Wilder Tribe
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May 2004. Ways we tried to live sustainably in Berkeley.
 ming san and kaseja took the kids along on the Nevada Desert Experience walk to protest nuclear testing |
We try to live in a way that is good to the earth. We think about everything we bring into our house and try to find ways to eliminate things that end up in the landfill or are harmful to the environment. We eat organic foods, avoid packaged foods by making our own yogurt, soy milk, peanut butter, etc. kaseja and the kids volunteer at Food Not Bombs while Marty works. That's where we met beth and ming san (Richard). beth lived with us before she went to Chiapas, Mexico to teach English and learn Spanish. ming san hangs out a lot at our house and is lovers with kaseja. We bring our own plates and utensils to parties and events and try not to contribute to the "disposable" product industry. We even bring our own containers to fast food places on the rare occasion that we eat out. We bought cloth diapers for the same reason. In fact, we started using diapers to replace paper towels and kleenex. Then we started recycling old cotton clothes into napkins and pee rags that we've been using instead of toilet paper. This is all part of what sustainable living is about for us.
Pee Rags
oh, the joy of pee rags!
because toilet paper is made from trees
because toilet paper is (usually) bleached and made from non-recycled paper
because when toilet paper is made from recycled paper and isnt bleached it’s expensive
because women who have sensitive vulvas can actually get ulcers from even the softest toilet paper
because toilet paper often comes packaged in plastic
because rags are readily accessible and free
i used pee rags when i lived in the woods and have recently started using them in my home again. it is such a joy to
unhook in one more place from the consumption mentality of our culture. having used blood rags now for many years i
wonder at why it took me so long to come back to pee rags.
they dont stink, really. just dedicate a pot with a lid or someother container to used rags and have a nice cloth bag to
hold your pee rags somewhere near where the toilet paper hangs. if you write "clean pee rags" on the bag and "used
pee rags" on the pot lid, your friends might even get the hint and use them, too.
it is possible to use pee rags when you poop, too. i like to squirt just a few drops of liquid soap on the pee rag before i
wipe, and use one rag for each wipe. (using this method has just about cured any problem i have with my hemmorhoids,
by the way.) i fold the rag in half after use to keep things more hygenic in the pee rag recepticle. currently i have
children still using diapers, so i wash the pee rags with the diapers. if you are concerned about extra cleanliness, you
give your pee rags a pre wash with very hot water and soap, swish it around in the pot or similar recepticle and drain
before adding to your wash. some people i know skip using rags altogether when they poop, they use a sports top water
bottle to run water over their bum and wipe with their hand and then wash their hands.
i recently saw someone walk past my house with a 4 pack of toilet paper packaged in plastic and carried in a plastic
bag. i felt so grateful that i am not a part of that any more, and i hope we can get more people to unhook from this
useless form of waste.
Praise Mother Earth!
Food Not Bombs is an all volunteer organization that takes food out of the waste cycle in the Bay Area and
cooks up delicious vegetarian meals and then serves it to anyone who wants to eat. Food Not Bombs also supports
conferences and demonstrations organized to end various forms of oppression prevalent in our culture such as war or
other injustices. In addition, we support gatherings that explore ways to support ecologically sustainable practices; the
Bio-Diesel Collective and Do It Yourself Skill Shares are two examples. We cook at the Humanist Hall on Tuesdays and
Fridays. On Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays we cook in Berkeley at other cookhouses. We often cook on
Saturdays for special events.
How do we get food out of the waste cycle? We solicit donations from local markets (stores that sell organic produce
and farmer's markets, as well as some restaurants). They donate food that they have too much of, or food that isn't really
good enough to sell, but can still be eaten. Sometimes, we have to slog through quite a bit of not so good produce to find
some that is still good, but it feels good to keep things out of the dumpster and prepare it in such a way that someone can
eat it. The food we get that has gone bad, we make into compost, and that's a good thing, too.
We like to emphasize eating with the people who come to the park to partake in the food we have prepared. Some
people think we feed the homeless, and while that is certainly true, we also feed activists who are too busy on any given
day to deal with preparing food, or artists that are working on a project or, well, the bottom line is that we feed people
who want to eat. And since everyone wants to eat at some point in their lives, we figure we're appealing to everyone, at
least on a theoretical level.
I have worked with EBFNB for almost 2 years now. The first day my kids and i came to the Humanist Hall was on a
Tuesday, and we've come almost every Tuesday since. My kids were pretty little when i started: Rainyrain was almost 2
and Kite was 2 1/2. It was a challenge for me to find volunteer work that i could bring my kids to. I was lucky that i
happened to choose a day where beth was also a regular because she welcomed my kids in such an embracing way that
it made it work for all of us. Really, i don't think i would have lasted more than one day without beth. David at the
Humanist Hall has also been enthusiastic about my kids being there, and that's a part of what has made it possible for me
to continue. I feel really grateful that i can contribute to my community in this way, and have such loving support as a
mother at the same time. I can't sing enough praise for the Tuesday crew, i have said more often than i can count
"Tuesday is my day" and it is. Even when i'm cranky, even when it's just me and one other person (thank for being there
that day, Richard) Tuesday is the day that i love contributing what i can to Food Not Bombs.
Some people feel the essence of FNB is the "Not Bombs" part. I can't argue with that, because i know it's really
important. But for me, food is what it really is about: rescuing produce, making nutritious yummy food out of it, offering
food and teaching people that vegan can be good (for those who don't already know it). I'm glad that I get to be a part of
such a wonderful process.
It's not always easy to get along with everyone in our group; we come from a variety of backgrounds and we often have
different approaches to the same end. For myself, i'm often bothered by a gender imbalance; there tend to be more men
than women on the crews. We are also overwhleming caucasian; i wish we were more representative of Bay Area
demographics. Social segragation is a very painful aspect of racism that i see reflected in our cookhouses. I am
negatively affected by this, and i feel sad about that. In addition, i would like to say a word about social interactions and
interpersonal dynamics; i wish more people could speak from their own perspective instead of projecting anger outward,
which can sometimes cause arguments. It's awful when i can see an alternative organization perpetuating these
dis-eases that i see in the culture surrounding us. But while i think looking at where we can improve is important, it's so
important to praise the good that we do. Food Not Bombs happens in many cities around the world with various levels of
success, in the East Bay we consistently serve food 6 days a week. As far as i can see, we're functional. There's enough
people who care to keep it happening, and that is such a good thing. It's wonderful to feed people. When we, the people,
are hungry, we can't hope to change the world or make peace happen. It's a real, concrete way to add good and loving
energy to the world. I think we're awesome.
by kaseja