Hey I did it. I put the tape recorder on, closed my eyes and I there I was in some kind of lobby. And then I arrived. I've finished editing this first part of the tapescript check it out:

Journey 1 Part 1.
I see myself in some kind of waiting area, and I'm sitting on a wooden bench.

I realise I need to take that lift. I hasten over to it, there on the right. Inside it seems old, no feeling of modernity about it at all. Yet that seems deliberate somehow. There aren't may straight lines here. Instead it is bulbous, in cream coloured enamel. On the left there is a large steel wheel about half a metre in diameter, like something you might find on a sailing yacht. Oh, the door is already closed.

There is a green button with GO on it. I press it. The lift rushes upwards and I feel the G forces and the excitement of exploration of a new country.

The lift doors open automatically and I step out into something that at first glance reminds me of an airport. A shiny clean marble floor leads into a large corridor on the right and another curving away to the left.

In front of me are stairs leading down to what looks to be an exit. Just on the right of the hall there is a kiosk, and directly in front of me a flower bed of what look to be artichokes, which are covered by a thin brown sheet.
I bend down to examine them. I know nothing about artichokes - are they artichokes?

I look up at the lady serving in the kiosk.
"We take every opportunity to grow food wherever we can", she says.


"There is a library you know" she says and I sense she knows my mission here.

I thank here and go off down the corridor on the right. It does look like an airport. I see shiny tails of what looks like aeroplanes in the distance. And I feel I'm on the edge of a discovery. I walk past a cafe serving chips and leaves of salad. Past a notice saying something about insects control and stuff like that. I can just see the tail of the aeroplane. Big and chunky. I smell rape seed oil. Vegetable based fuel burnt in giant jet engines. Is it really possible? Anyway...
I don't like airports - how did I get here? I would like to look around locally and see how they live.
I retrace my steps and turn past the kiosk and down the steps. At the bottom I see I have to put on Wellington boots. I see a sign reminding me of cleanliness, and a rucksack to keep my indoor shoes in. As I start to open the door I notice the special airlock and that it is hermetically sealed.

So I open the hydraulic to get out, and notice the foot scraper which sucks the soles of my boots and I'm outside.

The first thing I notice is no asphalt. Only gravel to walk on. The explanation hits me, natural flow of water through the ground, gravel paths allow that. Asphalt is banned here!. It seems everyone here walks around in Wellingtons it's the done thing, and natural permeation of water through the soil is a major aim.

It's a nice place, like a park. I continue along the gravel path, there's lots of water here lakes and ponds, it's all nicely done with flowers, plants.
I turn left to look at what seems to be a large round cylindrical building partly hidden by bushes. Reading the sign on the back I see It's a biogas generator. Am I in the middle of a sewage works? I am! The whole area is a sewage plant! One of the by-products is these brown covers I saw outside the lift. I don't know how they work but I guess they fertilise the soil.And keep weeds off and moisture in. That's what I call recycling.
And ingenious, a multi-function use for everything. Recreation, biogas, sewage treatment, fertiliser production. Cool. I'm on to something here.

end of tapescript Journey 1 part one.

Before I try this out I will go over the techniques in case any of you want to try this out. You work out what you want to know, and ask politely to travel to a land with this knowledge. You put the tape recorder on, close your eyes and describe everything you see. And keep describing, keep the flow coming.

For me-- let me describe the problem as I see it. We citizens of Earth have not achieved a sustainable way of life. For us "haves" we exert a large "footprint", requiring a lot of natural resources for our way of life. And the consumption of these natural resources leads to pollution. For the "have nots" whilst their footprint is smaller they are moving toward a "have" way of life: living in cities, increasing resource usage. And the outlook is bleak. The Earth just cannot support everyone living the way the so-called developed world does.

So my quest: a land where people live in a sustainable way, with the standard of living, akin to say, of Europe. Show me the technology that I may learn, document and pass on to others.

That's all for now I'm going to set the tape recorder up. I feel quite excited.

THE START: HERE I GO THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

So I've decided to do it. I heard about it at a management conference on creativity. All you do is formulate a problem, turn on the tape recorder, and start describing what you see. You ' visit ' a place that has solved that particular problem
I'm going to find out about sustainable technology, I've always wanted to be an inventor and sustainable technology is useful and urgent. I might even be able to make some money at it.
And I'm going to post the transcripts here. I've already done a few.
Journey 1 start
Visit One part 2
Visit part three
Visit one part 4
more
journey 2 Scroll to bottom of page