Greenlinks

Elaine Brook
Director, Gaia Partnership

With oil supplies due to decline over the next few years, it makes sense to move to a low-oil economy and lifestyle while there is still time to do it comfortably. The principle is simple – everything we do needs to be in balance with Gaia - the evolving, self-regulating system that has maintained habitable conditions on the surface of the planet over millennia. This is why Gaia Partnership has published Greenlinks, to give a community focus for all the expertise that exists in the county.

If everyone in the world lived like we do in UK, we'd need 3 planets to provide the resources and absorb the pollution - and as we don't have 3 planets we know we have to change the way we live. If we do it together and decide it's going to be enjoyable - then it will be enjoyable, and interesting, and with energy prices soaring, will probably save us money as well.

Use the power of your pound to change things for the better! Of every £10 spent on local goods and services, £8 stays circulating in the local economy and makes the local area wealthier, with more jobs and opportunities for starting new businesses. Of every £10 spent on non-local goods, this is reversed - £8 disappears out of the local economy. Every £ we spend on eco-friendly products and services is an investment in protecting the environment locally (and globally in terms of climate change) and often these products are also better for individual health. 

So - a big thank-you to all the sponsors, distributors, advertisers, and chapter authors who have collaborated to make Greenlinks happen.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has”     Margaret Mead