9) Can a Suburban Garden be a Closed Loop System?

 

What Does Closed Loop Mean and is it Possible in Suburbia?

By Sindy Wakeham

What is a closed loop?

I’m not talking about going ‘around the bend’ in a never ending circle. Though, we could go around the bend in a never ending cycle of guilt feelings and beating ourselves up for not being more ‘eco’ in our lives.

The purpose of this article is to let you relax about your situation and be ok with making choices that best suit your own needs without punishing yourself for not having a perfectly ‘closed loop’ as far as resources go.

As far as a home and garden are concerned, a closed loop is where nothing is brought in from outside and nothing leaves when we are talking about resources but it also applies to other things. It’s one of many principles in self-sufficiency.

For example, I can now make all the compost for my garden from my garden without having to buy any in so I’m not letting any waste leave my property into landfill, either garden ‘waste’ or the bags compost comes in.

In the home, that might mean growing your own veg from your own saved seed and using or preserving it to use later and nothing of it is wasted or leaves the property.

Is a closed loop possible in the 21^st century in suburbia or any setting?

Short answer – NO!

Longer answer – yes and no.  Let’s unpack that.

The idea of a ‘closed loop’ (no more inverted commas from now on), is a part of some peoples’ idea of being 100% self-sufficient. Dr E. E. Schumacher, in his foreword to the first edition of John Seymour’s Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency stated, “Pioneers are not for imitating but for learning from. Should we all do what John Seymour has done? Of course not. Total self-sufficiency is as unbalanced and ultimately stultifying as total organisation...it is for every one of us to decide what should be done, that is to say, what we should do to restore some kind of balance to our existence”.

There’s a whole lot more he says in that foreword that’s awesome in respect of self-sufficiency. I highly recommend you get the book as it was one of the starting points of my husband and my journey into homesteading where and how we are.

There are many loops in one setting.

I may be able to make all the compost I need from my own garden but I certainly don’t have the acreage nor the energy and time to grow every ingredient for every meal we ever eat. In our house, hubby and I eat a very varied diet and many of the foods loved just wouldn’t grow in the UK without some very big Eden Project type dome or polytunnel or greenhouse, heated.

Then there are the toiletries, cleaning and other consumables, as well as clothes and furniture and furnishings that I COULD make myself but like I said, there just isn’t enough time in a day or year to do ALL that and still have any time for  sleep, family, fun and recovery.

We also need to earn money because we still have to pay tax and other services needed like opticians and dental. Who knows? We might have to start paying for medical costs too if certain parties have their way.

So no, 100% self-sufficient without any waste leaving the property is not 100% achievable today, at least, not without acres of land and an army of workers (community) to share the load. Even then, there are still things we need and use that cannot come from the land and some that we have to pay for.

I remember seeing a family on a YouTube channel (can’t remember which one) who by the end of a year had lived a ‘zero waste’ lifestyle and had only one pickle jar of general waste generated. So, even ZERO-waste isn’t 100% zero, 100% of the time.

What are some of those loops?

The basic necessities of life and living; those things mentioned in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I adapted this triangle to suit my own needs. I suggest you look at it and make one up for yourself because every home and every person is unique in their broader needs but we all have the same basic ones; shelter, clothing, food, security or safety, community and education.

(Click on the image for the link to my relevant blog for this image.)

 

How do we create and close the loops then?

To close the loop, we have to expand it. Allow me to unpack that one too.

Say I need to de-clutter my house (which I seriously do) then instead of just hoarding or putting them into landfill, I can extend that loop to include giving stuff away, giving to charity shops or taking it to the clothes banks. The clothes and other items that can’t be given away or sold, I first check if I can’t turn it into something else or reuse it in some other way before finally getting rid.

A better idea would be to first, use second hand clothes or hand-me-downs. Buy natural textiles so that once way past use or passing on, they CAN be composted at home. We aren’t quite there yet in the clothes industry but you can still get clothes made form natural materials that don’t come from abroad. The problem now is those clothes are very costly, being a ‘niche’ and fashionable idea instead of an everyday normal.

At the same time as streamlining my home, I need to be very specific on what I bring into it. Here are some ideas to close some loops. Consider before splashing out;

Do I really NEED this or that item?

If so, what is it made of? Where does it come from? Can it be reused, passed on, sold or composted?

If it ends up in landfill, what will it’s effect be (toxins or micro-plastic)?

What can I get rid of before bringing it in so I’m not just accumulating and hoarding?

If I don’t have an actual need for it but I really WANT it, I can still consider the next three questions. There are some times and things that you want to be spontaneous in or about or something calls your name and says, BUY ME...like going to the garden centre for something specific and you come out with an arm full of plants just because your heart leapt when you saw them! I think that’s called compulsive spending.

There is always an exception to the rule and some rules must have been made to be broken...surely!

I’ve spoken about the self-reliance part of this as Provident Living in my other blog so I’m not going to repeat it here. Instead, as far as a suburban homestead goes, I suggest the loops may also include the connection between the people in the home, their needs, lifestyles and goals.

Would it be better to create our own compost or buy it in? If buy it in, maybe be prepared to  save up and buy the best organic, peat free one and find ways to use the bags to grow in to wear it out before sending to the recycling centres. Maybe we can just get a wormery instead and let the worms do the work.

Maybe, do we keep animals? Do we grow our own food or just create a garden that grows some food and still other aspects of a garden that meet the needs of all the family? 

Maybe foraging instead of just growing our own can be a part of the homesteading food loop. By the way, I DO suggest growing as much food as you possibly can but be wise. If you want to know how you can do that, do get in contact with me. I do love to help people discover the potential of their spaces for food production and food storage.

There are lots of ways to close loops to minimise costs, environmental impact, wisely manage resources and prioritise some of the equally important parts of life, human and nature connection not always found inside of the tighter loop. Sometimes a tighter closed loop can feel claustrophobic and you need to expand or escape for a little while to appreciate it again. That’s ok and you can still do that and stay true to your values and intentions.

Conclusion

Loops are systems. Systems are only helpful if they improve life and the community around us. They aren’t helpful if they put us on a guilt trip or diminish the joy and value of life. They are also more affective if kept pliable and elastic, able to expand or contract where needed. If it’s not helpful and doesn’t bring you joy, I suggest either expanding or swapping it out for another.

It’s also ok to put one or more loops/systems down if there are just too many at a time. Some people say “pick your battles”. Why battle at all for some things? I say choose your systems/loops and experiment. It’s just as much about balance as economics, practicality and the environment. Find joy in your suburban homestead and feel good about it.