While this is certainly a valuable mindset and I agree with it wholeheartedly, it does necessitate being in a somewhat privileged position in life. Sometimes it’s all we can do to make it through the day, pay our rent and bills, or keep a desperate hold of our shit jobs. Growing gardens, installing solar panels, or changing diets aren’t always at the top of the priority list when there are other more basic needs that are still unmet.
It also won’t solve the problems we have with the environment and such. Not even if everyone did this. Go nuts, don’t let me stop you, but more is needed.
As a disabled person and caregiver, I agree. I still do what I can but some days it is incredibly difficult to even do the bare minimum.
It’s hard not to get discouraged when my body betrays me, but for me I have to remember that my best will usually fall far below a non-disabled person’s best… And this is ok. (I’m still not completely convinced that it is ok but it’s what I tell myself.)
That’s what I’ve been trying to learn from 2023. It started with a lot of energy and ambition and the former ran out early in the year. Been trying to be patient with myself and realize the best can simply be getting to the next day.
The thing is that the people who can not do it, mostly live a very sustainable lifestyle anyway. Subsidence agriculture is basically organic and a lot of permaculture is just repackaging that for a Western audience. Diets are also fairly vegan as meat and other animal products tend to be expensive and if they are not they are usually raised at home.
The people who need to change as their lifestyle is unsustainable have the means of actually changing it to a fairly large degree. Maybe not solar or gardening, but going vegan is certainly possible and even for the two first there are usually ways of finding a workable solution.
Those are examples, not requirements. Do what you can. Anyone who judges you for not doing enough while you’re struggling to merely survive is a shit person.
If there are small changes you can make to live a more sustainable life, do them. If there’s nothing you can do, that’s okay too. And if you’re so weighed down by the struggle of mere existence that you don’t have the mental energy to think about ways to change - that’s okay too. We who have the privilege to act should act, and when we do, we carry the aspirations of those who wish they could act but can’t.
If I meant to criticize anyone by this post, it would be the people in wealth and privilege, who could change their lifestyle to be more sustainable - who could be an example to their friends and family and neighbors by living their values - but who choose not to, because they believe personal sustainability is irrelevant when political and corporate actions have so much more impact on the world.
I appreciate the sentiment here, but it is a little too individualistic. Time and time again, social movements have succeeded through mutual aid and solidarity. Just focusing on your own life is great, but you need to consider the fact that, ahem, we live in a society. Even if everyone in your community suddenly lived like you describe, there would still be the looming threats of climate change and biodiversity collapse, not to mention the exploitation of workers overseas (which very well may be producing the rare metals in your DIY solar panels).
I digress. Living a solarpunk life can take many forms. “The role of the revolutionist” is manifold. Its silly to suggest that a person’s life can be a model of an alternative, when we are so intertwined and connected with other human beings and environments. Direct action and organizing against state tyranny, fossil capitalism, environmental racism and other damaging systems is solarpunk. Especially if you are doing those things and still have time to grow a garden.
Again, going vegan is great. But just because you “assert your beliefs” at the dinner table doesn’t mean you are somehow doing revolutionary work. Movements have the power to change things, not individuals. Lets be real.
If you want to use more solar power but can't put up panels, get a power strip and a light timer and setit to be on from 8 AM to 4 PM and off otherwise and see what you can do with it. I use it to charge ebike batteries and I've found that if you don't ride every day it works well enough that I still always have a full charge when I ride
I had an ebike for a month and it cost almost nothing to recharge, so this would be a really good fit for home solar as you mention.
Miss that thing a lot, it made going out even for mundane things or just even exploring so fun. Now i’m back to my manual bicycle 😢 still fun but much more tiring lol
My apologies - it was a free one provided by my local government for a month. We previously had a docked ebike system, but it went bankrupt due to vandalism… The replacement system put in place was to give people the ebikes directly, which worked much better
I totally get the sentiment, but our individual effects are miniscule when compared to the devastation caused by a few wealthy elite.
Even if the entire world’s population went vegan overnight, that would still only reduce emissions by 10-15%.
Solar panel tech has exploded over the last 10 years, yet CO2 emissions and power consumption have grown faster still.
Considering this is very much a time sensitive issue, I’m beginning to believe that the most effective use of resources would be direct action against the fossil fuel industry and military industrial complex. Things such as monkey wrenching, blockades, and other more radical means of force.
Of course not everyone is willing to personally go and cause damage to physical assets of corporations, fearing arrest and punishment. But some people have very little to lose and are willing to put their personal safety on the line.
For the others with more to lose (families, etc…), they can still help by identifing targets, keeping watch, donating tools/equipment, and even providing funding for more action, bailouts, legal fees, etc.
There is a reason the word punk is used in SolarPunk.
I see a lot of comments that make it seem like the burden of the environment falls on you, which is crazy. There are things affecting the climate that absolutely and unfathomably dwarf what you as an individual contribute. Don’t get me wrong though, anyone trying to do their part is admirable in doing so, and it’d be nice if more people that are capable of doing so, tried to.
Add comment