Uns sostenidors resistents, si us plau.

...la nostra estimada Barcelona, ben oberta al mar per a rebre els bucs salvadors plens a vessar d’aigua, no té sostenidors. Resistirà?...

by Judit Ortiz Cardona

Sostenir, verb transitiu, resistir totalment o parcialment al pes, a la tendència a desplaçar-se, (d’alguna cosa). Sostenidors, substantiu, roba íntima per a sostenir els pits femenins, o no. Sostenibilitat, substantiu en desús durant dècades el segle passat, està de moda actualment; omple la boca de molts polítics fins a la sacietat quan fan campanya electoral o quan engeguen projectes fantasma per a ser més sostenibles i, en definitiva, no és res més que marketing… Ara, estimats lectors, combinem Sostenibilitat i ciutat. Pensem en una ciutat, però no una ciutat de l’edat mitjana ni una alemanya. Tampoc una ciutat xinesa. Posem que parlem d’una ciutat europea, mediterrània i cosmopolita (o això diuen): la Barcelona del segle XXI. Ara, mirem de trobar-li uns sostenidors. A una botiga de llenceria no els trobarem pas. Als memoràndums de la nostra història política, tampoc. La Barcelona sostenible que és venuda com la gran botiga de Catalunya i el destí turístic per excel•lència – la Barcelona que creix i creix, limitada geogràficament pel mar i per la muntanya, com un globus immobiliari comprimit. La Barcelona que ven la Sostenibilitat amb la zona blava-verda, el límit a 30 km/h i el carril bici entarinyant l’asfalt – mètodes isolats per reduir el trànsit sense reforçar-los amb un transport públic de qualitat. La Barcelona que ha violat les seves entranyes geològiques: l’AVE, el metro, el tren i el clavegueram; que ha oblidat les canonades que ens donen vida: des l’any 1972 la xarxa de distribució d’aigua potable no ha estat renovada, i, en conseqüència, cada dia es perd el 25% de l’aigua distribuïda. ¿Volem parlar de Sostenibilitat quan l’aigua, que és vida, ha estat la gran oblidada fins avui, quan la sequera ens crema?

El 31 d’agost de 2005 la Generalitat publicava un conjunt de mesures del Departament d’Agricultura Ramaderia i Pesca: “La manca de precipitacions que des del passat mes de setembre afecta la majoria de les comarques catalanes ha provocat una situació de sequera extrema,...”. I es referien a setembre de 2004, fa més de 3 anys. I en aquest període, a Barcelona, enlloc d’optimitzar el consum, de procurar-nos noves fonts d’aigua (trasvassament del Roine, noves canalitzacions i connexions...) i de renovar la xarxa de distribució, ens hem dedicat a regar parcs i jardins amb aigua de boca, a regar els peus dels turistes amb les mànegues de BCNeta; és que volíem fer-los créixer com a les plantes? Hem ignorat l’aigua.

Però Barcelona no és un planeta solitari a la constel•lació d’Orion. És una ciutat instal•lada a un país on l’aigua provoca enfrontaments polítics i aquesta no és considerada un dret de les persones. És una ciutat instal•lada a un país on el 80% del consum d’aigua és per a l’agricultura: veiem astorats grans cultius extensius de regadiu a zones quasi desèrtiques com ara Almeria, Múrcia o València, amb uns antiquíssims sistemes de rec que, oh sorpresa!, també perden aigua pel camí. Estem a un país on el rei petroli ha desterrat a la deessa aigua per perpetuar el seu regnat capitalista de consum de litres i de cotxes. Recordem que la indústria automobilística genera economia i la fa créixer, crea i manté un elevadíssim nombre de llocs de treball per a persones que consumiran lleure als centres comercials i també més litres de petroli. Estem a un país on l’últim brot de còlera fou als anys 70 a l’Aragó, conseqüència de la falta d’aigua. Així doncs, on és la nostra memòria històrica? On són les mesures preventives dels nostres polítics que han tingut més de 30 anys per a treballar? No som un país ple d’estanys i de rius paradisíacs. Però no ens podem queixar, la Generalitat “va aprovar amb data 3 d'abril de 2007 el Decret de mesures excepcionals i d'emergència per a la gestió dels recursos hídrics com a mesura de prevenció per tal d'assegurar al màxim els usos de l'aigua per a l'abastament de la població davant l'escenari de sequera que es preveia per al 2007”. Els nostres governants es guanyen el sou improvisant mesures d’emergència: no ens podem queixar.

Davant de la incertesa de noves pluges suficients i reparadores, davant de les mesures monumentals i excepcionals per a combatre la sequera, la nostra estimada Barcelona, ben oberta al mar per a rebre els bucs salvadors plens a vessar d’aigua, no té sostenidors. Resistirà? L’han enganxada amb els pits a l’aire i ara està seca.

The Philosophy of Sustainability

by Galen Maloney

Sustainability is so hot right now, Snoop Doggy Dog’s new album will be aptly named Sustainabizzle. A new eco café has just opened in Barcelona’s Borne district called Sustainabliss; with plans for a Miss Sustainability Contest starting in 2010, it’s inevitable that sustainability will become even sexier. Oh baby, eres muy, muy sostenible.  Everyone from Toyota and their hybrids to Barcelona with its Agenda 21 plan wants to be sustainable. But let’s cut the crapola before the sustainable vegan porn spam overflows our inboxes. As the word that will probably define our generation, “sustainable” deserves thought. Let’s define it, first of all. Webster’s says “of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.”

Sweet. We can rule out cars, industrial agriculture, McDonald’s, and the current corporation-appeasing capitalistic system. That’s a big list, but even scarier is the notion that the planet cannot sustain our current population. 200 species a day —70,000 species a year— go extinct, mostly as the result of human activity. This is a period of mass extinction that will eventually include us if we don’t jump on that sustainability bus. But before we get lost in the gloom and doom of unsustainability, let’s focus on what we know: we have a 6th sense for sustainability. It’s pretty much common sense these days that things like buying local, in-season food, parks, trees, physical exercise, eating less meat, bicycling, gardening, massages, and great sex all make the sustainability list. Even drugs, which probably serve to numb us to the unsustainable qualities of society, could be considered sustainable on a temporary basis. Basically it just entails not fucking up the future for your kids or grandkids. Intellectually it’s easy; why do we struggle so much to put it into practice?

It’s actually quite the philosophical conundrum. Plato argued in that famous work The Republic that individual harmony of the soul correlates directly to a just and harmonious society. If we can figure out one, we’ll figure out the other. Substitute sustainability for harmony and you have our current predicament. If we cannot achieve sustainability in our own lives, how the hell are we supposed to achieve it on a societal and institutional level?

Change is difficult. Changing personal habits usually requires some significant life-changing event like the death of a loved one or a spiritual awakening. Think Jesus in the desert, Malcolm X in prison, Buddha under the tree for 40 days. Or it requires the determination and discipline brought on by the likes of immigrating, a holocaust, or a long, drawn-out civil rights movement. It’s easy to go along with the current unsustainable status quo—plastics, cars, freeways, Starbucks, Carrefours. Why seek out a local market when it’s so much EASIER to shop at the giant Carrefour open 24 hours a day? Why bike when you can jump in a car or onto a moto and get somewhere so much more quickly? This is the grand illusion: that quicker is better. But consider this: time does not exist. Try to hold it, pet it or fuck it.  Not gonna happen. It’s an organizational tool that we’ve elevated to a deity. We subconsciously pray to the institutions of time: clocks, calendars, planners. No time to cook, no time to shop at the local market, no time to exercise or enjoy nature, and definitely no time to bother with being sustainable.

Barcelona luckily draws enough people who are on the path to change, who know deep down that something fishy is going on, that we’ve been lied to, that the world of 9-to-5 jobs, houses, commutes and children is not sustainable. And while we have yet to replace it, we’re groping for something. And like Obama, Hillary and Zapatero, we don’t have all the answers, but at least we’re taking steps in the right direction.

A little consciousness shatters the illusion of time and economics. Shop at the Boquería, exchange smiles with the lovely old lady who grew the produce, bike to the beach and spend 5 euros on a massage from a Chinese lady. It saves you money (and time) because you feel healthier, spend less on hospital bills and are more productive.

Consciousness and some creativity do get us somewhere. Think of Barcelona on a Sunday afternoon or late at night without traffic and cars and noise.  What if half of the Eixample’s roadways were turned into green pathways full of trees and bike paths? But what about delivering things and going places? Oh, silly little time-whore. When will you learn?

Contrary to politicians and their self-important stances, significant change always occurs as a bottom-up process. It starts with people. Civilization has never been sustainable in its 10,000 years of existence. From the Egyptians to the Romans to the Assyrians to the Aztecs and Incas, “civilizations” have always relied on war, exploitation, slavery and propaganda. Before the civilizations’ takeovers, some tribes and indigenous peoples achieved some semblance of sustainability, but there’s no going back to that life. We need to change. But to change what you do, you must first change what you think. We aren’t gonna achieve a sustainable society if we don’t first achieve a sustainable individuality.

That first step towards sustainability is design. How we design our lives and how we design our cities. Better design is why so many suburban refugees find themselves paying brutal rents to live in tiny pisos in the heart of Barcelona. It’s why many guiris avoid l’Eixample like the plague. It’s why el Borne, Gótico and Gràcia are so cool.  There’s no need to cross 8-lane freeways to get to work or embark on an ugly-ass daily commute full of loud cars and pollution. This current exodus from the cheap-energy era will bring us into another world, one with a very different set of ethics, a different number of cultures, and a different type of design.

Have a look at Agenda 21: www.bcn.cat/agenda21.  It provides a surprisingly realistic set of urban goals towards sustainability. Schools and organizations have gathered together and signed onto goals such as increased urban agriculture and green spaces, less waste, blah blah.

Look at Can Masdeu, an okupa set in the valley of Parc Collserola near Canyelles.  They’re on the frontlines of the fight for sustainability. Self-sufficient in their water use, they produce their own food, use alternative energy and live communally. They should wear t-shirts with their ecological footprint. But not all of us are ready to join an okupa or commune in the mountains. And we shouldn’t have to. Cities can be sustainable. But relying on politicians and institutions to bring us there is just lazy and foolhardy. We need courage and maybe a mixture of Gandhi’s “we must learn to live simply so that others may simply live” and Malcolm X’s “by any means necessary.”  With the correct philosophy and bastante willpower, we will live simply and sustainably by any means necessary.

¿Sequía? ¿Dónde?

Hi BCNWeekers! He encontrado un señor que dice que no hay sequía. ¡Glups! ¿Se me acabará el tema de conversación que si agua, aquí, que si agua, allá? Pero no es un friki, no señor: se dedica a excavar pozos, o sea sé, que es un experto.

by Mimí

Mire usted, señorita tan bien arreglada, le digo que vivimos encima de mares de agua porque yo cada vez que hago un pozo, saco agua. Una de dos, o soy muy buen pocero o no hay sequía. En Barcelona hay agua a 30 metros de profundidad, y hay sitios donde perforo a 10 metros ¡y me sale un geiser! Y, señorita por favor deje ya de pintarse los labios, vaya usted a saber de donde vienen estas vetas de agua, de Rusia, ¡por lo menos!, ¡o de Noruega! ¿Que hay sequía? ¿Dónde? En el Sáhara. Y ni eso. Yo le puedo jurar que saqué agua en el desierto a 30 metros. Yo no veo sequía en ninguna parte. Bueno, debo decirle que el nivel freático ha bajado, pero la cantidad de agua es la misma... El caudal, esto quería decir. El caudal es el mismo. Que agua no falta. Que los políticos nos engañan, lo que no quieren es invertir dinero. Para ellos son gastos innecesarios. Y cuando viene el lobo de verdad, señorita por favor no ponga cara de susto, entonces se gastan fortunas. ¿Sequía? No, lo que pasa es que no vemos el agua porque se han vaciado los pantanos. Señores, instalen plantas desalinizadoras, así si nos bebemos el agua del mar, el mar no crecerá más por culpa del hielo de los polos, del agua del hielo de los polos. ¿Me sigue usted señorita? Es que con tanto colorete y espejito... Señores, hagan pozos, ¡llámenme! Señorita apunte por favor mi móvil... Esto es. Plantas desalinizadoras y pozos. No se preocupen, que el rollo de la sequía es sólo para distraernos, ¡que es mentira!

Sólo el día que aquí haga tanto calor como en el Sáhara podremos empezar a preocuparnos, pero mientras tanto que hagan pozos y me llamen a mí. Y aunque esto fuera como el Sáhara, ¡yo sacaría agua!

Coulda Shoulda Woulda

by Anna Gurney

What is the government going to do about the drought? The real question is what they should have already done about it. The critical water shortage Barcelona now suffers has been brewing for the last four years, yet the two big projects to save us, a desalination plant at Llobregat, and a tunnel to bring groundwater from Montjuïc, are due for completion in 2009. Can you see the problem here? Yes; 2008 is the year they didn’t see coming. Luckily the Environment Council has supplied a range of overdue, impractical, and increasingly desperate ways to plug the gap. Here are some of our favourites:

Bringing the water in by boat.
I know you thought this was a joke, but it might actually happen. The port is undergoing reconstruction to allow giant tankers to unload water brought from either the Rhine, Almería’s desalination plant, or wells in Tarragona. They are capable of shipping in 12% of the city’s needs, but nobody has dared mention the cost because they want to keep this afloat as a good idea.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel.
With the help of a medieval map of the city, the Entidad del Medio Ambiente (EMA) has found 13 ancient wells and a 10th century irrigation channel that they are going to dig out and re-open. The Rec Comtal, underneath the street of the same name, will cover 3% of the city’s demand when they finish the restoration in four months.

Waiting for the snow to melt.
What snow? I hear you ask. Well, although this year’s snowfall has again been pitiful, I am thinking of the thousands upon thousands of tons of artificial snow Catalonia has thrown at its ski resorts. We’d really like that water back in the system now, please.

Switching off some public fountains.
A genius idea. In January it was reported that the fountains that didn’t recycle water would be left dry, and this month they have reached a “level 2” emergency situation, meaning they will switch off 150 fountains that don’t have an automatic closing device. I’m sure that, like me, you are lamenting Plaça Espanya’s slightly diminished beauty.

Changing the law so they can clean the streets with treated sewage.
Since December 2007 they have been allowed to hose treated water from sewage plants all over the Barri Gòtic (rather than using our domestic supply).

Praying for rain.
Imma Mayol, adopting a well-trusted Bardi Aboriginal ritual this month, has been using the interior patio space to strip down to her waist and smear marsupial blood across her breasts while trying to do a headstand. (Ok, this one may not actually be true.)

Cutting off the water supply.
If it doesn’t rain soon, even taking into account all these measures, the EMA are expecting to have to make cuts to our domestic supply in June. Don’t worry; it’s not so bad if the taps don’t work for a few hours during the night. (Well, as long as your flatmates aren’t English binge drinkers with a tendency to vomit in the early hours.)

Sensationalism aside, the single most effective campaign from the Ajuntament has been raising awareness to encourage water-saving behaviour from individuals and businesses. Barcelona was already using less water than nearly every city in Europe when last November and December the daily use per person dropped a further 8 litres a day. That’s 976 million litres more water in the reservoirs than there would have been if we weren’t saving their asses. Who said individual actions don’t have an effect?

Divided spain tries to share water

...come on children, do as you would be done by and all that...

Almería (2001) :: Hey Catalunya, can we build a pipe and take some water from your fat Río Ebro?
Catalunya (2004) :: No.
Almería (2005) :: That’s fine, we’ll just open the biggest desalination plant in Europe and be drenched down here.
Catalunya (Dec 2007) :: Err, hey, Almería, it turns out Imma’s rain dances haven’t worked and we’re a bit screwed. Can we get some desalinated water from you and bring it by boat to Barcelona?
Almería (Jan 2008) :: *smug grin* Oooooooofff; it’ll cost you.
Catalunya (Feb 2008) :: Well, we’ll get it from France then. We like them more than you bloody Spanish anyway.