Reading throuth the Post Carbon Institute’s call to action for individuals, it feels like this really isnt enough. Ok, some people will start all of this, and some will be very effective at creating local food for their friends and families, connections with their neighbours, reduce their carbon footprints, and all the rest.
But, the transition to a post carbon world, and the steps needed to reduce human impact on the climate needs so much more.
So, we suggest that local businesses need to act. If you run a local business, start thinking about what it is you do, and where resources that you use come from. Will you be able to continue without cheap abundant energy? Should you continue ie does your business pollute the environment and/or create waste?
What do you do with your ‘waste’? Could it be used as a resource? ie cardboard and sawdust could be donated to gardeners.
Why should local people support your business? Ok, we have all the general reasons for supporting local rather than some global corporation. But, what does your business contribute to the local area?
We need to completely redefine ‘waste’. Your business probably has some waste byproducts, that could be donated or swapped with others in your local area.
And finally, does your buiness make money? Presumably so, or you wouldn’t be doing it. How much could you afford to donate to local people and groups trying to prepare for post-carbon. While your business is still able to function and make money with the aid of oil, don’t you think that you may be better investing some of your income towards local growing or energy or insulation projects. You may find in the future that you need to rely on people around you to survive. Couldn’t you invest now in your local area (as donations or inventive advertising through your accounts) to help?
In days gone by, successful local businesses tended to support the area and people in that area, sharing the wealth generated, and forging close ties of community between business and local inhabitants. This too has been lost, but we are proposing that you recreate it now.
There is a lot to do, everywhere, and much that could cost money. Why not give your neighbours a reason to support your business by helping to support them?
Or perhaps you are a landowner, with unutilised land, that could be turned into perennial food gardens, or orchards? Why not talk to your neighbours, and offer the use of the land as community garden.
We have to rethink how we do business, concepts of landownership and recreate community connections everywhere. Some of us have more than others, but on our own will still find it difficult, and businesses generally have greater access to finance – perhaps in the form of an advertising budget. What better advertising than donating to local projects, after all, local people may be your only customers in the post-oil future!
