Archive for the ‘Local Economy’ Category

This post is a growing resource for how and where to more sustainably repurpose stuff in your life that no longer serves you and can serve someone else in your community.

Common items that are no longer useful to you include:
Clothes
Sporting equipment
Kitchen appliances

Please comment below on ideas and resources you have found to be helpful.

Thank you.

What are the most important things in life? What are the keys to happiness? What are the things that really matter, when you are facing death? Who are the people you have impacted and helped? What is the legacy that you will leave? What really matters? What are you thankful for? What is your purpose?

Think about the important questions we ask ourselves, as we exist in the society we live in today. As I dwell on these important questions, there is an unsettling disconnect. There is a dichotomy. There is the life I aim to live, and the life that I have been stuck in and I am trying to break out of.

The story of stuff captures some aspects of this very well. Spending the a few valuable minutes to watch this video is a reminder of the big picture, the unhealthy “system” that has been created, which continues to operate, much of it largely invisible to the average “consumer.” In this system, that is what I am. I am a consumer. It is my job to buy things and that is what will give me temporary happiness, before I am supposed to throw it away and buy a replacement for it. No, I am not supposed to get it fixed, I am supposed to throw it away.

How do I shift from a consumer to something else? I am not a consumer. I refuse to be part of this system. But, if not a consumer, what am I?

I am a person. I am a community member. I am a citizen. I am a friend. I am a brother. I am a father. I am a learner. I am a teacher.

I am not a consumer.

When I focus on moving beyond consumerism and living a life more simply, I have found that the important questions, the one’s listed in the first paragraph, become more clear. I have turned off my cable, so the unhealthy messages in ads and TV shows cannot come in and tell me that I need some new product or am out of style. I read more. I focus my mind and my energy on the things that I want to change in my life. I experience life. I give my time and energy to people and causes that I care about.

But, I still have a lot of stuff.

On January 24th, Sustainable Saratoga is putting together a program on gifting and ways to get rid of stuff other people can use.

Come meet some like minded people focusing on the same questions you are. Come meet some people who are looking at simplifying their lives. Come meet some people who are trying to focus on the important things in life.

Come get rid of some stuff.

See you on the 24th.

Alex Chaucer
Local Economy Committee Chair, Sustainable Saratoga

Watch this video called “The Story of Stuff”

I’d like to offer my thanks to Bill Sprengnether for his tenure as Co-chair of Sustainable Saratoga over the past fifteen months. Bill’s energy and enthusiasm for the organization’s mission was instrumental in getting Sustainable Saratoga over the first hurdle in our goal towards becoming a bonafide 501(c)(3) Not-for-Profit corporation eligible for tax-deductible contributions and the receipt of grants. He also directed our limited resources and personnel on specific projects that have yielded positive results and continue to generate success. I’d also like to congratulate Bill and Caroline on the birth of their second daughter last month. She represents the next generation of our continued endeavors towards a sustainable future.

I’m also thankful for the opportunity to serve as your Co-chair along with Celeste Caruso, who has been vital to the organization’s day-to-day operations. I will do my best to advance the concepts of sustainability within and outside the organization.

Ed. note (4 Apr 2011):  The following issue has been resolved, thanks to the input of concerned citizens and a responsive City Council.

That said, I’d like to relate a bit of troubling news I received last week: I was told that a resident of the City of Saratoga Springs had approached the City Planning Department to ask what was required of him to have a seasonal produce stand on his own thirteen-acre property so he could sell the produce he grows on it. He was informed that he had to go through the site plan review process and obtain a special use permit. The cost for the site plan review and a special use permit would be around $1300.

Upon the Accounts Department review of the City’s Zoning Ordinance, they found confusing language regarding what is or is not required to have a seasonal produce stand in a RR-1 zone. The intent of a RR-1 zone is to provide low density residential and agricultural uses in order to preserve open space and a rural character. It is the Accounts Department’s interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance that a seasonal produce stand is exempt from both the special use permit and the site plan review, as the seasonal produce stand does not increase the building coverage and/or impermeable ground coverage by two percent or 1200 square feet. In addition, it is a basic tenet of sustainability and local self-reliance that municipal governments should be encouraging local agriculture, not making it difficult for our residents to produce and sell the fruits of their hard labor.

You can review the presentation made to City Council on March 15th, 2011 in either the webcast or meeting minutes, both of which are posted on the City’s website (click here for the City meeting schedule). Accounts Commissioner John Franck’s remarks can be viewed in the portion of the webcast labeled “ACCOUNTS DEPT.”

I have been told that the Council is attempting to fast-track approval for this agricultural exemption, but there is no guarantee that approval is forthcoming in time for the upcoming growing season.

This issue will be in the spotlight for the next Saratoga Springs City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 5th at 7pm. Your voice can make the difference. You can participate in the process in various ways:

• Write your Commissioners of City Council and express your opinion on this matter
• Attend City Council meeting of April 5th, read a prepared statement, and ask for it to be entered into the official record
• Write a letter to the editor of the Saratogian

This resident’s plight is truly at the core of sustainability and food security. As transportation costs mount, we will no longer be able to provide inexpensive food from the other side of the country, and we will need to rely on our own foodshed to provide more of the food that we’ve been accustomed to getting from afar. I hope you’ll express yourself and your concerns for the future of our community.

Links/Addresses:

• City of Saratoga Springs website: www.saratoga-springs.org
• City of Saratoga Springs Zoning Ordinances: www.saratoga-springs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=226&Itemid=130
• Mayor Scott Johnson, City Hall – 474 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
• Commissioner of Finance Ken Ivins, Jr., see City Hall address above
• Commissioner of Accounts John Franck, see City Hall address above
• Commissioner of Public Safety Richard Wirth, see City Hall address above
• Commissioner of Public Safety Anthony “Skip” Scirocco, see City Hall address above
• Guidelines for submitting opinions to the Saratogian, www.saratogian.com/articles/2011/03/29/opinion/doc4ac2540b945e2496326904.txt

Think Globally, Act Locally,
Jim Zack, Co-chair, Sustainable Saratoga

Our local food supply: the people, the natural resources and the economics are under intense pressure to survive.

This short video by Saratoga Springs resident, Sarah Pedinotti and her band, tells the story quite well.

Farmony (Harvest Fest trailer) from DreamBig Media Group on Vimeo.

Below are some highlights and action items from our June 22, 2010 Resilient Local Economy Dialogue in Saratoga Springs.

Local Resilient Economy Discussion at Sustainable Saratoga from David Levesque on Vimeo.

What can we do as a Local Economy Subcommittee?

What are things that are local but perhaps overlooked?

1. Support Regional Goods – Is there something manufactured in Albany that we could support
2. Local Bookstore (Tim has mentioned there is a great one in Schuylerville, again, could support #4, awareness)
3. The Chamber supports chains and big box stores, not just local business, but all business. Awareness campaign? How do other Chambers deal with the support for local businesses in light of non-local business presences?

Description:

Some of the questions asked by our Saratoga Springs community during the event include.

• What is a local economy?
• Where are they successful and why?
• How do we nurture one in Saratoga County?
• What is local?
• What is an economy?
• What is sustainable?
• How can the rights of property owners, which are implied in the Constitution, be balanced with the “common good”?
• Are debt-based economies unsustainable by definition?  What is the debt/income ratio of the Population of Saratoga County and how does that compare to other municipalities in NY?
• How would you go about quantifying the well-being of our community? our region? our nation?  our planet?  (alternatives to throughput metrics like GDP)
• Michael Shuman, in his book “Going Local” posits that Import Replacement is a key part of a local economy.  What are we currently importing that we can grow, extract, generate, or build right here?
• What projects can our committee focus on to get results?
• Can you comment on the value of local currencies?
• What happens to Saratoga’s economy if there is no racing industry? What happens if tourism drops off when the Happy Motoring fiesta is over?
• Should we be measuring something else besides money to determine our well being?
• Where do the arts fit into the local economy, and how do we quantify their value to our well-being?
• Modern economics seems fixated on quantification of the amount of money flowing through global markets.  That’s like studying only the human circulatory system and claiming to understand human biology.  Can economists change their perception to include other systems currently categorized as externalities (human intellegence, ecosystem services, natural splendor)?
• Can we estimate the percentage of transactions that occur on a local basis as opposed to those which occur across our local area? (both our spending out of area and out of area people spending here)?
• Do you think that microlending (a la Grameen Bank of founded by Mohammad Yunus) or community-owned banks could help members of the community get a leg up on starting a business or retrofitting their home for energy efficiency?
• What can we each do as individuals and as Sustainable Saratoga?  (move money from transnational banking/investment casinos to locally-owned/operated banks?)
• What is the profit of our region? Overall income minus expenses.

Thank you for reading this information. Please feel free to comment below. We will have updates. You can subscribe to our email newsletter in the upper left hand corner of this page.

Have a great day!