New markets to support sustainable lifestyles

An investors guide to supporting local action

Creation of a new market

At the risk of being too simplistic, all markets arise from a perception of need or desire, which leads to goods and services that offer to satisfy the demand. Thus our need for nutrients has created some of our oldest and biggest international markets such as agriculture and the many facets of the food and drink industries, our need for shelter is met by the clothing and housing markets, our desire to harness energy has led to over centuries to markets in tools, slaves, beasts of burden, as well as the extraction and sale of fossil fuels and our desire for intellectual stimulation has created market for both knowledge and entertainment. Currently, there is a greater awareness of the absolute necessity to maintain the global systems on which all human life depends. I would suggest that this is already the driver for at least one major existing market: ‘health’ and is leading to the creation of new markets in alternative means to satisfy our other needs and desires in more ‘sustainable’ ways.

Current and proposed legislation together with the conditions imposed on the distribution of public funds by national Government have caused the public sector to take account of and help to stimulate new developments in housing, energy use, waste management and transport and local government has also helped to meet a new demand for local food by encouraging ‘farmers markets’. The main purpose of some successful voluntary organisations is to meet this new demand for care for the local manifestations of the global system, of which the best example are Wildlife Trusts but this is also true of other local interest groups such as ‘Sustainable Staffordshire’ and the members of such organisations are potential consumers for private sector suppliers of goods and services that can help them to support their desire for more sustainable lifestyles. Below is a rough guide to what an investor wishing to explore these new markets might consider at this stage in their development.

Need or desire generating market	Type of Good or service demanded
Nutrients	Organic food & drink products Conservation & treatment of local water sources Distribution systems for local produce
Shelter	Locally produced clothing & building materials Reused & recycled clothing & building materials
Harnessed energy	Systems to use energy more efficiently Renewable energy generation & application
Knowledge & entertainment	Local access to services
Global life-support systems	Forestry Access to local nature reserves Healthcare for humans and other life-forms

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