• home
  • posts
  • category
  • downshifting
  • Info, news & debate

    Downshifting posts

    Building back differently: peasant economics and heritage craft

    Eloise Sentito of These Isles | 16-Jul-2023 | 5

    If a fair share of the planet is a couple of ‘useful’ global hectares per individual, the planet could sustain about 10 billion people living primitively. Read more

    How not to build a movement, as demonstrated by Chris Saltmarsh

    We thought you might like this extraordinary defence of Deep Adaptation by Matthew Slater. Last year, he and Extinction Rebellion co-founder Skeena Rathor, authored a chapter in Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos; last month it was reviewed by newcomer Chris Saltmarsh, the champion of Jeremy Corbyn’s Green New Deal proposals and author of ‘Burnt’. Read more

    Is money the root of all evil? Shaun Chamberlin Part 2

    This is Part 2 of a conversation with Shaun Chamberlin (Part 1 is here). Shaun left the board of the Ecological Land Co-op as I joined. He’s been involved with the Transition Network – he wrote the Transition Timeline. His website is Dark Optimism. He took on the work of David Fleming after his death,… Continue reading Is money the root of all evil? Shaun Chamberlin Part 2 Read more

    How to buy second-hand solar panels

    Andy Reynolds of the Ecolodge | 14-Dec-2021 | 0

    In early October 2021 I was teaching a series of workshops for The Brighton Permaculture Trust. One of these was a solar battery half-day workshop which I believe went very well, giving people an introduction to further solar courses. The other workshop was about woodland management; there will be more in 2022. Those people who… Continue reading How to buy second-hand solar panels Read more

    Career change? Making a living from weaving

    Eloise Sentito of These Isles | 12-Sep-2021 | 1

    Career change? Making a living from weaving. At Lowimpact.org we’re interested in helping to bring production back to communities, and so we’re talking with craftspeople, smallholders, natural builders, renewables installers and small business owners in our range of topics. I’ll be asking them about their jobs, and for advice for people who might be interested… Continue reading Career change? Making a living from weaving Read more

    Career change? Making a living from making pottery

    At Lowimpact.org we’re interested in helping to bring production back to communities, and so we’re going to be talking with craftspeople, smallholders, natural builders, renewables installers and small business owners in our range of topics. I’ll be asking them about their jobs, and for advice for other people who are interested in doing similar things. Read more

    Building your own sustainable future

    Andy Reynolds of the Ecolodge | 14-Jul-2021 | 2

    Hi. I’m Andy Reynolds – author, instructor, forester, promoter of self-reliance, and for the last few years I have been reflecting on our project’s progression, as it seems to have reached the stage of early maturity. The project – rebuilding a home, and changing the surrounding fields from dead agricultural land into an oasis of… Continue reading Building your own sustainable future Read more

    What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 20-Jun-2021 | 0

    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… Continue reading What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé? Read more

    John Thackara: What does the future hold for humanity?

    John Thackara of Thackara.com | 30-May-2021 | 13

    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

    Do energy-saving measures actually increase overall energy use?

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 18-Oct-2020 | 18

    Having worked in the environmental field for 30 years, I’ve watched the situation get worse every year, to the point that it might already be irreversible, and we don’t know what damage it’s going to do to us, exactly. That’s pretty insane, and so Read more

    What post-Covid communities could look like, if enough of us want it

    Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org | 12-Jul-2020 | 7

    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

    Coming together to build a new economy: Matthew Slater, barefoot economist and Credit Commons co-designer, Part 2

    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

    “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room”

    Eloise Sentito of These Isles | 04-Dec-2019 | 2

    With the end of 2019 drawing near, nomadic handweaver Eloïse Sentito reflects on a year of significant change, living on the edge while spinning, dyeing and weaving her way from Brittany to Devon. Read more

    Top tips for tiny home living in a small timber building

    Gary Parker of Loosehanger Oak | 14-Aug-2019 | 3

    Are you keen to downsize and downshift? Chris from Loosehanger Oak shares his top tips for tiny home living in a small timber building. Read more

    The future of land ownership: interview with Oli Rodker of the Ecological Land Co-op and the Landworkers’ Alliance

    This week we’re talking with Oli Rodker, founder director of the Ecological Land Co-operative and the Landworkers’ Alliance, about his work, and how we might change the nature of land ownership in the UK, where 0.06% of the population own 50% of rural land in England and Wales, according to the Country Land & Business… Continue reading The future of land ownership: interview with Oli Rodker of the Ecological Land Co-op and the Landworkers’ Alliance Read more

    Heartwood Community are seeking new members – could it be you?

    Staci Sylvan of Heartwood | 24-May-2018 | 6

    Heartwood Community is seeking energetic, reliable and committed people to join their intentional community in South West Wales. It’s over to Staci from here to tell us more. Read more

    Life in an intentional community – a healthier and more sustainable way to live

    If I hadn’t fired up my vision to form and live in an intentional community some 45 years ago I wouldn’t have learnt cheese making, selected and planted an orchard of rare species of fruit trees, co-organized arts festivals, learnt and practiced conflict resolution and given my three sons an opportunity to broaden their horizons. Read more

    How we escaped suburbia by embracing exchange and life on the road

    Visual artist Emma Moody-Smith shares the story of how she and her partner Shawn have spent the past 9 years downshifting, swapping suburban England for life in a motorhome and, crucially, embracing exchange. Here she offers insight and advice to others looking to do the same. Read more

    Opportunity to live very close to nature, rent-free, in an Irish intentional community and education centre

    Mark Boyle of the Happy Pig | 13-Mar-2018 | 25

    There are two rent-free bedrooms available (one immediately, one soon) in the farmhouse at An Teach Saor. But this is not a place for people who want to save money. It’s a place for people who want to radically reduce their dependency on it all together. Read more

    Sunflower Cohousing community looking for members

    Our journey into community living started one evening in the Summer of 2009 when we were grouped around a campfire with friends discussing possible future lifestyle alternatives. 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.

    Sign up to our newsletter

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Youtube icon

    All rights reserved © lowimpact 2023