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Sustainable Earth Forum 37 Update
This is Marcia Sitcoske's (35 & SEF 37 Director) third year of involvement with EFM and she says for sure that there is a noticeable trend of our students being more environmentally aware and activist when they enter EFM than in years past. It used to be that EFM acted as the impetus to get involved. People would enroll in the program, learn about the issues, and then go out and get involved. But last year and again this year, the trend seems to be that they are already active. Perhaps it is a sign of the times, now that environmental issues have permeated the mainstream. Whatever the reason, it's good news.
Class 37 is most impressive. One student, a Master Gardener who lectures on composting, is taking the class because she wants to be able to answer the question: "Why can't Marin compost like San Francisco does?" Another wants to start Sustainable Tiberon. Another one - a lawyer who took time off to raise her children - wants to influence policy on waste management issues. Others are enrolled in, or graduates of, Dominican's Sustainable Certificate program. One works for Dominican's Sustainable Certificate program! Others work for Sustainable Fairfax, the Marin Conservation League, Wildcare, and the Redwood Landfill. One is starting her own solar business. Another her own "green consultancy." Others volunteer with MALT. You get the idea.
This collective knowledge and experience adds to their enjoyment of the class. And as far as Marcia can tell, the decision to limit the number of speakers to four this year has had its intended effect: allowing more for time Q&A and group interaction. Add "ambitious" to "environmentally aware" and "activist," and you get a sense of the energy - and potential - of this year's class.
Photo: Class 37 on Orientation Day by John Nygren
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Greetings!
President's Message Donna Bohegian (35) and I had the pleasure of hearing Hunter Lovins speak at the Marin Green Business Forum on September 23. If you want to see the presentation, go to: http://www.natcapsolutions.org/shows.htm If I may vastly oversimplify, her message was: reduce waste and innovate. It's gotten me thinking. Normally, at this time of year our thoughts turn to harvest themes. What if this harvest season, rather than thinking in terms of the bounty of produce, we think of the bounty of ideas -- of waste reducing and other innovative sustainability solutions? What if, rather than thinking globally and acting locally, we focus on thinking locally and acting personally.
In this vein, I pledge to reduce my beef consumption to one hamburger per quarter and have two meatless days per week. I also pledge a day a week when I won't take the car out of the garage. I invite readers of EFM e-news to send in your pledges of how you can commit to act more sustainably. You can send your pledge to MarinForum08@MarinEFM.org. Hopefully there will be so many ideas for ways to reduce waste and innovate, they will snowball across the county! In four to six months, we'll report back on how we've done. Happy Harvest, everyone!
Vicki Rupp
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Sustainable Communities Seminar 2010 News
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Thanks to the good work of John Malenic (36) we have several students already registered for SCS next spring. Wendy McPhee (32) was instrumental in securing a color ad in the green issue of the Pacific Sun promoting the class. A small flyer was given to approximately 300 green business leaders who attended the 3rd annual Green Business Forum of Mill Valley on September 23. As Vicki Rupp mentioned above, the highlight of the evening was the keynote speaker Hunter Lovins who emphasized the critical opportunity for the Marin County business community to lead the way toward sustainability. She noted that Mill Valley has the first and only green certified Chamber of Commerce. If you have contacts or belong to the COC within your community, why not invite them to take the SCS course next spring as a first step toward understanding sustainable practices within their organization? Donna and Barbara Winter (5A) have been planning the Sustainable Communities Seminar for 2010 and have come up with a dynamic slate of coordinators for the class next spring. We feel confident that EFM's excellent leadership along with many new speakers will make SCS 2010 the best class to date.
If you have any questions/suggestions or would like to volunteer in any way please feel free to contact Donna Bohegian, SCS Director, 415-730- 2162 or ddbgian@comcast.net.
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Sustainable Communities Seminar 2010 |
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Stop Waste - Ban the Phone Book
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Did you know that up to 5 million trees are cut down each year to create the white pages phone book? The environmental impact in printing, delivering, and recycling phone books is immense. BanThePhoneBook.org wants you to know that you have the power to influence phone companies and local governments to create opt-in programs and only deliver phone books to those who have requested them.
Learn more and sign their petition.
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Ban the Phone Book |
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EFM Members In Action
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On September 23, the San Francisco Chronicle published an opinion article by Dr. Martin Griffin, co-founder of the Environmental Forum of Marin and Audubon Canyon Ranch, and author of "Saving the Marin-Sonoma Coast," urging Senator Feinstein to remove her rider from the Interior Appropriations Bill that benefits the private Drakes Bay Oyster Company by extending its lease for an additional 10 years. Dr. Griffin argued that private inholdings of this sort set a dangerous precedent, opening our national parks to private opportunists. He wrote: "Shouldn't this valuable gift to a private individual of public lands, worth millions of dollars, be fully debated by Congress? As we know, riders are slipped into bills to avoid public and congressional debate." You can read the full op-ed at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi? f=/c/a/2009/09/23/EDQH19QPPH.DTL
Gael Hunt (36) is participating in the annual Art on The Farm Exhibit and Wine Tasting - a Benefit for Marin Organic - at Point Reyes Vineyard on October 25. The event will be held in the beautiful winery patio overlooking the vineyards with over 30 artists exhibiting. Wine-food- music. All welcome!
Please let us know what you're doing so we can include more information about EFM members. Email enews@marinefm.org. Thank you!
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Welcome Rossotti Ranch
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Julie Evans-Rossotti is a fourth-generation farmer and her husband Tony, is fifth generation. Recently married, they found a ranch straddling the Marin- Sonoma county line overlooking Bloomfield Valley. They purchased it in May, and so begins their own farming and ranching operation. They raise Boer goats, naturally raised and fed only on pasture. They take pride in the health and quality of their animals.
Already Julie and Tony are planning to add an educational component to their operation by offering a series of rustic ranch dinners, which will feature local fare and also a true-to-life tour of Rossotti Ranch. For more information, visit www.RossottiRanch.com.
All of this activity is the result of Julie and Tony's passion for the land and farming. "This ranch is really about who we are and what we do. I have been producing food for my community my whole life. That's how I look at it - it's not just ranching, it's about us producing the best food for our local community to enjoy."
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Rossotti Ranch |
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Necessity is the Mother of Invention
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The New York Times reported that a company named Envion is expected to cut the ribbon on a $5 million plant that it says will annually convert 6,000 tons of plastic into nearly a million barrels of something resembling oil. The product can be blended with other components and sold as gasoline or diesel. Read more at: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/a- new-way-to-turn-plastic-into-fuel/. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/16/a-new- way-to-turn-plastic_n_288836.html
And Ode Magazine On-line reported that sales of the "BigBelly," a solar-powered trash compactor, are up 80%. BigBelly uses the energy of the sun to condense garbage, greatly reducing those costly and wasteful trips from the can to the dump. In cities like Philadelphia (where 500 of the compactors were recently purchased for the city's center), trash is removed five times a week - that's down from seventeen! "People who were receptive to us because we're green are now really receptive to us because we save money, and, by the way, we're also green," says company founder Jim Poss. Read more at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/215120? utm_source=Ode+Newsletters&utm_campaign=b17 e6f2c70-daily-rss&utm_medium=email.
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Marin Organic October Events
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Join the Marin Organic Glean Team! Every Monday at 4:00 p.m., the Marin Organic Glean Team harvests extras from the fields of Marin Organic member farms for the Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program, which then donates the produce to schools, camps and low-income resource centers throughout Marin County. Come meet your local farmers, get your hands dirty and join in the fun! To find out more contact Marin Organic at (415) 663- 9667 or visit their website at www.marinorganic.org.
Food for Thought Author Series Sunday, October 4, 1:00 p.m. at the Dance Palace in Pt. Reyes Station Edward Espe Brown, author of The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen and The Tassajara Bread Book, is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, an accomplished chef who helped found Greens Restaurant with Deborah Madison, and author of five books. In 2007, Edward appeared in "How to Cook Your Life," a critically acclaimed feature-length documentary. Join Marin Organic and Point Reyes Books for a free talk and cooking demonstration by Edward Espe Brown at the Dance Palace. No reservations required.
Oyster Tour and Tasting Tuesday, October 6, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Hog Island Oyster Co. in Marshall Hog Island Oyster Co. is a pillar of the local community and grows a tasty little oyster! Join Marin Organic on a tour of the operation where you'll learn the history of oyster growing in Tomales Bay, master the art of shucking, and sample seasonal oyster varieties. To top off the experience attendees will enjoy a talk and tasting of Stubbs Vineyard chardonnay with growers Tom and Mary Stubbs. Tickets include wine and oyster tasting: $40 per person for Members of Marin Organic, $45 per person for non-Members. (Membership begins at $40 per family.) To make a reservation: Please contact Paige Phinney at Marin Organic, 415-663-9667 or paige@marinorganic.org
2009 Marin Organic Benefit Sunday, October 25 at Cavallo Point - the Lodge at the Golden Gate Join Marin Organic for a one-time only, Bay Area exclusive exhibition paralleling Marin's personalities in the local agricultural scene with Tuscan farmers, ranchers, and artisan food producers captured through the lens of artist Douglas Gayeton, author of Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town. Special guest, Dario Cecchini, Italy's irrepressible celebrity butcher, philosopher, and showman brought center stage in Bill Buford's culinary memoir, Heat, makes this an event not to be missed! Marin Organic will be also be hosting an interactive cooking class and dinner. Tickets for the following happenings are available by calling the Marin Organic office at 415-663-9667. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Interactive cooking class at The Cooking School at Cavallo Point with Director Kelsie Kerr and master butcher, Dario Cecchini. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Art show, reception, auction and book signing of Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town. 7:30 to 10:00 p.m.: Dinner at Murray Circle by Michelin-starred Executive Chef, Joseph Humphrey, highlighting local food producers and their Fall bounty.
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Marin Organic |
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SPAWN October Events
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Creek Naturalist Training Workshop on Lagunitas Creek October 10 and 11 at SPAWN's Headquarters along Lagunitas Creek near Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Marin County. If you have a passion for wild salmon, watershed ecology, and conservation and want to share your passion with others, join SPAWN to learn about the natural history of Marin's coho salmon and steelhead, stream and watershed ecology and restoration, and leading winter field trips and Creekwalks for the public to see Marin's spawning salmon. The cost for the workshop is $35 to cover materials costs. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Reservations are required and spaces fill quickly! To register contact Chris Pincetich, SPAWN Watershed Biologist, chris@spawnusa.org, (415) 663-8590 x102.
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Spawn |
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Build It Green Showcase Tour - October 4
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Greenpoint Showcase Tour Sunday, October 4, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at various homes.
The first GreenPoint Showcase Tour, a partnership of Build It Green and KTVU Channel 2, will allow you to meet some of the Bay Area's most accomplished green builders and view the many products and practices incorporated in a GreenPoint Rated home. All participants must have a ticket - it's the proof of admission you'll need to enter each home on the self-guided tour. Admission to the tour is only $10 per person and helps support Build It Green's mission to promote healthy, energy- and resource- efficient buildings.
For more information please visit the website.
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GreenPoint Showcase Tour |
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The Hidden Bounty of Marin and Home Grown at MVFF - October 11 and 13
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On Sunday, October 11, 1:00 p.m. at the Sequoia Theater in Mill Valley, and Tuesday, October 13, 6:45 p.m. at the Rafael Theater in San Rafael, the Mill Valley Film Festival will be screening two environmentally-themed movies. First, the festival will screen David Fix's (30) film, "The Hidden Bounty of Marin" (narrated by Peter Coyote), which profiles Marin agriculture and its pioneering transition to a more local and sustainable model. You can learn more about the film and see a trailer at growninmarin.org.
Then the festival will screen "HomeGrown," the inspiring true story of the Dervaes family who are living off the grid in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. They harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, while running a popular website that is known around the world (www.pathtofreedom.com). You can learn more about the film and see a trailer at www.homegrown-film.com
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Mill Valley Film Festival |
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Bioneers Conference - October 16 - 18
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The Bioneers Conference is a leading-edge forum. At this premiere environmental conference, social and scientific innovators focus on solutions inspired by nature and human ingenuity. Speakers include author Michael Pollan, permaculturists Brock Dolman and Darren Doherty, and restorative farmer Bob Cannard.
When: October 16 to 18, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Where: Marin Center in San Rafael, California
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Bioneers Conference |
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MCL Day on Angel Island - October 17
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On October 17, at 11:30 a.m., the Marin Conservation League will honor its founders with a Day on Angel Island. This is the third in MCL's 2009 "Walks into History" celebrating 75 years of protecting Marin's public lands and environment.
Take the Tiburon-Angel Island Ferry at 10:00 or 11:00 ($13.50), bring a picnic lunch, and help celebrate the efforts made by the League to save the Island from the developers' auction block. MCL will provide soft drinks and a commemorative cake. At 12:30 they will dedicate a "Native Plant Grove" above Ayala Cove, honoring MCL founders, and install a new interpretive sign telling the story of how Angel Island became a State Park. Participants will hear from State Parks personnel, Angel Island Interpretive Association, Marty Griffin, and others about the efforts of MCL's co-founder Caroline S. Livermore, for whom the mountain on the Island is named. At 1:45, long-time Angel Island docent and MCL member Alan Miller will lead a walk to the new Visitor Center. Ferries depart from the Island at 20 minutes after the hour, the last one at 4:20.
For further information and reservations e- mail dparker@marinconservationleague.org, or phone 415-485-6257.
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Marin Conservation League |
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International Day of Climate Action - October 24
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Sustainable San Rafael and other Marin groups have planned an event for the biggest climate change action ever. Please join them at Lindaro and Third Streets--San Rafael's new shoreline-- UNLESS the sea level rise being caused by global warming can be reversed! Don your best beach wear and waterfront paraphernalia to spend a fun couple of hours giving world leaders a piece of our collective minds in the lead up to UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this fall.
When: Saturday, October 24, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Where: Corner of Lindaro and Third Streets, San Rafael
For more information, search the San Rafael event at http://www.350.org/node/4994
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International Day of Climate Action |
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October Green Tip - Green Your Halloween
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Here's some tips to green your Halloween adapted from Stopglobalwarming.org:
1. Buy pumpkins, apples, and other seasonal items from a farmer's market. Produce bought at farmers' market tastes better and saves energy. Buying produce directly from the farmer also increases the farmers cut or share of the profits. 2. Make use of all pumpkin parts. After carving a pumpkin, make sure to save the seeds. Bake them and serve them to party guests or feed them to our fine feathered friends, the birds. If possible, bury or compost the carcass. 3. Make your own costume or buy one at a second- hand shop. An old sheet still makes a great ghost. Just make sure that the sheet cost less than a commercial ghost costume. Many boomers also have some hippie clothes stashed somewhere. Find them and let your teenager be a part of the Woodstock generation without living through all that rain and mud! 4. Give out healthy treats. Finding nutritional treats has to be one of Halloween's challenges. But with some serious thought, it can be done. Some ideas: individual microwave popcorn packs, organic honey sticks or fruit leather, and healthy candy bars (sun-drops taste great!). 5. Instead of using paper or plastic disposable bags to collect treats, use or buy a recyclable bag. Be creative. Make use of old straw baskets or an old metal pot with a handle.
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Stop Global Warming |
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