Asphalt Sucks and the Asphalt Nation Needs a Facelift

It's time to de-pave the planet and let the Earth breathe. Kooky notion huh? Where would we be without our, uh, 'automobile'? The word 'automobile' means 'to move under the power of one's feet' or some such original meaning. Read on about petroleum planet and our Asphalt Nation and get busy de-paving wherever you can. A link to the invaluable Culture Change website is below.


Step out of your door and you're on the Petroleum Tour whether you like it or not.

Even before that, hitting the floor may mean toxic PVC plastic or synthetic carpet for your feet: a petroleum treat. Ignoring the many other instances of petrochemicals that you probably have in the home -- in all rooms -- and maybe on your body for clothing and in the form of residue from shampoo or deodorant, the most fun of this Petroleum Tour is outside. Are you ready?


Out on the street one sees nothing but flat surfaces for vehicles and people. The asphalt is not the only example (besides Astroturf) of pavement made of petroleum: concrete's manufacture involves huge amounts of energy (often of petroleum), making it one of the top greenhouse gas sources globally.

What's wrong with pavement? Plenty. At a time when the industrial world's food supply is so vulnerable to collapse -- due to over-reliance on dwindling natural gas and oil for growing, irrigating, distributing, packaging and preparing food -- we will all soon wish that so much good land for growing crops was not paved over. There is more paved land than official wilderness in the U.S.

The hard pavement hurts our feet and knees and compresses our spinal columns. Some day a class-action lawsuit may be filed against city governments for failing to provide softer, natural walking surfaces. There is a reason that running tracks are of dirt or even petroleum rubber. The damage to our joints and tissues from hard ground and floors is major, preventing many in the middle aged and elderly populations from walking and running to a significant degree. Pavement was designed in part for the human foot, but the human foot was not designed for pavement. On any modern tour, one ought to be sensitive to the hardness of the surface for walking. So on the sidewalks it is best to take advantage of any planted or dirt or gravel area that may afford softness to our feet that may be aching. The flatness is an illusory benefit, and can be counteracted by deliberately walking on any irregular surface such as cracks in the sidewalks or seeds and debris from trees. You'll look crazy or childish, but does your body matter less than the opinions of the unaware, in-car-cerated sheople?

http://www.culturechange.org/e-letter-tour.html

Maybe we should just leave it where it is, and cut down on driving first.

And use less plastic!

and thousands of small to medium gardens.

Food First

all plastics are just progressively more and more complex arangements of hydrogen and carbon. Both of those elements are extremely plentiful on Earth and can be artifically combined in reactions such as the reverse water gas shift process which creates ethylene.

The only difference is the energy and hense economic cost of doing so in a post peak oil world.

One of the dumber ideas to waste electricity disseminating.

planters. Beautify the neighborhood

With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swingin' hot spot.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

They paved Paradise, and put up a parking lot."

Joni