Now that Transition Together-Blewbury groups are meeting, we are being asked questions about the project, so here are some frequently asked questions and our answers:
How much does it cost me to join a group?
Nothing! All the material is free, members of a group decide when and where they will meet. You will have the opportunity to borrow our energy monitors and try out our light bulb library, priority booking for Thermal Imaging if we can do it next winter (it has to be a cold night). See Transition Project page and the Extras!
What is Transition?
The dictionary definition of transition is:”the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another”. Our transition is a community-led process, trying to move away from a high energy, high carbon lifestyle towards one that is much more sustainable. We want to lower our dependence on fossil fuels, produce less carbon, and to find ways in which we as a village can adapt to a more sustainable style of living, while retaining our quality of life.
What is the Transition Movement?
Many towns and villages locally and internationally have already started acting on a range of community initiatives aimed at simpler living. The Transition Movement is a network of communities all over the world with this common objective. They all have the same aim, but every community is different. ………. “from towns in Australia to neighbourhoods in Portugal, from cities in Brazil to rural communities in Britain to islands off the coast of Canada.” They have started up small, or large, projects about food, transport, energy, education, housing, waste, arts etc. And many of them have registered on the Transition Network website.
It means that rather than just sitting there complaining about the world going to pot, people are getting up and doing something about it. And most say that as a result of being involved, they’re happier, their community feels stronger, and they have made a lot of new friends.
Why is Blewbury getting involved?
The answer is that we are not getting involved with the Transition Network, but we are using their methods and ideas to help us make changes. We in Sustainable Blewbury think we must do something to change our high carbon way of life in just a few years if our children, grandchildren and future generations are to have a habitable planet. Whether we like it or not, over the next decade or two, we’ll be transitioning to a lower energy future – essential because of climate change and inevitable because of diminishing supplies of fossil fuels (particularly oil). So we might as well do it in an organised way, maintaining a reasonable quality of life AND saving ourselves some money!
How were the paybacks and carbon savings that we quote calculated?
The figures come from a 2 year Transition Streets Project in Totnes that involved a total of 468 households. These households completed the same questionnaire as the project households in Blewbury complete before and after their group meetings, and the results were tracked centrally. For more details see the Transition Streets final report.
Does the analysis put any cost on the time or hassle to implement issues highlighted in the handbook?
No – if you decide to do anything you are doing it voluntarily for your own benefit, which costs you nothing.
Does it matter if I miss a meeting?
Obviously it is better if someone from your household can get to every meeting, but it is very unlikely 6 – 10 busy families can agree on 7 dates for meetings that suit everyone. You will have the work book and can ask someone who did get to the meeting how it went.
