Before I get into anything, I have to say how overwhelmingly proud I am to live in a town with a “sustainability plan.” Even if it was just a piece of paper that said “sustainability plan for Fairfield, Iowa” over and over again, just the sheer fact that it exists puts us head and shoulders above almost every other town and city in America. Any suggestions I make regarding the plan, then, are with the underlying idea that it’s amazing and I’m all for it.

Fairfield is a great proving ground for this new direction. At 9,000+ in-town population and over 13,000 in the county, we’re not not so large as to hinder communication, but not so small as to avoid notice from larger communities. As the population runs from ultra-conservatives to extreme liberals, and from multi-generational rural agricultural families to new-aged hippie-types, we will certainly figure out a way to make these changes appealing to both ends. Read the full story

Writing about sustainability, clarifying my position on the Go Green Initiative to Heather, and seeing Ron’s comment about the unworthy topics of agriculture and population density have got me thinking about what’s at the core of this “sustainability” thing.

I’ve been reading Douglas Rushkoff’s fascinating and rich Life, Inc. In one section (quoted below) he talks about about why currency puts communities at a disadvantage. He connects Wal-mart, currency inequalities, barter and community expertise as a lower-valued commodity, all into a single talking point whereas these topics have stood independently in many of my recent discussions around town. Read the full story