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[advocateforearth-deactivated202]

an introduction to solarpunk

artwork by Molly Costello (instagram)

what is solarpunk?

“Solarpunks cherish nature, progress and science; the individual and the community.

They believe in a world that is green, colourful, and bright. It can be described as a literary genre, an aesthetic, or a movement. The key points are:

An emphasis on renewable energy, especially solar power.

A demand for technology and society to re-centre around sustainability, longevity, and balance.

A focus on decentralisation, community activism, social justice and civic empowerment.

A recognition that economic, social, and ecological injustices are all deeply inter-connected.”

- Sunbeam City

“Solarpunk is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create” - Ben Valentine

Solarpunk as a concept emerged from the imagination of authors and creators in the early 2000′s, and was shared freely throughout the internet. It originated as a genre of creative writing and artwork, but it quickly began to be implemented into decentralised left-wing spaces. Nowadays, solarpunk embodies a whole range of politics, activism, design and art; but at its heart it encompasses positive, grassroots community action and innovation as a way to prevent ecological crises. 

resources

non fiction books, essays and articles

Solarpunk: a reference guide

Solarpunk: notes towards a manifesto 

Solarpunk against a shitty future 

What is Solarpunk?

Solarpunk Resources

Designing Regenerative Cultures by Daniel Wahl

The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams  

Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology by Alexis Madrigal  

Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community by Karen T. Litfin  

Designing for Hope: Pathways to Regenerative Sustainability by Dominique Hes  

novels and fiction

Goodreads solarpunk list  

Solarpunk Press 

Solarpunk Story Exchange

Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation 

Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach

Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers by Sarena Ulibarri

Wings of Renewal: A Solarpunk Dragon Anthology by Claudie Arseneault

Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation by Phoebe Wagner 

Twenty One Twenty by Jason J. Robinson

Winds of Change: Short Stories about Our Climate by Mary Woodbury 

Ecopunk! - speculative tales of radical futures by Liz Grzyb

videos

Sunbeam Cinema (my list of documentaries and films)

Imagining a Solarpunk future (TED talk)

podcasts

Adventures in New America 

The War on Cars

Climate One 

Future Perfect 

The Impact 

The Institute for Local Self Reliance 

It’s Going Down

The Shift Up Podcast

Solarpunk Press 

Strong Towns 

Team Human 

Occulture Podcast, ep. 122

(my list of podcasts and radio shows)

websites and blogs

Sunbeam City Wiki  Solarpunk Anarchists  Solarpunk Station 

tumblr

This is where I need your help - I would love to collate a list of Solarpunk-themed tumblr blogs. If you post about Solarpunk and would like to be included in this list, please comment or message me with your blog URL. Thank you! 

Relevant posts

my list of permaculture resources

my tips and tricks for disabled activism 

my post on gardening 

my post on community activism

post updated: 8/7/2019

[solarpunks]

Great list of resources here. Our long reference guide on medium will be updated soon. (We promise.)

[advocateforearth-deactivated202]

woohoo! thank you 😊🌻

[0hi0is0nfire-deactivated2020041]

for all of you guys getting anxious about the environment and pollution

y’all deserve to hear the good news too, and yes i fact checked these.

7 miles of habitat for bees will be planted in london

the biggest coal plant in north america has been converted to solar panels

roads in edinburgh will close once a month to help pollution

maine has banned styrofoam

new york city and los angeles have both made “green new deals”

The london marathon replaced 200,000 single use water bottles with seaweed water pods

the bees in notre dame survived the fire, and the roof could possibly built in a more eco-friendly way.

the population of flightless kakapos (a cool bird) is rising

the carbon emissions in the uk are the lowest they’ve been since 1998

Another large bee habitat (.5 mil acres) has been created

there is a robot that delivers young coral to help repopulate the great barrier reef

portugal plans to stop using plastic on fruit, vegetables, and bread by 2020

106 new species of bees have been discovered in australia since 2010

a group of Sikhs plan to plant 1,000,000 trees as a gift to the earth

disney has made a mickey-shaped solar farm

Morgan freeman turned a 124 acre ranch in mississippi to a bee habitat

China plans on making a “forest city” to help clean up their air

An increasing amount of countries and states are beginning to ban single use plastics.

A couple replanted a whole forest in brazil (2.7 mil trees) in 20 years, and the animals have come back to live there

The hole in the ozone layer is repairing itself more each year

China plans on spending 360 billion dollars to improve renewable energy and has scrapped plans for coal powered plants that were going to be built.

A national park has been built in the amazon (3.3 mil acres in peru) to preserve the rainforest

Ireland and the uk have declared a climate emergency

The guy who played aquaman (jason momoa) has spent 31,000 dollars to help clean up plastic

South korea is now recycling 95% of food waste

There is a cleanup campaign being planned for mt. everest

Puerto rico wants to use all renewable energy by 2050 and is setting official goals for that

Some schools have special water bottle fill-up stations that encourage you to use refill and reuse plastic bottles rather than throwing them out after one use, these are becoming more common.

9 endangered species are thought to make a comeback this year

20 countries in africa are planning to make a “green wall” of trees and plants that will span the width of africa to stop desertification

recently, a lot of volunteers and organizations are planting a ton of trees.

Awareness about the environment and climate change is growing super fast right now among people and countries, which will only help us

Most pollution is caused by like 100 companies, but a few of those (like pepsi) are trying to cut down on that.

if this stuff keeps happening things will get even better, and the only thing stopping us really are those big companies who don’t want to pay the money to switch to more eco-friendly energy sources. i know the media tends to cause fear and stress about this stuff for a lot of people, but there really is hope.

easy things we can do: 

Recycle 

Plant gardens in your yard for bees if you can

Participate in community volunteer things that plant trees and gardens

Theres this search engine called ecosia that plants a tree for every 45 searches you make, it has almost 2 mil users. 

Pick up trash if you see it when you’re at the beach or in nature

If you have a fair amount of money, consider donating some to trustworthy environmental organizations

Start using a reusable water bottle (like those ones at target) rather than relying on single use plastic ones.

Cut the plastic rings on plastic milk bottles. You know, the little spiky plastic ring near the cap. Birds get those things stuck around their neck and die, so cut them so that they can’t get stuck on a neck.

If you can afford it, get some of those reusable grocery bags and sue those. most grocery stores have them, and it saves a lot of waste.

[solis-salutis]

on not waiting

Sometimes I find myself fantasizing about growing my own food, collecting rainwater, foraging, essentially living in the forrest. i get discouraged that it seems so unfeasible…i don’t even know cardinal directions! But I have to remind myself, the fantasy isn’t really about living in a magical, self-sustaining witch-hut (although that’s dope). It’s about feeling empowered and independent, about reclaiming a relationship with the earth, about working with raw materials and building a safe space for myself.

And I already have what I need to do that, already. I live in a city, but I have a thriving container garden. I don’t know how to farm, but I’ve planted indigenous grasses in the barren corners of my neighborhood. I could go on, but what I’m saying is - always do what is within reach. Blogging and researching are great, but they will never empower you the way that hands-on experience will. If you are lucky enough to get the Ultimate Fantasy, all of that experience will come in handy. All of it will expedite your life, save you time, and help you flourish.  But most importantly, allowing yourself hands-on experience (even if it’s something as small as identifying a bird) will allow you to live your dream.  Don’t ever put “your dream” on the other-side of resources. It takes years of dedicated work and study and saving to accomplish anything. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet and five minutes to read it. THat’s enough to find something.  So just take a bite, just one little spoonful. Try the smallest version of what you want to do, on whatever scale you have access to. Don’t allow the fantasy to blind you to opportunity. 

[birch-fence]

lmao i lost at least 7 followers after reblogging that…. anyway if you exclude nonbinary people you’re ignoring the white stripe of the trans flag; aces and aros are not straight and thus lgbt+ because theyre literally not attracted to the opposite sex, trans women are real women, and physical dysphoria is not required to be considered trans

[birch-fence]

me watching the terfs, aphobes and transmeds disappear from my follower count

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

If global warming is inevitable, then I’m gonna fight for every tenth of a degree. If fascism is inevitable, then I’m gonna save as many people as I can. This world is turning into a horror movie? Then I’ll become the final girl.

I’m done being worn down by reality. It’s time for reality to take some wearing from me.

[solarpunkwitchcraft]

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?

[nibblesthegardener]

¤ Persuade your local gov’t and city mayor to support the Paris agreement! Call your state reps too!

¤ Be involved in local community and charity!

¤ Barter where you can, and buy local & thrift where you can’t! Make! Make! MAKE!

¤ Get some solar panels! Small ones, big ones, whatever you can afford.

¤ If you can get away, go forest bathing! Appreciate nature, and teach your children to do the same. Remember–leave only footprints.

¤ If you got a patch of land, garden it! Can’t grow it yourself? Volunteer it to someone who will!

¤ Collect your rainwater!

¤ Got kids or going to have them? Have two. Then stop. The third kid is SO much more expensive in terms of… Well literally everything. Bigger house. Bigger car. More resources.

¤ Cloth diapers, reusable wipes. Homemade laundry soap. Clothesline. (I realize this is house spouse territory, but do what you can.)

¤ Encourage your local school district to open an outdoor classroom, or a class garden! Or volunteer to help with one of those “circle of life” lessons that involve baby chicks or silk worms. (Tada! Now you have chickens!)

¤ Collect local deadwood (my area has loads), and either turn it into works of Art–or of it’s not good for anything else–Biochar. By removing dead wood from urban areas you reduce the ever increasing risk of fire.

¤ Time to end the rent rat race? Buy a tiny piece of land and build your dream house YOUR way. Natural building. Tiny. Reclaimed materials. Solar. High tech. All good.

¤ Eat less meat. I get it. We all have different dietary needs, and not all of is can go vegan. I know I can’t. I’m not here to shame anybody, but cows especially are particularly bad. It would be nice of they were all grass fed dwarf cattle (mini-moos) though.

[solarpunkcast]

American activism and resistance:

Find your Representatives Contacting Elected Officials Activism events near you United Resistance

[zinjanthropusboisei]

If you live in NY State, you can lobby your town/city/county government to become a Climate Smart Community by adopting the pledges here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/50845.html

I’m assuming other states might have something similar (hopefully).

[foxteethandflora]

-Bee boxes, bird houses, bee gardens, bat boxes - make your neighborhood more friendly for flora and fauna.

-try composting. If your city has a compost program, opt in. If not, make your own!

-track your water usage. Then try to limit it in small ways. Do the same with your electricity!

-plant a tree. Or five. Seriously - they’re such a great investment.

- go to a co-op and buy…well…anything. Often they have eco friendly soap, shampoo and cleaning products!

-or you can try making your own!

[feltelures]

Sewing 101

Articles on container gardening

Free cloth diaper patterns

Recipe for laundry soap

How to make biochar

The homesteading movement

24 meatless recipes

Make a: - Bee box - Bird house - Bee-friendly garden - Bat box

Track your daily water usage

Make eco-friendly: - Soap - Shampoo - Cleaning products

[bloomsnake]

So, I’d like to add in some more environmentally focused options:

1) Familiarize yourself with your state and where you live.

o   What types of ecosystems are near you (Chaparral, Tropical Hardwood Hammock, Longleaf Pine Forest, etc)? What is so special about them?

o   What rare species live in your state? What state-threatened and state endangered species live near you? What federally threatened and endangered species live near you? Pay EXTRA close attention to non-charismatic species, such as reptiles, amphibians, insects (hello NATIVE BEES AND POLLINATORS) and arthropods, PLANTS, crustaceans (there are TONS of threatened crawfish), mollusks (Florida has at least one threatened snail and a few rare clams!), fungi, etc. What threats do these organisms face, and what can you do to help them?

o   What environmental issues are prevalent in your state, and why? What is one local environmental issue that is very close to you?

For example, in Florida, a major environmental problem is the ongoing fight to restore water flow to the Everglades, an ecosystem that NEEDS a continuous flow of water through it. However, the sugar industry would rather use that to grow MORE sugar and divert its nasty ass fertilizer water full of toxic algae to canals and rivers that dump into the ocean. I’ve seen several articles detailing major losses for local economies that depend on tourism, as well as more discussing how toxic algae is actually REALLY BAD for people (who knew, amirite?) More info here.

[reimenaashelyee]

Journal comic that came out of me buying reusable cotton pads.

[thetransitgirl]

A network of 113 lines, including 26 long-distance routes and 87 frequent regional routes, 21 of which would support high-speed service. Connecting thousands of American cities and towns, including the 132 shown on this map, of which 45 would have high-speed service and only 12 would not be served by frequent regional routes. Today, after eleven years of planning, I’m launching my vision of Rail for America.

This isn’t a formal policy proposal or a business plan. This is an idea: a glimpse into what the American rail network has potential to be, through which I hope to illustrate where Amtrak’s service is desperately lacking. This plan asks the question: what if America’s transit network was comparable to those of Europe and China? Of course, Europe and China have much denser populations than that of America, and so the network proposed here is less dense than those of Europe and China. But this is a fundamentally different kind of system than today’s Amtrak, which is held back by only serving towns it deems viable without feeling the need to serve the entire country. I aim to fix that.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be shifting the focus of this blog to offer many detailed glimpses into the structure of this network, looking into specific cities and corridors to determine the best ways to operate. Through this plan I’m hoping to tie together transportation analysis on the local and national scales, by identifying how even local commuter routes play a part in a cohesive national network. Is this a daunting task? Yes. But I’ve been working on this since I was eleven years old and I don’t plan on stopping now.

And if you want this network to become a reality? Talk about it. Share this plan, get people thinking, send people here to see what I’ve got in store. Prove to the nation and the world that you’re tired of America’s focus on cars and highways and that you’re ready for something better.

[riversides-and-wreckage0-deacti]

I just want to drop out of school and go live in an eco home in a small country town, making my own bread and growing my own veggies and plants. Is that too much to ask for?!

[scottishwobbly]

[tea-withnofixinsplease]

BRO. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY, RESOURCES, AND LABOR THIS CAN SAVE??

[femmanist]

14 Women of Color Leading Change in the U.S. Food System

14 African-American female entrepreneurs who have incorporated sustainable food production practices into their business motto.

[tywysogesyrheulwen]

Why are you here?

Hey, hey, hey guys.

What got you into farmcore, homesteading, solarpunk, etc?

I’ve seen some discussions that seem to imply that many of us are here for different reasons than I thought or that there are lots of people who don’t understand each other in these circles. I know I don’t have that many followers but I’ll reblog this a couple of times just to try and get it around.

I’m really interested in what people’s specific inspirations were. Did you read a book and just think “wow, this is how I want to live/dress/write/…”? Did you have an inspiring person in your life or visit somewhere special?

[solarpunk-city]

I saw a couple of mentions of “solarpunk” from the witch blogs I follow. I went through the tag at like 2am and I just,,, really wanted to do this. So now I’m gardening and sewing and I even just made a vermicompost bin! 

[souppippin]

I’ve been trying to get back in touch with making things and???? It’s so good??? I carved my first and second spoon in the last week and today I sewed an apron out of an old skirt?

[solarpunkprincess]

New York City Passes Law Requiring Green Roofs on New Buildings

The city's new green building legislation will result in the equivalent of taking more than one million cars off the road by 2030.

Following in the footsteps of Toronto, San Francisco, Denver, and Portland, Oregon, all new residential and commercial buildings in the city must top roofs with either plants, solar panels, mini wind turbines—or a combination of all three.

[moderately-warm-mangos-deactiva]

Notre Dame roof reimagined as a giant greenhouse

French firm Studio NAB showed off its design to turn the damaged roof of the cathedral into a giant greenhouse, complete with an apiary repl

Hey guys how cool would this be? A new look to herald the start of the eco/sustainable future our planet needs.

[solarpunk-city]

This would be amazing!

[sunandsilicon]

MANGA Farming Make Use Of Old Manga Comic Books

Manga lovers out there can now give back to the environment by having their old Manga comic books as a tool for MANGA Farming. Designed by Koshi Kawachi, Manga farming make use of the old Manga comic books that many of us enjoyed reading.