The greenwashing story in general, what is it and how and why is it applied There is a growing demand for radical changes in regard to our relation with the environment. Our current system wants to make us believe that our demands are met by supplying us with green changes within the system. Why no systemchange is the question we ask. Because it will include changes of the whole capitalistic structure which is an unsustainable system that degrades people to being consumers, slaves, depended on monopolist powers where countries wealth is being measured in GDP. The more financial income a counrty has the better for the GDP. It works with creating scarcity, centralisation of power and hiearchies instead of a system based on principles as participation, freedom/interdependency of autonomous structures, GDH (gross domestic happiness), resilience, autonomy, abundance, sharing - exchanging, decentralisation of power and selforganising. These principles are a thorn in the governments policies which has to keep the centralisation of power in order so under the flag of greenwashing capitalism they try to maintain their order with labeling the economy as green with sustainable developments, green growth, biological, organic, etc.. These all have no solutions to the issues we face as it is business as usual with a green smiley. What is happening in Samothraki in relation to greenwashing Samothraki is an island in the upper east part of Greece, where there is an abundance of fresh water, waterfalls, rivers and an immeassurable potential of a local resilient autonomous economy to thrive. Meanwhile the island is being overgrazed by an increasing goat population due to a policy of the European goverment who gave money for each extra goat a farmer would have with an effect of overgrazing > erosian & degration of land. You think this is an innocent step? No, it is obvious that this policiy would have degration of the land as an effect. Nestle came to the island and together with Unilever, Coca Cola and other big multinationals they are the capitalist monopolists providing the island with many products. There is still a local market, but the power of big companies is intense. Now there is a masterplan for so called sustainable local energy supply which is a major greenwashing scam.. Big multinationals Bobolas & Kapelouzos, who operate as intermediaries of French and German energy corporate behemoths, wants to construct a giant windmillpark on the island that should provide the islanders with a source of autonomous green energy where the locals will profit from. In reality this giant monoculture windpark will demand the making of pathways of 30 to 40 meter broad which will mean more erosian of land and a threat of even more erosian as it will make an easy access for illegal deforestation as well. Besides the killing of birds by the turbine wings, the large concrete blocks needed for the construction will disrubt the microclimate and pollute the pure waters below. As an effect water supply will be then potentially taken care of by corperate relatives of Bobolas & Kapelouzos (like Nestle) in the near future. Look at what influences big multionals already have. Only the examples in Crete, Halkidiki, Kilkis and Evia would say enough to ring the alarmbells. We dont want to focus too much on this as, but if you feel like knowing more about this you can find more documentaries, informations and references online, also on our website. Lets focus on what we really need when we think truly about sustainable solutions We believe that we need to integrate and spread practical knowledge in how to live more autonomous. With SOS Samothraki we are aiming towards opening an autonomous social center somewhere in the island where to express, create defend and extend autonomy. Ideally in this place we open spaces to connect with local and worldcitizens and work on informing and inspiring each other to take part in workgroups and as becoming an example of an autonomous space on the island with local iniatives sparking into existence. A lot of people around the world do already amazing work in this and also in Greece and now the time has come to autonomize Samothraki and to stop further capitalisation of resources and people on the island. Inspiration we have comes for a large part out of life itself and specifically in a book which is a very helpful practical guideline and educational tool. It supports us to be aware of our current situation and gives us examples for how to increase our autonomy. The book is free available online, also on our website. "With SOS Samothraki we are aiming towards opening an autonomous social center somewhere in the island where to express, create defend and extend autonomy". If we truly want to have influence we believe that we should do it ourselves and not be against governments policies only. We should have selfgoverning principles on all levels of life to increase autonomy as decisions are to be made decentralised and by consenus in a sustainable reality. To give you some idea on what kind of topics we need to work on: 1. Political awareness 2. Leadership 3. Autonomous places 4. Energy 5. Economy 6. Ecology 7. Food&waters 8. Education 9. Health 10. Housing 1. Political awareness Knowing what is the political situation in which we live and what we have to cope with to improve our lives and the biodiversity in Samothraki. How does this affect us and what we can do to have a better influence on the local and global scale. That we are living with a rapidly escalating ecological, social, political and economic crisis is beyond doubt. This has been outlined rigorously over the last few decades in reports like The Limits to Growth (1972), Our Common Future (better known as the Brudtland report) (1987) or landmark books like Frits Schumachers Small Is Beautiful (1973), as well as the WorldWatch Institutes annual State of the World report (www.worldwatch.org). How we came to be in this situation is less certain. From it earlierst beginnings, humankind lived in relative harmony with nature, ruled by its laws, in tune with the seasons and with minimal disruption to the overall ecological system. At the end of the last ice age, climatic conditions changed and productivitz increased, and humans in the Middle East, East Africa and China moved from gasthering and hunting in small groups to settled agriculture. Impacts were huge and many writers of social and human ecology such as Murray Bookchin, John Zerzan and Michael Sahlins saee this as the origins of our present civilisation and its trappings such as hierachy, division of labour, oppression, trading and specialisation, more complex social organisation, and the first cities. Ultimately these civilisations were unable to manage their resource base and failed. Reasons included soil and tree loss, the collapse of agriculture, war with competing civilisations or an inability to change inappropriate social and environmental practises. These ideas have been eloquently outlined by Jared Diamond in a number of books such as Guns, Germns and Steel (1997) and Collapse (2005). (Read more in DIY guideline in how to change the world) More in DIY Guideline p11, p90, 78, 108, 139 2. No leadership, but responsibility Work together and cooperate instead of above or under each others authority to compete to win/loose The alarmclock rings. Shower, dress, listen to the news. Get irate: war in Iraq - no one’s asked me! Tax increase, great. Yet another step closer to privatizing the health service. Local elections coming up, politicians make new wonderful promises. Why bother? Rush to work, another dull day in the office. Get called in by the boss - new targets from head office, work overtime this week. That’s my day off gone. Get home, mircowave some food. Letter from the landlord: pay more or move out. Too tired to go out, just switch the television on for some light relief. Had a good day? How do we break out of this system of control, where we all willingly or unwillingly, exert power over others, forcing them into actions they’d rather not do? One solution is to challenge and provide alternatives to the rules, leaders and hierarchies that largely direct our daily lives and shape the way our societies function. We need to develop a different understanding of power - where people work with each other rather than seeking to control and command. And we need to find ways of relating to each other without hierarchy and leaders. These ideas are far from new and are part of a journey into a different world, where people have always striven for control over their lives, struggled for self-determination and to rid themselves of their rulers and leaders. More in DIY Guideline p51 3. Direct actions in creating autonomous spaces where to: - change the culture (from separation with nations into borderless culture with unity in diversity and respect and support of a healthy life) - reclaim the media - build active campaigns - organize gift economy initiatives - organize meetings with locals to start decentralizing power and create local influence. 4. Autonomous energy sources Energy not from monoculture energy sources like windmillparks made by big multinationals, but from decentralised energy supply decided upon by the community in a self-organised way, efficient & with consensus based decision making. For example from micro windturbines connected to ecohousing solutions (...), grey water systems and permaculture design. 5. Resilient Local economy A reslient local economy could be thriving with sharing economy practises where people and planet profits (carsharing, communitygardens, sportactivies, housesharing, knowledge & information sharing, skillsharing, toolsharing, timesharing, creativitysharing etc.) Collective expenses will be made effective and transparant, not via taxes but by participatory budgeting. Promoting the use of alternative currencies (like faircoin) Think Global Act Local - Creating local autonomy and connect with others in the world who do so to exchange resources and support eachother. 6. Ecology Applying permaculture principles Restoration and expansion of vegatation by goat population control and regreening initiatives Reducing waste by re-using, up-cycling, re-pairing sharing and starting to use biodegradable packaging. 7. Food & waters Food is essention to what we are. For centeries it has shaped societies and cultures. The word diet stems from the Greek digitals which means way of life. However huge changes are underway in our life throug the corporate takeover of the food chain whereby food is places increasingly in the hands of multinationals and locked in a cycle of fossil fuel politics. We want to build out a sustaibale food system, where we self-manage what we eat and maximize a diverse food supply. Cultivating a maximium diversity of vegatables, fruittrees, Maximizing effecient use of sweet waters and grey watersystems p41 Why we are what we eat p139 – 154; Creating community gardens p 154 8. Education Tell me and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I comprehend. (Chinese verb) Education,and in particular popular education, is vital to respond to the ecological, social and climatic crised we face and to achieve meaningful radical soicla change. An education where we relearn co-operation and responsibility that is critically reflective but creatively looks forward - an education that is popular, of and from the people. We want to initiate long life learning which aims at getting people to understand the world around them, so they can take back control collectively, intervent in it, and transform it. By sharing skills, knowdledge & creativity freely without system of hierarchies or rewards, but with the satisfaction of sharing and improving learning and teaching experiences by free exchange of knowledge, open source and interactive. More in DIY on p108 - p139 9. Health Every part of our life has an impact on our health. Taking some personal responsibility for our health is an important part of taking control over our lives. It is very difficult to write a tick list for a way to achieve health which is more autonomous and self-managed, but what follows are some ideas on how to become less dependent on medical institutions that have fairly narrow ways of defining and treating disease. We can take more responsibility over our own health by eating more healthy, quitting smoking or drinking less alcohol. But we also need to change at a wider social level – it’s not just about taking individual responsibility, but also for and with others including those who need it the most. There are number of ways in which we can manage our own health and what is realistic depends on our personal situations and resources. We like to look set up self-help groups, a health collective, using natural remedies and dealing with medical institutions to our best advantage. Why society is sick and is making us sick (more in DIY on p78) Why creating autonomous health is the solution (p87) 10. Housing Houses are able to offer the energy needed with sustainabilte Ecohousing design (p28); with for example solarshower (p32), grey water system, watercollecting and permacultural design. We would like to focus on all this topics and more to improve our knowledge and skills with you in the autonomous social center we are planning to open. If you feel like helping this to succeed be welcome to participate and help to work on this. Also if you have any questions regarding this text, comments or suggestions, let us know! Contact: [email protected] Fb: SOS Samothraki
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