Sustainable Plymtree

A vision of hope for the future
Long ago, before the clocks changed, during the dark winter evenings on March 20th, Andi Tobe and Carl Munson of Low Carbon Exeter presented a fascinating and engaging talk on this.

• How do we feel towards the future with the inevitabilty of less oil?
• Where do we place ourselves on the optimistic/pessimistic scale
• Are we the extreme of green optimism (hug a tree and all will be well), or the pessimistic "Armageddon" (here comes the oblivion bye bye), or the middle ground of tread carefully (avision of hope).

Our current global economic "addiction to oil", "climate change" and "peak oil" were discussed, posing interesting questions such as;
Does apparent wealth equate to happiness?
How do we go forward from our current oil dependent position?
Plan ahead for the inevitability of less energy

1. Our communities lack resilience.  We are dependent on fuel for distribution (fuel cuts/power cuts = shocks)
2. Act collectively, i.e., transition towns/communities

"Head, Hands, Heart of Transition = Educate/Inspire   Action/Acknowledge" 
Change is difficult!!
Where will we be in 2030?
Develop Energy Descent Action Plan
"Back Cast".  How do we achieve it?  What must we begin to do now?
Food Strategies:  Localised food products
Energy Issues:  Tide change of attitude needed re energy usage.  Reduce lighting at night.  Smart Meters (available for schools) to highlight energy/appliance use.
Transport:  Develop and use more sustainable transport systems/cycles/carshare.
Local Groups:  Support and develop local community based projects
For the future of our children, we have a duty to actively involve ourselves where we can. 
We need to influence towards change in lifestyle and policy.
We need to lobby government and think and act differently.