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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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