EnviroLink Forum

My dream home would have no utilities and I would be laughing at all the people in the dark and cold when the power goes out. Ever see such a scenario in any fiction of any medium? I have not but I think that is one of the most important factors in getting society to accept alternate methods of power and heat. I keep hearing things like "it is too cold in Canada for solar" and such when there are solar homes even up in the Arctic.

Any story will do as long as the lifestyle and equipment gets to be seen as an everyday part of the lives of the characters.

So what are your thoughts on how green fiction should be made

I desire the colony on my fictional planet to be as green as possible: sustainability is meant to be one of the big drawing cards for those colonists.

One thing I wonder about in 'green' fiction writing.....

Emphasis.

I don't intend to make greener living a 'hammer' to drop on people as they read.

What's the best approuch? How to make living 'green' palatable?

Through the pocketbook.

_________________
TANG SOO!

One aspect from my own story:

Basically, the 'greeness' of the colony is intended to start right from the get-go; power-production will be tidal and wind-power, cars will be bio-desiel or 'grid-way'; agriculture will rely on permaculture methods and the 'waste-loop' will be closed as much as humanly posible.

But here's one thing I'm wondering about.....

Realistically, many green methods have a hard time compeating against the less green. If 'dirty' methods are cheper to run and more widely liked by the consumer and producer alike, how can 'green stuff' stay on top?

I'm sorry, if this is turning into discussion and not story-idea, but it's something I think will have to be hashed out. I wanna display 'greeness' correctly. I think that means looking at it from a real-world stand-point.

These ideas sound wonderful and it is wonderful to hear that there are people who have a strong desire to live in this manner. I would like to mention that in addition to the non-fiction organic health books I've written, I've also written 2 very special novels that depict the very organic green lifestyle you speak of here. I call them "visionary novels". 1 is entitled, "Hawaiian Eyes - The Quest For True Health" and the other is entitled, "Northern Woods, The Ancient Forests Are Alive". The information that the "narrator/author - me" speaks about in the book is all factual, ie the importance of a healthy organic vegan plant-based diet, natural holistic living, and reducing our footprint on Mother Earth. The characters are fictitious and their dialogue and lifestyles are exemplary of true wise Earth Stewards. Wow, just thinking about this motivates me more than ever now to get these 2 novels published. They are available via POD = Published on Demand, on amazon dot com and borders dot com. They just need a traditional book deal to get on the bookstore shelves. Ok, I just wanted to share this. Thank you for listening and thank you for giving this wonderful forum strong life!

*Peace*

_________________
Wear organic or wear nothing.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... html?cat=5

You get 'em published, Earthwriter, I'll buy 'em. Sounds very interesting!

To me; the 'green aspect' works better (as a story) if it's background: something the characters in the story may not even think about, day to day.

Of course, does that make it a 'green' story?

Too casual, people don't notice.

Too much attention, it's a story about green living but I fear the number of people willing to read may drop.

Prob:....Explaining the need for 'green'; without lecturing.

Limited equipment? It takes lots of equipment and expertise to run a hydroelectric system over distances... not so much so for local solar/wind power generation. It also takes heavy, EXPENSIVE equipment do get petroleum 'harvesting' going (sorry, i couldn't resist ). When I was a kid, we were pretty poor, but us kids weren't really cognizant of it. We had chickens for eggs and meat. We had turkeys too, and even had one once that weighed 48 pounds after it had been cleaned (i.e., ready to go in the oven)... all without steroids, antibiotics, and the crap they are given now. We even had goats to keep the blackberries down without running equipment-yes there were THAT many. We always had fresh, canned, or pickled veggies from our garden; we made our own jams and jellies from the berries that grew on our property; my mom made outfits and ALL of our Halloween costumes because we couldn't afford to buy them sometimes. We also had FUN as a family growing food, baking, canning, jamming (??), pickling and sewing. It really brought us together and was far less expensive than if we had gone out and purchased those items. JMHO. I think you might want to address that aspect. I am thankful for those experiences in my life, and I think too many people haven't even thought about what that might be like.

_________________
It's often a man's mouth broke his nose...

I can see your point, mojo. Local is good and it's hard to get more local then growing it yourself. Trust me; most families in my story have a veggie garden!

It'd be interesting to see what % of people are required to be connected to agriculture, at what level of techonogy.
I was thinking, just off hand, around 10% of my colony will be connected therein....which raises the question: how many acres does it take to feed a such and such size population.

I'll have to see if I can dig up some working numbers.

Here's a thought, so simple ....yet so important for fiction-green....

Why go green?

Maybe be the hardest thing to convey, ironically.

Everyone has slightly different perspectives on 'going green'. Getting those different views and approuches into a story; to tell how green-living is in fact diverse and comes from many people from many backgrouns and with many desires, is a factor to be reckoned with.

When I posted my thread on, "California Cows in an Environmental Thriller", Iowanic mentioned your discussion on green fiction. I've written a novel that one would have to call green fiction. It has been published and just happens to be entitled "Green Power." See short synopsis below.
Going green and bioterrorism are at odds with each other as Dr. Ray Pendleton confronts Dirk Hendrickson. Dirk tries to destroy Ray’s methane digesters. The deadly epidemic that breaks out seems to point to Ray’s project as the cause. The novel takes a dramatic spin when Ray comes down with an infection from the plague bacterium.

_________________
Charles Vrooman: http://www.freewebs.com/vrooman

Hi All
I just got done reading some of the story ideas for green fiction.It is possible the most obvious may have been overlooked,
Living quarters could be partially underground homes or cave dwelling.
That would take care of heating and cooling plus the storage of food. light could be brought in by the adjustment of mirrors during the day .At night I have heard about some kind of quartz crystal lighting tht illuminated with just a few led's. it could be hand cranked with long lasting batteries.
Food gathering?Done in warm seasons by gardeningand collecting . in cold season greenhouse type thing as well as in cave culivation of mushrooms.
Meat Insects and rodents .
I guess my story would be more a green survivalist type.
I would try to bring my characters into a close harmony with everything else.
and yes I would have to have some villians.
anybody remember the song One Tin Soldier? My villians would be those valley people types. Of course they would be quite close to the real life villians there are even today.

Could I write this book? I believe it would not be much of a problem putting it together. The problem iis I would need another writer to bring into some kind of literate form.
That would not be easy because I would want an absolute veto power on any changes. Who would put up with that? I would be willing to share the credit as well as any rewards 50/50.