About us

Lowimpact.org is a network of hundreds of organisations and thousands of individuals, providing information, opinion and advice on 250+ self-provisioning and commons topics. Low-impact living means obtaining the essentials of life ourselves – individually (self-provisioning) and together (commons), using fewer resources and with less waste.

The problem

There’s a global corporate empire that destroys nature, democracy and community, promotes war and makes it difficult to get what we need from any other source. Voting or begging governments to do something doesn’t change that, because states are part of the empire, not a counterbalance to it. Protest barely registers with them, and they’re too strong to overthrow.

The response

We need revolutionary change, to decentralise power. We can cut off the source of their wealth and power, lay the foundations for a new system and strengthen communities – especially working-class communities (the vast majority of the world, often overlooked by ‘alternative’ movements) – with affordability and jobs, by:

  1. providing things for ourselves in communities.
  2. building a commons economy as an alternative to corporations.
  3. building a credit commons as an alternative to the banking system. 
  4. building a governance commons to support the commons economy.

We partner with a network of specialists to provide a knowledge bank on self-provisioning and the commons. Browse our 250+ topics for introductory information, articles, opinion, interviews, advice and links to further information.

We’re part of a network in Stroud, Liverpool and London, building commons infrastructure in all sectors; we’re talking with people in other towns and countries about ‘replicating and federating’ successful commons projects.

Get involved

  1. If you live in or near Stroud, contact us about being a commons customer, investor or volunteer.
  2. Anywhere else, contact us to talk about launching a commons group in your community.
  3. Browse our bank of topics, see what might work for you, and give it a go.
  4. Comment on the blog, or send us an article.
  5. Contact us if you’d like to volunteer for Lowimpact.org or our commons partners.
  6. Spread the word.

Here’s our story so far and our theory of change.