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Recent Posts
In praise of parsnip flowers and seeds
What are those yellow flowers? Its a common question asked by visitors to the plot at this time of year. The eye-catching flowers that tower above everything else are parsnips. It’s a shame that more don’t keep their parsnips in the ground overwinter and let them flower. Not only are they attractive plants with their …
Jon Hallé: Introducing the Big Solar Co-op, and how you can help renewables and the co-op sector
Today I’m speaking with Jon Hallé. We go back about 20 years. You ran courses on how to make biodiesel for Lowimpact, back in the early noughties, and you authored a book for us about making biodiesel, that sold about 15k copies in the first year. It caught the zeitgeist then, but of course diesel …
History of the use of medicinal plants
This article explores the history of the legal rights of herbalists to practise, and looks particularly at the use of medicinal plants in wartime Britain.
How ‘chamas’ and mutual credit are changing Africa: Shaila Agha of the Sarafu Network
Today I’m talking with Shaila Agha of the Sarafu Network about ‘chamas’ and mutual credit, and how they’re changing Africa.
How you can help get solar onto more roofs in your community: the Big Solar Co-op
As it’s Community Energy Fortnight, I thought I’d have a word with my old mate Jon Hallé, who used to run Lowimpact’s ‘How to Make Biodiesel’ courses in the early noughties (and authored a book of the same title with us), and since then has gone on to found Sharenergy, who have helped over 100 …
What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé?
There’s an approach to life that sees craft jobs, or smallholding and food production, including baking, brewing and beekeeping, as well as any kind of job that involves manual work and dexterity as somehow retrograde and passé, and that ‘work’ now means mainly putting on a suit and travelling to an office to do something-or-other …
Can organic farming feed the world?
Now there’s a question – posed by Chris Smaje of the Ecoogical Land Co-op. Chris joined the board of the ELC as Dave of Lowimpact left, and since then Chris has produced a book called A Small Farm Future, which we review here. Members of Lowimpact have become involved in the world of mutual credit, …
John Thackara: ‘Strange’ ideas don’t sound so strange in strange times
This is part 2 of a conversation with John Thackara. In part 1 we talked about what the future might hold for humanity, and here we talk about what our responses might be. ‘Strange’ ideas might be required for strange times.
How to build a bent willow chair
Complement your home or outdoor space with an easy chair, rocking chairs or a living willow chair! This guide should help you to build a bent willow chair – a fantastic piece of willow furniture. Building a willow chair is incredibly satisfying. Just imagine, when you’ve finished you can literally sit back and enjoy your …
A brief history of money
Here’s a quick and dirty history of money. Since I’ve been involved in the mutual credit world, I’ve been reading various ‘history of money’ texts, and so I thought I’d organise the notes I’ve taken into a blog article. It’s a half-hour read, to accompany our new ‘Low-impact money’ topic, and I think it gives …
John Thackara: What does the future hold for humanity?
This is part 1 of a conversation with John Thackara – senior fellow of the Royal College of Art, visiting professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, founder and director of the Doors of Perception sustainable design conferences, and author of many books, including How to Thrive in the Next Economy.
Join our presentation: the Credit Commons protocol – tech agnostic, low-friction transactions for all
You’re invited to join our presentation on the ‘Credit Commons’ – a protocol to connect and unite mutual credit groups globally – on Friday 4 June from 4-5.30pm. Sign up here.
‘Mutualism’ will supersede traditional left vs right politics
Nature, democracy and community aren’t partisan issues. No-one sensible, of any political persuasion, speaks out against them. They’re essential for human well-being. But they’re being destroyed, and disunity wastes energy and prevents us from being able to do anything about it.
The new Open Money exchange system: Michael Linton, founder of LETSystems
This is Part 2 of a conversation with Michael Linton – founder of LETS, the moneyless exchange system. In Part 1 we talked about LETSystems and why it didn’t grow in the way Michael would have liked, and in Part 2 we’re going to talk about his new idea – Open Money.
Sustainable funerals: Part 2 – with Ethical.net
Are you planning for a green funeral? Our friends at Ethical.net continue to explore sustainable funeral options, including green burials, coffins, burial sites, wakes and more.
LETS – origins, and what happened next: Michael Linton of LETSystems & Open Money
This is Part 1 of a conversation with Michael Linton – inventor of LETS, the moneyless exchange system. I want to talk about that, and he has a new idea called Open Money that we’ll talk about in Part 2.
Sustainable funerals: Part 1 – with Ethical.net
With green funeral options on the rise, our friends at Ethical.net explore what to consider when it comes to sustainable funerals, focusing on more sustainable cremation options in this first instalment.
Nests and baskets: were birds the first basketmakers?
Featuring weavers, dunnocks and wrens, Ruby Taylor of Native Hands reflects on nests and baskets, asking if birds were the first basketmakers.
Mutual credit in Africa: interview with Will Ruddick of Grassroots Economics
I’d like to introduce Will Ruddick, who set up the Grassroots Economics Foundation in Kenya around ten years ago, that runs a very successful mutual credit network (called the Sarafu Network) there.
Putting straw on the public building map: the UP STRAW 2020 Yearbook
Eileen Sutherland shares highlights from the UP STRAW 2020 Yearbook, as this pioneering pan-European project putting straw on the public and urban building map enters its final phases this spring and summer.