Movement and media – Jan 31
Changes at Post Carbon
New issue of Culture Change
Some observations on social media
Act: Inspiration
Food & agriculture – Jan 31
Astyk: Food security as a cottage industry
Industrially grown produce shows long-term nutritional decline
Zimbabwe’s starving millions face halving of rations as UN cash dries up
Peak Moment 126: A School Garden Brings Learning to Life
Come along on a tour with team-teachers Glenda Berliner and Jeralyn Wilson, as they show us their elementary school garden bearing many fruits. It’s an important part of the curriculum: children make mason bee boxes, grow colonial medicinal plants, learn of other cultures, and put science to work.
Unconventional Thinkers: Michael Shuman (interview)
What has changed in the economy to cause such a surge in the number of microbusinesses that are staying micro over the last decade or so? Why, if there is so much evidence that microbusiness development work better than smoke stack chasing, do policy makers and economists still dismiss the smallest of businesses? What could President Obama do that would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than throwing them at huge corporations?
Peak Moment 124: Creating Our Own Neighborhood – Bellingham Cohousing
Kathleen Nolan was a co-creator (with 5 others) of Bellingham Cohousing, based on a neighborhood design of private homes and shared buildings, managed by residents in participatory decision making. Their 5.74 acre plot originally had one farmhouse, which they modified to become the shared community building with dining, kitchen, laundry, craft, office, guest, and other rooms.
Peak Moment 123: Cultivating a Suburban Foodshed
Landscape architect Owen Dell has a vision: transforming suburban neighborhoods into shared “foodsheds” with food-bearing and native plants, and even chickens. Neighbors can start by finding edible plants already growing in their yards, maybe remove fences, plant what works best in each location.
Peak Moment 121: Helping Local Food Businesses Thrive
Wendy Siporen coordinates The Rogue Initiative for a Vital Economy (THRIVE), which helps small locally-owned businesses not just to thrive, but be more sustainable as well. A “Food Connection” directory enables local businesses to buy from one another.
Peak Moment 120: Go-Getter Gets Governments Going on Sustainability
Energetic Kris Holstrom is the first Sustainability Coordinator for Telluride and a smart Colorado county. The action plan she developed encompasses energy efficiency and renewables, green building, food and water security, economy, and recycling/resource recovery.
Peak Moment 115: Calm Before the Storm
Richard Heinberg, author of “Peak Everything”, reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we’ve missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, “how far down the staircase of complexity will our global civilization have to go until we’re sustainable?” His answer: when managed properly, with deliberate simplification, not as far as we might otherwise.
Peak Moment 133: Two Views of a Post-Oil Future
From the ASPO-USA 2008 conference: two long-standing peak oil awakeners: author James Howard Kunstler (The Long Emergency) and Post Carbon Institute Founder and President, Julian Darley.
Peak Moment 134: Shocks, Shortages, and Scenarios – Planning for a Post-Oil Future
Responding to peak oil will require reshaping our communities. These two interviews, taped in September 2008 at the ASPO-USA conference, are with Megan Quinn Bachman of Community Solutions, and Bryn Davidson of Dynamic Cities Project.
Peak Moment 129: Meeting the Energy Challenge
Richard Heinberg, author of Powerdown, makes plain the dire situation we’re in as declining oil supplies fail to meet demand. He notes there are no easy “supply side” solutions (like substitute fuels): we must reduce demand, initially through conservation and efficiency. Julian Darley, president of Post Carbon Institute observes that while personal action is very important, individuals can only do so much.
