Our friends at Ethical.net share what to look for in local food and drink in their guide to farmers’ market shopping, plus how else to access sustainable produce from local producers. Read more …

With a host of already endangered heritage crafts at even greater risk as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, what does the future hold and how can we play a part in helping heritage crafts survive and even thrive? Sophie Paterson explores. Read more …

In the second instalment of A beginners’ guide to farmers’ markets, Elizabeth Waddington of Ethical.net explores how to find and what to expect at your local farmers’ market, as well as how to ensure your shop is as affordable as possible. Read more …

Not sure how to make the most of your local farmers’ market? In the first part of A beginners’ guide to farmers’ markets, Elizabeth Waddington of Ethical.net sets out how and why shopping at your local farmers’ market can make a real and positive difference. Read more …

It seems pretty obvious that there’s a giant economic slump on the way that’s going to sweep away millions of small and medium-sized businesses around the world, so that Amazon can step in to continue to try to take over the entire global economy. Read more …

Explore how to reduce plastic use in the kitchen, living area, bedroom, bathroom and even the garden, with the help of our friends at Ethical.net. Read more …

Are you struggling to reduce plastic use in your home? In this first instalment from Ethical.net, we learn why we should be aiming to reduce our plastic use, why recycling isn’t enough and how to get started reducing food-related plastic waste. Read more …

Industrial agriculture is cruel to animals, cruel to people who work in it, it damages the environment and concentrates wealth in very few hands. I guess if you’re reading this, you know that already, and I don’t have to explain it. The problem is, it’s still there, doing its vile stuff every day. What do we do about it? Read more …

Here’s a little story for anyone who’s noticed that things aren’t going too well in our communities. Small businesses are going under, unemployment is on the rise and money’s becoming scarce. Read more …

Imagine that there’s an enormous economic crash coming. Say, the biggest economic crash in history. Outlandish, I know, but just give it a try. Read more …

This is the third in a series of articles about community wealth building and mutual credit, by Dave Darby and Dil Green of Lowimpact.org and the Open Credit Network. Read more …

This is the first of three articles in three days about ‘community wealth building’ (CWB) and mutual credit. Today we’re explaining community wealth building, and reviewing a book: The Case for Community Wealth Building. Tomorrow we’ll blog about how mutual credit can help post-Covid communities, and on Monday, Dil Green continues the theme, explaining how CWB and mutual credit is a match made in heaven. Read more …

Our topics include vegetarianism and veganism, but also keeping animals (for meat, dairy, eggs, honey, wool, leather, work etc); and also fishing and hunting animals in the wild. Is this incongruous? As a sustainability / new economy organisation, should we be promoting only veganism, rather than the keeping and/or eating of animals? Read more …

This is the last of six articles this week about how we can keep local economies afloat during the coming economic slump. There is already a scarcity of money, as the coronavirus crisis forces businesses to lay off workers, and sole traders to give up. But it will get much worse. How can we keep communities alive, and local economies trading when there’s no money around? Mutual credit can solve the problem of scarcity of money in the wake of the coronavirus. The Open Credit Network are building a mutual credit network for the UK. Read more …

This is the third in a series of articles about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are:

1. There’s going to be a shortage of money.
2. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system.

That’s it! Mutual credit can help local economies survive when there’s no money around.

Matthew’s article goes deeper into the concept of mutual credit, and compares its potential to cryptocurrencies in an economic depression. Read more …

In part 1 I described why a resilient economy needs be to separate from the failing capitalist juggernaut and that we need to start by finding new economic partners from without the Market. Read more …

Donald Trump recently derided Greta Thunberg and everyone pleading with government to heed environmental science as ‘doomsayers’. The more imminent peak oil or environmental collapse appear, the more intransigent our political system seems to be. Whatever the reasons for this, responsible citizens can only accomplish so much while the political and economic winds are blowing against them. Read more …

This is Part 2 of an interview with Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery – a co-operative grocery store in Manchester. In Part 1, I talked with Debbie about what it’s like to work in a co-operative grocery. Here we talk about the “Grow your own Grocery” guide that her co-op has produced for people who might be interested in starting a co-operative grocery in their town – as well as how to develop the co-operative economy generally. Read more …

This is Part 2 of an interview by Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org / NonCorporate.org with Lynne Davis of the Open Food Network as part of a series of interviews with people building the new economy. Here’s Part 1, and below is the transcript of the interview, plus the video. Read more …

Today I’m talking with Debbie Clarke of Unicorn Grocery – a cooperative grocery store in Manchester; and the thing I’m particularly interested in about Unicorn Grocery is that instead of wanting to become a huge chain, they’ve got a toolkit called ‘Grow your own Grocery’ to help people set up cooperative grocery stores in their own towns. Read more …