Germany Had So Much Renewable Energy On May 8, 2016, That It Had To Pay Citizens To Use Electricity.

Make Your Own Sun Jars

Personally, I’d try and find warm white LED lights to use in this. It just fits the aesthetic better, I think.

7 reasons why solarpunk is the most important speculative fiction movement in the last 20 years

It’s hopeful. Solarpunk doesn’t require an apocalypse. It’s a world in which humans haven’t destroyed ourselves and our environment, where we’ve pulled back just in time to stop the slow destruction of our planet. We’ve learned to use science wisely, for the betterment of ourselves and our planet. We’re no longer overlords. We’re caretakers. We’re gardeners.

Scientists are heroes again. And not just physicists and astronomers. Knowledge of biology and earth sciences matter, they’re the building blocks for a future on Earth. Scientific literacy isn’t just for academics – it’s part of daily life. People know how the things they use work, and if they don’t, they can access that information. 

It’s diverse. Solarpunk is rooted in using the environment, so it looks different in different places. Alternative energy is best when specific to place (I imagine geothermal, wind, tidal, and hydroelectric energy sources are still used in certain places) so no overarching government system is needed. Communities can organize themselves, taking their own location and needs and history into account. Brazilian, Inuit, Egyptian, Pacific Northwest, and New Zealand solarpunk can all look very different, but be unified in resourceful, intentional, low impact living.

Individuality still matters. In a post-scarcity society, ingenuity and self-expression are not sacrificed on the altar of survival. With solar power there’s no reason not to go off grid, if that’s what you want to do. Communities can self-organize. You can find a community that suits you, or go live by yourself if that floats your boat.

There’s room for spirituality and science to coexist. Solarpunk is rooted in a deep understanding and reverence for natural processes. There’s room for spirituality there, be it pagan, Buddhist, Sufi, Transcendentalism – anything. There’s so much to explore, from nature worship to organized monotheistic religions, and how they interact with solarpunk.

It’s beautiful. The most common solarpunk aesthetic is art nouveau, but again there’s room for diversity, incorporating art styles from multiple cultures in respectful, non-appropriative ways. The most important aspect of solarpunk aesthetic is the melding of art and utility. The idea of intentional living is strong in art nouveau, but it’s not the only art movement with that philosophy.

We can make it happen. Now. Earthships. Permaculture. Aquaponics. Algae lighting. Compostable products that turn into fields of flowers. Buy Nothing organizations. Tiny, beautiful, efficient homes. Solar power cells you can see through. That’s all happening now. Solarpunk is within our grasp, at least on a personal level. I’m not saying there aren’t still big, ugly infrastructures devoted to unethical consumption, but we can start to tear them down. We can build a solarpunk world with stories and small changes. And small changes lead to big changes. That’s the real beauty of solarpunk. It’s not a post-apocalyptic power fantasy. It’s not a wistful daydream, or an elite future only for physicists. It’s something we can work towards right now. It’s tangible.

For every ‘dystopian/post-apocalyptic story that has people still surviving from scavenging and canned foods and no farms, no mentions of building a community nor an attempt at rebuilding a society 10+ years after THE END’ owe me $5.

Hey solarpunk community! In light of several posts that have been going around, I was thinking it would be worthwhile to talk about the real, physical things we can do to make this world a more solarpunk place. Because speculation and aesthetics and thinkpieces are awesome, but a movement isn’t a movement without real action behind it. So what are things we can all do to make the present closer to our solarpunk future?

Right to Darkness/Right to Night

Human beings have lived with a relatively strict day/night cycle for as far back as humans have been around. Yes, there was fire, but the rooms were still relatively dim, and outside was almost always just lit by the moon. Daily darkness, where not much could get done has been a part of human culture and biology forever.

Now we have the problem of light polution, where the light of electricity spreads everywhere and then you can’t see the stars at night in the cities. Obviously it’s good that we have electric lights. There are many people who want to be out doing things at night. But it’s also a problem, because for most, nightime is a time of calm and processing the day, and it can be difficult for the human brain to know that it’s time for that to happen if it has too much light coming at it.

I think in Solunarpunk societies, people would have a recognized right to darkness/night, that made itself apparent in the design of light sources and buildings, so that anyone who wanted to could enjoy the dark, cool, and quiet regardless of where they live.

This could manifest as rules about how streetlights can be made, so that the designs that are used are the ones that have the least amount of light seepage

Possibly different light zones, so the bars and clubs and other nightime activity stuff is all in one area, so those people can be safely lit, while other neighborhoods have street lights that only come on if someone is walking there, and are as unobtrusive as possible, so that people can stargaze and sleep in peace.

Inside houses, there might be automatic window darkeners that activate whenever you turn on a light, so the outside isn’t affected, that then turn transparent when the light is off for long enough.

Most houses would have smart lighting with a “night mode” that kept the lighting warmer and dimmer. If you had no lights on, red floor lights will turn on if it senses you moving so you can see where you’re going in safety.

Or maybe people just start using their night vision for more things. People just don’t turn on the lights at night if they don’t have to.

I imagine that in a right to night would also mean that it would be expected that work ends at sunset. People are free to pursue their own passions at night, and are free of daytime responsibilities. No one could pressure someone to stay later than they wanted to, but especially after sunset, because that would be extremely rude and people would call them out for it.

Stargazing would become an important family activity. Children would grow up knowing the names of all the constellations they could see, as well as the names of the planets and the stars. A sense of wonder about our universe would begin to arise again in our society.

Any moon bases built in the future would be on the side of the moon that always faces away from us, just in case the light could be seen at night. There would be observation sites on the side facing Earth that are too small to be seen, but are connected to each other underground. These observation sites would be open and available all the time, for anyone to come and marvel at the beauty of our home planet.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q9qJbNmAf2s?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque

A massive spinning ring could store our excess energy

Purple Dragon aesthetic

Outsiders are not not saving a language by learning it.

While I’m personally grateful services like Tribalingual exist, creating some academic access to Indigenous languages, particularly for Indigenous diaspora (if they can afford it), I’m extremely dubious of the notion that a outsiders learning an Indigenous language is somehow “saving” it. There was a testimonial from some white American girl learning Ainu itak, and she spoke of it as if she were collecting some rare Pokemon card before it went out of print or something, framing it in typical dying Native rhetoric. What is she going to do with Ainu itak, except as some obscure lingual trophy?

If you want to save a language, save the people.

Language means nothing without history and culture breathing life into it, and in turn we are disconnected from our history and ancestors without it. Support Indigenous quality of life, ACCESS to quality education, quality health services (mental and physical), land and subsistence rights, CLEAN DRINKING WATER, advocate against police brutality and state violence, DEMAND ACTION FOR MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN.

Damn, if you really want to “save the language” pay for an Indigenous person’s classes for them to reconnect to their mother tongues. I’m not saying outsiders shouldn’t learn languages they’re invited to learn, but don’t pretend like you learning conversational Ainu itak is saving it from extinction.

This startup is turning plastic waste into affordable housing

The company called Eco Domum, or Eco Home, is based in Puebla, Mexico. Founder Carlos Daniel González collects, sorts and melts down non-toxic plastics into a liquid, according to Unreasonable. That sludge is then put into a hydraulic press, which forms the plastic into hardened panels. It takes two tons of plastic to make one house. At scale, González’s plastic houses could be just what Mexico needs.

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