What’s mine is yours (3)

By Shane Solanki
The Postman’s Wallet (pictured) is a beautiful handmade gift. As such, it’s expensive to buy, as often bespoke handmade products are. So you could buy one - and if you do, it’s possible that when you open it, you’ll be surprised to find some money already inside the wallet – or, even better, you could barter. The maker of the wallets, Shivraj Santhakumar, will happily trade you a wallet.  They’re a bartering tool, which he’ll trade with you if you have something you’d like to give him.

Why barter? Shivraj lives in India, a country in which it is notoriously difficult to get by without experiencing corruption. A recent phenomenon  in India is the zero rupee note; hand it to policemen when they ask you to pay them off, and hopefully they will see Mohandas Gandhi’s face, and the message “I promise to neither accept or give bribes”, and feel guilty. But guilt may not necessarily be the best way to create change; as Gandhi himself said, ‘be the change you want to see”.

This is the age of collaborative consumption; the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping reinvented through network technologies on a scale and in ways never possible before.

The advent of technologies such as the internet, and open source; a resurgence in community; our concerns about the climate and environment; our consciousness of cost and our relationship to value in stringent times; our emerging desire to create trust between strangers; peer-to-peer exchange; it’s all happening at an unprecedented rate. Hundreds of organizations, cooperatives, companies and websites are popping up monthly, encouraging us to share, and change the way we exist. Rather than simply consume, we become collaborators, creating networks which allow us to shape our futures in radically different ways. The buck stops here.

Up up and away

By Julian Broadhead

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, is unfortunately a phrase I often hear quoted about friends’ inexplicable and suspect love choices. But like all good sayings, it’s relevant because it’s true. So much is dependent on our perceptions and opinions, as individuals and a society. Luckily for us, our perceptions are not fixed but instead exist in a constant state of flux, evolving and adapting to the ever changing world around us. The result is that the unimaginable can soon become second nature.

Our attitudes to waste in modern society provide a relevant example because, in recent times, we have gone from giving little or no consideration to how we consume and dispose of goods, to a greater questioning of this behaviour and renewed emphasis on the opportunity for recycling and reuse. The latest embodiment of this is the growth of upcycling; where recycling means re-creating  the original raw material (such as paper, glass or metal), upcycling involves taking ‘waste’ and using it to create a product or material of greater quality and value. 

Driving this reassessment has been the opportunity for creativity. Where recycling is generally a specialised, industrial process, anyone can upcycle. Influential blogs such as Inhabitat are full of great ideas that you almost think you could do yourself and in fact, sites like the fantastic Instructables will show you exactly how. Nor is that all, the latest potential source of inspiration is WeUpcycle.com. Started by two students from Vienna, the original aim of the site was to profile 30 ideas in 30 days but it is proving so popular that they are now extending the life of the project by a day for every concept submitted. 

Anything can be upcycled, it just depends on your perception; I for one have been taking vast amounts of retired luxury hotel bed linen and turning it in to beautiful bags. So next time you find something you like but aren’t sure what to do with it, just try looking at what it could be rather than what it’s not.

Jolly hockey

By Anokhee Shah

The whistle goes to commence over an hour of intense focus, energy and teamwork. A few goals and miles of running later, the final whistle signals the end of our efforts. This is more than just a hockey match that I want to win on a Saturday – being part of the Harrow Hockey Club has become an integral part of my life. Today, local sports clubs play the role of a type of community that is becoming increasingly rare.

Local sports clubs are usually run and funded by their members. Many will have a club house, the popular location for after match teas, social events and drinks with friends. Welcoming reputations and busy social calendars are as important as good coaches, sports pitches and the level of play. The club will have regular training, weekly matches and teams compete at a range of standards suitable for anyone joining the club. At first, the club seems to be a random collection of people, even more so if you include supporters – look closer and there are usually two common factors – the love of the game and proximity to the club

The internet and communication technologies have flourished alongside improved transport allowing communities and common interests to surpass the limits of geographical location. In a globalised world, we have global communities and as people become more international and more mobile, so do friendships. Therefore, when I found out about the hockey club down the road from me, the whole experience came as a breath of fresh air – and filled a gap in my modern life lungs – I am proudly part of a wonderful team, part of the local community that is Harrow Hockey Club, that meets every week to play a sport we love and then catch up over teas. And if I really want, I can meet them all again and fit in even more hockey at the socials and the annual hockey tour!

Give it away

By Shane Solanki

Collectively, we’re starting to question what we value. We’ve started to realise en masse that it’s not just money that makes the world go round. From gift manifestos to transition initiatives, we’re all putting into place systems which encourage us to be nicer to each other, and the world around us. 

Transition initiatives are community-led responses to the challenges of peak oil, climate change and economic stagnation. They’re based on the assumption that we all experience a life disconnected from the land, the environment and our communities; that we’re running out of things like oil and coal; that we can use our creativity, ingenuity and adaptability to solve or current crisis; that it’s up to us to act now, not the government or “someone else”; and that “if we collectively plan and act early enough there’s every likelihood that we can create a way of living that’s significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.” Totnes in Devon, and Brixton in South London, are two examples of transition towns. Both have their own currency, redeemable in local shops and businesses, helping to reduce “food miles” while also supporting local firms.

Should we be dusting off our socks and sandals? Ask the New Economics Foundation, an independent think tank which increasingly works with partners like the UK government on issues like social policy, democracy and participation, moving towards a fair and equitable banking system, and addressing the very real prospects of climate change, rising sea levels, over-population and over-consumption.

All very well, you might ask, but what can I do about this? Grass roots movements start, effectively, in your pocket, and how you choose to spend every penny. You could be like Burning Man festival goers, forgo money, and barter or gift your way through life. You could be like No Impact Man, and decide to completely eliminate your personal impact on the environment for the next year. Perhaps you don’t need to be so intense; you could buy slightly less meat, purchase fair trade products, try and make a trip to a farmers market once a week instead of a supermarket. You could swap your car for a bike, or, like these fine fellows pictured at Ambient TV, you could make the most of your local canal network by starting a water taxi service. The fare is a conversation. Not too much of a price to pay, huh?

Wheels of fortune

By Dagmar Hoogland

I am always amazed how far a good idea from one person can go, or should I say roll?. Especially in a case like this, where the fire starter of this act of goodness is a cool, young skater called Puddy.

Puddy Zwennis decided to get out of his half pipe and roll a little further than usual on his skateboard. Living in South Africa and seeing up close the need for the less privileged in life to get an helping hand, he decided to set up an initiative to help a local charity program in quite an extraordinary way…

He skated all the way from Johannesburg to Cape Town to raise money for the SOS Children’s Villages South Africa.

His journey started on the 31st of July 2010 at the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, Johannesburg and concluded on the 30th of October at the Village in Thortnon, Cape Town. In other words, Puddy spend 92 days on the road on a skateboard, covering an average of 20.3 km a day!

Together with some friends, who supported him along the way, a hand-full of sponsors and a lot of fans (2,157 on FaceBook!) he collected money for the children. There was help from the community too during the trip, when Puddy and crew stayed at friends, family or people who offered them free accommodation and free meals or gave him a simple cheer or honk as a sign of support. On November 12^th the event ended in style with a party in Cape Town to raise even more money. You can read about Puddy’s days on the road here

So now I wonder what’s ahead for 2011- perhaps a brave surfer crossing the oceans to save the whales, or a bunch of Guitar Heroes jamming for clean air? With young creative minds like Puddy, we think anything is possible.

Something to chew on

By Julian Broadhead

Chewing gum. By its very nature only a small thing but in many ways, our attitude to it is symbolic of some of the challenges we face at a broader, societal level.

Let me explain; chewing gum is a disposable commodity, which we consume for a few short minutes (usually until the flavour runs out) before getting rid of it at our convenience, often with no consideration for the impact on the environment and others. This is particularly obvious in cities, where our laissez faire approach can be observed on pavements and picked off the soles of our shoes. It seems apathy is widespread, despite the fact that it costs councils (funded by our taxes) three times the price of a single piece to clean it off.

As always though, there is a different way of doing things. Not reusable chewing gum just yet but instead, a way of recycling chewing gum.

The idea was developed by product designer Anna Bullus, who spent months in a laboratory finding a way to turn used gum into a usable plastic, called BRGP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer). The result to date has been the creation of the Gumdrop Bin Project, which offers distinctive pink bins (made from BRGP, naturally) for your flavourless deposit, with the whole thing then being processed to create more BRGP for more bins, in an ever growing cycle. Even better though, there’s no reason why BRGP cannot be used more widely in a range of roles currently filled by normal, oil based plastics.

Not only does the Gumdrop Bin Project offer the environmental benefits of turning waste into a new material, it is also an opportunity for city dwellers to make a positive, more considerate choice about their own surroundings. That can only be a good thing and although the initiative is still in its infancy, we are hoping to see more of the bright pink bins in the near future.

Free for all

By Shane Solanki, picture Briony Campbell

Did you know that 25% of our food is wasted? Perfectly good grub is either left to rot, or thrown away, discarded either by home dwellers or by retailers. Look out for the trend in supermarkets putting locks on bins to prevent food being scavenged by foxes, dumpster divers or freegans (see Street food previously on VivaCity).

But where there is waste, there is want. Take The People’s Kitchen, an initiative run by chef Steve Wilson at the Passing Clouds venue in Dalston, Hackney. Inspired by Berlin’s People’s Kitchen, the initiative seeks to tackle the problem of food waste.

Every Sunday at Passing Clouds, a freegan kitchen run by volunteers offers healthy food for donations only. Freeganism is a lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans “embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.” Donations come from volunteers, local organic food shops and homeless food charities.

Steve’s sister Eleanor Wilson, who runs Passing Clouds, explained to me that the ethos of the People’s Kitchen includes offering a day package to her local community; collecting food, cooking and eating together, learning about nutrition, having the opportunity to watch films and documentaries on prescient social issues, and to participate in an open mic jam session featuring musicians from around the world.

Eleanor is producing a ‘how to’ guide, which she intends to distribute as an open source document, initially to churches, village halls and community centres. By-products of such an initiative would include community engagement, and education about both nutrition and the environment. Imagine feeding the entire population of London, the UK, or the world – for free!

Pop! There it is

By Dagmar Hoogland 

This post is about an intiative a dear friend from Capetown is involved in. It’s called Greenpop and is so simple and so great!

This is how it works:

You donate a tree (or ten) and Greenpop will plant it in under-greened schools, creches and community centres.

Or, if you like to be more actively involved, you sign up as a volunteer, meet up one free morning, put on your gloves and start digging. Then planting. Then stepping back and voila, another tree is planted on the South African needy grounds.

The chosen sites have local people who will care for the trees, especially in their early years so they can get well established and flourish.

Call it  a TREEVOLUTION; In three months Greenpop has planted almost 2000 trees in under-greened schools around Cape Town, and they are continuing. Urban greening is positively linked to community upliftment and improved pride of place. Through beau-tree-fication and community involvement, South Africa’s grey areas can get greener.

Check out their site here to see how it works and all the different sorts of trees you can choose from. Do you fancy Wild Olive, Wild Peach or what about a Camphor Bush? Besides all the information needed to take part or make your donation there is a list with facts. I especially like fact nr. 15:

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is NOW”

‘Nuff Said

Flushed with success

By Anokhee Shah

Clean, accessible and most importantly, sustainable sanitation is a global issue. Sustainable toilet blocks should minimise consumption of local resources and continue to be maintained and used long after the builders have left. The ‘Ikotoilet’ is a toilet block that solves a long standing sanitation problem with an easily replicable model, and also contributes to important research on waste reuse.

David Kuria, an architect and founder of Ecotact, the sustainable sanitation consultancy behind the Ikotoilet, decided to improve sanitation in cities by initiating a toilet revolution. He wanted to transform public toilets from places to be avoided into attractive focal points for communities. The model is a corporate funded building, which is then self maintaining, as a toilet block as well as a place of social, economic and aesthetic value. The architecturally attractive block includes toilets, showers, sanitary bins and hand washing.  The entrance charge is used to employ full time cleaners, friendly staff who use the rainwater harvested from the toilet roof to keep the toilets clean and fresh. The building itself is no longer only a toilet block, it is a vibrant toilet mall housing small local enterprises. There are kiosks selling sodas and local snacks, electronic money transfer, shoe cleaners and even beauty salons. The toilet malls have become social hubs and are places to be proud to ‘do your business’ in either sense of the phrase.

The Ikotoilet is also taking sustainable resource use a step further by collecting liquid waste from one of the blocks. This is being used in Ecotact’s innovative collaboration with a Kenyan agricultural university, on ways to process urine on a larger scale for use as an affordable urea based organic fertiliser.

The Ikotoilets are serving over 30,000 visitors a day with 40 toilet malls across Kenya. The future will see Ikotoilets across East Africa with young sanitation entrepreneurs receiving the support to replicate this model. And with the continued university collaboration, the Iko toilets could one day be producing affordable organic fertiliser for farmers.

Bounty castle

By Chris Speirs (photo Vanessa)

It’s 6pm, and I’m getting ready for my weekly cycle home from London’s Kings Cross. Black cloud and horizontal rain streak across the glassed building opposite, reminding me to once again stow my paddle and goggles. Then I remember… it’s Thursday! I leap from my seat. I have bounty awaiting me at the castle.

The castle is a magnificent Victorian water pumping station in Hackney, now home to a climbing centre, and the bounty is our weekly organic veg box that Growing Communities, earlier that day, have hidden away in the ramparts of the castle.

Growing Communities established the first box scheme in London, with the “aim of creating a more sustainable, re-localised food system - changing what we eat, how we eat and how it’s farmed.” The scheme harnesses the local communities’ collective buying power to source food locally, and support small farmers. And has accomplished something truly special with it’s ‘urban market gardens’. These community-focused gardens are springing up all over Hackney, including the grounds of the castle itself. They offer volunteers training, apprenticeships and employment in organic gardening, and supply the very salad that members collect and feast on throughout the growing season.

This week I arrive at the foot of the castle looking like I have completed a lap of the moat. I peel off my goggles and enter the secret code to the door. As it swings open I snag my bag of veg, cross our order off the list and sneak a quick peak. I find some familiar friends, and some acquaintances I have yet to meet. With the organic bounty safely slung across my pannier rack, I slip back onto Green Lanes and paddle home.

The bag comes complete with news from the scheme, veg identification and recipes.  This week my new edible friends are crown prince pumpkin and jerusalem artichokes. The latter of which, they explain, is a relative of the sunflower. It can be eaten raw, roasted or fried, and tastes deliciously like water chestnuts.