Peak Oil, dear reader, is Coming.

Most people who personally know me, know that Peak Oil and a resulting Die-Off has been a concern for the last five years.

I published a flawed article in Re:Mix magazine in December 2002 before the second Gulf War. Flawed because it was far too short to fully back itself up, but it was a good primer. If I can find it in my backup CDs I'll post it here.

It looks like the peak will be this year.

In the light of all that, I'm looking towards living local, which is why I moved to Waiheke after all, a couple years back. For survival.

I'm putting this up mainly because I want to highlight this article: "Retrofitting the suburbs for sustainability" by David Holmgren. In it he outlines the problems facing sustainable living in Australian suburbs, and offers some solutions. The bit I was most taken with was:

...create our own small neighbourhoods. ‘Suburban sprawl’ in fact give us an advantage. Detached houses are easy to retrofit, and the space around them allows for solar access and space for food production. A water supply is already in place, our pampered, unproductive ornamental gardens have fertile soils and ready access to nutrients, and we live in ideal areas with mild climates, access to the sea, the city and inland country.

So what do we have to do to make it work? Basically, the answer is “Just do it!” Use whatever space is available and get producing. Involve the kids – and their friends. Make contact with neighbours and start to barter. Review your material needs and reduce consumption. Share your home – by bringing a family member back or taking in a lodger, for example. Creatively and positively work around regulatory impediments, aiming to help change them in the longer term. Pay off your debts. Work from home. And above all, retrofit your home for your own sustainable future, not for speculative monetary gain.

Check it.

By the way, I have a new computer, and it rocks. Though, its the same 256DDRAM as my old computer so I'm like, "I want MORE RAM!!"