citydreams
on the road again
I don't feel the need to get worked up. But it's nice to be informed on, say, the best way of composting household waste.
Transition Town Brixton
- Thread starter Orang Utan
- Start date
I don't feel the need to get worked up. But it's nice to be informed on, say, the best way of composting household waste.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
If you really can't see the difference between blind religious beliefs and evidenced actions to stop the degradation and destruction of the planet, then I don't think anyone here can help you to dissipate your mindless, misplaced rage. I will point out however, that ignorance appears to accumulate around you so densely that you may be in danger of turning into a black hole
I suggest some 'learning' as a way of averting this catasphrophe 
ajdown
Posting in this thread
What rage? I'm quite calm about it all... which is more than some around here.
Funny how having an independent mind and not being swayed by the crowd is called 'trolling'.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
You just sound like quite an angry person. It's understandable though - ignorance* can be very frustrating I hear.
*or 'independence' as you like to call it. You rebel you.
ajdown
Posting in this thread
If you had to drive across London, or travel on a bus, with all these idiots on pushbikes weaving in and out of traffic, cutting across lanes and disregarding pretty much every law of the road - and not paying a penny for the use of them - I'm sure you would be upset regularly as well.
The flipside, of course, is that there's nothing more satisfying than seeing one idiot on a pushbike not looking where they're going, being rammed into by another idiot on a pushbike not looking where they are going either, and both of them falling into a heap on the road.
When I used to ride a bike years ago (before I was old enough to upgrade to a car) I always followed the rules of the road and rode safely... why can't people do that now?
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
1/10
ajdown
Posting in this thread
Actually I haven't. This is my first ID here.
mysterybadger
Well-Known Member
'boycott out-of-season fruit' that's shipped half way round the world to the UK because of its carbon footprint ... but never think the same about tobacco
"Shipping" isn't really the problem so much as flying. Tobacco isn't a fresh product, so the impact of shipping it round the world is probably minimal, and not really the point. Tobacco will help millions in the developing world avoid the effects of global warming by, er, killing them.
"Shipping" isn't really the problem so much as flying. Tobacco isn't a fresh product, so the impact of shipping it round the world is probably minimal, and not really the point. Tobacco will help millions in the developing world avoid the effects of global warming by, er, killing them.
wormeries are a very good solution for anyone with limited spaces (we live in a flat with no garden, no balcony, tiny kitchen & it worked out really well)
aj down: yes, evangelism is bad in any shape or form, i think the idea of many of us is that we can all try and do as little or as much as we can to help out - think of the too many car journeys, not all of which are absolutely necessary, think of trying out locally grown food as opposed to family lunches at mcdonalds (camberwell's always sadly packed at weekends!) etc, one step at a time still counts
http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk
aj down: yes, evangelism is bad in any shape or form, i think the idea of many of us is that we can all try and do as little or as much as we can to help out - think of the too many car journeys, not all of which are absolutely necessary, think of trying out locally grown food as opposed to family lunches at mcdonalds (camberwell's always sadly packed at weekends!) etc, one step at a time still counts
http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk
scalyboy
They’re taking the piss now
I am in a similar position (flat, no garden as such, just pots inside & out) - did have a wormery and it worked well for a while but beware!
One summer I started noticing that the waste wasn't decomposing as it should, there was also an increasingly noxious smell, I finally checked it out and discovered that the worms had actually boiled alive in the heat (it was a period of extended hot weather, not like now). The stench was appalling, plus I felt really guilty (I had noticed a couple of weeks before that the worms were trying to get out of the wormery, so I just put 'em back in again - now I realise they were attempting to escape from a medieval inferno).
The resulting mass of rotten food and molten worms was too disgusting to just chuck into a corner of our estate's communal garden area, so I decided the civic-minded thing would be to flush it all down the khasi, which of course then got blocked...
But don't let me put you off.
Gixxer1000
cant wheelie a shaftie :(
eurgh!!!!!!!
our ones are still happily wriggling, i keep checking them regularly
thanks for that though
http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk
roryer
道可道非常道，名可名非常名
I'm not really sure if that is true. Part of the point of transition towns is that it is often community solutions that can help us all reduce our collective impact on the environment. The eco-crisis of our age is very similar in many ways to the war years, where people were obliged to pull together for the good of the country, rather than the whole world. Selfish behaviour during the war years was always frowned upon, and often illegal.
Leaning towards anarchism rather than a Communism, I'm not really a fan of centrally enforced laws, but communties have great difficulties in working if they rely on 100% concencious, as one 'Clarkson' disciple can derail the efforts of the other 99 people working towards a goal. Perhaps however communities themselves should look to enforce public spirited behaviour simply through shame and guilt?
This article appeared on page F - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Tough times may force saner lifestyle choices
Well, here we are at the beginning of the Not-So-Great Depression. After years of living beyond our means and having too much on our plates, now we will have just enough - if we're lucky.
Whether the current economic downturn lasts five years or 20, it will radically alter our lifestyles. Our material culture will be significantly dematerialized.
Meanwhile, the global environmental crisis is building toward a crescendo. Like a gigantic version of the 1930s dustbowls, it is beginning to settle and choke the very basis of our lives and livelihood. Critical resources are rapidly disappearing, and environmental devastation is draining the global economy. The economic and ecological crises are deeply intertwined, and we are about to experience their combined impact.
How can we survive this unique global transition? What will our lives look like if and when we manage to develop a sustainable economy that balances resources and consumption? What steps can we take to achieve happiness and well-being, knowing that most Americans will have fewer material possessions?
I can always recommend conservation measures, because they save money and the environment in one stroke. Many conservation measures such as installing faucet aerators to save water are downright cheap....
Spiritual dimensions
But our new situation calls for more than technical advice because major lifestyle changes are not just material; they also have spiritual dimensions. Turning the current crisis into an opportunity will require a spiritual revolution. And, like charity, spirituality begins at home.
Shelter, harmony and community are the three components of a healthy home life. Thinking of our homes as our shelters, rather than as investments or collateral for an endless series of home-equity loans, can keep us out of credit trouble while reinforcing our sense of domestic security.
Growing food, sustainable landscaping and good home maintenance, which saves money and materials, come to mind.
Harmony means good relationships, starting within the family and extending to the connections between the home and its community and environment. If you're planning some landscape work, have you involved your family? Consulted your neighbors? Are you using native plants and drip irrigation to harmonize your landscape with the wider environment?
Community reliance is scary to many Americans. We're a self-reliant bunch, and for generations our security and reputation as individuals and families has rested on our financial positioning, not our community relationships. In fact, people who depend on their communities are often denigrated for not pulling their own weight.
Take cue from war effort
Many Americans are surprised, then, to learn that during World War II, carpooling was the accepted way of getting to work, and that taking one's own car was frowned upon because it wasted gas needed for the war effort. If you grow more food than you can use, you can donate the excess to a food bank - and even get a tax credit for doing so. Your community might have a tool-lending library that can save you a lot of expense. If not, you can help start one.
Opportunities abound to help each other and, by doing so, grow stronger and more fulfilled. Interdependence has an enormous potential to break down our isolation and replace our diminishing material wealth with something far more important and rewarding - relationships.
Ecology, it turns out, is the study of relationships. Overcome the depression by undertaking that study at your ecological house.
Philip S. Wenz is the founder and former director of the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and teaches at the Building Education Center in Berkeley.
ska invita
back on the other side
There are scores of transition town projects across the country, and internationally - here's the list:
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionCommunities
I have mixed emotions about the TT projects. It would be great if this could turn into practical action - but at the moment it tends to just be showing the key film (the genuinely insipring "The Power of Community: How Cuba survived Peak Oil" http://totnes.transitionnetwork.org/node/1162), plus more awareness raising (leaflets, websites, etc.)
Its great that people are coming together, but I fear that transition towns will rarely if ever go past the step of having meetings to actually growing their own veg and helping bypass fuel transport. I hope Im wrong on that, and all power to everyone involved.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
Well, I can only speak from personal experience, but my parents moved outside London when they retired and they have been heavily involved in local Transition Town events. The group is achieving far more locally in terms of raising awareness and implementing policy than I've ever seen in London certainly; I was surprised at the amount of publicity and general interest there was. And this is a seaside retirement town, it's not, you know, a hotbed of envirocommies.
They also give Tescos a kicking on a regular basis
I'm proud of my folks.
They also give Tescos a kicking on a regular basis
I'm proud of my folks.As the previous poster said I think thats because in inner london neighbourhoods such as Lambeth there are low levels of home ownership (I forget the exact figures but something like over 50% of the population live in social housing and 20% live in private rented) which means that people feel they dont have a 'stake' in their neighbourhood -'its all the council's fault, they should do something' type attitude- and also the turnover of population is very high (people in short term private tenancies, people moving out of London etc) which again means that people feel they dont have a stake in their area or a long term commitment to making it better. In towns and cities outside of London people are more settled and so can see the benefits of making their town a better place to live and have more commitment.
Of course it could be argued that places outside of London and the big cities have much more to do to make their lifestyles environmentally friendly - by virtue of the high population density, low levels of car ownership and widespread use of public transport we in Lambeth and other inner city areas use less of the worlds resources per person than people living in big detached houses in Kent or Surrey and relying on cars for transport.
Of course it could be argued that places outside of London and the big cities have much more to do to make their lifestyles environmentally friendly - by virtue of the high population density, low levels of car ownership and widespread use of public transport we in Lambeth and other inner city areas use less of the worlds resources per person than people living in big detached houses in Kent or Surrey and relying on cars for transport.
co-op
But....but cLoWnFiSh....
This is it.
They're surely a Good Idea, but whether they can have a major impact in somewhere like Brixton I wonder. For a start where does "Brixton" begin and end? Small, self-contained towns like Lewes or Totnes have a much more natural boundary and membership.
