Economic Restoration Begins with Ecosystem Restoration

Bob Ewing — This article is the first in a series of articles which will explore how economic restoration can be achieved through ecosystems restoration which includes, for example, rivers, streams, brownfields, wetlands and agriculture.

The opportunities are there and informed communities and entrepreneurs are taking advantage of them and restoring towns, villages and cities while creating jobs and healthy neighborhoods.

Urban agriculture, renewable energy, neighborhood revival all play a role. This first article provides an introduction to the twin concepts of economic and ecosystem restoration.

An ecosystem is defined as a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) existing along side the nonliving elements of their particular environment. Rocks, air, water, and soil, for example are all part of an ecosystem. The living and nonliving elements interact thus creating an interconnected system.

Restoration has two distinct definitions, in regular usage. The first is the ‘return of something to its former or normal state’. The second is an ‘act of renewal, revival, or reinvigoration’.

It is the second definition, restoration as an act of renewal, revival and reinvigoration, which I am using in this article. In particular, the focus is on economic and ecosystem restoration and their connection.

The unemployment rate in my region, Restigouche County, for the month of June is 15%. The government has limited resources that it can apply to resolve this reality; so, it is time for the people who live here to take appropriate action. I contend that actions that revive the land, air and water can revive the economy and reinvirograte the job market.

Ecological restoration is one way the job market can be renewed. The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) defines ecological restoration as:

“Ecological restoration is an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity and sustainability. Frequently, the ecosystem that requires restoration has been degraded, damaged, transformed or entirely destroyed as the direct or indirect result of human activities.”

In municipalities across the province, and elsewhere in Canada, and the United States, have areas that were once industrial sites, factories or gas stations, for example, that are now abandoned. These sites are known as brownfields.

The United States Environmental and Protection Agency defines Brownfields as:

“Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.”

Brownfield redevelopment is a specialized ecosystem restoration activity and there are a number of regulations that must be followed to ensure public safety. However, they do present an economic opportunity which must not be overlooked. There are many other possibilities, right in your community, just sitting there waiting for someone to notice them.

The first step, towards renewal, is to look at your neighbourhood as an ecosystem, what elements exist and how are they connected?

Public dialogue and community action, both, need to embrace the possibilities and opportunities that restoration presents.

Next article — getting to the specifics.

Renewable Energy and Urban Agriculture

Bob Ewing - The World Bank presents a picture of a world that is rapidly becoming urbanized. In other words, people are leaving the country and moving to urban centres. On the Bank’s Youthink page, they cite the following statistics:

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• 3.3 billion people—half the world's population—live in cities.
• Two-thirds of all people will live in cities by 2050. (In 1800, only 2% of people lived in cities and towns. In 1950, only 30% of the world population was urban.)
• Almost 180,000 people move into cities each day.

This movement toward city life places increased pressure on, already stressed, urban infrastructure. How can society sustainably solve existing problems while urban populations continue to rise? First, energy, our current society is built upon the cheap and ready availability of oil and to some extent coal. Renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind have been given insufficient attention, a lot of talk but little development, for many years.

Both solar and small-scale wind power could provide the needs of a city on a local basis. The American Wind Energy Association states: “Small wind turbines are electric generators that utilize wind energy to produce clean, emissions-free power for individual homes, farms, and small businesses. With this simple and increasingly popular technology, individuals can generate their own power and cut their energy bills while helping to protect the environment.”

Unless, the home or business has a battery storage system to store energy for the days when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining, hybrid systems, both sun and wind, may be the best approach.

Second, urban agricultural projects can move the farm closer to the table and reduce the distance our food needs to travel. Urban greenhouses can be powered by sun and wind and operate year round. This combination of renewable energy and urban agriculture is a major step towards building a community which has the ability to withstand the coming crises.

Not all our food can be produced in city limits, and the need for small farms, located close to urban centers, must also be considered, as do the setting up of farmers’ markets where business can take place. Inside the city, herbs, vegetables, and eggs can be produced and sold; while in the countryside, cows, pigs, sheep, orchards are the best choices.

Energy and food are essentials and offer opportunities to create sustainable communities if we accept and recognize the need and then do the work.

It is not likely that the trend toward urban living will reverse itself. I, for one, like living in a city, a small one, yes, but still a city. What we can do is put our resourcefulness at work, reclaim our communities, relocalize production, and build our own future.

Alternatives: the Cooperative Business

On one hand, people are out of work and help to find a job is scarce. On the other, people have needs that only a sustainable income can meet. These two facts lead many to attempt to set up their own businesses; however, frequently, these businesses do not survive, or fail to bring in enough money to meet the family's needs.

One of the reasons many home based and single person enterprises do not get off the ground or thrive is that the owner-operator does not have all the skills needed to make a business successful. If people can accept the fact that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, they have taken an important step in being able to work together to create a viable enterprise.

The cooperative business model is ideal for those who want to pool their skills, knowledge base, and abilities to from a solid foundation for a business. The cooperative model does not guarantee success; a sound business plan with a marketing study is important so that the company knows what business it is in, with whom the competition is, and perhaps, most importantly, if there is an existing demand for their product or service.

A cooperative is not a business but a business model. Cooperatives are democratic as all members of a co-op are equal decision-makers in the enterprise and employ the one-member, one vote, process of making decisions. Each worker owns a share in the cooperative and the enterprise is owned and controlled by the workers.

How to Get Started:

The first step is to talk with family and friends; however, be focused and careful. Someone may be your best buddy but may turn out to be a lousy business partner. The same goes for family; your brothers or sisters are not necessarily ideal business partners; so proceed with caution.

Seek out people who are in a similar situation as yourself, need an income but are not desperate. You will not get rich overnight and the pre-planning phase is important to the venture's long-term success; so if you need money now, your own business is rarely the answer, cooperative or not.

Once you have your cooperators, how many you need may vary from state to state and province to province. Here in New Brunswick, you need three (3) people to form a cooperative; it is time to detail the business, what you sell, make or offer, to whom and at what price. This information forms the core of your business plan
There may be organizations that can lend you a hand, provide insight and information, once you have reached this stage. Do your homework and find out what assistance is available locally and within your region. Remember we are all in this together and together we can build a strong regional economy.

Grow Hemp: Grow The Economy

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Bob Ewing - There are many things that frustrate me, a mild word for what I feel, about how our governments and corporations approach economic development. We have the means to turn our economy around and head down the path to sustainable living, yet those in charge ignore this reality and keep on doing what has always failed.

I define stupidity as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Well, by that definition those who run the economy must be stupid, or perhaps, they just want to keep the wealth for themselves.

I will leave the discussion for the above for another time, my focus now is on one way we can turn the economy around, create jobs and enhance the environment, all at the same time. That way is to grow hemp.

Hemp is related to marijuana, both are are classified as Cannabis sativa, a member of the mulberry family.

However, there is a significant difference between how these two relatives are used. People smoke marijuana to get stoned, to catch a buzz, and it does have some medicinal benefits which means it could become another economic opportunity, if appropriate regulations were put in place, but that too is a story for another day.
Marijuana is bred to get the highest THC content (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) which is the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and thus, get the maximum buzz. Industrial hemp is grown to provide, fiber, seed and oil and other commercial products.

You will not get high smoking hemp, so there is no illegal drug market for the product.

Hemp would make an excellent cash crop for farmers who could then supply the companies that would make, the clothing, car parts, building material and food items.
Hemp is not the only plant that has a number of commercial-industrial uses and there is a wealth of information available about which plants can be used for what purposes. So why is this information begin ignored.

Capitalism is supposed to thrive on competition and innovation so why are these possibilities begin ignored or at best relegated to small scale ventures that will have little impact on the economy?

Hemp can be grown by farmers large and small, all across North America, we know how to grow it,; how to harvest it and how to process it. Hemp clothing, hemp seed and oil are reasonable well known products. Companies have made building materials and car parts from hemp so why do we need see more research and development efforts being put into growing the economy through plants such as hemp, rather than bailing out failing companies?

Permaculture: Growing Hope

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Bob Ewing - Permaculture is a nature-inspired, holistic design methodology that can be used to grow food, create communities and build businesses.

My personal experience has encompassed all three with creating communities and building businesses being combined and leading the work, both paid and volunteer, I do.

We live in false and troubled time, this reality has been brought into the light by the Occupy Movement and we must keep that light shining as it can guide our way. One of the results of Occupying was the awakening of hope.

Hope, not the buying of a lottery ticket with the goal of increasing your income type of false hope, but real hope that is rooted inaction, is what we need to encourage today.

I like the definition of hope put forward by Rebecca Solinit:”Hope just means that another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranted. Hope calls for action: action is impossible without hope.”

Permaculture design is action, considered action that can change how we see the world around us and how we related to all the elements that bring that world into being.
My study and work using permaculture ethics and principals shows that if we want economic regeneration, and we do want and indeed, need this, then the place to begin is with environmental regeneration.

Urban agriculture, for example, could create enterprises that would revitalize low-income communities. Brownfields and other vacant lands that are suitable for urban agriculture are often located in low income areas. These sites can be reclaimed by the community businesses and become attractive, productive enterprises rather than empty eyesores.

Brownfields are properties, often, industrial or commercial areas that have been abandoned because of perceived environmental contamination. Some examples include abandoned factories or manufacturing plants. Gas stations that are no longer in business are one example.

On-the-job-training, such as adult literacy projects, could be incorporated an urban agriculture enterprise which is located in a low-income community. This provides fresh food, education and work for the community members.

If the urban agricultural project is designed using permaculture techniques in will help reduce the stresses because they can contribute to the strengthening of a community’s resilience.

Resilience is the ability of an ecosystem, in this case, urban environments, to withstand extreme stress and to survive periods of catastrophic occurrences.

Resilience is often used to refer to the ability to survive natural disaster such as floods and hurricanes and permaculture design can create systems that will do this.

However, resilience is also vital when it comes to getting through the human made disaster of a false or lop-sided economy. For example, credit unions, cooperatively owned and operated are a viable alternative to banks. Workers cooperatives are a democratic business structure that empowers the worker-owners.

Permaculture design is praxis or theory in action and as such it grows and nurtures hope, hope that will generate action, action that will bring about, a just and sustainable society where no one will live in fear.

Time/Bank teaches cooperation without greed

Samantha Torrence - As a child you are told “If you can’t pay for your meal at the restaurant they will make you wash dishes!” The warning is meant to signify a degrading punishment for skipping out on a bill. The Time/Bank restaurant, however, puts this practice in a whole new light. There you pay for your meal by offering 30 minutes of your time, and maybe that means just washing dishes.  Through the idea of exchanging a person’s time and services, Time/Bank has helped people truly understand that their time is their most valuable resource.

As a system of survival Time/Banks may not be the most sufficient, but as a way to improve your community using your time and skills it is inspiring. The Time/Banks set up around the world have had a great impact on local communities, but especially on the artistic community. In the world of art success is fleeting, but the passionate commit to their work and may suffer for it. With Time/Bank a starving artist may not have to literally starve.

Eflux.com has set up a Time/Bank with 4 branches in Australia, New York, Germany, and Holland. Local artists can make an account with the Time/Bank and begin posting services and volunteering to help someone else. The ‘job postings’ list what service is needed or available and many times what the person can offer in return from their own skills and time.  Giving time to one another does not always have to be in trade with that person. The Time/Bank sets up the account as a community pool so you can earn time and share time with others in need of more time for a bigger project.

The Time/Bank principle is very basic and easy to understand. It is currency that shows how many minutes or hours of your work you have given to the community, or it is a direct exchange of hour for hour with another person. People who amass great amounts of hours can only spend them at accepting local businesses. The currency itself does not have pull or sway over others as it does not represent wealth but the value of time. In this way people are encouraged to work and help one another without thought of unnecessary gain.  Time/Banks take greed out of the equation and introduce cooperation and good will.

Innovations like Time/Bank are extremely helpful at a local level. In America where the economy has come to near collapse because of greed and the unequal value of time and skill in the monetary system a Time/Bank may help a local community thrive in spite of state or federal problems. Time/Bank helps local farms and mom and pop grocery stores that accept the currency the ability to compete and make a stable life in a small town. As the movement of Time/Banking grows it may have a stabilizing effect on currency with not as many American ‘notes’ being used in local markets it can be saved for federal and state commerce and increase the value of the dollar in the international community.

Time/Banking can also encourage local farmers to focus on the immediate community and for people to focus on locally grown foods which will increase the popularity of the Farmer’s Market movement. Food, goods, and livestock give people the chance to be self-sustaining, a lauded conservative principle and the goal of many grass roots movements in America. Time being the coveted good and service makes all people on equal footing with one another so people do not feel undervalued in society without the use of social weapons that cause resentment towards one another. This equal footing is really equal opportunity towards a happiness that can only be sustained in a place where social capital and time capital are valued above greed.