HELPS
Connections with like minded people/co-operation vs competition
Oriol and Ohli in Kathmandu
I am fortunate enough to often be surrounded by people involved with innovative and inspiring things, and people around me seem to generally be working their way towards making the world a better place, in whatever ways they can, their thoughts and hearts committed to making the uncertain future better than today.
For me this fits with the principle of use and value diversity. Together we are all so much more than our separate parts. If I can work together with others in my community and in my relationships, then the strength of that co-operation and inspiration could have much more potential for growth and creativity. It would be good to focus on valuing that diversity, remembering that a collective with varied ways of thinking and being can create great strength if communication is clear and conscious. Moving ahead I'd like to focus on co-operation rather than competition.
My partner is also doing a project on his finances just now, so we can be of support and encouragement to each other. Oriol's also very good with money, so I feel he's a good influence on me. And because our lives are entwined, we can co-create some of this planning together, as whatever designs I choose to follow here will be affecting both of our lives.
We work very well making decisions together, I think because we use a lot of mind-maps and tools such as looking at the inputs and outputs of the situations when we're making any big decisions. These things we have taken from our permaculture studies, showing how all this is so relevant to real life situations. It helps us both come to harmonious decisions.
These are some of the kinds of things that Oriol and I work out together..
For me this fits with the principle of use and value diversity. Together we are all so much more than our separate parts. If I can work together with others in my community and in my relationships, then the strength of that co-operation and inspiration could have much more potential for growth and creativity. It would be good to focus on valuing that diversity, remembering that a collective with varied ways of thinking and being can create great strength if communication is clear and conscious. Moving ahead I'd like to focus on co-operation rather than competition.
My partner is also doing a project on his finances just now, so we can be of support and encouragement to each other. Oriol's also very good with money, so I feel he's a good influence on me. And because our lives are entwined, we can co-create some of this planning together, as whatever designs I choose to follow here will be affecting both of our lives.
We work very well making decisions together, I think because we use a lot of mind-maps and tools such as looking at the inputs and outputs of the situations when we're making any big decisions. These things we have taken from our permaculture studies, showing how all this is so relevant to real life situations. It helps us both come to harmonious decisions.
These are some of the kinds of things that Oriol and I work out together..
Making a calendar together
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Working out some future plans
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Looking at our needs and dreams through a mind map
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We've also been watching lots of finance documentaries together. It really helps to have someone to discuss this with, to make it all sink in a bit better. (And to nudge me when I start to fall asleep, I'm more of an action/adventure movie lover..)
Alternative economics
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I've been looking into some different ways to need less money in our lives. This brings me onto different methods of alternative economics. I've been collecting all the interesting information I find on a separate page. To see this, click on the image to the right.
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CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO GO TO THE POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS PAGE
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IDEAS
Looking for some other ways I can finance the start up of my project 4 clothing company, I have been looking into different methods of funding which won't involve me getting into any debt! Most likely I'll start a crowd funding campaign, Some links to some resources to help with this below.
http://adoriajustice.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/grants-and-financial-backing-for-ethical-fashion-companies/
http://www.crowdfunding.com/
http://www.wethetrees.com/
http://adoriajustice.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/grants-and-financial-backing-for-ethical-fashion-companies/
http://www.crowdfunding.com/
http://www.wethetrees.com/
HELPS
Lifestyle
Felt workers in Nepal
I'm going to look at my lifestyle under the idea that the problem can become the solution.
As my love of travelling and being quite transient takes me to different places, I have access to a huge diversity of influences, inspirations and resources. I began this project in Kathmandu, Nepal - the centre point of all the worlds knitted and felted hippy garments. So my location could possibly be a very valuable resource as I enter into this. The streets in Kathmandu are lined with businesses selling their handmade goods, all geared towards selling wholesale to the thousands of people coming here to export to shops back home. As I've been here looking for organic fabrics, vegetable dyes and fair trade organisations, I haven't paid much attention to anything else, but as a stepping stone towards my ethical business plan (see project 4) I could possibly try exporting some items, and it could be an experiment into seeing which kinds of items sell well and what the potential market for my own items could be. This is off the path of my original plan for Nepal, so it would be quite a compromise. But to design my own collection here feels a little out of my reach at this moment, as the input costs would be more than I can afford, and if I was to buy ready made stock I could begin with much smaller numbers to see what sells.
This could all fit into zones 1 and 2 of project 4 as, like I mentioned, this would be a way to explore possible routes of sale and likely markets if I was to sell items along the same lines as my own. It would also be a first run at importing goods from another country to highlight any challenges that this may bring.
As my love of travelling and being quite transient takes me to different places, I have access to a huge diversity of influences, inspirations and resources. I began this project in Kathmandu, Nepal - the centre point of all the worlds knitted and felted hippy garments. So my location could possibly be a very valuable resource as I enter into this. The streets in Kathmandu are lined with businesses selling their handmade goods, all geared towards selling wholesale to the thousands of people coming here to export to shops back home. As I've been here looking for organic fabrics, vegetable dyes and fair trade organisations, I haven't paid much attention to anything else, but as a stepping stone towards my ethical business plan (see project 4) I could possibly try exporting some items, and it could be an experiment into seeing which kinds of items sell well and what the potential market for my own items could be. This is off the path of my original plan for Nepal, so it would be quite a compromise. But to design my own collection here feels a little out of my reach at this moment, as the input costs would be more than I can afford, and if I was to buy ready made stock I could begin with much smaller numbers to see what sells.
This could all fit into zones 1 and 2 of project 4 as, like I mentioned, this would be a way to explore possible routes of sale and likely markets if I was to sell items along the same lines as my own. It would also be a first run at importing goods from another country to highlight any challenges that this may bring.
IDEA
I decided to do an input output analysis of what this idea might involve.
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INPUTS
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OUTPUTS
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ACTION
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At this point I'd like to add a section on action learning. As I write up this project I could quite easily leave out some of the planning and designing that hasn't worked out for me, or has been a total failure! But as this website is all about a permaculture learning journey, I thought it would be much more beneficial to leave these aspects in, as it is in our mistakes that we create the most learning, and the greatest growth can occur.
As this project was working itself out I went ahead and began importing stock from Nepal and set up market stalls in the UK over Christmas of 2013. I hadn't really worked out properly if this was the most conscious or prepared financial plan, but in my own true style I just went ahead and did it, hoping for the best.
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REFLECTION
The purpose of this short term design was simply to make some money, in the best way available to me at the time. I'm still working out the exact cost and profits, but as far as I can see it was pretty much a complete failure! I've summed it all up in the prezi below.
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Something that feels very relevant here is that it was the Earth that I was forgetting about. Importing goods all the way around the world, with only a small proportion of them naturally dyed organic goods like I had planned. Sadly, it was mainly the bright colours and silly hats that people wanted to buy. Caring for the Earth should be the tap root running through any design that I make. And the strong ethics and principles that I had intended this business to be about had started to be justified away.
But in the end, it was the power of the Earth that controlled me. Massive winter storms called off the Edinburgh Christmas markets and so I was unable to continue. The winds roared, the rain and sleet fell, and very small I felt as I packed everything away and retreated, unable to continue in her gale force strength. So it all makes sense, in the end. |
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PAUSE
It was at this point that I took a break from this project. Clearly I hadn't reached a solution to bringing more actual money into my life, so I felt that I needed a step back before I started any more financial plans. The part of this project that had made the most effect on my life was my exploration into ways to live without money, so this became my next step.
I chose to use and value the renewable resources and services that the world has to offer, such as land to grow food and my own strength to work in exchange for what I couldn't afford to buy. With this in mind, in the middle of the creation of this project we started looking for a piece of land where we could live detached from many of the trappings of modern society, one where we could learn to live in ways other than those involving money. We kept the faith and looked for several months, but as of Feb 2013 - we found our free home. Through connections of friends (again showing the value and strength in community) we found a 10 hectare piece of land with an abandoned stone house, in Tarragonna, Northern Spain. We signed a 5 year contract, on the conditions that we never have to pay any money, and can stay and do whatever we like so long as we don't degrade the land.
Not connected to water or electricity, we are now busy developing rainwater harvesting and solar power systems. When these are both in place we will be another step closer to being independent and secure, without needing to invite some of the most expensive and unethical companies in our homes.
We are on the journey to learning what it means to live self-sufficiently, whilst working on creating a base to begin to host our own courses. You will surely read more about this site in some of my later projects.
Thankfully we found ourselves in an area with a very strong and close community, where exchange and sharing is very commonplace. Because of this we have survived much of the past year on very little money, our diets supported by exchanging food with our farming neighbours. And we regularly host volunteers, who help us with the workload in exchange for food and a place to stay.
I chose to use and value the renewable resources and services that the world has to offer, such as land to grow food and my own strength to work in exchange for what I couldn't afford to buy. With this in mind, in the middle of the creation of this project we started looking for a piece of land where we could live detached from many of the trappings of modern society, one where we could learn to live in ways other than those involving money. We kept the faith and looked for several months, but as of Feb 2013 - we found our free home. Through connections of friends (again showing the value and strength in community) we found a 10 hectare piece of land with an abandoned stone house, in Tarragonna, Northern Spain. We signed a 5 year contract, on the conditions that we never have to pay any money, and can stay and do whatever we like so long as we don't degrade the land.
Not connected to water or electricity, we are now busy developing rainwater harvesting and solar power systems. When these are both in place we will be another step closer to being independent and secure, without needing to invite some of the most expensive and unethical companies in our homes.
We are on the journey to learning what it means to live self-sufficiently, whilst working on creating a base to begin to host our own courses. You will surely read more about this site in some of my later projects.
Thankfully we found ourselves in an area with a very strong and close community, where exchange and sharing is very commonplace. Because of this we have survived much of the past year on very little money, our diets supported by exchanging food with our farming neighbours. And we regularly host volunteers, who help us with the workload in exchange for food and a place to stay.
Now I've worked on some of the ways that I can live with less money, I turn back to developing ways I can try to bring more money into our lives, one year on.
Time to move on to the next page
