As it’s Community Energy Fortnight, I thought I’d have a word with my old mate Jon Hallé, who used to run Lowimpact’s ‘How to Make Biodiesel’ courses in the early noughties (and authored a book of the same title with us), and since then has gone on to found Sharenergy, who have helped over 100 community energy schemes to launch, using wind, solar, hydro and biomass. We’ll publish an interview with Jon soon, but first I wanted to tell you about his latest venture – the Big Solar Co-op (BSC) Read more …

There’s an approach to life that sees craft jobs, or smallholding and food production, including baking, brewing and beekeeping, as well as any kind of job that involves manual work and dexterity as somehow retrograde and passé, and that ‘work’ now means mainly putting on a suit and travelling to an office to do something-or-other in sectors such as finance, advertising, sales, fashion or PR. Read more …

Now there’s a question – posed by Chris Smaje of the Ecoogical Land Co-op. Chris joined the board of the ELC as Dave of Lowimpact left, and since then Chris has produced a book called A Small Farm Future, which we review here. Members of Lowimpact have become involved in the world of mutual credit, while Chris has tried to convince us that the future of farming is mixed, organic smallholdings rather than giant industrial farms using pesticides. Read more …

This is part 2 of a conversation with John Thackara. In part 1 we talked about what the future might hold for humanity, and here we talk about what our responses might be. ‘Strange’ ideas might be required for strange times. Read more …

Complement your home or outdoor space with an easy chair, rocking chairs or a living willow chair! This guide should help you to build a bent willow chair – a fantastic piece of willow furniture. Building a willow chair is incredibly satisfying. Just imagine, when you’ve finished you can literally sit back and enjoy your endeavours. Read more …

Here’s a quick and dirty history of money. Since I’ve been involved in the mutual credit world, I’ve been reading various ‘history of money’ texts, and so I thought I’d organise the notes I’ve taken into a blog article. It’s a half-hour read, to accompany our new ‘Low-impact money’ topic, and I think it gives a good overview of monetary history – but leaving out nonsense like ‘money evolved from barter’, or ‘Kings introduced coins so that their subjects could trade more easily’. If you think anything is wrong, missing or needs more explanation, do let me know in the comments. Read more …

This is part 1 of a conversation with John Thackara – senior fellow of the Royal College of Art, visiting professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, founder and director of the Doors of Perception sustainable design conferences, and author of many books, including How to Thrive in the Next Economy. Read more …

You’re invited to join our presentation on the ‘Credit Commons’ – a protocol to connect and unite mutual credit groups globally – on Friday 4 June from 4-5.30pm. Sign up here. Read more …

Nature, democracy and community aren’t partisan issues. No-one sensible, of any political persuasion, speaks out against them. They’re essential for human well-being. But they’re being destroyed, and disunity wastes energy and prevents us from being able to do anything about it. Read more …

This is Part 2 of a conversation with Michael Linton – founder of LETS, the moneyless exchange system. In Part 1 we talked about LETSystems and why it didn’t grow in the way Michael would have liked, and in Part 2 we’re going to talk about his new idea – Open Money. Read more …

Are you planning for a green funeral? Our friends at Ethical.net continue to explore sustainable funeral options, including green burials, coffins, burial sites, wakes and more. Read more …

This is Part 1 of a conversation with Michael Linton – inventor of LETS, the moneyless exchange system. I want to talk about that, and he has a new idea called Open Money that we’ll talk about in Part 2. Read more …

With green funeral options on the rise, our friends at Ethical.net explore what to consider when it comes to sustainable funerals, focusing on more sustainable cremation options in this first instalment. Read more …

Featuring weavers, dunnocks and wrens, Ruby Taylor of Native Hands reflects on nests and baskets, asking if birds were the first basketmakers. Read more …

I’d like to introduce Will Ruddick, who set up the Grassroots Economics Foundation in Kenya around ten years ago, that runs a very successful mutual credit network (called the Sarafu Network) there. Read more …

Eileen Sutherland shares highlights from the UP STRAW 2020 Yearbook, as this pioneering pan-European project putting straw on the public and urban building map enters its final phases this spring and summer. Read more …

Are you a remote worker dreaming of pastures new? WWOOFer Imogen shares how her experience of WWOOFing as a digital nomad enabled her to combine making a living with meaningful volunteering. Read more …

Nothing we do to try to move to a sustainable, healthy and democratic society will work as long as we have the current money system, because money has two conflicting functions. It can be used to buy and sell things, and it can be used to store, hoard, accumulate and become wealthy with. As long as that’s the case, money will gravitate towards stored wealth, because money attracts money and gives access to the political system. Read more …

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 …