Transition Culture

15 Sep 2006

Unleashing Transition Town Totnes Feedback #3. Steps We Can Take.

Finally, people were invited to reflect in pairs on the following question, “the steps I can take towards this vision are�. These were then written up on post-it notes and stuck on the wall. They are reproduced below.

Work for a social revolution in sharing land and wealth to ensure equal opportunities for all
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Empowering my community - Create a local council backed currency to facilitate local transactions including paying council tax to support localisation
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Commit to this process - Engage and share enthusiasm – Trust - Explore my vision of a truly abundant future - Learn more about growing food
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Use less fuel as of tonight – Don’t overfill the kettle - Turn off lights - Cycle more - Walk more - Grow more food locally - Pass on my food/cookery skills to others - Education - Speak to older generation - Get involved
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Finishing my MSc at Schumacher with a nice and practical things and ecological view which I can apply down in my country (Mexico) with city people and indigenous people as well
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Examination of my lifestyle - Gentle persuasion of those I am in contact with
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Practical things such as a reducing energy use, recycling etc
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Just to be more green! Pass the word
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Regular fun joyful social gathering for all ages – the community working together for the joy of it
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Speak what I know - Learn permaculture - Get skills and experience in hands on food growing - Social and political activism linking peak oil and climate change to wider issues
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Work less, slow down, use everything less - Take active part in TTT
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Being involved in energy decent plan - Growing more food - Being more aware of eco building materials
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Join Rob’s skills course - Stop thinking talking and acting negatively, start accepting loving unconditionally - Inner change create outer change
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No car, share resources reduce oil dependency
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Think more positively working together - Learn about gardening and start growing vegetables - Realising this planet is worth saving
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Taking responsibility, walking cycling when can - Change life priorities, less greed, grow some food, trees etc - Educating myself and others - Educate kids about Earth stewardship – Advocating own to earth religion instead of up in the air religion - Love over £!
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Communicating sustainability to others - Encouraging/supporting change - Promoting local
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Continue to research options to improve carbon footprint and engage as many people as possible in doing this
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Stay positive and not become cynical, de-motivated
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Encourage others to take their steps
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Organise meetings that less accessible groups can make
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Garden –Cycle – Walk - Make do and mend
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I commit to continuing my energy downsizing in more ways (e.g. shower not bath) - Sneaking more openly about this to friends and family who are at contemplation or pre contemplation stage
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To a life more aware careful - Economically responsible life
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Get my permaculture Diploma – Use my knowledge to help TTT – Teach kids permaculture, rural skills, green issues – Believe in my own vision
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Invite Rob to South Dartmoor to talk on Peak Oil – To set up a community forum on South Dartmoor to bring artists together to create the vision in paint and music!
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Talk to councillors and my neighbours about getting up a micro generation project – Commit my time to planning ‘for change’
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Share car and engage in dialogue – Spread the word – Encourage
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I will go on an organic gardening course – I will get a bike
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Make the car parks into gardens
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Spread word about peak oil/energy decent – Make household energy descent - Live simpler life and encourage others to
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Re-contact solar water heating people – Buy woodland for fuel - Look into allotment – Chase up insulation
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Low impact housing and lifestyle – Education/deprogramming
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Car sharing – More home vegetable production – Cycling to work – Networking influential friends
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Take this idea back to Morecombe, Heysham, Lancaster – speak about these issues confidently
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Communication – schools contacts, young people, a sense of urgency also of hope
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Support for business economic environmental change and project management skills for the TTT project
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I will start allotment association – Teach kids hand skills – Teach non-contention – Enthuse people to change
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Walk or cycle to work – Promote small family businesses – Teach at Schumacher how to make foods
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More public action – Join the council to make change and boost self-confidence to take steps to change things – Talk to people about it and show them
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Share my home to better utilise facilities - Cash my pension to invest in these energy decent projects - Cooperation not competition
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Talk to my family and friends about living closer together and building plans together
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Grow veg – Convert motor to V100 – Set up community growing project
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Positive steps towards change from me - I will learn gardening and fly less – I still won’t learn to drive
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Get locals together, get allotments – Do more creative posters gatherings for local change – Get together, be creative with it
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Buy windmill to charge my electric car
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Education – Change to diesel – Get more local work I can walk or cycle to – Use car less
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Contribute to programme on psychology of change - Reflect with friends on steps to take inspire each other
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Stay attuned to the land – Increase my awareness – Not get distracted – Garden!
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Reduce footprint – Make connections – Learn forest gardening
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Go to community events that I feel I can help and will learn from – Try to share information to others
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Growing my own foods – Learning in the process and getting better – Spread the word, spread the knowledge - Learn bush craft and wild edible foods to eat – Learning teaching everyone
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Maintaining motivation through involvement in regular meetings - Reducing my own energy consumption – Learning about growing veg, saving water, building key skills - Becoming carbon neutral
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Attend meetings - Walk the talk - Learn skills - Get to know people
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Steps to reduce the carbon footprint of us and our house – solar panels, photo-voltaic slated roof, small wind generator, insulate non-cavity walls, wood burning stove
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Sell 2nd car – Walk and cycle as much as possible – Put solar wind etc in house – Talk about this others and let action spread – Buy locally – Eat seasonally – Switch of appliances
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Try to be more aware myself of what I do consume and try to put back as much as I take out if not more – Irrespective of what others are doing just keep being a conservationist and show by example.
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Work on local Ag Park (Sunol) in Bay Area (www.sagecentre.org) - Create wild zones with young people and adults – Create long distance mountain bike trails that weave through forest roads - Live in shared housing
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Greater awareness of communication to bring about change in attitudes
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Participate in Rob’s energy decent plan for Totnes – Move off Dartmoor to near Totnes!
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Energy audit – install solar panels for hot water. Spread the word and form a local group. Join Rob’s course
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Find viable options for low energy living – Start learning about food growing – Plant varieties, seed saving, pest control - Learn and exchange resources with others - Localise all aspects of my life and public transport for trips where necessary – No flying
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Share community resources - Alternative currency (time bank not LETS) – Produce food locally
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Generate our own power i.e. windmills, solar panels, water generators etc – Using less power/energy – Consuming less – Using alternative fuel in my car – Talk to/educate others
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Reduce energy use – Change education focus – Localise food and energy production
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Learn to grow food well – Buy a bike – Make my home sustainable and healthy
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I have knowledge of how to live in the environment in terms of water resources and growing food - I would like to empower people by giving new ideas and listening to problems and giving possible steps to take
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Join local food group – Seed diversity and saving capacity building – Support local energy plan - Traditional medicine and biodiversity knowledge - Use this model to lobby for change nationally and internationally
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Help spread the message and vision – Get involved with the process
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Move to Totnes - find somewhere to live – Do whatever is needed to help the project with energy and enthusiasm - Share and network
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Make my vision of land based centre for eco-arts education into a business plan, looking for land and funding to do this, then will be able to go fully over into alternative energy, horsepower etc, intend to have land by end of year.
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Be more confident in speaking to those I have a tendency to regard as the enemy – Not giving up
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Inspirational visionary children’s book ‘How Totnes Became the Most Wonderful Place on the Earth’!
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Explore and implement sustainable permaculture solutions – Conduct courses - Facilitate sharing of skills
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Advertise Peak Oil to Ivybridge - More posters, more statements for Ivybridge to move from pre-contemplation to contemplation
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Consider each journey, reduce, combine, share journeys - Take showers not baths – Live in shared accommodation (single people living alone use up more energy)
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Adapt aspirations to those environmentally realistic and sustainable – Campaign! – Move to Totnes – Try to enlighten others.
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Sell my house in country so less commuting in car – Influence scientists to value ethical stance – Participate in local projects
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Acknowledge that there is no such thing as ‘cheap’ as someone/thing has to pay down the line for it – Buy less, consumers have ultimate power
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Use that bit of land down by the railway for growing food, particularly red cabbage – Responding in my writing – Change electricity supplier.
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Put in a planning appeal for our community to practice permaculture on our land – Spread the word and raise awareness of peak oil – Seed saving – Practice permaculture techniques for addressing use of energy, waste, water, food
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Learning about what is facing us – opening up conversations about ‘peak oil’ - Working with other people to understand issues, possibilities and vision
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Get rid of vehicles, fridges, TV’s, toasters – Create food growing coops – Education
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Show that there are communities, however small, that have made steps
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Be serious about self -sustaining lifestyle, not just playful vegetable gardening - Get rid of car - Only use an aeroplane once every three years
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Reduce my diesel use – Grow more food – Be active in creating more widespread aware and fulfilling society
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Raise awareness especially of peak oil and permaculture approaches to solutions – Persuade and encourage people to eat non-animal based foods – Cycling, encourage bike networks – Continue anti GM work – Reduce my own footprint – Re-energise direct action group – Learn and teach traditional rural skills
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Food grown in town – Better public transport, regular, clean and enough of it
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Join this project – Learn more about tree care and help with fruit and nut growing – Monitor household energy consumption – Grow more of our own food – Network – Buy local goods and services
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Reduce use of car, energy – More gardening – Doing things locally – Use public transport – Get more information from internet – Join with friends
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Beginning process of self-education – Bringing issue to Ashburton e.g. Showing film ‘End of Suburbia’
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No more coal – Grow more veg
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Educate myself and apply what I learn
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Lead co-counselling classes for people to off-load there feelings and clear this thinking to move forward flexibly – I will actively rethink energy use in my house – I will talk and enthuse my neighbours and family
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Think positively – Live beautifully
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Take what I need and no more – Do the necessary psychological work to prepare inwardly – Consume less – Less reliance on materialism
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Learn more self sufficient skills e.g. Household repairing, recycling things, food growing, storing, preserving – Learn to enjoy living with less
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Community people coming together to live and organise a new way of life – Spread the word
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Travel less – Be energy efficient – Find some more useful ways to contribute
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Re-learn our ancient knowledge, land, housing, food, spirituality
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Build a practical centre where we demonstrate renewable energy and a sustainable way of life on a carbon neutral farm providing local food and energy and building materials (Underwood Discovery Centre)
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Get a green car if I can afford it otherwise drive less, walk more
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Organise for land redistribution as with peasants in Brazil
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Get an allotment – Go on a Permaculture course
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Move and form a community – Localised living – Spiritual renewal
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More TTT meets – Less consumption – Spread message
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Explore solar panel use and feasibility
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My behaviour more aware and ecological – Talk to and discuss with other people – Write about it
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Educate – Drive Less – Forest Farm
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I’m going to take this evening home and to Newbury and spread the vision
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Get involved in community planning – Better yet become a facilitator for such planning and spread the word
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Start increasing my own knowledge of what grows locally that is edible, herbal knowledge – Make my garden self sufficient – Only buy locally produced food – Find local building suppliers
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Buy a kettle for the hob instead of electric – Attend Rob’s course in September – Talk to my employer about energy efficiency including reference to peak oil – Talk to people – Talk to farmer friend about peak oil
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I would like much more riding stables which are cheaper
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Find a local group of people concerned about these issues
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Not replacing my car which is at the end of its life – Walking to work and taking the bus to work
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Look for opportunities to improve my home, rainwater barrels, heaters off, sharing toilets, take bike – Inspire others to take bike
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Start a forest farm
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Ask friends who have gardening skills to help one get started growing veg – Talking to friends re energy descent and working out ways to help each other take part and achieve practical steps
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Eco-action group in Ashburton – Lots of networking, inspiring, facilitating – More constellations, deep ecology workshops!
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More cycling – Less heating use – More garden vegetables
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Be aware of my own resistance to change – Buy locally – Use public transport – Educate myself – Network the project idea
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Set up solar powered/wind WIFI mesh network – Set up ‘RIRRLE’ trading system (like ‘LETS’ but better)
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Commit to renewable energy, wood stoves, solar energy – Get rid of one car and get scooter instead – Get skilled up for Energy Descent – Grow own vegetables
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Spreading the word – Helping people move from pre-concept stage to concept stage – Allotment – Bicycle use - Car pooling
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Individually to be much more serious and radical about changing my energy consumption – Collectively to join with others, find out what I can do and contribute
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Complete MSC – Contribute to community work – Reduce personal consumption – Awareness in travel habits
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Build passive solar water heater – Start permaculture support group – Help set up groups to meet food/water energy needs – Teach permaculture
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Communicate – Joyful visions of how it could be through workshops, art and writing I do – Grow more food
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My core beliefs to hold on to the sensibilities that poverty has taught me – To be a broker between knowledge givers and those most at need in re-carving of knowledge for change
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Talk about peak oil at work and with family and friends – See the Cuba film and buy a copy to pass around – Grow more food – Propose reducing mileage allowance at work
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Secondary glazing to my sash windows – Investigate use of solar power – Discuss seriously with my children, grandchildren both the peak oil issue and global warming issue – Holiday at home
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Help match wealth of financial skill, information, strength with the need for these
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Coming to events – Raising awareness of ‘what’ and not worrying about ‘how’ straight away – Continue to make small changes e.g. Less car use local pool – Be an inspirational listener
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Skill building – Conversation – Change my assumptions about how to live, what my work should be and meaning of my life
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Work nearer home – Use my bike – Drive slower – Scrap a car – Grow more food – Use less power and provide our own
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Revisit the economic history books, I have to see if we can learn from the past – Analyse the gas, electric, water consumption figures I’ve collected at home and pass them to others
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Thinking – Acting – Maintenance – Motivation of others
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Writing letters of concern re housing to local/national government – Grow more veg – Talk to others – Get more educated – Breathe
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Stay positive and not become cynical, de-motivated – Encourage others to take their steps – Organise meetings that include less accessible groups – Garden, cycle, walk – Make do and mend!
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Plant food in my garden – Put in a wood burner – Support local voluntary public transport schemes
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I hope to work for change in our schools, as a teacher for over 30 years I plan to work for positive new educational practises that will give hope and imagination
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Starting local group – Leafleting my area – Keeping in touch with people – Changing my own energy use
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Get an allotment – Grow my own food – Reduce energy consumption – Drive car less – Find out about solar panels, wind turbines – Shop locally in small shop
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Work to develop deep integrity to help people discover answers for themselves, hear the call of Mother Earth/Nature – A Goddess Temple here in Totnes – Awareness of holistic systems theory, feminine Divine
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Help produce an example of community garden in centre of Totnes to invite the unconverted to free picnic and information day
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Talking to my friends – Start horse riding lesson – Planning for vegetables and fruit – Getting prepared!
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Join a group of like minded people to work on new paradigm
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Stop using all plastic bags, cellophane if necessary for packaging
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Shop locally produced goods especially food – Don’t support supermarkets, air miles – Personal energy reduction – Travel less distances, walk more – Less baths
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To form local groups on growing food, sustainable buildings and awareness about health
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Find work closer to home – Talk and collaborate with friends – Keep in conscious
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Include this in my teaching – Plant more fruit tress in my garden – Increase my knowledge of food storage – Learn about food (fruit) storage e.g. bottling – Use my car less – Find alternatives for moving heavy shopping – Lift sharing – Pass on and spread the word
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Grow my own food and start producing some for sale – Connecting with more people through TTT – Hope to get experience in building with natural materials – Learn about horses and get a horse and cart
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Meet regularly to start in small ways – Pick up rubbish and recycle around the town
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Shop locally – Economise on central heating – Use bicycle and public transport – Holiday in UK
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Talk to local town council – Dartington Estate – Not having a job that involves driving
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Campaign for supportive planning laws and green taxes – Get my family to act more responsibly (hey if we could all do that!)
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Arrest use of any oil consuming machine – Start my own community and support others – Encourage others to live sustainably
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Take a HDRA course is helping people learn to garden (i.e. grow own food) – Distribute leaflets e.g. Global Action Plan to neighbours and start local self support group with interested neighbours (hopefully it will grow) – Learn about herbs/herbal medicine and grow herbs in own garden
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New wonderful mode of transport – Gathering of human resources and local resources – Comfort of true community work
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I’m going to get a bike and grow my own food
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Learn how to meet my cooking needs without gas – Develop my teaching skills and pass on what I’m learning in terms of low impact living as part of Landmatters Permaculture Project
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Start teaching and showing the young their connection to nature so they start to respect again
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Make more contacts with Totnes community – Speak up my truth and see if there are others interested in feminine divine, holistic science, systems theory
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Get rid of car – Live a more focused aware life – Walk more
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I will take even more time and effort devoted to local community awareness – Raising issues of empowerment of locals, job creation, energy creation, food creation
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Permaculture teaching – Community growth through food growing (I am a grower) – Stone age cooking for large groups – Co-counselling, fun – Storytelling
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Talk, talk, talk – Public meeting – Set up E.D.A.P. as a co-operative venture – The Local Authority has to be involved E.D.C and Devon C.C.
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Walk more – Offer skills to be used – Engage legal and statutory authorities in re-writing planning and legal statutes to prioritise ecology and equality
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To move the Schumacher College outward – To join partners – To make Dartington Hall sustainable – To get in the experts and share them with everyone
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Communicate – Learn more about growing food, building, communities, tools for support, observe natural patterns
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Try to organise a lift sharing scheme for children at the school my children attend – Fix the broken window frames in my house properly and without bodging it
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Start discussion/action group in York – Lobby council for more allotments – Bake bread
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Help develop language/branding that draws people to do this work joyfully – Work locally to reduce travel – Grow more food and help others grow food
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Co-operation with others
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Reduce energy consumption significantly – Opt out as much as possible of consumerist society – Share resources with friends and neighbours
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Learn some practical skills – Grow some food – Help to design a local money system
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Facilitate creative, clear and optimistic engagement with these concerns
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Creating sustainable community
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Connect more with places that can be changed positively
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Use my position as councillor and speak out and inform, encourage and enable
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Plough up my paddock
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Grow my veg – Learn new techniques – Use much less electricity
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Inspire people – Offer an empowering counselling service – Network
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Never travel unless car is full – Arrange lift shares to school – Get a tricycle – More skills to be self reliant – Fit solar/photovoltaic for use in house
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Bi o diesel pump (Co-op) – Totnes shopping car, home delivery box, local food – Super energy efficiency, new name for it, Energetic - Good usage of Energy everywhere
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Think more – Take less for granted – Walk into Dartington – Spread news to world
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