Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Support your local farmer

Now that summer is here it is time to visit a CSA! Here's a hint of where I'll be going this weekend!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Local economies cooperate


The most prevalent messages about lifestyle choices currently come with advice to 'act locally'. So while nearly any sizable corporation is global in scale, we're admonished to support local producers.  I'd love to indulge a fantasy where I know my butcher, baker and candlestick maker all by their first names. But how can we go back to a lifestyle that in fact none of us has ever lived? What really does it mean to 're-localize' an economy?

Those who write about needed changes in social organization often mention cooperatives as a means for this reformation. One of the core ideas is that the members work to help each other instead of being in direct competition. The basis for many cooperatives involves pooling resources, making purchases in common and thus allowing resources to be shared across a larger-than-normal set of individuals. This is just one of the ways in which a cooperative is intended to operate and benefit its members. It takes a strong, sustained effort by extraordinarily committed individuals to form and operate one successfully.

My experience with a cooperative endeavor came from establishing a cohousing development with an originating group of only six people. For four years we built up a membership, created legal documents, worked with architects and consultants, and tracked income and expenses. Each member was required to hit an equity target so that we would qualify for a construction loan. Our ribbon cutting ceremony took place on a blessedly sunny afternoon in October 2001. A 27-unit condominium now stands where several vacant lots of surplus city land once grew wild.

The point is, each of the members who funded the design and construction of their new home took on huge financial risk to do so. I witnessed and participated in the creation of this project and I still can hardly, accurately describe the prevailing ethic that bonded people together to accomplish it. Idealism will only get you so far. Same with beliefs. Trust, faith, and other illusive qualities figure into this heavily. Mostly though, the forces outside of self-interest that keep people together in a joint venture are more magnanimous and promote forward thinking.

What is my vision of the future if it doesn't include you?

Personal goals like education, weight loss, or career development carry a singular point of reference. But when the success or failure of a project demands a personal attachment made public with others, the ties of responsibility are mutual and assume an importance greater than oneself. It was the first time in my life where I felt I had accomplished something of real value outside of what I did for a living. Everyone in the group accommodated demands on their time in addition to their day jobs. Few words can capture the deeply rooted expectations and desires we had for success. At times it seemed sheer will propelled us forward.

So what does all this cooperation stuff have to do with living in the 21st century?

I use this example to illustrate how greater purposes can be served when there is enough impetus by enough people to carry forward a collective vision.

In order to envision more clearly the benefits of a local economy,  groups of cooperatively functioning entrepreneurs hold some promise. In my case, we were selling our housing dreams to ourselves by funding the project over time. However, the example remains valid for any number of other kinds of projects.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The composting economy


Great city's recent panel discussion on transition initiatives gave rise to this comment: "They say the economy is shrinking. I think the economy is composting."
It's an accurate analogy. Formerly vibrant living things die off, rot for awhile and then become fodder for other living things. Many habits of a typical American's consumption will have to die and decompose before new forms of economic life emerge.
These habits must die:
  • using disposable plastic bags
  • buying plastic bottled water
  • the average American who eats 200 pounds of meat annually
To the carnivores among us: Producing animal protein requires eight times as much fossil fuel as producing a comparable amount of plant protein, as reported by David Sirota.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Choice architecture


Who knew economic behaviorists could be so instrumental in helping us learn what encourages people to decrease energy use? In their book Nudge, Richard Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein describe the small triggers that influence our behaviors and call them "choice architecture".
A group of consumers was informed about their average energy consumption per household.
"In the following weeks, the above-average energy users significantly decreased their energy use; the below-average energy users significantly increased their energy use. The latter finding is called a boomerang effect, and it offers an important warning. If you want to nudge people into socially desirable behavior, do not, by any means, let them know that their current actions are better than the social norm."
The experiment gets even more interesting when a small, non-verbal signal is included with the information.
"Those households that consumed more than the norm received an unhappy emoticon, whereas those that consumed less than the norm received a happy emoticon. "
Subsequently,
"The big energy users showed an even larger decrease when they received the unhappy emoticon. The more important finding was that when the below-average energy users received the happy emoticon, the boomerang effect completely disappeared!"
When the information was combined with an emotional nudge the below-average users didn't adjust their use upward. This suggests a lot can be done with a well-chosen social nudge.
Do you believe a simple smiley face on your electric bill will cause you to reduce your energy consumption even more if you are already in the happy, below-average use as compared to others in your neighborhood?
Hell, yes! Who doesn't want to be thought of as virtuous? In these times when doing the right thing isn't always an obvious choice, if City Light, for example, wants to 'architect' my choice by giving me a smiley face, why not? Who am I to complain about those who have taken the time to understand how to manipulate human behavior in the right direction?


Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A devotee of the intelligent kind

How do you decide what is important to pay attention to during these crazy times? This blog filters economic and environmental thought leaders so you don't have to. Think of yourself as a responsible TFCC, (21st century citizen)? Not so fast. We'll look unflinchingly at daily habits, patterns of behavior, common and unconventional wisdom and much more. TFCC is dedicated to finding the folks that help us make sense of what is possible in the development of sustainable human habitat. From social milieu to physical space to cityscape and beyond, the author promises to bring you smart commentary. Stay tuned.