Design Flaws: "new industries are needed fast"

According to a recent email, London is soon to receive another blow related to job losses:

     ... we just heard that Kellogg's will be closing in 2014.
     It should be all over the news in a couple of hours....
     another 500 people out of work!!

["The sun is setting on another important industry"]

Just like much of London's infrastructure (e.g., narrow city streets, built in the 1800s, and often unable to accommodate wider modern-day cars, trucks, buses, etc., along with cyclists), some parts of our local industry have seen better days. Established long ago, suitable for local and provincial needs (and often more) for many years, they are now being bought up by conglomerates or down-sized or discarded, among other things. London's economy and job climate have suffered many blows over the last number of years and the loss of Kellogg's adds to the city's woes.

Maybe we have to think more locally when it comes to jobs. Whatever the case, we certainly have to think fast.

What can we design and build and sell that will suit local and provincial or international needs, now and in the future, especially as more people are facing lower incomes, now and later? I'm thinking, I'm thinking... re basic needs et al: Food, clothing, shelter, transportation, communication, recreation, social, intellectual, mental, physical, medical, spiritual and more. What can we do in a sustainable way that is within our skill set and fits with a smaller lifestyle, lower-average-income and community-focussed future?

     produce more of our own food
     and sell at local markets

     produce more of our own clothing
     and sell at local markets

     produce smaller, more affordable houses;
     800 sq. ft. and less

["Small house; but add solar panels, made in London"]

     produce furniture, appliances, plumbing, etc.,
     for smaller scale houses

     produce solid bicycles and smaller cars,
     trucks and delivery vans on three wheels

     produce a solid camera/phone/computer that
     can be repaired locally with sliding scale financing,
     i.e., the longer you have it the less it costs to operate

And so on, and so on. We can do this. Fix the flaws. Make a living.

Psst. While we're talking about design flaws. I don't like these upside down plastic bottles. They generally squirt more than I want, not always where I want. What would the ideal mustard container look like?

Photos by GH

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Please click here to read Design Flaws: a better solution re bike lanes