It’s no secret that our planet is not in the healthiest state. Global temperatures are rising, weather disasters are increasing, more and more species are in danger of extinction, yet big corporations seem to only care about profits. We participate in “Meatless Mondays”, swear off plastic straws and cut down on car usage, but as individuals, our efforts to save the planet can often feel futile.

However, finding an online community passionate about saving the Earth is a great step in increasing our impact and spreading environmental enthusiasm. Meet the solarpunk subreddit: a group dedicated to sustainability. With the motto, “move quietly and plant things”, r/Solarpunk self-describes as “everything from a positive imagining of our collective futures to actually creating it” which includes focusing on “aesthetics, afrofuturism, art, cooperatives, DIY, ecological restoration, engineering, ecofuturism, gardening, green architecture, green design, green energy, indigenous practices, intentional community, solar power, sustainability, tree planting, urban planning, volunteering” and much more.

As with the task of saving the planet, the solarpunk description may feel overwhelming at first, but after checking out this list of their posts, I’m sure their vision will be clear. So slide into your vegan leather Birkenstocks, grab some home-brewed kombucha and settle in to read all about solarpunk. Then when you’re feeling like embracing your inner Greta Thunberg, check out these other Bored Panda pieces focused on reducing waste and loving Mother Earth.

#1 The Truth Well Told

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A cornerstone of the solarpunk belief system is the dream for technology and nature to exist in harmony. This is displayed through beautiful images of “lush green communities with roof-top gardens, floating villages, transport fueled by clean energy” and more. Explored in a BBC News article, solarpunk has been slowly gaining traction since 2008. “Solarpunk is really the only solution to the existential corner of climate disaster we have backed ourselves into as a species,” says Michelle Tulumello, a solarpunk art teacher. “If we wish to survive and keep some of the things we care about on the earth with us, it involves a necessary fundamental alteration in our world view where we change our outlook completely from competitive to cooperative.”

As the name implies, the desire for increased solar energy is paramount to the solarpunk community. Sunlight is almost universally accessible, unlike natural gas and other fossil fuels, making it a preferred source of power for many environmental activists. Solarpunks dream to diverge from capitalism and reconnect with nature, and that starts with less dependence on our outdated electrical grids. All renewable energy sources are steps in the right direction, but solar power is the ideal source for solarpunks. 

#2 Y’all Like To Forget The Punk In Your Solarpunk

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One possible reason solarpunk has needed time to take off is due to the negative connotations associated with the word punk. A spinoff from the imagined aesthetics of steampunk and juxtaposed to the dark future of cyberpunk, solarpunk creates a more optimistic, yet still radical, idea of our world. Phoebe Tickell, a biologist and solarpunk activist, told BBC News, “Prescribing to people that they need to be more solarpunk is much less inviting to them than encouraging people to exercise their own imaginations.” But to really enact change, people cannot be afraid of the side effects. Jay Springett, a solarpunk activist and admin of Solarpunks.net, describes the “poisonous pill” that must be swallowed when embracing solarpunk ideals. “It means that there’s the decentralization of technology, the decentralization of power.”

#3 Forget Grass

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#4 Ecoducts: Green Bridges That Allow Wildlife To Cross Highways, Creating Connected Natural Areas

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As of now, there have not been too many explicit mainstream examples of solarpunk, but oddly enough, a Chobani commercial from 2021 featured a sparkling example of a solarpunk future. The ad featured bright blue skies dotted with blimps generating wind power and endless fields surrounding a beautiful, high tech city. Robots helped harvest produce, and a note from Grandma hung on the fridge saying, “Our job is to plant seeds so our grandkids get to enjoy the fruit. Because how we eat today feeds tomorrow.” Some popular films have also featured solarpunk themes, such as Black Panther and many beloved Studio Ghibli films, like Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke.

#5 End Wonderbread Lawns

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#6 This Is What We All Really Want

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Solarpunk does not call for surrendering technology or social media, rather it asks for decentralization. One example of this is Scuttlebutt, a popular site for solarpunkers. Scuttlebutt describes itself as a “decentralized secure gossip platform”. What it means by that is that data passes “from friend to friend, without any central server”. Twitter works in the opposite way, where content is hosted on a centralized server and constantly updated in real time. On Scuttlebutt, users’ data is stored on their own devices and networks they choose, rather than broadcasted to the entire internet. Sites such as this are popular for solarpunkers to gather and remain optimistic about the future through their communities. 

#7 Agrihood In Detroit

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#8 Bat-Friendly Town Turns Red At Night

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#9 Forbidden Giant Chocolate

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Although the term solarpunk was coined in 2008, the ideas behind it are not new. In her Vice article on the topic, Hannah Steinkopf-Frank mentions that many solarpunk practices are inspired by centuries-old Indigenous techniques, such as permaculture or rain collecting. Indigenous communities have always modeled how to have a harmonious relationship with nature, something many of us could learn a thing or two about this day in age. Even the 1988 Talking Heads’ hit “(Nothing But) Flowers” featured David Byrne nodding to a solarpunk future. The song includes lines such as “There was a factory / Now, there are mountains and rivers” and “There was a shopping mall / Now, it’s all covered with flowers”.

#10 I’ve Always Thought Old Malls And Strip Malls Could Be Converted Into European Style Walkable Towns

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#11 I Am Indigenous Khasi From Meghalaya, India. Our Ancestors Built Bridges From Roots A Long Time Ago. We Have Very Little Pre-Colonial History, So Not Sure How We Got Started. Of Course Maybe Not Solarpunk Because It Is Not In Urban Setting. But I Still Like To Hope/Think We Were The Og Solarpunk

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#12 Positive-Imagining-Of-Future-Solarpunk

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Solarpunk has gained a worldwide following, including a passionate community in Brazil. The first collection of solarpunk fiction, “Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World“, was published in 2012 in Brazil. Ana Rüsche, an author and researcher from São Paulo, weaves solarpunk themes into her fiction and non-fiction writing. Her novella, “Telepathy Is Other People“, follows the story of a girl who travels to Chile and learns about seed preservation, an important issue in Brazil where most of the corn grown is genetically modified. Rüsche says that, “Solarpunk is not naïve. We are facing the world we have already, so the challenge is to imagine together, and that’s really beautiful.”

#13 Scrolling Through This Sub

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#14 There’s An Ancient Japanese Pruning Method From The 14th Century That Allows Lumber Production Without Cutting Down Trees Called “Daisugi”

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#15 Positive-Imagining-Of-Future-Solarpunk

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Books aren’t the only way solarpunkers are trying to make their message more accessible. That’s where Keisha Howard comes in. Howard is the founder of Sugar Gamers, an organization committed to increasing diversity within the worlds of technology, gaming and the arts. In 2018, Howard gave a Tedx talk titled “Imagining a SolarPunk Future” and has even created her own game, Project Violacea, exploring solarpunk themes. The premise of the game is detailed on the Sugar Gamers website:

“In a dystopian future ruled by an oppressive totalitarian regime called the MOX Hierarchy, a group of super revolutionaries is waging a war for liberty, knowledge, and justice. The MOX took control of the world as it teetered on the brink of world war, environmental collapse, and global pandemic. To save humanity, the MOX built great, domed cities covered in solar panels. The walls of the cities protect the citizens from the blasted, plagued wasteland the outside world has become, but they come at a cost. Because climate change, pollution, and environmental destruction have made life on earth so harsh, the MOX is forced to make difficult decisions to protect the cities daily.” 

#16 A Small Big Change

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#17 “Parkipelago” Of Floating Islands

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#18 Gardening Is A Revolutionary Act

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The solarpunk vision does not need to be viewed only as fictional or a far-off future. Some places around the world are already taking steps toward the solarpunk dream. The city of Detroit, Michigan, unveiled the United States’ first sustainable urban “agrihood”, The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (or MUFI), in 2016. This agrihood is a 3-acre farm with the mission of ending food insecurity in a lower-income area. Detroit, which has long been labeled one of the “most dangerous” and “most violent” cities in the US, is working towards adding many agricultural neighborhoods to signal safety for visitors and make residents feel more at home. Produce is free to all at MIFU, and the community is growing stronger through maintaining the farm and helping one another.  

#19 Koreas Largest Floating Flower Shaped Solar Plant

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#20 On /R/Cyberpunk/ Now: “We Thought That Tokyo Was Going To Become Cyberpunk, But It’s Actually Turning More Solarpunk -“

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#21 Saw On Tumblr And Wondered What Y’all Thought About This Take

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Another real-world example is the Global Ecovillage Network, or GEN Europe. As described on their website, GEN is a “network for ecovillages and sustainable communities” with a mission to “support and connect the ecovillage movement, encourage ecovillage development, educate for sustainability and ultimately create a world where empowered local communities are at the forefront of creating a fairer society that regenerates the earth, and ourselves”. With over 100 ecovillages across Europe, GEN is working hard to “regenerate the environments” of these villages and inspire more cities globally to do the same. 

#22 Natural Resilience!

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#23 Biodiverse Prairie Is The Ultimate Chad

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#24 Love Seeing Change Like This!

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Copenhagen is another dream destination for passionate solarpunkers. CopenHill, or Amager Bakke, is a heat and waste-to-power plant that was built in 2017 and is now world famous for having an artificial ski slope atop the plant as well. Copenhagen has a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2025, and they’re on the right track by housing the cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world. The artificial ski slopes don’t rely on natural or man-made snow, making them usable year round, and for those not interested in skiing, CopenHill also features a climbing wall, running track and café.

#25 To Combat The Threat Of Desertification Of The Sahel (The Region Immediately To The South Of The Sahara), The African Union Is Leading An Initiative To Plant The Great Green Wall, A 7,775 Km (4,830 Mi) Belt Of Trees Crossing The Entire Breadth Of North Africa

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#26 All We Need For A Solarpunk World…

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#27 Positive-Imagining-Of-Future-Solarpunk

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Imagining the future of the world is a daunting task, but at the rate we’re currently at, the planet may have limited future left. Solarpunks aspire to embrace technology but to care for nature as well, rather than exploit it. If we keep an open mind to what our world can look like, maybe we can work towards a more sustainable and technologically advanced Earth. After all, living in a high rise that’s covered in greenery and surrounded by urban gardens sounds pretty appealing to me.

#28 Rules For A Reasonable Future

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#29 I Detect No Lie

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#30 Take Pride In Being Called Radicals. Saving The World Means Changing Everything

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Source: boredpanda.com