Well, it's certainly time to get all your ducks in a row, as we enter a new phase of total craziness in this world we live in.
If you’re not already planning to build your own Ark, or have joined a group of like minded people making one, then perhaps you should think about it before you get washed away with everyone who’s not prepared for what’s coming next.
I don’t want to sound too pessimistic, as it’s not my usual approach to our future on planet Earth, but things are certainly getting a bit out of control and we can no longer afford to ignore it!
International news programmes never cease to announce more problems relating to wars, famine, uncontrolled immigration and growing unrest among the world population, as we go through some kind of global metamorphosis. Hopefully, there will be a happy ending to all the suffering and chaos of today's universal misery and we’ll survive to see a real light at the end of this long dark tunnel!
Of course, watching all this craziness from our little paradise in the hills of Ibiza, gives us the chance to reflect on our own participation in this confusing situation and also gives us the opportunity to think about how to solve the problems without being so badly affected by them. Again, I’m so happy to have made the move to build a kind of ‘Ark type refuge’, before the proverbial ‘shit hits the fan’, but now we must think of how we can join the growing army of humans striving to solve the problems created by such a huge transformation of society.
As an island community, we can certainly work together and ensure that at least our precious little rock in the Mediterranean is safe from the ravages of war and upheaval which seem to be the main drivers of our planetary insanity. However, we are not without our own problems and must therefore do all we can to make an example of a resilient and well connected local but international group of individuals, striving for a better way of life for the future of mankind.
Thankfully, there are a growing number of people in Ibiza who are getting together in organisations, forming working teams and learning new tricks to survive the coming tsunami of awkward situations which now face our disorientated world. Solutions which must be carefully investigated, before we evaluate our respective ideas that could save us all from an otherwise disastrous series of uncomfortable consequences.
Casita Verde Ibiza
After a long and very dry summer, I must say that the rains we received in August and September have so far managed to rejuvenate the majority of our beautiful gardens and with some luck, we will be able to conserve at least the more resilient of our plant species. We’ve lost some more of our resident trees, just like everyone else on the island, especially the almonds we once had, but thanks to planting some more resistant varieties, we’ll still enjoy a certain level of auto-sufficiency with regard to food resources. Our large array of solar panels and battery storage systems must be well maintained and updated whenever funds permit, but having the use of such a constant and reliable energy supply has been a real life-saver for this little ecological centre. Buying more and more large freezers to store food in times of abundance has also added a great deal to our chance of survival, should anything happen to food supplies in the short term. However, in order to continue our existence, we’ll need to join with other organisations who are also striving to make our island a shining example of resilience and regenerative practices.
Juntos Farm, situated on a nine hectare site between Santa Gertrudis and San Lorenzo, seems to be leading the way on this front and we are very happy to join in their efforts, by participating in their weekly activities which are becoming a well attended attraction for all island residents.
Many years ago, in 1999, I designed something called ‘Ibiza Ecolandia’, with the idea to build an ecological centre open to the public every day and which could serve as a kind of chip changing factory, where people from all walks of life could enter as inquisitive students of life and, having spent the day there with their family or school group, leave far more educated about the benefits of following an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Although I was employed to make this wonderful dream come true, I only managed to build a working model on the land I borrowed from some local farmers, but I never got to make the real ‘Ecolandia project’ happen. I had even almost given up trying when I heard of the Juntos Farm initiative and just how closely it resembled my original plan, so now I’m happy to join them in making this very necessary project become a reality. If you can believe it, my American friends Laura Rose and Emmanuel Kuntselman from the Madrid based ‘Foundation for the Future’, who not only employed me for 17 years, but also supported the Casita Verde development since 2001, have now joined with Christian from Juntos farm and are presently supporting his new project!
(see https://www.ibizafenix.org/proyectos?lang=en for details of the original project!)
Casita Verde Granada
Our friend Rey Aldana, director of the Casita Verde Granada has actually been in Ibiza for most of the summer, working with Juntos farm in the agricultural department. He has been learning many new tricks to take back to Granada and has enjoyed the whole experience. As the Granada centre is not usually open for volunteers or visits during the summer months, Rey is considering making this a yearly ritual, as part of the idea to connect Ibiza projects to those in other places and we see this as a very intelligent move, where there are many positive outcomes for all parties.
Casita Verde Ireland
For our usual two week summer holidays, myself and my girlfriend Georgina Milani decided to make a visit to Ireland during the last two weeks of August.
If we didn’t see enough rain in Ibiza these last two years, we certainly saw enough in Ireland and now understand why it's so green and beautiful!
Apart from doing a full tour of the country, both North and South, we spent four days with Joanna Sweeney, the owner of the new Casita Verde site near Sligo on the west side of Ireland. Although the seven hectare site is in the initial phase of development, we could see some very encouraging possibilities for adding the place to our list of centres to volunteer and learn the main principles of our Casita Verde legacy.
As soon as she has finalised her plans for volunteering at her new centre, we'll announce the project on our main Casita Verde website, with links to her own website, so the offer can be constantly updated by Joanna.
Present projects from Greenheart Ibiza
Apart from preparing to open our doors for guided visits to the Casita Verde Ibiza centre from the 1st of October until the end of May next year, we are also busy with several other projects, including the maintenance of our new Greenheart-guide to Ibiza and are working with an Interreg Euro-MED PROGRAMME involving five islands in the Mediterranean, where we hope to help improve the systems of waste management and public awareness of the situation.
Personally, I continue to be part of the ‘Alianza por el Agua’ (Water Alliance), plus continue our role as partners in the ‘Plastic Free Ibiza y Formentera' platform (Zero Waste Alliance), with our Ibiza Limpia association..
Next month, we’ll also be doing a trial project to host a weekend conference about natural swimming pools for around 20 people, so hope that all works out well. If all goes according to plan and we like the idea, we’ll be offering more possibilities to use the Casita Verde Ibiza installations for similar weekend conferences into the future!
If you would like to visit our centre for a guided tour, or want to know how you can be a more eco-conscious citizen, please get in touch by email, sending your request to info@casitaverde.com, or calling our main office on 608838190 (English and Spanish)
With warm greetings from Casita Verde,
Chris Dews – coordinator
"Climate the Movie: The Cold Truth", Debunks Global Warming & Net Zero Narratives https://efrat.substack.com/p/climate-the-movie-the-cold-truth
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