Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Pro's and Con's of Local Sustainable Economy


This morning I stumbled uponthis blogpost, that talks about a book that describes a fictional story about a small town that relies completely on the local economy. Something that I've been thinking about a lot... but wait. You might be asking yourself, why would we even do/want that? What are the advantages? What are the downsides?

Advantages of a more locally sustainable economy:

  • More "High-End" Jobs - Is it not sickening that hear such stories of grocery store owners whose business' have been destroyed by Walmart, only to be hired by Walmart for minimum wage?
  • Lower Emissions - eliminating long hauls will decrease the embedded carbon emissions in products
  • Happier Neighborhoods - I feel better when I know who I am helping when I buy a local product. It feels empowering to know that you helped "Bob", that you know personally to stay in business.
  • Better Quality Products - the US and Canada have strict regulations on product quality which are often undercut by companies that import. One example: paint finishes on toys.
Disadvantages of going local:
  • Product Cost - things will cost more. Production in the US and Canada is more expensive, but do the advantages not offset the disadvantages. (As oil prices rise, we might soon be at a tie though. Our money will go towards paying for the product, rather then the transport.)
  • Somewhat More Inconvenient - we might not always be able to quickly jump into one store and get everything we need.
There is so many more arguments for both sides. It's up to you to decide weather you want one or the other side. Judging from recent trends in or economy though, I would say we need to strive towards a more local economy to be sustainable in the future


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A recent article in thestar.com: Oil costs eroding globalization: CIBC

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image by bonedad

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Public Transport: Germany vs. US


I just found an excellent blogpost about public transport in Germany, specifically in Berlin. I've lived in Berlin for some time and I love public transport in Berlin. It's not perfect by any means, but I guarantee you that you do not need a car in Berlin.

Anyways, I'm linking to this post (which links to another post, that links to another post :-)), there's nothing to add or to take away, why should I try to rewrite it.