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Page added on July 1, 2015
Transition Streets in the US
After more than a year in the making (with lots of expert and volunteer support) we have finally released our neighborhood carbon/water/waste reduction project, Transition Streets. If you are interested in what this scrappy nonprofit can do with help from a lot of friends and supporters take a look here: http://transitionstreets.org/.
In a nutshell: We did not dream this up ourselves but adapted this award-winning program from Transition Town Totnes in England, for use in neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
Transition Streets fits a real need. Here in the US most municipalities are trying to meet ambitious climate goals or reduce their waste streams. In California more and more talk is about the drought and what to do to conserve water. Transition Streets engages neighbors in bigger picture conversations. But more importantly, it applies just the right amount of friendly peer pressure so participants really do end up lowering their home energy and water use, reducing their waste, and changing how they eat and transport themselves.
The added bonus of Transition Streets is that all the while neighbors are participating in the 7-sessions, they are getting to know each other. We have heard this enthusiastically over and over – that that is the very best part. People finding out that they have creative, caring, and interesting neighbors – they love that! Transition Streets is easy to implement (as we developed facilitator and outreach guides). Just download the Handbook, enlist a handful of neighbors (more tips in outreach guide), get together for seven meetings to read and discuss clear and easy actions to implement, then take these action ideas home to put into practice. The focus is on low-cost (or no-cost) actions that result in the lowering of both expenses for, and the energy used by, each participating household.
The support of fellow neighbors helps keep participants motivated, the process engaging, and the outcomes pleasurable as well as effective.
The initial pilot households were thrilled with what they accomplished and overjoyed with the new found relationships they formed. So I’ll end with this PBS story about the San Diego group in hopes of relaying the enthusiasm and possibility catalyzed by Transition Streets.
3 Comments on "Transition Streets in the US"
penury on Wed, 1st Jul 2015 11:09 am
To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, Its always the windmills and people never learn.
Makati1 on Wed, 1st Jul 2015 8:34 pm
penury, you got it in one…
Davy on Thu, 2nd Jul 2015 2:37 am
This is too little too late to save BAU green or any other color. It still is a good direction for people to go in. These folks are going through the stages of collapse recognition. They may not realize it but that is what their movement is. Real transition starts with recognizing a problem and reacting to it with action. This is what this transition town movement’s value really is. It is a recognition of limits.
Once in this action these people are going to live and learn. They are going to come to the realization of the profound limits on complex modern life. As the realizations set in they are going to make the steps up the ladder. The higher one journeys up the ladder the more one realizes how significant collapse will be and how there is so little we can do about it. There are preparations that can be made locally especially in attitude. This shift in attitude is part of a healthy response. How can one criticize a people starting the climb up the ladder? Life is a journey of learning.