I am coming fresh from a taping of an Up North TV program* with host Dave Barrons, and drawing together the threads of connection between issues, thinking of what I should have said - as one is apt to do at the end of very good conversations. Dave has hosted over 40 shows focusing on personal and community resilience in the face of future shifts in our culture as our world matures into its next phase of development. He was asking how local economy ties into resilience. Resilient here meaning being able to withstand many fold increases in energy costs, or going without things that come from very far away due to transportation costs, or even how to stay warm and fed when energy and food are a bit harder to come by.
What I wished I'd talked about was one proposal from Zach Liggett of Goldeneye Asset Management to invest pooled money of several investors into a project he has called Real Impact, transforming a neglected piece of farmland into a productive organic market garden/farm. This would provide a precious opportunity to young enthusiastic farmers ready to dive into just such a challenge. Here is just one example of how a main goal of As Local As Possible - invest locally - ties back into being just a little better able to fed ourselves with healthful non-genetically modified food. Ties back into job creation, and nurturing or enabling the next generation of farmers. Ties back into community resilience, by fostering a sense of belonging to a place when you know where your food comes from, who grew it, and what was on the land prior to this happening, etc. etc. The ties ins are everywhere.
*http://ir.nrec.org/node
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Michigan Green Consortium and Clean Up Green Up fever.
The Michigan Green Consortium is a good sized group (40?) businesses and non-profits that was formed about 2 years ago with a goal of attracting green businesses and promoting green practices. I am a proud member, and have participated in the last 2 Clean Up Green Up's - their signature event- held at the Farmers Market parking lot in T.C. This is a hectic and extremely popular event, held on Spring equinox (observed by MGC Sunday, March 13th this year) and Fall equinox. They way to remember the event is the day when you reset your clocks, always on a Sunday, semi-annually.
There is considerable common interest in these two groups, yet a distinction in where the criteria is drawn for what businesses they want to attract. They are embracing Home Depot and Best Buy for example, and that would be ruled out with Local anything.
Nevertheless, I encourage you to become acquainted with their (our) work. http://www.cleanupgreenup.com/
There were 800 vehicles that came thru the line last fall, and people were excited, gracious and mostly proud to be recycling their 75 year old washing machines or their old t.v.'s (Best Buy took them - they were still loading up 2 hrs. after the event ended).
I brought back a beauticians chair, doors, lights, etc. The business next to me, Evergreen Bottle Company, accepted a variety of used wine and select other bottles. Bay Area Recycling was a hero with their accepting Styrofoam packing materials and thousands of plastic plant pots, well - plastic everything really.
The intersection of green living practices/local owned operated business/local money is not on many maps. All of the pieces are here. Can we figure out how to put them together, and have as much fun doing it as the seniors going thru the line last November with their ancient appliances, their carefully folded scraps of plastic sheeting they have had under the staircase for 12 years - just in case? Some people were giddy with joy over the fact we were taking their stuff. I just hope it was happiness, not laughing AT us for being crazy enough to take it. There is a lot to say in admiration for Best Buy taking the TVs, and Home Depot taking the light bulbs and tool batteries.
How to weave together an identity of a new group, and yet not ignore the good that is going on now, already. That will be a big challenge. MGC should be in on this.
There is considerable common interest in these two groups, yet a distinction in where the criteria is drawn for what businesses they want to attract. They are embracing Home Depot and Best Buy for example, and that would be ruled out with Local anything.
Nevertheless, I encourage you to become acquainted with their (our) work. http://www.cleanupgreenup.com/
There were 800 vehicles that came thru the line last fall, and people were excited, gracious and mostly proud to be recycling their 75 year old washing machines or their old t.v.'s (Best Buy took them - they were still loading up 2 hrs. after the event ended).
I brought back a beauticians chair, doors, lights, etc. The business next to me, Evergreen Bottle Company, accepted a variety of used wine and select other bottles. Bay Area Recycling was a hero with their accepting Styrofoam packing materials and thousands of plastic plant pots, well - plastic everything really.
The intersection of green living practices/local owned operated business/local money is not on many maps. All of the pieces are here. Can we figure out how to put them together, and have as much fun doing it as the seniors going thru the line last November with their ancient appliances, their carefully folded scraps of plastic sheeting they have had under the staircase for 12 years - just in case? Some people were giddy with joy over the fact we were taking their stuff. I just hope it was happiness, not laughing AT us for being crazy enough to take it. There is a lot to say in admiration for Best Buy taking the TVs, and Home Depot taking the light bulbs and tool batteries.
How to weave together an identity of a new group, and yet not ignore the good that is going on now, already. That will be a big challenge. MGC should be in on this.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Jan 14th notes cont'd - setting the bar high - a directory....
This is the second half of the Jan. 14th meeting notes, see below for first half.
"Setting the bar high" for defining what businesses we want to promote was one suggestion that stood out from several folks in the evening. The over use of the word "local" renders it diluted, a weak standard. By defining the criteria for all that could be encompassed in a local campaign, a local philosophy, we have a rare opportunity to pull together a lot of otherwise disparate issues under one tent.
If we as a group want to truly stand out and compete for attention, we could hammer out a definition of our values that are roused by the combination of eating local food, circulating local script, practicing lifestyles with respect for our own health, and our fellow man, and in turn our home Earth. Or as Bill McKibben now spells it: Eaarth. He maintains it is no longer the same place, so it needs a new moniker. Should local become Locaal?
A tangible goal: directory of businesses. If we take the time to make a directory of local business, we could incorporate all local owned and operated business with the autonomy to make their decisions on how they staff, supply, fund, insure, advertise and manage their business, PLUS we can put a spotlight on a business that constantly pushes the barriers of what can be done to create a cleaner world to leave to our grandchildren, like Bay Area Recycling. Or a business that creates new opportunities for more to grow and sell organic food, like Oryana and Food for Thought.
This should be done in a manner that encourages more joined efforts from our colleagues as opposed to being superior about it. I am far from a purist, but I like idealism.
6 people of the 15 present agreed to be on a steering committee to, I anticipate, write a mission statement and perhaps take a first stab at defining the criteria of what we mean by local - . reporting this back to the full group in a month. Andy Gale suggested, and I concur, that waiting a month for the steering committee to first meet would be too long, two weeks might be good. Those six are Andy, Zach Liggett, Charie Wunsch/ Barb Folan, Jeremy Truog, Chelsea Bay Wills and myself.
This concluded the business promotion half of meeting.
Zach Ligget of Goldeneye Asset Management next laid out some seed ideas for local investment. In a nutshell, there are numerous scenarios with a few common ingredients:
1. Collective or co-operative decision making by investors, all participate to some degree in decisions.
2. Investments per person in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. (more on how to include lesser investors later)
3. Buy real estate outright, (avoid interest expenses), with or without improvements, that are at distressed prices. Make a smart buy. Have enough investors at start to pay for the remodel of any improvements.
4. Plan on leaving your money invested "slowly", in the range of 8 to 12 years.
5. Reinvigorate the asset into the best, greenest, energy efficient, sustainable property we can.
6. Provide opportunity to involve the young, under banked to lease to own it. Use lease income for maintenance and taxes. Use local businesses that already practice these values in the design, remodeling, etc.
7. Sell asset with goal of making a return equaling 6 to 9% per year. Repeat with a new project.
more tomorrow
"Setting the bar high" for defining what businesses we want to promote was one suggestion that stood out from several folks in the evening. The over use of the word "local" renders it diluted, a weak standard. By defining the criteria for all that could be encompassed in a local campaign, a local philosophy, we have a rare opportunity to pull together a lot of otherwise disparate issues under one tent.
If we as a group want to truly stand out and compete for attention, we could hammer out a definition of our values that are roused by the combination of eating local food, circulating local script, practicing lifestyles with respect for our own health, and our fellow man, and in turn our home Earth. Or as Bill McKibben now spells it: Eaarth. He maintains it is no longer the same place, so it needs a new moniker. Should local become Locaal?
A tangible goal: directory of businesses. If we take the time to make a directory of local business, we could incorporate all local owned and operated business with the autonomy to make their decisions on how they staff, supply, fund, insure, advertise and manage their business, PLUS we can put a spotlight on a business that constantly pushes the barriers of what can be done to create a cleaner world to leave to our grandchildren, like Bay Area Recycling. Or a business that creates new opportunities for more to grow and sell organic food, like Oryana and Food for Thought.
This should be done in a manner that encourages more joined efforts from our colleagues as opposed to being superior about it. I am far from a purist, but I like idealism.
6 people of the 15 present agreed to be on a steering committee to, I anticipate, write a mission statement and perhaps take a first stab at defining the criteria of what we mean by local - . reporting this back to the full group in a month. Andy Gale suggested, and I concur, that waiting a month for the steering committee to first meet would be too long, two weeks might be good. Those six are Andy, Zach Liggett, Charie Wunsch/ Barb Folan, Jeremy Truog, Chelsea Bay Wills and myself.
This concluded the business promotion half of meeting.
Zach Ligget of Goldeneye Asset Management next laid out some seed ideas for local investment. In a nutshell, there are numerous scenarios with a few common ingredients:
1. Collective or co-operative decision making by investors, all participate to some degree in decisions.
2. Investments per person in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. (more on how to include lesser investors later)
3. Buy real estate outright, (avoid interest expenses), with or without improvements, that are at distressed prices. Make a smart buy. Have enough investors at start to pay for the remodel of any improvements.
4. Plan on leaving your money invested "slowly", in the range of 8 to 12 years.
5. Reinvigorate the asset into the best, greenest, energy efficient, sustainable property we can.
6. Provide opportunity to involve the young, under banked to lease to own it. Use lease income for maintenance and taxes. Use local businesses that already practice these values in the design, remodeling, etc.
7. Sell asset with goal of making a return equaling 6 to 9% per year. Repeat with a new project.
more tomorrow
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Notes meeting Jan 14th
The first follow up meeting of group since October workshop was recently held at the Commons conference room in the annex of Building 50. 15 people attended, including a few first timers.
To summarize quickly, 6 good ideas were put forward in an interest to promote locally owned/operated business in our area. I will bullet list these, then give more detailed desciptions below that:
It was recently written in a letter to the editor, and I won't quote the dollar amount as I have not verified the data, that TCLP is sitting on large amounts of cash reserves. If this is close to accurate, they could well afford to transact in a new currency, without fear of where they have to immediately spend it, since they could save it just as they save federal dollars. In the meantime, more businesses will be enticed to accept it if they can in turn immediately spend it when paying their power bill.
Well done Nancy Belton, Mo Charbonneau and the Bay bucks crew! Lets spread the word to TCLP ratepayers, write a letter to the editor, ask around at work - post a notice, here is a chance to get some local spending power momentum. Be on the lookout for Bay Bucks directory update, probably online, listing where else you may acquire/spend Bay Bucks, in addition to Oryana Natural Food Market, Bay Area Recycling Services, Edible Grand Traverse Magazine, Pleasanton Bakery, and Odom Reusable Building Materials. Dear reader: if you accept them and I missed you, please comment below. (baybucks.org)
The Taste a Local Difference program by Michigan Land Use Institute is celebrating its 8th anniversary promoting local farms, vineyards, cider and beer makers and restaurants in a 10 county area including 250 providers. Program manager for TLD, Janice Belton reported a recent survey indicates 85% of farms and others listed in TLD have seen an increase in business since its inception.
Not resting on their laurels, TLD recently launched a campaign asking individuals to pledge spending $10 on local food and drink. Janice generously offered to list locally owned and operated businesses in the back of the directory once "local" was defined in a careful manner. More very good news for localists! Well done Janice and MLUI.
The NW Mich. Sustainable Business Forum, run by Patty O'Donnell of the NWMich, Council of Gov'ts. has been in existence for a number of years. The forum is modeled after others in the state, and conducts educational workshops on sustainable business practices - waste reduction, green practices for the hospitality industry, energy forums, and green business practices overall. This program covers a 10 county area also. Patty offered to conduct follow up meetings in half day workshops if we would like.
.....Meeting notes to be continued tomorrow.
To summarize quickly, 6 good ideas were put forward in an interest to promote locally owned/operated business in our area. I will bullet list these, then give more detailed desciptions below that:
- Pledge $10 week to buy local
- Wear a wrist band (Big Rapids) showing support for local - receive a discount
- Integrate with Grand Vision website- map of where to buy local
- Guidebook list/how to guide of local business/how to live "green, sustainable..."
- Game of puzzle pieces collected at local business- play to win a reward for shopping local
- Earn a sticker to show support for local- put on your window or car bumper- desire to belong
It was recently written in a letter to the editor, and I won't quote the dollar amount as I have not verified the data, that TCLP is sitting on large amounts of cash reserves. If this is close to accurate, they could well afford to transact in a new currency, without fear of where they have to immediately spend it, since they could save it just as they save federal dollars. In the meantime, more businesses will be enticed to accept it if they can in turn immediately spend it when paying their power bill.
Well done Nancy Belton, Mo Charbonneau and the Bay bucks crew! Lets spread the word to TCLP ratepayers, write a letter to the editor, ask around at work - post a notice, here is a chance to get some local spending power momentum. Be on the lookout for Bay Bucks directory update, probably online, listing where else you may acquire/spend Bay Bucks, in addition to Oryana Natural Food Market, Bay Area Recycling Services, Edible Grand Traverse Magazine, Pleasanton Bakery, and Odom Reusable Building Materials. Dear reader: if you accept them and I missed you, please comment below. (baybucks.org)
The Taste a Local Difference program by Michigan Land Use Institute is celebrating its 8th anniversary promoting local farms, vineyards, cider and beer makers and restaurants in a 10 county area including 250 providers. Program manager for TLD, Janice Belton reported a recent survey indicates 85% of farms and others listed in TLD have seen an increase in business since its inception.
Not resting on their laurels, TLD recently launched a campaign asking individuals to pledge spending $10 on local food and drink. Janice generously offered to list locally owned and operated businesses in the back of the directory once "local" was defined in a careful manner. More very good news for localists! Well done Janice and MLUI.
The NW Mich. Sustainable Business Forum, run by Patty O'Donnell of the NWMich, Council of Gov'ts. has been in existence for a number of years. The forum is modeled after others in the state, and conducts educational workshops on sustainable business practices - waste reduction, green practices for the hospitality industry, energy forums, and green business practices overall. This program covers a 10 county area also. Patty offered to conduct follow up meetings in half day workshops if we would like.
.....Meeting notes to be continued tomorrow.
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