ChickenWrestler's Page

Arizona Finds Footing in Sustainability

Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability and Morrison Institute have described "sustainability as a defining issue and organizing principle for the 21st century" while working towards a deeper understanding of the concept generally, and how it fits into the context of Arizona as a state in their joint report Sustainability for Arizona: The Issue of Our Age.

Permaculturing My Mother In Law

Well Michelle and I have been busy like Canadian Beavers and have already started on three permaculture designs up here! In addition we are holding our own permaculture convergence in Olds Alberta! We have found 5 permaculturists in the province and we are going to meet up and get to know each other. I have decided that the problem is the solution when it comes to this province, instead of it being a province full of backward thinking red necks, we have concluded that we have a clean slate to work on and that gives us a lot of opportunity!

Bamboo socks

Bamboo is incredible stuff - fast growing and can be used for a stack of applications - but I never thought of clothing. BooSox are socks made from, well, bamboo.

Return of the Senses

A friend recently brought up in conversation the fact that he is finding himself moving into a state of no longer being able to see separation between energy, or spirit, and matter. This resonated a lot with me, having been pondering a similar feeling of late. In the current dualistic paradigm people who know how to connect with energies spoken of as "beyond" the human physical form are seen as "gifted" or as complete freaks of nature. An interesting shift comes when we begin to perceive that in fact anyone can have access to this way of interacting with the world. It is a way where the perceived divisions between humanity and nature dissolve; where subtle energies are not seen so much as "supernatural", but as part of the many faceted realities that make up the world as we are coming to know it. This whole issue is really quite beautifully addressed in the book "The Spell of the Sensuous" by David Abram.

Council of All Beings

The Council of All Beings is an exercise/ritual created by Johanna Macy to allow people to experience the world from the perspectives of its many other inhabitants- from plants, to animals, to elements. I recently had the opportunity to take part in an All Beings Council as part of the Ecovillage Design Education Training of Trainers (ede tot) course at Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland, which I've been participating in over the past month.

New Ground Covered In Solar Tech

Up in the Puget Sound they really know renewable. Or at least they're doing a lot to learn more about it. This month the largest solar facility in the northwest came online, producing 450 kW, enough for 55 homes. While such an event is in itself laudable and very good news, there is more to this story.

Demeter's Wheats

Sharon Rempel is an environmental activist and organic agronomist in the heritage seed community of Canada and works to reintroduce heritage varieties of 'landrace' wheat onto farms. Old varieties grow well without high inputs. Sharon's community development work and writings deal with developing a more 'feminine' paradigm for agriculture and bringing back 'seed wisdom' as was taught in the old Mystery School of Demeter. Sharon's the godmother of the 'Red Fife' heritage wheat movement that is bringing 'variety' and 'farmer' identification back to commoditized 'wheat' in Canada, Sharon states that 'the hand that holds the seed controls the food supply. May the seed always be in the hands of gardeners and farmers who will save and share this wealth'.

new take on the bail-out

The latest news is that the execs of the banks that got bailed out have earmarked a large amount of the bailout money to pay themselves end of year bonuses. Now we're going to bail out GM too, again by forking over millions to the very execs whose miserably bad decisions got GM into this mess in the first place. What if we REALLY invested in the economic infrastructure, by giving the money to the GM workers, instead of the managers?

women's liberation

I spent last week fretting about the global financial meltdown, and what it really means. I kept thinking about Zimbabwe, and what it must be like to be living there, where the system really has melted down, and people haven't got any food. For some reason, everywhere I went, I fell into conversations with older people with circles under their eyes, whose retirement funds had just evaporated. At some point I sat down and calculated my savings.

Kyoto II- Last Chance?

Scientists have shown that in order to keep global warming and climate change from reaching truly devastating levels every country needs to lower its carbon output by 27% each year. That means starting now. Kyoto II, a plan to be decided on at meetings in Copenhagen next autumn, has the potential to completely change the current apocalyptic trajectory of our fossil fuel consuming society. Understanding it's principles and letting our governments know that we support the transition to green technology is one of the most important things we can do for the next year of our lives.With the recent election of Barack Obama it seems there may be extra potential for change the worlds most consumer-based culture.