Info, news & debate
Low-impact shopping
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How can people keep working if the economy crashes and there’s just no money around?
Imagine that there’s an enormous economic crash coming. Say, the biggest economic crash in history. Outlandish, I know, but just give it a try.
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Community wealth building & mutual credit: a match made in heaven?
This is the third in a series of articles about community wealth building and mutual credit, by Dave Darby and Dil Green of Lowimpact.org and the Open Credit Network.
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‘The Case for Community Wealth Building’: review
This is the first of three articles in three days about ‘community wealth building’ (CWB) and mutual credit. Today we’re explaining community wealth building, and reviewing a book: The Case for Community Wealth Building. Tomorrow we’ll blog about how mutual credit can help post-Covid communities, and on Monday, Dil Green continues the theme, explaining how …
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Our policy on keeping animals & eating meat
Our topics include vegetarianism and veganism, but also keeping animals (for meat, dairy, eggs, honey, wool, leather, work etc); and also fishing and hunting animals in the wild. Is this incongruous? As a sustainability / new economy organisation, should we be promoting only veganism, rather than the keeping and/or eating of animals?
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Building the new economy: how to keep local economies trading in the economic slump caused by the coronavirus
This is the last of six articles this week about how we can keep local economies afloat during the coming economic slump. There is already a scarcity of money, as the coronavirus crisis forces businesses to lay off workers, and sole traders to give up. But it will get much worse. How can we keep …
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The exchange medium for the coronavirus crisis: crypto or mutual credit?
This is the third in a series of articles about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are: There’s going to be a shortage of money. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system. That’s it! Mutual credit can help local …
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Coming together to build a new economy: Matthew Slater, barefoot economist and Credit Commons co-designer, Part 2
In part 1 I described why a resilient economy needs be to separate from the failing capitalist juggernaut and that we need to start by finding new economic partners from without the Market.
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Starting from scratch: Matthew Slater, barefoot economist and Credit Commons co-designer, Part 1
Donald Trump recently derided Greta Thunberg and everyone pleading with government to heed environmental science as ‘doomsayers’. The more imminent peak oil or environmental collapse appear, the more intransigent our political system seems to be. Whatever the reasons for this, responsible citizens can only accomplish so much while the political and economic winds are blowing …
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How to start a co-operative grocery in your town: Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery, Part 2
This is Part 2 of an interview with Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery – a co-operative grocery store in Manchester. In Part 1, I talked with Debbie about what it’s like to work in a co-operative grocery. Here we talk about the “Grow your own Grocery” guide that her co-op has produced for people who …
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How to grow the non-corporate food sector: interview with Lynne Davis of the Open Food Network (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of an interview by Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org / NonCorporate.org with Lynne Davis of the Open Food Network as part of a series of interviews with people building the new economy. Here’s Part 1, and below is the transcript of the interview, plus the video.
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What it’s like to work in a cooperative grocery store: Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery, Part 1
Today I’m talking with Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery – a cooperative grocery store in Manchester; and the thing I’m particularly interested in about Unicorn Grocery is that instead of wanting to become a huge chain, they’ve got a toolkit called ‘Grow your own Grocery’ to help people set up cooperative grocery stores in their own towns.
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Become one of the first movers in a new, collaborative economy: Open Credit Network Alpha launch
Lowimpact.org are working with Open.coop to build a new, co-operative, moneyless, mutual credit trading system for the UK, with a view to joining many similar schemes around the world to create a new global trading system, that requires neither banks nor interest. The point of this article is to invite you, if you own or …
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How the Open Food Network helps local food producers: interview with Lynne Davis (Part 1)
Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org / NonCorporate.org interviews Lynne Davis of the Open Food Network as part of a series of interviews with people building the new economy. Here’s the transcript of the interview, plus the video (below).
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Can you detox your plastic life and smash the MCS Plastic Challenge?
The Marine Conservation Society is challenging people to get through July single-use plastic free. Could you rise to the challenge? Clare Fischer explains how to take part.
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How do we build a new, non-extractive economy? Dil Green of Lowimpact.org
How can we build a new, non-extractive economy? Dave Darby interviews Lowimpact.org’s Dil Green to find out.
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Community-supported agriculture vs corporate supermarkets: Maresa Bossano of the UK CSA Network
We interview Maresa Bossano of the UK Community-Supported Agriculture Network to see how CSA measures up against corporate supermarkets.
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Ten top tips for running a market stall or craft fayre stall
Today we’re sharing ten tips for running a market stall or craft fayre stall from the folks behind The Soap Kitchen.
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How could we build a viable alternative to the current, bank-controlled money system? Interview with Matthew Slater of the Credit Commons Collective
This week we’re talking with Matthew Slater of the Credit Commons Collective, working to build a mutualist, credit-based alternative to the current money system.
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My mutual credit journey (and how you can join in the fun)
I often trawl the web just speculatively looking for new people or new ideas, clicking on links from interesting sites. TEDx talks are a favourite. A few years ago I came across an intriguing TEDx talk by Professor Jem Bendell called ‘the Money Myth’.
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Co-operative smartphones are coming: Nithin Coca interviews the chair of KDIM Co-op
You can get yourself a co-operative phone and broadband provider – the Phone Co-op. But you can’t get a phone made by a co-operative – not in the UK, anyway. Nithin Coca reports from Indonesia on a co-operative in Jakarta producing low-end, cheap phones for their home market.