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.

Bankless?

Posted 12/10/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

With banks teetering on the brink of collapse can one live without a bank account?

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The first little piggy

Posted 08/10/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

Over 700,000 just like me are priced out of traditional home ownership but for just £300 or less a home could be built from straw and a few other readily available materials.

It's not that hard. It is well documented. It is cost effective.

Honestly, what is the problem (other than narrow minded building and land rules)? Oh right that is the problem.

Sigh.

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I dream all the time

Posted 07/10/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

When it comes to calling somewhere home were it just me these days I would have moved heaven and earth to get me licensed and owning a bus I could make into a home. Then I would live where I damn well chose.

I have three children and a wife and this is simply never going to happen. not at all. Forget it.

So aside from dreaming about that I am slowly planning towards a more refined and contributory (to society) lifestyle that is nevertheless alternative. It would be fair to say that every day, if only for a few moments I pine for a life close to trees and earth and nature. Yet I am not "a hippie" but a tech-head - that is an IT guy with every reason to dream about highly air conditioned mansions with lots of cool (if environmentally unsound) equipment.

I do find that all very tempting but some fundamental part of me cries out to live closer to the land. I don't mean that I fancy it a bit I mean that I literally feel like crying because I desire this life so much.

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Effective Positive Personal Environmental Impact

Posted 22/09/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

When we talk of effective positive personal environmental impact we are talking about the change and improvement to state of our environment that we are able to make. In this article I look at how we can have an effective positive personal impact on the environment through the choices we make. Is recycling lemonade bottles enough or is there more we can do? Can we indeed ever do enough?

It is not easy to have a truly effective positive personal environmental impact. We could easily allow ourselves to think that by recycling the newspaper, using energy saving light bulbs and taking a shower rather than a bath we can save the planet. This is simply not true and as an assumption it could prove as dangerous as any other of the threats the environment faces.

Let us assume that you reuse, repair and recycle amazingly what difference have you actually made to your environment if any? As a green minded individual this question gives me a lot of pause for thought. So I feel the need to ask - how can I make a real difference?

» Read More: Effective Positive Personal Environmental Impact

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Pause.

Posted 13/09/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

I have recently received some bad news. I do not know how well I will be able to maintain this or any other of my blogs for the next few months. I apologise now.

I was going to discuss these two news items but I no longer have the strength to cope.

Earthworms to aid soil clean-up and Compact and bijou - the slums of tomorrow?

Please feel free to talk among yourselves. The comments are still open.

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This is Matt

Posted 06/08/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

This is Matt
This is me! It is the image I trot out most often when I want an image of myself to show on the web. It was taken on my wedding day which is not so long into the past. It is the only time I have warn a top hat mainly because I do not own one and they are expensive.

I like hats.

I also like being self sufficient. Which is why I created this blog. I'm still finding my feet with this blog and so please feel free to offer suggestions.

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The clock is running down for life on this planet

Posted 21/07/08 by Matt B in the Unspecified category

According to the Green New Deal Group, humanity only has 100 months to prevent dangerous global warming.


That amounts to less than 8 and a half years. Not the tens we usually like to think we have. 8.5 years till the timer runs out.

Ouch.

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