How do cooperatives help build sustainable communities?
Cooperatives help build sustainable communities on three levels: economic, environmental and social. Economic Sustainability: Communities have a strong, sustainable economic life when money and resources are retained within the community. Cooperatives help increase a community’s resources because they are often locally owned and controlled. Jobs, profits, and resources stay in the community longer because the cooperative members who control the cooperative are community members. Environmental Sustainability: Many cooperatives are dedicated to moving toward a future that ensures generations to come a healthy stock of environmental and natural resource assets. Some co-ops are dedicated to helping individuals adopt more responsible patterns of consumption, thereby consuming fewer resources. Others are supporting practices that return value to our environmental resources. Examples include energy, food and agricultural cooperatives. Social Sustainability: Cooperatives help to build the skil
