Education Posts
My Hometown Joins Transition Movement
I’m sharing a column I wrote for our local newspaper that was published yesterday. Enjoy! This Earth Day, Local 20/20 is celebrating its official recognition as Washington state’s 11th Transition Initiative. “Transition?” you might wonder. “From what? To what?” Glad you asked. This is about making the transition from “the era of cheap oil,” to a future dependent on conservation, a thriving local economy, locally produced food and building materials, sustainable transportation choices and renewable energy...
read moreFluffy Line-Dried Towels Every Time
By popular demand, I’m sharing my super-energy-saving tip for fluffy line-dried towels. Now that the spring sun is finally here, give it a try! Speaking of spring, Earth Day is coming up next weekend. Join me next Saturday, April 21, for an Earth Day Celebration alongside the Port Townsend Saturday Farmers Market. Local 20/20 is hosting and I’m one of the main organizers. I’ll also be speaking at an hour-long presentation about our new Transition Initiative starting at 10:30 a.m. More info: www.L2020.org. Let’s face it:...
read moreBiomass 101 for Families Forum
The proposed biomass power plant at the Port Townsend Paper Mill site and its potential health impacts on our most vulnerable citizens—our children—is the subject of the first “Biomass 101 for Families” forum. The free educational event is scheduled for 10:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 17 at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (QUUF) in Port Townsend. To encourage attendance by parents and guardians of young children, “Biomass 101 for Families” is scheduled mid-morning on a Saturday and free childcare is provided. “I...
read moreAffordable Local Food…But How?
“How to eat better on a budget” is the title of the brochure Brwyn Griffin, the Port Townsend Food Co-op’s outreach/education manager, is holding here. She developed the brochure for the Making Local Food Affordable forum she presented at (and I attended) back in November. Ever since, I’ve been meaning to write up the tips I collected there. Prioritizing this post was one of the commitments I made to myself last weekend at the end of the first annual Thriving Communities conference at the Whidbey Institute (Feb. 2-4)....
read moreVIDEO: Transportation (Presentation to Chamber of Commerce, 11/14/11)
We’ve been snowed in the last couple of days, and the walkability of our 1880′s-era neighborhood has had a chance to shine. As Soren and I traveled on foot to the corner grocery, the post office, the coffee shop, and our friends’ houses, we encountered 10 times as many pedestrians as we normally do and 10 times fewer cars. It was so sociable, so cheery, so safe to pull Soren on his sled down the middle of the road. I almost wish the snow would stick around! Port Townsend’s historic core was built before automobiles were...
read moreVIDEO: Energy (Presentation to Chamber of Commerce, 11/14/11)
Do you know where your energy comes from? Proportionally, more Jefferson County residents can proudly say, “From the sun!” than can residents of any other county in the state. This 5-minute video excerpt on “Energy” references the sponsor of my Chamber talk (and, not entirely coincidentally, my husband’s employer), Power Trip Energy Corp. It describes Jefferson County’s leading role in creating energy from the sun. The Puget Sound Energy graph referenced in my talk can be seen below. Data provided by PSE, current as of Oct....
read moreRoundtable Wrap-Up
Yesterday’s “Sustainability Roundtables” provided a satisfying wrap-up to my involvement with Local 20/20‘s sustainability outreach to our local Chamber of Commerce. It was particularly gratifying to have a number of electeds and appointed officials in attendance: Mike Glenn, CEO of our hospital, sat in on the Healthcare discussion; Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval was at the Local Investing table; Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner Barney Burke was at the Energy table. (The PUD will soon be Jefferson...
read moreVIDEO: Local Investing (Presentation to Chamber of Commerce, 11/14/11)
This video excerpt focuses on successes in local investing, including those initiated by the Local Investing Opportunities Network (LION), the Quilcene Conversation, and our community banks. Specific projects cited are Mt. Townsend Creamery, Finnriver Farm, Quilcene’s Village Store, and the forthcoming Quimper Mercantile. This first clip is just 7 minutes long — for a variety of reasons, one being that only my dear parents are likely to listen to all 40 minutes of my talk last Monday to the local Chamber of Commerce (see recent...
read moreRound Up for Sustainability Roundtables
Want to talk about solutions? Then you’re invited to join a roundtable discussion on one of eight sustainability topics on Monday, Nov. 21, noon-1 p.m., at the weekly lunch meeting of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. [Yes, the roundtables are this coming Monday, the 21st. Apologies for incorrectly posting the date earlier. -SR] If you heard my presentation on “Going Sustainable Together” to the Chamber on Nov. 14, you’re probably all fired up for the Sustainability Roundtables coming up next Monday. If you weren’t there,...
read moreBe Careful What You Wish For: My Chamber of Commerce Dream Come True
I’m feeling justified. A few weeks after I followed my gut and launched a blog calling for “going sustainable together,” Occupy Wall Street started (finally!) making headlines. I’m not alone in thinking global corporatization is the downfall of so many American communities, even if I happen to live in a fairly resilient one. But even sooner than that, my phone rang with an invitation I couldn’t refuse. My blog went live on a Tuesday; our Leader newspaper ran an article about it on Wednesday, and that Friday the local Chamber of...
read more