Info, news & debate
Year: 2023
Resistance Festival to help save Monkton Wyld Court
A resistance festival of free workshops and music is taking place at Monkton Wyld Court, nr Lyme Regis. This is in support of the community that has run Monkton Wyld Court for the last fifteen years, and is now threatened by incoming charity trustees. Monkton Wyld Court is the site of a microdairy which dates …
Taking the water industry off the water companies: Julian Jones of Water21, Part 1
Part 1 of an interview with Julian Jones, a water engineer and distinguished fellow of the Schumacher Institute, about building a water commons for Stroud.
Homemade Lipbalm
An easy to follow recipe for homemade lipbalm that will protect your lips this autumn.
More on the money problem: it doesn’t have to be ‘scarce’
Following on from a recent post by Tom Greco, on the essential nature of money, Dil Green of Lowimpact.org and Mutual Credit Services here talks about its apparent scarcity, how that negatively affects our communities and our well-being, and how it could be different – based on mutual credit and the commons economy.
Earth Overshoot day and the importance of low impact living
Today (August 2nd) is Earth Overshoot day. Not heard of this? It means that between January 1st and August 2nd our use of Earth’s resources is equivalent to what it can regenerate in a year. Our demand on nature exceed it’s biocapacity. Sadly, since 1971 this date has crept forward as we continue to live …
How to solve the money problem in a nutshell
This article from Tom Greco contains the basics of what you need to know about money, currency, credit and exchange.
8 amazing benefits from street trees
Read about the importance of street trees and one group’s mission to make sure their role in our life is recognised.
Stroud Commons 5: forming a ‘commoners’ group for each sector of the economy
This is the latest in a series of articles documenting our group’s attempts to build the commons economy in Stroud, in a way that can be implemented in other towns, and connected together to build the foundations of a new, commons economy. It covers what we’ve done so far, and how people can get involved.
Building back differently: peasant economics and heritage craft
If a fair share of the planet is a couple of ‘useful’ global hectares per individual, the planet could sustain about 10 billion people living primitively.
Eco-friendly laundry: 12 easy tips to reduce your environmental impact
12 easy ways to make your laundry eco-friendly.
An authoritarian world government is not going to save us
A growing question for environmentalists is the extent to which the existential threat we face means that countries and populations should be forced to reduce consumption, and hence whether an authoritarian politics is the best way to face the future.
Why wastewater treatment plants are NOT the solution for microfibre pollution?
Microfibre pollution and wastewater? What can be done?
Conversation with Jem Bendell, part 2: how should we respond to the collapse of capitalism?
This is the second part of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Jem Bendell, professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, and author of the now famous 2018 Deep Adaptation paper that claimed that we’re on an inevitable path to civilisational collapse.
Bokashi composting: A beginners guide to slimming down your black bin waste
Bokashi composing could be the answer to kitchen composting.
Conversation with Jem Bendell, part 1: is industrial capitalism coming to an end?
This is the first part of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Jem Bendell, professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, and author of the now famous 2018 Deep Adaptation paper that claimed that we’re on an inevitable path to civilisational collapse.
Move over #DeFi & #ReFi; hello #CoFi – collaborative finance for the commons
Matthew Slater reports on the first Collaborative Finance Gathering at the Commons Hub, Austria, May 22-28, 2023, where the concept of ‘co-fi’ was born.
Community Orchards – tragedy or victory of the commons?
Community orchards at their best are many things at once: a social space, a coming together of people to work together on a common task; a celebration of the abundant harvest of fruit; a haven for wildlife and a pocket of biodiversity.
Regenerative traditions in Africa: inspiration for the commons everywhere
Building the commons may be hard in wealthier countries, where traditions of mutual aid were lost many years ago. But they’re still alive and well in other parts of the world – as this article by Janet of Grassroots Economics / Sarafu Network shows. I interviewed the director of Grassroots Economics, Shaila Agha, who told me about ‘chamas’ in Kenya – mutual savings groups, built on trusted relationships in local communities.
How sustainable is fashion? Fashion Reimagined: A review
Fashion Reimagined is a documentary film that will make you rethink what can be achieved in sustainable fashion.
If our civilisation were collapsing, would we even know? Review of Jem Bendell’s ‘Breaking Together’
In Breaking Together Bendell argues that the collapse of industrial consumer societies is not just “inevitable” but is in fact already underway.