Owner Tim Toben didn’t describe his North Carolina Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute as officially part of the Transition Movement, but it fits in well. Farm manager Margaret Krome-Lukens is part of the Transition Town movement (helped Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC become one). She shows us the garden, her cob home and the pigs.
All posts tagged Eco
The Birth of an Ocean
By Lana Gunnlaugson, Program Coordinator Marine & Freshwater
Ever wondered what lives on the ocean floor, and how it came to be there?
Tonight, CBC will present the first of four special episodes offering a view of the sea most of us have never seen. The One Ocean series attempts to reconnect us to our oceans through an underwater journey that only a few have ever witnessed.
The series begins 4 billion years ago with the birth of the ocean, which helped transform the Earth’s surface into the hospitable home we oxygen-loving animals live on today. Oceans gave us life, and we still depend on them to sustain us. From acting as the planet’s thermostat to absorbing half its carbon dioxide, the oceans provide us with many of the ecosystem services that we need to survive. It goes beyond this, too. Many who have touched the ocean knows that its beauty and power has touched them too.
I watched a sneak preview of the One Ocean series last night and definitely recommend tuning in for this series if you have ever been fascinated by the ocean and how it works.
Here’s the full schedule:
- The Birth of an Ocean: MARCH 4 AT 8 P.M.
The Birth of an Ocean explores the ocean*s tumultuous history and how the ocean transformed the earth into the livable, blue planet it is today.
- Footprints in the Sand: MARCH 11 AT 8 P.M.
Traditional fisheries, over-development and the places of recovery that can give us hope for a healthy future ocean all intersect in Footprints in the Sand.
- Mysteries of the Deep: MARCH 18 AT 8 P.M.
Starting in the deepest part of the ocean, Mysteries of the Deep takes us to a secret and magical world of bizarre creatures and new discoveries deep beneath the surface.
- The Changing Sea: MARCH 25 AT 8 P.M.
The Changing Sea explores some of the most stunning underwater locations in the world as it sets sail on a scientific race – a race to predict the fate of the global ocean.
One Ocean is produced by CBC’s The Nature of Things and Merit Motion Pictures, in association with National Geographic Channel.
Source obtained: www.davidsuzuki.org
The Drifter – Rob Machado
Machado and friends are coming to a theater near you
Join Rob and friends for a Drifter premiere at a theater near you. Every show includes an acoustic set with Machado and Jon Swift, a full-length showing of the film and a Q and A with Rob and Taylor Steele.
[pro-player]http://vimeo.com/5840530[/pro-player]
The Botany of Desire
Humans frequently assume that we are the architects of biological change, rather than mere participants. Genetic mapping and engineering do paint a compelling picture of us in the genetic driver’s seat. But what if we’re manipulated by the very agents we believe we’re manipulating? What if, for example, in our attempts to create a more cold-tolerant tomato, we’re unconsciously fulfilling the tomato’s desire to expand the environment in which it thrives? It’s discomforting – some would say, ridiculous – to think of ourselves as haplessly duped marionettes in an elaborate drama manipulated by the omniscient tomato – especially when things like consciousness and desire are not frequently listed among the tomato’s better-known traits.
And yet it cannot be denied that the tomato has achieved a depth of genetic diversity and breadth of distribution that it may never had known, had it not appealed to a specific set of human desires. In making itself so delicious (entire cuisines are built upon it), nutritious (rich in lycopene and Vitamins A & C), and easy to preserve (thanks to high acid content) it earned a free boat ride from the New World back to the European mainland, where it proceeded to re-write culinary history. Thus did a lowly, spindly member of the sometimes-poisonous nightshade family manage to effectively put human legs and boats and farmers to work for it, moving it from its original western Andean home to farms and backyard gardens around the world.
We have grown accustomed to the idea of measuring the environmental impacts of our consciously chosen actions. We’ve come to see that many of our choices have unintended environmental consequences, many of them harmful. But what about those unconscious choices that have sprung from pure desire, whether it be a desire for control, for taste, for intoxication, or even the simple desire . . .
. . . for beauty? And what about the unintended positive effects of those actions? Is ours the only set of desires acting to orchestrate the rhythms of our world?
[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdXOeWMwX-4&feature=player_embedded[/pro-player]
There is a world of life that indeed responds to our desires; and in doing so, fulfills desires of its own. Such is the premise and on which Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World is built. One of his earlier books, The Botany of Desire uses four separate plants to make the case that humans have been exploited by these species to advance a decidedly non-anthropocentric genetic agenda. The four plants examined are tulips, potatoes, apples, and marijuana – crops that have, genetically speaking, become wildly successful based on their appeal to human desires for beauty, control, sweetness, and intoxication, respectively.
Pollan’s is an investigation whose premise is now (pardon the pun) ripe for exploration. And it’s the focus of a striking new PBS production that is set to air Wednesday, October 28th. In pursuing his inquiry from such an angle, Pollan highlights the unexpectedly intricate relationships humans have established with the natural world at a time when we can better appreciate the beauty of how little control we actually have over nature.
Source obtained from: www.thecleanestline.com.
Also check out Michael Pollan’s site: www.michaelpollan.com.
Beds Are Burning
The clock is ticking. In December of this year, the United Nations will meet to decide on the replacement of the Kyoto protocol: a defining moment that will determine the future of our planet in the face of the climate crisis. People around the world are dying today as a result of climate change and without …
[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBTZOg6l6cA&feature=player_embedded[/pro-player]
Join the fight for climate change … visit www.timeforclimatejustice.org
Thoughts on My Bike
What a great little video to help us think, to remember, and to try and make a difference. I believe we all can make that difference through simple action … enjoy! :-)
[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDqUKj1GwJY&feature=player_embedded[/pro-player]
No Impact Man
Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.
It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, busses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.
No problem – at least for Colin – but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.
Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin and Michelle’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
Find more on their site at: www.noimpactdoc.com
[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ctt7FGFBo[/pro-player]
Earth Day: The Movie
Shiny Chevy’s cruising efficient freeways and cheery new homes signaling the American Dream soon turned into a nightmare of smog and suburban sprawl. Through this context we view the birth of the ecological movement 40 years ago. Though many know the basic storyline, Robert Stone’s documentary, Earth Days, explores the roots of the first Earth Day, follows its rise through the legislative achievements in the 1970s, and collapse with the Reagan administration, with some intriguing surprises. With every week bringing some new eco-film release, why is this redux relevant?
[pro-player]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsdKxew6FM8&feature=player_embedded[/pro-player]
A series of Presidents’ eco-friendly statements sets the tone for this chronological tale. Interviews with key figures from the early days are interspersed with compelling historical footage: Denis Hayes co-founder of Earth Day 1970, Dennis Meadows, author of Limits to Growth, biologist Paul Erlich, author of Population Bomb, and Stewart Brand, publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog, who describes the photo of earth taken from space as a moment that opened perspectives. While watching the enthusiastic response of 20 million Americans taking to the streets on April 22, 1970, Stone (Oswald’s Ghost, Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst, Radio Bikini) believes it’s important to understand how the movement got derailed in order to avoid pitfalls again.
Less is more: scary or inevitable?
Earth Days shows the dramatic convergence of scientists’ warnings, bi-partisan politicians, and activists who captured the public’s attention to protest the perils of pollution, from nuclear fallout and burning rivers to DDT poisoning and killer smog. Stone dispels the image of environmentalists as a bunch of radicals or hippies taking back the land. But the film points out how the unraveling began, how righteousness, rhetoric and ideology soured the grass roots campaign; and how these situations and the oil crisis were a missed opportunity that led to Americans to choose the 1980s’ promise of abundant prosperity over fear of deprivation.
As the results of reduced resources is realized now, Earth Days pays tribute to the diverse group of pioneers, from former Secretary of the Interior, 87-year-old Stewart Udall to renewable energy developer Hunter Lovins. It’s worthwhile to recognize prior accomplishments we take for granted, to be reminded that eco-friendliness wasn’t just invented, and to learn how to avoid creating another backlash. In the Huffington Post, Stone asks us to connect the dots:
I would argue that the environmental movement, which is a similarly forward looking enterprise, would be well served by taking a look back at itself, however briefly, if for no other reason than to understand where it came from, what it has accomplished, where it has stumbled, and why, given all we have long known about our pollution of the Earth’s ecosystem, we have ended up in our current environmental predicament.
Bursting out of the green bubble
After a screening at LA’s Enviromentaland someone in the audience questioned Stone why Greenpeace wasn’t included, another asked about omitting agri-business, and one review in the Daily Green complained that the film didn’t relate to today’s green movement. The filmmaker explained his focus was on the fundamental causes of the problem — overpopulation and over-consumption in the name of progress — not the countless symptoms. Keeping an eye on the bigger issue, he believes, makes disastrous news and complex solutions feel less overwhelming. So how do we really rally the masses?
What would be the equivalent of Earth Day 1970 now — more than turning off lights during Earth Hour, planting trees, cleaning beaches or other good green deeds? Would millions around the world taking to the streets to send a message make a difference today…let’s say on Saturday, December 12 during COP15, the UN’s Climate Change Conference?
Open in New York, in Los Angeles this weekend, and September elsewhere, check out Earth Days release schedule for your town – it could determine how many others could get the chance.
More on Earth Day:
How to Go Green: Earth Day
What Not To Do on Earth Day
History of Earth Day in a Nutshell
Quote of the Day: Gaylord Nelson on Earth Day
Source obtained from www.treehugger.com
The Cove Movie
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRD8e20fBo[/youtube]
The fate of 23,000 dolphins is in your hands, says Flipper’s old trainer Ric O’Barry who’s devoted years to ending the monster he created: dolphin shows. He inspired National Geographic photographer, Louis Psihoyos, to direct an award-winning eco-documentary, The Cove. “But it’s not just about saving dolphins. It’s about saving us,†says the filmmaker, referring to all the environmental issues associated with the ocean, from the loss of fish stocks to acidification of reefs. So he assembled a SWAT team to stealthily shoot fisherman trapping dolphins in a prohibited cove of a national park in Japan. “We tried to do the story legally,†he says, “but…”
Continue with this story at www.treehugger.com. Also you can head over to their site as well http://thecovemovie.com.
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