Coops

After all this fanfare about the car-coop, the question is… what exactly is a cooperative? The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) defines a coop as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.” Did you feel that heart warming sensation too? And just wait, it gets better. A cooperative is based upon 7 principles:

1) Voluntary and Open Membership

2) Democratic Member Control

3) Member Economic Participation

4) Autonomy and Independence

5) Education, Training and Information

6) Co-operation among Co-operatives

7) Concern for Community.

This list is all well and good. But what really differentiates a coop from a membership based retailer?

Costco Vs. Coop

Until recently, I was sure Costco was a co-op. But what separates membership based corporations from say a cooperative Car-Coop are the 7 principles. When you buy a $400 membership at the Car-Coop, you’re buying shares. Yes, your money not only goes directly into getting what you want—convenient and affordable transportation— but also gives you the opportunity to vote on how the Car-Coop is run. Your membership to Costco does not buy you shares in Costco.

Another big difference: A Costco shareholder’s number of votes depends on the number of shares they hold. Everyone who is a part of a coop usually has only one share and only one vote. Also, while Costco is a publicly traded company and their shares depend on the market, the Car-Coop’s shares are bought through membership and prices are set by the coop. Already we see principle 2 and 3 at work.

"Coop"-eration

How about the principle of cooperation. While a store like Costco is a business competing with other like businesses, the Car-Coop forges alliances with other cooperatives. Case and point: the alliance between the Vancouver, Revelstoke, and other car-shares with the Victoria Car-Share. Rather than competing for business, they are working together to provide more accessible and convenient services for its members. This does not mean that a cooperative is not a competitive business model. It does make a profit in order to sustain the services it provides. However, a cooperative model seems to recognize that sustainable and productive growth that benefits its members can come from a combination of marketing and cooperation.

A Cooperative by definition also engages in community education and community support. The nature of the coop itself is that of community. It brings people together, gives people an equal voice in the running of the coop and strives to make connections with other cooperatives. The car-coop, by its very nature, teaches people about conservation, resource use reduction, cooperation, and community. Often cooperatives will also engage in other community activities outside of the cooperative, much like responsible businesses do as well.

A Couple Of Coop Options

As a viable business model, the cooperative seems to work. The Car Coop is constantly expanding, making new connections, increasing its fleet of cars and its membership base. Another case and point— just look at the Mountain Equipment Coop. You purchase a $5 membership (one share in the company) and you have one vote in how the coop is run and you know that your purchases (of the membership and products) go towards providing you continuous access to quality products at a reduced price. And at the end of the day, you can be rest assured that the Mountain Equipment Coop is a strong business and here to stay. What makes me so sure? Their huge base of members, constant revenue, and their smart and ethical business practices (but that's a whole separate post in and of itself).

Other co-operatives have been formed by people not quite satisfied by the services they receive from private business models. For example, there are health cooperatives popping up here and there. The Victoria Community Health Cooperative seeks “to offer integrative, primary health care education and services that are accessible to all Victorians through membership with, and participation in” the cooperative. The cooperative takes the approach that individuals should have a say in the management of the organizations providing health assistance and should have affordable access to integrative and holistic health options if they choose to use them. Ownership over how your health care system is run… maybe it’s not such a bad idea on a certain scale...

What do you think about the cooperative model? What does or does not make it a good business model? And for you Americans, what do you think about this idea of health cooperatives? These marmots don’t know a whole lot about them yet, but they can do some digging for sure.

Thanks for reading! Happy Greening!

Victoria Car-Share

After years of heming and hawing about trading in my Hawaii driver’s license, I finally sidled into ICBC, waited in the shortest DMV line I’ve ever been in and came out with a yellow sheet of paper saying I was a valid BC driver.

Great! Except I don’t have a car— or really any good reason to buy one. I live close enough to bike or walk to work, Victoria has an excellent public transit system, and most importantly, I have friends with cars.

For the last five years, living in Victoria sans car worked perfectly— that is until IT hit: the desire to go beyond the bus route.

To rent or co-op?

In March, the British Columbia Institute of Cooperative Studies (BCICS) at UVic organized a conference on co-operative models. It was here that I learned about the (and not to be biased or anything) amazing, Victoria Car-Share. This model, adopted across north america, is a way for infrequent drivers to save money, save the environment, and still get to those out of the way places when the desire hits. For my first, “oh shucks neither of us who want to go to the middle of nowhere old growth forest camping have a car,” trip I was daunted by the idea of investing $400 (fully refundable when you leave the co-op) and decided I’d go with the one time rent a car.

Clearly not my brightest moment.

Renting seemed like a good idea (don’t ask why) until I actually went to pick up the car and found out that due to my age (under 25), I had to pay a per diem premium. The total to rent a car for just 3 days exceeded the initial (and let me remind you again, refundable) investment I would’ve had to make had I just joined to car co-op. Plus I had to pay for the gas— it was a hunking $100 tank.

Was I ever kicking myself.

The CFL bulb finally lit up

For the subsequent camping trip with my fellow carless companion, I wisened up. I called the car co-op on a Tuesday and had an appointment for an orientation session that Thursday. I could and did book a car by Friday.

I booked the car for a three day trip to Sombrio (the same amount of time for the car rental to Carmanah Valley). What was the cost? 202.83. This includes the time for the car and the milage (Sombrio wracks up quite the milage). A couple weeks later I rented it for a two hour move and spent a few cents over $10 for the use of the car. While it’s priceless to be able to lend a hand to a move, it’s even better when there’s next to no price at all!

The good news:

At the end of the day I don’t have to worry about paying for insurance or car maintenance. I just book a car, hop in, and drive away.

The even better news:

With 18 different cars throughout Victoria, there is probably one or more within walking distance from your home or work. There are three vehicles within a 5-10 minute walk from me.

The great news:

You’re building community by engaging in a socially responsible co-operative model with other people from your vicinity.

The how can it possibly get any better news:

If you’re thinking about heading to Vancouver, Nelson, Kaslo, or Revelstoke and you need a car— well, with your Victoria Car-Share membership, you can also car-share with the coops in these areas. I might just go to Revelstoke-- just for the heck of it. Anyone know what's there? (Just kidding).

To sum it up:

Thanks to the Victoria Car-Share, this marmot is a much happier camper.

How bout you?

Have you had an experience with a co-op recently? Opinions on the co-op model? How about you Americans down south? Any opinions on medical co-ops? These marmots would like to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading! Happy greening!

Norman Bourlag and the Green Revolution

You’ve probably read the headlines. Norman Bourlag, the face of the Green Revolution, passed away last Saturday. This week, instead of just looking at the detrimental effects of the Green Revolution, themarmotmurmurs would like to look at the intent behind the Green Revolution.

A Road Paved With Good Intentions

The green revolution, for all the flack it gets now, started out as an idealist notion that countries should be able to provide food for its people. Not even nature should limit a person’s access to food. Mr. Bourlag's work on new strains of wheat undeniably provided affordable food to millions of people, including people in India, the Middle East, Africa, and here in North America. He is now, as ever, well deserving of his Nobel Peace Prize.

The good intentions quickly disappeared behind the greed of agro-businesses. Food began to be produced in mass quantities, not to feed the masses but to line the pockets of a few at the expense of the workers who harvested and tended the crops, at the expense of smaller, local farmers, at the expense of landowners who were evicted from their homes, and the people surrounding the agro-business’ plots who could not afford the food being produced in their back yard. The use of pesticides and GMOs of course had detrimental environmental effects such as endangering indigenous and heritage crops. Such crops are not only important to the environment, but often important to specific cultures as well. And undoubtedly such widespread use of pesticides introduced poisons into the soil and water supplies.

Despite good intentions, what the green revolution did not recognize was that nature is not the only limiting factor in a person’s access to food. Today many people recognize that limiting factors include environmental degradation caused by human contact, poverty and prices of food, disease and conflict, poor infrastructure, embargoes, a lack of farms, a lack of financial support to farmers, and a lack of ability or resources to produces one’s own food. The list could go on.

The equation should’ve been simple: higher crop yield = cheaper + more accessible produce. The equation did not factor in a global market that would exploit land, environmental and human health, labour, and economic circumstances of capitally poorer nations and regions….

Ooops.

Okay, so this post did focus on the negatives… but I’d like to remind you that the green revolution was built with good intentions. I respect Mr. Bourlag for his vision, for his brilliance, and for his compassion. And as with most great visions, it is not always the fault of the visionary that the vision has a detrimental side.

But as with all ideas promising sweeping changes, we must always consider the possible consequences. We must consider what it means to drastically and intentionally shape nature. We must consider the effects such changes will have on individuals directly engaged in the movement, those engaged in the production, and those who might be indirectly affected. While there is no crystal ball for all of this, the lessons from the Green and Blue revolution alike can provide helpful hints for future endeavors.

And how about you?

What will you do today to support food security? Will you join the good food box? Will you plant a garden? Will you go to your local farmer’s market? Do you have a brilliant solution to widespread hunger?

Thoughts?

Thoughts or comments about the green revolution?

Thoughts or comments on the blog? Should we head back to the reviewing of delicious things around the city? Any suggestions on the next yummy place we should hit up? Really, marmots just want an excuse to eat.

Best Book Review Job... Ever (that might be a hyperbole)

Are you deep in the midst of an eco-friendly book? Are you endowed with a love of the environment and the written word? Do you have a basic grasp on grammar and structure? If so... this might be the job for you.

If I had the qualifications to assess any of these books, I know I'd jump at this. I'm sure at least a few of our readers out there have a talent, experiential knowledge, and drive for this so without futher ado.... check out this call for book reviews.