Consumption choices may lead us to a treadmill of high expenses,
stressful work, and an inability to express our core values. We
may trade wonderful time with family and friends - and simply
being - for unnecessary things. We may move so quickly that we
fail to use our values to guide our purchases and investments.
By examining household patterns of consumption and work it is
possible to shift them towards alignment with core values. Dollars
spent can be carefully calibrated against the time and stress
incurred in earning them. It is possible to reclaim a sense of
peace, of expansiveness, and of connection to the whole that is
grounded in the awareness with which money, time, and resources
flow through our lives.
It is helpful to recognize that we participate in three different
human economic networks: the gift economy, the complementary economy,
and the formal economy. The gift economy is characterized by spontaneous
acts of love, nurturing, friendship, celebration, prayer, and
Beauty and Play that circulate freely. The complementary economy
includes local currencies and trading systems. The conventional
economy includes all transactions made in national currencies.
It ranges from small-scale businesses to vast corporations.
As scale increases, accountability decreases. Thus, the very
freedom that money gives us - to travel, to avoid personal involvement
in transactions, to purchase an unimaginable range of goods and
services - carries with it the attendant costs of abstraction.
We may begin to unconsciously support a wide range of potentially
destructive activities.
If we are considering a purchase, we may ask ourselves: Do I
really need this thing or service? Is it worth the life energy
I must expend to buy it? A sustainable approach to consumption
suggests that we embrace the non-monetized economy, which provides
a rich source of meaning and community. We can also nurture creative
forms of exchange with community members and organizations in
the complementary economy. Within the conventional economy, we
can support Green Businesses with a demonstrated commitment to
social justice and ecological responsibility. Such enterprises
typically employ Product Labeling to document their practices.
Understanding the full range of options for fulfilling our needs
and enhancing our quality of life gives us greater precision in
our consumption choices.
Household Economies build Local Assets by avoiding unnecessary
consumption, saving effectively, and pursuing ownership strategies.
These assets provide a buffer against difficult times, and can
provide seed capital for new enterprises or career shifts. They
can provide increasing levels of financial independence over time.
Ultimately, Household Economies help stabilize and anchor Local
Economies and allow Economic Capital to be held much more broadly
and .
Regain a balance between time, money, and work. Let social and
ecological values guide purchases and investments. Generate more
discretionary time, and a greater quality of life, by making more
discerning consumption choices. Build household assets over time.
Examples of this pattern in action
: The Global Living Project
Presents intensive summerschool sessions where students learn
to calculate their "ecological footprint" and reduce
it through behavioral changes.
Making Room on the Shelves for a New Generation of Greener
Goods
Excerpt from an article by Jennifer Bogo in emagazine.com. The
American supermarket has always offered a virtual cornucopia of
goods, but never before has the selection been quite so eclectic,
or so green. Scan the shelves today and find toothpaste that contains
no saccharin, preservatives or dyes and comes in 100 percent recycled
paperboard packaging; vegetable-based, biodegradable, chlorine-free
laundry detergent; a colorful array of organic yogurts and ice
cream that comes in unbleached paper pints. Flip through a catalog
for flashlights and radios that generate their own electricity,
or fleeces made from the soda bottles you may have recycled on
your very own curb. Pick up the phone to call Grandma, and your
long distance company automatically donates money to a worthy
nonprofit.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
New Road Map Foundation
Simplicity Circles
Center for the New American Dream
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Andrews, Cecile. The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good
Life. HarperCollins. New York, NY. 1998.
Dominguez, Joe and Vicki Robin. Your Money or Your Life.
Penguin Books. New York, NY. 1999.
Merkel, Jimi. The Global Living Handbook. The Global Living
Project. Winlaw, BC. 2000.
Lacking appropriate market signals, current business practices
often harm both ecosystems and human communities.
A Green Business simultaneously enhances Natural Capital, Social
Capital, and Economic Capital. It creates new opportunities for
itself by optimizing this "triple bottom line".
A Green Business reduces costs for raw resources, wastes, and
management of toxic compounds by enhancing Resource Efficiency,
participating in Sustainable Materials Cycles, and using Waste
as Resource. A green business runs on Renewable Energy and uses
Green Procurement throughout its supply chain to identify products
and services consistent with A Conservation Economy.
A Green Business assumes product stewardship assessments for
its products, providing customers with ways to return a durable
product at the end of its life for disassembly and remanufacture
into a new generation of products.
A Green Business operates for Community Benefit. It provides
tangible social benefits to its employees, customers, suppliers,
vendors, and local community. It is a , largely owned by, and
therefore accountable to, a specific place. A green business reliably
builds value over the , rather than seeking unsustainable short-term
results.
The business case for participating in a conservation economy
is strong. Many of the typical investments – for instance
in energy-efficient lighting, native landscaping, or transportation
reduction – offer a direct payback time of under three years.
Other investments require the evaluation and internalization of
social and environmental costs over a project’s entire lifecycle.
This internal use of True Cost Pricing allows Green Businesses
to anticipate broader market shifts.
A Green Business is transparent in its activities, carefully
reporting on its environmental and social performance. This can
create better relationships with neighborhoods and local governments,
speeding regulatory and permitting processes. Products and services
that are sustainable – and that can be given credible Product
Labeling to that effect – create differentiation in the
marketplace, and in some cases capture a price premium. Enhanced
employee morale from a values-based approach reduces turnover
and improves productivity. Reduced environmental risks and liabilities
decrease the cost of insurance and bank loans. Social and environmental
commitments attract investment from the rapidly growing socially
responsible investment sector.
Green businesses improve their ability to use resources efficiently,
close their materials cycles, employ renewable energy, and practice
green procurement. They build value over the long-term, emphasizing
broader community benefit. They measure, report on, and base decisions
on their triple bottom line.
Flexcar is the nation's oldest and largest personal mobility club,
providing its members access to a fleet of vehicles conveniently
located across a metropolitan area. Flexible pricing plans allow
members to reserve and drive a car whenever they want, while Flexcar
covers the cost of the vehicle, insurance, gas, parking and maintenance.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Collins Pine
The Joinery
ShoreBank Pacific
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Frankel, Carl. In Earth's Company: Busines, Environment, and
the Challenge of Sustainability. New Society Publishers. Gabriola
Island, BC. 1998.
Nattrass, Brian and Altomare Mary. The Natural Step for Business:
Wealth, Ecology, and the Evolutionary Corporation. New Society
Publishers. Gabriola Island, BC. 1999.
Short-term business decisions do not ensure the long-term viability
of living systems or human communities. They also fail to deliver
profits over the long run.
A Conservation Economy is designed to be reliably prosperous,
generation after generation. This requires Green Businesses and
Communities to make decisions on a much longer time scale –
decades or even centuries. On such a time scale, it is possible
to imagine re-establishing an old-growth forest, restoring salmon
runs, reweaving the urban fabric, or undergoing a profound cultural
transformation.
Studies of companies with great longevity show that they share
several key features: a commitment to ongoing learning, adherence
to a well-articulated set of core values providing a sense of
identity, and a fiscal conservatism that allows them to act flexibly
as opportunities arise. Many of these companies are publicly held,
and have been able to convince their shareholders that their strategic
focus on growing long-term value is consistent with short-term
returns. In contrast, maximizing profits for a single quarter
can be accomplished with mere accounting tricks, and has become
a suspect business practice in the wake of recent accounting scandals.
Environmentally or socially destructive activities are not compatible
with long-term profitability. As taxes, policies, and the pull
of the marketplace all make such activities increasingly expensive,
it becomes critically important to anticipate and avoid them well
ahead of time. Long-Term Profitability implies a careful stewardship
of people, place, and capital, creating enduring forms of value.
Green Businesses and Communities must continually reinvest in
themselves in order to enhance their capacities; build their social,
intellectual, and economic capital; diversify; and prepare for
ongoing transformation.
Ecotrust has established its own endowment, The Natural Capital
Fund, in order to help diversify and stabilize its funding stream.
The Natural Capital Fund makes investments in the Conservation
Economy, seeking long-term returns. Its most significant holding
is The Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center, a 50,000 s.f. brick
warehouse in Portland’s Pearl District dating to 1895. It
has been restored using Green Building techniques and houses a
vibrant mix of businesses, non-profits, and local governments
that have all made a strong commitment to a conservation economy.
Focus on creating value over the long-term by honoring the needs
of ecosystems and human communities. Develop financial and learning
strategies that support this support this kind of value creation.
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Examples of this pattern in action:
The Ecotrust Natural Capital Fund
To spur the creation of the necessary institutional capacity for
the development of the conservation economy, Ecotrust has created
the Natural Capital Fund. The Fund makes investments in key sectors,
businesses and projects which significantly enhance the capacity
for appropriate development and conservation in the coastal temperate
rain forest region. The Fund is intended to serve as a catalyst,
leveraging other investments through partnerships, joint ventures
and other collaborations. As the ventures mature and are able
to access other sources of funds, such as bank financing, the
Fund investment will be recovered and redeployed.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
ShoreBank Pacific
Shorebank Enterprise Pacific
In Europe
To be added after research
References: de Geus, Arie. The Living Company. Harvard Business School
Press. Havard, MA. 1997.
Elkington, John. The Chrysalis Economy: How Citizen CEOs
and Corporations Can Fuse Values and Value Creation. Capstone
Publishing. Oxford, UK. 2001.
Community
Benefit
Enhancing the social capital of employees, customers, community
members, and other stakeholders is seen by many businesses as
a cost rather than an opportunity.
A Green Business creates value for the many constituencies it
interacts with: employees, customers, community members, suppliers,
vendors, owners, and surrounding ecosystems. It helps to enhance
Social Equity and build Local Assets through its ownership structure
and business decisions. It often creates a Sense of Place and
celebrates Cultural Diversity. A Green Business tends to meet
Fundamental Needs.
Employee retention, training, and morale are essential to a strategy
of Long-Term Profitability. Businesses that treat their employees
well, and instill a sense of shared purpose and values through
their operations, gain from increased productivity and decreased
turnover.
Value for customers is created both through the quality of products
and services and their favorable social and environmental characteristics.
For large segments of the marketplace, including the estimated
50 million "cultural creatives" in the United States
alone, purchasing choices strongly reflect personal values.
A Green Business is transparent in its operations, providing
accurate reporting of social and environmental impacts and benefits.
It also tithes back to its community, enhancing its livability.
Over time, this generates trust in the community and a good working
relationship with governmental entities. This kind of trust is
invaluable in gaining neighborhood support and securing permits
for new projects.
Increasingly, products and services are evaluated on a lifecycle
basis. Thus, entire supply chains are coming under scrutiny. Green
Procurement strategies connect businesses with suppliers and vendors
that share their values. For instance, a socially responsible
furniture company like The Joinery in Portland, Oregon also offers
environmental benefits by sourcing sustainably produced wood products.
Locally-owned businesses make a strong contribution to Local
Economies by keeping dollars circulating locally. They build Community
through face-to-face relationships, whether food from the farmer’s
market, fish from the local pier, or wood from the surrounding
forests. Ultimately, they are accountable to particular people
and places, providing them with a loyal customer base.
Embed community benefit as a core business strategy with a variety
of returns including employee productivity, customer loyalty,
community support, supply chain integrity, and accountability
to place.
Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has helped
companies of all sizes and sectors to achieve business objectives
and efficiencies in ways that demonstrate respect for ethical
values, people, communities, and the environment. A leading global
business partner, BSR equips its member companies with the expertise
to design, implement and evaluate successful, socially responsible
business policies, practices and processes. BSR provides tools,
training, advisory services and collaborative opportunities in
person, in print and online that equip companies to implement
socially responsible business practices that serve business goals.
Today, more than 1,400 member and affiliated companies worldwide
participate BSR’s global network of programs and partnerships.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Progressive Investment Management
Progressive Asset Management
VanCity
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Ekins, Paul, ed. The Living Economy: A New Economics in the
Making. Routledge. New York, NY. 1986.
Elkington, John. Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom
Line of 21st Century Business. New Society Publishers. Gabriola
Island, BC. 1998.
Market prices fail to provide accurate information about the ecological
and social impacts of products and services. This makes it difficult
to generate purchasing decisions consistent with a conservation
economy.
Individuals and businesses exert enormous leverage through their
purchasing choices. When these choices are based on the full ecological
and social costs and benefits over the entire lifecycle of the
product or service, they will directly support an emerging Conservation
Economy. As True Cost Pricing is gradually implemented, market
prices increasingly reflect these underlying costs and benefits.
However, in the early stages of such a tax shift, it is critical
to supplement market prices with additional information about
ecological and social impacts.
In some cases, standard data (e.g. typical rates
of fuel consumption for various modes of transport) can be used
to calculate impacts within a few percent. However, in most cases,
accurate information about these impacts is currently difficult
to obtain, creating a critical market niche for Product Labeling
programs offering third-party certification and documentation
of products and services. Such product labeling programs allow
certain dimensions of a product's lifecycle (e.g. labor practices,
forest management, or use of recycled materials) to be reliably
audited.
Often, additional information will need to be
gathered from manufacturers or vendors throughout the supply chain,
which provides another opportunity to exert leverage. When products
fail to meet specified ecological or social criteria, customers
can work with their suppliers to improve product standards.
Increasingly, Green Procurement takes the form
of service contracts with vendors, requiring the vendors to take
back packaging and unused materials and products, and specifying
environmentally responsible management practices. For instance,
landscaping contractors may be required to use Integrated Pest
Management as an alternative to pesticide application.
Green Procurement policies seek to provide the same level of quality
while continuously decreasing destructive environmental and social
impacts. They do this by increasing purchases of products and
services compatible with A Conservation Economy.
Examples of this pattern in action:
US EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
The Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) a key component
of the government's "buy-recycled" program. Today, more
and more products are made from recycled materials from the carpeting
and insulation used in office buildings, to the reams of office
paper purchased each day. Buying recycled helps "close the
recycling loop" by putting the materials we collect through
recycling programs back to good use as products in the marketplace.
Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center
Why green buying? Because purchasing is a critical leverage point
that creates markets for products that prevent pollution, are
resource-efficient, and reduce pressure on natural resources all
key components of sustainability. What’s in it for buyers?
In business, green buying can be an element of strategies for
reducing costs, enhancing value and winning competitive advantage.
In the public sector, green buying is an opportunity to increase
demand for sustainable products and to "walk the talk."
…
RecycleStore
RecycleStore.com, an on-line marketing collaborative of Rural
California Recycled Content Product (RCP) Manufacturers, is an
applied business development project for students at Shasta -
Tehama - Trinity Joint Community College District located in Redding,
California.
King County Environmental Purchasing Program
The King County Environmental Purchasing Program helps County
agencies find information about environmentally preferable products
and processes that meet performance requirements and are economical.
Preferable products include those that have recycled content,
reduce waste, use less energy, are less toxic, and are more
durable…
Organizations whose work incorporate this
pattern:
Earthwise Supplies
BC Wood Design
Environmental Building Supply
Environmental Home Center
Green Pages
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Co-Op America, . National Green Pages (Annual). Co-Op America.
Washington, DC. .
Environmental Accounting Project, . The Lean
and Clean Supply Chain: A Practical Guide for Materials Managers
and Supply Chain Managers to Reduce Costs and Improve Environmental
Performa. US EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Washington,
DC. 2000.
When materials from the earth’s crust, including metals
and fossil fuels, are mined more rapidly than they are redeposited
in the crust, they accumulate in the biosphere. In addition, manufacturing
processes are causing many of the 100,000 chemicals in commercial
use to accumulate in the biosphere. These materials from the crust
and from manufacturing processes are known to cause a wide range
of health impacts, including cancers, birth defects, endocrine
disruption, and breathing disorders. They also cause climate change,
acid rain, and other major ecosystem impacts.
Materials that are mined more rapidly than they can be safely
redeposited in the earth's crust are systematically building up
in the biosphere. Such materials include zinc, with an annual
industrial flow eight times that of all natural flows, copper
(twenty-four times), lead (twelve times), and chromium (five times).
Largely due to fossil fuel use, industrial flows of carbon, the
backbone of living systems, now dwarf natural flows, causing a
dramatic increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and placing
climatic stability at risk.
Synthetic compounds that are being produced more rapidly than
they can be broken down by ecosystems are also systematically
building up in the biosphere. Many of these compounds, including
dioxins, persistent organic pollutants, and pesticides, have known
Health impacts on people and other species, causing cancers, asthma,
endocrine disruption, and many other illnesses. Thousands of other
compounds almost certainly have similar impacts, but have never
been properly studied.
There is no guarantee that ecosystems can survive the systematic
buildup of any substance without significant effects. Therefore,
we must extract and use materials in such a way that they do not
systematically accumulate in the biosphere, any bioregion, or
any ecosystem. We must also ensure that mining and manufacturing
operations do not cause health impacts, and that mining and brownfield
sites are completely restored.
Sustainable Materials Cycles emphasize materials which are highly
abundant (nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon, earth, sand, gravel,
iron, caliche, hydrogen, silicon, titanium, aluminum, etc.), non-toxic,
and which can be digested by ecosystems and eventually sequestered
back in the crust. Enormous quantities of these materials already
flow through the biosphere, making their industrial use potentially
compatible with existing biogeochemical cycles.
Materials which are scarce, toxic, difficult to safely extract,
or difficult to safely sequester can only be used in tightly controlled
loops which do not leak into the biosphere. During all stages
of extraction, manufacturing, and use, the number of types and
the quantities of such compounds should be reduced. This can be
done by substituting compounds (e.g. citrus-based solvents) or
changing the design. Any remaining toxic compounds should be produced
as needed on-site from non-toxic precursors and only used in products
if they will be completely isolated and inert during the lifetime
of the product.
When any toxic compounds are used, the product must be designed
for takeback by the manufacturer so the compounds can be kept
in a completely closed industrial loop. Under no circumstances
can toxic compounds be released to air, water, or soil during
any part of a product's lifecycle. With Sustainable Materials
Cycles, humans and other species will have an opportunity to cleanse
themselves of poisons. We may imagine chemical companies evolving
to selling non-toxic processes and services, pesticide companies
selling pest-control services, and Green Buildings with non-toxic
carpets, furniture, and paints.
Resource Efficiency decreases both the overall flow of materials
in the industrial economy and their inevitable leakage into the
biosphere. This decreases the need for raw materials, making Sustainable
Materials Cycles cheaper and more feasible.
Do not allow materials from the earth’s crust and from society
to systematically accumulate in the biosphere. Use materials which
are highly abundant, non-toxic, and easily broken down by ecosystems.
When their use is necessary, toxic or persistent compounds should
be kept in tightly controlled loops and completely reclaimed at
the end of a product’s life. Promote resource efficiency
to minimize the need for raw materials.
Examples of this pattern in action:
The Collins Almanor Forest: An Experiment in Sustainable Forestry
The Collins Almanor Forest (CAF), part of the resource base of
Collins Pine Company, comprises about 95,000 acres located about
180 mile northeast of San Francisco. It straddles the transition
of the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Range and the Southern
Cascade Range. In 1993, the Collins Almanor Forest became the
first industrial forestland in the U.S. to be certified for sustainable
forestry under the Forest Stewardship Council standards. But the
story begins almost 100 years ago...
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Collins Company
Headwaters
Phytokinetics
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Raskin, Ilya. Phytoremediation of Toxic Materials: Using Plants
to Clean Up the Environment. John Wiley and Sons. New York, NY.
1999.
The use of water, energy, and materials throughout society is
extremely inefficient. This creates enormous demands on Natural
Capital, both for new supplies, and for sinks to absorb wastes.
It also leads to massive economic waste, as highly concentrated
and energy-intensive materials are simply thrown away.
Resource Efficiency - whether of water, energy, or materials -
may be measured by the same fundamental ratio: the (net) amount
of resources consumed divided by the units of actual service provided
(e.g. information transmitted). Resource Efficiency is measure
of how effectively resources of all kinds are being used to meet
Fundamental Needs. It improves as less water, energy, and materials
is used to provide enhanced and more diverse services over longer
periods of time. For instance, a showerhead that delivers half
the water per second at much higher pressure delivers the same
end-use service (comfortable shower) with twice the water efficiency.
A pipe that is twice as wide offers thirty-two times less frictional
loss for a pump, greatly increasing energy efficiency. A building
with advanced window glazings, sealed leaks, and above-code levels
of insulation may be 30% to 50% more energy efficient than a conventional
one.
In each case, the same level of service is provided, and therefore
the same revenue stream is available. However, operating costs
are reduced through decreased energy bills; decreased water bills;
reduced expenses for raw materials; decreased expenses for wastewater
treatment and waste disposal; and potentially decreased costs
dealing with permits and regulations. Investments in Resource
Efficiency, particularly when optimized over the entire system,
can offer rapid payback times. They are not made as widely as
they should principally because of a lack of time, awareness,
and technical know-how. In addition, until True Cost Pricing is
implemented, resources will remain artificially cheap, reducing
the incentive for Resource Efficiency.
While water, energy, and materials costs may account for only
a small percentage of household expenditures or company expenses,
they often offer tangible benefits far beyond this apparent percentage.
For instance, energy efficiency improvements may enhance indoor
air quality and comfort in a building. Manufacturing process changes
to reduce materials use typically improve worker productivity.
Resource Efficiency strategies, complemented by the shift to
Product as Service, are critical in greatly decreasing the scale
of water, energy, and material flows generated by economic activity.
It has been estimated that Resource Efficiency across a variety
of sectors must increase by a factor of four to ten globally to
meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of a growing population.
Over time, by reducing pressures on Natural Capital, this makes
it possible to use Renewable Energy sources for energy needs and
Sustainable Materials Cycles for materials needs.
The beauty of Resource Efficiency is that it can be tapped by
individuals and alike, whether in an urban center or a remote
coastal town. Household Economies can simultaneously save money
and improve their quality of life. By stretching local resources
farther, more needs can be met locally. Skilled jobs in weatherization,
installing drip irrigation systems, performing energy audits,
and implementing pollution prevention help to maintain Local Economies
and keep dollars circulating in the community.
Through good design and careful use, stretch every gallon of water,
joule of energy, and pound of materials further to meet fundamental
needs. Provide the same level of service with two to ten times
less resource use.
Eco-Home is an on-going living research center that demonstrates
ecological living in an urban environment. The Eco-Home is a restored
and retrofitted California style bungalow, circa 1911 that shows
us how simple but wise property improvements can make your home
warm, friendly yet environmentally sound and healthy. This historic
home incorporates solar hot water heating, photovoltaic panels,
ultra low flow water systems and other energy and water conservation
measures. This "pioneering" home has hosted over 10,000
guests since opening it's doors to the public in 1988.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Desimone, Livio D and Frank Popoff. Eco-Efficiency: The Business
Link to Sustainable Development. MIT Press. Cambridge, MA. 2000.
von Weizsacker, E.U., A.B. Lovins and L.H. Lovins. Factor
Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use. Earthscan/Rocky Mountain
Institute. London, UK. 1997.
Waste
As Resource
Industrial processes were initially designed to take resources,
make products, and turn them to waste. Two centuries of take-make-waste
have begun to degrade the health of ecosystems. Waste, by definition,
is a foregone opportunity which is now placing a severe drag on
the bioregional, national, and global economies.
In 1998, the United States produced 6.5 billion tons of waste.
A significant percentage of this waste was produced in the coastal
temperate rainforest bioregion. This waste includes components
from raw materials extraction, materials processing and manufacturing,
materials dissipated into the environment during product use,
and post-consumer and municipal wastes. This volume of waste is
increasing annually, as is total resource consumption. With the
simple addition of future population growth, the increased social,
environmental and economic stress from resource use and waste
will only become worse.
This growth in the volume of waste has important total cost implications
for its disposal. The economic costs associated with disposal
include the escalating prices charged for using the limited capacity
of our landfills and the expense of cleaning up unproductive areas
created by waste. There are also major Health impacts.
One of the underlying reasons waste generation is increasing
is that neither industry, retail firms, governments, nor individual
consumers have an incentive to use natural resources frugally.
The resources are artificially cheap, and the gross national product
and other measurements of economic health do not capture the environmental
and social consequences of the initial and subsequent waste production
and disposal costs.
The aim of True Cost Pricing is to shift the tax burden from
labor and investment (which provides no incentive for conservation)
towards consumption, particularly of natural resources, virgin
materials, and goods and services that pose significant environmental
threats.
Not generating any external waste in the first place - through
Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Materials Cycles, designing Product
as Service - remains the primary strategy. Water, energy, and
materials can cascade through a series of uses before leaving
a facility, gradually decreasing resource quality. The Zero Emissions
Research Institute has pioneered zero-waste breweries which generate
a whole range of valuable by-products, including worms, compost,
animal feed, and mushrooms from process "wastes". Such
breweries produce several jobs from the wastestreams for every
job connected with the primary product.
Any external wastestreams remaining after careful application
of this strategy should all be designed to be a useful resource
as locally as possible. For instance, the industrial eco-parks
now being developed throughout the United States contain clusters
of companies that are designed to synergistically use each other's
waste heat, water, chemicals, and materials, collectively producing
zero waste. Waste exchanges are most beneficial and easiest to
arrange when companies are in close proximity, but even then contractual
arrangements for the supply of wastestreams can be a delicate
issue given the intrinsic variability of production processes.
When wastestreams have not been designed as a resource, it is
often still possible to find willing customers. It may be necessary
to make capital investments to alter the quality, composition,
packaging, or timing of the wastestream. Waste exchanges, like
the California Waste Exchange and dozens of others now springing
up, allow industrial producers and consumers to find each other
through listings of materials available and in demand. Such exchanges
have kept thousands of tons of materials in use.
Waste as Resource can be applied in any rural or urban community
as an important contribution to Local Economies and Sustainable
Materials Cycles. In many instances, it creates new skilled jobs,
contributing to Social Equity.
Use waste as a resource inside a facility to cascade different
uses of water, energy, and materials. When external wastestreams
are generated, co-locate them within a zero-waste eco-industrial
park. If this is not possible, or wastestreams already exist,
seek customers for them through waste exchanges, and make capital
improvements as needed to provide a commercially viable form of
waste.
Examples of this pattern in action:
City of Vancouver uses "Waste as Food"
One of the most crucial aspects of sustainability is reducing
the amount of waste that the city produces. Organic waste actually
represents the mined fertility of our soils - if this fertility
is to be replaced and maintained then it is crucial that the nutrients
contained in our waste be returned to the soil. Household waste
contains virtually all the nutrients plants require (Nitrogen,
Potassium, Phosphorus and other micro-nutrients). Urban agriculture
offers a great opportunity to use these otherwise wasted nutrients.
The City already has a progressive composting program in operation
although this is rarely linked to urban food production. There
are also a lack of incentives and disabling regulations that mean
that recycling waste-water and sewage at a local level is problematic.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Northern California Resource Directory
California Materials Exchange
Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives
In Europe
To be added after research
References:
Pauli, Gunter, J. Hugh Faulkner and Fritjof Capra. Upsizing: The
Road to Zero Emissions, More Jobs, More Income, and No Pollution.
Greenleaf Publishing. Sheffield, UK. 2000.
Platt, Brenda and Neil Seldman. Wasting and Recycling in
the United States 2000. GrassRoots Recycling Network. Athens,
GA. 2000.
Winter, John and Anne Marie Alanso. Waste at Work: Prevention
Strategies for the Bottom Line. Inform, Inc.. New York, NY. 1999.
Only about 6% of the vast flow of materials generated by Americans,
more than a million pounds per person per year, ends up in final
products - and only 2% survives after a few weeks. This is creating
a devastating hunger for raw materials of all kinds.
During the lifecycle of a product, from extraction through manufacture,
use, and disposal, there are needs for water, energy, bulk materials,
and specialized substances. When a product is designed for obsolesce,
to be thrown away when next year's model arrives, the energy and
materials added during production - and the wastes generated -
are only amortized over a single use. The alternative is Extended
Producer Responsibility (EPR), in which the manufacturer retains
control of its product's materials, with the corresponding responsibility
to remanufacture them.
When a product is designed as a continuous flow of service, its
materials are completely reclaimed for use in the next generation
of that or another product. There is virtually no waste, and energy
use is greatly diminished and spread out over indefinite use.
Any toxic substances in the product can be kept tightly controlled,
and prevented from leaking into ecosystems. In this model, the
"product" can include buildings; vast systems of infrastructure
including highways, bridges, and telecommunications networks;
and any other object. There is every reason to expect that the
creation of Sustainable Materials Cycles will enhance economic
stability, generate prosperity, and regenerate Natural Capital.
Just as plastic bottles carry a recycling code from 1-7 indicating
their chemical composition, before too long VCRs, steel beams,
windows, desks, boilers, or pipe connections will announce what
they are made of, how they may be safely disassembled, and where
they should be returned. Embedded chips, miniature text, weblinks,
or other information media can be used to signal this information.
One of the largest Swedish construction companies is already stamping
every building component with this information.
Designing products as services is not especially difficult. It
imposes a simple discipline that tends to favor fewer kinds and
quantities of materials; reversible connections between pieces;
ease of disassembly; modularity; multifunctionality; and upgradability.
This tends to make products easier to use, more versatile, and
easier to maintain. By leasing a product from the manufacturer,
customers obtain a superior level of service, including technical
support, repair, and upgradability. This is particularly valuable
in sectors like computers and communications that are mutating
so rapidly that hardware is obsolete before it is purchased. It
evens out capital purchases, converting them to monthly payments.
Manufacturers get the opportunity to extract value from old products,
create a whole new range of services, and minimize their environmental
impacts.
Many companies and industries are rapidly embracing the model
of Product as Service. Carrier, the world's largest manufacturer
of air conditioning equipment, is now offering thermal comfort
contracts for buildings. Carrier can maintain the desired comfort
level through a combination of energy efficient building retrofits,
new equipment, and improved control and management. Xerox leases
its copiers, and then remanufactures them for use all over the
world. In the European Union (EU), a new directive to be phased
in over the next few years will require electronics and electrical
products to be taken back by their manufacturers.
Design products for continuing streams of service and value, not
obsolesce. Create policies that favor the takeback of products
by manufacturers. Establish protocols for labeling products, buildings,
and other objects with disassembly and remanufacturing instructions.
State of Minnesota Policy on Extended Producer Responsibility
The Midwestern Working Group on Carpet Recycling has been formed
to identify the barriers and opportunities surrounding the recovery
and recycling of carpet.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies
Interface, Inc
Organicare, Inc
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Fishbein, Bette, John Ehrenfeld and John Young. Extended Producer
Responsbility: A Materials Policy for the 21st Century. Inform,
Inc.. New York, NY. 2000.
Womack, J.P, D.T. Jones and D. Roos. Lean Thinking: Banish
Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation. Simon and Schuster.
New York, NY. 1996.
When local economies are dependent on only a few major sectors,
they are vulnerable to changes in outside markets. When people
do not meet their own needs locally, money immediately leaves
a community. This stunts community development on all levels.
Jane Jacobs has proposed that the health of local economies be
measured by the number of dollars of local economic activity they
generate for every dollar of goods they import. Diverse Local
Economies are good at meeting local needs, and tend to add as
much value as possible before exporting goods and services. They
keep money circulating in the community, stimulating the economy
and creating new economic niches. They pursue strategies of Resource
Efficiency and use Waste as Resource. They are made up of mixed-use,
economically diverse Human-Scale Neighborhoods.
Local ownership tends to maintain local economic diversity because
it builds on the loyalty between customers, owners, and their
shared community. Community-based businesses offer connection
to place through everyday transactions. Knowing the people that
grow your food, press your clothes, fix your car, and sell you
your computer provides a rich set of connections to place through
everyday transactions. In Mondragon, Spain, a network of community
cooperatives has operated for forty years, employing 21,000 people
in hundreds of enterprises, with only three business failures
in this period.
Self-reliant Local Economies with a strong degree of local ownership
give communities a strong bargaining position. They can seek out
stable, mutually-beneficial trade partnerships, insisting on Fair
Trade for their goods and services. Strongly differentiated Bioregional
Economies enrich the possibilities for cultural exchange and cross-fertilization.
Trade is enhanced when local areas produce high value-added specialties
which reflect their local skills, traditions, and landscapes -
rather than simply exporting standard commodities at poor prices.
Agricultural diversity is particularly critical in order for
a local region to retain its own options for development and self-reliance.
Diversity of seeds and crops, uniquely suited to local soils and
climate, ensure a diversity of local foods. Someone else’s
seeds imply someone else’s needs. Monocultures of any kind
are vulnerable to factors external to region.
Import replacement activities in which local manufacturers are
linked to local suppliers save transport costs, delivery time,
communications costs, inventory costs, and warehouse needs. Transactions
like these that protect a community’s financial, social,
and ecological assets decrease the need to import products.
Local Economies also benefit from local currencies and trading
systems. Local currencies, by design, may only be earned and spent
within a well-defined town or region. They are typically denominated
in time (e.g. hour bills, half-hour bills, quarter-hour bills),
with a well-defined equivalence value in U.S. dollars (e.g. one
hour equals ten dollars). Transactions in local currencies are
subject to the same laws and taxes that would apply for normal
transactions, with hours simply accounted by their equivalence
value.
Local currencies, by counting an hour’s work for an hour’s
work, promote equity, making a wide range of goods and services
available to all participants in the system. The Time Dollars
system, which has many local chapters, has even achieved tax-exempt
status by restricting itself to transactions which serve the common
good.
Another approach is to create a Local Economic Trading System
(LETS), which is typically denominated in local or "green"
dollars. In this instance, transactions are cleared through a
centralized accounting system, which replaces the need for a physical
currency. Other LETS systems use special checking accounts or
electronic cards to facilitate transactions.
All systems work by creating a directory of goods and services.
Listings for both individuals and businesses range widely, from
barn repair to botanical surveys, and from pizza to piano lessons.
Experience shows that a system becomes most valuable when it reaches
200 active listings. Directories are often printed as a newsletter,
but may also be web-based or made available in a binder in selected
locations.
Local currencies and trading systems serve many valuable functions.
By definition, they keep economic activity cycling within a well-defined
community, helping to diversify and stabilize Local Economies.
They may be used to generate credit when conventional credit is
scarce. They encourage people to offer and develop a range of
underutilized skills and services. Finally, as the Ithaca Hours
state, they "are backed by real capital: our skills, our
time, our tools, forests, fields and rivers."
Increase the diversity of local economies and the degree of local
ownership. Meet local needs locally, and use the resulting stability
and security to export only high value-added products at the most
favorable terms. Promote local trading networks and currencies.
"Environmental quality, not mining, logging, or ranching,
is driving local economic development in the West." states
Thomas Michael Power in the Featured article for Spring 1996's
Issues in Science and Technology magazine.
Plug up the leaks
"Plug up the leaks" is a formula that can help solve
many of our energy, water, economic, and even security problems
An Interview with Hunter S. Lovins, by Robert Gilman One of the
articles in Sustainability (IC#25) Late Spring 1990, Page 20 Copyright
(c)1990, 1997 by Context Institute | To order this issue ... One
of the brightest lights in the sustainability movement continues
to be Rocky Mountain Institute, a remarkable think-tank nestled
in the heart of Colorado. Hunter and Amory Lovins founded RMI
in 1982 to explore opportunities for increased efficiency in our
technologies, economies, and energy systems. While their work
is gaining more recognition of late - Amory flies around the world
consulting with governments and utilities - there is clearly still
a lot more we can do to consume a lot less of almost everything,
as Hunter describes below. Contact RMI at 1739 Snowmass Creek
Rd., Old Snowmass, CO 81654-9199.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Sustainable Connections
Oregon Economic and Community Development Department
Center for Environmental Economic Development
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Copeland, Grant. Acts of Balance: Profits, People, and Place.
New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, BC. 1999.
Power, Thomas Michael. Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies:
The Search for a Value of Place. Island Press. Washington, DC.
1996.
Rasker, Ray. A New Home on the Range: Economic Realities
in the Columbia River Basin. The Wilderness Society. Washington,
DC. 1995.
When resources are exported in raw form, without economic value
being added, they contribute very little to the stability and
diversity of local economies.
Resource-dependent communities have historically captured little
of the enormous wealth that has flowed through them. They have
simply extracted raw materials, creating relatively few jobs while
remaining at the mercy of external market forces and owners. Most
of the economic value has been generated elsewhere.
In contrast, Local Economies are able to turn raw resources,
both local and imported, into a wide range of products and services.
Such economies can effectively harness skilled labor and specialized
equipment to add many layers of value to every tree, fish, mineral,
or crop. They provide more economic activity - and therefore more
jobs - per unit of resource, decreasing pressure on Natural Capital
and enhancing Social Equity.
Timbre Tonewood, based on Vancouver Island, provides an excellent
example of Value-Added Production. The company, which makes spruce
and cedar guitar tops, carefully evaluates every piece of wood
that comes through its mill. Based on their appearance, the dried
planks are sorted into nine different grades, ranging from the
low-end tops, which will probably be painted, to the very best
- distinguished by their creamy color, their even ring pattern,
and rays running across the grain.
Timbre Tonewood's by-products feed the local economy as well.
A local box-maker uses some of the pieces that are too small or
irregular to be made into guitar tops for smoked salmon cases.
Using Waste as Resource, another local entrepreneur blends the
sawdust from the operation with shrimp shells to make compost.
Value-added products have also been developed from timber (including
flooring, lumber, furniture, crafts, etc.), seafood (premium products
created through careful processing and decreasing time to market),
agriculture (specialty products like jams, sauces, packaged foods),
and many other sources.
Add value locally by careful application of appropriate skills
and equipment, creating additional jobs without increasing the
strain on ecosystems. This helps maintain a stable and diverse
local economy.
Value-added seafood products
Skeena Wild has pioneered a selective gillnet fishery on the Skeena
River. The company nets sockeye, catching the fish by the jawbone,
not the gills, and lands them live. The fish are then bled and
dressed live, making them the highest quality sockeye available
anywhere. The method allows them to catch fewer fish, release
any by-catch like coho and steelhead without injury, and earn
three times the going rate for the fish they land because of their
focus on quality, not volume. It's through the kind of ingenuity
and care demonstrated by Skeena Wild that we can maintain and
restore ecosystem health. Ecotrust Canada is working with Skeena
Wild to create policy and market openings for their selectively
caught, highest quality wild fish.
Timbre Tonewood
Timbre Tonewood, based in Ucluelet, British Columbia and making
spruce and cedar guitar tops, carefully evaluates every piece
of wood which comes through its mill. Based on their appearance,
the dried planks are sorted into nine different grades, ranging
from the low-end tops, which will probably be painted, to the
very best - distinguished by their creamy color, their even ring
pattern, and rays running across the grain. These top-quality
tops bring Tonewood US$40 and are used in $3,000 instruments.
Their by-products feed the local economy as well. A local box-maker
uses for smoked salmon some of the pieces that are too small or
irregular to be made into guitars. Another local entrepreneur
blends the sawdust from the operation with shrimp shells to make
compost. http://www.ecotrust.org/community/timbre_tonewood.html
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Patagonia
Real Goods
Organicare, Inc.
The Joinery
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Brownson, J.M. Jamil. In Cold Margins: Sustainable Development
in Northern Bioregions. Northern Rim Press. Missoula, MT. 1995.
Morris, David. The New City-States. Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Washington, DC. 1982.
up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rural-Urban
Linkages
Lacking stable market links with nearby towns and cities, rural
areas are often forced to sell their products at poor prices to
far-flung markets.
Productive Rural Areas need to establish long-term, stable market
links with nearby towns and cities. This enables them to get improved
prices and long-term contracts for produce, timber, fish, and
other products. When producers are well known, and their products
known to be of superior quality, they can differentiate themselves
in the marketplace.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a simple example. In
this case, a farm offers its customers a chance to purchase a
subscription share that runs through the growing season. Deliveries
are made, typically weekly, either to a center location or subscribers'
homes, with an assortment of that week's produce. This arrangement
allows farmers to get very strong prices for their produce on
a predictable basis, and allows subscribers to get to know the
farmers and the land responsible for their food.
Farmer's markets, which are extremely popular in California,
Oregon, and Washington, offer important market linkages, allowing
farmers, beekeepers, bakers, and many others to sell their wares
at good prices. Pike's Place Market in Seattle adds a vibrant
fishmarket to the mix, along with a range of local crafts. Many
farms offer visiting opportunities, with roadside stands or you-pick
arrangements.
In recent years, many restaurants specializing in regional, seasonal,
and organic ingredients have sprung up. Chefs Collaborative is
promoting this approach to fine cuisine across the United States.
Members of the Collaborative like Greg Higgins of Higgins Restaurant
in Portland and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley seek
out regional specialties at their peak taste, purchasing from
the same suppliers year after year.
Sustainable Northwest’s Healthy Forests Healthy Communities
Partnership is working to build rural economies based on forest
restoration and ecosystem management. The Partnership is creating
new markets for the small diameter suppressed trees and underutilized
species harvested in restoration operations, producing flooring,
furniture, crafts, fixtures, and other products, thereby creating
jobs in communities adjacent to degraded forests. Rural-Urban
Linkages like these make an important contribution to Local Economies.
Rural-Urban Linkages help rural producers get better prices for
their goods and improve their financial stability. They also connect
urban consumers with pressing issues and concerns for nearby rural
areas.
From Eric Gibson's Sell What You Sow! The Grower's Guide to Successful
Produce Marketing With Community Supported Agriculture (CSA),
members purchase "shares" of the farm's harvest, accepting
less if a crop is damaged or fails. This is different than with
conventional farming where the farmer bears all the risk. Once
or twice a week mature crops are harvested and divided up among
the shareholders. Usually the payment is several hundred dollars
and the family receives enough vegetables to last through the
season and sometimes enough for winter storage. The share is payable
before the season starts, in one or several installments. If shareholders
come out to the farm to pick up their produce, prices are usually
from 25 to 50 percent less than retail prices for similar quality
produce. Prices may be close to or above retail if the farmer
makes deliveries.
Portland Saturday Market
The largest open-air arts and crafts market (in continuous operation)
in the United States. The vendors handcraft everything at the
Market and every item is submitted for review to a panel of members
who assure that it meets the Market's standards of quality and
hand craftsmanship. Over a dozen new craftspeople join the Market
each month during the season so be sure to check back with the
site for everything new. The Market is located in the heart of
the historic Skidmore district in Downtown Portland and is credited
with much of the success in rejuvenating Portland's Old Town area,
drawing thousands of visitors to the area every weekend.
Farmer's Markets
Farmers markets are economic lifeline by Kathy Mulady Crates of
lettuce, peas and corn. Cartons of fresh berries. Jars of honey
and wedges of cheese. Eggs. Shoppers carrying brimming baskets
and bags stroll among the booths, invigorated by the fresh air.
They chat with neighbors and the farmers about the produce. Organic
farmer Michaele Blakely waters some vegetable starts in her greenhouse
near Carnation. Blakely, who operates Growing Things, sells Saturdays,
Sundays and Wednesdays at farmers markets in the area. For shoppers,
the farmers market is an enjoyable alternative to the grocery
store. But for farmers it is serious business.
Fish Markets
Fergus-Mc-Barendse Seafood purchases Seafood directly from their
fishing fleet who fish the Pacific Ocean, Columbia River, and
Willapa Bay. Their fleet of over 200 vessels catch a wide variety
of species and deliver the fish to us in the freshest state. They
unload the product, grade, process, package, and ship the product
in a timely manner to assure that their customers get the freshest
seafood possible. This product goes from the boat to your doorstep
in a days time in most occasions, that’s about as fresh
as you can get it.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Small Farm Center
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas
Journey to Forever
The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center
OPENAIR-MARKET NET
National Association of Development Organizations
In Europe
To be added after research
References: Gregson, Bob. Rebirth of the Small Family Farm: A Handbook
for Starting a Successful Organic Farm Based on the Concepts of
Community Supported Agriculture. Island Meadow Farms. Vashon Island,
WA. 1996.
McFadden, Steven and Trauger M. Groh. Farms of Tomorrow Revisited:
Community Supported Farms, Farm Supported Communities. Bio-Dynamic
Farming and Gardening Association. San Francisco, CA. 1998.
There is an increasing wealth disparity between rich and poor
and rural and urban dwellers in the Pacific Northwest and throughout
the world. This threatens the stability of communities and creates
pressures to eat into natural capital to meet pressing short-term
needs.
In the United States, it has been estimated that 60% of wealth
is concentrated in the hands of 1% of the population. This means
that the vast majority of citizens have very little ability to
direct and control decisions about the economic life of their
communities. If the benefits of an economic system are not widely
distributed, wealth disparities will only continue to grow more
extreme. In order to address this structural problem, A Conservation
Economy greatly expands the number of people with an ownership
stake in assets of all kinds, including homes, businesses, land,
and natural resources. This is the foundation of an inclusive
prosperity that gradually mitigates wealth inequities while contributing
to Local Economies.
When businesses - whether electrical utility or farm, bank or
grocery store - are largely owned by employees, customers, local
residents, and others with a direct relationship, they become
increasingly accountable to the needs of the various communities
they serve. Furthermore, when ownership is spread broadly within
a region, benefits will also be shared broadly, helping to generate
enduring Social Equity. The relationship between broad patterns
of ownership and social equity is equally direct for other assets
like homes, land, and resources.
The most direct way for a large business to give an ownership
stake to its employees is through an employee stock-option plan
(ESOP). As recent events demonstrate, such plans need to be relatively
liquid, and should be part of a diverse retirement portfolio.
Smaller businesses may be structured as worker-owned co-operatives
or collectives, in which employees maintain various degrees of
shared ownership and management. The Burley Design Cooperative
in Eugene, Oregon is a very successful worker-owned cooperative
with about 100 employee-owners that manufactures a range of bike
equipment and accessories. In the case of consumer co-operatives
like Puget Consumer's Co-Op or public utility districts like Eugene
Water and Electricity Board, ownership and its benefits are widely
shared by customers while management is left to a professional
team.
Community-development land trusts and co-housing arrangements
allow land to be held in common by current residents, often with
protective covenants, while allowing individuals to reap the economic
benefits of any building improvements they make.
Over time, individuals should acquire an ownership stake in the
businesses that they work for and buy from, the homes they make
payments on, and the land and resources they restore and steward.
Such ownership stakes can be structured in a remarkable variety
of ways, each helping to more fairly distribute economic benefits
and decision-making responsibility. Building Local Assets is fundamental
to economic democracy and Civic Society.
Community-based financial institutions are local lenders. Their
mission is to invest in the community in which they are owned
and operated, thereby building Local Assets. Personal and business
loans to low-income people ensure that wealth is shared more broadly.
Community development banks, credit unions, loan funds, venture
capital funds, and locally-owned banks all play a critical role
in rooting capital in place, rather than allowing it to be controlled
externally.
Models for community lending have emerged in the last thirty
years. Financial institutions have begun to serve as bridges between
socially-minded investors and community-based initiatives. For
example, Chicago-based Shorebank Corporation partnered with Ecotrust
to establish ShoreBank Pacific, the nation's first environmental
bank. The bank has raised about $40 million in operating capital
through savings, checking, and retirement EcoDeposits marketed
nationally. The money is then used to make environmentally and
socially responsible loans to restorative enterprises, initially
in the Willapa Bay, Washington and Portland markets. A companion
non-profit, Shorebank Enterprise Pacific, offers technical assistance,
marketing, and revolving loans.
Provide financial and legal forms of ownership that equitably
distribute both the benefits and responsibilities of ownership.
Seek forms of ownership accountable to local communities. Create
financial institutions that can make a wide range of loans to
those of all income-levels, help to build resilient local economies,
and reinvest in the local community.
Globalization is creating economic insecurity and increasing the
gap between rich and poor. At the same time, it is undermining
cultural diversity and turning complex ecosystems into streams
of standardized commodities.
Bioregional economies reflect the capacities and limitations of
their particular ecosystems, honor the diversity and history of
local cultures, and meet human needs as locally as possible. Bioregional
economies are diverse, resilient, and decentralized. They minimize
dependence on imports while focusing on high value-added exports.
Paradoxically, this gives them an important competitive advantage
in a global economy, allowing them to trade on favorable terms
without sacrificing their economic sovereignty in the process.
Bioregional economies recognize the need for Fair Trade, refraining
from importing or exporting goods produced unfairly or in an ecologically
destructive manner. They make a transition to True Cost Pricing,
building actual social and environmental costs into market prices.
In order to provide independent certification of product attributes
(e.g. sustainably harvested, fair trade, organic, shade grown,
green power), they promote Product Labeling.
Bioregional economies do not deplete their own Social Capital,
Natural Capital, or Economic Capital. They export only their sustainable
surplus, most often taking the form of intellectual property or
high-value products and services rather than bulk commodities.
Their Sense of Place becomes the key component of their brand
identity. In the coastal temperate rainforest, products evocative
of place include Copper River salmon, Tillamook cheese, Willamette
Valley wine, and Walla Walla onions.
Bioregional economies are physically constrained by the network
of Connected Wildlands, the availability of Productive Rural Areas,
and the distribution of . This allows them to substitute Ecosystem
Services for more expensive imported alternatives. It also makes
them attractive destinations for Ecotourism.
Bioregional economies can have vastly different mixes of local
foods, energy sources, building materials, land-uses – all
responding to the possibilities of place. However, their underlying
design principles are remarkably consistent. Together they form
an interdependent, mutually beneficial Conservation Economy at
the global scale.
Bioregions need to reclaim a strong measure of economic sovereignty
by becoming more self-sufficient and trading on their own terms.
They can create economies that celebrate and mirror local ecosystems
and cultures.
Our goal is to transform an economy that has been based on industrial
scale resource extraction to a conservation economy, one with
equitable and sustainable resource use. We work in several communities
along the coast. Our strategy is to act as a catalyst and broker
to create the institutions needed to envision, inform, and finance
the conservation economy; support conservation entrepreneurs;
and conserve and restore the landscapes and waterways needed for
its health. Through our Information Services and Economic Development
programs we offer tools and resources to those who promote positive
change at the intersection of ecosystem conservation, economic
opportunity and community vitality. In partnership with Ecotrust,
based in Portland, Oregon, we work in the entire rainforest region
that stretches from southern Alaska to northern California.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Ecotrust
Planet Drum
Columbiana Magazine
In Europe
To be added after research
References:
Korten, David. The Post-Corporate World:Life After Capitalism.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers. San Francisco, CA. 1999.
The tax code and government subsidies support social and ecological
practices that are disadvantageous to the health of the environment
and society. The prices of goods and services do not currently
reflect the actual social and ecological costs and benefits of
their production. This provides market signals that are greatly
skewed against a conservation economy, slowing its diffusion and
adoption.
True Cost Pricing makes it possible to enhance Natural Capital,
Social Capital, and Economic Capital by reducing existing taxes
on good things like personal income and replacing them with new
taxes and fees on bad things like pollution, natural resource
consumption, unjust working conditions, and so on. Such a tax
shift is revenue-neutral. It does not increase the overall tax
burden - it will likely reduce it substantially over time - but
simply reallocates it to create efficient markets. By using carefully
calculated taxes to incorporate social and ecological costs and
benefits into prices, it is possible to create a level playing
field for Bioregional Economies.
Green taxes are intended to cover the costs of environmental
"externalities", unintended environmental damage to
third parties that occurs during the production or consumption
of a product or service. As the economist Pigou demonstrated in
the 1920s, externalities create market failures in which unfettered
economic activity makes society worse off rather than better off.
The situation can be corrected by charging a tax per unit equal
to the cost borne by society as a whole per unit. If an additional
ton of carbon dioxide emissions causes $300 in crop losses, increased
air conditioning loads, hurricane disasters, etc. for the planet's
citizens, then a green tax of $300 per ton of emissions should
be charged. The imposition of such a tax could be rendered revenue-neutral
by repealing income taxes in the lowest brackets to balance the
new revenue from the carbon tax.
When prices for socially and environmentally destructive products
do not reflect the externalities created during their production,
they send false market signals. When pollution of air, water,
and soil is essentially free, products that pollute heavily will
be over-consumed relative to cleaner products. When poor labor
practices are essentially free, products that employ them will
be over-consumed relative to those produced fairly. Ignoring externalities
leads to systemic problems - environmental contamination, unsafe
neighborhoods, urban sprawl, degradation of forests, fisheries,
and farmland, etc. - because each individual has pursued the cheapest
prices rather than minimizing the actual cost to society.
True Cost Pricing greatly favors the products and services of
A Conservation Economy. By imposing green taxes on the degradation
of Natural Capital, incentives for Resource Efficiency, Renewable
Energy, and Sustainable Materials Cycles are generated. Gradually
reducing existing subsidizes for dams, water-extravagant agriculture,
highways, mining, and grazing would create additional incentives.
True Cost Pricing is, by a great margin, the policy change most
conducive to catalyzing A Conservation Economy. Even small tax
shifts are extremely beneficial. While Denmark, the Netherlands,
Germany, and the U.K. have all instituted tax shifts, replacing
1 to 4 percent of their income tax revenue with pollution tax
revenue, tax shifts have been extraordinarily difficult to implement
to date in the United States.
Fortunately, there are also opportunities for states and provinces,
agencies, municipalities, and other levels of government within
the bioregion to adopt a tax shift in the collection of their
revenues. Development impact fees, which cover the costs of new
infrastructure and development, are now in common use. The Oregon
Office of Energy offers a 35% tax credit on Oregon state taxes
for renewable energy, recycling, energy efficiency, and alternative
transportation projects.
As we learn more about the advantages of a conservation economy,
it will become easier to design equitable, creative, and effective
systems of taxes and fees at all scales which shift consumption
from destructive to regenerative forms.
At each level of tax assessment, from town to nation, shift taxes
so that they accurately reflect true social and ecological costs
and benefits. Stop taxing good things like employment and begin
taxing bad things like pollution.
Market-Based Environmental Laws: 100 Ways to Use Prices to Prevent
Pollution
Center for a Sustainable Economy
The Center for a Sustainable Economy is a non-profit, non-partisan
research and policy organization that promotes innovative tax
and other market-based approaches to achieving a sustainable economy
-- one that integrates long-term economic growth, environmental
quality and social fairness.
Ecological Tax Reform: Composting the Gridlock
Tax reform is all the rage these days, and proposals abound. Even
the flat tax (dismissed as silly when proposed by presidential
candidate Jerry Brown in 1992, now taken quite seriously when
proferred by Dick Armey) is getting serious scrutiny. Not because
they're the best ideas, not even because taxes are too high (they're
lower in US than any industrialized country) but because the tax
system is perceived as out of control, and people want to do "something."
...
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayers for Common Sense is a non-partisan advocate for American
taxpayers. They are dedicated to cutting wasteful spending and
subsidies in order to achieve a responsible and efficient government
that lives within its means.
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Friends of the Earth
Worldwatch
W. Alton Jones Foundation
Redefining Progress
Environmental Tax Program
In Europe
To be added after research
References:
Durning, Alan Thein, Yoram Bauman and Rachel Gussett. Tax
Shift: How to Help the Economy, Improve the Environment, and Get
the Tax Man Off Our Backs. Northwest Environment Watch. Seattle,
WA. 1998.
von Weizsacker, Ernest U and Jochen Jesinghaus. Ecological
Tax Reform: A Policy Proposal for Sustainable Development. Zed
Books. London, UK. 1992.
Prices do not reflect true social and ecological costs and benefits.
This makes it difficult to assess a product’s ecological
and social characteristics when making a purchasing decision.
Product Labeling systems send a clear message to the consumer
about the broader lifecycle impacts of a product. By addressing
the social and ecological costs and benefits of a product, Product
Labeling provides critical information for values-based purchasing
decisions. In turn, this awareness can help promote Fair Trade
in products which are produced in ethical and ecologically sound
ways.
Product Labeling schemes provide a way for companies of all sizes
to create market share by documenting their Conservation Economy
practices. In some cases, labels allow significantly higher prices
to be charged (e.g. organic produce). In other cases, labels capture
a niche market (e.g. certified wood).
In order to be credible, labels and certification schemes must
be independently evaluated by third parties which are widely respected
for their neutrality and reliability. For instance, The Forest
Stewardship Council maintains a network of regional organizations
like Northwest Natural Resources Group, which in turn certify
forests as sustainably managed.
Virtually any service or commodity can be labeled and certified.
produce is labeled organic, hormone-free, salmon-safe, non-genetically
modified; wood is certified as sustainably harvested; tuna is
certified as dolphin-safe; and fish stocks are in the process
of being certified as sustainably managed. Furniture can inherit
a chain-of-custody certification from mills, which can inherit
a chain-of-custody certification from the certified wood that
it uses.
Electricity is now certified as green or salmon-friendly by dozens
of utilities and companies. Craft products are given a fair trade
certification. The U.S. Green Building Council has developed the
L.E.E.D. rating system for Green Buildings based on their environmental
performance. The International Standards Organization has developed
the ISO 14000 standard for certifying corporate environmental
management systems. Products are given a Green Seal certification
based on their overall lifecycle performance.
Ultimately, every sector of Bioregional Economies will have well-defined
labeling and certification systems. Such systems allow individuals
wishing to express their values and organizations following Green
Procurement policies to make purchases reflecting their priorities.
While they are somewhat cumbersome to establish, and often require
initiative from the non-profit sector, such systems will continue
to grow in importance and sophistication and earn increased acceptance
in the marketplace. Over time, they will provide an important
foundation for True Cost Pricing.
Participate in product labeling and certification systems that
effectively document the sustainable practices associated with
a product or service. When necessary, start new systems to provide
an even clearer picture of social and ecological benefits. Use
product labeling and certification systems to guide consumption
and green procurement.
Salmon-Safe offers Northwest farmers a comprehensive agronomic
certification program that provides a structured and reproducible
procedure for recognizing those farm operations that are contributing
to the recovery of native fish and stream ecosystem health. The
focus of the certification process is on a broad array of management
practices and the degree to which a farm's operations are compatible
with best management practices for avoiding harm to streams and
salmon populations.
Organic Trade Association
The mission of the Organic Trade Association is to encourage global
sustainability by promoting diverse organic trade. OTA provides
leadership consistent with organic principles and values, and
creates and expands market opportunities for the industry.
Northwest Natural Resources Group
The criteria for certifying forests varies by region and organization.
The Northwest Natural Resources Group, which assesses Washington
forests for the international Forest Stewardship Council, awards
certification based on questions such as these...
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Regions are often coerced to trade raw commodities like timber
and food, even at the expense of local people and ecosystems.
This further diminishes local economic diversity and security,
which only makes regions more vulnerable to poor terms of trade.
In Bioregional Economies, the terms of trade are mutually beneficial.
Producing goods for export does not result in the systematic degradation
of natural resources, poor labor practices, or the unnecessary
loss of wealth that could otherwise be maintained by the region.
Prices reflect true social and ecological costs. Goods and services
for trade are value-added, rather than low-priced basic commodities.
They should reflect rich regional cultures and characteristic
ecosystems, possessing a unique identity and special appeal.
The extent and type of trade should be dictated by long-term
economic, social, and environmental benefits, rather than short-term
necessity. Trade should enhance the well-being of the bioregion,
adding a rich mix of goods and ideas while allowing the bioregion
to meet more of its needs locally. This is equally true under
scenarios of both rapid globalization and relative economic isolation.
In either case, bioregions that are largely self-sufficient will
flourish by selling on favorable terms when opportunities present
themselves. They will avoid being dependent on massive imports
on unfavorable terms.
Likewise, dependence on imports that are produced destructively
should be diminished through Green Procurement efforts. Such imports
do not reflect Fair Trade. They exploit historical imbalances
in rates of development and diminish opportunities for people
and ecosystems. Since these imports are being produced unsustainably,
it is impossible to depend on them over the long-run in any case.
There are a number of Product Labeling schemes which verify the
conditions under which products are produced. For instance, Forest
Stewardship Council certified timber must be produced without
destructive impacts to ecosystems, and profits should benefit
the local community. This allows consumers and businesses to promote
Fair Trade through purchasing decisions.
The environmental costs of transportation systems used for trade
should also be accounted for and appropriately mitigated, perhaps
through purchase of carbon emissions credits. Trains and ships
are extremely energy efficient compared to trucks and planes.
Over time, all transportation systems will make a transition to
Renewable Energy.
