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\n"The Great Outdoors arose out of ideas developed from the Free Range Network's Less is a Four Letter Word initiative. We had to solve the basic problem of communicating the need for change encapsulated in the question, "in a world of excess consumption and luxury, how do you develop a means of teaching people to live simply?" It's actually quite difficult to communicate these ideas because they represent such a divergent view of the world from the view that dominates our lives today - that more is better. To find a suitable means to deliver this message in a clear and unambiguous way we've had to be quite inventive in designing a format to get the points across, and after much deliberation we hit upon a quite novel approach - \nwe go camping!"

Welcome to the home of Transition Town Westcliff, an exploration of how the people of Westcliff on Sea and the surrounding area can prepare for a carbon constrained, energy lean world. TTW is a community-led initiative which is working towards the creation of an Energy Descent Action Plan for the town. The thinking behind TTW is simply that a town using much less energy and resources than we presently consume could, if properly planned for and designed, be more resilient, more abundant and more pleasurable than the present. TTW also believe that only by involving all of us - residents, businesses, public bodies, community organisations and schools - will we come up with the most innovative, effective and practical ideas, and have the energy and skills to carry them out.

What is TBH going to do? TBH aims to bring about changes to our city that mean we both use less energy and are more resilient to future energy shocks. These changes will, at some point, be forced upon us by reduced energy supplies and changed climate conditions, and it will be a much smoother transition to this changed future if we change now rather than in a mad scramble at the last minute. In addition, it is believed that many of the changes we need to make, more localisation, less unnecessary travel, more community interaction, will be a more pleasant way of living than at present. It is our job to demonstrate this to the population of Brighton & Hove. TBH is not really about the coordinating group initiating projects and recruiting help - it's more about people who want to be part of TBH both initiating their own projects, and providing help to others. This could just as well be a project that's part of an existing organisation as something completely new - TBH simply aims to be a network of everyone who has the same goal of energy resilience and reduction. If you have an energy-reducing project that you need help with, if you have a pie-in-the-sky dream and you want to throw ideas around about it with other people, please come to a meeting and tell us, and/or contact the website and let us know about it - requests will go out in the next monthly newsletter that goes out to all our mailing list. In the long term we will be writing and implementing an Energy Descent Action Plan (an example of this here) for Brighton and Hove, in collaboration with the many other groups in the city already doing this kind of work. We have already some preliminary research in this area, the Brighton Peak Oil Report. As soon as the first steps of the Plan become clear - we won't wait until the Plan is perfect - we will be implementing them.

Transition Mayfield is part of a national initiative in response to the crisis in fossil fuel supply and reserves world wide, referred to as Peak Oil. There is increasing energy consumption in the West and escalating demand in the developing nations. Nuclear and hydrogen energy are not safe and fraught with long term problems. The objective is to make the transition to renewable energy. The present level of demand cannot be met solely with renewable energy. There is a need for creative, practical ways to consume less energy. The Transition Initiative is a catalyst for communities to formulate and implement ideas and strategies for local, sustainable development.

"An Embassy, free from the burden of history, legacy and ties, created to work in partnership with fellow organisations and charities in Great Britain, mainland Europe and around the World trading ideas and experiences in how to promote cycling and make cycling infrastructure work in urban and rural contexts."

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com We can help the environment and at the same time reduce costs. Some of the ways to start is being aware of the waste produced in our home, also what resources could be used in a more efficient way so that we can save water and other resources, therefore reducing the associated costs. Following are some ideas for water management: 1) Reuse water to feed the plant - the water can come from several ways: a) Dishwashing water - Use buckets for washing, for example two buckets can be used for one bucket for soap and water and other with only water to rinse the dishes. Use biodegradable soap for dishwashing so you can reuse it. b) Compost Shower - Use biodegradable soap c) Kitchen water - Water used from other kitchen uses, like water from boiled potatoes. d) Dish drying racks - You can build a rack over an area where you are growing plants, then clean water drips into the ground this way watering the plants.

f you are planning to be food sustainable a permaculture garden is an excellent idea. A permaculture gardencan be built in a rural or urban area. Just select the space you want your garden. In permaculture practices the place chosen to built the garden is often referred as "site" and the process is called "site design". Efficiency is a key in these designs, we should observe the conditions and patterns in the area so that with the minimum effort and resources we can obtain the best results or what is called "higher yields".