make up only 8.8% of this. So roughly 1.2% of our yearly NEI is created from refrigerator use. Which is probably one of the most reasonable uses of energy in our country. This is only increased with the knowledge the best thing we can do to lower our NEI is to limit food waste. (See WildernessPunk Number One Thing) Also interesting to note our refrigerator use alone produces twice the NEI the average man in India creates with everything he does.

Cooking food creates slightly less NEI than refrigerator use and is easier for us to avoid by purchasing more food which doesn’t need to be cooked.

WildernessPunk Suggestions:

Keep refrigerator on a higher temperature.
Be efficient when removing items.
Try to compost food which gets too old to eat or feed it to animals.
Try to avoid buying more than you can eat before the food goes bad.
In most cases, give the expiration date on food an extra week or two.
Eat food which requires less energy to prepare.
Recycle time saving products which are big energy wasters.

Food Production is one of the hardest things for the average consumer to influence. Of course, limiting your meat intake is the best way to lower your contribution to our NEI. Producing as much or your own food as possible is also a strong play.

This may seem like a hard bunch of data to take in, but if we think of things as a national effort, we would start looking at huge improvements. If as a country, we could produce 20% less NEI the effects would be staggering. And as always keep in mind all these improvements, help the environment, our country, and our personal finances. We have nothing to lose but our NEI.

I think its time to wake up and get started.

Garden

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Dak has to decide between is lover and his job, but will either choice be able to save them both?

San Pedro north

WildernessPunk: A Spring Thing

You know what? I think it’s time I take a break and mix it up a little. My last four or five posts have been rather serious and… it’s Spring. Coinciding with this fresh get out of the house feeling I have, is my first solo camp of the year and a renewed decision to avoid banging my head up against the steel wall of what our current politics has become.

Sometimes you just need to shed yourself from all this damn humanity. Ergg, we’re all so narcissistic and self-important. Humans do this. Humans want that. Humans are entitled to… Sometimes I just want all the talking heads to shut up, but since they never will, I’ll just take myself to a place I can’t hear them. Here, by the edge of the Gila River, it’s just the murmuring current and the talking beaks.

Gila camp

Strange how moments alone, especially when off the grid, allow and perhaps force one to reflect. Spring is important to animals. As one, we emerge and renew our methods used for The Strive.

The Strive: Whether personal or natural, the search to find the techniques and methods which will allow us to complete our goals.

gila rapibs.jpg

Could focusing on what your Strive was through different stages of your life help you to look back and chart your growth or at least your adventure? What was your Strive last Spring, the Spring before that, and the proceeding one? Should someone have a Strive which progresses through the years or would this be little more than stagnation?

For the sake or creating an outline for reference, I’ll toss up my last three Spring Strives, which have occurred since WildernessPunk began.

Last Spring: I was evicted and had new goals only months after finally having a new foundation.
Two Springs ago: I was preparing to escape the clinging fingers of the mountain town I’d called home for so long.
Three Springs ago: Evil acts had cost me seeing my children, my job, my vehicle, my home, and started me on the WildernessPunk journey.

This spring well… I know I need to change, improve, and evolve, but no dread and doom looms over me. No fist of dismay, hovers through my waking thoughts remaining me of faults and malingering problems. Of course many still exist, but not the crippling kind which cause you to live within a rotting tent in the woods.

Gila North

In the end what motivates us more, having it all yanked away or enjoying the support of a stable environment? This is an interesting question. Let’s break down to possible pros of each situation.

Aids to accomplishment provided by a Fortified Environment

Utilities allow one to work during any hour of the day
Enough food and water provide the strength to work longer hours
Rooms designed for purpose and equipped with gear allow for a larger range of accomplishment
Less time is used for daily maintenance needs
Emotional support and pleasurable pursuits help recharge the soul

Aids to accomplishment provided by Challenging Environment

If isolated, less distractions could be present
Many luxuries which eat time such as televisions and the internet may not be present
Living closer to the edge can create a burning desire to improve one’s situation
One has more freedom to explore various paths
Exploring diverse paths is more likely to provide greater inspiration and sometimes opportunity

These are just a few ideas, but it really becomes a balance between equipment and inspiration because people can be inspired by different things. Many are those who can be inspired through the works of others. When this is the case, a stable environment allows for more information to be absorbed, but also you can only read one thing at a time and even at my worst, I’m never without a book.

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Still it can mostly come down to the person and like so many things is really a dual between law and chaos. What helps you succeed more, an organized house, complete with food, and temperature controlled, filled with all the supplies you need to get the job done? Or does the same four enclosed walls start to wear on you and leave you feeling uninspired as each day your experience drifts you further from any interaction with the True Environment?

For others, traveling, meeting new people, and seeing new beauty and places recharges the mind and leaves one eager to get started on the new adventure or project. Others find the time it takes to survive and travel through such areas a drain on their physical and mental resources and will get little done other than just making it through the day and then falling onto their cot exhausted.

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Of course age and other factors affect such things. A retired man might very well get more done on his computer in a comfy chair, while a younger woman might try to stay within her apartment as little as possible.

So which are you, a more lawful based person who thrives when you’re in your comfort zone, or a chaotic person who likes to explore the new and the different?

Something to think about as you Strive to achieve the goals which stretch before you, for life is a short ride and we should all be sure we’re traveling along the right road.

Gila me.jpg

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Dak has to decide between is lover and his job, but will either choice be able to save them both?

gila tunnel