These are a few stories we found this week that may be of interest to institute regulars. If you have a news tip, please send it to lowtechinstitute@gmail.com.
Low Tech News
What’s the best way to wash apples? – TH
12 Autumn Activities for the Temperate Homestead – PRI
My high school throws out a stupid amount of food. What can I do? – G
Minimalism may be trendy, but it certainly isn’t new– TH
Passivhaus development in the UK shows that we can have nice things – TH
Fleeing The Cities in Hard Times – NBB
The Need to Limit Energy Use – PRI
Hurricane Maria crushed Puerto Rico farms. This activist wants to grow resilience through food – G
Best Composting Toilet System Ever – NBB
Beautiful Japanese Tiny House on Wheels – NBB
THREE Permaculture Systems You’ve NEVER Seen – NBB
Environmental News
Two Active Logging Blockades Happening in the Pacific Northwest – EF!
Don’t blame California wildfires on a ‘perfect storm’ of weather events – C
$15,500 Reward Offered After Endangered Wolf Shot Dead – NPR
100-degree October temperatures? Welcome to ‘hotumn.’ – G
42 Dead, 8,400 Structures Burned, More Than $1 Billion in Damage: the Devastating Toll of California’s Wildfires – MJ
Ireland’s first climate lawsuit is potentially a historic turning point – Feasta
Indigenous-led, anti-fossil fuel protests are shutting down banks in cities across the globe – G
The United States and Syria Are All Alone When It Comes to the Paris Climate Agreement – MJ
Climate Change Journalist Warns: ‘Mother Nature Is Playing By Different Rules Now’ – NPR
Research News
Tesla’s Solar Vision Gets its First Big Test in Puerto Rico – R
We Were Promised Fusion Energy – VM
What Will the Outdoors Sound Like in the Future? – VM
The World Spent $14.4 Billion on Conservation, and It Actually Worked – VM
Amid GMO Strife, Food Industry Vies For Public Trust In CRISPR Technology – NPR
Climate change is gonna be freakin’ expensive, government office warns – G
Bringing “extreme” poverty to an end will not jeopardise the chances of limiting global warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels, a new study says – CB
The cost of installing solar energy is going to plummet again – G
Renewables will Give more People Access to Electricity than Coal, says IEA – R
Op-Ed¹
Why we don’t need electric cars, but need to get rid of cars – TH
Why aren’t we curing the world’s most curable diseases? – C
Are We the Last Generation to Experience the Outdoors as We Know it? – VM
Source Abbreviations
CB – Carbon Brief
C – The Conversation
E – The Ecologist
EF! – Earth First! Newswire
G – Grist
MJ – Mother Jones
NBB — Natural Building Blog
NPR – National Public Radio
NYT – New York Times
PRI – Permaculture Research Institute
R – Resilience
TH – TreeHugger
V – Vice
VM – Vice: Motherboard
Disclaimer: The news stories and posts linked above are not meant as an endorsement of the information presented. They are provided as they may be of interest to our readers and further our aims of solutions for a post-fossil-fuel world. We strive to provide fact-based information. If you feel that political views are being presented in a partisan fashion, we are happy to provide equal time to opposing view points as long as they are derived from verifiable data and facts.
¹Opinion pieces represent the independent thought of their authors and may or may not represent the position of the Low Technology Institute.