This is my dream: To live as my forefathers once did - in harmony with the land that sustains us. A project to investigate and innovate the creation of a low impact home with methods of living in a form of permaculture designed to sustain my family and improve biodiversity. To leave the land richer than before and in doing so enable others to do so.
Archives
You are currently viewing archive for March 2008
Food for the whole year
Posted 30/03/08 by Matt B in the Questions category
How little can we eat well on?» Read More: Food for the whole year
How to live off grid with your own private grid
Posted 28/03/08 by Matt B in the Woodlands category
When considering the dream to live in harmony with nature, as part of the ecosystem, while maintaining a relatively modern lifestyle there are things that must be considered. Not everything from our wasteful way of life can be maintained and not every "green" innovation will be useful. For example to sustain a growing family as part of the biodiversity of the area one can not simply allow nature a free hand but neither can you.That is not to say that things should be unnatural but the land must be managed somewhat as must your resources. This is not so different from the way we imagine that Adam and Eve might once have lived. Effectively we are talking about being gardeners of our living home.
To do this and be independent means that resources can not be "piped in" from outside. This is going to mean living "off grid" while ensuring a reliable supply of energy that is not wasteful. It also means reconsidering the way we do things.
In this article I am going to explore this issue and the issues it raises.
» Read More: How to live off grid with your own private grid
Plastic is fantastic?
Posted 27/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
The BBC have a good article looking at the effect of rubbish washing up on a remote island and the impact man has had on the island over the years. "Diary from the middle of nowhere" is written by the BBC environment correspondent - David Shukman.From the site: "Plastic debris collects around the island, scene of a seminal World War II battle, with serious consequences for its wildlife."
Making waves
Posted 25/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
Often we do not consider the impact of global weather change as they might result locally. Often this is because we are too used to thinking of the "big picture" such that it can become abstract and distant. One brave Kent blogger took the opportunity to examine an incoming storm and consider the effects locally.In a post entitled "High tides Ramsgate surges and global warming" Ramsgate business man Michael Child examines the increase in higher than normal tides, their causes and the implications.
Furthermore he has a video of the dramatic waves the storm kicked up along the coast where he lives.
Green Search Updates
Posted 24/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
I have been been adding further sites to the green search engine. Sites added to the listings are given priority and the results are therefore improved significantly with ever good site added. I was particularly impressed with one find - Horticultural which is an "organic allotment and garden blog".I also found a blog of a person trying to be greener while becoming debt free and a site entitled "How To Be Green" both of which were added on finding them. The Google linklet really helps adding sites by simply surfing to them.
The result is that such searches as foraging and Wild Food are now starting to produce quality results.
Guest Writer
Posted 20/03/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category
Part of the Good Moral project (which itself is part of bigger project) is to provide brokerage for guest writers - that is the marrying up of guest writers and blogs. The Green Moral blog accepts and offers guest posts on all ecology, home growing and low impact living topics. Other topics might be good as well (it never hurts to to ask).read on to find out more.
» Read More: Guest Writer
10 Steps towards not drowning in stuff
Posted 15/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
I am rather assuming that you have seen Annie Leonard'sthe story of stuff (if not you might want to). One thing it does not give is any answers - it just raises the questions. Annie Leonard says that has no intention of offering 10 steps to involvement (as requested in the video below). However, I am.10 Things you can do to undo the damage.
(it's not what you think).
» Read More: 10 Steps towards not drowning in stuff
What has gone before
Posted 12/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
The hardest thing for me to decide with this blog was how I was going to reference the blogging I have already done on the subject. At first I thought I would import it but that seems a little pointless. So then I thought I could ignore it but I didn't like that idea much.Finally I settled on a compromise. A link: Here It Is. This is a link to my personal all subject blog and the green posts I made there.
Now I may republish the posts there or I may not. But at least they are available to you... sort of.
Where shall we have lunch?
Posted 08/03/08 by Matt B in the Urban category
One of life's great mysteries is "where shall we have lunch" but second to that is the question of "where can I be green in this urban world?"For me this is a massive issue. There are the ways I want to live and the things I want to do and they are at odds with the amount of space I have available and the resources that go with it. I don't even have a garden and so can not fool myself into thinking that "I'm green" because I grow a few lettuce.
Being green in an urban setting is the first step on the road to my dream.
Why is that? It is unlikely that I will go from flat dweller to forest dweller over night and even if I did I'd be so horribly unprepared that it might well be a failure. I need to develop my green skills now so that when opportunity arrives I can take it.
» Read More: Where shall we have lunch?
Why do we eat?
Posted 07/03/08 by Matt B in the Woodlands category
Why do we eat what we do? Have you ever wondered that? I have.I wonder about a large number of things. How could one live in harmony with both law and land or why could a food forest not be planted and what would it cost?
» Read More: Why do we eat?
What can I eat?
Posted 06/03/08 by Matt B in the Feeding Yourself category
One of the things that really interests me is the way in which we find food. It started to occur to me a few years ago that I knew so little about what was available as food that I did not even know what to buy at a supermarket. If it did not come in a tin I was not sure what to do with it.Having done my time as a bachelor I, of course, knew how to combine a couple in tins in any one of a million ways to get something interesting. I even knew how to do a few things with a frying pan. At push I could come up with some interesting and healthy sandwiches.
There is and must be, I reasoned, more to food than sandwiches, tins and fried food.
» Read More: What can I eat?
Reading List
Posted 04/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
I think it would be somewhat wrong of me to start out without sharing some of the sites that I respect and use. Those sites that I go back to again and again for further information. Blog's that I subscribe to and just generally providing a good set of resources of the greener life.The story of stuff - if you have not seen this site and the video on it then you have missed out! Get yourself over to the site right now and view that movie. It really is that good and more.
Story of stuff, blog - the blog by the creative force behind the video.
I am a geek. It's part of who I am. Due to my geeky nature I like things like the wikipedia and Google. I find Tipi's fascinating and have that page bookmarked so I can get back it regularly. Yurt's are probably more practical in the UK though.
Foraging for food is another topic I have a real drive for. As an idea I find it simply appeals to me on a deep level. I freely admit that I know far too little about it but that does not stop me wanting to read about it. naturali.co.uk has some good content on this topic as do pfaf.org, wildmanwildfood.com and lowimpact.org.
» Read More: Reading List
Green Search
Posted 03/03/08 by Matt B in the Online category
A search engine for all things green and ecologically minded. Based on Google's search technology yet customised especially for this topic.
Please be nice
Posted 03/03/08 by Matt B in the Green Moral category
Before things get underway here I'd like to state my position on personal attacks and strong opinions. It is vital that as people that engage in freedom of speech that we do not abuse this.Attack the opinion but not the person. When you disagree with what someone has said be sure to say "I do not agree and this is why..." rather than "you are clearly an over ripe fart if you think that". This helps us thrash out the issues without thrashing each other.
» Read More: Please be nice
Replace Toilet Roll?
Posted 02/03/08 by Matt B in the Questions category
How can we stop flushing paper down the toilet?» Read More: Replace Toilet Roll?
About: Green Moral
Posted 01/03/08 by Matt B in the Green Moral category
Green Moral, while being a new project, is the continuation of a passion. It is written by Matt B who has been known to use the rather less serious online nick-name of "Lord Matt" (it's a long joke and by now not especially funny). The blog, as can be guessed from the title aims to cover issues relating to our living world. It is part of the Good Moral, blog network and accepts and offers guest posting opportunities.This is what Matt has to say about the site:
I have something of a dream and a few years ago set out to solve each problem that stood between myself and that dream. I have not solved all of these issues but in the process of examining them I have learned more about a culture I did not know even existed. A culture in Britain (and in the US) with much the same dream.
I was not alone!
My dream is to live in a woodland area in harmony with my surroundings, requiring little or no outside support while still engaging in business activities more often seen in big offices and high tech situations. I am a programmer and data systems analyst. Along the way I have picked up knowledge and skills relating to "new media marketing" which engages with home-brew media (blogging, podcasts, etc) and the market in a personal and open two way conversation.
» Read More: About: Green Moral
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