We need a new normal, now.

 With outdated infrastructure, with climate change, and pandemic, we need a new normal.  CT lost power the first week of August, with fallout from Isaias.  People were knocked out for a week (a few for more).  Line crews came from all over the country to get us back up and running. Then the derecho hit in the Midwest.  Its been a week and people are still without power.  They've lost all their food, between shopping for pandemic (every two weeks, basically, you go out and load up), or having just bought on EBT...   The corn and soybean crops have been destroyed...

It hasn't been that long since we had a more sustainable way of life.   We need to mix the tech of 100 years ago with modern tech.  

Maybe we need to go back to iceboxes?  To delivery of milk, and meat once a week from local farms.  Maybe we need sheep to graze lawns and goats to clear brush.  (they aren't altogether eco-friendly, because they are introduced species that actually had a lot to do with destroying habitats--if you read Gerald Durrell as a kid, as I did, he talks about the damage goats did on Mauritius and surrounding islands)

Maybe we need in-ground "refrigeration' and root cellars again.   And "summer" and winter kitchens.   

We need better ways to heat our homes.  To get around.  Bike "roads".  

Food is getting more dangerous and less plentiful in the US.  Our food supply laws are being destroyed.  Food is also becoming more expensive. (European countries have always paid a larger portion of their budget for food, but that's possible because they aren't being slammed by medical debt--the US is getting to the point where people have to choose between rent and food, which is impossible!  We have enough food! -or we did). Our food supply has become so convoluted.....  and its unsustainable long term. 

We used to have houses built for crossbreezes.  We have historical records for houses all over the world that were heated by a stove, that even managed in Minnesota winters, to keep people warm.  We used to have more of a local cycle, where everything fed into everything else in a positive manner..  

We need to integrate that with modern life.  Maybe we need trolleys again for local transport.  Make it so you can fix and upgrade tech without constantly having to buy new.  More small local stores, even if its just in the summer.  Locally sourced groceries.  

We need microgrids, wind, solar, even water--there's tech that harnesses the power of waves...   We need better tech in using water.  in using grey water at home to water lawns and such.   We've got to stop hooking up to a larger system.