justalittlesolarpunk - Tumblr blog

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Yes yes yes pls stop making fun of the kids it’s as shitty as when people did it to you

I must not mock Gen Alpha. Mocking Gen Alpha is the mind killer. Mocking Gen Alpha is the little-death that brings total generational solidarity obliteration. I will engage with Gen Alpha lovingly. I will permit them to be cringe. And when they grow up I will turn my eye to their accomplishments. Where mocking has gone there will be nothing. Only generational solidarity remains

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Join a mutual aid network

[justalittlesolarpunk]

A lot of people are radicalised by suffering, which is a valid and sadly all-too-common experience. But you wanna know what really radicalised me? Softness. Joy. Freedom. I spent so much of my adolescence deeply sad and uncomfortable in spaces that weren’t right for me, navigating a body that didn’t feel like home. Despite many many privileges, and lots of moments of genuine happiness, I often didn’t overall enjoy my life. But then I got gender-affirming surgery. I moved into my own modern, clean, comfortable flat in a friendly, walkable city full of nature and beautiful buildings. I started being able to take care of myself. I keyed into robust local social networks of people who shared my interests in nature, creativity and ameliorating the world. And I am deeply, thoroughly content. It has been incredibly radicalising to realise that, contrary to what I thought for so long, it is very easy for human beings to be happy if their material and emotional needs are fulfilled. So alongside my joy there’s this constant simmering rage. I deserve all the good things I have now, sure. But not any more or less than anyone else. The children being bombed deserve this too. So do the homeless people being moved on by police outside my local supermarket. So do the people starving in famines, imprisoned by immigration systems, brutalised by their employers, their families, the state. All I can do is fight for a world where everyone has these things. It’s a choice not to share them equitably.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

[justalittlesolarpunk]

The thing is, until you get past the mindset of "justice=punishment" you will never be able to create lasting change. We have actual proof that punitive justice creates more crime and makes criminals more violent. We have actual proof that rehabilitation reduces crime and recidivism. But some of y'all are so stuck on this idea that the wrongdoer must be punished for justice to be done that you will choose sating your need for revenge over actually moving toward a better world every time. And that's sad!

[justalittlesolarpunk]

As a new adult I FEEL THIS

I don't know who needs to hear this, but especially with the end of the school year coming up soon, and a bunch of people about to leave high school or about to leave college, I just wanted to say:

Being an adult can be really nice, actually!!!

Like, okay, yeah, life can be fucking stressful sometimes, and there's definitely an annoying amount of paperwork.

But me and just about every single adult I know will agree: I would never choose to go back to being a teenager, even if I somehow could.

Insert obvious disclaimer that nothing is universal. But for people worried about aging or graduating into the next chapter of life, here's some words of reassurance:

When you're a teenager, your brain is extra mean to you. Like, neurologically. All of the changes it's undergoing really, really increase rates of depression/anxiety/etc. A lot of the time, literally just not being a teenager anymore is really good for your mental health

Less than five months out of high school, everyone I knew my age was like "Thank fuck we're no longer in high school." Once you leave high school and adolescence there's really just such a dramatic drop in petty bullshit. Shit that would have been a huge social humiliation or gossip in high school is really often just like, "Hate that for you, man." Boom, done.

When you're a teenager or a brand new adult, you're encountering so many problems for the first time ever. When you're older, you just. Have learned how to handle a lot more things. You know what to do way more often and that builds confidence

When you're an adult, other people generally don't care if you don't do things perfectly, because jobs and life don't work like grades. This was such a trip to learn, honestly? But when you are an adult or have a job the bar for success is usually just "Did you do the thing?" or "Did you do the thing well enough that it works?" or "Did you show up to work for your whole shift and look like you were doing things?"

Similarly, if you're about to graduate college and you're really stressed about it, fyi just about everyone I knew in college ended up very quickly going "wow, 'real life' is way easier." Admittedly I went to a school full of very stressed out perfectionists and the like, so I can't promise this is universal, but there's a very real chance that life will in many ways get easier when you graduate

WAY MORE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN LIFE

Literally I cannot overstate that last point. As an adult, you are (barring certain disabilities or shitty circumstances like abusive family/the criminal justice system/etc.) able to make most of your own decisions. If you want to rearrange your furniture, you can. If you want to eat tater tots at midnight, you can. If you want to get yourself a little treat, you can. You can sign contracts and make your own legal and medical decisions and not need a parent or guardian signature for just about anything ever again

You generally learn how to give fewer fucks

The people around you have also generally learned how to give fewer fucks

Even when things are shitty, being able to choose what kind of shitty a lot of the time can really be worth an awful lot

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Look up your nearest Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA) training group and sign up for their next session

[justalittlesolarpunk]

hey. I love you btw. hope you know that.

Oh. This is so nice. Thank you. I love you too xxx

[justalittlesolarpunk]

100 DAYS TILL TRANS FUTURES DAY

Fuck it, I’m suggesting a new day for the queer calendar: trans futures day. TDOV is a relic from another time and TDOR is vitally important but deeply emotionally distressing. Trans people deserve a day to celebrate our successes, our community, our joy, our resilience, our potential. As a solarpunk, I’m passionate about imagining better futures for all of us and a good future includes happy, thriving trans people who are beloved and valued members of their community and have self-determination over their gender expression and personal lives.

TFD could be all about inspiring trans youth about the adults they can become, celebrating growing older while trans, trans people working in progressive politics, the environmental sector, community organising, utopian storytelling and the cutting edge of new advances in science and technology, you name it.

As a date I propose 26th July - if I’ve mathsed right (always a gamble lol) that’s the day exactly halfway between TDOV and TDOR.

Who do I talk to about making it real? 😅

[justalittlesolarpunk]

no more of the agonies. have you seen the wonders

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Still not enough of course but on the other hand fuck yeahhhh

Previous similar drops in emissions were due to periods of economic stagnation or recession--this is the first significant drop in emissions that has coincided with GDP growth.

The majority of this decline is due to changes in energy use and generation. Coal demand has dropped nearly to 1900s levels, while use of renewables grows significantly--for the first time renewables accounted for half of the energy generated in "advanced economies" included in this analysis.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Literally can’t watch nature documentaries without crying. The miracle of life y’know? We are so far from being alone

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Go for a walk in the woods

[justalittlesolarpunk]

hello! I've just found your blog and that's AMAZING, but I have a question: what do you think about industrial food? it's super low quality, and furthermore, they produce a lot of trash as plastic (unnecessary) packaging! It would be easier just to say "starting eating organic food", but for poor people, buying grapes or apples, even not organic, costs more than buying cookies full of fat, sodium and carbohydrates (not talking about all the chemicals). I personally, think about non conventional food plants as an alternative since most of them are super resistant to weather changes and easy to rise. I wanna know what you think about

Hi! Thanks for getting in touch. The long and short of it is, I hate industrialised farming. It pollutes the air, soil and water, poisons and impoverishes farmers, increases the likelihood of zoonotic pandemics, reduces the genetic diversity of plants and encroaches upon wildlife territories. We need a massive return to local, small-scale regenerative agriculture if we are to feed everyone and equitably share the earth with other species. But you’re right, it has to be done in a way that’s just and fair for people who can currently only afford plasticked, pesticided and processed food, as well as making a living for farmers. We’re all on the same side here, but people often don’t realise that. I also think we need to massively diversify our food plant range - a system that relies on just a few staple crops is insanely vulnerable, especially with more and more extreme weather coming our way. So many plants I was raised to think of as ‘weeds’ are not only edible but highly nutritious and often medicinal. Where are the dandelion farmers? The mycologists selling turkey tails? And foraging should be taught in all schools so kids can feed themselves in the wild and pass these skills on to future generations. As with most climate solutions, I don’t think it’s an either/or - I’d welcome pretty much any solution as part of a wider melting pot of alternatives. The only thing I won’t budge on is that we have to change, because the way we in the North and West farm right now just isn’t sustainable.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Sorry not sorry to grannypost again but look at this amazing jacket she made me??? She wove it herself on her loom out of wool, silk, banana fibre and scraps of old cloth. The buttons are made of antler. It took her a year and a half and I love it! It’s not vegan, but it is handmade, largely local and very sustainable. It’s an item of clothing I have a personal connection to because of the story behind it, and it shows that reducing how much cotton and polyester we wear doesn’t have to mean drab or boring clothing. So it feels pretty solarpunk to me! Now to learn how to do this kind of thing myself…

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Happy(?) TDOV. I don’t want to be visible I want a FUCKING FUTURE

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Cook a meal for someone going through a hard time