Sampling Culture http://samplingculture.posterous.com Most recent posts at Sampling Culture posterous.com Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:31:18 -0700 Eco-frugal in Toronto http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/eco-frugal-in-toronto http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/eco-frugal-in-toronto TORONTO - April 2009 Networked Streets
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Reusing, refashioning and building community As both social entrepreneurs and activists try to save their money, conserve natural resources and build community, eco-frugality appears to be thriving. Amanda Sissons unpacks boxes of fabric, buttons and unused colored paper for the craft swap happening at her store. She says she has a good feeling about how many people will show up that cold winter day at Freedom Clothing Collective. Established in 2006, Freedom Clothing is a cooperatively owned and operated store by Sissons and three of her friends. About an hour after she has been unpacking supplies, 15 people fill the small store on Bloor Street West in Toronto. By 8pm that evening, at least another 40 people have passed through to exchange their unwanted materials.
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Sissons explains, “Now that people can't afford expensive items they are looking for new ways to re-do their old clothing.” According to Sissons, the craft swap encourages people to get together to swap items they are not using. It’s also a good place for people to share crafting tips. She says, “It's recycling.” Freedom Clothing represents one sub-section of a larger group of people involved in the unofficial ‘eco-frugal’ movement in Toronto. In an eco-frugal approach, reducing waste, remodeling and reusing old things becomes en vogue during financially uncertain times. Since the economic turmoil swept North America, eco-frugality that combines both ecological and fiscal responsibility has retained followers. Eco-fashion stores like Freedom Clothing, non-governmental organizations such as GlobalAware, dumpster-diving groups like Food Not Bombs (who collect unwanted food and then cook for the hungry) and freecyclers like the Really Really Free Market (who swap unwanted items), continue to persist in their efforts. When times are tough, these groups are building community by sharing and reusing what they have. Their commitment to living an environmentally-friendly, socially sustainable and frugal lifestyle appears stronger than ever. North American Green consumerism is strong Trendwatching.com's March 2009 brief professed that during the recession consumers still want to move away from non-sustainable products to those that aren't contributing to a large ecological footprint. According to the GfK Roper Green Gauge study, "Americans are taking notice of the dual benefits of making simple eco-friendly changes that help both the planet and their wallets.” They found “More Americans are discussing recycling (86%), conserving energy (79%) and conserving water (76%); - - all simple ways to save money.” In Canada, the City of Toronto launched its Live Green Community Investment Program last year. They award grants of $25,000 to community groups who undertake action on sustainable energy use. In Toronto, the persistent popularity of and curiosity about community gardening and all-things-environmental is evident in the March ‘Ecoholic’ issue of NOW Magazine. Across income levels and diverse lifestyles the buzz about being Green and sustainable has not lessened. In fact, more people may be making cost-effective decisions and lessening their ecological footprint at the same time. Grassroots Green Contrary to the Green-washing of mainstream products by major retailers, in grassroots circles, a skeptical attitude toward corporate mechanisms persists. This is true, especially now, in reaction to the recent North American financial collapse. Bryn Roshong, an activist and labour union organizer said, “I hope that people see job losses and companies failing, and relate it to their own consumption and connect that there needs to be a holistic change in the way we relate to the planet.”
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Roshong, Wes Hannah, Ben Hackman and others in Toronto are participating in Food Not Bombs. Almost every weekend they collect unwanted food from vendors at St. Lawrence Market and grocery stores before closing time. Then they cook the food for homeless and hungry people on Sunday afternoons. Instead of the unwanted food going into the garbage, the edible food gets rescued and served to around 50 people in Allen Gardens. Roshong explained, “A lot of food comes from California or Chile and is grown with pesticides, and shipped here. So much energy goes into producing our food, and then sometimes perfectly good vegetables get thrown away because no one buys them. There’s so much food wasted and so many people go hungry in this city. I see it as completely backwards.” Community efforts Roshong and the ‘Really Really Free Market’ collective put on the ‘free store’ events. People attending donate and take away items without the exchange of money. People bring clothes, toys, books, electronics, and kitchen utensils to the store. Their last ‘free store’ event in March was held at the Toronto Free Gallery, and they estimated that up to 800 people visited. The event drew people from a broad cross-section. They put advertisements in Now magazine, on Craigslist, and put up posters around the city. There were kids and people of all ages searching for something they might like to take home. Passersby also came in, unaware what the event was about, but learning once inside. Roshong and Hannah said it was a great way to build community. For them, the recycling aspect is important. Roshong said, “There’s no reason why we can’t reclaim things…We are going to become a larger community space for people to have an alternate means of sharing and getting what they need.” While unique to Toronto, free store events are happening regularly all over the world – in the Netherlands and in cities like Vancouver. According to Roshong's pamphlet, free stores are “responsible to the environment, community, and the planet.” Hannah said their event is an example of eco-frugality, which is “not just dependent on a depressed market.” He said, “It’s brought out in times like these, but people see it is sustainable, even if they have a high paying job and job security.”
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In Kensington Market at GlobalAware, executive director Clive Shirley had similar things to say about how his organization is eco-frugal. He said they print their postcards on tree-free paper, they recycle old books by making them into new notebooks and they stock fair trade clothes. “I think people can save money by investing in products that are made well that will last for life. Rather than going to Walmart and buying a cheaply made knife that will last one year, and then going back again each year for twenty years, people should buy one knife that will last,” said Shirley. Dr. Leslie Jermyn, an anthropology and environmental studies instructor at the University of Toronto, said that as people are budgeting, environmental solutions fit into their thinking. Jermyn explained being eco-frugal means, “making choices to reduce energy usage, excess and waste.” Community initiatives like these show us that through reclaiming old things and turning them into new treasures, eco-frugality is alive and well. As times get tough, it makes sense that eco-frugality and community-building are on an up-surge and they are only getting stronger. It will be interesting to see whether private and public funding will be channeled into official government, industry, and smaller community projects too.
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