"Chief Executive of the Ākina Foundation, Louise Aitken, is excited by the changing attitudes that are moving companies away from business models that focus solely on financial return, and also take social and environmental impact into account."
I'm in Thailand working on product development for my #socialenterprise, Morph. (morphbags.com) Here's the latest, a yoga mat tote made from nylon banner manufacturing waste. (Everything we make is #upcycled from waste.)
It's comfy, holds a lot and has pockets inside to keep things organized, and it's easy to stow and remove your yoga mat.
If you have any feedback, thoughts are welcome and RTs are wildly appreciated! :)
@Linux_Is_Best
I agree that LMDE does not receive as much love as it deserves. I started out as a #LMDE user at first but ended up switching to the Ubuntu-based #LinuxMint. Nowadays, all of @saharasahelfoods desktops run on LinuxMint. Works great. Intuitive enough for new coworkers with little previous IT experience, and based on #opensource technology which suites us as #socialenterprise.
One 'detail' I think is crucial to the way we advocate for degrowth is how different small business is from big business.
Most small business is not really 'capitalist' at all - it is not very different from traders, artisans, musicians, etc, that worked in pre-capitalist economic systems. In the small business development/investment world, practitioners always try to distinguish 'growth' and 'lifestyle' businesses - they are looking for the actually rare 'growth businesses' that will repay their input. But most small businesses are in fact 'lifestyle businesses' - people that want to make a living doing something they love, and hopefully are good at, that serves and is pretty integrated in a local (or online) community, and has no desire to either grow too big or make vast fortunes. Such businesses would be sustainable in an economy where money actually had the 'means of exchange' function most people think it has.
I read a survey of UK public attitudes to business a while back - I recall 96% of respondents trusted small business - but only about half trusted big business. I think the latter would be less now - and I think this is a door that might be pushed open.
The system is upside down!
Anti-capitalist but market-oriented organisations like #coops and #socialenterprise necessarily have an ambivalent relationship to the business development, investment, etc, legal/financial infrastructure. But they are important, because they enable people that are repelled by greed and exploitation to experience and understand the rewards of enterprise.
Tailored support is available in the UK - but it's 'a curate's egg' - good in places. There is though interesting stuff going on, like 'the Preston model' - public bodies using local small businesses, and especially co-ops and social enterprises, to supply products and deliver services, instead of dealing with multinationals. Such anti-multinational activism should be central to the environment movement.
i have a lot of ideas that never get off the ground because i'm shit at promotion. the latest is a befriending service for elderly/housebound people where someone visits & they listen & share music with each other. #befriending#music#records#society#socialEnterprise#ageing#aging