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SECTIONS OF THE BOOK SOLVIVA:
Table of Contents
|| Introduction
|| Some current realities
|| A visit to Solviva
How I got on the path of seeking
better ways to live... || Wastewater
Management
Greyburg or Greendale: where
would you rather live?
INTRODUCTION to some CURRENT REALITIES
(a chapter from the Solviva
book)
It is a thrill to fly back home to Martha's Vineyard,
especially when lucky enough to sit in the copilot seat in the
tiny commuter plane. After passing Boston, the smog clears and
the view becomes captivating as we bump and drone south along
the coast of Massachusetts.
The landscape looks pristine from above, neat ribbons of highways
with cars traveling like ants. Even the dumps look clean and tidy,
and the wisps of smoke from the power plants and incinerators
appear so innocent. Only the ponds, lagoons and inlets offer any
visible indications that all is not well. Most of them look like
festering sores, surfaces partially covered by brown and green
algae infestations. These unhealthy conditions are caused by the
influx of excess nutrients that for years was blamed on water
birds and on runoff from agriculture and lawn fertilizers. However,
it is now known that algae pollution is primarily caused by the
nitrogen that seeps with the groundwater from conventional septic
and sewage systems, whether nearby or distant from the body of
water. In other words, the algae pollution is caused mostly by
human body wastes.
Some 4 million people live in eastern Massachusetts, and their
bodies release wastes that contain about 40 million pounds of
nitrogen and 15 million pounds of phosphorus per year. Standard
septic systems are incapable of reducing this nitrogen to any
significant degree, and thus release some 35 to 55 ppm (parts
per million) of nitrogen into the groundwater. Many central sewage
treatment facilities release about 25 ppm. Thus 20 to 25 million
pounds of nitrogen a year flow with the groundwater, unabated,
at a rate of about 1 to 3 feet per day, to the nearest surface
waters, whether they are 100 feet or 10 miles away.
Levels of nitrogen above 10 ppm in drinking water are dangerous
to human health because they can reduce the blood's oxygen exchange
capacity. (Methemoglobinemia is one of the causes of the dreaded
sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.) However, levels of nitrogen
even lower than 10 ppm are harmful to the environment because
they cause massive algae growth, like a fungus infection, in ponds
and lagoons, rivers and harbors. This leads to foul odors, stagnation
and rapid eutrophication, and to pollution and death of shellfish
beds and spawning grounds.
On this cold day in late November, these same 4 million people
are burning roughly 15 million gallons of oil in power plants,
furnaces and heaters in order to have warmth and electricity for
their homes and places of learning, work and recreation. This
fuel was extracted in faraway places such as the Persian Gulf
region, Northern Atlantic, Nigeria, Alaska, Mexico and Venezuela,
with disastrous ecological consequences, and transported across
the oceans in giant oil tankers, resulting in annual spills that
total many times more than the Exxon Valdez spill.
Burning one gallon of oil releases 5.5 pounds of carbon, even
with the best catalytic converters or filters, and this carbon
combines with oxygen in the air to form almost 20 pounds of carbon
dioxide (co2). Thus the 15 million gallons of oil that just these
4 million human beings are burning on just this one day in November
is resulting in roughly 300 million pounds of co2 which rises
into our atmosphere.
In addition, on this day roughly 1 million cars, buses and trucks
are consuming about 5 million gallons of gasoline, causing 100
million pounds of co2 pollution. Also, the vehicles emit dozens
of other harmful substances which form the thick gray-brown haze
that hangs heavy over greater Boston.
Worldwide, over 5 billion tons of carbon are released annually
into our atmosphere through chimneys, smokestacks and tailpipes.
This carbon combines with oxygen to form some 20 billion tons
of co2 to add to our atmosphere. All this is above and beyond
the co2 that is naturally emitted by life forms and volcanoes.
Scientists still disagree on precisely what will result from all
this man-made co2, which has already increased atmospheric co2
levels more than 25 percent above preindustrial levels. Predictions
range from a new ice age to global warming and a 30-foot rise
in sea levels. But there is general agreement that it will have,
and indeed is already having, serious effects, as evidenced by
the increasing frequency and violence of devastating hurricanes,
floods, droughts, and fires.
These same 4 million people in Eastern Massachusetts are almost
completely dependent on food that is trucked and flown in from
far away. The average distance food is shipped from place of production
to place of consumption is 1,200 miles. Most of these foods have
been grown in ways that deplete vast quantities of oil, water
and soil. In addition, the prevailing agricultural practices threaten
the health of agricultural workers and consumers as well as of
our environment. About 2 billion pounds of some 300 different
varieties of pesticides are manufactured in the U.S. annually,
about half of which are applied in the U.S., while the rest are
exported. Many of the exported pesticides are now illegal in this
country because of their high toxicity, but they are used to grow
food in other countries and then, in spite of spot checking, return
to us in the foods we import. Thus, much of the food that people
consume contains remnants of harmful herbicides, fungicides, insecticides,
and other life-damaging substances, many of which become far more
toxic when combined with others. Furthermore, most of this food
has been grown with only a few man-made chemical nutrients, in
"dead" soils lacking the full spectrum of life-promoting
natural substances that can be had only with compost. We may well
wonder how much these agricultural practices are contributing
to increasing incidents of various health problems, such as allergies,
asthma, cancer, hyperactivity and immune deficiencies.
These same 4 million people generate roughly 3 million tons of
household solid wastes per year, as well as many more millions
of tons of industrial wastes, consisting of various metals, plastics,
papers, glass and food. At least 90 percent of these wastes are
actually precious resources that are recyclable, but instead,
most are buried in landfills or burned in incinerators, causing
tragic expense, pollution and depletion.
The plane begins to descend as we approach the southern coast
of Cape Cod, and suddenly my home community, the island of Martha's
Vineyard, appears on the horizon. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean
about seven miles off the coast of Massachusetts, consisting of
100 square miles of rolling hills of terminal moraine and flat
stretches of outwash plain left by the last ice age, about 10,000
years ago.
This island is located just north of the 41st parallel, which
means that on the shortest day of the year the sun rises no higher
than 25 degrees above the horizon, and there are only nine hours
between sunrise and sunset. Furthermore, winter is not only the
time with the shortest days and the lowest light intensity, but
it is also the cloudiest period. During the course of the year,
the Vineyard receives 49 percent of possible sunshine (compared
with over 90 percent for Arizona), but we sometimes have five
to six weeks in a row between November and January with less than
20 percent of possible sunshine, maybe two half-days of sunshine
per week.
Winter temperatures can dip below zero degrees F with a far lower
windchill factor because of frequent high winds. Summers are hot
and humid, sometimes exceeding 90 degrees, and at such times the
winds are a blessing. Several times a year gales exceed 50 mph,
and hurricane force winds registering 80 to 90 mph have occurred
at least six times within the last 15 years.
Annual rainfall is about 45 inches, but droughts of several months
are not uncommon in summer. The soil is sandy and relatively low
in organic matter. It is naturally acid and increasingly more
so due to acid rain.
The Vineyard has a "sole source aquifer", meaning we
have only one source of drinking water. This aquifer is replenished
only by rain and snow, which percolate down through layers of
soil and sand to join the lens of fresh water that permeates gravel
layers below. And yet, in spite of the fact that this is indeed
the only source of drinking water, the year-round and seasonal
residents on the Vineyard flush down their toilets some 300,000
pounds of nitrogen annually (equivalent to the amount of nitrogen
contained in 150,000 standard 40-pound bags of 5-10-5 fertilizer)
and 100,000 pounds of phosphorus. This, together with various
household cleaning chemicals that go down the drain, enters thousands
of septic systems and from there leaches into the aquifer, along
with toxic chemicals from various other sources such as dumps
and oil tanks.
As we swing in over the island, I catch a glimpse of my home,
the Solviva Organic Farm. The gardens and fields lie dormant in
muted winter colors, and the sun glints off the shining 100-foot-long
crystal that lies in their midst. This is the Solviva Winter Garden
solar greenhouse, and inside is a thriving garden capable of producing
some 1,600 organic salad servings per week. Amazingly, even in
the coldest conditions, this greenhouse stays warm enough to remain
highly productive without any heating fuel, while other "normal"
greenhouses require thousands of gallons of oil or gas, or many
cords of firewood.
By the time I arrive home, it is dark and very cold outside, but
inside it is still toasty warm from the day's sun. As I turn on
the lights, I see that the plants in the indoor garden look happy,
as always. During the two cold weeks that I have been away, this
house has stayed warm enough to keep the plants healthy without
any heating other than the sparse winter sun. I pick one of many
sweet juicy tomatoes that ripened while I was away.
It gives me an extraordinary sense of freedom and satisfaction
to be able to go away for an extended period of time without the
preparations that must be done in a normal home, such as draining
the plumbing and boarding the plants with friends, or leaving
the heat on (with the inherent risks) and asking a friend to water.
To some people, the fact that I can safely leave home without
elaborate preparations is one of the most remarkable advantages
of my home.
BACK TO TOP
How to contact Anna Edey, Solviva, Trailblazer
Press:
18 Solviva Road, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Tel: (508) 693-3341- - Cell phone: (774) 563-0898 - - Fax: (508) 693-2228
e-mail: solviva@vineyard.net,
website: www.solviva.com
AND, as of January 2014, at Blog/Website: www.solvivagreenlight.com |
