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A Grim Fairy Tale

A "choose your own ending" story

   Once upon a time there was a beautiful little city tucked away between high mountains and the ocean. Surrounded by forests and fertile farmlands, its natural charms included several lovely parks, beautiful trails and streams, and four distinct but mild seasons. Traffic was manageable, there was historic significance and a charm to its revitalized downtown, and the arts and music flourished. Residents and visitors alike loved the little city.

   One fateful day this special place was touted throughout the land as being among the best places to live in the whole country--and it was not long before out-of-town developers, drooling over the prospects of personal riches, began buying up the forests, farmland, and downtown property. They told the city's decision-makers stories about economic gains and other 'benefits' to their visions of development--leaving out the burden of development on taxpayers and the huge negative impact to quality of life for the residents of this fair little city.

   Hordes of people, fleeing areas in the rest of the country already destroyed by over-development, started moving into cracker-jack houses that had begun to spread like a plague over the former forests and farmland, and they crowded into the huge condominiums that had started to replace historic downtown structures. Local traffic became a tangled snarl, increased air and water pollution started to wreak havoc on the health of the entire region, wildlife began to vanish, and the exquisite scenery and precious natural areas were gradually transformed into Anywhere, USA.

   And then true catastrophe-the twin forces of Peak Oil and Global Warming-started to descend upon the formerly idyllic city.

Choose your own ending:

   Ending 1: Suddenly, most of the food previously purchased by the citizens of the city-produced thousands of miles away by multinational agribusinesses heavily reliant on petrochemicals, could no longer be grown or transported. What imported food there was, plus the little food still able to be produced locally on what was left of the farmlands, became exorbitantly expensive-and people gradually began to starve.

   They also had to do without most 'goods' previously imported because shipping had slowed to a crawl, and the things they needed were not being produced locally. Worse yet, now it was too late to start producing these goods themselves because there was not enough energy or raw materials to build the needed production centers or manufacture the goods.

   The local economy--still tied to multinational corporations that could no longer function due to the energy crisis--died, and as people lost their jobs, more and more of them became homeless. It was not long before competition for dwindling resources became fierce, and the city slipped into a brutal, survivalist, Mad Max reality as Peak Oil and Global Warming arrived in full force and took their natural toll.

   Ending 2: A few of the citizens, alarmed by the looming catastrophe, mobilized into action and began creating a sustainable infrastructure for their region. Among the first things they did was conduct a Sustainability Inventory of the region's natural and human-based assets--determining what the region had and what was needed in order to become self-reliant and sustainable--because this was needed as a basis for decision-making.

   They set up networking systems so everyone could effectively work together toward a common goal of a healthy, thriving, self-reliant region. When they discovered through the Inventory that the carrying capacity of the region could not support even the current residents, they encouraged a moratorium on growth. They supported increased organic, local food production. They held community awareness-raising events, they sponsored classes on how to use available resources for personal, sustainable survival, and they supported local people who started filling in the gaps left by the failing multinational corporations--such as the sustainable manufacturing of products and alternative transportation and energy options, among many other things.

   Although there was a difficult time of transition when the twin forces of Peak Oil and Global Warming arrived in full force, eventually the citizens of this beautiful city settled into a life of great community spirit--otherwise known as mutual support and reciprocity--as they worked together to fulfill everyone's basic needs. The bioregion began to repair itself, and ultimately people lived transformed but thoroughly enjoyable, deeply fulfilled lives that maintained the health and resources of the bioregion for future generations.

Choose an ending and see how your choice plays out.

   Allison Ewoldt, M.A., co-founder of Attraction Retreat and Sustainable Bellingham, is an educator, ecotherapist, and community activist living in Bellingham with her husband and son.

   If you would like to schedule an introductory consultation session or arrange a presentation or workshop for your group, please contact nature@attractionretreat.org or give Dave or Allison, co-founders of Attraction Retreat, a call at (360) 756-7998.