FROM PAST TO PRESENT

A long time ago, in 1973, I went to Wales with my husband and a baby of a year old. We went with great intentions to become self sufficient and run a small holding that would provide all our needs. We had an outside earth loo, no phone, television or washing machine (we'd have drained our well), no freezer, and dishwashers were unheard of in our world. Our Rayburn was fired with peele mel (a by product of anthricite) and we had a wood burner created from an old bread oven - utilizing old wood from the land.

Idyllic? Much of the time it was. Wonderful in the heat of the summer, miserable in the wet Welsh winter and scarey when we were snowed in by 10 foot snow drifts in 1980! Many young couples around us were doing the same. We gardened, darned, sewed our own clothes, made cheese and jams, swapped what we had in excess and gave each other unneeded childrens clothes. We shopped for our basic needs at the little village shop. We went for inspiration to CAT in Machynlleth, www.cat.org.uk and started mulching nettles and comfrey, to manure the garden, and companion cropping, and my husband, a carpenter, made a geodesic green house. There is great satisfaction in creating something that enables you to provide for yourself. Those lettuces, strawberries, cabbages that you grew yourself and nurtured to life; the goat you love, providing the peaceful opportunity to milk her daily; and the comical ducks providing eggs and plenty of entertainment, all bring a sense of satisfaction and pleasure to the food on the table.

We were lucky and it was hard work, BUT, it was our CHOICE to do it. To live off the land; to rebuild, renovate and insulate the old cottage and barn where we lived, and we enjoyed it, and, I'm glad to say, so did our kids. But, there was no pressure and there was the knowledge that if it all went wrong we could always go to a supermarket or, if we failed completely, return to life in the city.

That was then................

Now I live in a terraced house in Kings Heath, with a strip of garden and most of the trappings of present day living, and the looming glooming prospect of climate change. This is far from idyllic and far from a game. It is demanding and immediate and I realise that I would be foolish to ignore all the predictions and advice coming from people and places I have always respected. It seems that a change of life-style is no longer a choice but is becoming a necessity. I pray for a miracle, but in the mean time I realise that I have to learn about, and really understand what is going on, and do what I can to help make a change.

So what am I doing to save our planet? (Honestly!)

I have joined Transition City Birmingham and feel a network of support from all kinds of people, with different talents and knowledge, spread thoughout the whole of Birmingham.
I don't have a freezer or dishwasher (very carbon wasteful).
I have a push bike and hat and am getting used to riding in the city.
I try to use my car as little as possible and drive at 55 mph on long journeys. (It's hard!).
I started my vegetable garden and am part of GROFUN (Growing Real Organic Food in Urban Neighbourhoods) in Kings Heath.
I belong to Susmo (Sustainable Moseley) and would like to help start a transition group in Kings Heath.
I try to avoid buying things in plastic as much as I can, unless recycleable. I avoid buying bottled water.
I use energy saving light bulbs and turn things off when not in use, particularly pilot lights.
I keep my heating low and have recently put in a new combi boiler. It was expensive, but cuts my bills down greatly.
I recycle.
I am getting my loft insulated.
I try to use green products as much as possible, for everything from cleaning to hair washing. It concerns me that we put so much toxic stuff down our drains.

As I look at this list, it seems so little! And so late!
But even so, there could still be time - a 100 months is just over eight years and a lot can happen if we work as communities. Go to www.trainsitiontowns.org or get The Transition Handbook from Bonds Books in Harborne www.bondsbooks.com.
We can't do this alone, but supporting each other, sharing, swapping, becoming more aware and offering what skills and talents we have to the creative pool can begin to make change happen. It could also be fun, enabling us to meet new people and possibly get to know our neighbours a little better. We have to begin to work together and trust each other, and quickly so that it's not too late to make a change. So that we don't prove to be The Age of Stupid.

It really is up to us.

And most important of all.
We have to make sure that we do all we can to ensure that our government makes the right choices at the Climate Change Conference in December. This is the world leaders opportunity to save the world from the rising CO2 emmissions. Let's hope and pray that they are not stupid too............