I normally try to avoid just re-posting from other places half because I think it’s a little lazy and half because I’m still not sure what blog etiquette is and I don’t like upsetting people.
That said I think this needs to be posted as is (and my thanks to reclaim the curb for putting me on to this) because it says what we want to achieve in our street with music, animation and clarity that I couldn’t. Enjoy!
A Life of Treading Lightly 
I’ve just returned from the all day Automatic Earth Tour day at Fitzroy Town Hall. One of the speakers was the excellent Theo Kitchener. This lady has produced a short video, employing a similar animation technique to the one you linked on your blog. I think you and your readers may find it interesting and it too has a posItive message to explore. You can see the video at http://www.doingitourselves.org. The Doing It Ourselves crew have a number of initiatives going, such as a house with demonstration features involving low energy and food gardening that are very inspiring. I think it’s in Preston.
That looked like a great event, I look forward to hearing more about it. Theo from ‘Doing it Ourselves’ is definitely a passionate individual and I’m pleased to hear an excellent speaker. I posted her video earlier at http://treadinglightlyblog.com/2013/02/17/sustainable-living-gets-festive. I had a quick chat with her at this event particularly around the balance of scaring people into action as opposed to cajoling them into action. I’m still not sure at the answer to this but it’s an interesting question about how do we actually drive change.
Thanks for the post.
Paul.
Another initiative you may be interested in, is the ‘Repair Cafe’. Begun in The Netherlands by Martine Postma; the concept has spread around the world, often in association with Transition Town groups. Essentially the idea is that an event is held, where a number of volunteers with a variety of skills bring their equipment, time and enthusiasm and folks bring along broken and damaged items. They don’t leave the item to return later, but are expected to remain and interact with the repair volunteer. I volunteered for an event at Edendale Farm as a seamstress, although I wasn’t able to go in the end because my mother-in-law had a fall and we had to take her to hospital. You may have noticed I operate something of a Repair Cafe at the Unit, (although it might be more appropriate to call it a Repair Kiosk since there is only one of me.) Either way, the concept is the same. Timely repairs mean expensive clothes continue their useful life and are kept out of landfill. Check out videos on You Tube – a lot are in Dutch (which is fine for me because I understand enough to get by, but then the pictures do the talking). Interestingly, Dutch for Repair Cafe, is ‘Repair Cafe’. They are obviously very happy events and everyone involved has a lot of fun. I would love to be involved in another event, hopefully being able to actually turn up this time! Perhaps Transition Banyule or Transition Darebin, or both, could organise one. Any thoughts?
Whilst I can’t find the link I’m quite sure that I’ve read about planning for this idea being underway. If my memory serves (and it does now and then) it was being planned as part of Transition Darebin and they were currently looking at a number of properties that they could use. I’ll keep looking to find the link because I agree timely repairs, and the building of the capacity to make those repairs is a crucial part in having a resilient and low consumption society.