By Sarah Kear Peel
What's the best way to get people back to work? The WPA was America's answer in the 1930s.
Before the colour green became synonymous with either money or the environmental movement, green was a symbol of hope, most likely because of its connection to spring. Green Spring returns with all its life after Dead Winter.
The other day I read about the most recent job growth statistics out of the United States. There was 0% growth in the U.S. in August 2011. Yikes.
Another scene from the frescoes at Coit Tower, San Francisco
Thinking about getting people back to work reminds me of a discovery I made while on vacation in San Francisco this summer. We were up on Telegraph Hill to check out the Art Deco beauty, Coit Tower. The view was great for sure, but what I was most moved by were the series of frescoes decorating the walls. Each one depicted a different aspect of Californian life in the 1930s from either a rural or urban perspective. This beautiful art was done not by one artist, but by 20+ artists as part of the Works Progress Administration program. Otherwise known as the WPA, it “employed millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects.”
Reading the plaque about the WPA at the Coit Tower, I couldn’t help but recall all the present day buzz about the Green Collar Jobs movement. It has been presented variously as a way to new job creation, transitioning the economy away from oil, and lifting up at-risk populations through skills training. To refresh your memory, check out this video from the Green For All coalition.
Most movement in the Green Jobs sector has been on the massive infrastructure scale. One such example waiting for thumbs-up in Ontario is the Feed In Tariff, or FIT, which will allow small-scale producers to create energy and sell it to the grid, is promised to create 50,000 new jobs (election dependent!). Large-scale projects are necessary to change the system, but what are the opportunities for small business in green? Green Hope can be small, too.
Edward Chew's Tetra Box Lampshade
For example, what kind of wealth can be created from one of humanity’s most plentiful resources – garbage and waste? Here’s my list:
- Habitat for Humanity Restore, and Kimberly Jackson furniture design, show how to make money from reclaiming materials from old homes, barns and unwanted renovation materials;
- Edward Chew makes lampshades that would look great in any contemporary home from tetra blocks;
- Not Far From The Tree harvests fruit from urban backyards and parks. In this case, value doesn’t come with an exchange of cash for their services, but rather from helping people save on their grocery bills, feeding hungry folks and helping them stay healthy with fresh fruit;
- ZooShare, one of the businesses ready to take advantage of the FIT program mentioned above, takes Toronto Zoo poo and turns it into biogas;
- Miranda Caroligne, (another of my San Francisco discoveries), and Rescued Designs, turn remnant fabrics destined for landfill into fabulously styled clothing;
- Boomerang Paint takes unused portions of domestic paints and stains, and recycles them into a range of high quality products ready for your walls and floors.
These are all small business ideas that do humanity a big favour. They take care of a massive problem – garbage – and reboot the economy with job creation at the same time. What others can you think of?
© 2012 
