Info, news & debate
Year: 2015
Low-impact & the city 2: what are urban gardens for?
I Iive with my partner in a terraced house in London, and we have a garden. So we have to work out what we want the garden for. Do we want to use it to impress people, to give it a ‘make-over’, to make it orderly and tidy, or to produce food? We’ve decided that …
How to answer the question: ‘if you don’t like this system, what do you want to replace it with?’ – aka a review of The Democracy Project by David Graeber
Graeber was a leading light in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the book begins with a fascinating insider’s view of the goings-on in and around Zucotti Park in 2011. The most important point in the book for me though was the reminder that people always want a blueprint for a new society
Holidays without flying: how to cycle around Scotland on a folding bike
Obviously this isn’t a ‘no-fly’ holiday if you live on the other side of the world to Scotland, but I’m sure you have somewhere beautiful closer to home for a holiday that doesn’t involve an environmentally-damaging flight.
Five myths about economic growth
We were sent this by CASSE – the Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Love it – there are so few organisations pointing out the insanity of the quest for perpetual growth (image: http://www.polyp.org.uk).
If you’re not exactly ‘time-rich’, here’s how you can change society with your money as well as your actions
Since Lowimpact began as LILI in 2001, we’ve offered a constantly increasing bank of information, courses, products, services, books, magazines, links, videos and advice for people wanting to change their lives – to live in a more sustainable and less corporate way.
Permaculture Conference & Convergence: 10% discount for Lowimpact visitors
The International Permaculture Convergence, London 2015, will bring together leading experts and practitioners from around the world. We have everything we need to create a sustainable world and future.
Cargo bikes collecting local food waste for anaerobic digestion and biogas
Closing the food-waste-energy loop – a celebration of sustainability. Enjoy a free community event in a beautiful wildlife park learning about closed-loop recycling, urban agriculture, sustainable cities, decentralised waste management, renewable gas and how YOU can make a difference.
Why land, on which to build a home and grow food, is our ultimate security
There’s a general feeling – and a growing one I think – that we’re headed for disaster, and that no-one is in control or able to steer us away from the precipice. Here are four categories of reasons that people give for pessimism about the near future:
Greece v the Empire; how to understand what’s being done to the Greeks
I’ve been thinking about how to write articles about the fact that we live in a corporate empire – trying to work out a way to present the idea, thinking that it would sound rather silly or extreme to many ears. Then a former World Bank economist (Peter Koenig) says:
Thoughts about the Breaking the Frame gathering and an idea for a potential spin-off
I’ve just returned from the Breaking the Frame gathering – a long weekend at Unstone Grange in Derbyshire. My head is still spinning from the workshops, talks and panels featuring specialists on technology around GM, the military, nuclear power, surveillance, synthetic biology, health, energy, toxics annd climate, plus TTIP, emerging and alternative technologies.
How I built a rocket mass heater in our timber-frame classroom
When I built our timber framed classroom last year, one of the concerns was how best to heat it. We are entirely reliant on woodfuel here, and a regular woodburner was going to make a big dent in our precious wood pile.
Help set up eco-settlements by moving your money and getting a better return than from a bank savings account
If we want to: help set up organic smallholdings; allow people to build natural homes on their land; preserve rural skills and livelihoods; and develop a sustainable, non-corporate food supply, we have to do more than just talk about it.
Good luck to Greece, and why you won’t find the real reasons for their crisis in the mainstream media
It’s so ironic that the biggest lesson in how to destroy democracy is being delivered to the world in the birthplace of democracy.
How to get George Osborne to buy you shares in a wind turbine
No, this isn’t a scam – you can get tax relief on shares in community energy. But it’s not charity – you don’t have to part with your money. It’s an investment, and one that is projected to give you a 7% return – much more than a bank savings account.
Why I’d like to bring together radical academics and people building a sustainable, non-corporate system on the ground
I’m going to the Breaking the Frame gathering on Thursday, representing Lowimpact.org. The event has been organised by Corporate Watch, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Rising Tide and Luddites200. Dave King of Luddites200 contacted a couple of years ago and I’ve been going along to his ‘politics of technology’ reading group one evening a month since.
Goodbye to WWOOF and to Redfield Community: the dawn of a new era for Lowimpact.org
Today we part company with both WWOOF and Redfield Community. Here’s a bit of history, including why we’re splitting, plus an advert for both WWOOF and Redfield.
What I learnt about US Middle East policy and the international oil market in a kebab shop in Tooting
I learnt something about US foreign policy (or more accurately, corporate foreign policy – this has nothing to do with the American people) in a kebab shop in Tooting – or rather, I didn’t so much learn about the foreign policy as how events that are largely unknown to most British people are common currency for …
Why we need to stop TTIP if we care about the national health services of European countries
As negotiations continue between Europe and the US on the Transatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership (TTIP), concerns are mounting among civil society groups over the implications for public healthcare.
Low-impact & the city 1: introduction – how possible is it to live in a sustainable, non-corporate way in a city?
I lived at Redfield Community for 13 years – it’s where Lowimpact.org was born – but now I live in London, and so I’m assessing my options for living as low-impact a life as I can.
Fermi’s paradox: does the lack of contact from extraterrestrials have implications for human survival?
“Where is everybody?” Enrico Fermi is supposed to have asked in 1950 of his colleagues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Working from first principles, Fermi calculated that extraterrestrials should have visited the Earth long ago, and many times over