Consumption
Saturday November 24th is Buy Nothing Day. We are thinking of organising a swaporium in Stroud to have fun without going shopping or creating more CO2. If you are interested in being involved in organising this please email Molly: molly@gaianeconomics.org
The important next step is harder to take, i.e. reducing energy use and carbon dioxide production by genuinely recreating our local economies and ensuring that a much higher proportion of our needs are met from within our own bioregion. Since so much of the CO2 that is produced is in making and transporting things we buy and use every day without making this economic transition we cannot reduce emissions by the amount required.
This transition of consumption from global to local seems impossible if you consider yourself having to take on the global corporations who currently dominate production and consumption. In fact, if we work at the local level this is not necessary but we do have to challenge some of the ideology of our current economy and ignore some of its rules.
The consumption audit will identity which areas we should target for reductions in our own lives, and also which aspects of consumption we should prioritise as a community for beginning to operate as producers rather than just consumers.
What can you make?
It is obvious, but it also needs to be pointed out that in order for us to have a functioning local economy we all need to be making things as well as buying or using them. Not very many of us do this now, and we are lacking in the skills needed for production. The Transition Towns core group is carrying out a skills audit so if you can make or mend anything at all, from marmalade to cars, please let us know.
Please see the textiles page for developments towards revitalising the textile industry in the Stroud Valleys.
Country Markets offer an excellent opportunity to produce and trade on a small scale. There is one in the Shambles Market in Stroud every Friday morning. For more information see: http://www.country-markets.co.uk/content.php
A Stroud Barter Club is in the process of being realised. It will be like a table-top sale but within the club trade will only take place for local currency. So in order to buy you will have to have something to sell. More incentive to learn some skills and become a producer!
Ethical and Low-Impact Consumption
The basic message is to consume less but obviously for what you do have to buy ethical consumption is an option:
You can reduce your use of harmful chemicals around the home by using natural things like lemon juice and vinegar as cleaners. See the factsheet on natural cleaners here: http://www.lowimpact.org/factsheet_natural_cleaners.htm. You can refill your old containers of cleaning products by Ecover and shampoos by Faith in Nature at Mother Nature, just off High Street in Stroud.
Vision 21 Launches Green Guide to Gloucestershire
The Gloucestershire Green Guide is a comprehensive Guide to green businesses and services in Gloucestershire. With over 300 entries it features a wide variety of organisations and acts as an invaluable tool for the environmentally conscious individual. The online guide also provides beneficial services to green organisations; including a webpage hosting facility and a Featured Supplier page.
The Guide is available online now at . It boasts an easy to use search facility, whereby businesses and services are divided into easy to navigate categories. It also provides an opportunity for users to 'Suggest a Supplier' - so if you know of a green business/service provider/environmental organisation or initiative in Gloucestershire log on today to get them included!
By using local suppliers and businesses Gloucestershire consumers can play an active part in encouraging and stimulating the local economy. The Guide has been initiated and developed by Vision 21 a Cheltenham-based independent non-profit organisation that provides support and information via their local network on sustainable development. The Green Guide has provided Vision 21 with the opportunity to share self-compiled research with a wider public.