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⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-17)
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There are a lot of problems in the world. Tons of them, and they are all coming
to a head. I want to see a world without them. I'm not great at being the kind
of person to suggest a problem and not at least attempt to suggest a solution,
even if the solutions are sometimes bad.
People need food. Also, water, but we'll get to that in a minute. We need to
give people the means (GIVE, yes *GIVE*. Suck on that sweet, sweet socialism)
and assistance they need to grow, perpetuate, harvest, and make all of the
food they need. Backyard Aquaponics can be done at a scale to feed upwards of
15 people a day. Hydroponics can provide substantial vegetables, even in a
small apartment.
There is no reason communities don't come together and either establish
community gardens that feed the community, coops of folx who can provide all
that is needed but no one person can provide it all, so they _gasp_ share, or
provide the means to individuals to have their own backyard food production.
Simple setups can be entirely solar powered, encapsulated in a small greenhouse
, and run throughout the summer and winter months even in the deserts of the
rocky mountains. These provide fish (in the dozens to hundreds of Tilapia),
forage, and even grain goods. Fruits can be grown aqua- or hydroponically in
the same greenhouse in bushes or smaller trees (hardier and larger trees can
be planted, using genetically modified organisms we have sweet apples growing
in the Rockies).
Too many people in the world rely on municpal water systems that are often
unsustainably sourced, or sourced with water travelling a significant distance
and creating huge ecological impact (both in terms of carbon footprint and
the originating water habitat). Through smarter well creation, substantial
investment in desalination for coastal areas, and large-scale stills for making
use of atmospheric water.
There are so many smarter ways that we can generate, use, and conserve (even
reusing and recycling in the house) water that are often left unused because
there are no ways of making them convenient.
We need to fix that.
For better or worse, the ability to exchange information has changed the world.
But we are running out of resources in the quest to make that better, and we
are running out of ways to get the minerals we need. The ecological impact of
technology can not be understated. We must start mining landfills, reusing and
repurposing older technology. Design software for older systems that can still
function to use new protocols. You can browse Gemini on a TRS-80, I know, I've
seen it done, and it's fantastic. We can be repurposing, reusing, and repairing
old tech with what we have on hand. We can cannabilize the rest.
This leads to a couple sub-points: We need local communities to come together
and stand against failing as a society. I recognize how privileged and tone-
deaf it comes off suggesting people do all of these things. But communities can
and should come together to make this happen. We just have to meet each other.
This leads to distributing knowledge and skills and letting those communities
grow organically. We can't relegate a specific structure to maker-communities,
there are too many differences between groups to try. We can, however,
establish a plan for communities and what skills and equipment they need to
grow and flourish. Such as having a repair shop for power and comms equipment.
(Returning from the badly segued tangent)
Having technology, old or new, that can communicate on modern protocols is only
one step of the battle. None of that works without electricity. To do this
there are a number of sustainable power-generation methodologyies that are
really the only place that nation-states are even beginning to get it right.
There are still methods that can be used at the community scale. A ton of every
-day electronics *can* be powered from a 12 volt system using only buck-boost
converters or voltage regulators. This means that *most* electronics can be
utilized if the power-distribution system of a home was turned into 12 volt
system would be able to handle:
The rest can be handled with limited use of 120 inverters, or by having a
substantially less-robust and therefore less impactful 120 volt generating net
for your community.
This one is simultaneously the hardest and easiest problem to solve. Most
communities have enough recyclable refuse, material producers, and otherwise
to survive as communities. They don't always have the means to render, recycle,
reuse, or repurpose that refuse. We need to establish small scale recycling
plants in the community. These can be operated by community members as needed
(Take a bunch of trash, walk out with a breadbox) or could be operated by
volunteers working to make raw materials from the refuse, and makers using the
raw materials to make end-use goods.
A lot of this can be done with 3D printing and small-scale machines made for
less than 5000 USD (for new materials. Often these are designed to be made
with refuse parts and can be had for less than 500 USD to free with some effort
).
3D printing can make use of recycled PET bottles, HDPE, PLA, or Soybean-based
resins (sustainably sourced) for making objects. In addition, their technology
is such that it is relatively easy to inform and educate someone on the
construction of one that can be used to construct itself or improved versions
of itself.
I know.
It's a ton. It doesn't even make sense to suggest. But it's a solution. One that
I really think we could get behind, and accomplish as people trying to fight a
problem at a scale much greater than ourselves.
I do what I can... but we could do what *we* can. And that would be more.