Sustain This!

Support this work before December 3

2011-11-21T20:46:00.001-08:00

Garden Food for Food Shelves = Training for Urban Farmers

2011-11-07T13:41:00.003-08:00

I ain't got no shame when it comes to the awesome work that Dina & I have been doing as Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers. We're pioneering innovative new services for Twin Citians, yo! The people want food growing in their yards & we are bringing it to them!

Not only that, we've been making sure that folks who can't always afford fresh, organic food or garden coaches can have these things too. (In fact, we've got a funding campaign going on now through December 2. More on that below....)

The Ali family helping me plan beans for them

By partnering with Habitat for Humanity, we've been given the awesome opportunity to work with their homeowners on learning garden skills and growing their own vegetables in their own yards. My favorite family this year was the Ali family. They are immigrants from Somalia overflowing with enthusiasm for their new garden projects. Mahdi (the dad) is so stoked on his gardens that he's got plans to turn the whole yard over to food production - veggies, fruit trees, the works. Warms the heart!

We've also been providing produce to various local food shelves and hot meal programs. This summer we teamed up with two urban farming students from the Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate to grow about 200 lbs of healthy produce for the Division of Indian Labor's food shelf & The Aliveness Project's hot meal program, which serves folks diagnosed with HIV & AIDS.

Urban farmer grad, Anna, with her garden

And we want to do it all again! So help us out! Back us on Kickstarter. "What is Kickstarter?", you ask. Why it's an easy-to-use & fun website through which creative projects can get funded. When you back us on Kickstarter, you can sign up to receive one of our super cool rewards including garden coaching services, a veggie garden kit, pretty garden photo notecards & more.

So get on over to our Kickstarter page, make a pledge ($1? $100? $1000? More??!) & get a reward. Keep in mind that we only get funded if we reach (or exceed! :) our funding goal so be generous, pass it on & enjoy the updates. Thanks for helping Dina & I do the work that we love!

Making a long commute for the greater good...

2011-08-24T16:18:00.001-07:00

Taking bicycle commuting to a whole other level, starting the beginning of September, Cindy Gilbert, my coordinator at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Sustainable Design Program's, will ride 1000+ miles across the U.S. from her home in Montana to her office in Minnesota.

Normally a telecommuter for this online program, Cindy sees her journey as a stellar opportunity to raise awareness about current issues in sustainability, to create a platform to discuss the power of making personal commitments that lead to a sustainable life, and to raise money for need-based scholarships for students devoted to solving sustainability challenges that face humanity today.

For more information, or to follow Cindy's journey, visit: http://ridethetalk.org

"I used to have a lawn but now I have...."

2009-09-15T10:28:00.002-07:00

A message from my colleague who works with the new Lawn Reform Coalition about a fun little contest:

I'm a member of the new Lawn Reform Coalition, and today we are launching a national campaign to provide information on regionally appropriate lawn species, eco-friendly lawn care, and ways to reduce and replace lawn. (Here is our official press release : http://www.lawnreform.org/pressrelease.html.)

To celebrate our launch, one of our members is offering a contest, with copies of The American Meadow Garden as prizes, for those who finish the sentence, "I used to have a lawn, but now I have..." at this link: http://garden-chick.typepad.com/ (deadline Sept 30).

so excited about Backyard Harvest!

2009-01-09T12:43:00.004-08:00

Wow!! I am amazed, heart-warmed & energized by the great turnout at last night's first public event for the new Backyard Harvest program, for which I serve as Program Coordinator. Over 100 people showed up, packed in & gave us great feedback & encouragement. Much gratitude to everyone who showed up & to my marvelous colleagues!

In a nutshell, Backyard Harvest is an urban farming program in the Twin Cities & is a program of the Permaculture Research Institute - Cold Climate. 2009 is our launch year & we're anticipating great success (or at least a fun season). To learn more about this exciting program, go here where you'll find a description, brochure, updates on events & more. I'm very proud to be working on this project in the service of our communities, urban farmers, urban food production & permaculture.

Anyone who wants to have a good time & show some love for my new project should show up at Merlins Rest Pub in Minneapolis on February 9th at 6:30pm. More info on the website.

Introduction to Permaculture Workshop - November 8

2008-10-29T14:26:00.002-07:00

The Permaculture Research Institute, Cold Climate presents:
An Introduction to Permaculture

When:

Workshop - Saturday November 8, 2008, 9:00 AM

Where:

Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), 2501 Stevens Ave, 240 College Center, Minneapolis, MN 55404 - MCAD Parking in 3rd Ave Ramp or on Stevens Ave.

Who:

Instructors include Bruce Blair, CPD; Daniel Halsey, CPD; Reed Aubin, CPD

Materials:

Participants will be given supporting materials based on the days presentations. Participants should bring lunch. Snacks and refreshments will be provided at breaks.

Cost:

$75 Members,
$85 Non-Members,
$150 Workshop Kit (Workshop, Mollison Permaculture Intro Book & PRI Membership) Save $30
Please register on line
Space is limited. Register ASAP. The next workshop will not be until February 2009.

Questions? Contact:

Daniel Halsey, PRI Teachers Guild Coordinator, dhalsey@integra.net, 612.720.5001

explaining permaculture

2008-10-06T20:11:00.004-07:00

This video, entitled Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution, is a great one for those of us who already love permaculture & for those of us who don't yet know what it is. For the latter, permaculture is a design theory that seeks to create small-scale regenerative systems of agriculture & culture. It is one of the more practical & practiced frameworks for sustainability that exists. This video gives a decent notion of its current scope around the world.

DVDs of this documentary are available from 21st Paradigm. Contact the filmmaker, Vanessa Schulz, at info@21paradigm.com to order.

homemade cat food recipe

2008-10-05T12:38:00.004-07:00

Among the many simple joys of my life, are my two cats - Daphne & Snax. For several years now I've been giving them extra love by making homemade cat food. It's truly amazing how much healthier they became after I started & how much healthier they are compared to other cats the same age.

So I'm finally posting a cat food recipe. I also highly recommend buying the book Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn & Susan Hubble Pitcairn. It recently helped me to put a stop to Daphne's recurring urinary tract infections. I kept bringing her to the vet who kept putting her on antibiotics until I learned that this condition in cats is rarely due to bacteria (unlike w/ humans) but due to crystals that form in their urine. I started giving her vitamin C to acidify her urine as the Pitcairns suggest & it instantly went away & hasn't come back. AWESOME!!!

The recipe to be shared & loved widely:

2 C millet (or 6 C cooked) (Grain substitutes: 4 C rolled oats (+ 8 C water = 8 C cooked) or 2 C bulgur (+ 4 C water = 5 C cooked)
2 eggs
2 lbs (4 C) ground turkey or chicken (or lean chuck, lean heart, lean hamburger, liver, giblets, fish or other lean meats)
4 T Healthy Powder (see below)
2 T bonemeal (or 4000 mg calcium or 2 1/4 t eggshell powder)
2 T vegetable oil or butter (or 1 T each)
10,000 IU vitamin A
100-200 IU vitamin E
1 t fresh vegetable with each meal (optional) - my cats like peas, squash, melons
500 mg taurine supplement (optional)

The book's directions: Bring 6 C of water to a boil. Add the millet, cover & simmer 20-30 minutes or until the water is absorbed. You may need to add a bit more water during cooking. When the millet is soft stir in eggs to let them set a bit from the heat. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Yield: About 11 C. Immediately freeze whatever cannot be eaten in 2-3 days. Daily ration: small = 1/2 - 2/3 C; medium = 3/4 - 1 C; large = 1 - 1 3/4 C.

My method: I always use rolled oats now because Daphne has a very sensitive digestive system but you are encouraged to try different kinds of grains. So I make the oats, then add the eggs & mix them in. Then I mix in everything but the meat first because it's easier to mix well at this point. Then I mix in the meat. I put it in yogurt containers (or something about that size for 2 smallish cats) & freeze all but one at a time.

Healthy Powder

2 C nutritional (torula) yeast
1 C lecithin granules
1/4 C kelp powder
1/4 C bonemeal (or 9000 mg calcium or 5 t eggshell powder)
1000 mg vitamin C (ground) or 1/4 t sodium ascorbate (optional)

Mix all ingredients together & refrigerate. To make eggshell powder, save & wash eggshells. When you have several, bake them for 10 minutes & crush them with a mortar & pestle (maybe a coffee grinder or something would also work??).

I find most of the supplements at the food co-op. If there is something I can't find, I go to an herb/supplement store.

Here's to happy, healthy kitties!

It's for real, yo!

2008-09-23T18:03:00.004-07:00

Seems I've failed to mention that, yes, I did receive my wonderful diploma in the mail this summer! You are now reading the blog of a Master of Arts in Humanities & Leadership with an emphasis in Culture, Ecology & Sustainable Community & a concentration in Ecological Agriculture - a mouthful, I know, but a yummy one! Oh, and I now also have a Permaculture Design Certificate. Proud, proud I am.

So now, all y'all employers out there, get ready for me....

holy hell...

2008-06-26T18:10:00.003-07:00

...is what i've been catching for being a lazy blogger.

Speaking of holy hell, why not consider taking my online class this fall at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design? The class, entitled Sustainability or Else, is a 3-credit second-level introduction to sustainability & is part of MCAD's Sustainable Design Certificate. I'm incredibly excited to make my first official foray into the world of adjunct faculty. The course begins in late august so get your ducks in a row & your application materials in to the college.

While we're on the subject of education, Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden is offering a free Master's-level course online - Introduction to Strategic Sustainable Development. The course is part of the Institute's Master's program in Sustainable Development & features Natural Step Framework founder Karl-Henrik Robert as well as occasional cameos by my personal hero as of late, Manfred Max-Neef. Also offered are two Bachelor's level courses - Intro to Sustainable Engineering & Intro to Sustainability with Social Science Applications. Awesome!

Can I both teach & take an online course in sustainability? We may find out.

The Story of Stuff

2008-01-12T20:27:00.001-08:00

Don't you wonder...?

local eating challenge: the summary

2007-12-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness! I have finally been forced to do a local eating challenge, which has been on my to-do list for years! Though one reason or another has prevented me from going all out in the past, my eating habits have had a clear trajectory toward being more local, more organic, more relationship-oriented (knowing (or being!) those who grow my food) so intensifying my focus on this by consuming only locally-grown fare was really the next logical step. This exercise took my existing knowledge to satisfying new depths and adjusted perspectives – from connecting with soil and nearby farmers to seeing the big picture of global industrial agriculture.

For the purposes of my first local eating challenge, I defined local food as completely grown and processed within a 100-mile radius. Why 100 miles? As Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon of 100 Mile Diet suggest, “It's an easy way to start thinking local. A 100-mile radius is large enough to reach beyond a big city and small enough to feel truly local.” I determined that a comfortable variety of foods could be found in this range for my inaugural attempt at local-only eating.

I focused sincere attention on adhering to this definition – even in the face of my partner’s greasy taco urges. Minor and infrequent exceptions occurred for a few cups of tea, for three restaurant meals (though I did always attempt to choose the “most local” menu item and/or restaurant), and for benevolent acceptance of a couple of ingredients that others put in homemade communal meals without my input.

Because there is such an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables grown in and around Sonoma County, I found local eating outrageously delicious as well as easy. Only on a few rare occasions did I eat the same meal twice. I just let my cooking creativity go! I connected fully with a style of cooking that I love to do but usually only partially engage, in which I buy a riot of potential ingredients and then see what I think of to make with them. My first trip to stock up on supplies was to Tierra Vegetables where I spent a whopping 93 bucks! Most of this sum went towards buying approximately twelve pounds of dried sangre de torro (bull’s blood) beans – little Mexican red beans introduced to the farm by an employee who brought the seeds back from his hometown – which I shared with friends and classmates doing their local eating challenge at the same time.

One of my first meals consisted of these same delicious red beans suspended in a chili with Tierra’s torpedo onions and sweet corn, Quetzal Farm’s gypsy peppers, basil and oregano grown in my housemate’s backyard garden, and heirloom brandywine tomatoes purchased from Bob Cannard himself at his Petaluma-based operation, Green String Farm. Might I just say, “Yum!” The scrumptious menu options only flourished from there. I savored localized versions of garlic mashed potatoes, rosemary roasted vegetables, pizza, and even babaganouj.

Trading staples and sharing meals proved to be a delightful way to broaden everyone’s ability to eat a vital variety of foods, to encourage each other’s commitment, and, of course, to have fun in the process. I traded beans for whole wheat flour and homemade yogurt, and was the bean supplier for others who paid cash. 100% local pizza (and classic rock) night, rocked by four committed local eaters and two sympathetic guests, held a place as one of several communal meals – sometimes amongst fellow locavores and sometimes exposing the unconverted to a deliciously community version of garlic mashed potatoes or simple roasted corn.

Inspired to think longer-term by the Eat Local Challenge folks of the web world who are focusing their 2007 campaign on food preservation, I cracked into the food dehydrator that I had inherited from an old housemate and had never used. I am pleased to report that the results satisfied not only my taste buds but my burgeoning love of food preservation – first came freezing, now dehydrating! I filled every available food storage container with chewy dried figs, pears, apples, and hot peppers. It is surely only a matter of time before I find myself the owner of a raw foods cookbook delving into the realms of sprouted flax crackers and the like. Perhaps this phase will then be followed by a fermented foods frenzy or a canning obsession. Oh, the possibilities!

Resisting the desire to slurp down tacos at the farmers’ market while Reed was drooling over them proved much easier than I might have expected (thanks in large part to his gracious declination to actually consume the corn-wrapped delight). Besides, I had bigger challenges to face. Grains seem to receive little attention from growers in the 100-mile region though we did (through collective efforts) eventually come up with whole wheat flour, brown rice, and corn flour. Additionally, eating with others occasionally tested the integrity of my personal version of eating completely locally as some made exceptions that I would not. At the same time, I consider communal meals an integral part of what local eating means and as such, will always seek to include them. Another interesting effect occurred with regard to my generally vegetarian diet in that I ate meat (gasp!) in the forms of abalone and chicken.

To cap off my two-week commitment, Reed and I discovered a black walnut tree in central Santa Rosa whose nuts languished on the ground, no one seeing fit to harvest them. Nuts had been another tricky item to find so I was excited to have found this supply. The black stains on our fingers endured long after our evening of processing our find.

Touring a local organic dairy brought up an important question that I had not previously considered: What about the origin of agricultural inputs? This particular dairy was definitely within my range (within 30 miles, in fact) and used organic practices to boot but, as one astute tour participant uncovered, they do get some of their feed grains from far off sources both national and international. Though I chose not to use this factor as a constraining consideration in food selection (for now), one must wonder how sustainable organic agriculture really is when it relies on such far flung resources if one is to view local eating as a way toward a more sustainable food system. It seems clear that if achieving this sustainable food system vision means that we must eventually constrain ourselves to entirely local cuisine, so must the dairy cows not to mention the goats, chickens, hogs, and beef cows.

All in all, I found my brief commitment to all fare regional a gratifying experience. I enjoyed learning what farms were closest to me (Tierra Vegetables, Laguna Farm), how to access their food (farm stand, work trade, farmers’ market), and then getting to interact with the farmers themselves – great people, farmers. I learned that I like abalone and that salt, while tasty, is great to omit sometimes allowing you to savor the natural flavor of fresh ingredients. Given that Sonoma County is home to many wonderful small, organic farms, I came to realize that I could have chosen an even tighter radius and still found myself eating quite royally. As it was, I estimate that 90% of what I consumed came from within Sonoma County or within about 30 miles. Better yet was the food that I participated in growing or gathering myself or that my friends made, grew or harvested including sun gold tomatoes, sweet peppers, rye bread, homemade raw yogurt and the aforementioned abalone. The fresher and closer to home (the closer to my heart) the better.

Ironically, eating only local foods seems a great way to begin to question and understand the larger food system. What foods are we eating out of season? Where must they come from? One begins to recognize the systemic ignorance of the industrial food system illustrated in the lack of transparency in most food products – even those coming from ostensibly “natural” or “organic” sources. And you wonder, where does one obtain guar gum or evaporated cane juice? Should I even be eating these ingredients at all? Looking forward, I see my trajectory of more local, more organic and more relationship-oriented food continuing. Growing more of my own food is a definite future endeavor. A scheme has already been devised to plant perennial fruit at my parents’ farmstead to get them and the rest of our family eating more locally too [conspiratorial snickering and hand rubbing]. Once they get a taste of those fresh raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries, I’m hoping that they won’t be able to resist coming back for more. As for me, you can find me next summer working in my garden, pruning berries, or preserving like a madwoman.

looking for inspiration? get turned on by TED!

2007-12-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was turned on by TED. My mind is still being blown. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) started out as a conference for all kinds of smarty pants, bigwig geeks & has now grown into this truly amazing convergence of innovative thinkers & doers including folks like Jane Goodall, Janine Benyus (Biomimicry), America's first Tibetan Monk and, yes, the "Skeptical Environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg. Al Gore gave the talk that would become An Inconvenient Truth at the 2006 TED Conference. One of the best things that they do is post talks to their web site. As a burgeoning & proud TED Geek, I highly recommend that you check it out: www.ted.com.

Glean the Planet

2007-11-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

Is it because I'm a poor graduate student or because I think that good food ought not be wasted? Either way, Glean the Planet is a super cool project that was recently passed my way. The idea is that anyone can add locations on a map (anywhere in the US) indicating where there is free &/or gleanable food. AWESOME! Please go there today & add links to places that you know. I'm getting hungry!

a new (& slower) dawn for a fast driver

2007-09-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally was able to bite the bullet & spring for wireless internet access at home. Even less commuting to find internet access at school, libraries & coffee shops. Yippeee! Now I just need to work on my habits while behind the wheel. I’m going to try what the Europeans call “soft driving.” It will be a change from my rather assertive driving style (ahem...) but I’m hoping that it will make me feel much better about the driving that I do have to do while also being more fuel efficient. What is soft driving? Wow! It’s really hard to find out online. I only found one article that actually details the approach. Hmmm…..

Use the highest gear
Drive smoothly, keep a consistent speed
Don’t idle (if stopped longer than 30 seconds)
Keep to the speed limit
Reduce drag by keeping windows closed & eliminating unnecessary racks, etc.
Remove clutter from the trunk & other extra weight
Keep tires properly inflated
Keep car well-tuned
Reduce car use, plan to do a number of errands in one trip, car pool
Use biodiesel (no can do for me as my car is of the unleaded petrol persuasion but perhaps you can try it)
Invest in an electric or hybrid car (not so sure this is so very efficacious if you are ditching one car to get a new one but if you're already carless & in the market.....)
http://www.gocarbonfree.com/global_warming/go_green/car_emission_tips.html

Local Eating Challenge: Walnut Gleaner

2007-09-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

Reed & I found these walnuts under (& on) a tree near downtown Santa Rosa last week. Unsure of the results of such random pickings, we were pleasantly surprised to find delicious nutmeat inside. We shelled them & then dried them in the sun for an afternoon.

More recently, I've become obsessed with my food dehydrator. Pears, apples, figs, & hot peppers have all found their way to dehydrated goodness.

Local Eating Challenge: Day 1

2007-08-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Finally, someone is forcing me to do a local eating challenge! Today, I started my two week foray by purchasing $90 in vegetables, $65 of which went toward 13 pounds of dried Sangre de Torro beans (a Mexican red bean brought to Tierra Farm by one of their Mexican employees). The woman, Evie, who sold me the beans was stunned asking, "Are you SURE you want all these beans?" Don't worry. They aren't just for me as I'll be sharing them with my classmates (I hope!).

For this assignment at least, I define local food as entirely produced within the surrounding 100 miles. Looking at this map, I feel a seafood craving coming on! But I wonder.... Last week, we toured a local organic dairy. At first, I had no thought of whether or not to consider them local or not - they are only 20 miles away. On the tour, I learned that they often purchase internationally grown grains for their cattle feed. Wow! That's a lot of "food miles" going into those cows. This is just one example of how much we ship things to & fro & how something that seems local may rely quite heavily on this system. We could consider the same question for vegetable seeds, soil amendments, etc. I decided not to use this criteria in my selection of foods, however, as it would likely promote starvation or, at best, malnutrition. :(

Today, I ate a delicious array of fresh veggies & fruits starting with homemade yogurt that my friends made (they even milked the cow) & a big, juicy peach from Nik's tree. Then, I bought about a billion kilos of beets, potatoes, sweet corn, beans, etc. at Tierra Vegetables' farm stand in Santa Rosa & promptly began chowing on it. I wish I had taken a photo of my dinner tonight (it was pretty!) but I was apparently too ravenous to think of that before inhaling it. What I can tell you is that it was indeed delicious: garlic mashed potatoes, & steamed cranberry beans & roasted gypsy pepper with Anaheim pepper, red onion, garlic & marjoram sauteed in Napa Valley olive oil. I also made some tasty & refreshing lemonade this afternoon, which I very much enjoyed on this very hot day!

Some resources to help you take your own local eating challenge!:

* 100 Mile Diet - www.100milediet.org
* Local Harvest - www.localharvest.org
* Locavores - www.locavores.com
* Eat Local Challenge - www.eatlocalchallenge.com
* Local Foods Wheel (SF Bay area) - www.localfoodswheel.com

it's on!

2007-08-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

The feeding frenzy is getting in full swing here in lovely Sonoma County - plums, peaches, nectarines, peppers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, figs, apples, mustard greens, arugula, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, snap peas, blackberries from friends, neighbors, our Eco Ag garden at school, my backyard.... Hooray!

I'm currently contemplating the concept of "food as medicine" & realizing that a significant meaning in it for me lies in sharing food with others. This is the cure for my loneliness: invite people to dinner!

I wish that I had more time to keep up with the blog but, well, I don't. Everyone has probably stopped checking it by now anyway. Some day I'll be back in full force. Some day....

Living Green Expo - May 5-6, 2007

2007-04-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Visit the 6th annual Living Green Expo this May! It's free, fun, educational & doesn't take much effort. Maybe you'll find some ways to save yourself some money or eat more yummy local food or install really cool enviro gadgets in your house...hmmm....

While you're there, check out Reed's workshop on biofuels & sustainability.

Jobs, Projects & Love: The Tale of an Update

2007-04-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am alive & well - & getting busier & busier &.... For the curious, here is what I've been busy doing.

I have three jobs. Yes, three. Three jobs may sound like a lot of jobs to have at once but I must tell you that I've had more. Job #1 is Network Administrator for the School Garden Network of Sonoma County. Job #2 is doing administrative support for the consultant to the City of Petaluma's Green Team which includes work on their Going Green Expo (sound like something I've done before?). Job #3 is guest lecturing for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), which is a standardized test that many colleges require of foreign applicants for whom English is not their native language. The lecture recordings are used to give test takers the opportunity to show their verbal comprehension of college-level English.

On top of that, I'm also working on an internship with Petaluma Bounty, which is also my project for my Master's thesis. PB is a nonprofit that is working to create a sustainable local food system in Petaluma & is specifically working currently with people who are food insecure & hungry. My project is to coordinate the creation of a dashboard that will give users a snapshot of how PB's projects & the local food system are doing. What is a dashboard, you say? Think of how your car dashboard gives you a quick, easy-to-read display of the status of your car. Same idea. So right now I'm working on identifying stakeholders, data holders, & possible indicators to be used. I'm so excited!

I'm still dating Reed & while he does still live in Minneapolis, our relationship continues to be magical. He's been out to visit twice already & stayed for over two weeks in March. I feel very fortunate to have found such a like-minded, genuine & big-hearted person to love even if we are separated by 2000 miles of corn fields, Motel 6s, mountains, etc.

Tom sez: "Diet Coke + vitamins = healthy beverage!"

2007-03-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have yet to read Tom Philpott's food blogs, he often comes with a side order of sarcasm. And, yes, that is one reason why I like him so much. This week he says, "Diet Coke + vitamins = healthy beverage!" & when he says "healthy," he means "ridiculously nutritionless." That's right, if goddamned Diet Coke can't sell you on "low calories" or the "fact" that "beautiful people" actually "drink" their product, they are now going to try to sell you some context-free nutrients floating around in there too, nutrients that will do NOTHING for you. I repeat, the nutrients will not be absorbed by your body & will literally end up in your toilet bowl where they will, unfortunately, continue to be useless to you. (I suggest you then send said nutrients back to Diet Coke for reprocessing. Reduce, reuse, recycle, renutrient!)

This is for all you chronic soda drinkers out there. It's OK. Just put the can down. Put the can down....

for those of us drinking bottled water

2007-02-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

TIP OF THE WEEK:
ENDING BOTTLED WATER ADDICTION WILL SAVE MONEY & ENVIRONMENT

BOTTLED WATER ISN'T NECESSARILY CLEANER: According to the San Francisco Chronicle and lawsuits from the Environmental Law Foundation, 40% of bottled water is really just repackaged tap water. Maybe that's a good thing, considering federal standards for tap water are actually higher than those for bottled water.

BOTTLED WATER AND OIL: Supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil, according to the Container Recycling Institute. That's enough to take 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Add in the additional amount of oil it takes to ship the bottles thousands of miles from extraction source to recipient, and your drink of H2O could be categorized with the "Hummers" of the world.

BOTTLED WATER AND BIODEGRADABILITY: Buddha's bones turned to dust a long time ago. But if he had been a bottled water drinker, that plastic would still be laying around. It takes two minutes to drink a bottle of water, but it takes thousands of years for that piece of plastic garbage to go away.

SOLUTION: Buy a water filter and a non-plastic water container of your preferred size. Fill it up in the morning before you go to work or school. Do a quick online search, and you can also find affordable portable water filters for when you are traveling. You'll save yourself and the environment a lot of expense.

Reprinted from Organic Bytes, newsletter of the Organic Consumers Association - February 22, 2007

My name is Krista & I am afraid of quicksand, OR How facts can save you a lot of worrying!

2007-02-21T21:53:00.000-08:00

When I was a child, I experienced a dark & terrible period of walking fearfully through the outdoors never knowing when I might chance upon the most insidious of nature's devices of death, quicksand. A horrifying scene from the equally horrifying action/comedy TV series Lobo started my teeth a-chatterin' & my skin a-jumpin'. In the scene, one of Sheriff Lobo's bumbling deputies & then another one both get "sucked into" a patch of quicksand. Somehow those dipshits got out but, in my estimation, just barely.

Being the independent child that I was, I hid my paranoia for days until I finally admitted it to my mother who gently pulled out the encyclopedia to quell my fears with facts. So for those of you that might still be afraid of randomly falling into quicksand (I don't know anyone who has actually fallen in it but you never know...?), here's how to escape.

Something's rotten in Iraq & it's called Operation Iraqi Freedom

2007-02-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Wilbur has prompted me to take do something to remind people that the Iraq War should end. Unfortunately, I doubt there is anyone reading this blog who still supports the war. Nevertheless, I thought I'd provide a link to some eye-popping statistics.

I've been reading about Gandhi today & his example for a higher standard of leadership - being & acting according to the principles of truth & nonviolence. When we consider these principles even in their most obvious interpretations, we can do nothing but oppose this war & all wars as they are rife with precisely the opposite of what we truly want (lies, destruction, intolerance, ignorance, greed, etc.). The Buddhists say that hatred, lust & ignorance are the basis for all human suffering. Clearly, everyone affected by this war has suffered enough.

History of Resistance & Alternative Movements: Annotated Bibliography #1

2007-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

These readings are from my first class, History of Resistance & Alternative Movements, & are divided into three sections. I've pointed out some favorites as you shall see. Enjoy!

History & Frameworks

Edwards, Andres. The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2005. (Intro, Chapters 1, 2, 7).

These chapters cover the roots & evolution of what Edwards (a New College graduate) calls “the Sustainability Revolution.” Also included is a listing & analysis of a wide selection of sustainability principles, which shows the shared values of the movement across organizations of different types, sizes & focuses.

Flinders, Timothy. “How Nonviolence Works.” In Gandhi the Man, edited by Eknath Easwaran, 149-172, Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri Press, 1978.

The author gives explanation & examples for Gandhi’s practice of satyagraha (obstinate clinging to truth) & ahimsa (lacking any desire to kill). Both are ways of being, more than mere tactics, for resolving social issues. They are to be practiced (to the best ability of the individual) throughout one’s life – personally, professionally, as an activist, etc. They work because they come from a place of love & the practitioner is unfaltering in his/her adherence to the principles. Given time, the adversary has no choice but to sympathize with the vision offered by the satyagrahi because the adversary comes to recognize the untenable nature of their position in the face of the satyagrahi’s chivalry, courtesy & compassion.

Holloway, John & Alex Callinicos. “Can We Change the World without Taking Power?” A Debate at the World Social Forum, January 2005. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=8520.

Holloway asserts that taking power of the inherently exclusionary state (pro-capitalist by design) will not work, that creating the alternative that we want in the spaces & cracks of the capitalist state is the most direct route to the world we want. Callinicos presents the opposite argument saying that we must take power, that the state with its military & market forces & divide-&-conquer strategies cannot be ignored because it will not leave us alone.

McNally, David. “Freedom Song: Liberation & Anti-Capitalism.” Another World is Possible. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2002. (Chapter 7, 229-267).

McNally provides history & analysis of anti-capitalist movements & strategies.

Shi, David E. The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985: Introduction (3-7); The Puritan Way (Chapter 1, 8-27); Republican Simplicity (Chapter 3, 50-73); Transcendental Simplicity (Chapter 6, 125-153); Prosperity, Depression and Simplicity (Chapter 9, 215-247); Affluence and Anxiety (Chapter 10, 248-276); Epilogue (277-282).

In my & others' opinions, the most memorable reading for this class. The author covers the history of the American quest for & cultural relationship with the simple life. From the Puritans’ enforced social hierarchy in which the lower classes are admonished to maintain pious lives without luxury to the “trickle down” gluttony of the 1980s, Americans have had a pendulous relationship to simplicity. A great majority of experiments in practicing simplicity have failed. It is clearly much easier to talk about living simply than to actually do. The author concludes that the simple life will remain both a mythic & attainable ideal (though only for the few).

Shiva, Vandana. “Reversing Globalisation: What Gandhi Can Teach Us.” The Ecologist, Vol. 29, No. 2 (May/June 1999): 224-225.

Shiva explains & makes relevant to current events the themes of Gandhi’s activism: Swadeshi, Swaraj & Satyagraha. Swadeshi is the spirit of regeneration, economic freedom. Swaraj is self-rule. Satyagraha is peaceful non-cooperation.

Models & Practices

Kohn, Alfie. “How to Prevent Social Change.” No Contest: The Case Against Competition. 189-192. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.

In a deeply sarcastic tone, the author offers “five simple ways to perpetuate the status quo.”

Macy, Joanna. “Dimensions of the Great Turning.” 1999. http://sevmedia.net/clients/gt/Main/Dimensions/expanded-def.html.

The author talks of “the great turning” in a similar sense as “the sustainability revolution” (Andres Edwards) or “the ecological revolution” (Lester Brown). She offers a “list of the [five] attitudes than can help us” as we go through it.

Moyer, Bill. “The Four Roles of Social Activism.” Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. 21-41. Gabriela Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2001.

Moyer outlines the four roles of social activists: the citizen, rebel, change agent and reformer. The citizen’s purpose is to present a normalized image to the mainstream so that they see the movement as representative of them & not as a threat. The rebel’s role is to vehemently oppose that which is wrong & to bring it into the public spotlight. Change agents work to create alternatives & promote the need for a paradigm shift. Reformers work within the system to support the other role players & to make incremental changes via traditional channels. These roles each have effective & ineffective way of being played & can all be played by the same individuals though each of us have a preference for one.

The author spends extra time on the ineffective version of the rebel, which he calls the “negative rebel,” as this particular activist can be highly detrimental to a movement. Violence, tactics over strategy, lack of responsibility to the larger group, & “do your own thing” mentality are some characteristics of the negative rebel, which can lead to alienation of the public, movement dissipation, legitimization of violence, etc.

Singing Our Way to Liberation

Seeger, Pete & Bob Reiser. “Highlander/Prologue.” & “The Freedom Rides.” 3-12 & 43-69. Everybody Says Freedom: A History of the Civil Rights Movement in Songs & Pictures. New York: W.W. Norton. 1989.

A moving collection of songs & their stories, these chapters of Everybody Says Freedom profile two specific types of activism in the civil rights movement – the change agency of the Highlander Folk School & the rebellion of the Freedom Rides. Both stories offer an intimate & inspiring account of the people involved & the passion that drove them to succeed in the face of hatred & at the risk of death.

January Top 10

2007-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

10. This tree. This bulldozer. This pile of mineral. Discuss.

9. The swiss chard & kale here is out of this world! Must be the climate. I sometimes just eat a big ol' pile o' steamed chard for dinner. Y. U. M.

8. Manfred Max-Neef's theory on basic human needs - I'm completely in love with it.

7. New Year's Eve was spent making a deck of cards with my new friend Lacey. This silly & lovable task was lubricated by White Russians & a viewing of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. As you may have guessed, Kenny Rogers is indeed the King of Hearts but what the hell is up with his face these days, people? Terrifying.

6. Volunteering in the gardens at Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. This was my first visit to an organization that is considered by many to be highly influential & completely awesome in the realms of sustainable agriculture & intentional community. My attire was less than ideal for the drizzly, chilly weather. In fact, some dude actually scoffed at me. Scoffed! I did my best with what I had since Eli had yet to arrive with the bulk of my belongings. The weather deterred nothing at OAEC, however, & the assembled group enjoyed one another's company convivially discussing everything from socialist t-shirt sayings to "deviant" sexuality. Based on the lively companionship & the amazingly delicious lunch, I highly recommend a Wednesday volunteering at OAEC.

5. Xmas in Davis with Janelle (from my tiny hometown on the prairie), her husband Neil & their friends from Italy & Japan. Lesson learned: Apples to Apples IS a good game to play with foreigners!

4. Eli arrived with my stuff the second week in January which resulted in me being able to sit on actual furniture in my apartment. More ergonomic sitting for everyone!

3. Hiking & hanging out in Pepperwood Preserve

2. Starting my grad reading & courses has brought me much joy. I love the faculty, the students, the chihuahua. Engage in clickage to see some examples of what I've been reading. A series of annotated bibliographies to ensue soon....

1. Love. Wow.

I think we can all agree that garden fresh tomatoes taste better than supermarket tomatoes

2006-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

Let's say that you are a person who eats food. Oh, you are? Well, then, this commentary may actually be meaningful for you. Excellent.

Now, let's say that you, like a vast majority of Americans, purchase primarily conventionally produced & delivered food products (ie. not organic or locally produced). You're in good company as this segment of the food market constitutes about 98% of total food purchases in the US.

Finally, let us say that 40+% (Lord knows it's probably more) of the conventionally produced & delivered food products that you buy are brought to you by just four megolithic, multinational corporations (MMCs) & their complimentary minion subsidiaries. Well, they like to call them their "families of businesses" which of course sounds very "warm" & "fuzzy" but as you may know I am no marketer for The Man.

Now, it makes sense to me that these corporations would be guarding our food system & the productivity of the land in the interest of the long-term profitability of their own companies if for no other reason. BUT NO! What they seem to be doing is just the opposite - exploiting to the fullest & fiercest extent the fertility of the land including the labor of its people (farmers & farm workers), those people themselves, & the consumers of its products (you & me & everyone we know) for short-term profit. They are accomplishing this by such market-cornering means as patenting lifeforms, creating closed loop systems for their own toxic chemicals & genetically proprietary seeds, & using scare tactics against farmers who operate outside of the neo-serfdom that they promote. As a food consumer just trying to eat well & feel secure in the safety & long-term viability of the food system upon which my loved ones, neighbors & I rely, I gotta say, "Ouch!" Does this way of doing business make sense to anyone? I mean, is this how YOU would (or currently do) operate your business?

Ish! Enough already of this whining about what is completely fucked about our food system. (However, I do think that it would be o'so nice if people were more aware of this when selecting their afternoon snacks 'n such. As in, "This apple here comes from a system that is FUCKED. Therefore, I will choose this organic apple grown by Farmer Don down the way.") What are better options? Does it sound good to anyone else to support food production that promotes land stewardship, supports small farmers (i.e. real people), enhances the natural fertility of the land & is not an all-around bummer (OH, such a complete bummer)? Yeah? All right, then, get with this....

What we choose to buy does matter. If no one chooses to buy goods from the people who are caring for our world, there will be no more goods produced in this way. Sad, right? Likewise, if no one chooses to buy goods from the corporations that are using & abusing our world, there will be no more goods produced in this way. Dig?

I personally find this to be an axiom most starkly important when choosing food. With what other earthly objects do we have a more intimate & dependent relationship? Food is meant to nourish us, to give us strength, to keep us healthy. Food is a focal point of families, love affairs & entire cultures. Good food inspires love, heals ills, & makes our parties more fun by acting as a social lubricant! In short, food is AWESOME!

So just think about it. Think about buying whole foods rather than processed foods. Think about buying organically grown, local produce. Think about buying it directly from the farmers who grow it for you. Think about visiting their farm & hearing their story of the land.

Cali photos!

2006-12-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Yay! I finally remembered that my new computer has a slot that takes digital media cards so I don't even need that stinkin' USB cord for my camera ever again! Enjoy....

Got a parking ticket right off the bat on one my first forays into Santa Rosa. Nuts.... Good thing Snax was there to comfort me.

Ew. Road injury. Yep, that was me tumbling over suitcases with a pan o' cat litter in hand in the parking lot of the Motel 6 in Elko, Nevada. Although it smarted real bad, I hope that someone saw it because I'm certain that it was hilarious. You may also note my up-flushing toilet in the background. I think Paul's name for it is a better description however: the Poop Grinder. Apparently, the "grinding" of the poo, paper, etc. makes the waste break down more easily in the septic system. Neat!

My apartment is totally fantastic. For one thing, having a loft makes me feel like I'm in an '80s sit-com which is a feeling for which I've always strived. That skylight is brand new. The long pole you see is supposed to be for operating it but I use it to turn off the light when I'm in the loft. Ain't I clever!

Naturally, the cats adore the loft too seeing as how they are now able to look down on the world. (Don't tell them that there is more to the world than this. The last thing I need is a mutiny.) Note also the cat door which is covered by a paper bag (minimalist environment) due to the ill-nature of Leo the Tomcat (aka. Leo the Landcat) who lives outside & periodically stops by to harrass the occupants here. Bastard.

This is the view from my window. It is AWESOME! Birds love to hang out all around out here. If I had walked out to the street to take this photo, you would see Mt. Helena in the near distance.

I went hiking around on the nature preserve behind the house & appreciated what I saw there including the enormous piles of crap that were everywhere. What deposited them? I later found it that it was just steers - just plain old steers. Boo.

Don't get upset, Midwesterners, but this is my winter photo. Things are just starting to grow here. There is periwinkle flowering outside my window & some kind of bulb is just about to toss up two blossoms as well.
You will not hear me complain.

Table for one? The Lagunitas IPA from nearby Petaluma went well with this delicious batch of chili that I made from scratch. The beautiful handmade bowls are a housewarming gift from a guest that I had recently. How sweet.

nature calling

2006-12-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

So I'm waiting here at home for my landlady to meet me outside (she lives 30 feet away) when she calls me up to tell me, "Change in plans.... Nature has called me urgently & I don't know how long I'll be. Can I just knock on your door in a few minutes?" Nature has called her urgently? What on earth? Did she seriously just tell me that she has to take a shit? Wow...California....

another great quote to live by

2006-12-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

"I believe it to be perfectly possible for an individual to adopt the way of life of the future...without having to wait for others to do so." - Mohandas Gandhi

persimmons & monkeys as soul-trajectory affirmations

2006-12-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

One night before leaving Minneapolis to move here to Santa Rosa, California I had a dream of persimmons. They were boxed in the same lovely way that you'd see them at a food co-op or a farmers' market. A hand-crafted sign posted on the box colorfully warned the would-be buyers that if they should be allergic to monkeys, their tongue should not know the taste of this tomatoesqe fruit. Why? We don't know. But I can tell you this. Upon my first visit to Santa Rosa's charming worker-owned, vegetarian natural foods store, I was astonished to find the persimmons accompanied by a monkey - a little stuffed monkey probably dropped nearby by a child & placed there for easy retrieval. Some would not see it so but I determined this to mean that I am on the right path. I expect other humorous & moving affirmations in the near future. So fear not, dear-hearted worriers! That intangible element of our surroundings that seems to care for us has indeed wrapped its ever-lovin' arms around me.

It has been one week since I arrived here in my new home. So far, so good.... My fantastic, fun & supportive friend Paul helped me drive out with whatever I could fit in my car including Daphne & Snax. The cats traveled exceptionally well - so well, in fact, that we're planning a road trip to Vancouver for next summer. Snax loves the international flavor of the city.

When we arrived, my landlords - a 60-ish couple - gave us a warm greeting which included homemade, organic, vegetarian soups. Yum! Juliette is a vegetarian chef who makes & freezes meals as well as caters events. George is a tilesetter who built the lovely kitchen counter & bar upon which I am now typing.

The apartment is great. It's a roomy studio cottage with a loft for the mattress that I will buy (hopefully before I can't stand sleeping on the floor anymore). Outside my window I look out over hills & trees & birds. I heard frogs last night which I'm guessing will be more active come spring. To get to my place one must drive up narrow & winding roads past overdone inflatable Xmas displays, succulents & a vineyard. When I turn off the lights to crawl into my sleeping bag at night, it is blacker than black. Good thing I grew up in the country where I could develop my night vision & my companionship with the dark.

As for the weather, the rain has been hanging around since I got here but I do see sun in the forecast. I am looking forward to that as the dreary atmosphere does not much help the feeling of loneliness that can come over a person in a new place. I already miss Minnesota & everyone there - & one fine fellow in particular. Hey, everyone, it's pretty here! Come drink some wine, drive on very curvy roads & eat delicious dinners cooked by me....

Today, I was determined to find a friendly coffee shop in which to begin my school reading. Success was mine! A'Roma Roasters is a charming, woman-owned business just a block from New College. I think I'm figuring out that the west is the best when it comes to Santa Rosa. It seems like most of the cool stuff & cheaper gas is on the west side of Highway 101. Of course, there is also a SCARY looking Chinese restaurant but I'm going to really try not to judge that book by its cover. On the other hand, I don't want to judge it by its indigestion either. I'll stick to the home cookin'.

As for the school reading, why, it was just marvelous! You see, The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture is just such a text as I might assign to myself to read. Yes, that is really how much of a sustainability dork that I am - or rather how much of a passionate person that I am according to my sweet & thoughtful brother. This is gonna be fun!

I sincerely wanted to post some photos here tonight but, regretably, I forgot to bring the proper cord with the first round of stuff. Come January the rest of my belongings will arrive in Eli's bread truck where they will have been subjected to several days of heavy vibrations & biodiesel fumes (I hear that they are cleansing...?). Then, I'll have a couch & all my cooking supplies. I can't wait!

a New adventure

2006-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

Have I been slacking? Oh no! I have been very busy feverishly preparing for my move to California & the start of my Master's program in Culture, Ecology & Sustainable Community at New College. I think that I have everything packed save a few random items. Now the cleaning begins. I'll back at this blog thing soon. I hope....

In the meantime, enjoy some mindless entertainment from R. Kelly! "Now he's opening the closet...closet...closet...."

I'm serious about this, people

2006-10-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

If I may command you for one moment.... You MUST go see An Inconvenient Truth. It is the most powerful presentation of the climate change issue that I have seen. It is factual & emotional & cuts across political preferences (with the exception of Al Gore lamenting his unsuccessful bid for the presidency, which was probably better left unsaid despite the appreciative response from the audience). Both my friend & I left the theatre sniffling & deeply touched.

Although you can still find the film in theatres, there are still lots of opportunities to see it for free. In the Twin Cities, Congregations Caring for Creation is offering An Inconvenient Truth & other films for screenings at congregations of all kinds. As Bill Moyers showed us in his recent PBS special Is God Green?, earth stewardship is no longer just a "liberal," "secular" issue but is documented in the Bible & other religious texts. So get your fellow Christians, Jews, Universalists, Muslims & Buddhists up to speed!

I hate housework but I like making things

2006-10-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I, like many others, hate cleaning my house. Don't get me wrong, I like it when it's done but the process of washing dishes or doing laundry or scrubbing the shower is a drag. On a positive note, I guess vacuuming and sweeping are OK so if there are any eligible bachelors out there in search of a partner who prefers getting on the floor, let me know. I also can't stand clogged pipes and will do everything in my power to free them but I digress.... What I'm really wanting to get at here is the question of cleaning products which my darling friend Sarah brought up on Sunday.

Again, Grist comes to the rescue with a comprehensive article on cleaning your home covering everything from offgassing to making your own. Personally, I'm on a make-my-own kick in general & have enjoyed making food for my cats & using MakeYourCosmetics.com for ideas on zit zapping, housekeeping & more. Someday perhaps I'll even be making my own biodiesel...?

Ooo, I just found this lovely web page that does a thorough & succinct job of telling you what you need to know about making your own cleaners. I like it....

For all you red wine drinkers & spillers out there, I found this red wine stain recipe on some random-ass web site & I'm telling you it is miraculous:

2 T hydrogen peroxide
1 T liquid soap
water (not essential but if it's a big stain, it can help distribute the peroxide/soap combo)

The proportions don't matter as much as the freshness does so mix in small quantities. If the mixture has been sitting for a while, adding more peroxide usually makes it work again. This works on crusty old codgery red wine stains too. It might work on other types of stains too but I haven't had much luck so far.

P.S. Remember that the Three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) are in order of importance with "be a lazy ass who does nothing to curb waste" not even making the cut.

Northland Bioneers Conference

2006-09-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

I should make sure that everyone in Minnesota and around knows about this inspiring event that is sure to be flipadeedoo FANTASTIC!

The Northland Bioneers Conference (www.nbconference.org) is first and foremost a forum to "share solutions and strategies to develop and restore the earth." It is a satellite event to the national Bioneers Conference held for the past 16 years in San Rafael, California - thought of by many as the conference on sustainability. Some of the highlights that I'm excited about are keynote addresses that will be sent to us from CA (Michael Pollan, Amy Goodman, Paul Hawken and more), our own local speakers (including Ronnie Cummins of Organic Consumers Association and David Wallinga of the beloved Institute for Ag and Trade Policy), and "the vibe" that will no doubt be flowin' that weekend assisted by artists, a meditational space, the lovely Loring Park and the amazing people in attendance.

I'm completely stoked....

Wind blows

2006-09-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, PLEASE! This shit is priceless....

http://www.windblows.us/?play=43

Thanks to the fine online enviro mag, Grist, for turning me on to this and so much more. While you're there, check out my favorite Grist blogger, Tom Philpott, who is a small organic farmer writing about food and ag issues. He's got his finger dead on that pulse.

Where O where has my recycled paper gone?

2006-09-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

Woe to those of us who do not work for environmetally oriented organizations. Where is our recycled paper? Must the light in the storage room always be left on? What's up with those stanky white board markers? And what's this? Styrofoam in the break room!? Aaaaarrgh!

Currently, I work for perfectly lovely childcare-oriented nonprofit that does, indeed, provide valuable services to society. However, they do not see themselves as connected to the greater web and the future seems to go no further than the first day of Kindergarten. As a result, I am at this very moment breathing the offgas from recently applied paint and new carpet.

I've been trying in ways subtle and obnoxious to up the sustainability quotient at this perfectly lovely nonprofit and one of my major victories of last year was to get 100% post-consumer chlorine-free recycled paper in all of our copiers and printers. Yes! Thanks to a much-needed buying cooperative hosted by the decorated local nonprofit waste handler Eureka Recycling we had all the plain white and colored paper we could want! What a glorious day it was when our first shipment arrived!

It didn't last long. After two orders from the co-op and the departure of our sympathetic administrative assistant, ye olde Office Max paper starting showing up again. I finally sent an e-mail to our associate director yesterday. I just couldn't stand it anymore.

OK, I finally have to say it. I’m disappointed that we don’t have the recycled paper anymore. I don’t know what happened. I really feel that it’s a small step that we can take in the right direction. And it IS related to what we do as an organization. Today’s children will be very much affected by how we adults choose to use resources, eliminate/use toxins, etc. I know you don’t need a lecture so I’m sorry about that! I just wanted to emphasize my point a little bit. The co-op paper is comparably priced, good quality & supports another important local nonprofit, Eureka Recycling. They have also added compostable cutlery, etc. though I’m not sure what the costs look like on that.

The e-mail seems to have worked and, theoretically at least, we'll be back to the recycled paper very soon. So what's this post about? Perseverence, I guess. I don't think the problem is that people don't care about preserving trees and wilderness and ecosystems or reducing toxins. They just need to be reminded of the connections and be shown how to act upon the information. Our American experience does not include these more sustainable options among the more convenient ones that we've been trained by marketers to prefer.

Although I would recommend finding a local enterprise to support (or starting your own!), here's another recycled product cooperative that delivers to anywhere in the US: Recycled Products Cooperative http://www.recycledproducts.org/.

Choices - ya gotta love 'em!

2006-09-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

OK! I finally went and did this thing. I couldn't take it anymore. I am exploding with resourceful assistance for you all (although I suppose this is in the eye of the beholder...?) & just a hint of angst (I'll try to keep it in check).

Let me explain. I have a brain that has been thinking about the sustainability of the human experience for some time now. Everything is connected - this much is clear - but how do we honor our understanding of this concept in our everyday lives? Our choices matter - who & what we give our money to, which potato we choose in the market, whether we are cooperative or combative, what we teach our children. That's what I'm talking about! Choices. I just love 'em. I especially love that even the smallest ones done right can make you feel so good.

You may be asking now, what is sustainability? Well, I can certainly say a lot on this subject but in a nutshell sustainability means that our current generations use resources (in the broadest sense) in a manner that preserves the ability of future generations to also find what they will need to live happily.

This is a discussion, please, so feel free to talk back, ask questions, rant (intelligently, please) about how we disagree, or relish our parity. Think of me as your personal Dear Abby/punching bag for sustainability. I won't have all the answers but I'll give it my best shot. (I know there's a certain someone out there who is just brimming over with inquiries so bring 'em on, EC!)

Next year, I'll be attending a the Master of Arts program in Humanities & Leadership with an emphasis in Culture, Ecology & Sustainable Community & a concentration in Ecological Agriculture at New College of California. I'll try my best to keep this blog going & include some nuggets from my graduate work.