Transition Whatcom

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Working together to rebuild resilience in Bellingham and all of Whatcom County.

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Community Resience starts with Seeds

Posted by Terri Wilde on March 21, 2022 at 3:03pm 0 Comments

Salish Seeds .....Local Community Seed Project

The Salish Seed Guild has started a remarkable project toward local food security. We are collectively growing out useful seed for home gardeners that are selected for and adapting to Whatcom County.  We knew at the beginning of the pandemic that it was well time to take our community's sustainability seriously. While we had been organizing Bellingham's community seed swap for years, much of the seed shared was last year's left overs from…

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Interview with Larry Korn, Author of One Straw Revolutionary - May 2016

Posted by David Pike on January 18, 2020 at 5:18pm 0 Comments



An Interview with Larry Korn, Author of One-Straw Revolutionary

May 4th 2016

By: David Pike



Since The One-Straw Revolution was published in 1978 it has been translated into more than 25 languages and sold over one million copies worldwide. In “One-Straw” as the book has been dubbed, Mr. Masanobu Fukuoka presented an entirely new approach to agriculture which he called “natural farming.” After 25 years of research and trials he demonstrated he could achieve yields…

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Ten Weeks In

Posted by Rick Dubrow on September 22, 2017 at 4:07pm 0 Comments

Succession came to pass on July 1st, ten weeks ago. A-1 Builders, Inc. is now A-1 Builders, A Design/Build, Worker-Owned Cooperative!  My former employees are now my bosses! For the time being I’m helping the new team deal with marketing on a part time basis; my hours worked per week since July 1st has been on the order of working 1/4 hour a week!  Can’t really call this ‘part time’; I think I’ll call it ‘microscopic time’.

Perhaps in other…

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Slow Sand Fresh Water Filter

Posted by David Culver on November 22, 2016 at 6:54pm 1 Comment

I live in an all-electric home and when the power grid is out we have nothing. No water, no sewer, lights, cooking or anything else. I will have a generator to run sparingly to keep the freezer and the refrigerator going. Our home is a passive solar home with great insulation.

If the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake happens, the grid could be out for a year. During that time, with the well pump not working, we will need a source of clean fresh water.

A slow sand filter, made…

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Second Aid: Lessons Learned From Past Adventures

Posted by Rick Dubrow on November 3, 2016 at 11:51am 0 Comments

All too often I’ll run into another hiker and the following conversation ensues:

“How many nights are you staying out?”

“None… I hope. We’re on a day hike.”

“Then why are you carrying so large a pack?

Allow me to unpack my answer… an answer that addresses situations well beyond wilderness travel. An answer that extends into my settled, civilized life as well.  Why, at home, are Cindi and I prepared for a major natural or…

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Welcome to Transition Whatcom's Community Networking Site!

This is a community networking site for those interested in helping us achieve our vision of resilient and more self-reliant communities throughout Whatcom County with a local food supply, sustainable energy sources, a healthy local economy, and a growing sense of vitality and community well-being.

About Transition Whatcom

See Transition Whatcom sponsored events here

Did you know??

You can find other TW members in your neighborhood by typing your neighborhood into the search box on the Members page.

To learn more about Transition Whatcom, Start Here


We aim to unleash the collective genius of our community to find the answers to this momentous question:

For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we...

Dramatically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change);
Significantly increase resilience (in response to resource scarcity);
Greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?

Transition Initiatives make no claim to have all the answers, but by building on the wisdom of the past and accessing the pool of ingenuity, skills and determination in our communities, the solutions can readily emerge. Now is the time for us to take stock and to start re-creating our future in ways that are not based on cheap, plentiful and polluting oil but on localized food, sustainable energy sources, resilient local economies and an enlivened sense of community well-being.

 

To learn more about the issues, start here

(Why Transition, Peak Oil, Climate Change, Economy, Peak Everything)

Latest Activity

Sustainable Connections posted an event

Housing Week at Multiple Locations

October 14, 2025 to October 17, 2025
The Whatcom Housing Alliance is thrilled to announce the return of Housing Week – a series of 15 events held from October 14th  to 17th. Scheduled events include:Tours of the Lighthouse Mission, North Haven Tiny Home Community, Way Station, and Middle Housing in the Lettered StreetsWorkshops focused on building and renting ADUs, cohousing, and aging in placePresentations on housing legislation and resilient affordable housingVisit our website for a full schedule and to register for these…See More
Thursday
David MacLeod posted an event

Sustainability Social Hour at Structures Brewing

September 17, 2025 from 5pm to 7pm
Sustainability Social Hour at Structures BrewingSeptember 17, 2025, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pmLocation: Structures Brewing – Old Town (601 W Holly St, Bellingham)Sustainability Social Hours are casual, drop-in networking events designed to foster joy, connection and collaboration in the sustainability space (which is too often all doom and gloom).…See More
Sep 12
David MacLeod updated an event
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Permaculture Tour and Regenerate Whatcom Meet-Up at Aaron Silverberg, Columbia Neighborhood

September 26, 2025 from 4pm to 7pm
A Free gathering time for People interested in Permaculture and Integrated Land Management to come together and discuss ideas. After the tour we invite you to stay for a discussion about Regenerate Whatcom's recent acceptance as a "Landscape Group" within the Regenerate Cascadia framework. Read more here. This month, come visit the Columbia neighborhood in Bellingham to see the home of our…See More
Sep 12
Kathy Hasenjaeger is attending David MacLeod's event
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Permaculture Tour and Regenerate Whatcom Meet-Up at Aaron Silverberg, Columbia Neighborhood

September 26, 2025 from 4pm to 7pm
A Free gathering time for People interested in Permaculture and Integrated Land Management to come together and discuss ideas. After the tour we invite you to stay for a discussion about Regenerate Whatcom's recent acceptance as a "Landscape Group" within the Regenerate Cascadia framework. Read more here. This month, come visit the Columbia neighborhood in Bellingham to see the home of our…See More
Sep 9
David MacLeod updated an event
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Rally for Public Lands Featuring xaalh Way of the Masks at Maritime Heritage Park

September 6, 2025 from 12pm to 3pm
Update: New Location and Time.We are honored to announce the Our Shared Lands rally will now host the kickoff event for the 2025 Way of the Masks campaign with Lummi master carver Jewell James. Come to Maritime Heritage Park to hear about this year's totem pole journey that brings attention to the Trump administration's threats to Indigenous lands, waters, forests, and lifeways in the Pacific Northwest. …See More
Sep 5
Erica Lamont is attending David MacLeod's event
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Regenerative By Design (Whatcom Water Week) at Inspiration Farm

September 14, 2025 from 3pm to 6pm
Regenerative by Design: How Water, Soil, and Carbon Cycles Shape Our Hope for the FutureThis is the 2nd event in the Regenerate Whatcom series, "Walking Whatcom Waters." Step into the living Water integrated landscape designed at Inspiration Farm. Join Brian Kerkvliet, regenerative farmer, educator, and co-steward of this permaculture demonstration site, for a grounded…See More
Sep 5
David MacLeod posted events
Sep 5
David MacLeod is attending Aaron Silverberg's event
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Produce Swap - Columbia Share Shack at Columbia Share Shack

September 7, 2025 from 10am to 2pm
Bring any produce you've grown/collected and/or food products you've crafted to swap and/or gift to one another.  A box and a small tablecloth/towel would be good too to display your items (and transport the ones you gather...).  I encourage people to stay as long as possible to conduct trades in person to build relationships that could lead to ongoing forms of mutual support. (the "Alternative" economy!) The Share Shack was created to encourage/facilitate sustainable community, which to me…See More
Sep 5
 
 
 

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When Policy Fails, People Step Up – Inside ARC’s Rural Resilience Project

The Rural Resilience project brings together a small but highly committed team working to connect the dots – between farmers and funders, researchers and regional leaders. In the face of centralised decision-making and extractive business models, our work aims to ensure local realities inform European decisions. 

How journalism facilitates action

Journalism at its best doesn’t demand credit. It demands results. And it earns them by doing the mundane things that make democracies and markets less blind: showing up, listening, checking, publishing, and then following up until the record itself begins to do the work.

When Did Societal Elites Emerge?

The late Stone Age is not commonly associated with socially stratified societies, yet archaeologist Mehmet Özdoğan argues social and political elites were already shaping communities when humans began farming.

The Macavity of Degrowth – Waste, the Empire that isn’t there…

If a theoretical economy relies on the exchange of intended things, a profitable economy relies on the waste produced by the production, distribution and sale of those things.

Clean Energy?

Yes, care work does include crafting our energy systems. But that’s just one part of caring — and, really, it’s not as important as many of the other things.

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