Tell-A-Vision: Beyond Sustainability

Now through Sept. 6 - disgusting national political money orgies, re-runs and a holiday weekend means you can toss the television.  But, we can share with each other our ideas or Tell-A-Vision. Here's one to start the conversation (and for the editor to try and work off the demons and disgust of the last week).

It's the perfect time to imagine Encinitas thriving in way that restores balance, replenishes and renews.  A campaign update (shown on her Facebook page) sent out to the hundreds of her supporters from Lisa Shaffer today,

"This election is about preserving what is wonderful in Encinitas and making good decisions about the future - land use, traffic, environment, business, financial management, and our overall quality of life. A few hours now could make a big difference in the next four years."

Stay with me on this one, this Tell-A-Vision post on permaculture does relate.  Shaffer's quote above seemed a fitting way to say we don't have to view all of these areas in isolation and divided into separate issues as has been the way for so long. Shaffer is a leader in sustainability, so I know she sees these connections that Councilwoman Barth, council's only strong advocate for sustainability currently.  If these two were  joined by Tony Kranz there would be real advocacy for healthy food and all the other connections. On his Facebook page he says,

"Please like the page at the link below. It's an organization on a mission to change the world by helping kids to learn healthy eating habits. I think it's very worthwhile and believe you will too. Encinitas local Mim Michelove and her business partner Camille Sowinski are doing great work with the teachers and administrators at our elementary schools."  Healthy Day Partners

Good decision making would rely on the ability to "learn, unlearn and relearn" what our community needs to thrive in the 21st century.  Good decision making dismisses "truthiness" for the shallow and short term posturing of the status quo measured in spread sheets alone. Good decision making takes what is at hand, be it people or resources and increases value by utilizing everything possible. No mocking or belittling or marginalizing or blaming or attacking ever helped individuals or a community to flourish. That includes hippy bashing too.

Sustainability, public service, climate change and economic development have all been twisted by our council majority.  We instead can have so much more honesty and integrity if we had a council majority of Barth, Shaffer and Kranz open to ideas like these students from University of Massachusetts permaculture experiments have presented below.  The last, part 3, is presented first. It best connects the dots of growing healthy food to land use, business, environment, education, financial and community involvement.  Parts 1 and 2 for the curious.

And, a few hours now making a difference for the next four years - for the next twenty-four years is how we might envision. Right now it volunteering for the campaign, but it is like the planting of 101 trees in Leucadia recently, imagine permaculture gardens throughout all five communities, used to restore the soils on the agricultural acres at the heart of the city.  Imagine composting on a citywide scale as is done in many cities along the Pacific coastline.  Frugal, resilient, building health and economic strength - re-envisioning, re-skilling and so much more. Abundance available, but without the extractive and poisoning methods of conventional tilling agriculture.

It's important to note that there are so many positive garden experiments with school children and others throughout Encinitas, despite no support from the city council majority. Mim Michelove and Russell Levan have a million stories between them regarding the EUSD school district gardens. Sheet mulching, shown in part 1 below was one of the dozens of first steps taken at Paul Ecke Central's School As A Garden several years ago (2 volunteers instead of the 1,000 in the video). Zero cost is a really compelling idea for transforming and revitalizing the land. Let nature and time do the most of the work. (Picture the last 12 years of the Hall Property being enriched month after month with food waste, manure and mulch for no cost but hauling, for 144 or so months to restore the degraded soil.)

Part 1

Landscape design and permaculture planting could work miracles beyond healing the soil and growing food. As Councilwoman Barth said about capturing water runoff at Crest Drive's private property edges.

"Vegetation is the solution. The more you replicate the natural environment the better it is. This is where we need to get this storm water, this runoff addressed - in the landscape plan. Mother Nature knows how to do it, so let's step back and try to replicate that more than big drain pipes, curbs, gutters and pavers."

Part 2

Let's start allowing known facts and experiences in the natural world inform our conversations, our decisions about the present and the future.  All problems of the world solved in the garden, the man says. This lifted from the end of a post about trees transforming our world posted March 23, 2012.

This is a vision.  It could be a real conversations with experts in the field who live in our community or are available outside of our city staff regularly used consultants. Dump Stocks and Muir.  Vote Shaffer and Kranz.