Relieved to wake up this morning to the radiators clanging. Because although I’m learning a little about how to heat this house, nothing’s actually changed. We still don’t have a back-up system. And what I think is in place just might not be: Yesterday I discovered that our plug-in flashlight only works for about two minutes!
It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it: being smart about the predicted brownouts and blackouts due to climate change and remaining SANE about preparedness.
Speaking of sane: Yesterday I read an excellent piece, “How the Science of Behavior Change Can Help With Sustainability,” by Les Robinson, director of Enabling Change, based in Australia: We humans resent unwanted advice, especially when it threatens our comfort zones. Denial and resistance are driven by fear and the worst fears are social fears . . . Behavior change is therefore rarely achieved by persuasion or marketing but almost always requires modelling [sic] how to carry out unfamiliar behaviors with ease, aplomb and dignity.
Wind-up flashlight and radio. Couldn’t survive without ’em.