April 25th, 2008 at 8:21 am

I am back in the United States, having left Bolivia almost a week and half ago. There are many things in the Bolivian sphere I could comment on, but I am reluctant to do so.

In short, I will comment on a few observations. Any hope that people might have had of Evo Morales as a unifying figure has been crushed by his polemical nature and a total lack of vision. I think one interesting thing to note is his constant assertion of the growing government treasury. Supposedly, the Bolivian government has amassed more resources in a single year then previous government's were able to do in nine. And as the treasury amasses more and more wealth, small businesses find themselves with their backs to the wall, households are crushed by inflation, and big industry and big government make war on one another over export policy, land distribution, and legal technicalities.

Take note: the biggest supporters of Evo Morales are those that do not pay taxes. I met a mechanic from Cochabamba with a very successful auto repair shop in Santa Cruz. I watched him harangue for almost 30 minutes against the opposition to Evo Morales, justifying all of the President's actions and heaping all of the blame on the opposition in the so called "Media Luna". Several days later I learned that his auto shop is cleverly setup so that he keeps all of his business transactions within the tax-free sphere of the black market. Now, I am not really arguing for or against the Morales government here; but, I do think El Presidente's vocal advocates should put their money where their mouth is, and pay their taxes. I wonder if he would be such an enthusiastic supporter if he had to pay the 15% Value Added Tax, or the crushing no-holds barred 25% capital gains tax?

Regardless of my opinions, Bolivia will continue to muddle along, crippled by a culture of corruption, confrontation and self-interest more than anything else.

But, now that I am back in the United States, I am gardening again. I've got a decent budget and big plans this year, so stay tuned. I am running some tests on the soil right now. The results aren't good, but the company I am working with has a great sense of what needs to be done to build good soil, so I am pumped up. More to come...

April 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am

Water, as we all know, is critical to almost all forms of life. Previously, I noted what my life was like in rural Bolivia, where there was no potable water system, and the community where I lived, myself included, was forced to get all of its water from a nearby irrigation canal. Water itself is critical to life, and for human beings potable water is critical to a healthy and dignified life.

Around the world, there exist cultural systems for the acquisition and use of water. It is certainly the case that many of these systems do not provide clean water to their communities, but nonetheless they enable us to access the vital liquid that is critical for our survival as a species. When these systems start to break down, things get ugly.

These last few weeks, I have realized how fragile our existence truly is. SEMAPA, the municipal water division for the city of Cochabamba Bolivia, has been busily replacing the asbestos water pipes buried in the street in front of our house. As can be noted in the photo above, the street was ripped open, and has remained that way for several weeks.  As an aside, upon removing the asbestos pipes from the ground, they are left to deteroriate in the street, right in front of a local school, I might add. 

First, they ripped the street up. Then, the water in our pipes was turbid and dirty, so our landlord starting pumping from a small well in our apartment compound. The well water lasted for a few days, but when the well dried we realized that SEMAPA, without prior notice, had cut off our supply to the municipal system. By then, the four families in our complex were out of water, all we had left was what we were able to store in barrels and buckets in our homes.

An abrupt and unexpected interruption of the water supply sends a jolt through an entire household. Children become more vulnerable to sickness and dehydration, personal and household hygiene takes an immediate hit, and desperation sets in fairly quickly, sometimes within a matter of hours.

One of the first things I noticed was the complete ineffectiveness of our traditional, flush toilet. It is an absolute monster consumer when it comes to water; the simple act of urinating requires enough drinking water, at the very least, to quench our thirst for several days. As we tried to conserve and limit our flushing, a hideous odor began to emanate from the bathroom. I quickly realized that the flush toilet is an archaic and anachronistic technology, from an age when water was still abundant and cheap. It may seem absurd, but it is not far fetched to believe that the flush toilet, in its current form, will no longer exist 30 or 40 years from now.

After our first 36 hours or so without water, the taps began to flow again, and at 5:30 in the morning our entire apartment complex came to life: buckets being filled, dishes and bodies being washed, dirty clothes being soaked, and the sound of kettles whistling for morning tea or coffee. Most of us were not prepared to last much longer than 36 hours; in our own household, there was already talk of temporarily staying in a hotel, or bringing buckets of water to the house from a neighbor several blocks away.

After reconnecting our block to the water supply, sadly and predictably, SEMAPA left the gaping hole in the street wide open to the elements. Already, a car had fallen in several days before. Two days ago, I woke to the sound of gushing water. I looked out the window, and sure enough, the water main had busted, and the entire trench and street were filled with muddy water. Once again, our water supply was cut off, once again the SEMAPA workers came to fix it, and once again they left a gaping hole in the street.

As I write this, several SEMAPA workers are milling around in the street a block away, where there is another gaping trench in the asphalt. Mind you, this is two, almost three weeks since the street was first cut and dug. It is true, Bechtel's water price hikes that led to the now famous Water War of April 2000 were a provocative and perhaps unconscionable act; equally so is SEMAPA's utter lack of regard for efficiency and human dignity in their management of the city's water supply. It may well be that  privatization was not the answer to Cochabamba's worsening water crisis, but events over the last few weeks have left me disillusioned with public management as well. The rock and hard place seem to be squeezing closer together, with the average citizen stuck impotently between the two.

In Part I of My Life Without Water, I noted that traditional systems, though often times substandard, allow for the acquisition of water in communities throughout the world. Though I lived in a community without potable water, these traditional systems are what kept us alive. In Part II, I have given a personal glimpse of what life looks like, even for the briefest period of time, when these systems start to break down. In our case, we hope that the break down, a result of inefficient water management, will only be temporary. In other cases, those of deforestation, climate change, desertification, population growth, etc., the break down may not be so temporary, and the consequences much more drastic.

I hope I will never have to write Part III of My Life Without Water, because naturally and logically, it would detail a complete and total break down of my means for acquiring water. But, I am quite sure that as I write this, and as you are reading this, somebody is already experiencing Part III of this story, and many more people the world over are on the verge of their own version of Part III.

April 7th, 2008 at 5:56 am

 
Welcome to the 122nd Carnival of the Green. Last week's Carnival was hosted at Conserve Plastic Bags, and now, here we are at Agroblogger. After reading through the submissions, I became aware that so much of what is addressed by the green movement is our relationship to the material world. Considering environmentalism is an attempt for humans to come to grip with our material environment, then this is not surprising. So it seems that the current paradigm emphasizes green economics, which became clear to me while reading the carnival submissions. And naturally, some green ideas are more thoughtful, elegant, and innovative than others. Still, this 122nd COG has a little something for everyone, so have a read, and I hope you have as much fun perusing through it as I did putting it together.

Let's start with the really cool, interesting, and impactful submissions. First, there is a submission by Jetson Green, showing off the first mid-rise container building, which is planned for downtown Salt Lake City. I am a huge fan of container buildings, not only because they have some pretty interesting environmental characteristics, but also because they hold much promise to be a viable business model, considering that containers are fairly cheap and abundant.

Next is Green Me's submission that asks the question "Living Local: What does it really mean?" The answer, for Green Me, is a nuanced and personal account of her family's experience with everything from the local CSA to Craigslist and nearby honey producers. Green Me concludes by saying: "In life, it is the small things that count and the experiences that add up to a lifetime." Amen.

Also, a submission that I am partial to, is this one entitled The Big "O", the "O" here is for organic. The author gives a brief introduction to organic gardening, why it is important, and gives some tips on how to get started. I hope this inspires at least one person to start a garden this summer, now is the perfect time. As I've said before, a garden is everything that war is not.

Then there is a submission from fellow New Mexican blogger EcoNewMexico. In it, the writer reviews the book Bringing Nature Home, which is a case for replacing exotic species in the yard with natives. As a firm advocate for native biodiversity, and particularly agrobiodiversity, I can certainly appreciate the importance of the author's message. I like the emphasis on a wide range of species, things that we don't normally think about but are absolutely critical to healthy ecosystem function, like native grasses and insects.

Moving along in the line-up, we have a submission by the Greener Pastures blog on Planet Overload. A familiar theme for most of the environmentally conscious, with some interesting and controversial future scenarios. And, I can't say I agree with the conclusions of the author. GMOs becoming the norm? Nanotechnology for water purification? Nanotechnology, when it breaks down in the environment, has the potential to form dust particles so tiny that they can pass through the protective membrane of mammalian skin. For a personal take on the water crisis, see the post directly below this one.

Next up is a series of submissions about recycling and reusing: a messenger bag made from recycled plastic bags, a blog post with examples of turning trash into art (I especially like the dress made out of umbrellas), and a post at Eco Joe's with a brief summary of websites for reusing and recycling.

 
The Go Green Travel Green blog has a submission on 16 Green Travel Quizzes. If you are a world travelling, environmentally conscious, quiz taker type, then go check this out, because it is right up your alley. Also, along the lines of travel, Al Tepper's submission has made me realize that even walking has taken a move towards the high-tech and ecologically savvy commuter. According to the Natural Collection blog, Walk-It is a UK-based site that "shows you the A to B mapped route to walk along with likely journey times at various average walking speeds and the calories you are likely to burn." Wow, makes walking sound complex, but if you are a London Tube traveler who loves to walk, then this site is probably for you.

Lifegoggles made several submissions. First is the Great Green Giveaway, which purports to be "the biggest eco competition seen on the web yet". Next up is the Fun Green Round Up, which I suppose is fun enough, but I didn't notice much about it that is green. The utensil pen caps are just a drag; and what environmentalist throws a shirt away because of a stain? Finally, is the Eco-Me Home Cleaning Kit, which I think isn't a bad idea...the thought of putting harsh chemicals into gray water systems has kept me up late at night several times, so anything that sheds some light on how to solve this problem is welcome.

And, let's not forget the Agroinnovations Podcast, on the verge of breaking out into a new series of great shows on sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. If resource management, sustainable agriculture, and appropriate technology are your thing, then this podcast is for you.

Lastly is a submission on McDonald's Eco-Friendly Happy Meals. Reading the article I learned that McDonald's has a Corporate Sustainability Blog. Is that, How to Sustain McDonald's Corporate profits? Sorry, but I find word combinations like ecofriendly, sustainability, and McDonald's to an oxymoron. Seems like a classic case of green washing to me.

Thanks to Kara DiCamillo for her tireless work week in and week out on the Carnival of the Green. If you would like to know more about how to get involved, or sign up, then visit the Treehugger Carnival of the Green home page. Next week, the Carnival will be hosted by Nature Moms.

April 4th, 2008 at 7:06 am

From the years 2000 to 2003 I lived in a small Bolivian village that had no potable water. Though there was no water in taps, we did have the irrigation canal (pictured above), that made life possible and bearable. Living without indoor plumbing is a challenge, but it is possible, and millions of families around the world do it every day.

Naturally, hygiene is the first victim of a life without potable water. But, personal hygiene is less the victim than household hygiene. Washing dishes becomes a major chore, and your kitchen never feels quite clean. Water acquisition and use revolves around barrels and buckets instead of taps, as it is the custom to fill empty barrels with water and move it from one place to the next in a bucket.

Living without water changes your mentality about it; you learn not to take simple things for granted, like when you open the tap that water will come out. Water-borne parasites become a part of every day life, and children in particular suffer from diarrhea and dehydration, probably one of the biggest child killers in the world, right up there with HIV and malaria.

But, what made life bearable without plumbing was that there was already a local system in place for assuring daily access. These systems exist around the world, whether they involve walking for 2 hours a day to bring water to your home in buckets, or turning your tap and washing your hands, they are established and mostly effective. When these systems start to break down, because of population growth, climate change, deforestation, drought, or poor management, then the rules of the game change, and we are faced with two alternatives: quick and massive action, or conflict and violence.

The fact is, without water, people die, we shrivel up in a dirty and dehydrated mass, and we die. So predictions about the next World War may not be too far from the mark.

March 7th, 2008 at 7:25 am

We all know the word, and we all seem to have a sense that we live in a technocractic society, but I am not sure how well aware we are of how this translates into our reality, or why it is quite possibly destroying us.

This is not a harangue against technology itself. Technocracy and technology are two separate phenomenon, the one being an outcome of human nature itself, and the other a result of the particular and peculiar social and economic institutions that we have constructed.

But, technocracy to me is the utter detachment of planners and engineers from the systems in which they seek to intervene. And tecnhnocracy is alive and well in the Third World, folks. It amazes me how a room full of 11 consultants can develop a business plan for a group of small-holder farmers who live 11 hours away from, and are not represented in, said meeting. And it amazes me further how this business plan is designed to protect a forest that the vast majority of the consultants have never seen or touched.

If the decentralized revolution we seek to undertake is to have any hope of succeeding, then technocracy must slowly be starved of oxygen. Empowerment means that technocrats must, from time to time, leave their offices to tend to the garden, to touch the soil, to turn wrenches, and to fix things and watch them grow. And, not in isolation from the interventions they implement, but side by side with them, hand in hand with the folks whom they purport to be helping. Empowerment means slowing down, stopping, observing, listening, and reflecting. Empowerment is the slow, cultural death of technocracy.

I don't know if the revolution will be swift and sure enough to arrest the current crisis. I don't know if it will come soon enough to prevent a downward spiral into war and genocide.