I am delighted to announce my involvement with a valuable program called Transition Streets. It’s all about bringing neighbours together to make a positive impact on our community and the environment.

Transition Streets is a grassroots initiative that started in Totnes, England 2010/11, and has since spread to communities in both the US and Australia. The basic idea is that we don’t wait for others, or governments to take action; small groups of neighbours get together to learn about ways to reduce their carbon footprint and live more sustainably by taking practical action together.

Here’s how it works…

The program provides a series of workshops and resources that cover a range of topics, from energy efficiency and food waste to transportation and resource use. Participants work together to identify simple changes they can make in their own lives, and they support each other in making those changes.

Now the Totnes project involved over 550 households and was pretty successful, in that each household made an average saving of £570 and a wapping reduction in their annual carbon footprint of 1.2 tonnes. To put that in perspective, that’s about the same as taking a small car off the road.

Interestingly, in the street I live in, during COVID, a WhatsApp group formed to both keep in touch with other humans, protecting our sanity somewhat, and also to offer help to each other. For instance, some of the younger neighbours would take a parcel to the post office, or pick up shopping for those that were shielding or at a higher risk. For us, it didn’t end with the COVID restrictions but has become a place not only to share local information on blocked roads or fallen trees, but also a place to borrow a tool instead of buying it, or offering no longer needed furniture and household items to others that could re-use them.

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In some respects we had already begun this journey, so when we were approached to take part in the programme, it took a while for us to make the decision. Was it a duplication of what we had in our road’s chat group? How would it enhance what we were already doing? Could a core group of us put the time aside required for this programme? (By the way, it’s only a couple of hours every few weeks!)

We finally took the plunge with Transition Streets, and despite a slightly slow start coordinating our kick-off, we’re already reaping the rewards! After tackling just two topics – Energy and Resources – I’m impressed by the impact. What’s so impressive? The power of shared ideas. Each meeting starts with everyone sharing their experiences since the last session: what tips they’ve tried, what they’ve learned, and the results they’ve seen. It’s amazing how this diverse group, spanning ages and backgrounds, brings such a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to the table.

I’ll be reporting back through my blogs on the results but in the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about Transition Streets, I encourage you to check out the website at www.transitionstreets.org.uk.