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  • Dave Darby

    Dave Darby bio

    Dave Darby founded Lowimpact.org in 2001, spent 3 years on the board of the Ecological Land Co-op and is a founder member of NonCorporate.org and the Open Credit Network.

    Articles by

    Dave Darby

    Reflections on building the ‘Commons’ economy

    Dave Darby 17-Jul-2022

    Lowimpact has been around since 2001, and we’ve provided lots of ways to help people live more sustainably. We’re going to also be focusing on how to build the ‘commons’ economy in future, as a viable alternative to the status quo. Read more

    Is it time to rethink the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals?

    Dave Darby 29-May-2022

    Time to rethink the UN’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals’: the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘progress’ based on eternal GDP growth are flawed. Read more

    Review of Brett Scott’s ‘Cloud Money’

    Dave Darby 25-May-2022

    Review of Brett Scott’s ‘Cloud Money’, a ‘convoluted payments circuitry, tied together by institutions you cannot see, but who can see you’. Read more

    We’re taking on a paid intern: you, maybe?

    Dave Darby 15-May-2022

    We’re looking for a paid intern. Contact us if you think this might be you, and please do pass it on to anyone you think might be a likely candidate. We initially have up to £600 per month available for the right person, depending on how much time you can put in – and there will be opportunities for you and others to bring in more income to pay for more work for you to do. Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: Investment, saving & location

    Dave Darby 20-Mar-2022

    Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at savings and investments in a mutual credit world, as well as the importance of physical location. Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: Community groups & individuals

    Dave Darby 13-Mar-2022

    This is the fifth in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at community groups and individual consumers. Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: Local authorities & anchor institutions

    Dave Darby 06-Mar-2022

    This is the fourth in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at local authorities and anchor institutions Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: Trade Credit Clubs and credit clearing

    Dave Darby 27-Feb-2022

    Third in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: explaining the Credit Commons Protocol

    Dave Darby 20-Feb-2022

    of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together in a global trading network. Here we provide a basic explanation of the Credit Commons Protocol. Read more

    Mutual Credit Services – keeping communities alive after COVID: introduction

    Dave Darby 13-Feb-2022

    Members of the Lowimpact.org co-op are involved with Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together in a global trading network. We’re often asked about the current state of play, and so we’ve put together a series of 6 articles to explain what progress we’ve made. Read more

    Review of ‘Going to Seed’, new book by Simon Fairlie

    Dave Darby 06-Feb-2022

    This is a review of Simon Fairlie’s new book, Going to Seed, out on Feb 10th – his ‘counterculture memoir’ – although at times I’ll unapologetically veer into (hopefully relevant) political rambling. Read more

    New website and new plans for 2022 – your involvement welcome

    Dave Darby 23-Jan-2022

    We launched our new website in early January. It’s faster, more robust and (hopefully) easier to navigate. Please let us know if you find any broken links or any other problems. Since 2001, we’ve been developing a huge range of topics covering low-impact technologies, facilities and activities. But with the current economy and money system,… Continue reading New website and new plans for 2022 – your involvement welcome Read more

    Happy new economy in 2022

    Dave Darby 02-Jan-2022

    This is a 2022 New Year’s message to everyone I know, or who uses this website, reads our blog and/or watches our videos. I’m an optimist. Eventually, I think we can turn things around. And even if we can’t, if we help the people in our network to do what they do, at the very… Continue reading Happy new economy in 2022 Read more

    The left vs right battle: 5. how ‘new economy’ thinking can unite left & right

    Dave Darby 27-Dec-2021

    In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’ve been trying to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this spectrum… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 5. how ‘new economy’ thinking can unite left & right Read more

    The left vs right battle: 4. what left & right have in common

    Dave Darby 19-Dec-2021

    In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’m going to try to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 4. what left & right have in common Read more

    The left vs right battle: 3. why left vs right is so harmful

    Dave Darby 12-Dec-2021

    In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’m going to try to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 3. why left vs right is so harmful Read more

    The left vs right battle: 2. the roots of left and right thinking

    Dave Darby 02-Dec-2021

    In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’m going to try to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 2. the roots of left and right thinking Read more

    The left vs right battle: 1. the meaning of left and right

    Dave Darby 26-Nov-2021

    In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’m going to try to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 1. the meaning of left and right Read more

    Explaining mutual credit to small business owners

    Dave Darby 14-Nov-2021

    At Lowimpact.org, we’ve been banging on about something called ‘mutual credit’ for about 3 or 4 years now – constantly trying to think of ways to explain it that can be grasped really quickly. We think it really is a world-changing idea – in that it can help keep wealth in communities, keep small businesses… Continue reading Explaining mutual credit to small business owners Read more

    The problem with COP26

    Dave Darby 31-Oct-2021

    The IPCC recently conducted a study into the combined effects of all the agreed targets of the countries taking part in the ongoing COP talks. Tucked away in the report is this: “The available NDCs of all 191 Parties taken together imply a sizable increase in global GHG emissions in 2030 compared to 2010, of… Continue reading The problem with COP26 Read more

    There’s a crash coming – a slap from Mother Nature. This isn’t pessimistic; it’s realistic.

    The human impact on nature and on each other is accelerating and needs systemic change to reverse.

    We’re not advocating poverty, or a hair-shirt existence. We advocate changes that will mean better lives for almost everyone.

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