Living Locally
by Ruah Swennerfelt

The Charlotte Sustainable Living Network (CSLN) has been gathering for monthly events for about four years now. The coordinators think that the time for action has come and have found an exciting program to help Charlotte citizens begin making the changes that will be necessary for healthy survival in the coming years. The Conservation Commission is enthusiastically supporting this effort.
Beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 16, at Town Hall, we will explore how Charlotte can become a Transition Town. We’ll use a workbook, The Transition Handbook, From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, by Rob Hopkins (Chelsea Green Press). The book is divided into three parts – the Head, the Heart and the Hands. Over the coming year and a half we’ll go through the handbook together and ask ourselves what we might do in Charlotte. We’ll break in the summer to allow farmers, horticulturalists and vacationers to not miss the exciting gatherings.
So, what does it mean to “transition?” According to the social network transitionus.ning.com: “The Transition approach empowers communities to squarely face the challenges of peak oil and climate change, and to unleash the collective genius of their own people to find the answers to this momentous question:
For all those apects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how are we going to:
• Drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change);
• Significantly rebuild resilience (in response to peak oil); and
• Greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?
Transition Initiatives make no claim to have all the answers, but by building on the wisdom of the past and accessing the pool of ingenuity, skills and determination in our communities, the solutions can readily emerge. Now is the time for us to take stock and start recreating our future in ways that are not based on cheap, plentiful and polluting oil but on localized food, sustainable energy sources, resilient local economies and an enlivened sense of community well-being.”
This movement, which began in England, is spreading around the world, including the U.S. By going to transitionus.ning.com and transitionvermont.ning.com you can find where other groups are starting. And Charlotte will be listed once we begin in February. We will have plenty of books for everyone, so please come and be part of this hopeful effort. If you have questions, please contact me at 425-3377 or ruah@peaceforearth.org .