A Return To The Medieval System Of Bartering For Goods And Services Has Been Called For At A Three Day Conference

Tim Eiloart lists the principles of the green economy.

In a brief interview in a riverside garden at St Ives in Cambridgeshire, Tim Eiloart lists the basics of the green economy which can become personal principles enabling people to live differently and enjoy life. He mentions self-sufficiency, such as growing your own food and mending your own car. He suggests lowering expectations without lowering enjoyment, comparing a bike ride favourably with a car ride. He recommends thinking in terms of the informal economy such as bartering and giving service instead of always charging for it. Tim Eiloart talks about the work / life balance, suggesting that people do more of the things they enjoy, perhaps opting to work more flexible hours or share a job. Asked to sum up the principles of a green economy, he says ‘small is beautiful’, ‘do it yourself if you can’, ‘is it really needed?’ and ‘enjoy life’. He says it would completely transform our economy if people asked themselves these questions every day before going to work. These ideas would have seemed alternative and radical at the time. The context for this interview was a three-day conference organised by Tim Eiloart which considered, amongst other things, a return to bartering for goods and services. The reporter was Greg Barnes for this video made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Work; Work / life balance; Flexible working; Job share; Green economics; Green thinking; Happiness; Capitalism; The Economy; Environmentalism; Change; Alternative culture; Conferences; Bartering

Additional Description

In 1960 Tim Eiloart founded Cambridge Consultants Ltd (CCL), the first independent UK contract research and development company. As an intermediary between Cambridge University and industry, the company became a founding influence for the Cambridge Phenomenon, the proliferation of specialised hi-tech companies in the Cambridge area. Along with others who saw where the digital revolution might lead, Tim Eiloart was interested in the possibility of changed working patterns and life/work priorities. By the time this news item was broadcast in 1983, Tim was a founder of the Molesworth peace camp and becoming involved in Green politics and campaigning for the Green Party across the region. In 1986 he started an arid land recovery trust to research low-tech, affordable devices for use in developing countries alongside an emphasis on simple-living and self-sufficiency. Timothy March Beaupré Eiloart, engineer and altruist, born 29 December 1936; died 4 March 2009 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/may/28/obituary-tim-eiloart https://greenreading.wordpress.com/category/sunseed-tim-eiloart-obituary/ https://livesretold.co.uk/timothy-eiloart This Green CND brochure from 1983 summarises many aspects of green thinking at the time https://green-history.uk/component/phocadownload/file/218 Tim Eiloart’s address on his publications was Rivermill House, St.Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, perhaps the location for this interview.