Living Green Series
| In response to a
growing local interest in sustainable living, GRIP
launched the ‘Living Green” series in
2007. The intention of this program is to bring
to all the residents of southwestern New Mexico
opportunities for learning about how to sustainably
use the natural resources that we depend on.
Green building, alternative transportation, renewable
energy, water conservation and sustainable food
production are all viable solutions to current
global and local environmental challenges.
Last year GRIP presented forums on biodiesel
fuel, renewable wind and solar power, and how
to look at ecological building from the perspective
of locale and context. GRIP will continue to bring
the experts and experimenters to our doorstep.
Living Green looks forward to working with our
community to build a sustainable future in southwest
New Mexico. |
Upcoming Living Green Series Events:
Hybrid Houses
Top 10 Strategies for Energy-Saving Buildings
 with Catherine Wanek
author & director of Builders Without Borders
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
7:00 pm, silco theater, downtown silver city
Sponsored by:
Esperanza Hills
Gila Eco Design Center
Lizard Stone Builders
Silver City Eco Community
A visual tour of contemporary homes designed to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. Examples include an Earthship in New Mexico, an urban remodel in Takoma Park, MD, a solar-powered community in Arizona, a model for rebuilding in Louisiana, a wind and solar ranch in Kansas, a straw-bale "passive house" in the Swiss Alps, and an award-winning housing development in China. These innovative "hybrid" homes offer a vision of a sustainable future -- available today.
 Catherine Wanek is the author and photographer of the book The New Straw Bale Home and co-author of The Art of Natural Building. She has also contributed articles and photographs to Su Casa Magazine, Communities and Mother Earth News. A founding member of Builders Without Borders, Catherine has lectured internationally on the subject of straw-bale and natural building. A former editor and publisher of The Last Straw Journal, Catherine is also a filmmaker. Through her company Black Range Films, she produced the Building With Straw series of videos, A Straw Bale Workshop, A Straw Bale Home Tour, and Straw Bale Code Testing, and Urban Permaculture. Her video, The Straw Bale Solution, screened at the 1999 National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America and was honored with an award at the Earth Vision 1999 Film and Video Festival. The Straw Bale Solution shows how straw-bale building can provide comfortable, non-toxic and affordable housing, and features hands-on work with low-income families in Mexico.
Catherine (and her husband, Pete Fust) are owners of the Black Range Lodge, an historic bed and breakfast inn located in the New Mexico mountains. They are developing the Lodge as a center for ecological building and permaculture, where they host conferences and workshops, including the Natural Building Colloquium. In 1996 Catherine traveled to Istanbul to present information on straw-bale construction at the NGO Forum concurrent to the United Nations HABITAT II Conference.
Previously-held Living Green Series Events
Gila Resources Information Project Living Green Series presents
New Mexico Residential Water Issues:
How Can We Use Water Wisely in the Home?
with Cheri Vogel
Water Conservation Coordinator
New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
7:00 pm
Silco Theatre
Downtown Silver City
Ms. Vogel’s presentation will discuss the state of New Mexico's water situation, what we can do ourselves to use water wisely in our homes, and the role of the State Engineer in conserving our valuable water resources.
Ms. Vogel has been with the NM Office of the State Engineer since 2000. She provides water conservation technical and planning assistance to drinking water suppliers and develops and implements water conservation education and outreach efforts. Her previous work includes water conservation and education efforts for both a river authority and an aquifer district in Texas. She has a BS in Environmental and Natural Resources Management and a MA in Recreation/Environmental Education. For more information, contact GRIP at 538.8078.
Diana
Leafe Christian
"Ecovillages: Where They Are, What They're Doing, Why
They're Important"
Thursday, March 20, 7pm Silco Theatre, downtown Silver
City
$5-10 suggested donation
 This
1-1/2 hour presentation will cover principles, values,
characteristics, and activities of ecovillages on six
continents-and address economic as well as ecological
sustainability. With photos of nearly 30 ecovillage
projects worldwide, it includes Findhorn, Earthaven
(US), Damanhur, Kommune Niederkaufungen, Sieben Linden
& Munksoegaard (Europe); Kibbutz Lotan (Israel); Tlholego
(South Africa); IPEC (Brazil), Crystal Waters (Australia),
and Auroville (India). Discussion follows.
Diana Leafe Christian has been editor since 1993 of
Communities magazine, published by the nonprofit Fellowship
for Intentional Community (FIC) about intentional
communities in North America. Her new book, published
in June, 2007, is Finding Community: How to Join an
Ecovillage or Intentional Community. She lives in an
off-grid homestead at Earthaven Ecovillage in the Blue
Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Sponsored by Esperanza
Hills, Mimbres Hot Springs Ranch, GRIP & Silver EcoCommunity.
 GRIP
Living Green Series presents:
SEEDING SUSTAINABLE DREAMS: GRASSROOTS
GARDENING
March 15
Sorry, all classes listed below
are already filled.
REGISTRATION FORM
Spend all day outside with local
gardeners and permaculture experts in their gardens,
learning new skills or improving old ones. Registration
is necessary as most class sizes are limited to 10.
Cost: $8/per workshop, $15/2, $20/3 & $25/4 .
- Planning and Starting
a Food Garden: Feed the Soil & It Will Feed
You.
Presented by Karen Danhauer & Patty McDonnell
8:30 - 9:45 a.m., 1002 Sotol Loop, Silver City.
Come and participate in a garden just getting
started - and on a low budget! Karen Danhauer,
of Land Art Landscaping, and Patty McDonnell
will be giving this workshop focusing on seed
starting and planning. See how one gardener
is addressing some of the challenges of high
desert gardening.
We will be:
Setting up a seed-starting operation
Mixing potting soil
Planting seeds
There will be discussions and some handouts
on:
Succession planting
Companion plantings
Soil building
Maximizing use of space & water
Protection from wildlife & the elements
Sources of inexpensive & some organic seeds
- Natural Systems Landscaping
Presented by Mark Cantrell
10:00 am - 12:00 pm, Butterfly Garden, Jose
Barrios Elementary School, Little Walnut Road,
Silver City
How can we encourage ecologically sound and
resilient landscapes in our yards, parks and
other public spaces, while maintaining biodiversity
and restoring natural systems? Join Mark Cantrell,
owner of Lone Mountain Natives, for a two-hour
workshop where participants will learn a model
for urban-oriented habitat restoration. Learn
techniques for growing and identifying native
plants of our local ecosystem; where and what
types of plants one can plant within various
microclimates of a landscape; and how to maximize
the natural flow of rainwater through the land.
- Creating Soil and Composting
Presented by HiDOGs (HiDesert Organic Gardeners)
Anaia Song & Basira Nickle
10 a.m.-12:00 pm. 1919 N. Bartlett Street, Silver
City.
Want to know how to create rich and crumbly
garden soil? Are you wondering why your compost
pile isn't turning into black gold? Join Anaia
Song, co-founder of HiDOG (High Desert Organic
Gardeners) for a two-hour workshop to learn
how to create great garden soil, various ways
to compost organic waste and what nutrients
our particular type of soil needs to maximize
garden yields year after year.
- Square-Foot Gardening
Presented by Marilynn Freeman
12:30 - 2:00 p.m., 9 Wildwood Circle, Silver
City.
Class size limited to 10.
Come learn a new way to garden with 80% less
space and work. The Square-Foot gardening method
offers:
A large amount of food from a small space;
Reduced maintenance time;
The end to over-planting, thinning and wasting
seeds;
Reduced need for water
Reduced need for equipment,
Over-all efficiency in gardening
And more enjoyment from your garden!
- Container Gardening: How
to Take Advantage of Small Urban Spaces
Presented by HiDOGs Anaia Song & Basira
Nickle12:30-2:30 pm. 1919 N. Bartlett Street,
Silver City.
If you don't have space for a vegetable garden
or if your outdoor space doesn't provide the
necessary elements to produce the flower garden
you've always wanted, consider the possibility
of "container gardening." A patio,
deck, balcony, or doorstep can provide enough
space for a productive, attractive display.
Container gardening is also perfect for:
disabled persons with a need for easy accessibility
gardeners with problem soil
homeowners with little or no land
elderly with limited mobility
apartment/condominium dwellers
cooks -- gourmet and otherwise
- Year-round Backyard Gardening
in Raised Beds and Cold Frames
Presented by Dianna Wynn and Terry Timme3:00-4:30
p.m., 811 Oak St. Silver City.
Dianna and Terry, operating as Infinity Gardens,
provide produce to the Farmer's Market, the
Co-op, and Shevek & Mi. In this workshop
they will show how a typical residential backyard
can be converted into a sustainable garden that
can provide produce year round. They will start
with the soil, the most important part of any
garden. Learn to know your soil and how to amend
it for a great garden. Learn the advantages
of using raised beds for your garden and what
materials to use and what to avoid. Even in
the middle of winter you can have fresh greens
from your garden. They will discuss different
designs for cold frames, everything from quick
and easy to a more elaborate but inexpensive
on-site cold frame. Everything at Infinity Gardens
was designed to be sustainable and avoid potentially
hazardous chemicals in addition to being organic
(registration pending).
- Backyard Permaculture:
Small Scale Design, Plant Stacking & Edge
Effects, and Sheet Mulching
Presented by Hi-Desert Sustainable Living's
Patricia Pawlicki
3-4 p.m., 401 W. Gordon Street, Silver City,
Class size limited to 10.
Patricia Pawlicki has lived the sustainable
philosophy since 1973. She is certified in Permaculture
Design by the Permaculture Institute, and worked
with Scott Pittman last year. In this workshop,
she will focus on 1) small scale design for
backyards; 2) plant stacking and edge effects,
and 3) sheet mulching for a permaculture garden.
She has several other workshops planned over
the next 8 months on permaculture design.
Directions:
1. Karen Danhauer: 1002 Sotol Loop, Silver City.
From downtown, take 180 East. Right on Mountain
View Road (Comfort Inn etc). Take 2nd right,
Agave. Agave dips and curves to the right turning
into Sotol. Sotol becomes a dirt road after
crossing an arroyo. Turn into the 1st road on
the left; Karen's trailer is the 2nd one on
the left.
2. Butterfly Garden - Jose Barrios School. From
downtown, take 180 West. Turn right on Little
Walnut. Jose Barrios Elementary School is on
the left. Turn into the parking lot and the
Butterfly Garden is on the left.
3. & 5. Anaia Song for HiDOG: 1919 Bartlett,
Silver City. From downtown, take 180 West, turning
right on Alabama / Cottage Sans Road. Proceed
about 5 blocks to just past St. Mary's, turn
left on Luck Street and then a quick right a
short block later. That's Bartlett, even though
there is no street sign. The street is only
a block long. The house is on the left at the
end of the block.
4. Marilynn Freeman; 9 Wildwood Circle, Silver
City. From downtown, take 180 West. Turn right
on Oakwood Avenue (Oakwood Estates) and proceed
to Wildwood Circle which is 1st street on the
right. A cul de sac, #9 is to the right when
facing straight ahead.
6. Terry Timme & Dianna Winn; 811 Oak St.
Silver City. From Silver Heights Blvd (Hwy 180),
head north on Silver St (turn at the Exxon station).
Go through 2 stop signs. Oak St is the next
street on the right, one block before Pine St.
There are only 4 houses on Oak St. We are the
first house on the left, brick and peach colored
stucco.
7. Patricia Pawlicki: 401 W. Gordon Street,
North on 12th Street to West Street. Turn right
and go to end of block where Gordon meets West.
As you make the left onto Gordon, 401 is on
the immediate right.
|
3rd
Annual
Peak Oil & Climate Change Conference:
"Living Differently in Challenging Times"
Sponsored
by Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
9:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Silco Theatre
Silver City, NM
|
|
>
DVD presentations by leading speakers on peak oil
and voluntary simplicity
> Workshops on transportation, housing, and food
*
> Presentation by local speaker on the Antarctic
Peninsula and climate change
> Special event by local children
|
CONFERENCE
SCHEDULE
| 9:30-11:00
|
Conference
Welcome
Presentation by William Joseph
DVD Presentation by Richard Heinberg
Moderated by William
Joseph
Richard
Heinberg is a leading educator and international
speaker on peak oil. His topic, "Peak Everything"
is about the 21st century of decline and his
positive response to it.
Questions and interaction |
| 11:00-12:00 |
Special
Event by Local Schools
Moderated by Shirley
Pevarnik and William Joseph |
| 12:00-1:15 |
Lunch
on own |
| 1:30-5:00 |
WORKSHOPS
FOOD: The New Food Paradigm
Moderated by Susan
Van Auken
HOUSING: Retrofitting Your Home the Low Tech
Way
DVD Presentation by Larry Halpern
Moderated by Dana
Bunker
Larry
Halpern is "just a regular guy" who has turned
his lawn into a garden, done away with electric
appliances and insulated his house since learning
about peak oil in 2004. He has sage advice
for those wanting to do the same.
TRANSPORTATION: Breaking the Car Addiction
Moderated by William
Joseph
Four local participants will discuss with
the audience the practicality, sustainability,
economics, and joy of living beyond using
the car as a primary mode of transportation.
Questions and dialogue with everyone will
be invited. |
| 5:00-6:15 |
Dinner
and special DVD presentation
with Sharon Astyk
Enjoy
dinner and an entertaining and informative
presentation by Sharon Astyk on "Home Economics
101: What's for Dinner in Hard Times?" Sharon
Astyk is a Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) farmer, speaker and author of the forthcoming
book "Depletion and Abundance: The New Home
Front, Families and the Coming Ecological
Crises". |
| 6:30-6:45 |
Comments
by James Marshall,
Mayor of the Town of Silver City |
| 6:45-8:00 |
Antarctica
Peninsula - What Does It Tell Us?
Presentation
by Curt Smith Curt Smith
Curt
Smith, a local resident, worked for two
summers on the Antarctic as a Network Engineer.
He will discuss Antarctica, life on the
Peninsula, its ecosystem, and its glaring
effects of global warming. |
| 8:00 |
Conference
close Comments by Allyson Siwik, Executive
Director of GRIP |
|
CONTEXT
MATTERS: Integrating the Built Environment into
Natural & Human Systems
Oct. 9, 2007 |
7pm
Silco Theatre
311 N. Bullard |
|
If
you missed Joel Glanzberg's October 9 talk "Context
Matters: Integrating the Built Environment into
Natural and Human Systems" as part of GRIP's
Living Green Series, it can be viewed on the Radio
Free Silver website.
|
Joel
Glanzberg has broad experience in environmental
design and ecological restoration projects, particularly
in the arid regions of the southwestern United States
and Latin America. He has also worked extensively
in the field of regenerative agriculture, including
recent agricultural restoration projects in Maryland,
Hubbell Trading Post and at the Rodale Institute
in Pennsylvania. He has worked as a consultant to
the City of Santa Fe on watershed restoration, where
he has helped to design and implement programs for
restoration as well as public education and engagement.
|
|
Current
work includes collaboration with internationally
known environmental artists Helen and Newton Harrison
on restoring the Santa Fe River watershed and
with pueblo basket weavers on the Pojoaque River.
An
active author and educator in the fields of permaculture
and ecological restoration, Joel is skilled in cross-cultural
communication and teaching.
He
has taught throughout the U.S., and South America,
and worked with a number of Native American tribes
and communities. His research has focused on the
integration of traditional agricultural/agroforestry
techniques and species from dryland areas worldwide.
Joel
is co-founder and director of Flowering Tree Permaculture
Institute. Flowering Tree’s half-acre demonstration
site at Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, has caught
world attention for its low-cost, family-scale
permanent agricultural systems. Groups from across
the United States, Botswana, the Philippines,
Ecuador and Canada have attended classes and toured
Flowering Tree.
A
graduate of St. John’s, Joel has studied
with Bill Mollison, John Todd, Rosalind Creasy,
Gabriel Howearth and Gary Nabhan. He has taught
classes at Flowering Tree, Living Structures,
Prescott College, the University of Northern Arizona,
the University of New Mexico, the Desert Botanical
Garden, the Permaculture Institute of Peru and
Ecoversity. His early work at Santa Clara Pueblo
has been featured in Gaia’s Garden by Toby
Hemenway, Natural Home, New Garden Journal, American
Horticulturist Magazine, New Mexico Solar Energy
Association Journal, Droppings, Designer/Builder
Magazine, and The New Garden television show.
He was recently honored by the Center for Sustainable
Environments at NAU and the Museum of Northern
Arizona for his work with the traditional crops
and agriculture of the American Southwest. |
BORDERLANDS WIND & SOLAR
with Robert Foster
Saturday,
June 23rd 4-6
pm
Silco Theater
311
North Bullard St.
Silver City
 |
Robert
Foster is the International Programs Manager for
the Institute for Energy and the Environment, College
of Engineering at New Mexico State University. He
has twenty three years of experience with renewable
energy technologies and has worked since 1989 at
NMSU assisting with the implementation of hundreds
of solar and wind projects in over 30 countries
on six continents. He has assisted with renewable
energy programs for the U.S. Department of Energy,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National
Laboratories, U. S. Agency for International Development,
Winrock International, World Bank, Institute of
International Education, industry, utilities, and
foreign governments. Robert is a returned Peace
Corps Volunteer from the Dominican Republic (1985-88)
where he built community water supply projects and
installed solar electric systems.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of
the Texas Solar Energy Society and El Paso Solar
Energy Association. Robert is also a member of the
American and International Solar Energy Associations,
the American Wind Energy Association, and the Mexican
Solar Energy Association. Robert has authored over
200 conference and technical papers on renewable
energy topics and conducted over 100 solar and wind
energy training courses.
|
|
|
bIO
|
BIODIESEL
& BEYOND:
THE HOPE, THE HYPE, & THE HIP HOP
Monday,
May 21st
7:00
pm
Silco
Theater
311
North Bullard St.
Silver City |
|
with
CHARRIS FORD
Biodiesel Advocate andd Eco-rapper,
a.k.a. “the Granola Ayatollah of Canola"
|
and
MEGAN
HARTMAN
Owner of community-centered biodiesel
station,“The Station”, Oracle, AZ |
 |
 |
|
Charris
Ford is the founder of Grassolean
Solutions, the Colorado-based company responsible
for creating one of the first biodiesel production
facilities in the country and for launching the
first 100% biodiesel city bus in America.
Charris
is an international speaker and spokesperson for
renewable energy and sustainable living. In addition
to promoting biodiesel to the mainstream media,
he has brought into the biodiesel movement such
notables as actress Daryl Hannah and world-renowned
pioneer in integrative medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil.
Charris is also well known for his eco-rapping
alter ego, The Granola Ayatollah of Canola. |
Megan
Hartman
is
the founder, owner, and manager of two small communitarian
businesses co-located in Oracle, Arizona. Fourth
Dimension Fuels is a biodisel
outfit providing biodiesel information to southern
Arizona since 2003, and operating a retail biodiesel
fuel pump since 2004. The
Station is an offshoot of the fuel pump, and
combines under one roof a natural foods market,
coffee and espresso bar, and community space that
is home to the Oracle Farmers' Market, the Back
Alley Gallery, and a wide array of classes and
other community events. She has been an appointee
to the Tucson Metropolitan Energy Commission since
2004 and co-founded the Tucson Biofuels Interest
Group in 2005. One of her favorite distinctions
was being awarded Best Asker of the Question "Why"
by her fourth grade teacher.
|
plus
Screening of the short film FRENCH FRIES TO GO
Funny and inspiring film about Charris Ford’s
veggie-fuel powered rig.
Winner of the Telluride Mountain Film’s Best
Environmental Film Award
For
more information, call GRIP at 538.8078 |
NATURAL
REMODELLING FOR THE NOT-SO-GREEN HOUSE:
Bringing Your Home into Harmony with Nature
- a book signing and
lecture with author Carol Venolia
April 14th 4-6 p.m.
Silco
Theater
Downtown - Silver City
11/2
hour power point presentation followed by book
signing
Sponsored by Gila Resources Information
Project & Mark
Bighley Construction
For more info call GRIP at #538-8078 or MBC
at #534-2686
|
 
To
have a home that's more in touch with the earth,
you don't have to start from the ground up! Carol
will take you on an inspiring journey to help you
transform your current home into an eco-paradise-on
any budget. Her presentation, illustrated with beautiful
images from the
book, will introduce you to a strategy for working
with the natural elements to bring you, your home,
and the earth to greater vitality.
Carol Venolia has been an eco-architect and educator
over thirty years. Named a Green Design Trailblazer
by Natural
Home Magazine, she has designed numerous context-responsive
homes of straw, earth, and "good wood"
and consulted on schools, healing centers, and eco-villages.
She is also the author of Healing Environments:
Your Guide to Indoor Well-Being, "Design for
Life" columnist for Natural Home Magazine,
and Director of the EcoDwelling
program at New College of California. View excerpts
of Natural Remodeling here. |
2ND
ANNUAL SILVER CITY
PEAK OIL/CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
Understanding
the Present,
Planning for the Future
JANUARY 12-14,
2007
TOPICS INCLUDE:
Peak
Oil & Our Future
Climate Change
Relocalization
Energy Efficient Housing
Voluntary Simplicity
Sustainability
LOCATION:
Silco Theatre
311 N. Bullard St., Silver City
FREE ADMISSION:
JAN 12, 7-9, JAN 13, 10-4:30,
JAN 14, 1-4:30
CONFERENCE
BROCHURE
(pdf)
|
Peak
oil is the point in time when world oil production
begins to decline, forever . . . .
|
|
