Putting time to good use

If we spend less, or waste less, then we don't need to trade away so much of our lives for dollars.

So what are the other options for our time? Recently I've been looking at social enterprises - businesses whose primary goal is a social outcome rather than a profit.

Last month I reviewed the Fruit Butcher. Today I'm looking at the ground-breaking work of Green Fox Studio - who I also discovered at a local social enterprise showcase.

Who are Green Fox Studio?

Green Fox Studio trains and employs people to do graphic and digital design.

By itself that sounds unremarkable but Green Fox has a difference. Their students and designers are serving time.

How does that work?

We like to think prison somehow sets people straight. But 46% of people in prison end up re-offending and returning to prison. Others end up homeless. Many have reduced employment prospects due to their record.

Most organisations aren't willing to train or employ people with a criminal record. Green Fox studios is.

So how's it going?

Green Fox is now an award-winning studio and has trained 60 people. Less than 2% have returned to jail (compared to the usual 46%).

The cost of a studio which trains and employs 28 people is less than the cost to keep one person in jail.

They now operated in two states in Australia and are looking to expand, and help more people turn their life around.

In short

I was really touched by this initiative. It makes such an amazing difference. I wondered why something like this hasn't happened earlier.

I guess it's because Amanda and Kelly had the time and space to come up with this idea and make it happen. I guess this is what you can do when you're not spending every hour earning money to buy stuff you don't need.

Comments

Less Clutter More Cash - now available

Do you feel like you have too much stuff? Is your home full of things you never use? Would you like to swap them for cash? We did My wife and I have sold more than 550 items online as we downsize and we've learnt a bit along the way. I've put some of our best tips into this handy ebook. I hope you can use these tips so you too can have less clutter and more cash. Enter your email address below to receive the book for free. Less Clutter More Cash Get my new ebook for free. PS. This will subscribe to the But Wait There's Less email list, so you'll know when the new updated version of the book is available. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Big motivator for small living

It's been a while between posts here - mainly because we've been moving house. It's been a real motivator for downsizing. Packing each and every item we owned, really makes me wish there were fewer of them. Moving everything from the old apartment to the new one made me envious of those people who live in a "tiny house on wheels". For them moving house simply means towing it to a new location. No packing required. The whole process has reaffirmed our commitment to owning less stuff. So we're going to be intentional about downsizing. It will be an ongoing activity. My environmental heart couldn't stomach a spontaneous dumping of things into the garbage, but it's also more fun this way. Selling things online brings in some handy pocket money. Giving items away is also a great community activity, whether it is to friends and family, to charity or to people in the neighbourhood. I'm looking forward to it as a lifestyle rather than a task to do....

The 'keys' to happiness

At the moment my wife is practising a song. She'll be performing it on piano at the upcoming wedding of a friend. She wants to do lots of practice so it can be just great for the day. But we don't own a piano. At this point the material world says "Well, go out and buy one". But these days there are many more options. After a couple of practices on a friend's piano we put out the call on Streetbank - a community site for people to share things with their neighbours. Within a day we had a couple of offers of a keyboard to borrow. It's a great solution as it was free for us, and made use of keyboards that were just sitting around unused. One was so unused that the owner said he would test if it still worked before he lent it to us. I'm told that Aristotle once said that joy was in use not in ownership. I think this is a good example of that philosophy in action. Although sometimes I question if it's "joy" to hear the same song pract...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog