Well here it is. Blog Action Day 2009. As I sit here in my 6th day of some sort of mild but persistent flu I am still thinking about the environment. This post will likely be short as I'm not feeling well but I have to do something. This is my mantra. Do something. You have to do SOMETHING. Do something.
Amazing that my last post was about joining Transition Town Brixton in South London (UK)as, 10 months later, I find my self a member of Sustainable Streatham (just down the road from Brixton) This might be the biggest step I've taken so far. Feels a bit like coming out of the Environmental closet. I discovered Sustainable Streatham when I was attending an event at Transition Town Brixton. I'm still a member of Transition Town Brixton but I hope that Sustainable Streatham will become a transition town eventually. If it doesn't, not matter. The objectives are the same.
If you're not sure what Transition Towns is you should look into it. It's been described as one of the most important movements of our times and it's just incredible. I first discovered it when I started this blog. It started in Totnes and there were lots in small towns within a year or two of the movement starting, but now it's all over London as well (which I honestly didn't think would be possible). An incredible idea run by inspiring citizens. Check it out and start your own. Sustainable Streatham is likely to be turning into a Transition Town Streatham in the future but that's up to the members.
Our official launch is tomorrow and Saturday at The White Lion Pub in Streatham, South London! Whoo hoo! We're for real.
Final message before I crawl back into bed.
Do something everyone. Do something. The collection of our small actions creates big change.
Thanks for reading.
David
Create a Ripple Effect
Note: I am not affilated with any company or organization mentioned here.
Thursday 15 October 2009
Sunday 8 February 2009
I've joined Transition Towns Brixton!
"Once you have glimpsed the world as it might be, as it ought to be, as it’s going to be (however that vision appears to you), it is impossible to live compliant and complacent anymore in the world as it is."-Victoria Stafford
I've joined Transition Towns Brixton. I discovered Transition Towns when I first did research for this environmental blog. Transition Towns are in the links on the side over there: http://www.transitiontowns.org/
I'm really excited! Time to take the next step and create change beyond my own personal actions and the eco-footprint of my home!Transition towns is a global movement that started in small town England. The goal is to transition your town or city to one which is low carbon and environmentally sustainable. It's amazing how the movement has gone global. It has spread on the initiative and power of those who simply care and are determined to do something about the problems we face.I've discovered a great blog: If you want to join or discover any information check this out. http://transitionculture.org/
Sunday 1 February 2009
Goodbye Economics, Hello Quality of life
Just in case the last post sounded like the rantings of a madman here is an article from The Toronto Star from Toronto Canada which illustrates just what I was talking about. Although I've put a lot of deep thought into this it only takes some common sense to see quite clearly that GDP is a false prophet. It is completely misleading and drives us towards socities which are measured as economically healthy and yet contain poor qualities of life. We need a new measurement and it has to take the environment into account. When we destroy our industries by eliminating our resources we destroy the very means of our survival in a quest for "advancement." It's insane.
Jan 26, 2009 04:30 AM
Craig and Marc Kielburger
It’s about time we start doing a little more to rev up the economy.
Here are some suggestions. Get a divorce. Drive over the speed limit possibly resulting in a collision on a major freeway. Sink an oil tanker so we can clean up the mess.
Not the most desirable actions for our social welfare, but in the sometimes-weird world of economics, economists will be cheering.
No offense meant to any of the economists we know, but how on earth is this helping? As the global financial crisis leads us down the road to recession, the gross domestic product is our guide. Recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP – and the economic activity wrought by car accidents and natural disasters are contributors to that all-important number.
You see, when GDP says it tallies the total market value of all goods and services produced within the country, it means everything. But, when it tries to measure our economic health and well-being, the number falls short.
Introduced in World War II to measure how much of the economy could be put towards wartime production, GDP quickly developed into our primary economic indicator. But that was never its original purpose.
Simon Kuznets, the economist who helped standardize the measurement, said in 1962, "Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth."
Unfortunately, we didn’t heed his warning – a warning that could have prevented our current mess.
As industry has grown, so have the problems surrounding it. Unbridled consumerism at home and the two-dollar-a-day wages overseas both contribute to a nation’s GDP. A forest of trees contributes nothing. Clear-cut that forest and the economy swings into high gear.
"Some of the expenditures don’t make anyone better off or even keep our current welfare in tact," says John Talberth, Director of the Sustainability Indicators Program at Redefining Progress. "But there are also benefits that aren’t included in GDP – parenting, housework, volunteers. Those are our quality of life."
Other indicators do take these socially-positive actions into account. Those indicators tell a different story. The Genuine Progress Indicator broadens its scope to account for the societal costs of some monetary transactions and the benefits of some non-monetary transactions.
"In a nutshell, it gives a dollar amount to beneficial activities that wouldn’t be recorded in GDP," says Talberth. "It also puts a negative cost on things like environmental degradation, the time we spend commuting and loss of our natural resources."
It also puts a dollar value on accumulated debt and borrowing – factors that have been leading causes in the current financial meltdown.
"GPI realized that the more we borrow, the less sustainable it is," says Talberth. "You can’t borrow forever."
When those figures are calculated, the two indicators show very different routes to recession.
GDP per capita has more than doubled in the United States since the 1950s as many Americans live the dream of a television, two cars and a house in the suburbs. When GPI takes into account the environmental costs and the debt families have accumulated to pay for that dream, the indicator has dropped 45 per cent since the 1970s.
As Kuznets said, there’s a distinction between quantity and quality. Had we heeded his warning, we could be in a very different spot on the economic map.
Obviously, no economist is cheering for oil spills. We know some wonderful economists who recognize that a stay-at-home mom is contributing more to the economy than a building another prison. So why are we letting these monetary transactions be the primary definition of our progress?
We all know that money isn’t everything. By going beyond our gross domestic product, maybe we can start solving our gross domestic problems.
A better way to track economy's health
'Genuine Progress Indicator' recognizes that when it comes to economic activity, money isn't everything
'Genuine Progress Indicator' recognizes that when it comes to economic activity, money isn't everything
Jan 26, 2009 04:30 AM
Craig and Marc Kielburger
It’s about time we start doing a little more to rev up the economy.
Here are some suggestions. Get a divorce. Drive over the speed limit possibly resulting in a collision on a major freeway. Sink an oil tanker so we can clean up the mess.
Not the most desirable actions for our social welfare, but in the sometimes-weird world of economics, economists will be cheering.
No offense meant to any of the economists we know, but how on earth is this helping? As the global financial crisis leads us down the road to recession, the gross domestic product is our guide. Recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP – and the economic activity wrought by car accidents and natural disasters are contributors to that all-important number.
You see, when GDP says it tallies the total market value of all goods and services produced within the country, it means everything. But, when it tries to measure our economic health and well-being, the number falls short.
Introduced in World War II to measure how much of the economy could be put towards wartime production, GDP quickly developed into our primary economic indicator. But that was never its original purpose.
Simon Kuznets, the economist who helped standardize the measurement, said in 1962, "Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth."
Unfortunately, we didn’t heed his warning – a warning that could have prevented our current mess.
As industry has grown, so have the problems surrounding it. Unbridled consumerism at home and the two-dollar-a-day wages overseas both contribute to a nation’s GDP. A forest of trees contributes nothing. Clear-cut that forest and the economy swings into high gear.
"Some of the expenditures don’t make anyone better off or even keep our current welfare in tact," says John Talberth, Director of the Sustainability Indicators Program at Redefining Progress. "But there are also benefits that aren’t included in GDP – parenting, housework, volunteers. Those are our quality of life."
Other indicators do take these socially-positive actions into account. Those indicators tell a different story. The Genuine Progress Indicator broadens its scope to account for the societal costs of some monetary transactions and the benefits of some non-monetary transactions.
"In a nutshell, it gives a dollar amount to beneficial activities that wouldn’t be recorded in GDP," says Talberth. "It also puts a negative cost on things like environmental degradation, the time we spend commuting and loss of our natural resources."
It also puts a dollar value on accumulated debt and borrowing – factors that have been leading causes in the current financial meltdown.
"GPI realized that the more we borrow, the less sustainable it is," says Talberth. "You can’t borrow forever."
When those figures are calculated, the two indicators show very different routes to recession.
GDP per capita has more than doubled in the United States since the 1950s as many Americans live the dream of a television, two cars and a house in the suburbs. When GPI takes into account the environmental costs and the debt families have accumulated to pay for that dream, the indicator has dropped 45 per cent since the 1970s.
As Kuznets said, there’s a distinction between quantity and quality. Had we heeded his warning, we could be in a very different spot on the economic map.
Obviously, no economist is cheering for oil spills. We know some wonderful economists who recognize that a stay-at-home mom is contributing more to the economy than a building another prison. So why are we letting these monetary transactions be the primary definition of our progress?
We all know that money isn’t everything. By going beyond our gross domestic product, maybe we can start solving our gross domestic problems.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)