Tiny Glimmers #5 - A WISE future for women
Let's imagine the future of IWD, without the corporate nonsense...
This week, I’m trying a different format and we’ll start right away with my letter from the future.
💌 Today's Letter is about a Future where women lead the fight against climate change.
Let’s take a trip to the year 2034…
[Wednesday, March 8th 2034, Frome, UK]
A WISE Way to Celebrate International Women’s Day
Today, I woke up to a quiet "ding" on my phone.
It was my bank wishing me a "Happy International Women's Day". And confirming that my £100 WISE payment from the government had arrived and was ready to be spent. Yay!
The WISE scheme (Women Investing in a Sustainable Earth) gives every citizen over the age of 12 £100 in cash. This money can be spent on any women-led small business or social enterprise, as long as they are actively working on the transition to a net zero world.
We can spend 50% locally and 50% to support projects in the global south.
It's one of my favourite days of the year and thankfully, a far cry from the corporate, pink consumer version of IWD in the 2010s and 2030.
In Frome, IWD is a big deal.
Most of our awesome women-led organisations celebrate with open houses, talks, workshops or parties.
It's so much fun!
And every year I'm completely knackered because I jump from event to event. Just like today:
🏊♀️ I started my day with a cold dip in the (almost clean again) river Frome organised by the Wild Women Swim Club.
🌱 I then had a lovely brunch at the Three Sisters Allotment Kitchen, who teach kids how to grow and cook healthy, planet-friendly meals.
☕️ Then I hosted a panel at our local Climate Café with some incredible female climate activists, scholars and leaders.
✂️ I finished my day with a workshop at the Upcycle School & Boutique where I turned my beloved old dungarees into a gardening apron.
I decided to use my WISE money to support our local Textile Reuse Network and their sister project which provides free sustainable period kits to climate refugees. They do amazing work.
Of course, inequality still exists. Feminists and Environmentalists still have a lot of work to do, but WISE is such a great step in the right direction.
The scheme was launched in the late 2020s when the government finally embedded climate justice as the foundation of all new policies. They realised that if we were serious about solving the climate crisis, women-owned enterprises would be key.
It's great for so many reasons:
It gives local small businesses and social enterprises an investment boost without the hassle of applying for grants or funding
It supports women locally and in the global south and other areas affected by climate change
It gives citizen agency and a say in which transition projects should receive an extra boost
It gives people a taste for a full Universal Basic Income which could become a reality in just a few years
It gets us one step closer to finally closing the gender pay gap once and for all
And it's a whole lot of fun!
I can hear music drifting down from the women's gym down the road and I'm so tempted to join in. But I'd better call it a day.
Happy International Women's Day to you!
Now let’s travel back to the present, March 2024
What inspired today’s future?
Of course, it’s International Women’s Day today and I wanted to commemorate it. But I’ve also been a little jaded by the corporate take-over of this important day of action.
I wanted to imagine a world where we wouldn’t get bombarded with pink discount codes for fast fashion companies that are exploiting women and girls in their factories.
And instead we supported the incredible women already working on a just transition to a brighter future.
In the past few months, I’ve also witnessed a bunch of incredible local businesses that had to shut their doors, despite being incredibly successful. Like restaurants that are booked out every day, but still can’t make ends meet because the margins are wafer thin and there’s not enough support for small businesses from the government.
I wanted to imagine what it would be like if governments supported small businesses instead of giving tax breaks to multi-nationals that are destroying our planet.
I enjoyed the trip to that future and I hope you did too!
✨ Let’s imagine together! And have a chat in the comments✨
If you can imagine celebrating IWD like this, please comment below and tell me about it!
Which events would you like to see?
Who would you like to support?
What would you do differently?
🍄 Signals of Change 🍄
Here are some real-life clues of why this future might become reality one day:
Why the world needs to invest in female climate entrepreneurs
Businesses with women in charge have a greater positive impact on climate change.
Female Entrepreneurs are key to overcoming climate change challenges
We need universal basic income to tackle the climate crisis
Small businesses have a crucial role to play in the battle against climate change
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Tiny Glimmer! If you have ideas for other topics, please let me know! I’d love to imagine them!
Have a lovely weekend!
Jenny
Last week I wrote about the future of fashion and Cher’s closet from Clueless. You can catch up here!