Sunday Sol Set

As mentioned previously, I've been wanting to bring together some solarpunk links somehow, so I figured I'd just start out and see what happens. Right now, every time I wake up, it feels there is some sort of layer-on-layer parallax-scrolling-style weight of doom running past the window. Everyone seems to be waiting for the world to either sort itself out, or end us in the next few years. And honestly, I gave up that sort of pessimism years ago, back when I realised that if you look into the abyss, you'll end up there in pretty short time.

So let's turn this around and get on with whatever the fyck needs doing. We live in a time of massive change and upheaval, and if this isn't a solarpunk opportunity handed to us on a plate, then what is? And on a yang-pagan-christian-ritual note, Easter Sunday just felt like a perfect day to bring new energy into the world. Take your symbols seriously.

Some quick house rules: Format may change drastically in future. Timing may be weekly, fortnightly or monthly, TBD. Feedback and chatter welcome! - scroll down for contact deets, but I also get final say over what links make it in. Subscribe via RSS or email on the original blogger page, but a proper newsletter might turn up one day.

As this is a first, experimental, effort, the links below are a mix of my own bookmarks, things which have inspired me, and posts on Twitter and Reddit which piqued my curiosity.

Otherwise, enjoy...

Updates

• #gov: UK Government Digital Service looking at how to help gov sites reduce carbon emissions through simpler webpages. “We should all be asking ourselves could we use and waste less,” she said.
• #scale: World's largest floating solar farm in China

 

Ideas

• #change: Self-sufficiency Defies Common Sense - looking at reactions to self-sufficiency via article comments.
• #emptytech: A Mindful Approach to Technology - an old article, but there you go. Decide what you want to do first, then find the tools to do it. Use a dumb notebook to avoid using a smart phone.
• #change: Why Bodhisattvas Need to Disrupt the Status Quo. "We are so used to systems of oppression that we have forgotten how to live in a way that is not separate."

 

Sol food

• #music: H Takahashi - Sonne und Wasser. "Tokyo-based artist H.Takahashi links [sun and water] these two essential elements for plant growth across four extended works of pulse minimalism."
• #stories: And lately, the sun accepting short story submissions for a future anthology, deadline 30th June 2020.
• #art: Riitta Päiväläinen - River Notes:

Research

• #trees: The BBC looks into the realities of mass tree planting
• #homegrid: Wired: The Power Plant of the Future Is Right in Your Home
• #battery: Research into an "all-organic proton battery that can be charged in a matter of seconds using a solar cell"

 

Resources

• #books: Retrosuburbia: Downshifter's Guide to a Resilient Future via solarpunks.net - hard copy available to buy, online copy pay-what-you-feel. UK hard copy store

 

Get in touch

For any feedback, suggestions, comments, or general 'hi there' type stuff, leave a comment, or you can find me hanging out in any of these places:

• Mastodon: @scribe@mastodon.sdf.org
• Gnu/social: @6gain@loadaverage.org
• Twitter: @6loss
• XMPP: 6gain@xmpp.zone

More options, including email are over at my contact page.

Fun fact: This post should auto-publish the minute the sun comes up over my home town.