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Ideas for Sustainable Living
As each day unfolds it becomes increasingly clear that "business (life) as usual" no longer works for Earth. Faith communities, educational institutions, city governments, and myriad businesses are turning to more sustainable models as we all awaken to a planet in crisis.
There are many resources for calculating your carbon footprint, for conserving water and energy, recycling, etc. We hope to present other kinds of ideas on our pages. You are invited to email us with your suggestions for creative sustainable living.
To start, we have two program areas for you to consider (see side bar for links):
- Purchase Fair Trade™ products that make sustainable living possible for developing-world farm families.
- Rethink your housing arrangements; perhaps an intentional community, or a community network, would work for you.
Fair Trade
The work of Jubilee Economics Ministries includes educating individuals and groups about the importance of buying fairly-traded products.
- We believe that fair trade expresses sabbath-jubilee values, which ensure that workers and the land will be treated ju
 stly and kindly.
- Our congregations, households, schools, and workplaces are all venues in which to make the shift to fair trade.
- Purchasing fair trade products is an amazing way to make decisions that counter the destructive international free trade agreements negotiated by countries and the World Trade Organization.
What is Fair Trade?
Fair trade is a market-based approach to sustainable development that links consumers directly with producers, thereby reducing the number of levels in the distribution chain. As a result, a greater share of revenue gets in the hands of small-scale farmers. The purchase of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate bars, bananas and other fruits benefits producers and consumers by promoting:
- fair prices
- cooperative workplaces
- environmental sustainability
- access to financial and technical support
- quality products
Learn More
As advocates of justice for both indigenous workers and God's creation, we offer educational workshops that focus on fair trade for organizations, businesses, churches, schools and college campuses. If you would like to arrange a fair trade presentation in the San Diego or Chicago areas, please contact us.
For a more comprehensive understanding of Fair Trade concept, please visit TransFair USA. Also, additional information can be found on the following web sites
Living in Community
Living sustainably, not just profitably.
Saying "enough!" in a world shouting "more!"
Connecting the dots that practice a true alternative!
All of these are goals of Las Casas de Jubileo (houses of jubilee), a JEM initiative that believes our households are a prime location to live sabbath-jubilee practices.
A Network of Households to Help Practice Our Intentions
Networking our households, and being intentional about community, are key strategies in practicing the deep economics of gift and abundance.
We want to see how our own households can live with greater integrity within the web of creation, and at the same time contribute to changing the direction in which our world is going. Recognizing that swimming upstream to the cultural flow can be both freeing and demanding, Las Casas de Jubileo provides community with others who also want to pursue this other way.
For more information see Las Casas de Jubileo: Networking Households to Energize Jubilee Practices.
Recommended resource on intentional communities: Diana Leafe Christian, Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, New Society Publishers, 2003, foreword by Patch Adams. Used copies available at www.abebooks.com.
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