Time banks as local currency

This article is reprinted from Solutions Journal. Links and references added. 

Humboldt Community’s 1 Dollar Bill by artist Bob Filbey, courtesy of planetthrive.com

In an effort to fill the gaps left by our financial institutions, many are searching for local alternatives to national currencies. Time banks are one option that promotes community self-reliance while withstanding the whims of a boom and bust economy.

Time banks are now operating in over 300 communities in 22 countries, providing individuals with the opportunity to exchange services without currency. Similar in many ways to the barter system, time bankers spend an hour doing something for someone in their community and in return are granted one hour of credit to be redeemed at a later time. The services given and received include anything from cooking and transportation for the elderly, to tutoring children, to health care and psychiatric services. The primary difference between time banks and traditional bartering systems is that every hour of work in a time bank is equal.

Since Portland, Maine’s time bank program started in 1997, its members have exchanged over 150,000 hours of services, including 25,000 hours of health care. Time banks have the potential to provide underprivileged individuals and families with a means for receiving services that they might not be able to afford with traditional currencies.

Similar examples of alternative currency programs include Ithaca HOURS, a local tender accepted by over 900 individuals and businesses within a 20-mile radius of Ithaca, New York. The goal is to create a sustainable economy by encouraging individuals to buy locally made crafts and food. Because one Ithaca HOUR is valued at $10, $2.75 more than the state’s minimum hourly wage, individuals have an incentive to serve their community and to shop within it.

These programs are also part of a social movement to build and strengthen local communities.

TimeBanks USA writes that “the trust, sharing and mutual support of our social networks are essential elements of healthy communities and healthy individuals.” Time banks provide neighbors the opportunity to build relationships that matter, promoting an investment in the common good. Creating sustainable communities requires a shift in focus from financial capital to social capital, and time banks provide an arena for realizing that change.
--

Further references:

Ithaca Hours 2 1/2 min video 
Time Banks USA founder Edgar Cahn, An idea whose time has come, Yes! magazine 27 Nov 2011 
Francis Ayley's fourthcornerexchange.com
‪Bernard Lietaer 23 min video Money diversity cites airmiles and European examples 
Wikipedia: local currency and ‪List of community currencies in the United States‬
James Bruges Big Earth Book (2nd rev ed. 2008, ISBN: 978-1-906136-12-3)
Peter North Local Money: How To Make it Happen in Your Community (2010) review
Transition Towns transitionculture.org/category/local-currencies including videos
Frédéric van Caenegem, Paying with Vancouver Currency Thelasourcecom 14 June 2011

Tracking transition towns -- by Ruah Swennerfelt

This is an excerpt from about in Ruah's new blog Transitionvision. Her latest post has reports from Rob Hopkins and others across the world at the Transition conference in the UK. See also the discussion site of her local group Transition Vermont and resources at Interfaith Power and Light.  For a book list see Visions of the future recommended by Friends.

I’m on a search for how our civilization will survive the current “perfect storm” of peak oil, climate disruption, and economic instability. We live in a time where our world economic system requires perpetual growth to survive. This is not sustainable since there is a limited supply of Earth’s resources available. My search will take me to Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Europe, Scandanavia, and North America. I want to help articulate the world vision that exists as a result of the wonderful efforts of Transition Town Initiatives, Sustainable Cities, and other municipal “green initiatives”. Like a quilt, each piece is unique and beautiful on its own, but the finished quilt is something greater than the parts. I hope that my research will reflect this whole as a blueprint for our necessary transition. I hope that you who follow my blog, will comment, suggest, argue, and support what I write. I’m depending on that interaction to enrich my research and the results of it.

How will the human race live as we enter the post-carbon world? What if people in towns or section of cities got together regularly for local foods potlucks, discussions about sharing resources and building resilience, listening to speakers and watching films, making music, and having fun? What if the place we each call home had really prepared for the end of cheap, abundant fossil fuels? What might that look like? Can one imagine bringing people together who are from different political viewpoints, different incomes, and different educational backgrounds? How can the obstacles to that vision be overcome? 

These are the goals of the Transition Town, Sustainable Cities, and other “green” movements. There are many fine grassroots movements around the globe that are individually working on community efforts to prepare for the impacts of climate change and peak oil. It will be a difficult transition—with fewer resources to help that happen. I have learned from previous journeys about the difficulties of improving the lives of people in developing countries and the hopes and fears of people in our own country.

Extreme sheep herding as environmental art

Basic equipment: the hills of Wales, LEDs, flocks of sheep, and sheepdogs.

They create a giant animated sheep, a Pong game, the Mona Lisa, and fireworks. The herders: Wyn Griffiths, Rhys Francis, Georgia Davis, Emris "the electrician" Williams, Gerry "the player" Lewis, Rob "the LED master" Jones and "the general" -- the late Bernard Llewellyn, county chairman for Carmarthenshire of NFU Cymru (National Farmers Union, Wales). The ad for Samsung has now been viewed almost 13 million times. PETA attacked it as "animal cruelty". Samsung replied that the video was “made both starring, and in consultation with, professional shepherds”. Llewellyn added that "sheep are my livelihood...only a total idiot would put their animals under any stress”.

Did you have a good life? -- by Keith Farnish

This 2007 article is reprinted from his Earth Blog, "a collection of personal thoughts, ideas and solutions in search of a future for this planet". I have italicized his voice. He lives in the UK.

Sorry, it's too late, your life ends tomorrow. Did you have a good one? Think hard, there isn't much time.

-----

Alan
“Come in, my friend, find a space. I know it doesn’t look very pleasant but the pain doesn’t bother me too much as long as I can keep the morphine topped up…there we go. Jean! Can you get my friend a coffee? Sit yourself down; it’s a nice sofa, isn’t it? Cream leather, with invisible stitching, and mahogany inlays. I would have had walnut, but it doesn’t match the wall unit, but the leather matches the car interior very well; I upgraded to the new Range Rover Sport 3 months ago, after I heard about the latest tumour. We thought, ‘What the hell? The life insurance will cover that, and the Lexus.’ I don’t want Jean going without; she’s used to this way of life, and I’m not going to deny her that after I’m gone.”

“Gerry came in earlier. You know Gerry? He worked with me at Chase Morgan before the bond débacle. They found me out, as you know, but I took half the department down with me. I wasn’t going to let them know who really bought those junk bonds; Mali is a growing oil market, and we all have to make a buck where we can.”

“Well, anyway, Gerry has just come back from Mauritius. It only seems like yesterday he was in Kenya. He says he can work remotely, just in case the boys need some advice, so can always swing an extra trip. You know what our gang were like, always off on some jolly. Some guy at BA told us we could offset our flights, which sounded like something guilty people do, but then that extra bottle of Veuve Clicquot was calling to me and I had no loose change. Next time maybe. Maybe not.”

“How are the tennis lessons coming along? Did you try Lucy’s club? She’ll make an excellent coach, don’t you think? Chip off the old block, as they say. I wish I’d spent more time playing myself, but what with work, those late nights at the wine bar – comes with the territory, really – weekends at the villa; I couldn’t pack any more in.”

“I’ve had a really good life, when you think about it. Look around – have you seen a better parquet than the one in the sitting room? And when I look out of the window, I know that most of that is mine. It’s a great feeling. No, I’ve got no regrets - life’s for living, isn’t it?”

-----

By the time you come to the end of your life, there is little you can do to change the impact that you have had on others – be they friends, family, strangers, animals, the air we breath. You could lay to rest old feuds, show people that you didn’t really mean what you said, be forgiven by those that were angry with you; but you have already trodden a physical path between your coming and your going, and that is not going to be undone. Self evaluation is an important part of what keeps people motivated; after all, if I’m not going to do good things during my life, then when else am I going to do them? Maybe you believe in an afterlife - that you can repent your actions (or lack of them) on your deathbed. We all have our right to beliefs and wishes, but whatever may happen to your soul after you are gone has nothing to do with what will continue to happen in the physical world. The point I am trying to make is that, because the mere fact of sharing a world with other living creatures has an impact on their lives – however small – and that humans are at the very top of the global ecological network, it really does matter what kind of life we lead.

James
“Rachel, I won’t be able to make it this afternoon. Yes, I’m having a few problems today and couldn’t get into work this morning. I hope you can find someone to cover – it’s hard enough looking after things when everyone’s well. That’s very nice of you. I hope so too. See you later.”

“Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn’t see you there. Sorry about the mess, I’ve been trying to keep the place tidy, but haven’t got the energy lately. If you’re going past Oxfam this afternoon could you pop in and see if they need any help? That’s really kind, I hate to let them down. Do you want a tea? There are some bags in the jar by the kettle; mind the boxes, I’ve asked Julie to pack up some of my old clothes for the recycling – I don’t think I’ll be needing them any more.”

“She does so much for me, does Julie. I wish I could afford to pay her petrol money. I got rid of the car last month – hardly used it anyway, what with the pollution, I’d feel bad driving to work when I can cycle, but it’s so bad for my lungs. I reckon it’s the traffic that’s made my asthma so bad over the years; I could hardly catch my breath yesterday…excuse me (inhales)…sorry, I hate for you to see me like this. The hospital are delivering my new nebulizer tomorrow, but it hardly seems to help when I do use one.”

“I was looking at some photos this morning; Linda and I had our honeymoon 40 years ago last month. I wish she could have been here, but Julie gave me a lift down to the cemetery, and I said what I had to. It was difficult to concentrate with the aircraft going over, off to sunny places I suppose. We had our honeymoon at the seaside, at the same hotel we stayed at for years after – it wasn’t too posh, but we liked it. We loved getting the train; didn’t seem any point driving as we’d only be stuck in a traffic jam.”

“The airport are trying to get planning permission to extend the runway, and they want to move a bit of the cemetery. Progress, I suppose, but they want to move Linda’s plot, and I can’t stand the thought of that. Why can’t they just leave things alone? I mustn’t complain too much, but sometimes life feels so unfair – some people have it so much better.”

Someone in James’ position might feel they have led a modest, possibly unfortunate life; things have not always gone as they should have. But look at the two stories again. There is such a fundamental difference that it might not be obvious: Alan is a taker. He has worked hard for his money, granted, but his lifestyle is one of luxury, consumption and, some may say, excess. He has no regrets, and in his world everything is there for the taking. In James’ world, things are there to be shared out; people do what they can to help others, they do not consume to excess – even if he had the money to, he wouldn’t.

I am not trying to judge individual actions here - most of us would enjoy a holiday in a far-off country, and revel in a beautiful view from our bedroom window – or how much money people earn : I am judging the motivation of everyone who inhabits this planet. I believe the goodness of our lives is determined by what motivates us. What motivates an individual in their life may range from survival, through to living in the lap of luxury; from having so much more than everyone else – money, status, material goods – to wanting all things to be equal; from saving oneself to saving the planet.

I can’t begin to say how much I admire people who give up all their worldly goods to fight for a cause they really believe in, and put up with the constant shouts of “get a job” and “get a life” from others, that seems to come with the territory. The protestor believes that some things are far more important than wealth and the accumulation of consumer goods. But to very many people, the sole motivation in life is to go from one life stage to another – job, house, children, retirement – and then what? After the achievements have been counted; the house, holidays, cars, TVs and savings added together; what is there to show for a life in which little thought was ever given for the people outside your immediate family and circle of friends, and the world beyond your doorstep? If you need to change, I hope you still have time.

The great carbon credit con -- by Nadene Ghouri

Excerpts from Nadene Ghouri's investigation for UK Daily Mail Live Magazine 1 Jun 09. Photos: Ash Sweeting. Gujarat Fluorochemicals (GFL) website boasts that it exports to 75 countries, and has a branch plant in China. With World Bank approval, foreign investors have poured $12 billion into Gujarat's 175-mile chemical corridor between Mehsana and Vapi, one of the world's 10 worst-polluted places. Political pull has spared prosecution of polluters. Gujarat's chief minister says carbon credits are "a good business opportunity".

*****

In the fields around this giant chemicals factory in Gujarat, the barren soil smells of paint stripper and the water from the well makes you gag. Radha, a tough, sinewy widow and the only female farmer here, says that the well, which draws from deep groundwater, used to adequately supply the village and surrounding farms. ‘We have plenty of water – but water is the problem,’ she says. As the bucket returns to the top, we can make out a white, almost oily-looking film on the surface of the liquid, which has formed little snowflake shapes.

She scoops up some water and asks us to smell it. It has an odour so acrid it catches in the back of our throats, making us cough. ‘We can’t irrigate our crops with it,’ she says. ‘It’s the water of death. It kills most crops we put it on. A few years ago, I grew spinach, potatoes, lots of different crops. Now… look at my plants. Weak, useless.’

We’re in a field of cotton that should be ready to harvest. But there’s nothing to reap – just a few little tufts that blow mockingly in the breeze. Radha picks up a handful of soil. The surface has a faintly visible white crust, as if talcum powder has been sprinkled over it. Hold it close and it has the same caustic smell as the water, a bit like paint stripper.

Overlooking the fields like a hulking metal skeleton is the factory the villagers claim has polluted their water and land. The plant, owned by Gujarat Fluorochemicals (GFL), produces refrigerant gases for air-conditioning units and fridges. A by-product is a greenhouse gas [one of the worst] called HFC23.... one ton of it is equivalent to 11,700 tons of carbon. Under the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), GFL installed new technology to capture and recycle HFC23.

The technology was provided in 2005 by the UK’s largest chemical and oil corporation, Ineos, formerly part of ICI [Imperial Chemical Industries]. Both GFL and Ineos benefited handsomely. By installing the technology, GFL made €27 million in the last quarter of 2006 – triple its total earnings for the same period the year before due to carbon credits. Ineos was also given a substantial number of credits for helping a company in the developing world cut its emissions, [to "offset" Ineos emissions exceeding] UK government limits....

polluted well in Ranjitnagar

GFL is part of a worldwide carbon-trading scheme, centred in London, which is supposed to be helping to save the planet from global warming. On paper the scheme, which was ratified under the Kyoto agreement and supervised by the UN, looks like an efficient way to cut global carbon emissions. However, a Live investigation has exposed a series of major failings and loopholes in the scheme.

The great carbon credits merry-go-round
-- Daily Mail (click on image to see details)

As you dig below the surface it would appear that the UN programme – with backing and finance from Britain – is as polluted as the questionable companies it chooses so generously to reward. In the middle of the City of London is a large anonymous-looking building, home to the European Climate Exchange (ECX). About 98 per cent of the carbon-emissions trading in Europe is done in this office, with more than 25 million tons of carbon traded daily. Last year this market was worth £80 billion worldwide, and it’s set to grow to £97 billion this year, despite the recession. Here traders sell our planet’s future in the form of carbon credits... each credit represents a ton of CO2. Chief executive Patrick Birley meets us in the glass-panelled reception. He points out where climate protestors camped on the doorstep during the G20 protests in March. ‘I care just as passionately about saving the planet as they do,’ he says. ‘But the difference is that I believe environmentalism and capitalism can converge.’

Companies that cut their emissions gain credits. If, on the other hand, they exceed their [pollution cap] quotas, they have to acquire credits... trading involves Europe’s biggest banks, including RBS and Barclays. Until the global slowdown, carbon was one of the most profitable ‘commodities’, nearly doubling in value between 2007 and 2008.

But concerns are now being raised about this market approach to controlling emissions, with heavily polluting companies seemingly being financially rewarded. The hulk looming above Radha’s fields was the first factory in the world to profit from the UN scheme, and is something of a flagship project. Yet for the villagers, the scheme is rewarding the very factory that’s brought them misery.

Narendra Modi

We arrive in Gandhinagar, the state capital, to meet Gujarat’s controversial right-wing chief minister, Narendra Modi. ‘You can have big industry and be green' ... but he admits carbon credits can be a ‘good business opportunity’. ‘It’s a typical Western capitalist system, cash- and profit-based. In the East we think differently; caring for nature and the environment is something that comes naturally to us. But of course we’ll take the carbon-credits money if it is offered to us. Why wouldn’t we?’

8 year old Nita, born without an elbow joint

In a village near GFL, scores are sick with joint aches, bone pains, unexplained swellings, throat and nerve problems and temporary paralysis. The farmers can’t put any names to their illnesses and, as low-caste dalits (or untouchables), most of them are too poor to access proper medical services.

Dr Alison Doig, senior climate-change advisor at Christian Aid, says, ‘Live’s investigation highlights exactly what’s wrong with this flawed system, which is focused only on exchanging carbon credits globally, with no accounting for other environmental or social damage. All carbon credits are doing is making some companies rich, while doing nothing to prevent global pollution. It needs either abolition or total reform.’

‘The carbon-credits business operates rather like the financial-services industry did,’ says Kevin Smith of campaigning watchdog Carbon Trade Watch. ‘Insufficient scrutiny and transparency, dodgy projects getting money when they shouldn’t be. And we all know the consequences of what happened in financial services. But this is potentially much more serious, because unlike the Government, nature doesn’t do bailouts.’

*****

This report is quoted in a new study by United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) Climate Justice for a Changing Planet: A Primer for Policy Makers and NGOs (Dec 2009), fourth in a Climate Justice series: Nick Dearden and Tim Jones, Developing Nations Unite Around Justice In Barcelona Talks; Richard Sherman, Climate and Development Goals: Is there need for a post-Copenhagen Framework?; Natalia Cardona, Placing the Right to Development and Justice at the Heart of the Response to Climate Change.
See also World's Most Polluted Places 2009; Enron's toxic coverup in India by corrupt officials -- Enron was the biggest US corporate lobbyist for carbon-trading; the infamous Summers Memo of 1991 by the World Bank's chief economist, who now heads the US Board of Economic Advisers; criticism of CDM credits for HFC23 by Carbon-Finance Online 15 Feb 07.

Climate change around the globe

Kii'iljuus of Haida Gwaii (aka Queen Charlotte Islands, BC): This year our berries and fish are later than usual -- at least one month behind the time when they usually are ready to eat. The coastline has suffered erosion along the eastern shores. This year the herring and whales did not show up in our inlet as they usually do. A few gray whales came into the inlet but left shortly after. In the past we could count on enjoying their visit for anywhere up to a couple of months.Andrew Casebow of Guernsey in the English Channel: Every one of the past 16 years was warmer than the average of the past 30...[with] marked changes in dates of wildflower bloom and migrating birds. Many birds are nesting more than a week earlier and birds that used to be rare are thriving: e.g. white egrets. Many fish species are moving north...others are in decline.... An unforeseen spring tide flooded St Peter Port... overwhelmed sea defences and damaged large sections of sea wall in the west of the island. This is a foretaste of what climate change could bring as a normal occurrence in 50 years time.

photo: secheresse, Tana par O mon héros on Flickr.

The drying of the Tana River Delta, Kenya: At risk are the subsistence farmers from the Boni, Bajuni, Wakone and Wasanya people and the fishers from the Malakote minority communities who depend on river waters for irrigation and fishing, respectively. Currently, as the Tana River bed dries completely, communities living downstream face severe hunger and lack of clean water for domestic use... wild animals invade the villages as they hunt for water and food. Farmers who turn to hunting and gathering... put extreme pressure on wild fauna and flora. Carbon trading projects (ecotourism facilities, sugar and jatropha plantations for ethanol) threaten indigenous lands.

photo: Samoa sky by ming mong on Flickr.

Iteli Tiatia of Samoa: Our old people know what wind is blowing just by feeling the wind or looking up at the tree tops. They have names for winds from any direction, like the to'elau, la'i, la'ilua, tua'oloa and many others. But wind patterns have dramatically changed, [not only] the direction but also the timing. For example, the old folks know in which months hurricanes are possible: late January, February and March were the worst months; November and December used to be the best. But Hurricane Valerie, one of the most destructive in Samoa, came in December 1991... a hurricane used to come from one direction and eventually fade out once you heard strong lightning and loud thunder... old folks would say in Samoan Ua taliligia le matagi (the hurricane is being shaken). But Valerie did not end despite strong lightning and heavy thunder at its most destructive, until hours later when it covered all four directions.

ice fishing by a Madison Guy on Flickr.

Doug Kiel, an Oneida of Wisconsin: Our 15,000 lakes are a tremendously important natural resource and we usually fish them year-round, even after they freeze over in the winter. But the winters are getting warmer, and in recent years this has not always been possible. When I was a child, the lakes froze over in December and did not thaw until nearly April. Now, the lakes do not freeze until much later into the winter, if at all, and the ice is often dangerously thin. And now when the lakes do freeze, they don't stay frozen. The water is getting warmer during the summer months as well, and this threatens the walleye and trout, two of our most important cold-water fish species.

Simon Qamaniq: photo courtesy Will Steger Foundation

Inuit in Nunavut, Canada: We need to be more careful when pursuing animals because of thinner ice... The water from some rivers and ponds smells and tastes bad, particularly when it does not rain for quite some time. We do not want to drink this water. Caribou are a lot skinnier, and the caribou don’t look as healthy as they used to.”

******

The excerpts above are from a new UNESCO group blog, Climate Front Lines "for indigenous peoples, small islands and vulnerable communities"; and Inuit culture in a warming Arctic interviews by Lisa Gardiner, © U Michigan, Windows to the Universe. See also Inuit leader Sheila Watt-Cloutier on "the right to be cold".

A farm for the future - Rebecca Hosking

Rebecca Hosking: Guardian photo
(See the 5-part video on Youtube. It should be available on DVD from bbccanadashop.com and bbcamericashop.com) In A farm for the future, a 50 min video from BBC's A Natural World series, film maker Rebecca Hosking returns to her family's wildlife-friendly farm in Devon, to become the next generation to farm the land.

Peak oil is a wake-up call. She learns that our agricultural model is completely dependent on abundant cheap fossil fuel, for transport, herbicides, pesticides, GMO crops, fertilizer and industrial food processing. A global food collapse is possible. Can we make the transition to sustainable practices? With advice from oil experts, the Post-Carbon Institute, farmers of an older generation and organic growers, Rebecca learns how permaculture, cooperating with nature, is the key to low-carbon agriculture and food security. (Thanks to Carol Dixon for bringing this program to our attention!)

See other videos from David Attenborough's Natural World series (now a DVD set) including Hosking's Message in the Waves (Natural World 2007) about Pacific albatross killed by plastic garbage; her plasticbagsfree campaign and plasticides.com interview. See also the Bioregional congress of the Americas to be held 4-11 Oct 2009, and 2007 reading list; permaculture blogs and news on thefarm.org; Jon Cooksey's How to Boil a Frog site and video:

Other videos: farms of the future and permaculture.
See also US blogs and videos by Peak Moment.

Quaker Youth Pilgrimage Aug 2008 - by Jessica Finch

This article originally appeared on the Baltimore MM website.Listen, listen, listen to my heart’s song. Listen, listen, listen to my heart’s song. I will never forget you. I will never forsake you. I will never forget you. I will always love you.

Twenty-five pilgrims selected from fifteen Yearly Meetings came together for the spiritual experience of a lifetime: Quaker Youth Pilgrimage (QYP) 2008. This almost month long adventure was made possible by the Friends World Committee for Consultation, and is an ongoing effort to encourage friendship among all branches of the Religious Society of Friends, which is held biennially. The itinerary for this trip included traveling through “1652 Country”, the birthplace of Quakerism, as well as trips throughout other portions of the United Kingdom.

For me, it all began at Abington Friends Meeting House (outside of Philadelphia) on July 16. As more Young Friends from Canada, Mexico, and the United States began to trickle in over the course of the afternoon we amused ourselves by exploring the connected Friends school, making semi- awkward conversation, and eagerly awaiting the next arrival. Looking back on the strangers I met that first day, it is hard to believe that they are the same people I now consider part of my extended family! That first night was a quite important one. For us it was the first night of “the pilgrimage” and the beginning of something huge and unknown. We were all beyond excited!

The next day we explored Philadelphia before driving to the airport to catch our 6:30 PM flight to Glasgow. The highlight was visiting the grave of Lucretia Mott, an incredibly important Quaker female abolitionist, at the Fair Hill Quaker Burial Ground. As the casual semi-awkward conversation died down, we began intense spiritual discussions and comparisons of Yearly Meetings! The school bus buzzed with the talk of Evangelical Friends views on homosexuals, the question of “Are Quakers Christian?”, and of course “Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?” We didn’t know it then, but these topics of conversation, and others like them, were to play a vital role in our spiritual growth and understanding throughout the rest of the pilgrimage.

The seven-hour flight quickly accustomed us to the Pilgrims we were sitting next to and before we knew it we were at the Glasgow airport. We exited the building into the weather that would soon become the norm on this British Isles excursion, a cold wet drizzle. We then proceeded to Glasgow Friends Meeting House, where the European pilgrims were to meet us. We played some name games and participated in general introductions (Monthly Meeting, Yearly Meeting, Size of Monthly Meeting, Programmed/Semi-programmed/Unprogrammed). It was quite interesting to find how vastly Meetings ranged in size, from a worship group that simply consisted of the members of one pilgrim’s family, to 75 or so people on any given Sunday. After this brief time together we broke off into small groups and left with our home-stay families.

I was placed with a group of six Pilgrims about thirty minutes outside of Glasgow in Lochwinnoch, Scotland. It was the perfect little village! They had a river in the backyard and chickens too! I quickly accustomed to the endless pots of tea as I compared cultures with our host family and other pilgrims, YouTube also played an important role as I was exposed to modern British television (and some of the old classics too: Faulty Towers!). This group gave me a spring board into the community, so I wasn’t so overwhelmed by having to socialize with everyone at once, which served as a fantastic aid in the first few days of the trip.

All Pilgrims were very taken by the beauty and serenity of Yealand Conyers, the meeting house, and the surrounding fields and hills. We had our first business meeting, approved our first two clerks, and settled into a rhythm that we would maintain for the rest of our 10-day stay there. Typically, we would rise early, somewhat reluctantly due to our habit of talking into the early hours of the morning, eat breakfast, pack a lunch, and load the buses. These daily excursions would take us anywhere from the Quaker Tapestry in Kendal to Pendle Hill, and every significant historical Quaker site in between. In our free time we would have committee meetings, leisurely walks, trips to the phone box, spiritual discussions, and rowdy games of wink and Frisbee! But although it seemed a paradise to us, we eventually had to move on.

Our trip to Dublin was complicated, but we managed the three trains and the ferry combo quite well (and without losing any Pilgrims or luggage!). Once we had arrived in the Republic of Ireland we took up residence at Churchtown Meeting House outside of Dublin. The scenery here was different, suburbs versus the sheep fields we had come to know, and so were the accents! By this time the group had gotten quite comfortable within itself. We would break out into song during almost any activity, and there was always a surplus of hugs! Our first full day in Ireland we participated in a fund-raising event for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland in which we sold pens and took donations at several local shopping malls. It was great fun, even for the less socially inclined among us, and we raised a considerable amount of money for a great cause. The next day was our excursion into the buzzing metropolitan hub that is Dublin. The highlight of this adventure was the trip to the ancient Book of Kells at the Trinity College Library. The intricacies and dedication that went into its creation is simply incredible to behold! After what seemed like a very short stay, we again loaded on the buses with the Moyallon Retreat Center as our destination.

Northern Ireland seemed very much like England had been, except with more rain. We began our stay there with a three day retreat focusing on kindness and love. We had many interesting activities and workshops ranging from “chatrooms”, which center on many different issues and their place in Quakerism (Quakerism and God, Quakerism and the Bible, Quakerism and the Environment, etc.); to a fishbowl type discussion on all aspects of sexuality. These organized discussions also provoked less formal spontaneous ones as Pilgrims continued to explore their peer’s spiritual beliefs, as well as coming into their own. A very important part of the retreat for me was also the “Silent Afternoon” planned by Ministry and Worship Committee. Starting at the close of lunch and ending with the start of Business Meeting at 7:30 p.m. we participated in silent games, a silent walk, and times for individual reflection and meditation. It proved to be a very intense yet enjoyable spiritual experience and I am quite grateful for the opportunity. After the retreat we made trips into Belfast to explore the political system and parties of Northern Ireland, as well as taking a closer look at the tension still existing between the Catholic and Protestant communities there. The latter was most evident in the “peace walls” which served as protection between the denominations neighborhoods. We also visited Quaker Service, a visitors center with a daycare and a café at one of Northern Ireland’s prisons, as well as Quaker Cottage, a group that brought together Protestant and Catholic Mothers from highly challenged families (either due to physical/ sexual/drug abuse, etc.) in an effort to help them heal from those wounds and make steps in a positive direction. Both of these organizations were highly inspirational and prime examples of how Friends have been and can work to make this world a better place for all of us. Our time at Moyallon came to end with a pleasant but hot service day, during which we battled weeds and moved gravel in a small attempt to repay Moyallon Friends for their bottomless generosity.

Once again we travel by ferry, but this time to Scotland, where we took up residence in a simply enchanting Y.M.C.A. owned and operated castle. It is here that we celebrated our last days together as a community. Our activities ranged from dance parties to epistle writing as we slowly came to terms with the fact that this unbelievable trip was coming to an end. Although a month seemed like an eternity when I first left my home in mid-July, in reality it was barely enough time, and I was left hungry for more. I know I can’t speak for all the Pilgrims when I say this, but I have come home a more confident, knowledgeable, and open-minded Quaker than I ever could have become without this trip. I quite frequently find my thoughts traveling back our last worship in the airport terminal in Philadelphia. Although we may have looked like a dirty group of strange singing teenagers to some, we knew what this trip had meant to us and what we were walking away from it with (besides a pack full of dirty laundry).

Furthermore, as I head off for College, I am beyond grateful to have a 29-member family supporting me in the next steps and entirety of my spiritual journey, and although I realize our belief systems vary quite a bit, it doesn’t matter, for these differences don’t separate us from one another, they just require an open mind and a loving heart, and with these two features, they can in fact develop deeper and more meaningful relationships than we have ever known.

Muslim green guide

 
A green guide to help Muslim households reduce climate change has been published jointly by Lifemakers UK and the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), with Muslim Hands, the Nottingham based charity meeting production costs. The booklet explains the impact of climate change using Islamic references and also explains why Muslims must do their bit for the environment.

The Green Guide is unique in that it is a simple, practical handbook that looks at different aspects of the Muslim household and suggests changes that can have a big impact on climate change. These include decisions about domestic food, water, laundry, heating, electricity, transport and recycling. At the end of the 20 page booklet is also a ‘How green is my family’ checklist that gives households something positive to aim towards.

The booklet has been printed for Ramadan, when Muslims reflect on their actions.

Schumacher College UK: a transformative experience for sustainable living

The diary Participant Experience: Soul of Science, by Christina Hurst-Prager, is quoted with her permission from the Schumacher College website. Additional information is available by clicking on links we have provided within her article.

The two week long course, called ‘Soul of Science’ is residential, we all live on the premises; the rooms are distributed in three buildings, are simple but adequate. In typical British fashion, the windows are single paned and often difficult to open and close. We share toilets and showers; there seems to be an unlimited supply of hot water 24 hours long.

We are 17 people assembled in the library of an 18th century English country estate in Devon in the Southwest of England. Looking around, we couldn’t be much more different from each other. As it turns out, we come from various countries, from England, Scotland to Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine as well as Colombia, Mexico and the USA; our age range is from 27 to late sixties. Our professional backgrounds are not quite as varied, as most include an interest in some form of humanistic concern and an interest in ecology, science and spirituality brings us together, as well as being intrigued by the invitation to join science and soul.

Two week lay ahead of us, being ‘educated’, lectured to, by two imminent scientists and scholars, Arthur Zajonc in the first week and Rupert Sheldrake in the second. Each week we also have the pleasure of listening to Satish Kumar, the initiator and founder of Schumacher College as well as two of the resident professors, Brian Goodwin and Stephan Harding. It is not only the intellectual and factual information that is unique. All four professors are not only well versed in their academic knowledge and are authors of several books and numerous articles, they also combine their science in the service of ecology, or the planet Earth, called Gaia, taken from James Lovelock’s inspiration, as a living organism as well as a larger Whole and have a spiritual world view.

Arthur Zojanc and Rupert Sheldrake both imbedded their knowledge in a historical and philosophical summary, which gave us much clarity and understanding of the prevalent world-view of today. Not only did they speak of their research, their knowledge and insights of how all this elates to the bigger whole, but they also shared their very personal spiritual practices; most of us were deeply touched and moved by it. They, as well as Satish Kumar, Brian Goodwin and Stephan Harding, truly walk their talk.

In order that our minds and spirits, brains and souls are able to soar and dance, we need non-the-less a clear structure in our daily reality.

The day starts with an optional meditation at 7:15, a wholesome breakfast buffet awaits us from 7:45 until 8:30, when we assemble in the hall. Included in this meeting are not only we course participants, the staff and helpers but as well the few graduates of the yearly Masters of Science programme, who have stayed on to write their dissertations.

After an inspirational reading by anyone who feels inspired, any pertinent information for the day is given and ‘off to work we go’, either back as a staff or helper or to our one hour long ‘job assignment’, part of the course participants day. The jobs range from cleaning, clearing to cooking and gardening and are fun, as we do them in small groups of three to four. The physical work keeps us firmly on the ground as well as allowing us to experience some community living without the chores becoming burdensome.

My favourites are cooking and gardening. The “Edible Forest Garden” is the inspired work of a former graduate that evolved out of his dissertation. The two chefs, one has even written a recipe book ‘Gaia’s Kitchen’ prepare glorious vegetarian food. It is inspirational to work along such experts in their field who also combine their professional knowledge and skills with dedication and love.

The first academic lecture begins at 10 am and lasts, with a coffee – or tea, since we are in England – break, until 1 pm. Our brains are buzzing and excited; we scribble notes and are happy that the second part of the morning is dedicated to questions and discussion.

We use the break times also to share personal information and stories, discuss the presented knowledge and ideas and how we might incorporate them in our daily and professional lives and how they might affect us individually.

Afternoons can be a lecture by a resident professor, a tutorial in a small group, free time to digest the ideas, go for a walk or visit nearby Totnes or a field trip. And we have time to avail us from the extensive library as well as watching videos and DVDs of related topics or previous lectures.

The visiting professors to Schumacher College throughout the year are all at the cutting edge of their field and incorporate it into a holistic world – view, in other words, are part of the new emerging paradigm. The various one, to three weeks long courses one can choose to attend at Schumacher College will differ in content with the various and diverse professors teaching, but each one, as I understand it from previous participants are only one part of the ‘Schumacher Experience’.

The spirit of Generosity, Gentleness, Awareness, Acceptance, Devotion (not in a religious, but spiritual way to Gaia, our planet earth and home) pervades the College and can be experienced not only simply as a sense, but also when interacting with the staff, the helpers, the MSc students and encourages and allows us participants to open up, to ourselves, to each other, be relaxed and truly enjoy learning.

The very last session, dedicated to the integration of the two weeks, showed that we not only gained information and knowledge from our two wonderful professors, but also on a different level, and just as important, from the way they walk their talk. We also discovered many new insights and ideas from the atmosphere, from the staff, the resident professors and from each other. Some of us had plans of ideas or actions to incorporate immediately, others need some more time to digest and plan.

And all of us, as we said our goodbyes, felt not only intellectually enriched and stimulated but deeply nourished in body and soul.

*****

See also previous posting on E.F. Schumacher and his ideas. See the Jan 2008 BBC film about SC and Resurgence founder Satish Kumar Earth Pilgrim: A Year on Dartmoor (on Youtube, soon available in DVD) based on his Dartmoor walk program for the College. In 1962 Kumar made an 8,000 mile nuclear-peace pilgrimage through deserts, mountains, storms and snow from India to America without any money. See also his video about his latest book Spiritual Compass and his thoughts about Gandhi's principles, eco-economics, reverence for life, biodiversity, and peace

No Coal protests spread to England

In mid-July civil disobedience stopped coal trains in Australia. Arriving in Alberta this morning, we read about local farmers' fight against strip-mining. In the USA, mountaintop removal has become a major political issue, Black Mesa shows the impact on native people, and discussion of a post-carbon economy has begun. The latest protest is in England, where George Monbiot is about to join the King's North Climate Camp:

ecologist George Monbiot

As soon as I have finished this column I will jump on the train to Kent... Everything now hinges on stopping coal. Whether we prevent runaway climate change largely depends on whether we keep using the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Unless we either leave it - or the carbon dioxide it produces - in the ground, human development will start spiralling backwards. The more coal is burnt, the smaller are our chances of future comfort and prosperity...

It is not because of butterflies or frogs or penguins or rainforests, much as I love them all. It is because everything I have fought for and that all campaigners for social justice have ever fought for - food, clean water, shelter, security - is jeopardised by climate change. Those who claim to identify a conflict between environmentalism and humanitarianism have either failed to read the science or have refused to understand it.

Our government could lead the world in one of two directions. Roughly one third of our power stations will come to the end of their lives by 2020. It could replace them with low-carbon plants or it could repeat - this time in full knowledge of the consequences - the disastrous decisions of the past. [German energy company] E.ON's application to build a new coal-burning power station at Kingsnorth is the first for many years. [Five other proposed plants would add 54 mTCO2 per year]...

The government seems determined to make the wrong decision. It has inherited the party's traditional love for coal, but, being New Labour, now supports the bosses instead of the workers, and has colluded with them to make the case for a new generation of power stations. It has one justification for this policy: that one day dirty coal will be transformed into clean coal by means of carbon capture and storage (CCS). All that is needed to effect this transformation is a sprinkling of alchemical dust, in the form of the future price of carbon. The market, it claims, will automatically ensure that coal plants bury their carbon dioxide, as this will be cheaper than buying pollution permits. Last month the House of Commons environmental audit committee examined this proposition and found that it was nonsense.

This is the sum of government policy: to cross its fingers and hope the market delivers... companies are asked to write their own rules... There is a simple means by which the government could ensure that our future electricity supplies would not commit the UK to stoking runaway climate change. It would do as California has done and set, by a certain date, a maximum level for carbon pollution per megawatt-hour of electricity production....

Several recent studies have shown how, through maximising the diversity of renewable generators and by spreading them as far apart as possible, by using new techniques for balancing demand with supply and clever schemes for storing energy, between 80% and 100% of our electricity could be produced by renewables, without any loss in the reliability of power supplies. Unlike CCS, wind, wave, tidal, solar, hydro and geothermal power are proven technologies. Unlike nuclear power, they can be safely decommissioned as soon as they become redundant.

[How can we make our government] stand up to business... when the future prospects of mankind are at stake? If fear is the only thing that moves them, we must present them with a greater threat than the companies planning new coal plants. We must show that this issue has become a political flashpoint; that the public revulsion towards new coal could help to eject them from office. You could do no better than joining us at Kingsnorth this week.

(excerpts from full text of his "Coal Scuttled" article in the Guardian 5 Aug 08)

See also the Kings North Climate Camp website and worldwide Climate Convergences camps July 10-15 in Newcastle, Australia, July 28-August 4 in Eugene, Oregon and High Falls, NY; August 3-11 in Kent, UK; August 5-11 in Louisa County, Virginia; and August 15-26 in Hamburg, Germany. Sep 15 in Virginia. Ted Nace article "Stopping Coal..." Orion Jan/Feb 2008, and Coal Moratorium Now! list of proposed US coal plants.
NGOs international appeal for 350 ppm limit on CO2. UK scientists object to coal plans.
The 350 ppm debate in the USA. DailyKos: Is coal the new oil? and coal kills
Our previous posts on Selling indulgences and Steps to sustainability: how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Steps towards sustainability: how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

C&C model: Prof. Stephen Schneider. Click on graph for full screen. Do not despair after reading our previous post criticizing carbon credits. Carbon pricing is still desirable, providing there are real and progressive caps, that is, targets that effectively reduce greenhouse gases. The World Resources Institute data on emissions makes it clear where the cuts must begin: heating and energy (24%), transport (13.5%), land use changes including deforestation (18.2%), agriculture (13.2%), and industry (10.4%). The percentages represent their present share of world GHG emission.

Among no-brainer steps to a better world are:

• insulation and retrofit of buildings, which leak colossal amounts of heat from fossil fuels; the public is slowly realizing this will also create millions of green jobs.
  
• efficient public transportation: buses, LRT, trains
• aid to poor countries for avoided deforestation, with local control
• agriculture: change to local and organic from long-distance, fossil-fuel, fertilizer and chemical
• industry: positive incentives for "green" technology combined with taxes and sanctions against waste. Ideally, this should be done internationally so polluters have no place to flee to, and "bad" corporations are not rewarded by profits at the expense of good guys. SRI and corporate accountability measures will encourage investment in the good.
• green consumerism, which adds to the impact of SRI.
  
• Last but not least, international governance under the UNFCCC framework, and not the energy-guzzling schemes put forward by G8, the World Bank and WTO.
  

How it can be done:

• George Monbiot's book Heat for the UK, summarized in this blog; UK studies of Contraction and Convergence.
  
• David Suzuki Foundation for carbon pricing and Sustainability Within a Generation for Canada
• DailyKos on Sokolow wedges for the US: this study uncritically accepts lobyists' claims for nuclear plants and CO2 sequestration. See the Union of Concerned Scientists warnings about nukes and sequestration. The UCS discusses congressional proposals of a 450 ppm target. Environmentalists urge 350 ppm.
  

Climate change aids alien invaders / 19 nouvelles espèces par année en Europe

British experts are baffled by the appearance of this new species.
First seen in February, its closest match is a rare Bohemian bug. See BBC video in Kew Botanic Garden. On average 19 new species invade Europe yearly, a rate that has doubled in 50 years, according to the DAISIE report by INRA. The increase is due to global warming and globalized transport.

Another troubling discovery: helicoverpa zea cotton parasites in the US have developed resistance to GM toxins. This was long predicted by ecologists (as evolutionary pressure rises, successful mutations are selected) and as fiercely denied by the biotech industry: the research is reported in Nature Biotechnology.

See also previous posts on the spread of pine beetles and disease vectors.
*****
Due au réchauffement climatique et aux transports mondialisés, l'invasion d'insectes accroit. Selon une étude par l'INRA, sur la période 2000-2007, en moyenne chaque année 19 espèces nouvelles s'établissent en Europe. C'est le double du rythme en 1950-75. Commentaires: Le Monde et video de la BBC

Pour la première fois, un insecte est parvenu dans la nature à développer une résistance à une toxine produite par une plante GM pour l'éradiquer, selon Nature Biotechnology. Helicoverpa zea, une noctuelle ravageuse du coton, fait aux É-U une démonstration brillante de la théorie de l'évolution : quand une population est soumise à une pression de sélection, certaines mutations seront favorisées.

G8 leaders: all gas and no brakes

crash: strange dangers
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Avaaz Titanic ad for Bali talks, Dec 2007
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At the G8 summit in Japan, Harper, Fukuda, and Bush are trying to block any reference to UNFCCC climate targets for the year 2020 -- just as they did at Bali in Dec 2007, where global protest turned the tide. Negotiators from the South rose, one after another, to demand that the spoilers step aside. NGOs launched petitions -- including an Avaaz letter signed by 320,000 members in the final 72 hours. In tomorrow`s Financial Times, Avaaz will run another petition with a satirical advertisement. It will be delivered to the hotel room of every G8 delegate, so that no leader can ignore the political cost of shirking responsibility.

What the political leaders of the rich nations should be doing:
See the world's leading climate science and policy experts including James E. Hansen, Gwyn Prins, David Steven, Alex Evans, Shuzo Nishioka, and Ted Nordhaus on video

Friends of the Earth ask the G8 to block the World Bank's controversial Climate Investment Funds (ex-Clean Technology Fund)' currently supported by the United States, the UK and Japan and their corporate friends, who hope to reap $billion profits on technology transfers to the 3rd world, especially China. According to FOE, the WB scheme will

• undermine the UNFCCC post-Kyoto talks,
• increase debt,
• pay polluters [both in the 3rd world and the 1st world, especially coal companies - Ed.]
• threaten Indigenous Peoples' land rights through the Bank's forestry offset funds

Greenpeace calls on the G8 to:

• increase public investment in research and development on ecological and climate change-resilient farming
• stop funding for GE crops and prohibit patents on seeds
• phase out the most toxic chemicals and eliminate environmentally destructive agricultural subsidies;
• protect domestic food production and drop mandatory targets to increase the ratio of biofuels used in transport.

[see our previous post on G8 and the food summit - Ed.]
also
George Monbiot's analysis of the Bali talks; NY Times analysis of Hokkaido results.
Yelena Zagorodnaya`s report on Fukuda's climate promises at Davos in Jan 2008.
Olive Heffernan`s Hokkaido blog for Nature magazine.

Environmental news and views: The New York Times goes digital

courtesy NYT: Cyclone Nargis and coastal flooding, mapped on Google Earth
The New York Times has changed! Start with photojournalist Andrew Revkin's narrated slideshow Planet in Flux of his travels around the world since 1978, a gradual discovery of environmental threats to human and other life. He invites viewers to an interactive blog Dot Earth where readers can add their own reflections, ask questions of experts, and comment on the news. the blog includes an annotated critique of Bush's climate speech, and a lively debate among climate scientists over the latest wrinkle in the upward warming curve. Dot Earth's blogroll links to other important sites for environmental news, media analysis, green design, US energy/climate/conservation policy (forgive the oxymoron), and youth activism. NYT science and news pages now contain streaming videos -- including exceptional coverage of the cyclone devastation in Myanmar. We have come a long way from the "gray lady" journalism of the past.

See also BBC, CBC, Wikipedia Environment portal, Le Monde

James Bruges, The Big Earth Book

reviewed in Positive News 4 Feb 2008: "Are you concerned about climate change and pollution, nuclear power, the future of water and oil, farming and food?... We all know the Earth is in crisis... it is big enough to sustain us if we can only mobilise politicians and economists to change course now. This book explores environmental, economic and social ideas to save our planet. It helps us understand what is happening to the planet today, exposes the actions of corporations and the lack of action of governments, weighs up new technologies, and champions innovative and viable solutions. "
About the author: James Bruges, a Quaker ecologist, grew up in India. He practised as an architect and urban planner for more than 30 years in London, Khartoum and finally Bristol, where he now lives. By 1995 his children had grown up, and he had become deeply concerned by the trends he saw in technology, city growth and industry. He became a fulltime adviser to co-housing and land trusts, developed an Urban Village project to exemplify sustainable development, and is an active contributor to FEASTA (Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability) founded by Richard Douthwaite, author of The Ecology of Money. Bruges makes annual visits to Indian rural projects based on the ideas of Gandhi and Bhave. On the edge of Bristol, he and his wife set up Leigh Court Farm, an organic community garden with 40 volunteers in addition to paid staff, which provides training and advice to other groups. In 2000 he wrote the best-selling Little Earth Book in the Fragile Earth series. It set out principles of sustainability:

• We must not extract more toxic minerals from the Earth than can be safely contained or reabsorbed.
• We must not allow any new, stable and persistent molecules we make to increase in nature.
• We must not diminish the world's life-support system by disrupting its natural cycles.
  
• We must recognise that all people in the world need the benefits of nature -- equally.

The Big Earth Book (Sawday 2007, ISBN: 978 1 901970 87 6) is a massive reference work on eco-economics, urbanism and green technology. See also previous posts on Nickerson, Monbiot, Faith and the Common Good, Schumacher, eco-economics.