Brandon Twp.- Two local residents are raising awareness about the Transition Towns movement and inviting others to join them on their quest to build community.
Pam Bytner-Kilbarger attended a workshop in Ann Arbor on the Transition Towns Movement. According to transitiontowns.org, Transition Towns are communities working to respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil and climate change.
She and fellow township resident Lois Robbins have given powerpoint presentations to citizens and officials at the county level and are planning other outreach activities regarding the movement, including a meeting planned for 7 p.m., April 29 in the library community room, 304 South St.
‘It’s a movement about creating local resilient, sustainable communities,? said Bytner-Kilbarger, who has now launched Transition Oakland County with fellow township resident Lois Robbins. ‘I’ve been feeling an impulse to build community and find a sense locally of security.?
Transition Towns work by relocalizing businesses and individuals working together in the community to help each other, explains Robbins.
Transition Towns got its start in Totnes, England in 2006. Residents there have developed sustainable local food sources and local currency, for example.
Robbins said the first step to becoming a Transition Town would be for local residents to rediscover the resources already here. Shopping locally, growing your own food or buying locally grown food, as well as learning new skills that are old skills such as canning, are good places to start, she notes. Transition Towns also advocate the use of less gas and more local energy sources such as wind turbines.
Details: 248-240-6083 or email Pam at kilbargers@hotmail.com.