Local Currencies

The ideal of locally made in order to create a sustainable community, society and world is not new. I have lifted the beginning of a narrative from the E.F. Schumacher Society application for the Buckminster Fuller grant. Local currencies are part of this equation. Shifting to more local and regional ways of doing business is in everyone's best interest in the long run. I have posted the rest of the article here: Local Currencies

Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Application Narrative

Urgent Issue of our Time

E. F. Schumacher argued that if we are to achieve a sustainable economic
system (what he called an economy of permanence), then the goods consumed in
a region should by and large be produced in that region. With shorter
supply lines and fewer intermediaries between the producer and consumer,
fuel use is less and carbon dioxide emissions decrease. Individuals engaged
in their local economy may rely on more trips downtown but on fewer trips
across oceans and countries.

Consumers are more likely to tolerate poor labor conditions and
environmental degradation when they are made invisible by the distancing
effect of the global economy. Incorporating production into the local
economy helps to illuminate poor practices and their impact on the
community. Ultimately we learn that content workers, sustainable farming
practices, and a healthy environment lead to increased productivity and
decreased true costs to the consumer.