Cuba: Simple Solutions for Simple Living

Simply designed composting toilets are a perfectly legal and sustainable option throughout the country. Just make sure you follow the directions!

There was so much to take in. Without Starbucks at every corner and big box eyesores in every community Cuba has been leading a green revolution since the fall of the Soviet Union. That’s when the country was largely cut off from foreign aid and catapulted into crisis mode or what is known as the ‘Special Period’ ending in the year 2000. With the US embargo still in full swing (Yes, the US has only stopped travel restrictions for Americans and no longer views it an enemy nation), the country is exemplary in its sustainable design, organic, localized food production, small scale business, appropriate technology and all round inventive ingenuity making do with what can be found, fixed or retrofitted…sometimes all three! Continue reading “Cuba: Simple Solutions for Simple Living”

Por Comandanta Ramona

It’s foggy when the sun first hits the horizon. Like smoke rising from the milpa it bears itself over the Chiapan highlands. I sit motionless on a crowded second class bus from Palenque. Eyes peeled out the window in disbelief. There’s a road blockade, I’m in Zapatista country and I could burst with excitement. Continue reading “Por Comandanta Ramona”

My PDC Workshop in Cuba

Was natural dyeing and regenerative textiles a part of your Permaculture Design Certification? Or how about permaculture beyond food production? An alumni of the annual Cuba Permaculture Design Course run by the Urban Farmer, I was thrilled to lead a workshop on natural dyeing using locally sourced organic dyes and how we can apply permaculture principles to nourish ourselves beyond calories. Cuz, it’s all connected…riiiight? Interested in taking a workshop or hosting me? Visit the workshops page! Continue reading “My PDC Workshop in Cuba”

Proyecto Muraleando

Check out Proyecto Muraleando, an incredible art space and project I visited and continue to work with in Havana, Cuba. The artist run and cooperatively governed El Tanque space, formerly a derelict water tank abandoned pre-revolution, raises funds using a community focused economic model where profits are invested right back into the project through the sale of the artists’ work locally and internationally. In turn, hundreds of children in inner city Havana receive free art classes and everyone in the neighbourhood gains the opportunity to participate in creative citizen engagement and placemaking. Todo es possible!

Street Art Cuban Style

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting Cuba for the second time. I was struck by public artwork at every turn. Whether it was imaginative and political ‘graffiti’ enlivening the streets of Havana or sculptures donning inner city parks, the creative side to this revolutionary nation was on full display. Continue reading “Street Art Cuban Style”