Gaia: Eco

Re: Benefits of being broke

http://organics.gaia.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:34:51 GMT

both beautiful reads... this has been a treasure to read.

Re: Benefits of being broke

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:52:36 GMT

Hi Skye, good for you ! I am on a pension so have to watch my budget too, You are right, there are many advantages, recently a table was broken, I went to a boot sale and bought a nest of three beautiful solid cherry wood tables in perfect condition for £40. I had looked in the stores and rejected the cheaper though fashionable ones as too expensive, composite not real wood and they looked cheap, and one table was sixty pounds, I got three much better ones far cheaper. Food too, nothing is wasted, stale bread becomes stuffing or crumbs or bread pudding, left over veg is blitzed into soup or becomes bubble and squeak, overipe fruit,a smoothy, sour milk makes lovely scones or soda bread.
In the garden, recycling too, the cardboard centre in loo rolls becomes root trainers, large pickle jars or old goldfish bowls mini greenhouses, an old sack a vertical planter for potatoes, any old container holds plants, just drill holes in the bottom or if it's wicker line with plasticl eaving some drainage holes in the bottom. I gave up my car for eco reasons, and find i am eligable for a free bus pass, or friends give me a lift and it's more fun with company, I treat them to coffee or lunch in return. Like you I have a fabulous local independent supermarket, that supports local producers and farmers, and the walk keeps me fit. Yes so many advantages

Re: Commute Differently

http://SkyeT.gaia.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:51:34 GMT

I cannot speak for any other place, but I know my hometown has a good public transit system. I used to take the light rail train to work, and my mom almost always takes the bus. Okay, so some days it's pretty miserable to wait for the bus or train...but it is cheaper and better for our planet.

Benefits of being broke

http://SkyeT.gaia.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:46:11 GMT

It seems sideways, but lately I have realized that barely getting by financially has a green upside. You see, I've HAD to re-use things for years 'cause I couldn't afford to replace them. I've HAD to use "real" plates because I couldn't afford paper.

Okay, so for a while this bothered me...but not so much anymore. I'm coming to enjoy coming up with new ways to re-purpose things. A holey sheet has become handkerchiefs, dish rags and hand towels. The same goes for worn out T-shirts. Almost any waste cardboard becomes a toy for my pet gerbil.

Reusing things aside, my tight budget will not allow for a car just now. Again, this bugged me...but not so much anymore. I live near a bus stop and can walk to two different grocery stores.

Frankly, bus fare costs less than gas right now. So I can get almost anywhere in my hometown on public transit for less than I'd pay to drive that far...and get some exercise in to boot!

Re: Earwigs in the garden?

http://organics.gaia.com — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:28:29 GMT

All those solutions sound good for the earwigs. I just use Diatomaceous Earth, DE, around the base of the plant if I have a problem with them. The stuff gets into the crevices of their shell and they avoid it. It isn't effective if it gets wet, as it clumps together. When it dries, you can just brush it loose again with your fingers. The swimming pool filter grade of DE is effective on earwigs and pill bugs, although the food grade works even better. I buy it in 50 lb. bags from www.groworganic.com. I use it mainly for slugs.
Good luck!
Lee

Re: Earwigs in the garden?

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:59:46 GMT

Yes, chickens are great bug eaters, but without supervision they would be tucking into your lettuce and zuchini, etc too!!! I prefer toads and slow worms, they stick to bugs, lol. We have a log pile and a pond which encourages those useful predators, hedgehogs are good bug eaters too.My partner left our chickens unattended, and where I had mulched over the remains of a crop of beans with straw to encurage the worms to do their thing, the chickens raked off all the straw
and were feasting on a wonderful crop of worms, if I hadn't stopped them in time, next they would have scratched out all my winter veg seedlings I planted recently!!!
They are great for clearing land before planting though, .

Re: Earwigs in the garden?

http://siona.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:50:12 GMT

You're amazing, Zephyr.

If it were my backyard garden, I think I'd look into getting chickens; I've heard they make great bug-zappers. The tuna can option sounds perfect, though, or the bamboo. We'll give it a shot. Thank you!

Re: Earwigs in the garden?

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:01:11 GMT

They love damp and shade, ivy and leaf mould, do you have that near the garden?
Remove refuge sites if you can, and encourage predators, so you just need to reduce their numbers, birds toads, frogs and slow worms eat earwigs. Earwigs themselves are predators of other pests, Earwigs sometimes use holes made by other pests, in apples after wasps have eaten them for instance, I hang a wasp trap, sticky jam jar part filled with water, and the wasps go for the jam and drown, instead of the apples.
You can trap earwigs. Traps can be hidden near shrubbery and ground cover plantings, or against fences. A low-sided can, such as a cat food or tuna fish can, with 1/2-inch of oil in the bottom makes an excellent trap. Fish oil (e.g., tuna fish oil) is very attractive to earwigs or vegetable oil with a drop of bacon grease can be used. Dump captured earwigs and refill cans with oil. Other common types of traps are a rolled-up newspaper, corrugated cardboard, bamboo tube, or short piece of hose. Place these traps on the soil near plants just before dark and shake accumulated earwigs out into a pail of soapy water in the morning. If you are organic nature will eventually strike a balance, and you won't have an excess of any creatures.

Earwigs in the garden?

http://siona.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:50:31 GMT

Hi all!

I had a quick question. Our Gaiam garden is doing beautifully (zucchinis! lettuce! basil! amazement!)... and also happens to be chock-full of earwigs. I don't really mind picking them out one-by-one, but if anyone knows any ways to keep them to a minimum, I'd love to hear.

Re: new/Earth Survey Project

http://jeremyjtaylor.gaia.com — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:16:52 GMT

Thanks for the welcome message :) You can take my survey online at http://tinyurl.com/nx4ng7 if you are interested- it is a survey hosting site that I am using for the project...

Jeremy

Re: new/Earth Survey Project

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:03:27 GMT

Hi Jeremy, welcome to Gaia. I'm trying to avoid going on facebook, could you add your survey here?
Always pleased to contribute anything to conservation. My garden is a wildlife haven, myriad species of insects; spiders, creepies and bees, also newts, slow worms, frogs, shrews, moles, toads etc, we hear tawny owls and see little owls, we are visited in winter by badgers and wild boar from local woodland, they come to our pond to drink where I make a hole in the ice. I believe given chemical free safe habitat, wildlife will thrive. The effects of global warming are so obvious to me, as a child blackberrying was a september occupation, this year I noticed the first ripe blackberries 3rd week of july, and one of my young apple trees had blossom last autumn, another holds ripe apples and at the top of the tree in july,
a sprig of blossom - nature is getting a wee bit confused!! I live in UK.

new/Earth Survey Project

http://jeremyjtaylor.gaia.com — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:56:42 GMT

Hello,
Just recently joined the site, and wanted to introduce myself. I live in upstate New York, and have a B.S. in wildlife biology. I grew up on a farm, and have always had a very strong interest in nature and the environment. I have worked as a zookeeper, wildlife biologist, and environmental educator in the past, and try to follow environmental issues (energy, climate change, conservation, biodiversity, etc.) very closely. For the last 3 years or so, I have been conducting a short questionnaire about nature and the environment, as I am very interested in personal views of these subjects, as well as the connections between religion, culture/society, and nature/the environment. To date, I have gotten back more than 600 responses to my questionnaire, which I am posting on my blog as time permits. My blog is located at http://earthsurvey.blogspot.com and if anyone is interested in answering my questionnaire, you can take it online at
http://tinyurl.com/nx4ng7 At some point I hope to do something more with the results, such as a book or documentary, although I am not completely sure of the timeline or format yet… Please feel free to send this information to anyone else who you think might be interested, as I am hoping to get as many responses as possible from the widest audience as possible. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about this or anything else. Looking forward to being a part of the community here!

Jeremy

Re: Living by Example ... Living Mandala

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:19:51 GMT

Wow, cars running on water, has me thinking of the old steam trains, smiles
Now wouldn't it be great if a boat could run on salt water!!!!!

Re: Living by Example ... Living Mandala

http://TheCulinatrix.gaia.com — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:04:20 GMT

Hi Zyphr,
You are right, there is digging in this out of date video. And there are lots of other practices in the world. I chose this video because 1: Penny is a mentor and colleague. I like how she expresses herself in this video. Listen to her words. And 2: because it is "Permaculture 101". A place to begin.

I like that you mentioned Forest Gardening. In April Living Mandala in association with Appleseed Permaculture and Camp Epworth Permaculture Demonstration & Education Center in High Fall, NY. Held a Forest Garden Immersion Course to Design and Implement Edible Landscapes! I recommend the book - Edible Forest Gardens, by Dave Jacke.

Presently Living Mandala is working with Erik Olsen And the Food Forests Across America Campaign. Because In an uncertain economy and changing world, local food security is an essential element to becoming sustainable. You can join the campaign for your own local food security and learn how you can help to transform gardens, lawns, parks, and empty spaces into thriving edible landscapes that are beautiful, regenerative, and produce an abundance of delicious, locally grown food!

If you are reading this and don't know what a Food Forest Garden is ...then imagine a forest where every single tree is dripping with fresh fruits and ripening nuts. Every shrub is packed with delicious berries, and every other plant is a medicinal herb, culinary spice, or beautiful edible flower. Tubers and root crops are abundant underfoot, gourmet mushroom logs sprout in the shade, and hardy vines climb back up through the layers of this multi-functional forest of food.

Food forests are diverse gardens modeled after natural ecosystems designed to mimic the way a forest thrives and regenerates. A forest continuously nourishing all elements in the system and produce a vast diversity of outputs, but requires little or no inputs to sustain itself. By recognizing the self-supporting, mutually beneficial relationships of the elements in a forest - from tall trees, smaller trees, shrubs, herbs, ground covers, vines, nitrogen fixers, insectaries, fungi, animals, and more, the food forest garden designs a similar system but replaces the components that are in a common forest with species that are preferred edibles and more useful for humans.

The forest then becomes a Garden of Eden, in which edible or useful plants are found from head to toe, where something in season is always ready to eat, and the system requires little or no maintenance to sustain and regenerate.
And ease is something that we all can do with more of. We also have the knowledge of Paul Stamets to add to the mix. (Who I have also had the pleasure of working with in the past.) I love many of his books and am a huge fan of Fungi. I utilize oysters where and when ever I can!

And as far as our travel offset goes...
that is one I am working on. one thing I am doing is participating in a carbon farming course in Tennessee at the Farm in August to better understand seqestration and other forms of farming. Returning carbon to the soil while increasing food production. The course will cover holistic landscape systems design, project management, and implementation. Granted. I live in the SF bay area. But...
I do not own a car. I travel by bike and public transportation. When I have to travel far, such as to The Farm I prefer to take the train. It is my understanding that they are the best on the ground. However... I do take at least one plane trip a year and for that I simply pray and send out my intentions and ask forgiveness while I am learning of alternative methods.

I don't entirly have answers for that one. But I do have a friend who is working on some really great water 4 fuel technologies. In fact his car runs mostly on tap water. I have another friend who is working on the same line of technology but for boats. There is a balance. Things are in the works and moving with forward motion, and I have faith in my fellow man that the best solutions are on the horizon and that for now... we need to work with what we have got and do our best in every moment to live up to our potential. So thank you for sharing your information with me Zyphr. You are a fast wind with a quick mind, and for that I thank you.

Many Blessings and Kindest Regard,
Julie Bird
www.LivingMandala.com

Re: Living by Example ... Living Mandala

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:32:24 GMT

I was surprised to note digging in your video, the latest ideas involve natural farming and no till, no dig also you did not mention if you offset flight travel / pollution ? Here are some links that might interest you.

http://re-forestgarden.co.uk/index.html

http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/reflections-on-nature.html

http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/no-till-farming

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

Living by Example ... Living Mandala

http://TheCulinatrix.gaia.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:20:11 GMT

Living Mandala is a growing collective of educators, organizers and designers committed to eco-social regeneration based on the organizing intelligence of nature exhibited through the emergence of life. Living Mandala's design, facilitate and produce courses, workshops and events as well as offer consultation services that implement ecologically and socially regenerative practices within a pretty diverse set of fields. But that is what we do...not who we are. It is how I am choosing to live. These are my and "our" works.
This next month I will be going to Hawaii to be apart of a 2 week community, "living hands on" experience in permaculture called Aloha 'Aina. I know that it takes each and everyone of us to build a strong community. We each carry a knowledge that others don't. I feel it is a great service to man to share in our wealth of knowledge. This is one way I choose to live by example. And I am so grateful for all of the teachers and mentors. We would never know where to go if some one has not gone before us. Sometimes our elders carry more info than we give them credit for these days.

“Aloha ‘Aina” is Hawaiian for “love of the land”, or “to love, respect, and nurture the land.” As human beings now facing a time of great environmental and social transformation, we believe that it is through this spirit of reconnecting to ourselves, to our communities, and to the Earth with a spirit of love and care that we will renew and restore a healthy balance of human beings living in harmony with each other and their natural environment.
In addition to the standard permaculture design certification curriculum of this course and others, we recognize permaculture as an expanding, holistic design philosophy encompassing many fields.
Accordingly, this permaculture design course will include and integrate additional content and activities such as indigenous wisdom, holistic nutrition, embodiment practices, inner work, and more. With a focus on tending the inner as well as the outer landscapes, course participants will work with each other and local community residents on tangible design project scenarios to implement positive transformation within themselves and in the local community.
I am really looking forward to being able to share what little information I carry as a teacher and a student in the future. And I am grateful for people like you. People who in there heart of hearts know that we can do better as a planet. And it is by showing others by leading and living by example that together we really can. And when we make ripples in the lives of others...well it seems that ripples and waves are endless you see. And it only took one drop in the whole pond to start the whole reaction. So remember that sometimes the small things have unexpected long term effects. And I encourage us to widen our knowledge base of the pond to have a better understanding of the world we live in. In this way I feel that we can walk tall and leave very small foot prints.I am also looking forward to meeting some of the great minds in Eco Living at the Bioregional Congress being held at The Farm in Tennessee in October.
What is Bioregionalism you might ask? I did. And what I found was this:
Bioregionalism embodies the effort to preserve, restore and enhance life. Since the first Continental Bioregional Congress in1984, people have come to the Congress to envision, exchange and develop realistic, restorative ways of living in the bioregions of the Americas.
With the recent escalation of ecological devastation in the U.S. and around the world, along with the current global economic and political crises, the answers bioregionalism offers – based on ecological principles, and local economic and community development – are more important than ever!
The congress will spark and strengthen ecological and social networks to exchange information, strategies, and approaches about how to forge meaningful lives in balance with our local ecosystems and communities. The congress will be packed with informative speakers covering diverse topics related to earth care, community development and economic resiliency. We’ll also share and celebrate stories of place, model the communities we wish to support and create, and replenish ourselves, so that when we leave empowered with new tools we will have strategies, support and inspiration to further manifest our social change efforts. Together, we’ll find transformations that ripple out from our lives into our home communities and bioregions.

So I wonder friend, what and how are you living my example? Perhaps you are a teacher and student as well. I hope to see you on the path. And that the path has few bumps.

Thanks for your time and attention.
Julie Bird
Living Mandala.com

Re: Radio Gaia

http://organics.gaia.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:29:07 GMT

Hi Lee,

I am interested in hearing this. Thanks you for starting this most important endeavor. I would like to be involved. I highly recommend you interview Zephyr too! Thanks! Lee.

SEMINAR Integral Leadership for Sustainable Evolution, 4-9 Aug NL

http://AnoukA.gaia.com — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:20:52 GMT

Dear collegues,
Please consider spreading the word about or attending this amazing seminar for emerging leaders and change makers. You're welcome!

Are you awake? 
Are you on a mission? 
Do you have a big ego and an even bigger heart?

This seminar serves the evolution of emerging leaders all over the globe. Everyone, entrepreneurs, artists, managers, teachers, trainers, technicians and consultants, are welcome to join us from August 4th to 9th, 2009 in the Netherlands!

Keywords: integral leadership, integral, Ken Wilber, sustainability, evolution, innovation, triple-p, cradle to cradle, C2C, green technology, integral theory, Ervin Laszlo, Herman Wijffels

Your trainers will be Clint Fuhs, Irini Rockwell, Barrett Brown, ...

http://www.experienceintegral.org
http://events.linkedin.com/Integral-Leadership-Sustainable/pub/77440

Our PURPOSE for this event is to assist emerging leaders and change agents worldwide (consultants, politicians, artists, bankers, students, entrepreneurs, etc) with taking the next step in their contribution to a sustainable evolution on our planet.

We do this by:
- facilitating the emergence of personal purpose and reflection on talents,
- by offering the tools and the latest applications of theory in the fields of leadership and sustainability and
- by creating a welcoming space that invites you to to let go and grow together.

We are really excited about the seminar and how it is coming together. It is going to be an amazing experience for all of us.

Re: Radio Gaia

http://addresstofollow.gaia.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:44:24 GMT

Sounds like a cool idea Lee, well done, will I be able to link in from UK?

Radio Gaia

http://gaiagirls.gaia.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:16:35 GMT

I write a children's book series called, Gaia Girls. One reviewer dubbed it, "Harry Potter meets Sierra Club!" I receive email daily from kids 8-14 who are inspired by the novels and want to be eco-heroes. (How cool is that. I LOVE "going to work" each day!)

In an effort to parlay this enthusiasm into action, I'm starting an internet-based radio program called, Radio Gaia. We will broadcast live each full moon and use the four elements to guide us through exploration and activation! My kickoff show is Sunday June 7th at Noon. I hope you can tune in, call in, chat or Tweet with me then!
My featured guest will be Linda Faillace, author of Mad Sheep! I also have Bill Mott, director of The Ocean Project, talkig about World Ocean Day, Dan Kenlon, a backyard bird feeding specialists, and Kasey Cox, owner of the great indy bookstore, From My Shelf books.

In future shows, we will have young folks who are walkin' the talk. I'm lining them up now and I promise you will be amazed!