chain to enhance its push for social and ecological sustain- ability. Typically, a tee travels 16,000 miles before you put it on, but TS now collaborates with North Carolina farmers, cot- ton ginners and others to go from “dirt to shirt” in 750 miles.
What challenges loom for local business ef- forts, and how can they be overcome? One of the biggest hurdles is that many people are innovat- ing, but they are going it alone. BALLE connects businesses to other people, ideas and resources so they can learn from each other and not have to start from scratch. Another barrier is financing. We have started to bring together pioneering philanthropists that put a little funding in to create the conditions for businesses to proceed from there. The Cleveland Foundation, for example, recently helped seed a worker-owned laundry co-op. Most economic development subsidies still favor large
corporations rather than local businesses, but some shift when they see studies like those from Civic Economics, proving that the cost per new job is much cheaper by catalyzing and grow- ing local business. In Phoenix, a study by BALLE network’s Lo- cal First Arizona showed how the state gets more high-paying jobs with benefits from a local office supply company, Wist Office Products, than from a big box store. Wist also spends more money locally for services ranging from graphic design to legal assistance, and donates more to local charities. In all, the study found that on a $5 million state contract, Arizona was losing half a million annually in economic leakage by doing business with a nonlocal competitor. As a result, the city of Phoenix changed its procurement rules and now buys local.
Brian Clark Howard is a multimedia journalist and the co- author of Green Lighting, Geothermal HVAC and Build Your Own Wind Power System. Connect at
BrianClarkHoward.com.
Building a New Economy H
from the Ground Up By Maureen Morgan
ere’s another way to think about the economy. Instead of viewing it as a collection of numbers put out by the government and the stock markets, with the unemploy-
ment rate factored in, we should think about the economy in the same way think of the ecosystem. Both words come from the same Greek root, oikos, meaning house. And it is one big house in which we all live, no matter our political perspective. Unfortunately, the needs of the ecosystem and the
perceived needs of a struggling economy are in a dangerous head-to-head match-up right now. The need to jumpstart the economy is consistently overriding the basic requirements of a functional ecosystem. History is rife with stories of civilizations that ignored the fact that a healthy environment is essential to supporting a healthy economy and population. The Transition movement, now emerging in Ossining, is
based on a strategy to survive the future by making the com- munity more resilient. Transition strives to meet the need for a healthy environment as well as the need for a sound economy. The big difference is that the changes will manifest at the local level, rather that in Washington or on Wall Street. While the changes could potentially reach those levels, it does not look promising at the moment. The solutions to our ailing economy and ecosystem will likely be brought about by members of the community, for the benefit for the community, both locally and globally. It is the consummate grass-roots movement.
To learn more about Transition in Ossining email
maureenmorgan@transitionossining.org and visit
TransistionWestchester.org.
natural awakenings
November 2011
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