On Sept 14, the Environmental Change-Makers showed the movie “The End of Suburbia,” followed by a community discussion of the impacts of peak oil (the end of cheap oil) and what we can do about it.

We concluded our evening with the “post-it” exercise suggested by Rob Hopkins on p. 155 of his Transition Handbook. Participants in our evening discussion were given 3 Post-it notes, and instructed to write on these the answers to three questions.

Here are the responses:

ONE THING I CAN DO:

Develop a community garden
Put in gray water system at home
Use public transportation - car to bus station to Metro
Communicate my enthusiasm, experience, & hope
I can compost and edible landscape
Reuse my water bottles. Recycle.
Plant winter garden.
Take public transportation more, walk more
Teach, preach, walk
Ride bus
I can start educating co-workers by hosting lunch hour movie and discussions on sustainability
Buy a Vespa instead of changing my old car
I can plant a garden in my yard

ONE THING MY NEIGHBORHOOD CAN DO:

Bulletin board with announcements
Open minds and hearts
have neighborhood meetings - show the movie seen tonight
Learn a sustainable skill
We can compost and do edible landscapes
More teach-ins
Local neighborhood can organize and start more community gardens so more people can grow food
educate the community
More community gardens
My neighborhood can compile a list of what skills each person has
Buy in bulk?
Mandate recycle plastics
Meet like this

ONE THING THE GOVERNMENT CAN DO:

To not give us false promises that will perpetuate problems
encourage/help to develop alternative sources of energy
The government can encourage edible landscapes and compost
Government can start funding projects that will transition the populade into a sustainable and livable world.
Commmunity/government can do - more quickly institute “green trash collection” - switch vehicles to hybrids
Learn the facts re: environment. Begin local changes
Encourage high tech green research for alternative energy sources
Invest in renewable energy sources
Government can start talking about it - start listening to the people who are trying to blow the whistle.
Tax breaks
Begin to talk about the problem
Taking peak oil seriously