Communities rethinking how we live
Share on social
Social enterprises offer communities the potential to solve the challenges they face themselves and live more sustainably. Paul Allen explores the rise in local ownership models and the many benefits they have.
In CAT’s local town of Machynlleth, and across the UK, communities are taking action in the climate and nature crisis and empowering each other to eat, travel and consume in ways that have a more positive impact. Social enterprises can help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, while supporting local economies and building community cohesion and resilience. By getting involved in and supporting these innovative projects, we can reclaim our power in the systems that deliver our everyday needs.
Food for the future
Local food growing and delivery schemes are bypassing the supermarkets and offering people a lower impact way to do their weekly shop. Having a closer relationship to how their food is grown and the growers who produce it helps people rebuild their connection to both nature and their community. Further benefits can include a more resilient food supply, a stronger local economy, less use of plastic, and better health for both volunteers and customers.
Based in and around Machynlleth is Mach Veg Box, one such co-operative of food growers. Customers order the food they need online and boxes are filled up by volunteers and taken to collection points in the town. The project is a proven success, with people happy that what they spend goes directly to the growers, and the growers appreciating having a reliable local customer base.
Also making locally grown food more accessible to the community is Fresh and Local, a cooperative of vegetable growers, bakers and craftspeople based in and around Machynlleth. The group has a stall on market day connecting local people directly with the growers and cutting carbon emissions and plastic packaging in the process.
Another part of Machynlleth’s food revolution is Criw Compostio, focusing on feeding the soil with compost from local waste. This non-profit circular-economy collective is providing a hyper-local alternative to bought-in peat-free compost, which can travel huge distances. The volunteers gather all their ingredients from local timber and food businesses, helping them adhere to new waste management regulations and keeping invaluable nutrients in the Machynlleth square mile. The compost they produce is on a donate-as-you-feel basis for locals who want to grow their own nutritious food.
Sharing the journey to zero carbon
Transport is another aspect of daily life that communities can take more control of to reduce carbon emissions and rebuild local connections.
Car share schemes enable people, especially those in more remote rural areas, to get around without needing to buy their own car that spends most of its life parked outside home or work. The community owns several cars that members can book and use to supplement walking, cycling and public transport.
This means fewer cars, which are extremely carbon-intensive to produce and run. And apart from a membership fee, users of the schemes only pay for the journeys they make. In 2006, when Machynlleth pioneered a car sharing scheme, it was one of only a handful of similar projects in the UK.
Over the past two decades, the idea has grown in popularity, with schemes big and small nationwide. Machynlleth’s car club is now part of the non-profit social enterprise TripTo, combining schemes in four towns to take advantage of economies of scale and provide more options for hiring electric vehicles. As the scheme is community owned, local people can contribute to decision making about the type and size of the vehicles and where the cars are located. Options for journey sharing are helping people save more money, reduce emissions further and build new relationships.
Repairing consumerism
In our consumer culture, so many of the things we buy soon break and end up being thrown away. But, with a little know-how, many things can be fixed.
Repair cafés are community-run spaces where people can bring broken items to be repaired by a volunteer with the knowledge and skills to do so. The people bringing in the items are encouraged to get involved as much as possible with the repair, taking ownership of their item, but sitting and watching with a cuppa is also an option. Clothes, appliances, crockery, furniture, bicycles and toys can all be fixed and saved from landfill. And, once again, the community is brought closer together.
Working in a similar way to car share schemes are makerspaces, reducing the need for all of us to own items we only use now and then. Machynlleth Makerspace is a hub for people who want to share knowledge, skills and equipment to make, mend and socialise. It’s full of equipment such as 3D printers, sewing machines, drills, saws, soldering equipment, laser cutters and looms, for members to use in the community’s own workshop.
Members who don’t have the funds or space to use large or expensive equipment can pool their resources into a shared workshop space. The Machynlleth group is part of the Hackspace Foundation, which helps people set up makerspaces/hackspaces across the UK.
range of tools and equipment.
Tymhorau Dyfi is another social enterprise based in Machynlleth passionate about making and using materials more sustainably. The collective of growers and artisans offers local people a consciously curated selection of foods, flowers, garden tools and homeware – all grown, harvested and handmade by local craftspeople. Using materials that are grown sustainably using methods that support biodiversity and the local ecosystem encourages people to think about and adopt a way of living in harmony with the land and nature.
What next for your community?
If you’re inspired by these examples of locally-led and community-owned initiatives in Machynlleth, why not set up something similar in your community?
A great place to start is our online course ‘Zero Carbon Britain: Live Online – Scaling-up Community Action’ on 6 December. Join us for a day of interactive learning and discussions focusing on the key question: what next for your community? Visit cat.org.uk/shortcourses to find out more and book your place.
Starting your own social enterprise
Setting up and running a new community project in your local area may seem daunting. But you don’t have to start from scratch. Get in touch with projects or networks in other areas to understand how they were initiated, the community processes they use to operate, and the benefits they bring for the people who use them.
Considering and promoting the co-benefits of your scheme, for example, creating jobs and volunteering opportunities, improving health and wellbeing, enhancing biodiversity and building community relationships and resilience, can help you make a stronger case for action and get support from a wider range of people and organisations.
EMAIL SIGN UP
Keep up to date with all the latest activities, events and online resources by signing up to our emails and following us on social media. And if you'd like to get involved and support our work, we'd love to welcome you as a CAT member.