The Greenjacker is on the Rise...
eptember 08
who is the greenjacker?
The greenjacker is everywhere. He's the man who sat next to you on the bus and the woman who just smiled at you as she walked on by; they have seeds in their pockets and mud on their minds. The greenjacker isn't going to wait for somebody else to save the planet; they're going to change the world - right here, right now - one plot at a time.
The greenjacker does not believe in wasteland; just wasted opportunity. The meaning of life is to LIVE, to give your life meaning GIVE LIFE. Go forth and cultivate; for you are the greenjacker.
Yours in solidarity,
Jack Green
what do greenjackers do?
Greenjackers seek and employ practical green solutions to England's social, economic and environmental problems. We're foraging, freegan, freecological, guerrilla gardeners committed to changing hearts and minds through non violent direct action. Sometimes we act within the law, sometimes the law is an ass and needs to be broken; for this reason we all use the alias Jack (...or Jackie) Green. Most importantly we have fun - life is short and we are little more than farts upon a breeze, so loosen up and LIVE - this moment is all that you can ever truly possess.
Yours in solidarity,
Jackie Green
Read definition at: GREENJACKING?
what is guerrilla gardening?
Guerrilla gardening is political gardening; a form of non-violent direct action primarily practiced by environmentalists and those fighting for social justice. Activists take over ("squat") an abandoned piece of land which they do not own in order to grow crops or plants. Guerrilla gardeners believe in re-considering land ownership in order to reclaim land from neglect or misuse. In England the 'Charters of Liberty' (Magna Carta and the lesser known Charter of the Forest) decreed that we all have the right to make our living from England's green and pleasant. Despite the fact that the Charters are the foundation for English Law most people are still denied that basic right.
Some guerrilla gardeners carry out their actions at night, in relative secrecy, to sow and tend a new vegetable patch or flower garden. Others, like the greenjacker, work more openly, seeking to engage with members of the local community. Guerrilla gardening has grown into a form of proactive activism or pro-activism and it is spreading all over the world.
Read more at: Wikipedia Guerrilla Gardening
what's a 'freegan'?
Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.
Perhaps the most notorious freegan strategy is what is commonly called "urban foraging" or "dumpster diving". This technique involves rummaging through the bins and skips of retailers, offices, and other facilities for useful goods. Despite our society's sterotypes about rubbish, the goods recovered by freegans are safe, useable, clean, and in perfect or near-perfect condition - a symptom of a throwaway culture that encourages us to constantly replace our older goods with newer ones. Some urban foragers go at it alone, others dive in groups, but we always share the discoveries openly with one another and with anyone along the way who wants them. Groups like Food Not Bombs recover foods that would otherwise go to waste and use them to prepare meals to share in public places with anyone who wishes to partake.
By recovering the discards of retailers, offices, schools, homes, hotels, or anywhere by rummaging through their bins, skips, and rubbish bags, freegans are able to obtain food, beverages, books, toiletries magazines, comic books, newspapers, videos, kitchenware, appliances, music (CDs, cassettes, records, etc.), carpets, musical instruments, clothing, rollerblades, scooters, furniture, vitamins, electronics, animal care products, games, toys, bicycles, artwork, and just about any other type of consumer good. Rather than contributing to further waste, freegans curtail rubbish and pollution, reducing the over-all volume in the waste stream. If you'd like some incentive read this; if you'd like some tips visit here.
Read more at: Wikipedia Freeganism
what is foraging?
Foraging for wild food isn't just about feeding yourself; its about understanding the land you on . Very few people know about what grows in their own gardens, let alone what grows on the wasteland and fields beyond their homes. Fergus Drennan, one of England's few remaining proffesional foragers, is quoted in Paul Kingsnorths important book 'Real England' as saying "...St George's Mushrooms [sic] got their name because they start to appear around St George's Day, the 23rd of April. You hear people all the time moaning about how the traditions of this country are disappearing, we're not in touch with our heritage, nobody celebrates St George's Day any more, blah, blah. But most of the old traditions, when they were living, they came from the land and from people's attachment to it. These days we don't know where we are, or what happens in our landscape, so we can't create new ones. Traditions come from places, from the land, from our relationship to it. Once that's gone, so has the living culture."
Yours in solidarity,
Jack Green
Read more about foraging at: THE BIG GREEN IDEA
what is freecological?
Freecology is the art of using recycled and sustainable materials for all your technological and engineering needs. Why buy when you can upcycle?
how do I become a greenjacker?
Greenjacker isn't a traditional membership based, card-carrying, money grabbing, talking shop type of organisation; it is a frame of mind. If you want to join us all you have to do is follow a few simple guidelines...
find a patch of ground
Go out into the streets or fields that surround you and make the world a greener, brighter place. If you're protesting about 'peak food' don't forget to leave some 'propa-propaganda'. Register yourself with www.guerrillagardening.org and check out the links page for further advice.
get your freeg on
Go Freegan and make yourself FREE. The Freegan UK and Freegan Info sites have all the info you need to get started; once you've tasted freegan freedom you'll never be the same again.
get some 'buds'
We're not talking plants here, we mean get a group together, lighten the load, have a party. Once you have a group of people contact us and we'll provide your group with a greenjacker email account so you can organise more effectively.
your name is 'green', 'jack green'
You are Jack, Jack-In-The-Green, wood-sprite, hero and avenger of the common man. You are Jackie Green, treehugging cousin to Jackie Brown, sister to the oppressed majority and mother to the future. Of course you don't have to change your name by deed-poll or anything - if you really want to that's cool - but when writing press releases, creating propaganda or talking to the police you should use the name Jack (...or Jackie) Green to protect yourself from our country's ridiculous 'incitement' laws.
it's freecological captain
Upcycle as much as you possibly can. When you do buy new ask yourself "Why?"; do you really need to, or are you just responding to fashion? Get some ideas for projects on our Freecological page.
spread the word
Let others know what you're doing. Create your own media (using Free Open Source Software of course); email resources @ greenjacker.org (copy, paste and remove the spaces) to get some copyright free images and advice on green computing.
... you are now a Greenjacker, use your powers wisely.
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