Choose Compassionate Consumption

…reposted from UUSC, "advancing human rights is the joining of many hands," reflecting essential elements of the iCreate mission

The goods we buy, the clothes we wear, the food we eat — where does it all come from? Today's global supply chain of goods and services is complex and far from transparent. Understanding the origin of a product you purchase — including the labor conditions under which it was produced — can be difficult. Striving to feel connected to all the hands that have touched that item on its journey of production can be even more daunting.

The values of compassionate consumption mission is guided by several principles that relate directly to economic justice.

What you can do... Choose Compassionate Consumption

After Earth Day what?

You say it’s your Earth Day?

Ask not what did you do, but what are you still doing about it now. The Earth Day Network reports that 1 billion people marked the eco-holiday on April 22. But with consciousness-raising taking place on such a massive scale, it’s easy to overlook the everyday people who fight to keep our corner of the planet clean and healthy. For them, eco-activism is not a once-yearly event.

The Good Fight is a Weekly Alibi feature (looks like a series) reporting on the on-going efforts of daily eco warriors, although I'd add local and individual efforts modeling good practices.

Enter the citizen eco warriors. These are people who in their free time—after work, after the kids are asleep—pore over reams of documents, learn about bureaucratic processes and permits, and put up a fight on behalf of their neighbors. They study, they attend meetings, they write letters, they become experts on industry and its effects. 

The warriors pop up in Alibi environmental news stories, sometimes celebrating successes or mourning losses. These are the self-appointed guardians of our chunk of desert. When put together, their stories paint a picture of an evolving city and state.

What are we doing right here in Mountainair? Is our community evolving too or stalled? Not, let's hope, devolving. Since sustainability and environment are part of the iCreate mission (which some days is murkier to suss out than others), keeping track of not just our efforts but what others in our community are doing, individually or collectively.

Community Garden: Earth Day Warm-up last Saturday (Joan Embree's more detailed report to follow shortly). This was the first weekly Saturday workday of the season and, for now, every Saturday 10am-12n. "This coming Saturday, April 28," garden manager Joan Embree notes, "we will still be digging and amending beds. We will need to assess our watering capabilities (timers, hoses. etc.,)  to see what we lack with this bigger version of a garden," adding, "Hope to see old and new gardeners back at our 2012 location this weekend."


Torrance County Recycling program, Mountainair Center ~ not much new to report (maybe someone will send us something) other than that there is one and we should report.


Upcoming opportunities: Environmental Information Management Institute series of one week courses, Monday, May 28 to Friday, June 15, 2012. More information at http://elibrary.unm.edu/courses/eimi

Know of other programs, local eco-activists, individuals or groups making a difference, setting an example? Please let us know about them.

Captain Planet Foundation Grants

FD0760_NOFA_FY2012[1].doc Download this file

FYI ~ community based environmental education emphasis but not limited to school programs. Right up the iCreate and community garden mission alley but could also be fit for other environmentally conscious community groups with 501/3c status and an education mission

Captain Planet Grant Program

The Captain Planet Foundation (CPF) provides grants to schools, as well as community-based environmental and educational organizations — no grants are made to individuals or businesses.

Grants from the Captain Planet Foundation are intended to:

• serve as a catalyst to getting environmental activities in schools and communities.
• inspire youth to participate in community service through environmental stewardship activities.

 The Captain Planet Foundation primarily makes grants to U.S.-based schools and organizations with an annual operating budget of less than $3 million. CPF will fund unique and innovative projects that do not precisely match the grant guidelines but otherwise promote the foundation’s mission of hands-on environmental activities.  Applications that are outside of this description or do not meet the grant guidelines will not be considered.

November Peak Moment Newsletter

I've been posting occasional Peak Moment videos relevant to the iCreate mission, mostly sustainability. Who couldn't relate to "locally reliant living for challenging times"? Here's the November Newsletter. 

Watch for: Community Garden Report from Joan Embree, iCreate updates including but not limited to music outreach update (mostly pictures from Tomas Wolff); Christmas Land performances by Kay, Pegeen and Lenora, meeting rescheduling, overdue report from last meeting.

click to view complete newsletter online

November 2011 news

We're exercising our self-reliance muscles to build infrastructure in the winter encampment site for Little House, our RV home. We're dragging water pipes through the forested hillsides and building solar panel racks. Our work is accompanied by thrilling calls of circling red-shouldered hawks and curious cackling ravens.

This peaceful place and slower pace feels in stark contrast to the quickly moving events swirling around the Occupy Movement, as it draws attention to the egregious wrongdoings on Wall Street at the expense of the many. We valued Bill Moyers' look back to How Wall Street Occupied America, and Richard Heinberg's big picture Memo to the #Occupy Movement, in which he reminds: "Given the finite nature of our planet and its resources, the recent trend of global economic expansion was destined to end."

Legalize Local Investing. Sign a petition supporting HR 2930, which will legalize investment in small local businesses. It's advocated by Michael Shuman author of Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity, and Peak Moment episode 44: The Slow-Mart Revolution.