PowerSwitch

Hi all.

I'm a student studying an English Language degree in Gloucestershire and this is my first time participating in a forum.
As a student I would appreciate any tips you have on what I can do to sustain a 'green' lifestyle. We have single glazed windows which I know is a big disadvantage as it means more cold comes in and the heating is turned on - meaning we use more energy! However we do recycle most things so we are not completely wasteful.

I am currently reading the book, The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg and was wondering if anybody has anything to say on this fate he has concluded for us?

muscusmoose wrote:I am currently reading the book, The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg and was wondering if anybody has anything to say on this fate he has concluded for us?

"TPO" is a good book, but very American. I suggest you get hold of the first UK-centric peak oil book published in 2005, "Energy Beyond Oil". It's not dated very much, and contains a lot more relevant facts and figures for the UK. For an updated snippet of the content of the book, see the author's presentation at Parliament in 2009 --
http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/archive/index.shtml#appgopo

If you look at the trends, arguably the "party was over" in 1973 -- many of our current "deleterious" trends can be traced back to that point. If only they'd listened to the hippies, and even Presidents, who highlighted the reality of the issue at that time!

Well I think that the party is nearly over.
Living standards are falling in many developed nations, and whilst politicians have to say that things will improve if we vote for them, I suspect that we are seeing the begining of the end.

There is growing evidence that oil production has already peaked.
A growing number of countries are bust.
Many banks have bust.

Peak oil=peak living standards.

If you want to cheer yourself up, read "last light" or "retrieved from the future" both reviewed on these forums.

isnt suggesting cheering your self up by reading last light like cheering yourself up by reading The Road

Might I suggest that as soon as you have finished your English degree you start a training course in something practical? While no form of education is not of some use at some time, vocational education will be more useful in the future. Try short courses from places like your local FE college or CAT or LILI and then try and get on an apprenticeship or similar in something you find interesting and that you can do.

Then perhaps you can use your English degree to write about your experiences to encourage other young people into a practical education rather than an academic one. We won't be able to rely on Polish builders for much longer!!

Agree entirely, a degree in English could be useful, but practical skills are likely to be more in demand.
Learn to grow food, learn basic electrical and plumbing skills, building maintenance and repair, first aid, and other useful skils.

A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Lazarus Long

Hi Muscusmoose.

As a student you'll probably living in some rented dive where you can't do much in the way of energy conservation or securing for yourself the means to produce what you need. But don't worry: that's not your job at the moment (I'm assuming you're not a mature student?).

Just keep on keeping on...make good friends, preferably ones who don't do expensive things together. Learn some practical stuff that's easier when young, e.g. a foreign language, a musical instrument, and look after your health. Erm, that includes the bit above the neck

If there are clubs and societies, make good use of them because it's the time of life when it's easiest to start new things seriously. But don't overdo it like wot I did and end up not spending enough time working on your degree...

And don't let PO get you depressed: in spite of what some of us on Board may say, in truth no-one really knows how it'll turn out. If you look after yourself right now, then in future you'll be better placed to help the people you care about.

http://www.cotswoldnews.com/news/1883/p ... estershire

Have a googly for permaculture groups near to where you are ;-0)

adam2 wrote: A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. - Lazarus Long

Then again, Lazarus Long did live an awfully long time...

Call me a cynic but I think this rash of posts from newbies asking basic questions is part of a research project into how people interact in an on line setting.

Similar studies were run in 2nd Life, FB, twitter etc and term has not long started.

I wouldn't underestimate the value of the degree. In a slow collapse and transition to more localised communities with shorter travel horizons, there will still be a need to educate, document and communicate. Teaching, journalism, newsletter-writing, etc, will all be useful and valuable skills. However, I also agree about the development of practical skills.

The value-chain will be much shorter in a more localised, simpler economy. In short, if you haven't got goods or a skill to trade, you're going to go hungry.

Having just had a wee bit of dental trouble, I also firmly believe that dentists will be the new elite in a post-collapse world. Anyone with a serious toothache will bite the hand off of anyone who can fix it for them. (Sorry about the rather clumsy metaphor ).

I discovered Peak Oil in my first year at uni (back in 2003)... apart from a lot of reading I didn't do anything that made a change to my life until the shock of 2008 when the financial system nearly collapsed.

That was my wake up call. It suddenly seemed very real.

After that I invested a bit of savings in gold and food stocks, went to do a Masters and learnt how to grow food and learnt about renewables.

Since then I have been trying to live a good life, save regularly and cultivate a low-energy frugal lifestyle. That is my advise to you.

Go and try to get a good paying job, invest in hard assets, avoid the hyper-materialistic culture we live in and try and learn some useful skills as a hobby.

And enjoy life!

JavaScriptDonkey wrote:Call me a cynic but I think this rash of posts from newbies asking basic questions is part of a research project into how people interact in an on line setting.

Similar studies were run in 2nd Life, FB, twitter etc and term has not long started.

You may well be right, but there is still no harm in making sensible and pertinant replies, which may to relevant to others reading the thread.

Life is the party, and life goes on.

In the words of Ming the Merciless:

"Let's just say they'll be satisfied with less"

L Long's list is interesting. My poetry writing and computer programing skills are almost non existent and fighting effectively and dieing gallantly are hard things to know in advance but I think I have the rest of the list covered.