Film Series Begins April 29—

Community-Based ‘Transition Newtown’ Initiative Is Growing

By Kendra Bobowick

Adding another shade of green to Newtown is a new grassroots initiative, Transition Newtown, inspired by a larger Transition Network. Resident Barbara Toomey started thinking about the concept a year ago, with an interest in starting a citizens’ effort “to become more resilient” to conditions like climate change, spiking gas prices, and to engage in more community-based, sustainable living, she explained.

“I know a lot about climate change and peak oil…it’s coming,” she said. “I want to live in a town that’s not going to fall apart when crises hit.” She mentioned the extreme weather last August and October that knocked out power to the town for as long as one week in many residences. “It’s beter to plan rather than be faced with a crisis,” she said.

After taking several training courses in New Haven she concluded, “We needed an initiating group.” With that group still forming, she has had two meetings already.

The transition movement started in England in 2006, and has become widespread. Two Connecticut towns already have established groups, while Newtown’s is just beginning.

“It’s a unique movement where people decide what they want to do and how to go about it,” she said. Beginning with an initiating group to raise awareness in town, members “get people involved.”

Plans can include neighborhood gardens, raising chickens, or whatever people want to do, she said. Her hopes? “Maybe help people learn things that have been lost, like growing or preserving our own food.” Ms Toomey envisions workshops on growing vegetables, baking bread, etc. “People can become more self-sustaining,” she said, noting that local agriculture “is a big part of this” transition effort.

The ultimate goal is a 20-year energy descent plan “to wean the town off fossil fuels.”

Ultimately she wants to see a more resilient and sustainable community, “Maybe inspire other community gardens or farming; there are not a lot of farms, it’s scary.” With the farming in mind, for one, she said, “Elders, or people with knowledge can teach skills we don’t use anymore.” Younger generations ought to also be involved, she said.

According to TransitionNetwork.org, “Communities have started projects in areas of food, [transportation], energy, education, housing, waste, arts etc. as small-scale local responses to global challenges of climate change, economic hardship and shrinking supplies of energy.”

The Transition Newtown movement also has a website for social networking. According TransitionNewtown.wordpress.com, “The transition movement … represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people in strengthening their communities against the effects of these challenges, resulting in a life that is more abundant, fulfilling, equitable and socially connected.” Also visit transitionnewtownnetwork.ning.com.

Melissa and Larry Lopata have also begun participating in Transition Newtown. The couple moved to Newtown from Brooklyn last year. “One reason was, we wanted more land to maybe grow our own food and be a little more sustainable,” Ms Lopata said.

Transition Newtown appealed to her. “It was important for to me to reconnect with the food chain,” she said. Before leaving Brooklyn she had become “very involved with the local food scene.” She liked organics, and she preferred non-genetically modified foods.

She is also “big into being part of a community.” Noting that “we’re a consumer society … I started to want to buy local. It just gives back to the community and I guess shopping locally keeps people employed and the dollars spent locally will multiply.” After learning about the transition movement, Ms Lopata said, “I had felt helpless and wanted to do something immediately.” She joined.

“I hope to build a [more sustainable] community and to educate people. I think people are aware something is wrong, but don’t know the specifics,” she said. “We are planning clothes swaps, tool shares, and we hope to give people resources of how they can help with the local eceonomy, the environment. People helping people.”

She said, “We can make our town better, it’s all a plus, I think.”

A Film Series

Transition Newtown members are planning a the Sustainable Film Series, with a first screening on April 29, to educate the local community about the benefits of building a sustainable lifestyle. The first film in the series is Carbon Nation.

According to a recent release, the documentary zeroes in on enterprising individuals — from a wind farmer to a solar-panel retrofitter — who are devising business-minded ways to avert the looming climate crisis. The cross-country expedition yields encounters with Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson, Earth Day founder Denis Hayes, and former CIA director James Woolsey, along with everyday pioneers in low-carbon living.

Learn more at www.carbonnationmovie.com/about.

The film will be at the Newtown Municipal Center from 2 to 5 pm. There is no cost to attend.

Space is limited and registration for tickets is online. Tickets at the door are only available on a first-come, first-served basis. Optional potluck snacks will be available at 2, and a discussion will follow the film.

A second film, The Power of Community, is planned for Sunday, June 3, at the C.H. Booth Library from 2 to 5pm. For information, contact Ms Lopata at Melissalopata@gmail.com.

Background

According to TransitionNetwork.org, a transition initiative “is a place where there’s a community-led process that helps that [town] become stronger and happier.”

The movement claims it “is happening in over a thousand highly diverse communities across the world.” Many of these initiatives are registered at the Transition Network website, TransitionNetwork.org.

The site explains that these communities have started projects in areas of food, transportation, energy, education, housing, waste, arts etc. as small-scale local responses to the global challenges of climate change, economic hardship, and shrinking supplies of cheap energy. It notes, “Transition Network’s role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as they self-organise around the transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.”

To learn more about joining the Transition Newtown movement, contact Ms Toomey at bhtoomey@stanfordalumni.org.