Natural Life Magazine & Transition Towns

The latest issue of Natural Life Magazine just arrive in our mailbox! This Canadian magazine describes itself at "The original natural family living magazine, founded in 1976. Reader-supported and trusted by thinking people around the world who want positive alternatives to high cost, high consumption lifestyles for themselves and their families.". It focuses on green living, slow food, homeschooling/unschooling, and natural parenting. The Jan/Feb 2010 issue features articles on natural immunity, forest preschools, kitchens as wellness centers, biologic architecture, transition towns, re-imagining schools, healthy art materials, green personal care products, and more. The articles are practical and very accessible, while still providing enough detail for readers to begin to get a solid grasp on these issues. Each article also provides follow up websites and book titles for those who wish to learn more. It is one of the few Canadian published magazines of this genre that we know about. More on Natural Life Magazine at www.naturallifemagazine.com

The article on Transition Towns seemed especially timely in this issue. This international movement is moving local communities from oil dependence to local reliance - and this is also exactly the kind of thing that small-scale urban homesteads are looking at - in effect, we need to build a network of small "urban homesteads" that allow city folk to rely on each other, share their strengths and knowledge, and build solid resiliant communities. Here in our city there is a growing Transition Town movement taking place, with exciting discussions, events and working groups forming to work at this topic on a local level.

The article on Transition Towns by Monika Carless, can be found at: http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/1002/transition_town.htm

Here is a small excerpt:

"The Transition Town initiative is one way to address the controversial issue of peak oil and climate change, from a pro-active, not reactive stance. It teaches that small scale is big change in an industrialized world and that individual effort can create a collective harmony between the needs of a community and the will of local government. It is not about survivalism in the usual sense, but about creating change before we are faced with the absolute end of cheap oil.

Learn more:

www.transitiontowns.org

www.findhorn.org

www.naturallifemagazine.com