Question: How does a solarpunk city exchange goods with other solarpunk communities across the globe?
Answer: The members of an Ethical Purchasing Group (EPG) get their heads together and send a purchase request directly to consortia of small producers, who prepare the orders and get in touch with transport cooperatives for shipment. Federated platforms help EPGs and producers to keep in touch and plan regular and ad-hoc shipments in the most effective and efficient way. Sailing ships, traditionally built or high-tech, ply the routes of the Mediterranean, hopping from port to port to load and unload all sorts of goods. They belong to cooperatives who collect shipments directly from local producers. Once in port, the crews unload the goods on cargo trains which carry them towards regional exchange centres and cargo railyards.
Here, local cooperatives load them on cargo filobus, which use green energy directly from the federated mains to carry them to various neighbourhoods, towns and villages on their route. Delegates from the EPGs go fetch their purchases from designated cargo bus stops, on their cargo bikes, electric or not, or with carts, wheelbarrows and whatever else is at hand, and bring them to the EPG meeting hall, where they are distributed among all members. In turn, local producers hand over their goods to the transport cooperatives, so that they can start their trip in the reverse direction towards communities near and far. Exchanges are planned to be fair and equal from the outset.