Happiness of the Commons

The Buy Nothing Project calls itself the world’s largest free-goods platform, is transforming how people consume. In this episode, Katie shares why she loves the Buy Nothing initiative, and shares ideas for how to get involved in your local sharing economy.

How to get involved:

The Buy Nothing platform includes Buy Nothing Facebook groups and the Buy Nothing app, available on iOS, Android, and the web.

References

The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Book

Study shows that knowing as few of 6 neighbours improves sense of belonging

Music Produced by Mason Jay

You've probably heard Alanna reference Bike Bus in past episodes. Today's mini episode gets into what a bike bus is, how to start one, and some independence wins we've seen since starting our bike bus.

Resources

Bike Bus World

Velo Canada Bikes Panel

Alanna shares her story of a biking accident that flipped her summer upside down. She shares what happened, how she has leaned on her community, and a few infrastructure considerations to improve safe transportation

References

What is 5A?

What are Bird and Lime Scooters

In this solo episode, Katie explores the ways the term "Introvert" gets scapegoated as a way to excuse the habit of declining invites and staying home for the sake of ease and comfort. She brings in her Psychology lens, with discussions about habit formation, social anxiety, avoidance, and the benefits of showing up.

References

Christabel Mintah-Galloway https://www.instagram.com/p/DZX6InHGoYA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Alanna and Katie chat about community building for teens. They chat about the benefits of volunteering for teens, opportunities like youth groups and guides, and how adults can be positive mentors to teens.

References

Survey published in 2020

The Anxious Generation

Wait until 8th

Music produced by Mason Jay

Alanna and Katie chat about safetyism, some of the potential reasons "kids don't go outside anymore", and explore the benefits of fostering independence so kids can forge their own community spaces.

Music produced by Mason Jay

Have you ever thought about where you go for support first? Is it your real life network, or is it your online network?

In this episode we explore the ways support is needed in the postpartum period, the way our culture tells us to seek expertise over community care, and chat about the concept of "paying for the village".

Mentions

@thisfamilytree

@kidswhoexplore

Music by Mason Jay

Katie and Alanna explore the concept of "The Sidewalk Ballet" in neighbourhoods like Brooklyn, NY and the very famous neighbourhood of their dreams: Sesame Street.

They explore building community in the suburbs, and share some creators to check out to learn more on this topic.

99% Invisible U is for Urbanism episode

Music Produced by Mason Jay

In this episode, Alanna and Katie discuss how housing structures impact community. Using Katie’s recent move and Calgary’s contentious rezoning public hearing, they explore how car dependency adds major hidden costs, limits access to schools, groceries, coffee shops, and transit, and contributes to loneliness. They connect housing to transit investment, safety for kids, and walkable design, and highlight testimony from seniors and disability advocates who want to downsize or access care without losing the community connections they have in their neighborhoods.

Link to Alanna's presentation at council.

Link to Stephanie's (disability advocate) presentation at council hearing on repealing rezoning for housing.

Loneliness Health Impacts

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5831910/

Music produced by Mason Jay

What do community leaders look like? What do they do for us? How can we support them?

Katie and Alanna explore these questions and more in this episode. They discuss community builders, activists, artists, and disability advocates as a few examples, and discuss practical ways we can all support leaders who make things happen.

Music Produced by Mason Jay