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Earthwalk News

Who where and what's happening... at Earthwalk, across the country and around the planet.

Upcoming Earthwalk Events

Earthday At Earthwalk 2012

Earthwalk Eco Film Festival

Member Activities

Earthwalk Phase One was completed on our main building in September 2007 with the residence, kitchen, dining hall, library, lounge, bathrooms and the timber frame staircase were the first areas to be finished. Work on the office, multimedia room, theater and seminar room were all finished for our opening on Earth Day 2008. We have had our first full year of programing and there are already discussions starting about what programming can be scheduled for next year. Stay tunned for more programing announcements or sugscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on our programing schedules.

Earthwalk Eco Film Festival - is runing all summer. Earthwalk is proud to be the home of the Gaia Film Club which views and reviews eco films at Earthwalk each month. The Eco Film Festival is presented by the enthusiastic members of the Film Club who are happy to share the insights and inspirations they found in the outstanding eco films being shown this year. Come and enjoy a season full of films, seminars and workshops on Sustainable and Healthy Living. The Films are being shown by members of our Eco Film Club and a schedule will be available at Earthwalk. Tickets for each film discussion and screening is $15 or Free for EW Members and Volunteers. Seating is limited for the films so please call 905-355-3000 to pre register for the workshops and films you are interested in attending.

Field Trip to Findhorn Eco Village was enlightening. My ancestors were from Scotland so the trip itself was very interesting but the best part by far was exploring one of the most established Eco Villages in existence. It’s 45 years since Eileen and Peter Caddy and their three boys, and Dorothy Maclean set up their caravan here at Findhorn in the midst of sand dunes. Today it is a lush a vital eco village with a reputation that stretches around the planet. The daytime population of the Findhorn Foundation community is over 400 not counting the steady stream of visitors which they attract from all over the world. Yet it was recently identified as having the lowest environmental footprint of any other permanent community on the planet. Community level energy generation, local organic food, energy efficient house design, low levels of commuting and sharing of resources were the major factors. It is an essentially self sufficient community that has been practicing and refining permaculture for many years. They share their experience through ongoing workshops and conferences which they run out of the center. They have extensive educational facilities and when needed spill over into near by campus of their full time private school. They have cultural facilities that are very busy with ongoing arts events. Considering that they are only a few degrees below the arctic circle they have very impressive eco gardens and composting systems. The gray and black water from the community is processed through a Canadian designed Green Machine, a long green house with a series of cleansing pools filled with plants. (see the pictures) It handles the load with ease and has been for several years. The workshops were excellent but the most impressive part of the experience was the sense of spiritual community that permeated all the activities in the village. Stay tuned to the events listings as we will be doing a talk on Eco Villages and you can hear the whole story about the Findhorn experience.

Report From Sustainable Architecture Conference at Cambridge School of Architecture - a meeting of the eco minded architects. It was quite inspiring to see so many of the leading eco architects in one place. This weekend long conference was packed with displays and wall to wall workshops. We were exposed to a wide selection of concepts from native traditional to innovative contemporary approaches. Organized by the School of Architecture in Cambridge Ontario. This conference was one of the highlights of the year. Some of the presenters at this conference are already talking to us about presenting at Earthwalk. So stay tuned and we will keep you posted.

Earthwalk Goals Defined. After some discussion the Goals of the Sustainable Living Educational Initiatives were defined last year.. The programs will be designed to mobilize personal and community action to:

- reduce the energy we use to heat and cool our houses
- reduce water consumption for cleaning and yard care
- lower the damaging environmental impacts of personal transportation
- prevent contamination of air, soil and water
- minimize the waste of resources resulting from consumption patterns of a modern industrial society
- optimize biological diversity and ecological synergy in a human-dominated environment
- create healthy eco buildings that reduce exposure to indoor toxins that can have detrimental impact on our health
- lifestyle modifications that encourage healthier and more sustainable choices

Report from the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Wisconsin brings new approaches to our attention. Our long road trip to Wisconsin was well worth it. The fair covered several acres with several tents dedication to displays and a whole village of seminar tents. The workshops were packed and well worth the trek. We saw lots of new technology and we were treated to a eco home tour that was very interesting. (see pictures on our Green Building page) The Midwest Renewable Energy Fair is the largest on the planet. The Fair is held at the ReNew the Earth Institute in June. The ReNew the Earth Institute is located near Custer, Wisconsin. It was very educational and a lot of fun. They have added activities for children which were a hit. Even the evenings were full of great food and entertainment. This was our second trip to this fair and this time we camped at the onsite camping facilities. They were very well organized and clean. Not a small accomplishment considering their attendance. Since 1990 they have had over 190,000 visitors . (See the pictures) We will be incorporating much of what we learned in upcoming workshops and in our approach to the programming for the Green Planet Festival.

Planning begins for Sustainable Living Center Workshops.
The environmental programs designed for Earthwalk focus on the actions we can take today in our own lives - in our homes, our businesses, our communities - to begin the transition to a sustainable future.
Where ever your interest lies in sustainable living there will be a workshop that will interest you... We are already considering over a hundred workshop subjects. The major subject categories on the drawing board include..
biodiversity, sacred balance, preserving nature, organic food, healthy diets, raw foods diet, healthy cooking,
nutritional health, community or project volunteering, environmental internships, work exchange programs,
organic farming, renewable energy, solar energy, wind energy, solar air conditioning, rain water harvesting,
electric vehicles, electric tractors, eco villages, eco education, eco tourism, healthy homes, healthy lifestyles,
eco educational opportunities.

If even half these workshops get into the first schedule it looks like the center will have a wealth of informational
resources for us! The office is asking for everyone to let them know what workshops your are interested in so they can priorize the schedule to reflect current interests. So feel free to call with your suggestions.

Electric Vehicle Community in Michigan was impressive. This field trip took us into a possible future for sustainable transportation. The small resort town of Charlevious Michigan sports the largest EV dealer in the mid continent and a private community that runs almost exclusively on Electric Vehicles. We toured the community and interviewed the dealer Crown Motors. Then we drove the cars and I must say we were impressed. There is a reason that it has caught on in this community. Neighborhood electric vehicles are part of our solution and the sooner we wake up to this fact the better. Visit our Eco Transport page for the whole story and more pictures.

Stories from Northumberland Eco House Tour - An eco home tour in greater Northumberland was staged last year and a number of us participated. We covered a lot of ground in one day but thanks to the gracious hosts that opened there homes to us we saw a wide variety of deferent approaches to the same green building challenges. We made lots of new friends of like mind and it was also a great learning experience See some pictures by following the links on our Green Buildings page. You will also find some notes about our Wisconsin Eco House Tour from last year.

Canadian Sustainability News - what is new from coast to coast.

Upcoming Sustainability Events

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. A traditional day of feasting with family (and give thanks to God) turned into a day of early holiday shopping for a considerable part of the population. Buy Nothing Day is an altruist campaign created by Adbusters, a magazine concerned about the erosion of physical and cultural environments by commercial forces, and is promoting to switch off from shopping and tune back into life. Kalle Lasn, co-founder of the Adbusters Media Foundation, said, “Our headlong plunge into ecological collapse requires a profound shift in the way we see things. Driving hybrid cars and limiting industrial emissions is great, but they are band-aid solutions if we don’t address the core problem: we have to consume less. This is the message of Buy Nothing Day.” The idea is not just about a Buy Nothing Day, is about lifestyle changing; is about eradicating the consumption culture that is invading our minds and spirits. Do you want to do something good for the earth? Start today with a "Buy Only the Indispensable"-life.

On the Horizon - Eco News from around the world.

Biodiversity is a basic word we all should know about because it has a very important meaning; It is the variation of life at all levels of biological organization. Bio diversity is the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a given region.

National Geographic is not only known for its exploration among biodiversity, for its interesting worldwide reports or its amazing investigations. Is also famous for its extremely accurate, detailed and inspiring photography. The best of all is that they want to share their collection and knowledge with you. Do you want to know more about biodiversity? Do you want to see it? Do you want to owe it? This is your chance. Just click here and decorate your desktop with wallpapers that are not just going to bring an organic aura to your computer labor, but they are also going to make you think and learn about the biggest treasure you can have: biodiversity.

EARTHWALK In The News
Visit Earthwalk in the news to see what the press has been saying about Earthwalk.

If you have something to contribute to the development of this site or the center itself feel free to email us at ifo@ecoearthwalk.ca

 

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