I'm always looking for things to add to my RSS reader! I loved the Hundred Rabbits site that was posted here recently and thought others might have some nice submissions.

I recently found Sunshine and Seedlings which is substack, alas, but has some great content.

I'm also a fan of Low-tech Magazine.

First of all, detergent pods are for dummies who cannot measure the right amount of detergent for a job and those who don’t know that water hardness is a factor. They are for convenience zombies who cannot be bothered to think. So from the very start, pods are not for solarpunks.

Someone told me they had a problem with their dishwasher because undisolved gelatin sacs were gumming up their drain. The linked article goes into clogs. This article (if you can get past the enshitification) says there is research on an environmental impact by pod sacks. So that’s also antithetical to solarpunkness.

So do it right. Fuck pods. They cost more anyway. Buy powdered detergent if you have soft water (or if your dishwasher has a built-in water softener) and use less (to avoid etching). If you have hard water, either use liquid detergent or just use a bigger dose of powder.

The article is of course about the US situation, where the small scale and one-off nature of passive houses may be increasing costs.

Access options:

• gift link - registration required
• archive.today

I gotta say that I feel weird reading this examination of Octavia Butler's notes.

I'm reading Parable of the Talents right now, and I had to stop. It's gotten too fucking dark. It's about the fascist takeover of America by Christian Nationalists, and a major character just died, and there is sexual exploitation of children... I really like Butler and Parable of the Sower, but this just got so dark I decided to read the summary and find out if I wanted to read more, and I don't think I can read this, at least not right now.

Reading about the unpublished sequels feels even worse. It seems like Butler had a head full of so much darkness and cynicism, and her published works were just the processed output after she managed to find the least brutal version of her thoughts. These books were her at her most hopeful! YIKES.

I like her and these books, but I just had to vent about some of this.

Wasn't quite sure where to ask the question in the title, or if this is even the right question to ask, but figured a Solarpunk community would be most likely to have the answers I'm looking for...

My reasoning is we are facing some global problems here, you know with all the climate change and whatnot; So we need global solutions for them; Therefore the obvious solution seems to be the United Nations 2.0, or League of Nations 3.0 if you will. Basically a global constitutional assembly, hopefully before it all devolves into total war again this time, or worse.

So I want to read up on what thought or maybe even activism there is out there specifically in this regard. Anything to read, recent or historic, you can recommend?

Any thoughts you want to share? Why can or can't this work? Am I being to naive here? Explain it Like I am 5 please!

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/14202920

> There was a post on Reddit that praised the ubiquitous "Dear Alice" commercial, and inevitably a comment criticizing praise for a commercial. This led to me to wonder more about who it was that made this famous solarpunk advertisement. The answer is an animation studio called The Line. I went looking at some of their other work, and came across this interesting demo short for what appears to be a proof of concept or pilot for a solarpunky animated monster hunting series. > > I don't love the heavy use of guns. But setting that aside, I think the art is interesting. I'm fascinated to see what people are doing with the artistic and conceptual toolset solarpunk offers, and I think this is a use case that I wouldn't mind seeing more of. > > Unfortunately, this demo is as far as the project went. But I'm happy to see that the folks at The Line appear to have some broader interest in solarpunk, and I hope they keep putting it into practice in unique ways.

About 23,500 of the 1.5 million customers that lost power in western North Carolina still lacked electricity on Sunday, according to Poweroutage.us. Without it, they can’t keep medicines cold or power medical equipment or pump well water. They can’t recharge their phones or apply for federal disaster aid.

The Footprint Project is scaling up its response to this disaster with sustainable mobile infrastructure. It has deployed dozens of larger solar microgrids, solar generators and machines that can pull water from the air to 33 sites so far, along with dozens of smaller portable batteries.

With donations from solar equipment and installation companies as well as equipment purchased through donated funds, the nonprofit is sourcing hundreds more small batteries and dozens of other larger systems and even industrial-scale solar generators known as “Dragon Wings.”

I found this the other day, while I was paddling with a green kayak. I would not say it is solarpunk, but I think it could lead us to the right direction

What is the Economy for the Common Good?

ECG is an economic model, which makes the Common Good, a good life for everyone on a healthy planet, its primary goal and purpose.

At the heart of this concept lies the idea that values-driven businesses are mindful of and committed to:

• Human Dignity
• Solidarity and Social Justice
• Environmental Sustainability
• Transparency and Co-Determination

Such businesses gain a competitive advantage in this new economy.

The good thing about this "new economy" is that it is compatible with capitalism in such that you can start with your current company, but make an extra Matrix, which can then be used by other companies.

It is already in use and not an inaccessible theoretical idea, which might never work.

Every Sunday this Discord of solarpunks has discussions, which are often thoughtful and interesting. We are about to start a new book, Solarpunk Creatures. Now is the perfect time to join us.

Sharing this here, because tumblr and reddit have login-walls and I don't want this gem to get lost.

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Hi all!

We’re a fledgling movement with a handful of members in Africa and then me who is currently in Sweden. We have some plans for various projects in Africa that align well with the overall ideas of the solarpunk movement. I’m here hoping to make new friends and learn about what everybody else is doing. I believe that change is possible on a global scale, and that the hegemony of the mainstream, greed fueled, centralized status quo can be challenged most effectively by a global movement of decentralized, grassroots communities working together.

I got a little inspired by the solar powered EDC post and it made me think about my computing setup. I use a modern smartphone and a higher-end desktop that is almost always on. I also have an e-reader and some ear buds. I often charge the smaller devices with a power bank. It would be interesting to see if I could move my computing from my desktop to a (preferably second hand) laptop and find a means of charging all of these devices without using the electricity from the utility company.

I already have a small 250W solar array on top of my garage with three golf cart batteries. It runs some lights and occasionally charges devices via USB on the controller. The issue is that it is a bit of a hassle to use due to the garage not being well sealed or climate controlled. It's dusty and there's grease and other things from my mechanical projects and it's always very hot or cold depending on the time of year.

The perplexing part of this for me is charging laptops. Inverters are wildly inefficient but I'm not sure of a way to sufficiently charge (or power) a laptop without one. What are some solutions here?

Additionally, what are some solutions for a potentially portable (or luggable, I guess) setup for these devices? Build a battery box myself and keep it charged on the garage array? Pick up one of those larger "solar generator" pre-made battery boxes that are so popular on the big eCommerce sites now? What about small panels I could put in a window or take outside?

I know the energy used by these devices is far less than things like my fridge/HVAC/laundry machines but it's an interesting rabbit hole for me. Sorry if this has been posted already but I scrolled through a couple of pages and didn't see a similar question.

Thanks!

Edit: Please watch the video before commenting or reporting this... it seems like a lot of people assume it is some right-wing BS based on the title alone, which I can assure you it very much isn't.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20625279

> From the description: > > "I'm Andres Acevedo and this is The Market Exit. During the migration crisis of 2015, the small country of Sweden admitted a very large number of refugees. What effects did this surge of migrants to Swedish have on the Swedish economy? To find out, I met professor Peo Hansen, author of the book "A Modern Migration Theory" and from our conversation, I realized that many of the economic models we use for assessing our economy and society are deeply flawed. > > In the conversation, we talk about the field of research called the fiscal impact of migration. We talk about the difference between real resources and financial resources. We talk about the so-called brain drain within the European Union. We talk about why politicians are so afraid of speaking the truth about migration."

Hope this fits here.

It's not much in the grand scheme, but all of my everyday carry electronics are all solar charged.

Left to right: Cat S22 Flip smartphone, Bluetooth earbuds, rechargable pen light/laser pointer/black light/dog toy, and my Kobo e-reader.

They're mostly charged / topped up overnight from my 12W / 8000 mAh solar battery bank. I just throw it outside or in a window during the day and plug a USB hub into it to charge my devices overnight. My phone will usually go 2-3 days on a charge, but I've also got a 6W panel I stick in the window if it needs a little battery boost during the day. I also top off other things from the 6W panel, but those aren't exclusively solar like my EDC stuff.

Thought I was going to have to cheat a week or so ago. It was rainy and cloudy for nearly 2 weeks, and the solar battery bank was struggling to stay above 50%, but the clouds finally broke and my solar bank was able to fully recharge with a few hours of sunlight to spare.

Like I said, it's not much, but these have only ever been charged from solar**, and I think that's pretty cool.

** Except the bit of charge my phone and e-reader got from my laptop when I had it plugged into USB to flash firmware and add files.

My solar battery bank. (Not the best design with an integrated, non-removable battery, but has worked well enough)

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I know very little about in-depth electrical work so I would definitely need professional electrician assistance, but I am looking for a sort of "how to disconnect from the power company" and go full solar? I understand that it's becoming much less expensive to purchase and maintain, and I would like to free myself from $300/month electrical payments on my residence.

If it helps, I live in the mideast USA.

Any help is really appreciated! :)

Accompanying article [fr] https://bonpote.com/la-carte-des-pensees-ecologiques/

Sorry this is in French but I think many movements have a similar enough name that English speakers will understand what "écosocialisme" or "écologies anti-industrielles" means. A note though: "libertaire" is not "libertarian" it is closer to "liberal" with a stronger left-wing bias.

I found it interesting because while they mention that it is extremely hard to make such a map and that it has tons of very debatable links and placement, I still see solarpunks being all over the left 2/3 of the map.

I've only seen a couple reviews on it, not the piece itself, but my general impression is 1) diabetes-inducing adorable, 2) probably as anticapitalist a message as we're gonna get from a capitalism factory.

I'm sure similar things have been shared here before because I saw this and thought it was possibly the most solar punk thing possible.

A 3D printer that:

• Is solar powered
• Is open source
• Can be run using FOSS
• Can use recycled plastic as its material
• Can print most of its own parts, including the solar panel components

>A fixation on system change alone opens the door to a kind of cynical self-absolution that divorces personal commitment from political belief. This is its own kind of false consciousness, one that threatens to create a cheapened climate politics incommensurate with this urgent moment.

[...]

>Because here’s the thing: When you choose to eat less meat or take the bus instead of driving or have fewer children, you are making a statement that your actions matter, that it’s not too late to avert climate catastrophe, that you have power. To take a measure of personal responsibility for climate change doesn’t have to distract from your political activism—if anything, it amplifies it.

Wondering if anyone’s been to solar punk summit. If you have, what was your experience ? Do you think it’s worth the money to attend?

Liebe Solarpunks aus DACH (Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz),

ich überlege gerade, ob es sinnvoll sein könnte, hier auf Lemmy eine deutschsprachige Solarpunk Community einzurichten.

Mögliche Themen und Ziele:

• deutschsprachige Ressourcen austauschen
• auf Veranstaltungen aufmerksam machen
• evtl. lokale Communities finden/gründen
• Menschen erreichen, die nicht supersicher im Englischen sind
• die Bewegung in DACH größer und bekannter machen.

Hättet ihr Lust auf sowas?

>With every solution, and even in the title of this newsletter itself, I emphasize the number one thing individuals can do that most of us are still not doing: talk about it! Use your voice to explain why climate change matters and to advocate for climate action.

> A new Tailor joins a community which has lacked one for years. In a world of distributed manufacturing tailors are no longer just artisans, but educators, material and sustainability experts, fashion designers and translators of cultures, making sure no garment offends others when traveling. Seeing that they’re much less traditional than their predecessor, will they be accepted by the community? Which bold statement surprised everybody?

Recorded by Tomasino, with the CC-BY-SA 4.0 art from The Lemonaut!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/27579423

Communities are clustered by common users. I am also part of jlai.lu, a french-speaking instance, that is pretty isolated, while slrpnk.net is very spread out. I find it an interesting view.

> This is my first try at creating a map of lemmy. I based it on the overlap of commentors that visited certain communities. > > I only used communities that were on the top 35 active instances for the past month and limited the comments to go back to a maximum of August 1 2024 (sometimes shorter if I got an invalid response.) > > I scaled it so it was based on percentage of comments made by a commentor in that community. > > Here is the code for the crawler and data that was used to make the map: > > https://codeberg.org/danterious/Lemmy_map

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13156086

> Parable of the Sower is such a good book. > >First, it's interesting that it starts right about now. The book starts in mid-2024, and even mentions that its an election year. That was a fascinating experience to read a scifi book in the moment in time in which it is set. It still feels like it takes place about 20 years in the future. It was written 31 years ago, so politically things have seemed to move as many steps forward as backward. It seems like a lot of things have not gotten better and worse than when Butler wrote it, so in some sense I feel like I'm looking at it as a near future in the same way as when it was written a generation ago. I guess I'm glad things didn't go as badly as in the story, but it's rough that the looming threat from 30 years ago feels the same distance away now as then. > >Second, it's painful to read. Although the events described in the book haven't happened in the book's setting -- California -- the social collapse and migrations described have happened in Honduras, Gaza, Yemen, and certainly others I'm not aware of. It was really hard to read that and know that it was already real somewhere. > >Third, as a solarpunk novel -- and really as general fiction -- it feels like it should be part of a high school curriculum. It's really well written and an engrossing read. Since publishing Fully Automated, I often relate solarpunk stories to that game. What might I have added to the game if I'd read this before? How well does it naturally fit? One thing that struck me is that her emerging in-world faith -- Earthseed -- reminds me quite a bit of elements of Seekerism, a new faith tradition in Fully Automated. I wish I'd known and included direct references to Earthseed, but it's nice when the game has alignment with great works that I wasn't directly familiar with. > > Has anyone else read this? What do you folks think?