With your help we'll raise at least £4,500 GBP to start the process of support to key ethical and green projects in the UK and overseas.
by SavetheEarth in
Wow - we are blown away by the response to our crowdfunder and are happy to let you know that our stretch target of 25,000 UK has been activated - with this amount we will set up our first PAYF "Pay As You Feel" Cafe in conjunction with the therealjunkfoodproject.org
This will also serve as our HQ and this money will aloow us to stretch our reach to attract more projects and more suuporters.
Project Aim: Save the Earth - The People's Co-Operative is seeking at least £4,500 UK pounds to make a real difference in the world. You can participate from whichever country you are in.
We are an ethical ecologically-minded enterprise and adjoining not-for-profit foundation. It is to be owned by the members, for the members and benefitting communities, but with the central goal of providing solutions to environmental problems we face. It will create opportunities for normal people like you to affect change where you want to see it.
Have you ever wondered why not enough is being done to save the earth? Do you wonder if we still have time to regenerate our declining wildlife populations? Are we doing enough to reverse the damage human activity has caused? Do you feel frustrated that politicians and governments seem unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps? What if we - the people - took responsibility for the earth in our own hands? What if we got together and invested in our future? What ecologically-minded initiative would you invest in? How would you like to live in the future? Is it right that certain corporations are too big to fail yet the earth is being raped and pillaged? Do we really want to leave the future of our earth in the hands of governments and politicians?
Did you know that there are plenty of environmentally friendly open-source business models available to those with the time, resources, and inclination? What if we pooled together to create a platform and mechanisms for action on a local level? People over profits?
These are just some of the questions we have been asking. If you resonate with some of these, please keep reading to see how we intend to address these questions.
It seems to us that the main reason that very little gets done to save the earth is major flaws in the financial system and our lack of access to money, or another way to sustain ourselves. Whether we regard the present system as good or bad, it is undeniably the system we currently have. The problem is access to funds to change the way things work. People have bills to pay, children to support, mouths to feed, and so on. Despite the fact that most people want change, many feel stuck in a system that prevents them from living more responsibly.
So, this is where Save the Earth Cooperative comes in. Not only do we want to educate and inspire people to change, but we want to create a mechanism to reward ethical thinkers and caretakers of the earth.
And we'll help these Save the Earth Co-Operative caretakers in setting up local craft shops, real ale organic breweries, patchwork farms, food forests, organic bakeries, help the homeless initiatives, eco-villages, permaculture ecosystems, aquaponics systems, to planting herb gardens in derelict plots of land, planting fruit trees and wildflower gardens, and even managing areas of forest and beaches, securing safe water and sustainable energy supplies and much, much more.
Save the Earth Co-Operative has put the earth and its local communities at the heart of our business model.
We are looking to invest in clean-tech initiatives such as solar and algae farms. If you have a clean tech or other ecological project you'd like help starting, check out our rewards
We have offers of donated land that we wish to regenerate and maintain as wildlife sanctuaries, eco-villages. permaculture centres, and eco-resorts. If you have spare land and want to transform it, check out our rewards.
Having gained more than 17,000 like-minded followers on our original Facebook group, we - a group of 8 volunteers - came together and decided that it was time to turn the vision into reality. Sharing the vision of a regenerated green earth and revitalised communities with artisans, creatives and healthy organic food choices the 8 founders formed the Board.
We asked our 17,000+ strong group what they wanted to do to help save the earth and what was stopping them from doing more, and we listened.
People, just like you and me, want to affect change - to live more in tune with the environment, to help the less fortunate, to educate children about biodiversity, to bake organic bread, to grow their own vegetables, to buy more ethical products that benefit normal people, to save our wildlife species, and countless other things.
But we all need support in this transition. We need to support each other to benefit the whole. We need a holistic approach.
Our small team of like-minded individuals got together to start planning this co-operative movement to give people the opportunity to see their ethical ideas flourish, with funding and support from Save the Earth - The People's Co-Operative and the not-for-profit foundation being set up alongside it for purely philanthropic projects.
Here are just 3 of our many rewards we are offering you....
#AskKoko Reward E-Book - Donate £10 GBP and receive an e-book on Gorilla Conservation AND be in with a chance to ask Koko a "Save the Earth" related video question. Koko will pick a question live, sign the name of the lucky winner, and then answer the question. The winner will also get a Koko Goodie Bag, DVD and memorabilia to remember the day. All pledges include a packet of organic seeds (EU only + PP) and inclusion on our first ever Save the Earth Poster.
We will be founded as a "Multi-Stakeholder Co-Operative" - wholly owned by its members, and thus ensuring some benefits are retained by them, but central to our mandate is the creation of completely new ecologically-friendly and local community minded business streams.
All Save the Earth projects will be run by professional managers with experience in working in ethical and environmental operations or similar businesses, reporting to a Chief Executive who reports to a Board, elected by our member owners. This will ensure we have the right balance between having the right people free to implement projects, with the wider strategy overseen by people elected by the members, responsive and accountable to them. Full transparancy of accounts to our members.
Donate to us or become a member, and you could be in with a chance to win this luxury $2,000 "glamping" tent. (Terms and Conditions apply* see bottom of page)
Tent supplied by www.lotusbelle.co.uk
Financing
To get started we need £4,500 GBP (around $7,300 US) to;
Most of all, you'll get to participate in the establishment and growth of our exciting new initiative and, by becoming a member, have a real say in the future we leave to future generations.
We have a full business plan for the various options, each with a cashflow projection and 3 year forecast in place to take into account our future. If you'd like more details, we'd be happy to share these with you. Simply email us with a request to [email protected]
But, just to give you an idea:
We would fund and set-up our first (PAYF) Pay as You Feel cafe in partnership with Adam Smith and therealjunkfoodproject.org
We would fund and set up our Clean Food for Schools project, working with schools to educate Kids in growing their own food via Permaculture and Aquaponics Systems.
The more we raise, the more we can do. Please see our initiatives and don't forget, if you have ideas and exciting plans, become a member and help make a better world.
We invite you to join us in shaping the future, as caretakers of this earth, to promote communities to be more self-sufficient.
Get your Save the Earth Organic Seeds in our Rewards (EU Countries Only) - Organic Spinach, Tomatoes, Carrots, Cucumbers, Peppers, and Sweetcorn.
FAQs
Does this really help save the earth?
Absolutely! Small-scale enterprises that do little damage to the environment and that promote environmental responsibility encourage local economies and reduce the carbon footprint drastically. By empowering people to switch to more ethical lifestyles, we can be part of a wider shift in paradigm. Our mandate is to keep the protection and regeneration of wildlife at the heart of every business decision and we hope that we might inspire others to do the same.
How does this help communities?
By supporting our initiatives- community garden taskforces, food forests, organic pay-as-you-feel cafes, breweries, and bakeries, as well as clean tech solutions such as solar and algae farms, not only is this an environmental success but it will also help local people make a more sustainable living. It will also bring people together on projects, with a big emphasis on people volunteering their time and rseources to create these hubs. This will, in turn, develop closer communities.
Why hasn't this been done before?
Good question! In fact, the co-operative movement has been running since as far back as 1755 - autonomous bodies of people have been getting together voluntarily to meet their common aspirations through jointly owned enterprises for a long time. This is one of the reasons founder - Emlyn - chose this structure. It was maybe only a matter of time before someone came up with this kind of adaptation. Planet Earth, Mother Nature, Gaia - whichever name you call her - is not inclined to be ruled by the commodities and financial markets. If we want to live well into the future, and if we want to do good by our planet, we need to develop systems which work with nature, rather than against it.
* URGENT NOTICE: TENT COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Please note that our target is to raise a minimum of £4,500 GBP sterling through your generous help. If you are donating solely because you wish to be in with a chance of winning our wonderful tent supplied by http://lotusbelle.co.uk/ then we will only be able to activate this competition subject to the total amount raised hitting £6,000 GBP. If we hit £5,999 pounds sterling, sadly the tent competition will be cancelled with no refunds. But, do not fear - your donation will go to a great cause of helping save the planet and we will, of course, be thanking each and everyone of you personally and keeping you informed of further updates and events.
This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.