Seconding this! I also keep an eye out on my local Buy Nothing group, and offer up wood scraps when I see someone looking for something I have. It helps keep folks from buying new and if I need it in the future, chances are someone else will have a replacement for me. (I also get a lot of lumber this way).

I’ve given away stair treads, particleboard sheets, plywood, and dimensional lumber, sometimes cut or milled to whatever dimensions they need. I even used my scraps and part of a table to build a saddle stand for someone who was looking for a suitable piece of furniture for displaying a saddle once!

To deconstruct a dwelling involves carefully dismantling an entire building to salvage as many materials as possible. These include removing specific high-value components, such as timber, windows, doors, flooring, fixtures, and structural elements for reuse or repurposing. Unlike traditional demolition, which prioritises speed, deconstruction focuses on salvaging valuable materials to reduce waste and lower the demand for new raw resources, thereby minimising environmental impact. Housing deconstruction and selective deconstruction approaches differ in scope, level of disassembly, and goals. Reclaimed timber, if structurally sound, can be repurposed for new construction projects.

I think this is my new favorite definition of deconstruction! This paper has a ton of good information and links to other studies, I’m going to have to rework my notes on deconstruction to include them.

Reading his complaint I was thinking, combustion engines will still be around, after all I see people driving steam powered antique autos almost every summer. But that doesn’t mean we should stay dependent on old, damaging tech for basic tasks

I try to maintain a balance. I try to accept that a lot of the problems in the world are beyond my reach, to keep informed and to help in the small ways I can, and to draw motivation from it, but without throwing myself into despair. It’s hard and I’ll admit I err on the side of ignorance these days.

Mostly I focus on solarpunk fiction projects (I think we need to be able to imagine better futures and that fiction gives us roadmaps and chances to explore these possibilities safely), project research, and ways to help at the level where I can effect things.

I help fix things for people so they don’t have to buy new, I help organize and give stuff away at my local swap shop and on the free groups online, I try to help with local land conservation. And I take the small victories where I can get them. If I fix something or find some ewaste electronics for a neighbor and save them spending $60 on Amazon, the world isn’t changed but Amazon didn’t get that money and maybe my neighbor won’t reach for it as their first choice next time. If we conserve a hundred acres of forest it’s not stopping any of the big impending climate disasters, but some habitat is preserved, and perhaps some of the routes animals follow as they roam won’t get as fragmented as they would otherwise. And I imagine better worlds and try to show them to others.

Yeah I started reading up on it more once I got thinking about it. Looks like AC was easier in the past, which is probably why we’re standardized on it for local grids

Am I missing something? Isn’t this why we use AC power over long distances?

Yeah cars will sometimes deliver personal injury right through the front wall of your house.

Maybe they could make a mode where the electric vehicle UFO noise they make so you can hear them coming gets louder when you accelerate

This is interesting! Reminds me a little of Gemini (the web alternative, not google’s AI nonsense). The 3d environment is interesting

While checking on the status of legislation for my own state I found this website which seems to be tracking progress for all of them: https://pluginsolarguide.com/

I can see this one from bookwyrm.social and I’m definitely taking some recommendations from it!

I did try that, and found a bunch of lists, but not that particular one (nor can I apparently find the user moanos who created this list). Perhaps the two instances aren’t federating.

edit: this actually seems to be the case - since I can see Remy Rose’s “We Don’t Have To Live Like This” list from my instance.

We haven’t found the upper limit yet, but with more research funding we can get closer

For some reason I can’t figure out how to reach your list from https://bookwyrm.social/ but I’d suggest Murder in the Tool Library by AE Marling and the Glass and Gardens anthology if you’re looking for more recommendations.

Yeah trees are great wherever they’ll fit, and in my region you pretty much have to work not to have land return to forest. But there are a bunch of regions where shade cloths or latticework are the traditional answer to shading streets for climate/biosphere reasons. Plus people get all freaked out about tree roots messing with building foundations and underground infrastructure so not all pedestrianized streets may be suitable depending on what’s below them.

(Apologies if your second paragraph wasn’t about trees)

For sure! In that case I think it’s worth asking what will this parking lot be in fifty or 100 years, especially if we transition away from cars. Is it suitably located to host some kind of park, marketplace, sports field, or other open space, or will adding a bunch of gantries of solar panels entrench it as car infrastructure by also making it part of the energy infrastructure? Many cities need to improve density and affordable housing, and parking lots are generally a good bit of land to repurpose as they’re already negligible as habitat and generally located conveniently. (This is probably less important in exurban areas and around industry).

If we could pick suitable lots and exclude ones that make more sense as housing etc up front, this kind of installation could last a really long time and provide additional benefits. I’m actually interested to see how viable a similar arrangement would be over pedestrianized streets which get a lot of sun exposure, similar to the ones they put over canals or the shade cloths etc already used in many cities.

Takes more infrastructure to set panels up up high over a parking lot full of drivers than in an empty field so that delays the solar transition a bit - you likely want as few new posts/pylons in a parking lot as possible but the whole rig still has to survive some idiot in a F-650 plowing into a post without toppling and crushing a bunch of cars and shoppers. I suspect high winds might be more of an issue but I’m not a civil engineer. Throwing them in a field is a bit quicker.

Maintenance is more of an issue too - the elevation adds some accessibility challenges. Plus, do you close the parking lot whenever people are working up there to minimize the liability/risk someone gets brained by a wrench? Parking lot operators are skittish enough of falling tree limbs that they often remove any trees from the property.

TBH I’m happy with any new solar and it’s certainly an improvement over parking lots as they stand now, plus it puts them close to the places using them which is great. But I also think expedience has a real value at this transition point.

I’d like to keep just one golf course but add giant versions of mini golf obstacles. Golfers would probably hate it but they need some more whimsy

If you’re using a chainsaw make sure you’re wearing chainsaw chaps, a face shield, gloves etc. The chaps especially can save your legs and your life when the saw kicks back (and it will at some point) - especially if you’re out in the sticks and alone.

The community chores category is really interesting! Do you remember what kinds of work would fall into that? Or have any in mind?