Transition Handbook chapter 4: Why we need do it small

In this final chapter of what makes up the head of the introduction manual, Rob Hopkins tries to explain why in the fight against global warming it is important to resize the scale at which we operate. Relocate to become a more local society to be less dependent on fossil fuels. Although China is singled out for the pollution it emits, in 2008, half of its emissions were destined for the manufacture of goods that …

Complete street program; sharing the road

The first time we heard about it was in Ottawa, our host told us the city had just finished the first complete street. A street that was suitable for all users; pedestrian, bike, bus, car. It is during our visit to Pasadena, in the suburbs of Los Angeles that we have the chance to learn more by attending a meeting of Pasadena Complete Street Coalition. Urban sprawl The disadvantage of American cities, unlike European cities, …

Localwashing the new marketing tool

Do you know the term “Greenwashing”? This is what is known as marketing who tries to sell you a green car or any other product with an environmental value, but which in fact does not have any. Ecology is now trendy and advertisers have understood, so brands green themselve to be more attractive. It is the mission of marketing, find what sells the products we consume. While our travel we see a lot of different …

Transition and technology : the low-tech (3/3)

When I was working for a web company, during a lunch discussion a colleague had argued that “Since there is internet we are smarter because there is no need to know everything anymore, if you want to know something just look on Google.” What he meant was it is not necessary to have the knowledge, you just have to know how to search. I’ve been a philosophy student, I could not help telling me that …

Le slow travel, do you know ? (part 1)

While we are on the road, with our Snail, slowly, to meet, to discover alternatives, we thimk on our way of traveling: we say we are slow, but can we say that we are in the movement of Slow Travel. From a certain point of view, yes, we travel at our own pace, we arrange ourselves to the maximum of being in the philosophy of the 3R: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, we promote walking times to …

Quelab a makerspace in Alquerque, New-Mexico

If you know the story of the Snail, our traveling home, you know it started in a makerspace in Quebec, La Patente. Doing our journey, we remained attached to this place and began to visit similar places on our route. The project recently brought us to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to meet with the local transition group. Following the successful crowfunding, one of the counterparts we had was a burlap bag. We were able to find …

Transition and technology (2/3): solution by Free software and community ?

The first article was trying to show the hidden part of our internet use, even if we do not see it, the environmental impact can be important. Although the societal imaginary tells us the opposite, it is in our way of using and approaching the Internet that our environmental impact is greater than it could be, because there is solutions that can bring our web use greener. Another point that I would like to put …

Visit of an Eartship, the autonomous hoome

We were in Albuquerque to visit the local transition group, we also wanted to visit the capital of New Mexico at the same time, Santa Fe. The group then told us: “If you continue a little further north you will be able to go to Taos, see the ecological constructions. “, “Good idea.” We took information and realized that buildings in question were the famous Eartships. When one is interested in ecology, waste and self-sufficiency; …

Salt Spring Dollar, a local currency in Canada

On the road, we tried to meet local currency projects, unfortunately time made its effect and older projects have not resisted. The Toronto Dollars ended in 2012 due to lack of use, the one in Vancouver did not meet great interest, while the Calgary Dollars we met ran out of steam and tried to redefine itself in order to find users. It is therefore with great interest that we headed to this small island which …

Transition and technology (1/3); know the environmental problem

When traveling by van or car, a difficult moment is when you arrive in a new city; we would like to be alone on the road, have no one braking in front while you read a sign or being honking at a red light when you hesitate on the road to take. With GPS and phones it’s now times of the past. Magic of Internet, we know the cities before we get there, a simple …