The technologies of degrowth are technologies that ensure the same performance standards while reducing:
- Energy consumption;
- Raw materials consumption;
- Waste.
In Italy, about 200 kilowatt-hour (about 20 litres of heating oil or 20 cubic metres of natural gas) per square meter are consumed on average each year for room heating.
In Germany, in South Tyrol, and – during the last few years – in some Italian municipalities, it has been forbidden to build new constructions or to modernize existing ones if their heating consumption is more than 70 kilowatt-hour (7 litres/cubic metres). A well-built house, as those of Germany, consumes about two thirds less than a badly built one, but it needs a much more advanced technology to be built: a “degrowing” technology! This is also true for objects designed to be re-used or disassembled and recycled as many times as possible, be they washing machines, printers or microwave ovens. This kind of technology enables us to consume less raw materials and produce less waste!
As a matter of fact, degrowth does not imply going back to the stone age, but recovering the wisdom of the past and combining it with all the useful and clever things we have invented and will invent. Indeed, not everything that is new can be considered as “progress” (just think of plastic bags compared to cloth bags); on the other hand, not everything old is better than the new (in short, we don’t want to go back to using homing pigeons!).
Our movement aims at creating a network connecting all entrepreneurs willing to act in a degrowth perspective. You can also read and sign the appeal launched by MDF entrepreneurs, technicians, consultants and activists for a different economic policy.
[Tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkQtscx3K8Y&feature=plcp[/Tube]
Photo Via : https://unsplash.com/ – User: Asia Chang