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A piece of advice I always give people who want to live lighter on the earth is, “find out how people did things in the old days” (before electricity, cheap long-distance vehicular transport, and so on). This tip also can save you a lot of money and boost your household’s disaster-preparedness (whether “disaster” is a hurricane or other natural disaster, a financial catastrophe such as losing a job, or a personal crisis such as divorce or sudden illness).

In my jewelry box I have a bunch of old watches, most of them inherited from my Mom. The newer ones all need batteries and/or cleaning in order to (possibly) work. Guess which one worked without any visit to the jeweler: the oldest one! A plain old, purely mechanical, wind-it-up-daily, no-battery watch. I’m not sure how old this is but it looks 1920s or ’30s.

I was aware that clocks had been around for centuries. The operate by springs and weights. (If you want a more detailed explanation you’ll have to look elsewhere; that explanation is enough for me!) I always figured that watches (being small versions of clocks) had been invented sometime quite a bit later, maybe around the 1800s. When I did a little research, I learned that watches in some form have actually been around since the 1500s! As a modern person, I’m accustomed to machines that operate electrically or electronically. Though I don’t have detailed knowledge of electricity or electronics, they feel familiar to me anyway, and dare I say mundane; easy to take for granted. In contrast, intricate devices that operate by purely mechanical technology have a breathtakingly mysterious beauty to me.

Humans did a lot without electricity. It’s a useful and empowering exercise to explore how many of your daily needs you could possibly meet without fossil fuels. (Although electricity is not itself a fossil fuel, most electricity is still generated by burning fossil fuels: usually coal or gas. But solar and other non-fossil-generated electricity is becoming a strong contender in some parts of the world!)

So anyway, about the watch in the photo. I had been keeping this watch in my jewelry box. But now it’s a charming addition to my work-desk, serving as a miniature clock.

I have to remember to wind it every day, or it’ll stop running. And then I have to check my computer or cellphone to reset the time. I guess if the grid totally went down, I’d just set it roughly by the sunrise, since I know the approximate sunrise times for my region at a given time of year. Then again, if the grid totally went down, I’d have other problems than setting this beautiful little antique watch. Or maybe not — maybe it’d become a very helpful tool of my daily life. Maybe I’d be the timekeeper of my neighborhood (at least until some Professor character on the block invented a clock out of palm-fronds and bird-feathers or whatever, a la the Professor on Gilligan’s Island who could make a radio out of a coconut husk).

In any case, I’m really enjoying the watch right now. The tiny timepiece has an exquisite-sounding, almost musical tick, and I hold it up to my ear from time to time just to have the pleasure of hearing that sound.

My antique sewing machine (my grandmother’s, made in the early 1900s, and the machine I first learned to sew on) also worked without any repair or parts replacement. Other sewing machines I’ve dealt with over the past few years, especially the newer electronic ones, are finicky and in constant need of adjusting.

A close friend of mine prefers antique guns to modern ones, for many of the same reasons I love my old sewing machine so much.

How about you? Got any dear old robust machines in your life, that offer functionality and add a bit of beauty to your day too? Let’s hear about them!

(At this point I’m wondering what would happen if I enabled comments on this blog. Would I only hear from spambots and pharmaceutical hawkers, as has generally been the case in the past, or would some actual live human readers offering real thoughts chime in? I may have to try enabling comments, just to see. In the meantime, you’re always welcome to email me.)

Further Reading:

• The History of Watches and Clocks. Did you know the first manmade clocks date back to 3,500 BC?

• The History of Early Computing Machines, from Ancient Times to 1981. Thinking about old watches got me on a train of thought that led to computational devices, so I dug up some reading tidbits for you. This article talks about abacuses, astrolabes, and more. With big pretty photos! (By the way, the abacus is a truly marvelous ancient device that is also quite beautiful. I lived in Tokyo for five years during the 1990s, and was fascinated to see abacuses being used routinely even in commercial settings. Experienced abacus users tell me an abacus works just as fast as an electronic calculator.)

• The Abacus: A Brief History. Read up on counting-devices throughout the ages.

Sometimes I end up adding to or otherwise changing a post after I first hit the PUBLISH button. Next-day edits (to correct typos, imprecisions, etc.) are something I do pretty regularly. But also, sometimes I revise a post days or weeks after the fact. I don’t think you get email notifications (those of you who have subscribed to receive email updates) each time I edit. So you don’t get notified each time I’ve amplified or otherwise improved a post. But, this is just a housekeeping note to let you know I have been known to do that! So if you ever go back and reread a post and you think it’s not exactly how you remembered, you’re probably right!

One very recent example of a post that’s been updated is my post about a community facing its “Day Zero” of water. The person who reported that her community was on the verge of Day Zero, posted an update once Day Zero had hit, so I added that update to my post.

I rarely make a blog post that’s identical to a post on my Deep Green Book page on Facebook. But today I’m making an exception.

Severe water emergency — real life account: (Following is a current real-life account of water emergency: another community facing “Day Zero”. This post is from a member of the Journey To Zero-Waste group who gave us permission to share. She lives in rural South Africa but this same situation is being faced by communities around the world, from Texas to Australia and elsewhere.)

I would like to share a scary little story with you all. We have known for a long time now that our little town is about to run out of water. People blame the drought, but I am afraid this drought is here to stay. It’s never going to rain enough to fill up the dam and temperatures are reaching 36 to 38 degrees these days.

Our towns economy is based on education, so there are several big boarding schools and a university which has just opened for the 2019 academic year.

Day Zero as we call it is 2 days away. When the taps will dry and there will be no water. Already the one side of town has been without water for 3 days. The people there are very poor, with an unemployment rate of 70 percent. They cannot afford to fetch or buy water. Any minute a huge protest is going to erupt there resulting in violence and looting. 

It’s a giant scary mess. Our municipality is so dysfunctional that this has not been managing the problem. Our town is kind of in the middle of nowhere in a rural province of South Africa, so I am not sure how we are going to get water in.

Its really interesting to see how the town continues to wait til the last minute to start saving water. Still toilets are being flushed, baths are being taken, swimming pools filled. Sometimes I think the only way humanity will learn is the hard way. And s*** is about to get very real in this town.

Here is one comment from another group member in response:

“Honestly friend, I would start grabbing friends and knocking on doors now. Start with whoever runs the school, then go higher up, higher up and higher up. Take a journalist or editor of the local Newspaper with you. Then I would go to the native people or older generations and ask them what they do during the droughts and how they get through it. If thicket is growing I would say their roots run deep and that’s where the water is. Lastly, what is the history of the indigenous people there? Did they migrate often or did they usually stay in one place. The reason I ask is because where there are still indigenous practices runs ancient wisdom as to how they handled these situations and some things can be applicable to today.”

And to this I would add: Water scarcity (albeit caused by waste and mismanagement) is real, and likely coming to a place near each and every one of us if it hasn’t already. We all need to start taking responsibility for building our water-supply resiliency at the household and community level. Collect rainwater; also radically cut our need. People in the USA use an average of 100 gallons of water per person per day, mostly for lawns, plus showers and laundry. In the old days in this country, we used 10 gallons per person per day. Time to radically reduce! 

A key pointer, as mentioned by the commenter I quoted above, is “go to the native people or older generations and ask them what they do during the droughts and how they get through it.” This is a great tip in general: Find out how the old-timers got their daily needs met. Whether it’s water shortage or a power blackout or any other crisis, a great way to prepare is find out how people used to do things in the old days before electricity, running water, freely available long-distance transport, and other modern conveniences. It can actually be surprisingly simple to build resiliency into your household if you do a bit of research on “how the old-timers did it.”

There is really no need for shortages of water or anything else. Conservation and working with nature rather than against her is simple and free, and provides many personal benefits along with the planetary ones. That is why I’m so passionate about low-footprint living. (And why I’m so determined to get the word out to as many folks as will listen!)

Working together, helping one another, we can get through these crises of extreme weather, build resiliency at the household and community level, and bring common-sense back into the design of our human-built environment.

Update: The woman in South Africa posted an update:

Hey guys. So some of you asked for an update. Today was the 5th day of no water for 80 000 residents of the town. Compounded by the fact that our waste removal services have been on strike for 3 weeks now. So basically the town is thirsty and dirty.
Today saw people breaking into fire hydrants a cross the city and selling the water to affected people. Quite scary given that fires break out on the surrounding mountains almost daily.
Tomorrow a local South African aid group is sending in water from Durban and Cape Town.
The worst of it is that the municipality won’t give anyone a straight answer on what the problem is. We are told that plans are being made and that’s all. I am no engineer but their plans don’t sound feasible to me. Also they seem to change almost daily. There is always a new excuse. I think they are just trying to avoid some kind of social anarchy.
At least the national media has picked up on our story now.
For those who asked about Cape Town… How ironic is that Cape Town is now sending us water.
Here is an interesting question. Is denying your citizenship access to water because of incompetence human rights abuse.? In a democracy so focused on constitutional integrity, how did we come to this?
Thank you so much for all your insights. They were very interesting to read. Also quite amazed that you found our story shocking. I think sadly we have become so accostomed to our challenges that we have given up any hope of solving them.

“The air conditioner killed it. We sat on the porch as the sun went down, and watched as the dust and sunlight mingled in the bamboo grove across the dirt road. We heard the cathedral bell ring out its six o’clock message, and listened to ice clinking against the side of a glass. We could smell the musty mildew, the slightest hint of fragrance from the sweet olive next door. …

“Who can we sit and talk with now, on the porch? Our new house, with its four inch concrete slab, has no porch. … We build porches now, but not as high and wide, because we know we won’t sit on them. Or if we do, we’ll sit alone, with a cup of coffee that will never be as good as the one my father woke me up with every morning.

“Why did we wait so late to find out how common, how simple our wants?”

— Joe Riehl in the introduction to Porch People, book by Marilynn Fournet Adams. 

In news that is seemingly unrelated but not really, the federal government has just overturned the Florida state environmental protection agency’s denial of a permit to a property owner seeking to drill for oil in the Everglades. Read the story here.

We have the choice every day to recognize what’s real and true. And act, via the steady stream of our everyday choices, to protect it. Or, if it’s gone, to bring it back. But some things once gone aren’t so easy to bring back. Porch culture is a maybe.

The Everglades, not so easy.

I don’t dwell on negative news but sometimes feel it is important to read, and also to share. This article gives a horrific report of fish and wildlife kills due to extreme summer heat. This report comes from Australia but is just one example of ecosystems in crisis worldwide.

I share the author’s feeling about the reported mass die-offs of fish and wildlife:
“This is beyond disturbing. It should have been on the front pages of every newspaper and TV show across the globe. We should be discussing it in urgent, worried tones and devoting a huge amount of money to studying and fixing it. At a minimum, we should stop hauling more tiny fish and krill from the sea in an effort to at least stabilize the food pyramid while we sort things out.”

Fortunately, our positive actions can and do make a difference. Even if you don’t fully believe that, there’s no denying the happiness and peace of mind that comes from taking constructive actions on a daily basis. And knowing you are not alone; that there are many others who care.

The article also offers a useful nutshell summary of the pattern of societal collapse:

“Many people are expecting some degree of approaching collapse — be it economic, environmental and/or societal — thinking that they’ll recognize the danger signs in time. 

“As if it will be completely obvious, like a Hollywood blockbuster. Complete with clear warnings from scientists, politicians and the media.  And everyone can then get busy either panicking or becoming the plucky heroes. 

“That’s not how collapse works.

“Collapse is a process, not an event.”

Regarding the possibility of societal collapse, there are many many things we can do, individually and collectively, to boost our resiliency. In this blog and my book, I set out to demonstrate a resiliency-building approach to life. I hope you are finding my writings helpful.

Or maybe it’s even an upcycle – you decide! Great way to bring rainwater indoors, from the barrels into the teakettle or the bath! A pale-blue or pale-green bottle is particularly pretty for this use, don’t you think?

(To reduce likelihood of algae forming in a clear bottle exposed to light, I use the water promptly and don’t leave it sitting in the bottle longer than a day or so.)

I find that aesthetics are one of the top enticements that keep me enthusiastic about low-footprint living. I love the aesthetics of used/old/reused stuff. And the human touch (such as handwriting over old peeled labels). For me, aesthetics may be even more of an enticement than finances! And that’s saying a lot, because I am an extreme enthusiast of thrifty living. I’m not going to call myself a “cheapskate,” because I do have my indulgences and splurges. What I might call myself is an ornate minimalist or selective penny-pincher!

How about you: What keeps you really fired-up about low-footprint living? Is it finances, time, aesthetics/creativity, health and wellness, or something else?

Over time I’ve noticed many a reciprocal relationship between low-footprint living and various personal benefits. The main area that comes to mind is finances. The link between footprint and financial liberation is huge! By reducing my financial overhead, I was able to greatly lower my eco-footprint. Cutting out cable TV, getting rid of my car, moving to a smaller cheaper place. (“Reduce your need to earn” was a great expression I heard in permaculture design class). And the reverse turned out to be true also: The lower I shrank my footprint, the less money I needed to live well.

Besides finances, a couple of other major areas where footprint reduction leads to a reciprocal win-win are time and personal energy. I’ve brought up those topics in various posts and surely will again.

And, just this morning I noticed yet another area of win-win reciprocal relationships. I noticed that having a daily routine helps me lower my eco-footprint, because I’m being more efficient with time and energy. And, in turn, my commitment to living a low-footprint life helps me stick to a routine better, because I’m less likely to allow myself to be sucked into distractions, get overcommitted, and so on.

A routine need not be rigid; in fact, it works better for me if there’s flexibility within the structure. Also, I notice that my routines vary seasonally. In wintertime, I get out and run errands in afternoon when it’s warmed up a bit. In summer, I avoid being outdoors in midday or afternoon sun, so my errands need to get done in the early morning or evening hours. (A lot of the time, errands also serve for exercise. A walk or bicycle ride to the store; a walk around the neighborhood with my wheelie-cart scrounging free landscaping materials from people’s curbside “trash,” etc.)

Here is my current routine, which works great in the winter days of cold temperatures and early sunsets, late sunrises:

Early AM (6:30 or 7): Mind-centering/spiritual practice; body stretching (can be done without artificial light). Make bed, get dressed, plan the day.

7:30-9am: Breakfast, household tasks (sweeping/mopping, washing dishes, mending, laundry, yard), coffee, writing, quiet time to enjoy morning.

9am-: Plug in internet modem/router, get email, respond to communications, make blog posts.

Noonish: Lunch

Afternoon: Artwork; writing; research & marketing tasks, yard/landscaping.

Evening: Civic activities, social time, walks

Notes:

• I unplug internet before bed, or often sooner if I’m going out or planning to focus on art, yardwork, and other offline stuff. I find that this encourages me to be very deliberate about my online time.

• The above is how I most commonly end up spending my day, but sometimes civic and social activities happen in the morning or afternoon instead (or in addition). My low-footprint lifestyle allows me plenty of time and flexibility to accommodate that. Similarly, I sometimes go out to lunch with friends or colleagues rather than eat solo at home/office. And one of my favorite social activities is having morning coffee with a neighbor, either at their place or mine.

• Although I list writing as a morning or afternoon activity, the truth is, writing is a 24-7 thing. Anytime I’m awake and have a write-y thought, writing has to happen. I learned the hard way after losing lots of ideas because I figured I would remember them when it was more convenient to write them down. Nope! If I have a thought at 3am, I turn the light on and write it down. Sometimes I grumble to myself about the inconvenience of interrupting my cozy dark rest to write, but I tell myself in response, “Quit yer whining! How many other people have the option of being able to work anytime and anywhere? Now get out that notebook and pen!” It works. As does my routine.

• Dinner tends to be sometime between about 5:30 and 8:30. Bedtime is usually around 10 or 10:30 but can be as early as 8 or even 7:30pm in the cold dark months! I often read (usually fiction) for a half-hour or an hour before bed. And usually at least one night every week or two, I manage to stay up late (midnight, 1, or even 2) for a comedy show, party, or some other late fun thing. But the older I get, the less I feel inclined to stay up late! (In summer it is easier. I do love being out and about on summer nights.)

• Something about giving tasks a place in my routine really makes me appreciate the rhythms of nature: variations in temperature, wind, light, and so on. Like, on a sunny breezy morning, when it’s my designated “morning task” time, I’ll feel like, “Oh goody! Perfect day for laundry!” And I take delight from that whole set of activities that is hand-washing my clothes, wringing them out, and hanging them on the line. Feeling the sun on my face, hearing the birds chirp.

Some people might prefer a much more structured, less flexible routine. And others might not find it helpful to have a routine at all! What do you think? Do routines work for you? And do you notice a relationship between routine and your footprint-reduction efforts?