What a Green Perth-Wellington might look like.

Greens talk a lot about their policies, principles and ideas but it may be hard to imagine just how those things might appear in action. The future and any “alternate reality “ are impossible to predict accurately, but to give you a little taste of what where we live might look like if we were all a whole lot greener, I’ll give it a shot.

The first thing about GPW (Green Perth-Wellington) is that we use a whole lot less energy and the energy we use we use very efficiently.  This means that almost everyone who lives in GPW not only works here, but works very close to where they live. Many, many people actually work at home.  Long car commutes are almost unheard of.  People who don’t work at home often commute on foot, bicycle, scooter or use some form of public transportation.  Many people still own cars of all types, electric, hybrid, gas, biodiesel, but they are all relatively expensive to run for long periods of time so people avoid using them where possible.  The other thing you notice is that almost all buildings are “smart” and hyper-efficient. That means that buildings will sense when a light, heater, air-conditioner, or other appliance is not being used and will shut it off automatically.  All buildings too are built or retrofitted to be very heat and air conditioning efficient. This is a huge local industry employing hundreds of people, with buildings constantly upgraded with the latest proven technologies.  Many are heated and cooled using individual and communal geothermal systems. Almost every building is insulated extremely well, with heat exchangers ensuring good indoor air quality.

Much of the energy we do use is produced locally using state of the art, renewable technology such as wind, hydro and solar all on appropriate scales. Almost every roof in GPW has some kind of solar array on it that is integrated seamlessly into an intelligent electric power grid. GPW sells this power to neighbouring utilities when it is producing more than it needs and buys from them when the wind and sun are not co-operating here.     

The main engine of the local economy is agriculture. A huge proportion of all the food we eat is grown locally since shipping produce is more expensive in the future.  We also process and preserve (freeze, dry, can, smoke, salt, ferment, distill etc.) much of what we produce for our own use and for export out of GPW. We still grow corn and soybeans, but agriculture has diversified greatly into all kinds of other crops such as vegetables, fruit, berries, herbs, hemp, crops for bio-mass, all kinds of edible beans, grains and oil seeds. Many people are employed at least seasonally in the agricultural sector and it is very, very lucrative. Only food products that cannot be effectively grown in GPW are still imported such as coffee, tea, sugar, citrus fruit, etc.  Farming has become very diversified and employs all kinds of new and revived techniques for maximizing yield while using a minimum number of chemical and artificial inputs due to their high cost.  Not all agriculture is 100% organic, but it is close enough and food is expensive enough, that “organic” has largely ceased to be a separate food category.  Animals kept for milk, eggs, and meat live closer to the actual fields that grow their food and on which their waste is used as fertilizer.  Most of the money that comes into GPW is as a result of the excess food we can grow, process and export to places like Toronto, London etc.

The manufacturing sector has also diversified away from automotive parts production and into all kinds of other areas such as agricultural equipment, parts for trains, re-manufacturing (repairing and upgrading existing equipment), de-commissioning (completely disassembling  and recycling discarded goods and equipment), equipment used in the renewable energy sector, and equipment and building products used in the energy conservation sector.  Since products from places such as China are expensive to ship. Small scale manufacturing  has started to produce high-quality, durable clothing, footwear and other consumer goods locally.    

GPW is largely connected to the rest of North America by electric railroads. These trains are used to transport people as well as goods. Passenger rail service is not always high speed, but it is comfortable and allows those who use it to sleep, work fully connected to the internet and relax.  Many places such as Palmerston, Listowel, Harriston, Clifford, Drayton, Milverton, Mount Forrest etc. are again accessible by rail as they once were not that long ago.

The Stratford Festival still flourishes as a destination for people coming from Toronto, London, Hamilton, Windsor etc. almost exclusively by trains some of which are quite luxurious.

People’s work and educational lives have evolved to the point where many people work at two or more jobs during the year in different industries depending on the season, for instance in the agricultural sector in the summer and fall and in manufacturing or education in the winter.  Many people also pursue higher education and skills upgrading when not working or working part-time. Because of the large demand for skilled and semi-skilled labour in the agricultural, energy and conservation fields, employment is full or almost full all the time.

Every community in GPW is vibrant and prosperous no matter what its size. People have begun to once again value their communities, take pride in them and celebrate their individual cultures.  The pace of people’s lives has slowed somewhat and more time is taken to enjoy live music, theater and local sporting events especially during the less busy times of year.   People tend to travel less often, and spend more of their leisure time and money where they live.  When they do travel, it is often for extended periods of time by train and boat since airplane travel is prohibitively expensive.     

This is only a partial vision of a future with less energy and fewer resources, but I hope it gives you a taste. It is not necessarily “better” than our current reality, but if managed properly, it does not have to be worse either. Just different.  And sustainable.