proper orientation

I am basking in the blessings of passive solar heating. The thermostat is set for 67. The air outside is 25 - the coldest day of the winter by far. And my office feels like 71 or 72 (more in the part where I did not pull down the shade). On the brightest days, the glory of the sun bleaches out my computer screen so completely that I have to move (or read a book instead!). In the summer, the towering beech, elm and poplar trees block the rays so the room is bright but not blinding.

We were not so wise as to orient the house this way. It was like this when we bought it: front facing south framed by large, gracious trees. But we did build this room. And it is the one I spend most of my time in at home. Daily I am reminded of the subtle ways we can work with the earth to enjoy its rhythms, and blend them with ours.

Which leads me to believe that those of us who are living with pre-existing structures and therefore limited abilities to make them totally sustainable nonetheless have options and opportunities to upgrade them to green. When we renovate, buy furniture, replace windows or a furnace, we can do our bit. Even before that, we can plant trees, wear great sweaters. (We can even learn how to make them and simplify yet enhance our gifting. Start with scarves -much needed and much easier.)

And then there is our stuff. I cleaned bookshelves and clothes closets today. I will ache tomorrow, I know. But I now have bags of things to give away. That is the good part. The thing I wonder about is - why and how did I get all that stuff? Did I really need all those tops when I bought them? Were those books and gifts all necessary? Wouldn't I have been just as pleased if a gift had been given to a good cause in my name? My brother has begun giving to Jewish Women's International on Mother's Day in the name of all the women in his life. So instead of wasting money on hothouse flowers or candy or tchotchkes - all of which seem sweet until they die, get consumed in abundance or need to be dusted or moved - he uses this opportunity to do what he would not have done otherwise - help battered women put their lives back together.

We don't speak enough about conservation these days. And certainly not about our consuming habits. It is downright dangerous to the American economy to promote buying less. But what kind of long-term healthy economy can we have if it is predicated on digging more stuff out of the earth, or even recycling and making more than we truly need (that too creates production waste, transportation waste, packaging waste, etc). What if we built an economy on the minimum of goods consumption and the maximum of service consumption: paying teachers more; recruiting more nurses; getting more social workers to watch after children-at-risk; hiring more home health aides to care for the elderly who choose and are able to age-in-place with a little help from some friends and aides.

What if we shifted our GNP from counting mostly stuff produced to counting hours people actually helped and worked with each other?

What would happen then?