Blue Sky Green Earth Issue 1 Jan 2010

8/8/2019 Blue Sky Green Earth Issue 1 Jan 2010

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/blue-sky-green-earth-issue-1-jan-2010 1/32

Green Earth

BLUE

a resource for sustainable living

local

sustainable

ethanol

p ermaculture

geothermalorganic

fair trade

stewardship

soar

renewable

recycle

biodiesel

native

issue 1FREE

what does green m e a

n ?

Fighting the Flu

Naturally Going Green One

Pay Check at a Time

Building Big andGreen ???

Red Alert -Dan Wildcat’s

New Book

Going GreenGarden Calendar



I n this, our premiere issue, we wrestle with, “What Does Green Mean?” It is a question with no simple answ We are in the midst of a major, systemic shift, a post-industrial revolution. This shift is more than a series of ecological and economic disasters, and more than just a cultural awakening. Our human race seems primed for vast rethinking of our current way of life. We wantBlue Sky, Green Earth to provide a forum for this change, tofacilitate the change where we can, and to improve our chances of evolving from it, healthier and wiser. This isthe unbridled optimism of the industrial past, but a more humble hope that humanity can look to the future, and tan oath to support life on this planet. Our word is “sustainable” and it means we believe life is ongoing, a worldeverlasting. It means we have faith there is a future that together we can facilitate and foster.

People ask me, “How do you know, what is Green?” My answer is that green isn’t an end point, its an on-goingapproach to life. A friend tells me that she can’t be “green”, that she’s just not that “good” a person. But Green about who is doing it “right”. It’s not a religion – there isn’t one set of tenets to believe in to live “green”. Whatentails is a consciousness about our behaviors and our buying habits. Green is important because we can no lonpush the hard changes and the necessary commitments off onto the next generation. We no longer have the luxutaking a “wait and see” attitude with regard to global warming. Everything from extreme weather to global disaalerts us that we don’t have that much time left in which to begin our corrections. Even if the changes we had win the environment had been good ones (which they weren’t) we would still need to change because our use of resources is unsustainable. Even if our resources could be modi ed so that they could be forever replenishing (wis unlikely), we would still need to change because the toxicity from our current methods of manufacturingand food production is poisoning our planet and our bodies.

So we must act now.

If we believe that we are doing any of this to save the planet, then we are lled with the same old hubris that got into this mess. The planet will do just ne. It has a natural defense system and it will readjust its thermostat. T will be cataclysmic for human life and most other life forms currently on the Earth’s surface. What we need to fo

on is, how can we mitigate these catastrophic effects? Can we alter our day-to-day actions before the Earth evicas bad tenants? Can we rethink our relationship to the material world, as the world we are part of, rather than a world apart?

We are allactive causative agents of global warming. But we areall, also, agents of green. Because everything wuse, every choice we make in goods, services, energy use, and consumption can make a greater or lesser impact our planet. Simple changes can have profound impacts when multiplied on a global scale.

We are not going to back away from the tough discussions. We are going to provide guidance, not rules, the moup-to-date information we can gather, but not absolutes. We know you care about your own health and about thehealth of the rest of the planet. We want to help you make the decisions about the areas of your life you are read

ne tune or overhaul. We hope to give you more access to important information, while not taking away your rand your responsibility to decide what you will do, what you will change, the new choices you will make. Somethe topics in Blue Sky Green Earth may offer you better quality of life, some may change the way you think abothe interconnections of life on Earth, and some may help to reduce your negative effect on the biosphere. We hothat all we publish here will be of service to you, and be both inspiring and practical. Together we can do what need to do to live better than what we’ve been living. Thank you for joining the conversation. We hope it will blively one.

Karen Dillon, Editor

editor’s page



Volume One Number OneJanuary 2010

Green Earth

BLUE


What Does Green Mean? page 4 What is LEED? page 6

Green Print:Building Big and Green? page 7 Fighting the Flu Naturally page 8

Going Green One Pay Check at a Time page 14

Knit Together page 17

Wild Things page 20Going Green

Garden Calendar page 22Recycle Fairy page 26

Green Screen:Dan Wildcat’s Red Alert page 28Green Calendar page 30

Editor’s Page page 2Publisher’s Note page 31

Tab f Con entMonthly Features

Monthly Columns



Eliz bth Beninc sa

W e live in a complex world. Each day we encounter a series o choices that have global consequencsometimes even be ore our frst cup o co ee kicks in. That morning beverage is a good example o the maze o

we wrestle with in every transaction: Maybe we bought “Fair Trade” co ee (because we care about armers arou world getting a air price or their labor) or we pre er “Organic Certifed” Co ee (because we care about our ownexposure to potentially harm ul chemicals or pesticides), or we decided on “shade grown” co ee because we knoit is best or the environment and destroys less natural habitat, or we chose some co ee made by an American com(because there must be an American employed somewhere in that production line, right?) or perhaps all these toughdecision make you want to drink tea? Then repeat the above choices, plus add some more about air water distribuand sustainable highland orestry, and lack o pesticide regulations in Asia... It can certainly be overwhelming trydo the right thing, and many o us, stop even trying. We drink whatever kind o co ee the corner co ee bar selbuy what tastes good to us.

The reality is, every marketplace choice creates a ripple o e ects around the world. In the United States most olike kings o the past. Goods and services, which only the wealthiest o individuals throughout history could haveenjoyed, we now take or granted. Everything rom in-door plumbing to a dish o ice cream in July, are luxuries tany other moment in history, and or much o the world’s current population. Yet we have come to expect and couon these technologies as our base-line standard o living. That’s the moment we live in and ew o us want to leabehind. Many o the world’s scientists have predicted that we are assured a drastic downgrade in quality o li e u we shi t our everyday actions to make them sustainable. Most o us are aware o this impending problem and weto do the right thing by the planet, and by ourselves with regard to our own health. It’s just that the choices have beso intertwined and labyrinthine we o ten give our decision-making power over to others. We delegate “greening” tenvironmentalists, to businesses, to politicians. Though we have the li estyle o kings we remove ourselves rom

responsibility o what these choices mean, and stop even trying to sort through what would be the best decisions. only we had more time to look into it, we think. I only there was a cheat sheet to fguring out what is the right thindo, given our own hierarchy o values.

“Green” means we start to stay conscious through our transactions. We currently think o this as work, but actuallincreased awareness usually results in increased satis action in our lives.

“Green has no legal meaning.” Nor is there any certifcation process or a product to label itsel “green.” Ignore alabels that describe products as “Green”, “Natural”, “Holistic” or “Healthy”. None o these has a verifable meaninoutside the Advertising Agency brainstorm meeting. These words are ull o connotation and hype, but o er theconsumer zero assurance that the product has anything unique to o er.

“Greenwashing” is pervasive and its major characteristic is using a “Green” designation without third-party oversigThis can easily deteriorate into a slight o hand whereby manu acturers continue to pollute the Earth, as the rest olook the other way. Third-party verifcation is one key to navigating the labyrinth o labels, because even though whave “truth in advertising laws”, let’s ace it, there is a lot o grey area with regard to adjectives used to describe gand services.

There are even concerns with third party verifcation. One has to understand who the veri ying party is, what is theoverarching concern, why were they ormed, and who governs their label? Ultimately it comes down to: Htrustworthy is the veri ying organization? There has to be integrity in both the organization, and the certif

what does green m e a

n

4



Eliz bth Beninc sa training process. There also has to be a check and balance system within the organization to eliminate risk o bribekickbacks, and a plain old lackadaisical certi ying system. Another concern is that most o these third-party verifclabels address only one area o “green”. A label can indicate that the productdoesn’t harm the environment, but may o er no reassurancethat the workers were treated airly. It may suggest thatanimals were not harmed in their rearing process, but it won’ttell you how many miles the animals traveled to the packingplant, and then on to your house – and what the carbon

ootprint o that mileage adds to the embedded energy in themeat you buy at the store.

In having more in ormation about third party certifcation, you will be able to chose whether you want to prioritize the healtho the planet, the airness and health o the people involved inmaking the goods or service, or the health o yoursel and thepeople you love. As more and more o us choose theseproducts, eventually we can demand that products have allgreen characteristics, every time. Then the ideals o “green”can mean more than just an advertising slogan.

Biologically, our green vision is more acute than any othercolor. In the natural world green is the color humanbeings can distinguish the most shades o . Our green visionhas evolved to be able to fnd abundance in the natural worldby helping us to see more nuanced variations. Let us now useour capacity or this “green” discernment and recreate ourrelationship with the natural world, restoring, repairing andreally understanding what a gi t this world gives us.

Each month this column will look at a di erent third-party certifcation processes in depth: this month we look at LEEDCertifcation.

R e

d Cowcreative services for small businessesgraphic designadvertising video promotionmarketing

646 623 8159

Productionssustainable solutions



In 1998 the United States Green Building Council (USGBC)developed an internationally recognized sustainable building certifcation system. This system, Leadership in EnergEnvironmental Design, better known as LEED , has enabled buildings to become publicly recognized or their practices. In 45 states (though not currently in Kansas or Missouri) this public recognition can also lead to incentisuch as tax benefts. The purpose o LEED was to develop a ramework or building owners and operators to ine fciency and reduce negative environmental actors.

How does LEED apply?The LEED rating system is a point earning system. The more points you amass, the higher-rankingLEED Certifca you achieve. For instance a Platinum certifcation requires 80 points or more. These points can be achieved throughdi erent categories. These categories include, Sustainable Sites, Water E fciency, Energy and Atmosphere, MateriResources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation in Design. Depending on the type and purpose o the buimore categories may be added. On November 18, 2004 the KC City Council adopted Resolution 041222, requiringall new municipal buildings over 5,000 square eet earnLEED Silver Certifcation.

Whom does LEED apply to?

LEED is developed or buildings o all sizes and purposes. It consists o di erent rating systems that range rand Neighborhoods to Schools and Healthcare. The ratings were developed or architects, engineers, interior desand other stakeholders to have a standard o how sustainable building systems should work.

Example: By purchasing 20% or more o the building materials or a home or o fce rom a distance o 500 miLEED awards one point rom the Regional Materials option in the Materials and Resources credit. By doing this bare reducing the pollution caused rom trucking materials and helping the local economy.

Criticisms o The USGBC include: That even though the Washington-based USGBC organization is a 501 c3, nonit exudes a tremendous amount o in uence in the world o “ or-proft” building. According to the USGBC’s own(http://www.usgbc.org) the annual U.S. market in green building products and services was more than $7 billion in

$12 billion in 2007 and projected to increase to $60 billion by 2010. It administers and develops theLEED Certifcacriteria, and has been receptive, though slow, in making changes to the LEED process that address the many criticthat have been leveled against it.

Criticisms o theLEED process include: That buildings, which are overbuilt, can still beLEED certifed. That buildi which contribute to urban sprawl by being situated ar rom urban centers and mass transportation, more than oenergy savings through their negative carbon ootprint, yet they can still gainLEED certifcation. That buildings being green once they are built, because the end use is either some inappropriate “non-green activity” or that they sgo on with business as usual once the building is certifed, ailing to make any urther steps towards sustainabilithe LEED plaque is on the wall.

Third Party Oversight: Since January o 2008 the Training processes orLEED Certifers has been independently administered by the Green Building Certifcation Institute. (http://www.gbci.org) GBCI is an independentnon-proft organization overseeing the exam development, application, registration, and delivery processes. Thisshould provide a more balanced and objective management o the credentialing programs and the 100,000-and-grLEED certifers.

Is LEED a “green” label? Despite the overhaul to its process, and the obvious high-profle they have in the feld obuilding, the LEED label has a ways to go be ore it will truly address the multiple aspects o sustainability. Still LEED is leading the way, and acilitating a larger conversation by drawing attention to the importance o green

building. It is also evolving. Which is what we all need to continue to do.

What is LEED?

6



T here is a common conception in the architectural world that building bigger is better. The question is, better whom? While the additional amenities and excess space ound in large homes may seem ideal to some homeowthe negative environmental impacts o building big are numerous. This causes confict or builders who aspire tbuild green, who are also asked to build big.

Jay Carey, a New Zealand born architect, has been living a green li estyle or many years. He has been buildingeco riendly, low-impact homes since he began his career. When Carey moved to America and set up his companCamelot Building, in the upscale New York community o the Hamptons, the nesting ground o McMansions, hio green building became more challenging. Suddenly he was building or the large-scale market but with the mo environmental responsibility. His most recent assignment: build a 7,900-square- oot, villa-inspired home, situon a hilltop in Sag Harbor, New York, and do so in a way that the home could legitimately be categorized as “greeNot an easy task, perhaps not even a possible task. But Carey took on the challenge.

On average, to build an 8000 square oot home, over 200 tons o orest is destroyed. Not only does this a ecthabitat or numerous species, but also it has a damaging e ect on local oxygen output. Forest destruction does end on the property line. To get the materials to build these McMansions more trees are cut down, leaving morehabitats in shambles. To o set this problem Carey decided to build into the hill and so he was able to preserve mo the land while providing an enormous amount o interior space. He reclaimed the 190 tons o trees, primaril which were cut down or this construction on site, and they were used to create the woodwork in the interior o thouse. In place o the oak trees he cut down he planted evergreens, which, since they are oliated all year long, actually double the amount o oxygen produced while creating new habitats or animals. By doing this he mitigdestruction to the building plot and to the environment.

In the construction o any sized home there is a massive amount o waste produced, such as the plastic packagin wrapped around the building materials and the casings rom equipment. Carey’s challenge was to limit theconstruction waste as much as was possible. All the stone material used on the exterior and even on interior elemsuch as an accent wall and replace, came rom an old bridge in New England. The re-use meant no new stone wmined, and none o it came packaged. This not only reduced the quantity o waste, but also added unique andhistoric elements to the home.

The negative environmental impact o big homes continues or as long as the homes exist. The energy used tomaintain these homes is generally triple the amount used or an average home in America. Again, Carey tackledburden o this additional energy consumption in several innovative ways. The house shell is made with insulatedconcrete orms that ensure zero temperature trans er. This means that no heat or cold air will be lost, and decreathe amount o overall energy used. Carey used the highest-rated energy star appliances throughout the house.Because o these and other energy-saving design elements the home only uses one third o the energy o a tradithome the same size, or the equivalent energy o a standard-size American home. Because o Carey’s innovativetechniques, including waste management, energy use reduction, and the reuse o materials and resources, this homhas earned the highest level o LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certi cation.

While the construction methods and design o this home may seem “green,” it is ar rom a paragon o simple This villa comes equipped with 4 large bedrooms, a ull bar with wine cellar, an indoor pool, steam r3 ire places, a 4 story elevator, an indoor racquet ball court, and an 18 person movie theater. These

acilities add a “wow” actor to this home, however Camelot Building was able to build a home whe views are spectacular, the space is inspired, and the earth, i not “conserved” at least, is considered.

? g r e e n

P RINT

Eliz bth Beninc sa



FIGHTINGTHE FLU

jacqu line piNATURALLY

T hese days, it’s hard to imaginebarreling into a u season without vaccines, antibioticsTylenol—it would be like white water rafting without a life vest. In 1918, though, as the Spanish u cla50 million lives and healthy men and women were known to spring out of bed in the morning only to disundown, doctors didn’t have a lot to offer.

The government advised people to rest in bed and take a relatively new drug: aspirin. Tragically, aspirinoften given in overdoses we now know can cause uid buildup in the lungs. According to a recent articlClinical Infectious Diseases, this may have contributed to the pandemic’s high death rate.

It is not surprising that many turned to traditional and folk remedies. The CDC’sPanFlu Storybookis ll with memories of the 1918 outbreak, ranging from sweet to heartbreaking. Many entries tell of a child sthe pharmacy or even the barn to fetch whatever medicine was available. People tried the reasonable—treatments like lard, cherry bark tea and Listerine—and the completely desperate—substances like kerobelladonna and white lightning. One Wyoming doctor said he never lost a patient because he would pou“rotgut” whiskey into people’s throats until they’d cough up their phlegm.(This whiskey was stolen fromlocal sheriff, where it had been locked up as part of a bootlegger’s trial.)

It has largely been forgotten that homeopathy offered another popular treatment option. At that time asystem of homeopathic hospitals and medical schools existed alongside conventional ones. Homeopathyextremely diluted solutions of animal, mineral, and plant-based substances to trigger the body’s own heamechanisms. According to the New England Journal of Homeopathy, homeopathy used in hospitals and o WWI ships treated tens of thousands of patients, with a death rate less than half of the epidemic as a whAlthough science still has no clear explanation for why this might be so, perhaps someone reading this aowes their life to the homeopathy that saved their grandparents or great grandparents.

Clearly we’ve come a long way since 1918. Modern advances in in uenza treatment can be a comfort even a lifesaver as we toss with fever through a winter night. However, around 36,000 people still die fr

the u each year, which means mainstream medicine still sometimes runs short of answers. The good neis that alternative systems like homeopathy can be practiced alone or alongside conventional medicine,sometimes furnishing those elusive answers in times of great need. What follows is an exploration of a of the holistic u treatments available inLawrence and what they can offer to the feverish, achy or just plain worried.

Balancing Your Immune System, Naturally Getting poked with needles while ghting a 103-degree fever may sound like adding insult to injury, bu worth considering. Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, can treat even the toughest infections.

8



This 2000-3000 year old healing system is based on the Taoist understanding of a holistic universe. Although rootedifferent place and time, a growing number of Western patients are nding its treatments relevant today. The NationCenter for Complementary and Alternative Medicine estimates that over 3 million U.S. adults are now treated withacupuncture in any given year. Although double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on TCM practices are rare in the literature, multiple studies have shown the safety and ef cacy of acupuncture. Less is known in the U.S. about TCMherbal practices, although favorable studies are routinely performed in China and other countries, says Jason Hammlicensed acupuncturist who also specializes in herbal treatments through his Lawrence-based Blue Ginkgo Medicin

Because TCM was developed long before germ theory, it has a very different take on the causes of in uenza, Hammsays. Flu-like illnesses are viewed in terms of “damp heat” and “wind heat.” Sounds funky, but these terms generaldescribe the type of symptoms a patient exhibits, such as a fever. Over the millennia, by carefully observing symptand diseases, TCM practitioners discovered treatments that shorten the course of such illnesses by “externalizing thheat,” that is, drawing it from the inside toward the surface of the body. It also uses speci c herbal formulas that arnow known to have antibiotic and antiviral properties, he says.

When TCM describes infectious illnesses like the u, the concept that correlates most closely with Western mediciWei Qi. Qi , (pronounced “chee”) a word becoming more mainstream in the West, is regarded as the energetic life forunning through a system of bodily pathways, called meridians.Wei Qi is the body’s inherent vitality to muster adefensive response to infectious diseases. Hamm says that it is somewhat like our notion of the immune system, anthis bears directly on whether or not we catch the u.

“Wei qi de ciency causes in uenza to overcome an individual,” Hamm explains. “If your wei qi is very strong, then ymay not catch a disease.” Chinese Medicine works from the inside out, rather than the outside in, he says. “For instinstead of vaccinations, which they never had, the [historical] practice was to do herbal formulas or other means toboost the individual’s immunity.” In fact, he says, Chinese emperors’ doctors were often red if their patients becasick, because their job was to avert illness in the rst place.

Naturopathy, a system of medicine that offers a broad range of treatments including herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, shares a similar view. According to Dr. Amber Belt, a naturopath who practices in Lawrence and OvePark, we’re exposed to respiratory viruses all the time, even in the summer. What makes us more likely to catch a c

or the u at certain times, rather than others, re ects the current state of our immune system. When a germ meets weak immunity, she says, you have “the perfect storm” of infection.

So how do alternative medicine specialists go about helping their patients avoid the u? Hamm’s biggest advice is watch what you eat. He believes much of our susceptibility to seasonal viruses comes because we spend the winterseason indoors, sitting down, eating sugar and white our, which are known to depress immunity.

“Have one piece of pie,” he says, “but don’t have three.” Also, he advises people to consider a good mineral supplone that contains trace minerals, as those are the building blocks for a healthy immune system, but tend to be deplfrom modern soils.

Belt agrees that top priority should go to diet. She cites research that shows even a quarter teaspoon of sugar canreduce your white blood cell count. If you can’t kick the sugar habit completely, she offers this advice: Set aside otwo days a week when you can have a treat and otherwise leave it alone. Your immune system will rebound withinhours, leaving you protected more days a week than not. (Just don’t get let anyone sneeze in your direction on yousugar day.)

With her own patients, she also helps support immunity by testing for food allergies and sensitivities. These substaput an unnecessary strain on the immune system, distracting it from the real targets. Patients may be asked to avoimilk, gluten, potatoes or even combinations of food, like cane sugar mixed with fruit. She also checks nearly all opatients for vitamin D levels and has found many of them to be woefully de cient. She puts all patients (con’t p.1



low levels on appropriate doses, which tend to be up to 5,000 IU per day or adults, ar more than you would fnd iany multivitamin. Vitamin D has a wide and growing array o studied e ects, including helping the body produceown antimicrobial proteins.

One o her avorite supplements, or those who can handle milk, is colostrum. Yes, that’s the stu that is producmammals in the very frst days o breast eeding, and it’s chock ull o proteins, antibodies, and other nutrients to jumpstart a baby’s brand new immune system. The colostrum in pills or sprays usually comes rom organically raiscows, and appears to be e ective in humans, even adults. The authors o a 2007 study inClinical and Applied

Thrombosis/ Hemostasisadministered colostrum to both healthy and high-risk cardiovascular patients, some o whohad been given the seasonal u vaccine. They ound that colostrum was at least three times more e ective than vaccination in preventing seasonal in uenza. The incidence o complications and hospital admissions was also grein the high-risk group receiving vaccination alone, compared with the groups who received colostrum. They concluthat it was an e ective and inexpensive method o u prevention.

Most o these approaches are designed give the immune system a leg up. Paradoxically, alternative medicine stratealso include working to calm it down, as Belt does when identi ying ood allergies. Hamm, at his TCM clinic, mig with a patient over a series o weeks or months to frst normalize their typically over-amped immune system, and onthen to slowly strengthen it. Hamm says the problem with just taking immune-boosting herbs, such as astragalus, wis popular both in China and the West, is that most o our immune systems are already going at ull power, causing

problems like allergies and autoimmune disorders. Adding an immune-boosting herb to this scenario is like trying tmake a speeding car go aster by topping o the gas tank.

Un ortunately, Hamm and Belt both agree that most people tend to wait too long to think about the u. Hamm estimthat 95% o the patients who come to his practice aren’t thinking about prevention. Typically, they’re already sick wthey call, says Belt— sometimes waiting until they’ve passed the ever and cough, where intervention can make a hdi erence, and now have bronchitis or even pneumonia. When a patient is already sick, although the treatment isindividualized, the goal is to make sure the course o the u is as brie and uncomplicated as possible. Hamm, orinstance, can o er acupuncture and herbs to lessen symptoms like sore throat or cough. His methods are particulare ective, he explains, or reducing secondary respiratory in ections and breathing challenges that o ten closely the initial u virus.

10



One recent patient, a 43-year-old woman who had a ever ollowed by a week o fu-like symptoms, called him beshe was wheezing and couldn’t get enough breath. He had her lie ace down on the table and needled acupuncturepoints to open her lungs. What does such treatment eel like? The needles generally can’t be elt when they’re inseand there may be a gentle pressure as they’re maneuvered to best activate theqi . Many patients will begin coughingduring the treatment and sometimes even get rid o the secretions that have been clogging their lungs right there.Ick- actor aside, it may be worth it. This patient called Hamm shortly therea ter to say that this single treatment wenough to ease her breathing and let the last o the in ection resolve without lingering or weeks in her chest. For Belt the approach is somewhat similar. She may o er a regimen o herbs to address her patient’s symptoms, di ers rom person to person. She might also o er homeopathy, which is very e ective or speci c symptomthe deep, bone-weary ache that is a telltale fu symptom. (But she wouldn’t know because, amazingly, she’s never hafu.) Homeopathy is clinically documented to reduce the symptoms and duration o the fu when taken in the rst hours o the onset o the illness. Belt said that that may be true, but, in practice, it’s hard or people to catch the oearly enough. It’s as i we’re in denial until we’re completely ill, she says. Perhaps the best news about alternative medicine is that it doesn’t have to replace Western treatments. Hamm believthat both have a lot to o er and can work side by side, especially when something as complicated as immunity isinvolved.

“I think it comes down to looking at and utilizing the strengths o both in a way that will be bene cial or the persthink we get way too much into the mentality o either/or. Either I do Eastern medicine or I do Western medicine. my clients I try to eliminate that mentality. Do herbs, but also do what your doctor is recommending.”

One pressure point or Hamm is the question o whether or not to vaccinate, a topic he calls a “big red button thatpeople can push and make people mad.” Vaccination is an external source o immunity, he says, and it activates dide ensive systems in the body than a traditionally acquired in ection. Reactions can be unpredictable, and he eelneither Western or Eastern medicine have a good way o letting people know who might be at risk o an adverse reso that they can make an in ormed choice.“You have to ace the act that not everybody’s the same and some peoplreally need [vaccinations] and others may not.”(con’t p. 12)

BHAKTIVANA YOGA CENTER

Bhaktivana Yoga Center is a Registered YogaSchool and complies with the Yoga Alliancestandards for 200 hour teacher training. It isalso registered with the Kansas State Boardof Regents. Gopi Sandal, Center director, hasbeen practicing yoga for 36 years and teachingin the Lawrence area for 20. She offers avariety of one-off and ongoing classes,workshops and yoga teacher training sessionsthroughout the year. Class space is limited.

Classes At Bhaktivana Yoga Center:Monday 10:30am - level IMonday 6pm - level IIWednesday 6pm - All levelsThursday 10:30am - level III At the Zen Center in Lawrence:Thursday 6pm - All levels



His pre erence is always to strengthen the body so that it can do its own job ghting o in ections and, shouldsomeone become in ected, to shorten the course o the illness and prevent serious complications. I he were prehe says, he would choose the nasal vaccine, which delivers a live, weakened version o the fu, because this is clo what happens when a person naturally encounters a respiratory virus. He also notes that TCM o ers a widepharmacopeia o medicines that can ease unexpected immune reactions to vaccines. Whether we choose to vaccinate or not, none o us are ully immune to the onslaught o winter viruses. Accordi

a three-month investigation by CBS, data rom all 50 states be ore they stopped testing or H1N1 in July showethe overwhelming majority o suspected cases were not H1N1 and not even the fu. With vaccines available or ju

ew strains o the many respiratory illnesses in circulation, taking a holistic approach to health and immunity jussense. So, whether you rolled up your sleeve or the shot or not, you may do well to rest, relax, investigate naturamethods o balancing your immunity, and take it easy on the pie.

Skip the u this year with these natural treatments

1.) Avoid sugar, especially during the winter months. Eating the amount of sugar in 2 cans of soda cancut the germ- ghting ability of your white blood cells by 40%, an effect that lasts up to 5 hours,

according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

2.) Try Colostrum. A 2007 study found it three times more effective than the u vaccine.

3.) Get enough vitamin D3. A growing body of research is showing that this “sunshine vitamin” playsa critical role in immunity and is at its lowest levels during peak u months. Up to 1,000 IU per day isconsidered safe, but many people will need much more. Ask your primary care doctor to test your25-hydroxy Vitamin D levels at regular intervals, or join the Vitamin D Action study at www.grassrootshealth.net, which will test your levels every six months and combine your data withthat of thousands of others.

4.) Make sure you’re getting enough minerals, including trace minerals. Lawrence doctor of Chinesemedicine Jason Hamm recommends taking Azomite powder daily to give your immune system its basicbuilding blocks.

5.) Flush out the germs. Some practitioners recommend using a yogic neti pot to wash out your nasalpassages each day. If you can’t get the hang of the neti pot, you can dip a cotton swab in salt water andrun it around your nostrils. Gargling twice daily with salt water and drinking warm beverages will do thsame for your throat.

6.) Wash your hands often. Any list such as this would be remiss to leave out this simple and highly effective practice. Antibacterial soaps aren’t needed and can be potentially toxic, according to TheEnvironmental Working Group—soap and water will do the trick. When out and about, use a handsanitizer, preferably alcohol-based without triclosan or triclocarbon.

7.) At the rst sign of u symptoms, try homeopathy. Oscillococcinum is an over-the-counter remedy that double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have shown to reduce symptoms and duration of the u. Although the most effective remedies change from virus to virus, homeopaths found success withgelsemium and byronia during the 1918 u pandemic.

1 2





M ost of us drive. At least a little. Maybe a lot. For many it is the largest piece of our carbon footprint. According to the Union for Concerned Scientists, “Motor vehicles are responsible foralmost a quarter of annual US emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary global-warming gas. The UStransportation sector emits more CO2 than all but three other countries’ emissions from all sources combined.” And motor vehicle emissions will continue to increase as more vehicles hit America’s roads and the number of miles driven grows.

Three factors contribute to CO2 emissions from cars and trucks: 1.) Amount of fuel used. 2.) Amount of CO2 released when a particular fuel is consumed. 3.) Number of vehicle miles traveled. Combating global warming requires reducing all of these factors. This necessitates increased fuel ef ciency, switching torenewable fuels, and less driving.

So what are you and I to do? In the broad economy and environment we understand what should happen,but in the economy of our own lives we wrestle with limited resources, and a scarcity of time and information.

Let’s face it, if each us had to invent the mode of transportation we use to move around, most of us would behitchhikers. We wait for others to “hook us up” to the right forms of transportation to meet our modernneeds. When we go to buy a car, what we end up driving off the lot, is generally just a car that will get us frompoint A to B. We hope for dependability. We opt for style. We factor in our carbon footprint, but probably only as one of several components that include pricing, nancing, and availability.

Still, if there were a personal transportation answer that offered dependability and real economy, as well asbeing better for the environment, wouldn’t you take it?

This 3 part series will look at some options: Bio Diesel Vehicles, Flex Fuel Vehicles, and Hybrids.

If you were able to go to a car dealer today and buy a new Diesel vehicle (all new diesels use Common RailDiesel or CRD Technology) you could drive to the pump and ll it up with petroleum-based diesel and you would already have reduced 2 of the 3 factors listed above for the creation of CO2 emissions. Diesel Vehiclesuse less fuel than gasoline vehicles to go the same distance. Most quote the savings between 20 and 60% lessfuel. That means you can travel more miles on the same amount of fuel and go farther between ll-ups.

one pay check at a time

Living Fuelishly: Part 1 of 3

14



Not having to drive to the lling station as often, in itself, may save additional fuel. Diesel engines alsoare able to extract more power from the same amount of fuel. They create more torque, which meansmore pulling power. And diesel fuel is less ammable than gasoline, so it is safer in an accident, andless likely to explode if your vehicle catches on re.

Contemporarily manufactured diesel vehicles also have high standards of emissions lters. Historicallybecause the diesel engine combusts its fuel, it was a heavier pollutant than gas-powered engines. Butstricter emissions standards required diesel manufacturers to clean up their act. The particulateproblem was solved by Mercedes-Benz when they introduced the maintenance-free particulate lter,now standard in all diesel cars and trucks. The new diesel engines are now cleaner than gas engines inboth particulates released and CO2 released.

Other advantages of diesel-powered vehicles are that they last longer because they do not employ theconventional ignition system and so there are no spark plugs or ignition modules that can fail.

Of course if you drive that diesel engine to the pump and ll up with traditional diesel fuel all thesethings are true, but you would lose the additional advantages of being able to run your vehicle on a

renewable energy source: Bio Diesel.The merits of Bio Diesel are many: It is nontoxic. It is biodegradable. It is completely renewable, thusreducing our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuel products. And it is cleaner. The EPA says thatif we switch to 100 percent bio diesels we will reduce carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions by 75percent. The Union for Concerned Scientists states clearly that renewable fuels, “because they are notproduced from high-carbon fossil fuels, have lower carbon emissions.”

And Bio Diesel is particularly renewable because it can be manufactured from so many sources. TheDiesel engine was invented by Rudolf Diesel to run on Peanut Oil. But almost any plant or vegetablematter can be converted into Bio Diesel.

A Sustainable Approach to Automobiles and Energy InfrastructureUniversity of Kansas Eco Hawks School of Engineering Design Project

www.ecohawks.orgDonations gratefullyaccepted. Contact KU Endowment at (785) 832-7400.



And because diesel engines aren’t too picky about what fuels them, there is even one way you could run yourdiesel engine for Free. Yes FREE. For the same price as that hitchhikers thumb, (but with a lot more safety features) you could be driving around town.

The way is to covert a conventional Diesel Vehicle to use Waste Vegetable Oil. Almost all diesel vehicles canbe retro tted to run on Waste Vegetable Oil. According to local mechanic, Marcos Markolatos who has donemultiple WVO conversions, diesel vehicles manufactured before 2000 work best. His recommendations forthe process is as follows:

To covert your Diesel vehicle to run on WVO you need to:

1.) Buy a conversion kit. The price will depend on what make and model of vehicle you own. Frybred sellstheirs for approximately $1700. And Golden Fuel Systems – in Spring eld MO sells theirs for around $1500.

http://www.frybrid.comhttp://www.goldenfuelsystems.com

2.) Hire a mechanic to install the two tanks system in your vehicle. Golden Fuel Systems in Spring eld,MO will install on site for between $1200-$1500, or they will send a mechanic to you for a little more.But a local mechanic might charge you less.

3.) Source your Waste Vegetable Oil by talking to restaurant owners or friends and family who fry a lot of food.Markolatos says sourcing your WVO might take some time but he’s keeping his own “choice” local spots a secre

Of course, though running on WVO is really good for your own limited resources, and better for theenvironment than driving a gasoline-powered car, it isn’t carbon neutral. Even better choices would be to walk, to ride your bicycle, to take a city bus, to limit your driving to the bare minimum possible, or pull outthat innovation of last resort and use that thumb to share a ride.

16

Green Cla ifeds e listin s e listin s

e listin s

e listin s

e listin s

e listings business opportunitiessolicit investment and support for your green business

green eventsinvite the public to participate in the growth of green

educationgreen knowledge is hard to come by; sell or barter your expertise

personal growthlet the world know about your green services

green real estatesales, rentals, and barter for holdings that support sustainabletechnologies

recycle thislistings that encourage reuse - at an a ordable price

green jobsemployment opportunities in the emerging sustainable economy

Send your classi eds to:[email protected]

Content must be received by the rst day of the monthto be included in the next issue.

Classi ed ads will run for one issue unless renewed.

Content must be appropriate to one of thecategories listed and timely.

Contact information must include name, phone, andemail.

wanted



W hen we cast on a piece knitting, we cannot help but extend ourselves and our concrete experiencin two simultaneous directions: we connect ourselves temporally to all those who have knitted or engaged in the arand cra t o fber be ore us in history, and we also link ourselves spatially to all o those who are knitting like us athis very moment and to those who are currently engaged in all stages and aspects o the production o fber. Thus we can only knit together, as part o a vast, implicit community, even though we may be sitting all alone somewhe

My personal involvement with knitting lay dormant or many years be ore becoming a li e-changing obsession.Taught the basics o knitting by my two grandmothers as a young girl in 1980s Communist Bulgaria, I dabbled inmaking knitted dolls, toy blankets and such, be ore plunging into an ambitious Fair Isle sweater, which my grandmother eventually had to fnish or me when I got hopelessly bored with the sleeves. The sweater, now longoutgrown and soaked with nostalgia, still sits on a shel in my closet, though I haven’t worn it since reshman yeain college. My hopeless addiction to knitting started about a year ago, in the wake o the loss o a much wantedpregnancy. In between the sweater days and last December lay about two decades o random, short-lived bursts oknitting: a scar here, a baby blanket there. But be ore I get to the recent past and present, I wish to linger on twomore points relating to my knitting heritage.

One is that, curiously enough, my mother is clueless about knitting. Her own mother – the same grandmother whoso lovingly helped me make my frst stitches – deliberately re used to teach her anything smacking o traditionally

eminine domesticity out o determination to set her on a path o career achievement outside the home. Now inher sixties, my super-educated and success ul mother openly admits that she envies my fber-oriented obsessionand ever evolving skills with the needles. So why did my late grandmothers think it was OK to teach me, a terhaving skipped a generation? I can make guesses o course, but I never actually thought to ask the question. Addit to the ever expanding list o what I now perceive as precious opportunities lost to me in this li etime.

The other thing about my grandmothers’ cra t relevant here is the act that they never worried about knitting greebecause they were doing it by de ault – in their small provincial towns and tiny villages in interwar and post-Worl War II Communist Bulgaria. They used homespun, hand-dyed wool – but it wasn’t glamorous or luxurious and as kid, my sister and I rankly pre erred the so tness o smuggled, German, mohair-look acrylic to anything native ascratchy. So the more I keep thinking about the whole dilemma o whether to knit green or not, the more I realizethat it is a problem that presents itsel mostly to the contemporary Western knitter. We’re in the unique position tomake choices, and make them responsibly, with an eye to the uture.

The opportunity and, in act, necessity o making in ormed fber choices didn’t even enter my mind last Decembeas I was groping, in the og o early grie , or a source o com ort during the sleepless nights. Knitting presentitsel to me as the per ect re uge through a series o small but serendipitously timed events: the gi t o a whole o how-to knitting books and magazines rom a near stranger; a riend’s recommendation o Ann Hood’s memoiCom ort, describing the li e-saving role o knitting a ter the sudden death o her young daughter; my sister knitta scar or her boy riend over the Christmas holidays. (con’t p.18)

i a be nema

knit together



At the crack o dawn on December 26, I ound mysel rifing through the yarsection at Michael’s. With several skeins o Patons and Lion Brand acrylics intow, I ensconced mysel in my avorite chair at home and spent what seemedlike entire days knitting scar a ter scar a ter scar .

At the beginning this was a renetic, desperate need to knit. The urge to losemysel in the activity was so overwhelming that I would have knit withliterally anything, dental foss, i need be. The materials didn’t really matter.

What counted was being engaged in a repetitive activity, which only graduallyrevealed itsel as meditative, as something even greater than just a means o survival and a way to deal with my grie with some measure o dignity, whil

nding an outlet or the excess nervous energy which was keeping me up niga ter sleepless night. As the initial renzy o grie - ueled knitting subsidedI ell back on another long-standing habit: voracious research and reading. Mhusband lovingly teases me about my tendency to develop a long reading list,syllabus o sorts, or everything I become passionately interested in. My app

or knitting books (manuals, essays, ction, histories, catalogs, online blogs e was only matched by the speed with which I completed actual knitting projectseveral baby blankets, sweaters, scarves and ponchos, hand warmers, shrugs,

All o these were executed in color ul acrylics rom Michael’s, using bambocircular needles purchased on the (extremely!) cheap rom eBay and promptlshipped to me all the way rom China. I you’re wondering what motivated tnone too savvy or eco-conscious choices on my part, it is simple: the absolutedread that I would end up wanting to start a new project at 11 PM on a Saturdnight and wouldn’t have the materials to begin right then and there.

My conversion to consumer-conscious knitting was almost imperceptible, butnone the less irreversible. A warehouse sale at my LYS (Local Yarn Store)prompted me to buy a ew skeins o Karabella brushed alpaca and somelace-weight Diakeito novelty yarn dotted with tiny fower-like slubs. An unlike

pair that I held together to knit a quick scar or a gi t. That did it! I becamehopelessly hooked on high-quality yarn. And when a dear riend gave me thrpairs o Lantern Moon rosewood needles, a whole new world o appreciationand awareness opened up to me. Then my mother-in-law bought me Lynne Vogel’s, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Looking at the sections on spinnand dyeing your own yarn, I laughed as I said to mysel , “and next thing youknow, I’ll be raising sheep!” A ew months down the road, I no longer look athis as a joke. I’ve lately been learning how to spin with a drop spindle and asply my very rst handspun skeins, I’m ever more inclined to think that once ybecome involved with something like ber arts, and you’re determined to do iin a mind ul way, it’s impossible to go just hal -way. You have to dig deeper

as you cast an ever-wider net. Exploring aspects o ber through time and sp will be precisely what this column aims to do. I will ocus on the endless wa which knitting and ber bring us all closer together through the process o crthe nished arti act, the emotions, memories, stories, dreams and traditionsassociated with the art o making three-dimensional objects o beauty and

unction rom apiece o string. And I hope this will prove to be a shared jouo discovery, guided in large part by the interest and passions o the readers othis column. In this day and age, it would be impossible to enter a deepdiscussion o the essential togetherness o knitting without taking into seriouconsideration its “green” dimension. In act, there is no more appropriate tim

18



than the present to delve into green knitting. The United Nations designated 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibers (IYNF), and the website www.natural bers2009.org explains that the IYNF was meant to celebrate

bers produced by plants and animals as opposed to modern, man-made, arti cial and synthetic bers such as rayonylon, acrylic and polyester. Looking to the future, 2011 will be the International Year of Forests, and it will focuson tree bers that were not covered by the International Year of Natural Fibers.

A vast number of issues are intertwined in the concept of eco-conscious knitting, such as whether our ber andcraft tools are local, sustainably farmed, carbon neutral, chemical free (including pesticide and insecticide free),

naturally dyed, fair trade, vegan, etc. In order for a ber product to be labeled “organic” legally, the producer hasto go through a very rigorous and expensive certi cation process similar to the one prescribed for the food industrMeanwhile, yarn production has multiple stages, and each of these involves myriad practical, down-to-earth choicon the part of the producer. Now there are those (not too many) who make the radical decision to knit only withorganic materials. To be honest, I am of a more moderate persuasion. While I have started to make every effort tknit with stuff that meets as many of the “organic” requirements, I appreciate the fact that it’s often very dif cultfor small producers and cottage industries to conform to all the USDA “organic” certi cation criteria. At the samtime, I would like to support every effort, no matter how partial, in the direction of “green.” And, additionally, Ican’t resist mentioning here that my personal favorite, responsibly produced wool, is perhaps the ultimatesustainable ber, the one with potentially the smallest carbon footprint of any, including all the currently hipalternative bers, such as bamboo or organic cotton.

So what should we do when we want to be responsible consumers who wish to buy responsibly produced yarn anknitting tools? In the frequent absence of clear and de nitive labels due to hurdles associated with the USDAcerti cation process, we can make a conscious effort to get to know the producers, feel comfortable enough to askquestions about the choices they make in their production process, open two-way lines of communication. Someproducers may be very willing to engage in this kind of discussion while others may feel threatened and reluctant indulge an inquisitive client. A perfect opportunity to meet producers in person would be at one of the ever morenumerous wool and ber festivals that take place around the country from the early spring to the late fall each yeaThe chance for warm and intimate in-person communication with the producers at these festivals is priceless. Buteven if we don’t get a chance to attend such an event, we can still effect small but important change by, for instancrequesting that our LYS stock an assortment of eco-friendly yarns that we would be committed to purchasing.

Now all of these efforts on our part may well get in the way of our eager desire for instant grati cation in termsof yarn stash expansion, but it’s worth the effort, as it will go a long way into knitting us more closely together as

Think GreenBSEC has found that once we hold oursessions, the people in attendance seemto agree such steps are really needed, andcommit themselves to helping us spreadthe word within their own family and/or circle of friends.

We need your help too. So please helpus teach our future generations how to use self-help measures to survive.Please visit our site to find out moreand to make a donation or contact:

Richard Mabion, FounderBuilding A Sustainable Earth Community www.breakingthesilence.us913-481-9920

Reducing the cost of utilitiesis the only way our low-incomecommunities can survive. Insteadof relying on the government tofix everyone’s problem, Building ASustainable Earth Community (BSEC)decided to take a self-help messageto the residents of Wyandotte County. With the help of the KansasSierra Club, BSEC has beenteaching people in WyandotteCounty how to reduce theirenergy use – and costs.

healthy community on a larger scale.Educated and consistent individualconsumer choices can and do build upa momentum that reverberates to theupper reaches of the fashion industry.Next month’s column will start talkingin greater detail about particular kindsof natural bers and other knitterly accoutrements and the practices andtraditions surrounding their productionand use. In the meantime, please don’thesitate to email me with any commentsand questions [email protected]

Until then, let’s knit together!



wild things S how o hands: what parent isn’t rantically,even obsessively worried about germs this year? As a regular purchaser o all things organic, I had convinced mysel I’d created a thin layer o health andprotection around my amily. That is, until this fu season. Like every other parent I know, this fu season I’vebeen rolling in a ball o panic about germs. And then enter, stage le t, my ormer enemy but new ound secret

riend: alcohol-based hand sanitizer, a product you’d never nd on the shelves at my local health ood co-op.Sure, I elt a little sinister as I climbed into my car outside o the Montessori school and urtively squirted a globo gelatinous, pale-green hand sanitizer onto my hands. My one-year-old, strapped in his car seat, had beenprojectile sneezing or days. Hal o my daughter’s preschool classmates had spent the past week at home withsome kind o bronchial thing. Every time I checked my email, some apocalyptic swine fu headline screamedhorror stories at me. I envisioned a troupe o malicious, bird-sized germs circling around the heads o my children, cartoon-style, ready to dive into any ori ce. Only a negligent parent would not use hand sanitizer everytwo seconds in times likes these, right? Right? Though I had made the decision to use the product on mysel I still had to decide about my children. My toddlerspends a good portion o his day practically eating his ngers and I had a notion that applying this product to him

would be like covering those ngers with the alcohol equivalent o a martini. So be ore dousing my son’s hands with goop (my technical term or a concentration o 62% isopropanol) I needed to do some more research.Researching yields a huge trough o mixed messages, everything rom doctors and companies that call handsanitizer a germ-killing miracle to parents and natural healers who decry hand sanitizer as a dangerous andpotentially deadly literal cocktail they wouldn’t put near child-sized hands. I you go with what the CDC (Centers or Disease Control) says about hand sanitizer e cacy, i a hand sanitizcontains more than 60% alcohol and i it’s applied liberally (so much on the hands that it takes more than teenseconds to dry a ter being rubbed over the skin), it is generally e ective in eliminating 99.9% o germs. Keep mind: hands must not be soiled when the sanitizer is applied, as alcohol is not e ective in cutting through dirt.

Are there alternatives or those o us who are slightly terri ed o a preternatural green hand sanitizer ull o alcohol and triclosan, an ingredient that has been known to combine with sunlight and trace chlorine in tap waterto orm dangerous carcinogens?

According to Anne Blake, Ph.D., an environmental and public health consultant, there are two types o “natural”products out there. First, there are “natural” hand sanitizers that use alcohol to eliminate germs. What makesthem di erent rom a product like Purell? Many, like EO Natural Hand Sanitizer, use organic grape alcoholinstead o ethyl alcohol and do not use synthetic ragrances or harm ul chemicals. I you would like to skip thealcohol altogether, CleanWell makes a hand sanitizer that claims to be as e ective as alcohol-based sanitizers burelies instead on “ingenium,” a patented mixture o essential plant oils, to rid the hands o germs. They tested

amy stubr

20



their product in a FDA-approved lab, and their results-- 99.9% of germs killed-- were comparable to those of alcohol-based sanitizers. While they do not have actual data on the ef cacy of non-alcohol-based sanitizers, theCDC admits that “[such products] may kill germs on hands...[but that] there isn’t as much information about whether these types of cleaners are effective.”

So what is a green-leaning parent to do, particularly during this winter of H1N1 u scares? First and foremost, perthe CDC: regular and serious hand washing. This means warm water, lots of soap, getting in between the digits,under rings, on the wrists, and washing for as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice. Admittedly, this is not

an easy routine to maintain, particularly when you’ve just walked in the house and both children are in twin statesof decompensation: one being too hungry to wait for lunch to be prepared, and the other one tantruming becauseshe doesn’t like what I’ve planned for lunch. But according to most doctors and the CDC, hand washing is theabsolute best way to protect against illness and decrease the spread of germs.

And so, I have been doing a monstrous amount of hand washing when we come in the house after school, library,playdates and the like. Fortunately, my daughter thinks it’s hilarious and entertaining to sing “Happy Birthday”twice while creating as much lather on her hands as possible, and my son is still at the stage of thinking any kindof running water touching him is one of the most interesting things ever. If I am not near a sink, I agree that handsanitizers are the next best option. When your son has gastroenteritis, for example, and you are changing his diaperit might not be a bad idea to use the hand sanitizer before even moving away from the changing table. I plan to

buy CleanWell. I like that it presents results, lists its ingredients in full, and is the only antibacterial product on theChildsafe Product List. I also like that I do not have to feel like a bartender when applying it to my children’s handsI just do not trust that my one-year-old knows not to put the more toxic hand sanitizers in his mouth.

But really, there is no fail-safe. I could be covered head to toe in hand sanitizer and walk by someone who sneezeson me. That’s just part of living in the world. So I’m going to wash a lot of hands, carry a natural product in my bag and keep it around the house, and try not to worry.



gardencalendar

the green

Bet Dilon

going

I grew up on a western Kansas farm. My parents and grandparents before me, had lived in the sameagrarian community. My parents grew wheat, milo, and cropsfor silage. They also had pasture land and maintained a herd of grass-fed cattle. My parents farmed both to make a living andas a way of life. They both worked very hard as equal partnersand they felt they had a good life. Dad managed the crops and

cattle. He kept the large machinery, tractors, trucks andcombines, in running condition. Mother was the gofer.Machinery always broke at inconvenient times. She fetchedthe necessary replacement parts from dealerships that were

fteen to fty miles away. She sometimes drove a truck duringharvest. She helped move the irrigation pipe. She cooked forthe family and for the hired teenage boys who helped in the

elds. During harvest, when every minute of good weathermattered, she always took meals to the eld. As a child Ithought these in- eld picnics were great fun. It was evenbetter when I got my driving permit. Then I was the one incharge of meal delivery. In addition to these responsibilities Mother gardened. She had a passion for gardening. Shinherited her skills from her mother. When I was very small and we visited Grandma, we always had a tour of hergarden. The garden lives in memory as very large and bordered on one side with hardy perennials and self-seedingannuals. Mother’s garden was similar to Grandma’s, but her vegetables and owers had separate sites. It is from thtwo women I absorbed most of my gardening techniques along with strong opinions about growing in general.

We always had a bounty of fresh vegetables in the summer and fall. That was the time of year that Mother went intoover-drive. She was certain we would go hungry if she did not preserve everything we could not consume. Her goto keep us in vegetables, pickles, jams, jellies, and fruit until the next growing season. She did a good job. We seldout of anything.

Though I knew very early I liked ower gardens better than the vegetables that had to be preserved, I experienced tplenty of home-grown food, which most industrious, farming families enjoy. Food and eating were part of every faevent and most social occasions. Gardening and farming were the means that made possible our plentiful lifestyle.

We were essentially self-reliant. Only two times during the year would Mother buy meat. The rst was for amulti-family Fourth-of-July Celebration, where we roasted hotdogs over a re. The other occasion was an annualfamily-reunion picnic. Cars were not air-conditioned and Mother feared meat would spoil during the three-hour driin August heat. She bought baloney, mayonnaise and bread when we arrived at our destination.

Mother and Dad did everything they knew to maintain and improve their land. The specter of the dust bowl was alin their minds. They plowed under their wheat straw after harvest to add humus to the soil. Not everyone did. Afte wheat harvest, the sky would be dotted with res and smoke from elds where neighbors burned their stalks. Sincepractice bothered Mother intensely, I asked someone, why they preferred burning to tilling? They explained that thcost of tractor fuel and hired labor was too large a cut into their pro ts. My parents felt differently. More winter w was always planted than was needed for harvest, and it served as a good cover crop to protect the land during the w winters. In the winter months cattle could graze on this extra wheat for several weeks. The pasture needed a rest athe cattle would add some fertilizer to the soil. In the spring the extra winter wheat would be turned under as a greemanure. A couple of times Dad bought truckloads of animal manure from a feedlot to enrich the soil. He also paidmovers to terrace a parcel of badly eroding pasture land. After the terracing he planted grass through the ConservaReserve Program usually identi ed as CRP, to keep the soil stabilized and to slow water runoff.

22



In the years Mother and Dad farmed many believed chemical pesticides and applied fertilizer were improvements, used them gladly. During this era of prosperity these chemicals were considered gifts, either from God or the marvadvances of modern technology. Farmers and many others thought these two “gifts” would eliminate world hungeimprove world health. Sadly, that has not been the case. The opinions on chemical fertilizers have done an about fThree decades after the use of pesticides became the norm, reports started to surface about possible dangers, and thuse of pesticides was challenged. Today, the damage from their use, both to individuals and to the land is welldocumented. In my childhood farmers used some care in applying chemicals, but no one was particularly afraid ofdangers. The danger to the environment was unknown or dismissed as an unproven rumor. After a lifetime of han

various chemical products, Dad became ill. A year after retiring from a career of farming he died of cancer.

As a young adult in the 1960s I farmed with my husband. Not much was different from my farming childhood, exI was the gofer. With children in tow I ran errands and helped move the irrigation pipe. By the time the 1970’s graembargos and energy crisis signaled the era of runaway in ation, I was divorced and had moved to an urbanneighborhood. My close relationship to farming ended, and I no longer thought of myself as living “on the land.”

As an adult city dweller, I grew small backyard vegetable and ower gardens with varying degrees of success and I grew more owers than vegetables. I wanted to avoid the work of food preservation. And for many years Mothegave the gifts of her labors. When she was no longer able to do the garden, and the canning, I missed the avor of vegetables. I did not have much garden space left after my owers, so I bought the rectangular containers, which

according to their advertising were “maintenance free” except for occasional watering.

I planned to eat any vegetables I grew so I used organic soil and fertilizer. I had moderate success. I harvested somproduce early in the season until everything I was growing turned yellow and died. The containers were expensiveI wanted to clean them so I could try again next year to be organic. I did not want any chemical residue from cleanand I wanted to be sure the pest or the blight would not live over into the next year. I needed information and startreading, but the eld of green growing is so broad I had a hard time nding the speci c information I needed. I ga

This year my daughter told me she was starting a green magazine. I was excited both about the magazine and abounew source of information on green growing. She asked me if I wanted me to write this column. My rst reaction“I don’t know anything about green gardening!” Hadn’t my quest for information about the pots proven that I wa

totally unquali ed?

However, she comes from the information age and her response was, “You can research! You can interview peoplehave the expertise! You have a background in traditional farming, in home gardening, and in land management.

(con’t p.



You know about growing in Kansas. Green isn’t about having the answers it is about the transition to a new frame fday-to-day activities.” We decided I could write the column from the point of view of a green garden novice. Perothers who do not know how to grow green would be interested in what I am learning and how I am making the tration from “old school” growing to growing in a more ecologically conscientious manner.

In this age of dramatic climate change, and undisputable statistics on pesticides and other containments in our watersoil and air, it is hard for my caring mind to understand why more of the population is not interested in making chanThen when I stop to consider my own gardening practices I realize the WHY. I am addicted to the fast x of chemi

I want to quickly get rid of pests who eat my plants. I also want weeds to be gone by tomorrow or at least next weeThere is a patch of bindweed in my daughter’s yard. I cannot look at without itching to put Round Up on it. I readorganic growing book that the method to eradicate dif cult weeds is heavy mulching. For deep-rooted plants like b weed, it can take up to two years. No way do I want to take that amount of time. I probably haveblinders of ignorance about other things.

My addiction to using chemicals to enhance growing is very much like a nicotine addiction. The smoker knows alldangers to herself but considers it a personal choice. She ignores the data on the dangers of second-hand smoke to tones she loves. The smoker ignores the evidence to satisfy her momentary satisfaction with her choice. In my addictI think one application of Round Up, or as much as is needed to destroy a patch of bindweed, will not matter or is justi ed. It is very hard to give up personal pleasures and convenience. My conclusion to this discussion is that

My technical education and careerexperiences are the structure and heartwoodsupporting creative outgrowth.

Being passionate about working with others on projects thatfulfill their needs while reflecting their hearts, I enjoy usingreclaimed and mixed materials in functional and artisticconstructions around the home and garden.

My family and I have come to this rich heartland for anintentional life; to grow in the purest and truest way we can.I look forward to employing all of my skills, tools, and talentsto facilitate the realization of your family’s visions

Anil Kamat 505 231 6163 [email protected]

Engineering roots, creative branches. Project conception, planning, and realization for sustainable living.

The facts won’t matter until an individualcares to the extent that action is the only way they can live. Actions of one personstart a ripple effect that can causeprofound changes.

This is why I’ve agreed to write thiscolumn, because I have begun to takeaction. I have begun to nd a newrelationship to my garden, my life andto myself. I hope you will join me as Iembark on this journey of green growing.

24

I began my quest to educate myself inthe world of green growing by speaking with Natalya Lowther who operatesPinwheel Farm. Natalya grows vegetables and I have long admiredher produce at the Lawrence Farmers’Market. Heritage tomatoes are one of her specialties.Natalya practicessustainable growinmethods. As asustainable grower, she adheres to theorganic ban of chemical fertilizer andpesticides. Lime is the only additive sheuses.

being green is as much a“consciousness raising”process as knowingthe facts.



As a sustainable grower, Natalya does no-till planting. “nois one of the concepts I had trouble understanding. Theimage I had was planting in the midst of grass or weeds inhard dry soil. As Natalya described preparing a plot for nogardening, I began to understand. No-till does not meanplanting in unprepared soil. Several months before she staa new garden or reclaims a fallow plot, she invites her oc

sheep to consume unwanted weeds or grass. After the shenish, she heavily mulches the entire plot. Heavy mulchinabout eight inches deep and springy to walk on. Natalya u waste hay from her sheep, or fall leaves or any organicmaterial that will compost. After several months, she can the mulch apart and plant. The mulch has smothered thegrass and weeds. It continues to compost, enriching the so without damaging or destroying underground eco systemsthat promote healthy plant growth. The mulch also keeps soil from losing moisture. The garden needs little or noirrigation from planting until harvest.

Listening to her description, I realized I had accidentally created a no-till owerbed. Even though I began by tillinggot it right in the end. I planted perennials and mulched amulched. After several years of mulching, I have wonderfno-till soil. Natalya cautioned not to do a light mulching. explained that light mulching keeps the soil moist but lets enough light to make a weed greenhouse. On occassion, Ihave done exactly that and could not understand why my mulch did not keep the weeds away. Natalya likes to use obrome hay as mulch. Brome seed is only viable for two y

If some seeds defy the two-year rule and sprout, they are eto spot and eliminate.

Natalya’s answer to what she would be doing in January wsuccinct. First, she would plan for next year by reviewing year’s records. Her records include maps of each plot,planting and harvest dates with the amount of seeds used, varieties and yields. Second she saves many heritage seedher next task will be an inventory of seeds and ordering anneeded seed. Third, she maintains her tools. They requirecleaning to prevent any contamination from the previous

season. Cutting blades need oil and rough handles needsanding. Some equipment always needs replacing.

When these tasks are nished, she is ready to start plantinglate January or early February depending on Kansas weathLast February was warm enough to plant under row coverNatalya intends to be prepared if the opportunity comes th year.

e Light Center a non-profit rustic retreat

center in Baldwin, Kansasoffering:

Holistic Healing Learning CenterHealing Touch TherapyClasses & WorkshopsSustainable Living

& Intentional Community projectsNative American CeremoniesFamily & kids camps & events34 acres of creeks and hilly wilderness for

hiking and exploring

The Light Center also organizes and supportsthe South African Volunteer Project & GOGO

Alliance through LOVELIGHT, the Light Center’sglobalnetwork in support of the children andgrandmothers of Africa. Lovelight is responding tothe AIDS orphan crisis in South Africa focusing onsupporting the caregivers as they provide for theneeds of the children. Lovelight’s main task is toprovides volunteer training and support forvolunteers who travel to South Africato enhancethe work of South African programs. It facilitatesan international exchange of healingwisdom andresources to create a more sustainable future forthe children. We believe that service is a two-waystreet with all of us being teachers and learners,in ways that are empowering to all peopleinvolved. Lovelight is exploring new models forcollaboration among grass roots projects, and itis our belief that great changes come from ordinarypeople creating new ideas together. Workingtogether works miracles! The Light Center isinterested in development as an eco-village.We seek partners and investors towards this end.

For more information please visit our websites.



Kelsey Tyler

Materials Needed: Window Screen Wood FrameTacksBlender/Food ProcessorBasin/cookie sheet with atleast 1” lipFelt squareSpongeLiquid StarchSpatula

Paper OptionsUsed Holiday WrappingPaperOld NewspapersUnused CouponsUsed Construction PaperOld Paper bagsRecycled Typing paperUsed Tissue PaperOld NapkinsDiscarded Greeting CardsThis Magazine - when you’refnished reading it

Making Paper:A play ul exercise in reinventionW elcome readers, to the frst edition o the Recycle Fairy.Here you can fnd creative ways to incorporate reusing and recycling intochildren’s cra ts. Modi y, add to and adapt these cra t projects to ft yourchild’s needs and ingenuity. While some o our projects can be managed without the assistance o an adult, remember that it is always a good ideato supervise your child according to his or her developmental level. Incelebration o the frst issue o Blue Sky Green Earth , I have chosen to ocuson this magazine’s medium: paper. It is my desire to apply this magazine’semphasis o a “less is more” li estyle to earth’s younger dwellers.

This month’s project o ers a un way to turn nearly all orms o used paperinto beauti ul new sheets o paper. Making your own paper with your childo ers a good opportunity to discuss waste and recycling with him or her.Explain what happens to materials we throw away and how it neverdisappears, but just goes somewhere else. Making sure children areconscious o this concept means that in the uture they may more care ully consider what they are throwing away. Maybe they will look at an empty box in the trash and see a castle in the making.

1. Begin by using the tacks to attach th window screen to the wooden rame.Make sure the screen is taut. You willuse this as a mold or the paper.

2. Tear enough pieces o paper to fll uabout hal o a blender or oodprocessor.

3. Add warm water to fll up the blend-er or ood processor and blend untilsmooth. Notice that more blendingmixes the colors and the most interestitextures may come rom less blending

26

Directions:



4. If you plan to write on the paper, add about 2 tbsp of liquid starch to keep the pen ink from running.

5. Place the basin or cookie sheet beneath the frame mold so the water will drain onto it.

6. Pour the mixture onto the screen.

7. Using a spatula, smooth out the mixture so it covers the screen, making it as thick or as thin aspreferred.

8. When the paper stops dripping, use a sponge to soak up remaining water.

9. Use the felt square to transport the wet paper onto newspaper to dry. Do this by laying the felt ontop of the wet paper and mold and ip so the felt is now on the bottom. Take caution to ensure none of the wet paper is still attached to the mold.

10. If necessary, place paper between two newspapers or felt sheets and use a rolling pin to even outsurface.

11. Transport the damp paper to a dry newspaper and leave undisturbed until dry.

12. The length of drying time depends on how wet the paper is, and how much humidity is in the air.Timing varies from a couple hours to a couple of days.

Once dry, your nished paper can be made into an array of new paper products:

Punch holes in the tops of the paper sheetsand tie together to make a notepad.

Fold in half and decorate to make a greeting cards,

thank you notes, or a stationary set.Use as place mats for the dinner table.

Cut shapes into the paper and hang in a well-lit window.

Create a birthday or a special-event crown.



RED ALERTan interview with Dan Wildcat

green s c r e en

b Karn Dilon

DAN WILDCAT TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK

D an Wildcat is angry. He’s angry about global warming or “Global Burning,” which is wh

he calls it in his new book, RED ALERT: Saving the Planet With Indigenous Knowledge. “I think my “global burning” idea is to say, let’s be dramatic, let’s call it the way it is, ‘global warminsounds so nice and fuzzy, ‘global heating’, well we’re a little closer, let’s call it what it is, were burninup the planet!” For Dan, “global burning” represents the fourth wave of indigenous population displacement. But thitime the displacement will not be limited to na tive peoples.

“There are already people talking about environmental refugees as sea levels rise on coast lines and athings change in forests and grasslands in the process of desertification. People are going to have tomove. And as people move, there will be conflict and other issues that come with additional crowdinAgain we need to link the issue of world peace with the health of our planet. We can see literally andfiguratively the social chaos that can come. We should not underestimate that. That’s going to besignificant.”

Though Dan is angry, he isn’t an angry person. In fact he exudes a kind of centered optimism. In 19Dan was honored with the Heart Peace Award for his efforts to promote World Peace by the Kansas COrganization, The Future is Now.

“Anger is dangerous because it is so powerful, and we have trouble con trolling it at times, and the thito do is to realize how we use it, and to make sure that it’s not reactive and destructive. Anger usuallya reaction, it’s very reactive. You get angry about something that happens to you. And if there is everreason for people to be anger they should be angry now about what is happening with the environmenBut that anger is dangerous because you can feel it in a destructive way. Whenever I think of constructive anger I think of a conversation I had with my friend David Frayer, who teaches in theAnthropology Dept. at KU. We were talking one time, I said something to him about “forgive and forand Dave said no, what you have to do is “forgive and remember.” I think of anger that way, we haveforgive but we must remember what made you mad and take that and be proactive and do something ina positive way.”

28



“There is a sort o humility that I’ve learned rom being around people I call elders in a very traditional indigenosense. Part o this humility is this notion that, ‘don’t think that you can fx it all.’ And maybe fxing it all is not thpoint. The point is… and I’ve been having a lot o discussions with my students about this, even the title o my they pointed out sounds very western, “Save the Planet”. I try to explain what I view as the construction o indigenous knowledge. It isn’t a human knowledge, it is the knowledge that is born o collaborative relationshipbetween plants, animals, the earth, water and the air. So when I talk about indigenous knowledge, I talk abouthumans doing it, but in act we can’t save ourselves. We need the help o what this li e that surrounds us can te

us about how we can be better as human beings. My notion is that we do the things that we try to do toenhance li e, not because we believe that we can entirely solve the problem, but because we accept an inalienablresponsibility – yes in addition to inalienable rights we also have inalienable responsibilities - these we have asmembers o these other world communities. We already know that things have been put in motion that we’re notgoing to be able to stop. And so some people would say, “well why bother’ and my answer is, not because I’m goto save the planet, but because I want to live in a responsible and respect ul way, so that I can answer and say, ‘loI did my part and that’s good.’ We might not be able to stop global burning because it’s so advanced, but rom amore spiritual level we have to step up. We have to step up and we are related in very pro ound ways to those otinhabitants o our planet. This is a pretty serious relationship with the planet that we’re engaged in and we need cognitive o that.

“Stewardship” says we’re going to take care o everything, and indigenous knowledge says no you can’t, you neto pay attention to nature’s instructions, lessons, and knowledge. I you’ll sit still long enough and be quiet you wsee what the balance o nature, beyond our human selves, can teach us. It shows us that we’re not in charge. Soindigenous notion is not one o stewardship, but o ‘creating in likeness’ and partnerships with the other li e on planet. That’s the goal. And I think the notion o indigenous stewardship, as you know rom the book, is not th we’ve got to do this because we’re in charge, but that we have a responsibility that we live our lives in a way thatdon’t do harm, or engage in destructive activities, that balance li e beyond ourselves. Again I get into that notionsymbiotic relationships that we really need to reconnect with.

“What I fnd hope ul is that many o the most senior, hardcore scientists are becoming allies o indigenous point view because they’re seeing that we are bringing something to this discussion. Science tends to think o it as a sside. But it’s the experience side, and the spiritual side o this issue. And I fnd it very interesting that some o our strongest allies now, are entrenched in some o the most rigorous scientifc institutes on the planet, and that te you something. That’s very help ul. I see these as complimentary: science and indigenous knowledge. There is to evoke some reverence and to evoke a sense o the Sacred Creator and Creation when we come together, or wh we share ood, and when we eat. I think that sacred aspect o li e does need to be oremost in our thinking…it’s a given, it’s something you do.

“We’ve insulated ourselves into ignorance, into not knowing… I’ll be generous, I’ll say ignorance. I was going stupidity, but stupidity means you know, and still do something that you know better than to do. I think right now we’re in a period o technologically insulated ignorance. We have somehow sleepwalked into a consumer culturinconvenience. We don’t give much attention to these things and the easy rationalization at one level is that our pisn’t really going to make a di erence. Well yes and no, the point is that a lot o people doing little things can hmajor impact. That’s one thing that the scientifc theory o complexity teaches: i enough small change is happenit can be a catalyst. One o the things that I’ve been thinking about, and would like to see, is an incrediblegeneration, and I know those people are out there.”

Daniel Wildcat, Ph.D. is Director o the American Indian Studies Program at Haskell Indian Nations University inLawrence, Kansas. He is a Yuchi member o the Muscogee Nation o Oklahoma. His new book is called,Red AlertSaving the Planet Through Indigenous Knowledge and is available locally at the Raven Book Store and other boo vendors.



If you would like to submit information for an event listing in our next edition, please send all information, including event date, time, location,contacany online links toSorcha Hyland, Calendar Editor at: [email protected]. Blue Sky Green Earth does notresponsibility for errors in content. Every effort will be made to correct errors where noted in time. All content is included at the Editor’s discretion.

GREEN CALENDAR

Monday, January 4

LAWRENCE HOLIDAY TREE RECYCLING PICK UP DAYSLive-cut Christmas trees can be left at the curb or alley for city collection and recycling. Remove all arti cial items, including tinsel,lights, etc. This service is available again on Monday, January 11, 6am. Thursday, January 7

GREAT PLAINS VEGETABLE GROWERS CONFERENCEThursday-Saturday, 7-9 January, 8:00am-4:30pm daily, FulkersonCenter, Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph MO.Contact Katie Cook at 816.279-1691. It will feature presentationsfrom university researchers, extension staff, and growers such as Zaidand Haifa Kurdieh, business partners in Norwich Meadows Farm,LLC, who have been organically farming since 1998. Conferenceprogram and more information here:http://extension.missouri.edu/buchanan/GPVGC.shtml Friday and Saturday, January 8 & 9

BREAKING THE SILENCE, 3RD ANNUAL, ENVIRONMENTALCONFERENCE, Friday 5PM -10PM, Saturday 8:00AM-6:00PM,Reardon Center, 520 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas, ContactRichard Mabion, [email protected], 913-481-9920. More info at:http://www.breakingthesilence.us/

Sunday, January 10 NATURAL SYMBOLS OF KANSAS WORKSHOP , 1:30pm-2:30pm,Prairie Park Nature Center, 2370 Harper Street, Lawrence, KS. FREE.Ages 5 years and up, children under 15 must attend with an adult.Spaces limited. Celebrate the anniversary of Kansas statehood witha program about the historical signi cance of the bison, cottonwood,honeybee and other natural symbols. Contact: 785.832.7980.More information at: www.lprd.org

Friday, January 22

SOLAR ENERGY LUNCH N LEARN: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONSAND NEW ECONOMICS12 Noon to 1PM Discovery Center, Lewis and Clark Room, 4750Troost Avenue, KCMO – US Green Building Council Kansas City Chapter $15 members/$20 non-members, Business Casual Attire.RSVP at: http://www.usgbckansascity.org/

Saturday, January 23

“ASK THE EXPERT” -- QUARTERLY WORKSHOP AT THENATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CENTER AND HALL OF FAME1:00pm- 4:00pm, 630 N. 126th Street, Bonner Springs KS 66012,913-721-1075. Museum fee: $7.00- Adults; $6.00- Seniors; $5.00-Students; $3.00- Children. More info at: www.aghalloffame.com.Topics will include such areas as: garden design and plant selection,turf management, landscape design, etc. Watch the website for moredetails.

Sunday, January 2414th ANNUAL KAW VALLEY EAGLES DAY11.00am – 4.00pm, Commons Area, Free State High School, 4700Overland Drive, one block north of the intersection of 6th St. and Wakarusa Drive, Lawrence, KS/Clinton Federal Park, Lawrence, KS.FREE! Celebrate the annual return of the Bald Eagles. A family-friendly event featuring lots of hands-on educational and fun activities.Presentations by special local experts from 11 am to 4 pm in the schoolauditorium. Director of the Prairie Park Nature Center, Marty Birrellpresents rehabilitated Bald and Gold Eagles at 1.30 pm.More information here: www.jayhawkaudubon.org

Sunday, January 24 (Con’t)

14th ANNUAL KAW VALLEY EAGLES DAY: FIELD TRIPS Twtrips: starting at 10am and again at 3pm, Clinton Lake Federal Parksouth west of Lawrence, KS. FREE! View bald eagles in the wild.

eld trips are led by park rangers in conjunction with the 14th AnnKaw Valley Eagles Day activities. Warm clothing and adequate fooadvised. Binoculars and telescopes are useful and a limited numbebe available. More information at: www.jayhawkaudubon.org

Friday and Saturday January 29-30 K-STATE SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCEThis year’s sustainability conference at K-State will focus onsharing ideas and building new networks across Kansas in the higheducation community. It is open to university students, faculty, staadministrators, alumni, and interested stakeholders, extension agenleaders in education, commerce, government, and non-pro t entitiQuestions regarding the conference can be directed to SharonBrookshire, Program Administrator, K-State Division of ContinuinEducation, [email protected]. Registration is available on-linehttp://sustainability.k-state.edu/conferences/2010/registration/

Saturday, January 30, 2010SEASONAL KARMA YOGA WITH ALICE STEUERWALD 3.35pm, Be Moved Studio, 2 East 7th Street (2nd oor of the Liberty building the entryway is the north side of 7th Street off MassachusStreet). Downtown, Lawrence, KS. Contact: 785.550.8931 [email protected]. Begin your New Year on the right “p_d with some karmically-charged and deeply restorative yoga. Alldonations from this class will go towards feeding the homeless.More information at: www.bemovedstudio.com

Sunday, January 31, 2010

FOOD, BREATH AND SOUND 2.00pm-3.30pm, Be Moved Stu2 East 7th Street (2nd oor of the Liberty Hall building the entrywis the north side of 7th Street off Massachusetts Street). DowntownLawrence, KS. Contact: 785.550.8931 or email info@bemovedstucom Presented by Wise Earth Ayurveda Moon Jewel Healing FoodBreath and Sound is a healing practice inspired by and incorporatinancient ayurvedic rituals. Full Moon Ghee Meditation, involving thpreparation of “ghee” or Indian butter is also part of this evening.Space and enrollment in this workshop is limited. Please contact thteacher, Laura, for more information. Cost: $15 ONGOING EVENTS:

PRAIRIE PARK NATURE CENTER,2370 HARPER STREET, LAWRENCE, KS. EXPLORING NATURE FOR HOMESCHOOLERS Two sessions weekly, every Wednesday-January 1- March 3, Session A (9.30am10.30am) for ages 5-8 years. Session B (10.30am – 12.30pm) for 8-12 years.

TEEN NATURE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM Every Tuesday,January 12 to March 2, 4.00pm-5.00pm weekly,

WILD ADVENTURES FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND PARENTS10.00am-11.00am, every Tuesday January 12, 2010 to May 18, 20 weekly.

WINTER HIKING CLUB: WEDNESDAY AFTER-SCHOOLPROGRAM 3:00pm – 4:00pm, 2nd Wednesdays (Jan-Feb only),Ages: 7-12 years. Cost $5 Contact: 785.832.7980.More information at:http://www.lawrenceks.org/lprd/ws/nature.pdf

EVENTS / JANUARY 2010

30



Here at Blue Sky Green Earth we agree with Daniel Goleman (Ecological Intelligence, Broadway Books, 2009) thit is chiefy consumer pressure that will help industry redirect its e orts, and in some cases, reignite its e orts, tothe economic bene ts o “going green.” We are hope ul thatBlue Sky Green Earth will serve as a means to providconsumers in North East Kansas with in ormation and entertainment, connections and resources, to keep that pressgrowing and e ective. Government may have the deep pockets to invest in the in rastructure and invention that wtrans orm energy use in the long term, but it is consumer pressure that will make going green possible in the short t

We will not wait or governmental regulations, although we will continue to lobby or them; we do not wait or mnancial investment, although we hope that will occur; we will not wait or someone else to make the changes, and

the risks; we will take the steps ourselves, in our own way and at a pace that we can sustain. This approach, we eeconsistent with the complex goals o creating sustainable relationships, sustainable communities, and sustainableeconomies.

I would like to acknowledge the gracious receptionBlue Sky Green Earth has received in its initial steps towardsrealization. Our columnists and interns, local business owners, riends, and amily have all supported our e ortsgood wishes and good will. In this season o rosty chill, sustaining warmth has greeted our rst steps. We thank who have so willingly, and articulately, helped us with genuine care and concern. The relationships we have orgedbeginning this important journey have been nothing but indicative o the true Kansas spirit o good ellowship anauthenticity.

What we intend with Blue Sky Green Earth is to serve the community by sharing the experimentation and innovatiocurrently emerging in Northeast Kansas. As we explore the practice o ecological awareness, we recognize that “gogreen” is a process o personal discovery, not a prescriptive ormula. And as we walk this path together, we wish readership all the peace and harmony, success and centeredness that come with personal engagement and the passiopursuit o deeper understanding..

. from the publisher Blue Sky Green Earth

1636 North 700 Road Vinland Valley, KS 66006785.594.0396

Publisher Stephen Pite646.623.8159

Editor Karen Dillon646.717.2091

Contributing WritersElizabeth Benincasa

Mina BrennemanBeth DillonSorcha Hyland Jacqueline Pierce Amy StuberKelsey Tyler

National Sales Joy Solomon917.903.3670

Marketing InternSally Waldon

Green Earth

B L U E


Stephen Pite, Publisher

Blue Sky Green Earth is printed atTownsend Communications, Inc. onEnviro100 paper. Each ton of Enviro10stock reduces the ecological footprintwhen compared to virgin equivalent by

17 trees

1,080 lb. of solid wa

10,196 gallons of wa

2,372 lb.of air emiss



Green Earth

BLUE


issue 1 FREE

Blue Sky Green Earth

is dedicated to improving

the health of the

eco-sphere,the human bio-sphere

and the social/political

sphere of human welfare.

We intend to be

thought provoking,

challenging,

forthright,

and informative.

Documents

Blue Sky Green Earth Issue 1 Jan 2010