The following press release was passed along to us by Elizabeth Aguillera, from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.
Contact:
Amy Heart, Programs Director
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
715-592-6595 x20
amy@the-mrea.org
Nation’s Premier Energy Education Event Set for June 20-22, 2008
Custer, WI – The Midwest Renewable Energy Association announced the dates for their annual Energy Fair. The MREA is gearing up for their 19th annual Energy Fair, June 20-22, 2008.
Each summer the Energy Fair transforms rural central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education, with about 20,000 fair attendees each year. The Fair is the nation’s largest and longest running energy education event of its kind.
Features of the 2008 Energy Fair:
Over 250 exhibitors - featuring sustainable living and energy products
Over 200 workshops - from introductory level to hands-on education
4th Annual Clean Energy Car Show - featuring demonstration vehicles and workshops
New features for 2008 include the Green Home Pavilion and Sustainable Tables area
2008 Keynote Speakers include Jim Hightower and Torbjorn Lahti
Fun family atmosphere!
The MREA’s Energy Fair is the premier energy event in the nation. “Since 1990, attendees from around the world attend our Fair to learn about sustainable living and clean energy and connect with others,” said Amy Heart, MREA Programs Director. “Fair attendees go home with the tools they need to change the world.”
The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. For more information about the Fair, contact the Midwest Renewable Energy Association at 715-592-6595 or visit the website: www.the-mrea.org.
What is Earth hour you might ask? Earth Hour is a movement that started back in 2007 on March 31 2007. It started with a question, “How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?” The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour. 2.2 million people answered the call to action, resulting is reducing Sydneys energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour (the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour). For 2008 the movement is expanding the globe and cities such as, Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Tel Aviv are uniting in this effort to bring attention to the need for action against global warming.
The countdown is on for Earth Hour, only 50 days before the big event. We encourage all of our readers to join us in supporting this cause. If you would like to register for this event, please go to www.earthhour.org.
We received an email from ‘Emma’, who is trying to spread the word about an upcoming presentation (in Toronto) by Geoff Green and Ray Zahab.
Here is the info:
Royal St. George’s College Parent’s Guild Speaker Series presents
Geoff Green and Ray Zahab
“Icebergs to Sand Dunes – Our Changing Planet”
January 28th, 2008
Doors open at 6:30pm ~ Lecture begins at 7:00pm
Tickets are $25 ~ General Admission
At the Bloor Cinema ~ 506 Bloor Street West
“From Icebergs to Sand Dunes” explores the effects of Climate
Change on two desert biomes. Together Canadian adventurers Geoff
Green and Ray Zahab take the audience on a fascinating and inspiring
journey from the Earth’s Polar Regions to the Sahara Desert.
Proceeds “From Icebergs to Sand Dunes” will be given to The
Students on Ice Polar Education Foundation and ONE X ONE.
It’s funny - I felt really guilty about leaving it so late, yet as I discovered today literally THOUSANDS of blogs have jumped on board in the last few days alone! The total blog count was between 11,000 and 12,000 when I signed up, but the current (and final?) tally is 15,861! Pretty impressive!
It was almost looking as though a poor internet connection was going to rain on my Blog Action Day parade today - but thankfully everything seems to be back to normal! How frustrating (and ironic) would that have been?? After all my procrastinating I can’t even take action on blog action day!!! LoL
The topic this year is of course “the environment” - certainly a fitting choice given the increasing focus on climate change (and other environmental concerns) these days.
It’s funny - I think a lot of people would assume that it would be incredibly easy to come up with a blog post for the occasion given the fact that this in an environmental blog! I personally think it is more challenging!
I’ve been trying desperately to come up with some sort of creative, interesting post - but alas I’ve got nuthin! Well, ‘nuthin’ more than this rambling dialogue, that is!
It’s probably for the best - trying too hard to come up with the ‘ultimate’ blog post never works anyway. I think it’s better to just be my usual, goofy self!
Looking around the green blogosphere, it seems that some of my friends were equally unsure about what they should write about. Chris Baskind of Lighter Footstep and EcoTumble put it this way: “We talk about environmentally related themes all the time, which makes picking a topic for Blog Action Day a bit more problematic.”
So true…well, except for the part about writing environmental posts all the time! lol Things have been pretty quiet here at EcoSherpa for the last little while! Hopefully this flurry of posts the last couple days will help me get back into the swing of things!
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg’s Blog Action Day (I almost wrote it in acronym form until I realized it was “BAD” - lol) post on the Green Options blog focused on highlighting some of the interesting posts from the non-green blogoshere - cool idea!
I thought perhaps that the ‘green giant’ of eco-blogs, Treehugger, might come up with something really captivating and inspiring for the occasion - but alas, they simply wrote a short post announcing the event.
Oh well - I guess today is more an opportunity for the non-green blogs to step up and share their thoughts on the environment. All the eco-blogs can then pick up the slack for the remainder of the year!
On that note, I think I will leave you with a little song …
Just caught this interesting press release from Newswire:
The City of Toronto and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities successfully bid for the 2009 World Green Roof Congress
TORONTO, May 31 /CNW/ - “Green Roofs for Healthy Cities,” the North American green roof industry association and the City of Toronto are pleased to announce that they will be hosting the 2009 World Green Roof Congress.
The Congress will bring more than 1,000 delegates to Toronto from around the world to discuss the latest research, policy and technical advances in the rapidly growing green roof industry. The World Green Roof Congress is organized through the World Green Roof Infrastructure Network, an international organization made up of the leaders of national green roof
industry associations from around the world.
“I’m extremely happy the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities has chosen Toronto for its 2009 Congress,” said Toronto Mayor David Miller. “This is a heartening endorsement of our policies and practices, and an acknowledgment that Toronto truly is a global leader in the fight against climate change.”
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Toronto to showcase its progress on sustainable communities and demonstrate significant progress in developing the green roof industry in North America,” said Steven Peck, President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and co-host of the event. “Green roofs have really captured people’s attention as a beautiful way to help fight climate change and save money. Green roofs deliver more public and private benefits than any other green building technology.”
In 2006, The City of Toronto passed “Making Green Roofs Happen,” a comprehensive report on policies and programs that will advance the use of green roof technology among City buildings and in the private sector.
Green roof infrastructure involves the use of technologies that incorporate drainage/filtering systems, quality waterproofing,
root-repellancy, engineered growing media and plants. The benefits of green (vegetative) roofs include a reduction in storm water run-off, better heat and sound insulation, energy savings, improved air quality and reduction in the urban heat island. Other benefits include increased park space, improved aesthetics, community gardening and habitat restoration.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. In the past three years Toronto has won more than 50 awards for quality and innovation in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents.
Just wanted to write a short post wishing all our readers a very happy Earth Day! Hope you have been enjoying the weekend (absolutely gorgeous here) and getting involved in some Earth Day Weekend activities.
Steve and I got up bright and early on Saturday morning and met up at a local mall where the city was selling rain barrels (for an incredible bargain). I cannot believe how long the line was even at 7am. It took about an hour in a fast-moving line to finally reach our destination (the rain barrel truck), but it was a beautiful morning and it was nice getting caught up!
I’m definitely looking forward to getting my new barrel set up this week and kickstarting my 2007 water-conservation project (more on that in a future post)!
It appears Toronto wants to take part in the Live Earth concert for global warming. Toronto City officials are currently looking for a local promoter to host the event. I think it is extremely important for Canada to get involved in this event. We need to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are serious about climate change and we are prepared to take action. Once a location is determined I am sure it wouldn’t take long to secure the musical acts. The Canadian performers I would expect to see at the concert: Bare Naked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, Sarah Harmer, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace, The Tragically Hip.
Finding the talent shouldn’t be an issue. Agreeing on the venue location and constructing the venue in a sustainable way, not that is another story. I was at the SARS concert in Toronto and remember the amount of trash and waste that filled the venue site. I could barely find a piece of ground that was not covered with plastic water bottles. The clean-up from that concert was an enormous task. When I left that concert, I felt like I needed to be hosed down, as the trash was disgusting. I had a chance to go over to the Live Earth website, and according to the site, each venue will be designed to maintain a minimum environmental impact and will showcase the latest state-of-the-art energy efficiency, on-site generation, and sustainable facilities management practices. I am excited to see what new technologies will be showcased at the various venues.
More about Live Earth
Live Earth will use the global reach of music to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis. Live Earth will bring together more than 150 of the world’s top musicians for 24-hours of music from 7 concerts across all 7 continents. Live Earth will bring together an audience of more than 2 billion at the concerts and through television, radio, film, and the Internet. That audience, and the proceeds from the event, will create the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by Vice President Al Gore. Kevin Wall, Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, is producing Live Earth.
If you are interested in learning more about Live Earth, head over to their website.
To read more about Toronto’s plan to join the concert, read the article here.
It’s bizarre, yet pleasantly reassuring that the telephone has been ringing a little more of late. It is coming up to my baby’s 3rd birthday…my virtual baby that is, an awareness campaign called National Downshifting Week.
I popped it out with gusto and a deep breath in 2005 - rather like shelling a pea really -from a chilly little cottage, on a pimple on the bottomend of nowhere in rural France and remember pondering at the time, would anything much become of her (she is quite definitely a ’she’ incidentally).
The idea of lacing an actual ‘week’ together came because I’d focused my writing attention on exploring the secrets of downshifting and sustainable living, following my own major downshift in 2002. There was such a lot to uncover and discover and my journey to a simpler, happier life left me brimming with a passion to spread the word about what one could achieve if you ’stepped out of the Rat Race’ and stopped to smell the roses.
International attention was drawn to the project after a few of my articles had been published on the Internet and I found myself in the epicentre of a worldwide craving for information on a bit of ‘back to basics’ living!
I would raise my head from the keyboard to tend to my chickens or pick or plant some fruit or veg, or maybe even just chew the cud with my husband and kids. My grip on the work/life balance was firming up with every passing day and I learned how to say ‘Actually, sorry, but no’; there is so much more to life than chasing the dosh.
The UK has been fuelled by various forms of the media paying lipservice to ‘downshifting’. They portray it as a cure for all ills (which indeed it can be) and that one of the best ways to achieve it is by moving house, counties, even countries! How ridiculous! And what to do for those with no capital allowing such a move? It’s preposterous.
Downshifting isn’t about chasing rainbows over the water. It’s about claiming back little pockets of time and money and investing them elsewhere.
In a nutshell, the more money you spend, the more time you have to be out there earning it and the less time you have to spend with the ones you love.
Embracing living with less is a challenge, but if you approach the concept with a positive mind, the possibilities are endless. Also, by taking the ‘dip your toes in’ method, you get to find your comfort level of downshift and have a far greater chance of long term success.
By making small changes in your own four walls, your whole world could change colour. Speaking of colour, when you do slow life down a pace, you automatically ‘lean towards the green’. A very interesting phenomenon, particularly if you have never been very green minded before.
But look, taking a trip to the local charity shop to drop in a bag of donations, because you are at last ditching the uber-consumer race to please the fashion police, is positive for your local community (it could be a hospice shop and you never know when you are going to need that!), you are recycling, reusing and you might even come away with a bag of second-hand goodies for a snip of a price.
Benefit to the purse and the planet.
So, there you have it. The conception, birth and nappy stage of National Downshifiting Week, in a (soap)nutshell.
The phone is ringing again, more interviews to give, more stuff to say, more people to help on their way, then I’m off downstairs, the kids have just gone to bed and there’s a warm glass of cheap red and the old man to cuddle up to.
The life/work balance….keep it real, make it slow, keep it green.
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Columnist and broadcaster Tracey Smith has carved a niche with Downshifting and Sustainable Living. She is also the creator of awareness campaign, National Downshifting Week in the UK and USA and was recently confirmed a finalist in Britain’s Eco-Hero Awards, an initiative from ITV’s National News. Tracey specialised in this genre following her own extreme downshift in 2002 and has made it her mission to uncover all the layers and levels of simple living.
Combine this with her passion and genuine enthusiasm for getting people on the right, green track, promoting a true life and work balance and first-hand experience of surviving on limited funds and you have an energetic and realistic advocator for ‘back to basics living’.
Are you going to be in San Francisco between November 10-12?
If you have the chance, drop by the Green Festival. If Bentley and I could find the time we would be there in a second! We will try to make the next festival in Chicago, in April 2007.
From the Green Festival website:
Green Festivals are a celebration of what’s working in our communities, – for people, for businesses and for the environment.
Green Festivals are a project of two national nonprofit organizations, Global Exchange and Co-op America, and they bring together local and national socially responsible businesses, environmental, social justice, and community organizations, with 20 to 25,000 concerned individuals for two day events aimed at forging a just, sustainable, and inclusive economy – a green economy.
Green Festivals are a walk through a sustainable community. It starts with the personal – how people can make their lives work better. Individuals, business and community leaders also come together to discuss social and environmental issues of personal, local, national, and global concern. Businesses and organizations showcase their programs and products that serve the community. Neighbor-to-neighbor connections are formed, and skills are shared to empower people to create a livable community. Of course, it wouldn’t be a festival without music, art, culture and delicious food – all from local based organizations and businesses.
Ok, all silliness aside - in case you haven’t heard, this weekend all across the US the Bioneers are holding their annual conference.
“Who the heck are the Bioneers?” some might ask.
Here is a blurb from their website:
The Collective Heritage Institute, aka Bioneers, was founded in 1990, when Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons assembled Bioneers for the first annual Bioneers conference, a gathering of scientific and social innovators who have demonstrated visionary and practical models for restoring the Earth and communities.
Bioneers was conceived to conduct programs in the conservation of biological and cultural diversity, traditional farming practices, and environmental restoration.Our vision of environment encompasses the natural landscape, cultivated landscape, biodiversity, cultural diversity, watersheds, community economics, and spirituality. Bioneers seeks to unite nature, culture and spirit in an Earth-honoring vision, and create economic models founded in social justice.
Here are the 18 locations where conferences are being held:
Anchorage, AK
Atlanta, GA
Bloomington, IN
Boulder, CO
Bozeman, MT
Brigham City, UT
Carbondale, IL
Detroit, MI
Eugene, OR
Flagstaff, AZ
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Logan, UT
Marion, MA
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Taos, NM
Traverse City, MI
Vernal, UT
If you have any interest in sustainable living etc and happen to live within driving distance of any of these locations you might want to check out one of these conferences!
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