permaculture

["Robert Waldrop" <bwaldrop@cox.net>]

Also, as preparation for the workshop, I asked 
people to read disaster materials at 
http://www.energyconservationinfo.org/printflyers.htm 
and to read this short fiction work which i wrote 
in 1999, while living in Kansas City, Missouri, 
about how the area coped with a technological 
meltdown. http://www.justpeace.org/02-16.htm .  I 
wrote that while still early in my personal 
self-study of permaculture.

RMW

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Waldrop" <bwaldrop@cox.net>
To: "permaculture" 
<permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Pre-design for 
collapse


> I used a simple format.  We did introductions all
> around, and then I made about a 30 minute
> presentation explaining why this was important,
> and then we spent the rest of the day looking at
> the issues/challenges/resources for each of the
> categories I had identified.  I don't think
> attachments are allowed here, so I will copy my
> outline below.  I am not sure how the formatting
> will come through, its organized as bullets in 
> my
> original.
>
> As items were identified, I wrote them on a 
> large
> pad of paper, and then those were placed on the
> wall around the room, so at breaks and during
> lunch people could wander around and at the end 
> of
> the day we were "surrounded" by the work.  When 
> I
> get those transcribed, they will be available 
> too.
> The notes I wrote below were my thoughts before
> the workshop started.  My opening presentation
> goes up to the section on "Water".
>
> So for "Water" for example, there is a page
> listing all the potential urban sources of 
> water,
> and a page about purification and one about
> rainwater harvesting (improvised structures to
> catch rainwater).
>
> I also invited people to bring "show and tell",
> and at various times during the day we did that.
> e.g., one person brought two solar ovens, some
> brought books, another told us about the "slow
> sand filter at the bottom of a swale, that fed a
> below-ground cistern", which was the water 
> system
> on the farm he grew up on.
>
> We decided to start a listserv for those who 
> came,
> to continue the conversation and make
> writing/editing the drafts easier.  We haven't 
> set
> the next session's date yet, probably it will be
> in late October.
>
> The Community, Mitigation, and Mutual Aid 
> sections
> will be the topics of the next session, as time
> was running out and we literally just breezed 
> over
> those.  I also think we were somewhat
> psychologically numbed by thinking in such 
> detail
> about the task.
>
> For example, to feed everyone in the OKC metro
> area an emergency ration of 2 lbs of flour/day 
> and
> 2 lbs of dried soybeans/week, means that every 
> day
> 2.9 million lbs of food has to enter the city 
> from
> the surrounding countryside.  This requires 58
> semi trucks hauling 50K lbs/day, or 6 trains per
> month -- or 11,680 bicycle carts hauling 250 lbs
> each.  If the bicycles and carts can have a 3 
> day
> turn-around, we would need to build 35,000 
> carts,
> and would need a total of 70,000 bicycles (35K 
> as
> the "tractors", and 35K to give up 2 wheels for
> the cart).  The journeys of these carts would
> range from 20 miles to 80 miles round trip, as
> Oklahoma City is ringed by large grain storage
> silos.  We also talked about the possibilities 
> of
> "rail bike trains", which would be bicycles 
> worked
> together so they could run on railroads, pulling
> larger loads, as all of these grain silos are on
> railroad tracks.  We decided if we were stuck 
> with
> the bicycle cart scenario (e.g. no fuel for 
> trains
> or trucks), that would be our best option.
>
> While this sounds overwhelming, when looked at 
> on
> the "village scale", it is much less so.  The 
> OKC
> metro area has 345 recognized neighborhoods, and
> each neighborhood would only need 102 bicycle 
> cart
> units, on average, to haul food for its average
> population of 3,000 or so.  In our discussions, 
> we
> see an organized devolution from the present
> regional-government to urban villages based on
> these pre-existing associational structures.
>
> Bob Waldrop
> www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org
>
>
> SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
>
> Perfect Storm
>
> Economic irrationality
>
> Peak Energy
>
> Climate instability
>
>
>
> How could this happen?
>
> Large weather disasters
>
> Economic meltdown
>
> Terrorist attacks
>
> EMP
>
> Climate disaster (long-term changes as opposed 
> to
> discrete weather disaster events like a 
> particular
> hurricane or tornado)
>
> Resource exhaustion (peak oil, peak energy in
> general)
>
>
>
> Our purpose is to decide what it would take for 
> an
> urban area like the OKC Metropolitan Statistical
> Area, with 1.1 million people in it, to survive 
> a
> sudden collapse of our food and energy systems.
>
> Worst case scenario (except for nuke explosion)
>
>
>
> No fossil fuels or other internal combustion
> available,
>
> No electricity, not from the grid, not from 
> small
> generators, not from batteries,
>
> total electronic telecommunication failure - no
> radio, no TV, no cable, no internet, no "any
> communications/media that require electricity"
>
> Complete collapse of the just-in-time inventory
> system,
>
> Closure of the banking system, no credit cards,
> checks can't clear, funds can't be withdrawn.
>
> Disappearance of the internet.
>
> Getting there the firstest with the mostest is
> critical to a positive response. Government 
> likely
> to be in disarray, big danger is
> toxic/authoritarian/scapegoating responses will
> emerge..
>
> Some people will relocate (to family or friends 
> in
> rural areas). This should be encouraged.
>
> Likely to be refugees also headed our way.
>
> WATER
>
>
>
> In the absence of grid-distributed power, OKC
> Water estimates they could supply 50% of the
> average daily domestic water consumption with
> small gasoline and diesel pumps. Unanswered
> question: how much fuel would be on hand for 
> these
> devices? What about water purification? Sewer
> system?.
>
> Rainwater harvesting
>
> Shallow wells
>
> Slow-sand filters
>
> Purification issues
>
>
>
> FOOD
>
> Without regular supply, the area would be out of
> food very quickly. (Note the experience of
> hurricane areas where people run out of food
> apparently almost immediately.)
>
> Go over food scenarios.
>
> Basic ration of 2 lbs flour/day and 2 lbs dry
> soybeans per week, for 1.1 million people, must 
> be
> hauled from grain elevators within 60 mile or so
> radius.
>
> biodiesel from cotton seed for diesel fuel for
> hauling food? (Cotton Seed Producers Oil Mill is
> close to downtown OKC.)
>
> Alcohol fuel for transportation?
>
> Bicycle carts capable of hauling 250 lbs each?
>
> Urban gardening
>
>
>
> Containers/gardens on pavement such as sidewalks
> and streets.
>
> Seed sources include:
>
> Seeds from vegetables in stores, like pumpkins,
> winter squash.
>
> Dried peas and beans.
>
> Potatoes, sweet potatoes
>
> Existing seed stocks
>
>
>
> Bring animals from rural areas into the city 
> with
> cattle/hog drives.
>
> Import lots of chickens from the rural areas.
>
> Every yard a garden.
>
> Plant public spaces like parks and street 
> medians.
>
> Container growing on sidewalks and streets
>
> Community kitchens and baking ovens
>
> Raising fish in barrels
>
> Compost humanure
>
> Collect urine for fertilizer.
>
> Aquaponics in solar sun porches
>
> Cold frames and other season extending devices.
>
> Other meat animals
>
> Goats
>
> Fish culture
>
> Guinea pigs
>
> Rabbits
>
>
> Why would farmers want to supply grain and beans
> to city populations?
>
> Avoid wholesale evacuation of cities into the
> countryside.
>
> Trade/barter
>
> Help in time of need
>
> SHELTER
>
> Combine households? The extended family, by 
> birth
> or adoption or convenience or necessity, will 
> make
> a big come-back.
>
> More hands will be needed for everything, plus
> building materials.
>
> On average, maybe 3 households link together as
> one.
>
> Each house needs:
>
> Water harvesting structures.
>
> Passive solar.
>
> Solar hot water.
>
> Greenhouse/season extending devices.
>
> ENERGY
>
> Big risk of deforestation, because wood is the
> easiest non-fossil-fuel fuel..
>
> Home methane generation from human waste for
> cooking gas.
>
> Alcohol fuel for transportation, maybe some
> biodiesel.
>
> Biodiesel is iffy because oils will be in great
> shortage and in demand for cooking, access 
> depends
> on where Cottonseed oil coop is in its annual
> production cycle when the crash occurs.
>
> Passive solar for winter heat.
>
> Extra insulation.
>
> If three households become one, scavenge 
> materials
> from two houses to retrofit one.
>
> Solar cooking
>
> Expedient but efficient wood stoves (e.g. the
> rocket stove)
>
>
>
> HUMAN WASTE AND TRASH DISPOSAL
>
> There is none in this scenario. Everything will
> have a use or be re-used/recycled on site or in
> neighborhoods, or sold through informal markets.
>
> MEDICAL CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
>
> Authorities will raise a big stink about
> composting humanure.
>
> Many medically fragile people will die quickly.
>
> Hospitals and nursing homes would have to be
> evacuated if/when their generators fail.
>
> New medical practices located in neighborhoods,
> nurses/midwives empowered..
>
> Epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder?
>
> Epidemic disease (water born diseases in
> particular will be a big problem).
>
> Addiction recovery issues?
>
> COMMUNITY
>
> Governance
>
> Neighborhood councils.
>
> Elected by all residents.
>
> Security
>
> Neighborhood patrols.
>
>
> Civil Society
>
> MITIGATION STRATEGIES
>
> Community organization
>
> Pre-planned strategies for collapse situations.
>
> Household preparations
>
> Super-insulation
>
> Insulated window shutters
>
> Slow sand filters
>
> Food storage
>
> Edible landscaping
>
> Grain grinder
>
> Wood stoves
>
> Solar hot water
>
> Passive solar
>
> Tools for production (alcohol stills, for 
> example)
>
>
> MUTUAL AID
>
> Info banks for research
>
> Pre-printed and pre-positioned literature in
> neighborhoods describing
> strategies/tactics/info/tools to meet the new
> situation.
>
> Get there the firstest with the mostest.
>
> No one needs the permission of the government to
> acquire food or supply other necessities..
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rafael Schouten" <talktoraf@hotmail.com>
> To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 10:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Pre-design for
> collapse
>
>
> > Hi Robert,
> >
> > the collapse workshop is a great idea, inspired
> > me to organise one in
> > melbourne in the next few weeks. Any ideas for
> > form, content etc? what worked?
> > cheers
> >
> > Rafael Schouten
> >
> >
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