3 possible keys to Degrowing tree work

A prerequisite to understanding the concrete suggestions below is to have some understanding of Degrowth as a political philosophy, which can be found in the Wikipedia article here . Put broadly, Degrowth suggests that GDP and economic growth isn't a good foundation for a healthy society or ecosystems. I have some concrete ideas ideas about how to Degrow residential tree work (at least in the Northeast United States--as in all visions of a more sustainable future, bioregionalism is paramount) and here they are in a relatively unedited format (this is a blog):

• Decouple utility and luxury tree work. Stop doing luxury tree work and make utility tree work free at the point of service.

Utility tree work I would define as anything necessary for the health & safety of people and ecosystems: hazard tree removal, removal for insect and disease purposes, structure pruning near structures, etc. Luxury tree work is anything people want "just because": peace-of-mind removals far from structures, aesthetic pruning, fertilizing of ornamental trees. Make utility tree work a publically-owned utility paid for by taxes (until we get rid of the cash economy altogether).

• Get rid of competition and set up regional "territories" for arborists to minimize transit time and energy usage. If arborists in one area aren't "as good", just give them more training.

I've spent so much of my time in commercial arboriculture driving hours to towns that have perfectly good tree care companies based there, in the name of "competition" or clients seeking the "best company" or whatever. It's so silly! Make arboriculture a neighborhood service.

• Leave trimmings and wood on-site or reuse them locally wherever possible.

I've already written about this pretty extensively on this pretty young blog, so I won't get into this one too much. But minimize transport of wood and operate out of the smallest type of transit necessary for the job. Bonus points if this is a bike or a bus or a subway.

Anyways, in my opinion, we need to move towards a carbon-zero future which will require all of us to simultaneously do less work, more work, often different work, and make sure that all the work we do is completely necessary. This will look different for every sector of every industry, and probably change over time, but these are some interventions that I believe could happen tomorrow if there was political will.