Tag Archives: Comox Strathcona Regional District

The Cortes Island Free Store

What is it? When Will it return? And What would it take to make the Free Store more Resilient for the Future?

Are you thinking and wondering about the Free Store? If you live on Cortes island, the answer is probably yes. Are you drowning in stuff, or down to two bowls in a household of four people? Every week, there are new theories as to what happened to the Free Store: where it went, what will take to get it back, and also exciting possibilities to use the Free Store model to grow Cortes Island: for keeping resources local, making better use of what the island has and reducing the amount of stuff shipped off Island. 

Continue reading The Cortes Island Free Store

How Community Decisions Were Made

The process behind a revision of Cortes Island’s Community Plan has been cited as an extreme example of how community decisions were made. According to the most recent (2012) version, “During the winter of 1983 and the spring of 1984, the APC (Advisory Planning Commission) and other community volunteers proceeded to assess the current community feelings concerning zoning regulations through an extensive questionnaire, including the tabulation and reporting of the results to the community, conducting seven question and answer evenings in homes throughout the island …”

Continue reading How Community Decisions Were Made