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Class 35 Projects
Class 35 held projects day at the Red Barn in Point Reyes on Tuesday, January 29. Above, Forum Director, Barbara Thornton, on the right with Kim Sauve, Asst. Forum Director, and the table of delicious Thai food that was part of one of the projects in the background.
Photos by John Nygren (Class 28).
From professional Power Point presentations to creative cooking classes, the standard of the projects was extraordinarily high.
The following is a broad sweep across the canvas of topics:
Grey Water Systems (Paul Moore, Grace Livingston), Desalination (Tammie Weldon), Carbon Issues and Transportation (Julio Burroughs, Tammy Hull, Ed Boyce, with Maria Kennedy collating feedback from high school students on transportation issues), Nature Hikes for Children (Mary Chapman), Plastic and Recycling (Barbara Lovejoy, Ron Berliner, Chris de Tournay Birkhahn & Ellen Obstler), Solar (Lenny Hand), Ethical Gifting (Lee Fitzgerald), Saving the Falkirk Cultural Center (Ayn Cimino), a Chapbook of Poems inspired by the classes (Sam Doctors), Factsheet on 100% Recycled Paper Products (Kay Karchevski), Zero Waste (Bruce Richard, Teri Meadows), Delicious Locavore Graduation Lunch (Donna Bohegian), Environmental Justice in a Global Market (Reede Stockton), Promoting West Marin Agriculture (Vicki Dotterer and Peter Theran) and April Starke-Slakey has volunteered to help EFM with Administrative Support.
Below are three projects that can be enjoyed by readers of ENews.
BACKYARD WILDLIFE CERTIFICATION
Anne Moore's project described how to establish a certified wildlife habitat in your backyard. Following the Guidelines on the National Wildlife Federation's Website, this is a way for you to increase the beauty of your property and create a refuge for wildlife.
COOKING CLASSES
A MALT event created by Helene Holl, Leigh Kenny, Marcia Sitcoske and Rebecca Simon: a series of cooking classes to promote Marin Agricultural products, beginning with the first class on May 31at Liz Daniel's Nicasio Cow Track Ranch.
Cost is $100 for MALT members or $120 for non-MALT members.
The first class will be Thai Food.
To sign up, email hikesntours@malt.org or call MALT at 415-663-1158
As part of this presentation, and a decided bonus for attending Projects Day, delicious Thai food was served at the lunch break, sample of what's to come in the cooking class.
MARIN WALKABOUT
To benefit the Environmental Forum of Marin, Steve Katz has designed Marin Ecozoic's inagaural 4 day/3 night Walkabout to take place from Thursday, May 15 to Sunday, May 18. From Limantour to Golden Gate, walk along Marin's magnificent coastlines, across geologic faults, over Mt. Tamalpais and through the Woods, accompanied and taught by a superb faculty of naturalists, historians, and environmental pioneers.
Cost $800, fully inclusive. Contact Steve for more details at marinecozoic@yahoo.com or phone 415 924-3377.
Thank you Class 35 for an illuminating day!
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Greetings!
I will be in South Africa until the end of June so this is my last ENews edition for the Environmental Forum of Marin.
I would like to thank Past President, Solvig Palm-Nicholls (Class 28), for conceptualizing ENews, Public Relations Director, Wendy McPhee (Class 32), for having confidence in me to take over this job from her eighteen months ago, Mia Pelletier (Class 31) for standing in for me when I was away for three months last year, and the EFM Board of Directors for their support in responding to my requests for material, Webmaster John Nygren (Class 28) in particular, ever ready to upload each edition to our website.
Lastly I must thank my husband, Tim Stanton, for passing on numerous Environmental tidbits he thought would be of interest to ENews readers.
I'm pleased to be able to hand ENews over to the Forum's very capable Publications Director, Pat Compton (Class 31), ably assisted by Al Brewster (Class 33).
Sherry Stanton (EFM Class 29)
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EFM Congratulates Class 35 Graduates
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Tuesday, February 5 saw 30 graduates of the Environmental Forum of Marin's Sustainable Earth Forum Class 35 receive their certificates at a graduation ceremony held at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross.
In this photo by Bob Spofford (Class 32), we have....
Front Row, Left to Right - Barbara Thornton (Forum Director), Gina Farr, Donna Bohegian, Kay Karchevski, Tommie Weldon, Barbara Lovejoy, Ayn Cimino, Anne Moore, Grace Livingston, Maria Kennedy
Middle Row, Left to right - Marcia Sitcoske, Mary Chapman, Ronald Berliner, April Starke Slakey, Vicki Dotterer, Peter Theran, Ed Boyce, Helene Holl, Christienne de Tournay Birkhahn
Back Row, Left to right - Paul Moore, Julio Burroughs, Rebecca Simon, Lenny Hand, Lee Fitzgerald, Bruce Richards, Teri Meadows, Tamara Hull, Ellen Obstler, Steven Katz, Reede Stockton, Leigh Kenny, Kim Sauve (Asst. Forum Director)
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Sustainable Communities Seminar Begins
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On February 2, Valerie Merrin (Class 34), director of the Sustainable Communities Seminar, welcomed a new class to the Environmental Forum of Marin's Saturday sessions.
Previously called the Workshop Series, and now in its 4th year, the 2008 Seminar class began with Sustainability Day.
One of Marin's most passionate speakers on the environment, Joe Mueller, from the College of Marin, addressed the class, as did Carol Misseldine, a Marin Sustainability consultant. The focus of the talks was on ways to be more conscious of our own global footprint and how we compare with the rest of the world.
On the second Saturday, February 9, the class was introduced to Fossil Fuels and Climate Change, looking at Electricity and Energy generation from a utility perspective (PG & E), and as a factor in global warming.
Former Assemblyman Joe Nation spoke to challenges and recent developments in international climate change agreements. Andre Angelantini of Post Carbon Marin talked about the concept of "peak oil" and how to cope with climate change challenges. And Kevin Beck told the class about ReNu,a building performance services company which works with new and old homes to become more energy efficient.
Two thought provoking days started off this seven week Saturday short course.
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For Class Info |
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First Thursday March 6, 2008
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Next First Thursday, March 6, Marie Kerpan, graduate of EFM's Class 28, will talk about her business, Green Careers. Marie is the founder of the first consulting practice supporting the transition to careers that promote ecological, social and economic sustainability. She has designed, produced and delivered green careers programming for the Bioneers Conference, the San Francisco Green Festival and The Solar Living Institute.
Most recently, Marie has joined the faculty of the Green MBA at Dominican University in San Rafael.
Please come and join Marie and the March 6 First Thursday Conversation on the Environment, from 7 - 9 p.m., at our more usual location: CVNL/MarinSpace, 555 Northgate Drive, San Rafael.
February First Thursday Conversation on the Environment comprised a joint program with Marin Master Gardeners, and took place at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross. There were at least 85 people in attendance, certainly a record for First Thursday!
Thank you to Marin Master Gardeners, and particularly Faith Brown, their Program Coordinator, for inviting our participation. Richard Walker, Professor of Geography, UC Berkeley, spoke and showed slides to introduce the topic of his recent book, The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The book is highly readable and informative, and Professor Walker is a lively, humorous, incisive and engaging speaker. Thank you Richard Walker.
From David Weckler (Class 31), Issues Development Director
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For more info on First Thursday presentations |
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EFM Nominated for Beryl H Buck award
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Three graduates of EFM's Class 35 joined together to nominate the Forum for this year's annual Buck Award.
The award, should the Forum be the single recipient, would be for $25,000. In the application, students Marcia Sitcoske, Beki Simon, and Maria Kennedy wrote, in part, "The Environmental Forum of Marin has been educating our citizens on environmental issues and their social implications for thirty-five years. It has been teaching people how to act locally to do their share in alleviating the global environmental concerns."
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The 2008 "Oughta Be A Law Contest"
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This annual contest allows local residents to propose reforms that Assemblyman Jared Huffman will consider introducing in the Legislature.
This month the competition was won by eight constituents from all over Marin and Sonoma Counties who said utilities should be required to pay individuals for the excess solar and other forms of renewable energy they produce at their homes, small businesses or farms
The eight winners included EFM graduate Jim Lammers (Class 30) of San Anselmo.
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Huffman's February newsletter |
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Nature Hikes
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Spring is finally here - time to get out and see the wildflowers.
Marin County Open Space Walks
Join David Herlocker on Marin County Open Space Spring Walks. Check the schedule on the Website at the above link.
California Native Plant Society Hikes
All walks begin at 10 a.m.
Friday, February 15, Early Spring Flowers at Chimney Rock
Sunday, February 17, Steep Ravine and Mt. Tamalpais
Thursday, February 21, Rift Trail, Point Reyes National Seashore
Sunday, February 24, Novato's Mt Burdell, led by Doreen Smith
Thursday, February 28, Coastal Trail on the Marin Headlands
Join Joe Kohn (Class 34) for these hikes, sponsored by the Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Hikes are free and open to the public. Upcoming hikes are listed on the California Native Plant Society Website.
Email Joe at joko@foxvalley.net if you want to receive an email alert every couple of weeks.
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Meeting points for Native Plant Society hikes |
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The Green Team Project in West Marin
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Ann Boren has initiated a Green Team Project in West Marin to encourage people to change their consumption/puchasing habits and, in the process, save.
The Green Team Project helps individuals and businesses adopt sustainable lifestyles and business practices by reducing their waste, use of water, energy, fuel and chemicals, and also by purchasing environmentally friendly products.
Working with the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC), the first team consists of two EFM graduates, Fred Smith (Class A3) and Martha Proctor (Class 31). The team meets every week for six sessions, each focused on one of the topic areas: solid waste, water, energy, chemicals, transportation and community.
Because the West Marin Group has added the additional goal of informing the public, Fred will write a biweekly column on the team's progress.
If you are interested in forming one of these groups, email Fred Smith at eac@svn.net.
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For more information on Green Teams |
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Environmentally Friendly Kangaroos
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Scientists are studying the bacteria that prevent Kangaroos from releasing methane gas.
Thanks to research carried out in Queensland for the past four years, and released in December, researchers have isolated the bacteria in the stomach lining of kangaroos that means their farts contain no methane.
Instead of methane, they produce acetate, a chemical that improves digestion. Feed laced with kangaroo bacteria could give rise to livestock that is not only greener, but also faster-growing and more fertile.
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See the story |
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Big Victory for Whales
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Sausalito based Seaflow reports that Feb 4 was a big day for whales of the Channel Islands.
A federal judge struck down a waiver issued by the White House that would have exempted the U.S. Navy from obeying a key environmental law during sonar training exercises that endanger whales off the Southern California coast.
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See Report on Seaflow's Website |
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FISH STATUS a Cell Phone SMS Away
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Next time you're in a quandary at the fish market, or restaurant, pondering over the sustainability of the fish you're considering eating, pull out your cell phone and text the message
FISH followed by the NAME of the fish to the number 30644.
You will get an immediate response telling you all about the fish in question.
Try it!
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Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood |
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Clean Sense
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The kitchen is often one of the most complicated rooms in the house to clean. Most households have numerous cleaners just for the kitchen that are not only expensive, but can also result in a lot of added chemicals in our homes.
Making our own natural cleaners can save money and avoid the hazards of harsh chemicals. Salt, baking soda, hot water and vinegar can replace many of those jars under your kitchen sink. Click here to see how.
If making and using your own cleaners requires too much elbow grease, consider Clorox's new range Green Works Cleaners. Unveiled last month, endorsed by the Sierra Club, Clorox lists the ingredients on their bottles, something not done for their other cleaners. They claim that each one of the 5 products in the range contains 99% natural ingredients.
There remain issues re rainforest habitat destruction and the use of corn-based ethanol in obtaining the natural ingredients, but, it does mean Clorox has embraced the green marketplace and realized that people care what's in their cleaners.
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Read Treehugger's article |
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Member News
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Congratulations Randy Greenberg (Class 17) on her appointment as Chair of Marin County Planning Commission for 2008. Photo on the right.
Jordan Harris (Class 31), a founder of OZO Car (OZOcar.com), has just launched OZOlife, a great new guide to the best of green living. This is a terrific resource for environmental news, views, and healthy lifestyle information.
Nancy Sangster (Class 32) is still involved with the Commission on Aging as well as issues and problems of older adults.
Finally, words from Phyllis Faber (founding member of EFM): quoted in the article by Jordan Rosenfeld in the Feb 7 "Going Green" edition of the Pacific Sun.
When asked if she was optimistic about the future, her answer was:
"I have to tell you I'm not really optimistic.... I think people have to realize there are serious challenges and they need to seriously consider them and seriously respond."
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