This is a new book by our partner Sally Morgan of Empire Farm. It’s a comprehensive guide to starting and running your own micro-smallholding. Read more

Economics is not an unbiased academic discipline, it’s an ideology. Furthermore, economics is based on the false premise that perpetual growth is achievable. It is not, and the reason most people can’t see this is Read more

As a new generation of aspiring land stewards, we wish to minimise dependence on fossil fuels whilst learning to meet our basic needs of food, shelter, energy and livelihood, from the land.  This has been entirely possible for millennia. However, in a 21st century Read more

A week ago, we posted about a large, 50-room Victorian mansion with lodge house, stable block, the largest walled garden we’ve ever seen, and 21 acres of woodland that was up for sale on the Worcestershire / Shropshire border. Read more

Not far from Worcester is a stunning Grade II mansion house, 50+ rooms, stable blocks, 2-bed detatched gatehouse, 21 acres of woodland plus huge walled garden. Lowimpact.org, plus other like-minded organisations, would like to secure it as an intentional community Read more

Last minute Christmas shopping? Well, this is our last-minute plea for you not to do it. I was recently invited to a party with a ‘secret Santa’ that invited people to buy presents for less than £5. It’s a nice thought, but it inevitably resulted in a barrage of plastic trinkets that won’t last until… Continue reading 3 shopping days to Christmas – a plea not to buy any more tat Read more

People of Britain, are you proud that your capital city is geared towards attracting billionaires (that’s a quote by Boris Johnson by the way)? Read more

There was a report on the World Service this morning about how Sweden has decoupled carbon emissions from economic growth. Sweden’s economic growth in the last 25 years totals 60%. Its carbon emissions in the same time period are down 20%. So that’s it, isn’t it – the Holy Grail? Read more

Flanked by an advert for the Ocean Club honeymoon resort in the Bahamas, with young bride and groom toasting a glass of champagne, Brides – “the UK’s number 1 bridal magazine” announces to its readers that “Planning your wedding starts here” Read more

On Saturday I dropped into a ‘Restart’ party near to where I live in Tooting. If you don’t know what a Restart party is – they’re a group of techies who raise funds to be able to hold events in various locations where the public can turn up with broken electrical goods and be trained… Continue reading ‘Restart’ parties: prolong the life of your electrical goods and pick up some useful skills in the process Read more

Three things have happened to me recently that have made me realise that local, independent and/or community-owned businesses have been put at a huge disadvantage as regards regulations that cover their activities, and the independent sector is being unnecessarily penalised for the damaging activities of the corporate sector. Read more

There is an argument [see the Guardian, for example] currently going on about whether Westminster MPs deserve the 10% pay rise that they’ve been awarded, bringing a back-bencher’s salary up to £74,000. Read more

‘Understanding ourselves, we come to understand all things, but if we seek to understand all things without knowing the nature of our own awareness, great will be our calamity.’ David Frawley Read more

The wonderful Art Ludwig of Oasis Design in the US was asked to design and build an ‘eco-home’ for a client. He wrote a letter to the client to explain that he couldn’t take on the project because green ‘add-ons’ aren’t green at all when tacked on to a house that is too big Read more

Sally Lever is a coach, writer and facilitator on simple, sustainable life and livelihood. Here is a blog from Sally about four mistaken beliefs about materialism, with sustainable replacement beliefs. Read more

Here’s the incomparably wonderful Bill Hicks on marketing. If you don’t know him, just put his name into YouTube. You’re in for a treat. Read more