Freeconomy Blog
Thu
11 Dec
My Morning Oats and Oaths...
| 9 comments |
It's amazing how quickly our habits change when they have to. I am only two weeks into my year long experiment and already being moneyless is becoming 'normalised'. Human beings are adaptable creatures, when survival is at stake it's remarkable what we can do, that's one of the things that gives me great hope for the future; as long, that is, that it doesn't come at a huge cost to every other species.
One of the most common questions I've strangely been asked over the last few weeks is the following – what possession do I own that best symbolises my cause? Just as the spinning wheel symbolised the solution to Indian Independence for Mahatma Gandhi, the compost loo is vast becoming that icon for me.
What the masses do (and me up to a couple of weeks ago) is literally insane – we shit and piss in our water supply, flush it all down with a gallon of water, blast it full of damaging chemicals to 'clean' it up, then drink it! Are we mad? Hence the compost toilet symbolises common sense to me, a rethinking of what we do to eat more gently from the hand that feeds us. Instead of the above, it fertilises the soil which, in turn, keeps us full of nutrients.
Add to the above this astonishing fact – just by going off-grid for the year, by not urinating and crapping in my drinking water, I will have saved 26, 280 litres of freshwater. If only one out of every ten people in the UK alone done the same (I'm not asking for everyone to do it!) then 170,820,000,000 litres (that's billion – yeah I know) would be saved. If everyone did...well, we're talking trillions.
Now given that only 2.5% of all the water on the planet is freshwater, and that only 1% of that is able to be consumed by humans, and that over half the world's population have either to walk miles for clean water or either have to drink water that regularly makes them ill and even die, what we do regarding our toilet habits is not only insane, it is the ultimate in disrespect to those who would give anything just to have clean water.
The one loo roll I had, by the way, ran out last week, so now I am using the newspapers that my local newsagents throws out at the end of the day. This, by the way, is one tiny shop in one tiny town, and they literally fill a bin full of topped newspapers at the end of every single day. How much paper gets dumped at the end of each day worldwide then?! Anyway, scrunch it a bit and it makes great loo roll.
Speaking of paper, I've come up with a solution as regards writing until I learn how to make both it and ink from mushrooms. I've started getting the receipts that customers don't want from a shop in Bristol (UK) along with any waste paper that has only one side used. After I reuse it, then it goes to recycling.
One practice I started at the beginning of British spring was what I call 'My Morning Oats and Oaths'. The former nourishes me physically at 6am in the morning, the latter I take five minutes later and is intended to nourish me spiritually. The are a list of oaths I read (and promise to take but regularly fail to carry out properly) every day in the hope that I will one day do them without thought and just be feeling.
Up to now they have been a very private thing for me, something I've almost been embarrassed to share. But I had to ask myself – if this could be of some use to even one person, then why not share it? Only my own sense of vulnerability was getting in the way.
So I will, with a sense of apprehension, share them with you now. Take what you like, leave the rest . If you think it's a load of old nonsense, then just disregard them, though try not to be too unkind to me – 'tread softly because you tread on my dreams'! By the way, they are a mix of some of Mahatma Gandhi's eleven vows and my own feelings on life and what makes it beautiful:
1.Satya (Truth) – live whatever it is you believe 100% regardless of whether you are a minority of one or a majority of billions.
2.Service – live to give, pay-it-forward. You only ever truly find yourself when you give yourself in service to others.
3.Swadeshi – Gandhi's idea of local economy, though for me it ultimately means no money living.
4.Humility – be humble and genuine whilst not being afraid to be bold and to speak up for the voiceless.
5.Ahimsa (non-violence) – not just in actions, but in thoughts and words, as they are where actions begin.
6.Unattachment – be impartial to ever seeing the fruits of your labour. It's unimportant.
7.Abhaya (fearlessness) – always life your truth no matter what stands in your way. A coward can never be spiritual and so fearlessness is the basis of all spirituality.
8.Unconditional love – is there any other kind? Love, today, is oft confused with need. The acid test is when you are faced with your harshest critic.
9.Awe – find wonder in every moment.
10.Sharira (bread labour) – make what you consume.
11.Awareness – be conscious of your thoughts, words and actions and reflect on them briefly every night.
12.Discipline – it is the essential skill of the future, and the lack of it in our modern world is why there is so much environmental destruction.
13.Asvada – control of the palate – linked with discipline and Swadeshi but useful in its own right.
14.Flow – don't get frustrated if your day doesn't go as you had planned – it's not your game, so go with the flow of it and enjoy the ride. You are merely a passenger, not the driver.
15.Grace – say a silent thank you before you consume whatever it is you consume, it's all a huge gift. Never take things for granted.
I hope there is something there which is useful to someone.
I'm off now for a late night stroll – I'm in a valley and there is the deepest fog tonight, the woodburner is on for when I get back, and life really doesn't get any better than that.
Comment on this Post:
ali comments ...
i think they are wonderful ideals to strive for, mark, thanks for sharing them : )
BMcKenzie comments ...
Hi Mark,
I think what you're doing is magnificent, and I feel very lucky that you are sharing your journey with us. As for your oaths--I taught for many years, and one of the concepts I introduced is that we need something to live by, otherwise we are constantly derailed. So hooray for you, that you are willing to strive towards the amazing life you will live as you move towards these oaths. You have my utmost respect.
glenn comments ...
hey is anybody else not able to get on the forum, i just get error messages
Mark Boyle comments ...
*In response to glenn*
Yes I am so sorry! We have had problems with hosting and are in the process of changing over to a guy who believes in the project he is wants to host it for free.
But it is taking time, so please bear with us! We also had other functionality problems over the last few weeks but thats mostly been sorted out now. Last thing I needed whilst cashless I can tell you!
So just keep checking but I am hoping its soon!
Sue Varner comments ...
I'd never really stopped to think about the toilet issue before, as far as the huge amount of treatment necessary etc goes. But with your composting loo ~ what about bacteria? Wouldn't your loo need some way of 'treating' the waste before it gets used to grow next year's cauliflowers? Human waste has never, to my knowledge, been used as compost for exactly that reason... the possible spread of disease through the ground and into what we're about to eat. And what is *your* compost going to be used for? I'm intrigued, and a bit sort of... 'bleugh!' about that.
Out here at the tree farm, we pee outside at the back of the camper, and use a septic system toilet for material waste. The outdoor peeing is something I'm totally used to now ~ though the first time I had to do it in 14*F with two inches of snow on the ground was a bit of a shock to the system... :)
I'm glad you overcame your apprehension enough to post your 'Oaths', and best of luck with trying to live by each one, every day. You've given yourself a tall order! Best of luck with it, and the next steps in your 'experiment' (which I'd be inclined to describe as 'adventure'. :) Next time the sink freezes, think about the wonder that is nature... ;)
Kieron comments ...
@ Sue
I think the thing about the human waste is that typically it has animal products in it and that is where the problems come in.
For example, if you had a decomposing cat and a decomposing cauliflower you wouldn't want to be near either of them but the decomposing flesh would be a big health risk to be near by but the vegetable matter would not be.
Using the same reasoning, the poop of your average human has bits of left over steak and whta not in it, even when digested this can still cause problems but too often partially undegested matter comes out.
In the case of a vegan, such as Mark, he is only pooping out vegetable matter, and given how little junk is in his diet, I'm guessing his digestive system is in great shape.
You'd never put cat/dog poop on your veggie garden, but you'd be fine with horse / cow droppings right? There's not really that much difference between cow poop and Mark poop, except hopefully the size :)
At least that's how I understand it, but I'm no scientist so I could be wrong.
Sue Varner comments ...
To Kieron ~
Thanks for clearing that up! makes perfect sense now I know for deffo that Mark is a vegan. Ta mate! :)
Kieron comments ...
He is, well, aside from the enviromentally sound honey he consumes and his beeswax candles, both of which I like to give him a hard time about, but yeah, he has the vegan poop.
