Like many mothers, I often find myself in the car way more that I prefer. It seems that despite my best planning - trying to group together errands to use less gas and so on - something Corbin needs (or wants) ends up being in the next town over. So the whole concept of relocalization appeals to me on many levels.
Across a myriad of areas of study, from energy use to architecture, peak oil and climate change, many experts believe that it will be our ability to rebuild society based on a more localized way of living that will lead to our survival - or not. Relocalization is a strategy to build societies based on the local production of food, energy and goods, and the local development of currency, governance and culture.
The main goals of Relocalization are to increase community energy
security, to strengthen local economies, and to dramatically improve
environmental conditions and social equity.
The Relocalization strategy developed in response to the
environmental, social, political and economic impacts of global
over-reliance on cheap energy. Our dependence on cheap non-renewable
fossil fuel energy has produced climate change, the erosion of
community, wars for oil-rich land and the instability of the global
economic system.
In the United States, the Relocalization Network supports local groups
in developing community activities and programs that can be implemented
locally and as working models for other communities seeking to increase
their resilience. In the UK the Transition Towns movement is growing rapidly. Could it be that a return to the town-square-and-farmer’s-market-life holds the answers? If so, you might want to gt to know your neighbors if you don’t already. Come to think of it, do you even know their names?
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2 Comments
Great post and food for thought. As more and more of our buying moves online we move in the opposite direction from localization. Small steps toward local eating and moves toward locally handcrafted items can change that trend.
Love this organization! Thanks!
I’ve been all for local everything for awhile now— you can’t beat a local restaurant in my book.
Here’s my issue: Where I live (a suburb), there’s no such thing as “local.” We have FEW local restaurants and almost no local places to shop. Our “farmers market” sells things such as lotions.
So, while I want to feel that this is possible, I’d say that in most suburbs full of strip malls and Super Wal-Marts…that this idea would fail miserably, and that makes me sad.