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    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

    We’re running a series of webinars on how we might change the money system – starting with cryptocurrencies

    Dave Darby 01-Feb-2018

    We’re determined to spread the word that any attempts to move towards a more sustainable and democratic world are doomed to failure if they don’t address the money system. Read more

    Why much criticism of the Fair Trade movement is invalid – designed to disguise corporate exploitation of small farmers

    Dave Darby 30-Jan-2018

    The Fair Trade movement was set up to secure better prices for struggling small farmers and craft producers in poor countries, and to provide funds for various improvements in their communities. It has, however, come in for some criticism for various reasons. Read more

    How we got olive oil from a small farm in Portugal brought over in a sailboat by a co-operative based in Brighton – and how you can do the same

    Dave Darby 07-Jan-2018

    I recently interviewed Dhara Thompson of the Sailboat Project for our new sailboats topic introduction. He told me that they are one of many new organisations that are working to bring back sailboats for cargo and passenger transport – using the power of the wind to move people and goods around the planet. Read more

    Low-impact strategy webinar: Can we change the world without changing money?

    Dave Darby 17-Dec-2017

    Understanding the money system is key to understanding how the world works, where power really lies, what the implications of that are and what we can do about it. Read more

    It can’t possibly be a bad thing to live in the wild and to harvest both plants and animals for food – can it?

    Dave Darby 07-Dec-2017

    A group of us are attempting to have a debate about the sustainability of meat production, but I’ve realised that our differences are much deeper. Read more

    Does the sustainability of meat production depend on the size of a holding and the number of animals kept on it?

    Dave Darby 03-Dec-2017

    I want to investigate at what size meat production becomes unsustainable (in terms of acreage, number of animals etc.) – i.e. whether it can be sustainable at all, and if so, whether there’s an upper limit, above which it can’t be sustainable Read more

    ‘Land for What?’ meeting in Leicester tomorrow (sorry for short notice, but it’s worth it)

    Dave Darby 10-Nov-2017

    Sorry for the ridiculously short notice, but if you’re interested in land issues, and have nothing on this weeked, this is really worth getting yourself to. Read more

    Is it ethical to eat meat, or to keep animals for meat or dairy?

    Dave Darby 15-Oct-2017

    This is a very important question for us here at Lowimpact.org, because we have courses, books, magazines, links etc on keeping animals and on game. We also have vegetarianism and veganism as topics – because we recognise the environmental benefits of eating less meat. Read more

    Why the banks have so much power and how we can take it away from them

    Dave Darby 17-Sep-2017

    I mentioned a while ago that I’m enrolled on a MOOC (massive, open, online course) about banking and the money system. As promised, I’m blogging about some of the things that I’ve learnt (we’ve covered the definition and history of money so far). Read more

    Could the ‘paperpot transplanter’ be a boon for small farmers or is it just a gimmick?

    Dave Darby 07-Sep-2017

    How about a human-powered tool that allows you to plant out 264 young plants per minute (!) without bending over? The paperpot transplanter, developed in Japan, allows you to do just that (if 264 seems a bit precise, it’s because each little paper chain contains 264 pots). Read more

    Should we not mention what’s happening to the biosphere, in case it scares the mainstream?

    Dave Darby 27-Aug-2017

    This is a question for anyone working in the field of environmental sustainability. What’s actually happening to the biosphere, how bad is it, and should we tell people or keep it quiet? Read more

    It’s worse than you think: review of Douglas Rushkoff’s ‘Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus’

    Dave Darby 14-Aug-2017

    Here’s an article that’s part review of the latest book  by Douglas Rushkoff (buy it – it’s excellent), part ramble about twenty-first century capitalism. Read more

    Low-impact & the city 12: switching to the Phone Co-op (do it today!)

    Dave Darby 25-Jul-2017

    The Phone Co-op is the UK’s only co-operative telecoms provider. 100% member-owned, they have a democratic internal structure and no external shareholders. You can just become a customer, or you can become a member too, and have a say in the way the co-op is run. Read more

    What’s the most environmentally-damaging thing that a human can do?

    Dave Darby 18-Jul-2017

    This question is really important for us at Lowimpact.org, because we’re all about providing information and other resources on ways that people can live in a less environmentally-damaging way. So I was very interested to see that researchers at Lund University in Sweden recently put the hours in Read more

    B-corporations – yes or no?

    Dave Darby 25-Jun-2017

    What do you consider the correct approach towards multinational corporations – tame them, or start to get rid of them? And what do we mean by ‘tame’ exactly? And what are the problems with multinational corporations in the first place? Read more

    In a perpetually-growing economy, what will limit the number of cars in the world?

    Dave Darby 06-Jun-2017

    I come back to the subject of economic growth reasonably regularly, or to be more specific, the concept of perpetual, constant, infinite growth. And I’ll keep doing it until this absurd idea is consigned to the same historical category as phlogiston or a geocentric universe. Read more

    Part-time work available in the Lowimpact.org team

    Dave Darby 25-May-2017

    We are offering a little part-time job. It’s only around 10 hours per month, so it could fit in nicely with what you’re doing already. It involves looking after a category on the Lowimpact.org site, and keeping everything updated. Read more

    Can you imagine a world without money? Summary of the ‘credit commons’ idea and how it could be achieved

    Dave Darby 21-May-2017

    Last week I blogged about a potentially world-changing idea that could be labelled ‘credit commons’, or the catchy ‘global mutual credit system’. It’s a system of exchange that involves no money. It’s difficult to grasp at first, but the more you think about it, the more you realise that a) it’s implementable, and b) if… Continue reading Can you imagine a world without money? Summary of the ‘credit commons’ idea and how it could be achieved Read more

    This is the best attempt I’ve seen at building a sustainable, democratic, (and inevitably moneyless) economy. It’s worth understanding what they’re saying

    Dave Darby 11-May-2017

    If you’ve got a sneaking suspicion that whatever we do, we’re not going to transition to a sustainable, democratic future with the current money and banking system, then I agree with you. Read more

    How money causes poverty (plus war and ecological destruction), and what could replace it

    Dave Darby 07-May-2017

    Exchange has always been part of the human story, whether between individuals, tribes or nations. Some people have what others don’t, due to geography or skill, and exchange is a means of getting what you don’t have, and giving what you have a surplus of. 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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