Last night London was thoroughly glum. As I sat in an hour-long traffic jam just 5 minutes from home, I surveyed the block-long queue of commuters huddling against the rain, one man crouched down holding his head in despair as yet another already-full bus passed them by. Home and warmth still several unhappy hours away.

Is there anything that could make Londoners more miserable than a tube strike during the February freeze? Well actually, I think there is: if the unions really wanted to achieve maximum impact, personally I’d have held off another week. Why not punt for Valentine’s Day? There’d be no faster way of resolving negotiations than grinding the city to a halt on one of the most popular commercial events of the year.

The roguish cynic in me indulged in this thought: picture thousands of lovebirds with romance on their minds – separated, wretchedly stranded in different corners of the city, hindered from delivering their £50 bouquets of imported roses, stuffing their faces over a mediocre set menu, or reaching that all-important rendez-vous under ‘The Kiss’ at Kings Cross on time.

I may be newly single for the first time in several years, but I am adamant I will not be joining the mass of uninspired internet daters searching for their 97% match at the top of The Shard. Newly liberated = newly empowered. So this year I will not be hoping for freshly cut flowers or a smattering of gaudy greeting cards. Instead I’m taking matters into my own hands and have opted for an ‘experience’. My new playmate – 14 years my junior – and I will be heading to Somerset. Unbeknownst to the rest of my friends this will not be a weekend of country walks, pub dinners, open fires and big breakfasts. Oh no. There will be masks, lingerie, and plenty of sex (and yes, hopefully still a big breakfast) as we join a throng of bacchanalian revellers all seeking the same Valentine experience: not love, simply pleasure.

But putting my inner cynic aside for just a moment, there are ways for even the most loved-up Londoners to avoid buying into the consumerist crap that ends up littering our bins a week on. Return that lingerie (it’s a myth, girls don’t like red underwear) and try one of these simple pleasures instead:

• Morning glory: get up and watch the dawn – when was the last time you saw the sun rise?
• Write each other a poem: when the creative juices start flowing, so will everything else!
• Go on a bargain hunt: head to your nearest market with a budget and a time limit – half an hour to find the perfect love token for a fiver. Guaranteed to get the heart racing.
• Make it last longer: Camellias are widely referred to as the ‘rose of winter’ because they only blossom at this time of year, they are also a symbol of promise and love. Walk to the garden centre, then go home and get your hands dirty.

Have fun getting it on Hustlers!

The post The Authentic Valentine Experience – not love, only pleasure appeared first on EcoHustler.

You don’t need to be a scientist to be able to tell the world is in trouble: climate change, species extinctions and wealth inequality are symptoms of civilisation malfunctioning. This is only depressing if we don’t do anything about it. If we get motivated and work with our friends and family to put it right it is a great, transformative adventure. We get to re-dream a better world and bring it into being.

Conscious “post consumers” are realising the joy of enough and rejecting the propaganda that we need to keep buying things for ourselves or others to be happy or successful. Those of us awake to whats happening on our planet will opt out of giving or receiving consumer products this christmas choosing instead to make something, write a poem or simply exchange a hug or some bodily fluids.

There is something else we can give with a tasty revolutionary ripple.  There is a purchasable present that not only by-passes corporations but actually takes power away from them. It also responds to climate change, keeps giving over time and connects you with the sustainable future we are all working towards. Enter – Abundance’s new micro, clean energy, investment gift.

This gift does good in multiple ways by:

1. earning the receiver a decent rate of interest
2. taking money away from banks who most likely invest it unethically (e.g. arms companies and big oil)
3. putting money into renewable energy projects (supporting alternative energy companies, bringing energy bills down and responding to climate change)

If you can’t face heading into a mall and giving mother nature another slap to the face – here is a positive present that spreads some love in the world.

Every present like this given connects a new punter to the distributed renewable energy grid. It is another citizen invested in their energy generation – making money while the wind blows and the sun shines. This gift may only earn them a few pounds in the first year but if they start using their account and putting in their savings over the months and years this could end up being a significant contribution to their financial health whilst helping to clean up the atmosphere for the rest of us.

Lets spread the love.

The post All I want For Christmas… appeared first on EcoHustler.

[ Episode #51 // Culture of Dying ] **Editor’s pick**

In Extraenvironmentalist #51 we speak with Stephen Jenkinson about our cultural difficulty with death. Stephen draws on lessons learned from decades of working with death to describe how we can frame our civilization’s trajectory. We ask how to find sanity in a time of alienation and if we can be a human in difficult circumstances. Stephen describes the distinct jobs given to us as our family members die. Also, John Michael Greer joins us briefly to talk about the death of Western culture.The globally dominant culture is suffering from an economic, ecological and social crisis that has deeper roots than failing budgets and environmental degradation. Do we have a role to play if our culture is headed towards its eventual death? Though our economic system has trained us to be needy, can we approach these challenges as if we were needed?

[ Episode #54 // Love + Marriage ]

Our cultural institutions face such immense challenges from economic and environmental factors that even our assumptions about love and marriage on the table. What does recent research into early human sexuality say about our ideas of love as practiced by our early ancestors? In hard times, did our predecessors practice fierce egalitarianism to ensure group survival?

In Extraenvironmentalist #54 Chris Ryan joins us to talk about evidence of prehistoric sexuality in the book Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality co-written withCacilda Jetha. Chris discusses his research into why so many marriages fail. We try to develop a conversation about sex and love between all guys without turning it into a boys club. Is that even possible? Examples are given of rituals from ancient societies that bypassed jealousy to defeat feelings of scarcity amongst hunter-gatherer bands.

[ Episode #68 // Better Than Normal ]

Society dramatically underestimates human potential, placing our imagination within a limited range of possibilities. What are the psychological limits of our species? Is there reliable scientific evidence of supernormal human capabilities? What areas of scientific study could replace the failing aims of a materialist scientific paradigm? Would compelling evidence for special abilities change our beliefs and institutions?

In Extraenvironmentalist #68 we speak with Dean Radin about his new book Supernormaland his decades of research into telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance for our 2013 Halloween Special. We ask Dr. Radin if the stories of ancient yogis were exaggerated superstitions or if they may have some basis in reality. Dean describes his process for studying controversial phenomena and how he is working to build a reliable non-materialist scientific process.

Terence McKenna: Extra-enviromentalism

The post The Extraenvironmentalist appeared first on EcoHustler.

All the best music is made by girls.

Wars are fought and started by men.

Men tend to run the global corporations that are destroying the biosphere.

It is time for men to be phased out. We only need a small number of them for fertility reasons.

With women in charge ecological harmony becomes a possibility for our species.

The post GIRLS – make the best music appeared first on EcoHustler.

The work of Chris Cunningham & Richard D. James (Aphex Twin)

[Must be watched full screen with maximised volume]

The post Windowlicker – Aphex Twin appeared first on EcoHustler.

In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide”.
This documentary film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.

Learn more about the film and sign up for email updates at www.itsagirlmovie.com

The post It’s a Girl appeared first on EcoHustler.