Homes from recycled materials

This is one of my favourite projects in the whole world. The Phoenix Commotion is a project to help people to build sustainable and affordable housing using recycled materials. As a bonus, many of the houses are of an organic design, and the use of recycled materials has been turned from a potential problem into a benefit.

The project has so many aspects that I love. I like the human scale designs, I like the empowering aspects of the project, helping people to learn how to build and maintain their own houses, and I love the green aspects of it, reusing and using things which other people can't use.

I urge you to visit the website and look at the projects. While you're at it, visit Roald Gundersen's Whole Trees site. He uses whole trees in his architecture and makes amazing homes and components for homes, like staircases, using whole tree branches. It is less wasteful and - I think - more beautiful than using planks and geometric timber cut from tree trunks.

Transition Towns

There's been a long gap between the last post and this one, apologies. Transition towns are ones which have decided to view the challenges of climate change and peak oil as opportunities to strengthen their communities, and to help them to thrive.

There's a wiki about transition towns, and lots of blogs and websites with ideas, people's stories and advice.

Totnes is one town which is already ahead with its Transition Town project, and there's lots of interest in their website.

If anyone has information about local transition town projects, please share with me!

Low Impact Living Initiative

Here's the first in the new series of blogs... a link to the Low Impact Living Initiative. It aims to help people to lower their impact on the environment.

It gives some no-nonsense advice about places to start, instructions, a forum to ask questions, and lots of links and information.

Quaker week and the Quaker Centre

This week is Quaker week, a time for turning ourselves outwards and promoting the Quaker way to people outside our meetings. Many meetings have open days or hold events during this week.

This year is different, because the Quaker Centre has opened at Friends House and is hosting events to celebrate Quaker week. The picture above shows the worship roomin the Quaker centre. I did a shift as a vounteer on Monday and Wednesday afternoon at the centre, and will be there again on Friday.

It occurred to me as I was reading one of my favourite blogs - boingboing - this morning, that I could do a number of things in the real world and the virtual world to celebrate Quaker week. The first thing I am going to do is to start posting here about things which may interest Quakers. Items on living simply, truth and integrity, social justice, silent worship.

The second thing I am going to do is to set up a regular event in SL for Quaker questions and answers.

Human Library

I must admit that until I posted the poster ideas here the other day, I had more or less forgotten about this blog, as I have so many others which I maintain. I will try to do better. In searching for addresses for meeting houses, I came across this page. I absolutely love this idea... it seems to me that in giving an enquirer the chance to "borrow" a specific Quaker, it might make people a whole lot more comfortable with the idea.

Posting some ideas for posters here:

Hospital this week

I don't expect to be around much ths week, as my son Ali goes into hospital on Tuesday to have his colostomy reversed.

Please hold us in the light as he goes through the week, which is likely to be quite difficult for him. I will try to post regularly once I get back to a routine next week.
x
Fee