Transitioning from quantity to quality

If a culture is to hope for longevity, then the relationships within it must, in recognition of their interdependence, be predominately cooperative rather than competitive.

[growlocalliving]

We woke up early on Saturday to listen to Sam Rasoul member of Virginia House of Delegates at Rio Grande in Independence, #Virginia. He's a millennial Muslim and a great critical thinker. #huevosrancherosporfavor #anarabwalksintoamexicanrestaurant

[growlocalliving]

The global warming talk at the courthouse in Independence, Virginia was informative and well attended! I met my grandma's neighbor who lives on Big Read Island Creek and we're carpooling to a women's action meeting Friday! Then I went to the Peace Pentagon; an intentional community of sustainability and global peace. This is a picture of the New River. Despite its name, the New River is considered by some geologists to be one of the oldest rivers I the world. The New River basin also has seven endemic species of fish! #newriver #swva #virginia #theleftistheright #therightistheleft #blessed #biologicalcorridors

[growlocalliving]

This is what democracy looks like! Hillsville, Virginia is for lovers. We marched from the courthouse to the VFW. #love #democracy #bethechange #nowalls #blacklivesmatter #redcountyprotest #sunday 💚💟 thanks for the invite @godsownpants (at Hillsville, VA)

[thegreenurbanist]

#DivestDAPL

We already know the answers to these questions when it comes to the 37 major banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. We know these banks would rather drain Indigenous communities than support them. We know these banks perpetuate oppression. We know these banks profit off of destruction.

And we know that we cannot continue to invest our money in institutions that perpetuate oppression and destruction of Indigenous people, First Nations, and the environment. Today, the Women’s March launches a 17-day environmental justice campaign to divest from the 37 major banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

According to DefundDAPL.org, over $66 million dollars have been divested from DAPL - and counting. The Women’s March is inspired by the incredible Water Protectors at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s Sacred Stone Camp, and the powerful divestment movement supporting their work. We are committed to the rights, liberation, and sovereignty of Indigenous people and First Nations, as well as the cause of environmental justice. We call on our supporters to join us as we participate in the movement to #DefundDAPL.  

Resistance requires sacrifice. We are asking more of you this time, because you have demonstrated our collective power, because you have pledged your commitment to this movement. We believe that we can do this together.

We must put our money where our mouths are. 

We marched. 

Now we divest.

#DivestDAPL

[growlocalliving]

These #Guapanol #seeds can take two years to sprout! This morning in the nursery I checked and weeded the unsprouted bags to make sure each had a seed that's shiny and full of potential! Like this one! If it was dead (moldy, eaten or missing) it left the "Marriott." We organized and watered before we sprayed everyone with molasses! Molasses has tons on calcium, iron and potassium. It gives the baby biodiverse trees energy and encourages the growth of microorganisms! #wegrowendangeredspecies #alsothreatedspecies #plantyourcarbonfootprint #seeds #soil #thesecretisinthesoil #iloveoxygen #cleanwater #freshair #breathe #gratitude #puravida #costarica🇨🇷 (at Platanillo De Perez Zeledon)

[growlocalliving]

Spent the afternoon in the tree nursery transplanting baby trees that needed help! Long sleeves and pants are necessary. #CaterpillarsAreSerious #soil #photosynthesis #cantstopwontstop #welovetrees Because @treejenny had a car accident... we've been hitchhiking! Caught eight different rides In the last three days! We decide where we are going... and then we get there! Thus, our transportation carbon footprint is too insignificant to calculate. #plantyourcarbonfootprint

[growlocalliving]

Crossing Lake Atitlan; the deepest lake in Centeral America which filled an enormous caldera after an eruption 84,000 years ago. Three volcanoes surround the lake today. Pictured behind us is Volcan San Pedro. Lake Atitlan is an Endorheic lake, which means, it feeds two rivers rather than the ocean. The short time @sunnydayfai and I spent in Guatemala was incredible. The culture, towns and villages are influenced by Myan culture. Today Faith goes back home to Colorado. I miss her! Three trees will be planted to offset travel Carbon Dioxide emissions. #plantatree #plantyourcarbonfootprint #geology #science #travel #communitycarbontrees

[growlocalliving]

We spent the morning memorizing and practicing our rainforest tree climate change leadership workshop! Thankful for the BEST workshop partner @sunnydayfai! Her poster paintings are OUT OF THIS WORLD! We are READY to travel across the lake for @cosmicconvergence tomorrow!! #adventure #workforfuturegenerations #businesstrip #musicfeatival #trees Shout out to the hundreds of #women carrying things on their heads! With two flights from Denver & Washington DC and a shuttle bus from Guatamala city to Panajachel our collective carbon footprint is 1.97 tons. As always, these emissions will be offset by planting biodiverse Rainforest trees in Costa Rica. (at Panajachel, Atitlan)

[growlocalliving]

Fall weather is warm Sip tuesday wine outside #virginia

[currentsinbiology]

Hundreds of Tufted Puffin Deaths Suggest Dangers of Warming Seas

In October, the first Tufted Puffin carcasses washed up on a chilly beach on St. Paul Island, a lonely Bering Sea outpost between Russia and Alaska. At first, local residents didn’t think much of the dead birds; they were used to finding seabirds battered by violent weather near the island. But as the days passed, puffins continued to arrive. Within weeks, hundreds more had drifted onto the island’s beaches, apparently dead from starvation.

The dead Tufted Puffins add another mass mortality event to a string of recent seabird die-offs along the Pacific coast. Last year, around 8,000 Common Murres washed up in one of the largest die-offs in Alaskan history. A year before that, thousands of Cassin’s Auklets were found dead on beaches from California to British Columbia.

 Nearly 300 Tufted Puffin carcasses have washed up on Alaska’s beaches since October. Photo: Timothy Rucci/Audubon Photography Awards

[growlocalliving]

DAY 16: Airbnb Solar Harvest home is the last stop on our Tree Tour! Providing 130% of the home's energy needs, the system feeds extra energy to the grid and, once plug-in electric vehicles become available, will too power the family car!! Notice the solar thermal panels up top (for hot water! An Al Gore-approvable heating system), the photovoltaic panels (converting sunlight to electricity!), The textbook passive solar overhangs (2' for 40° N. Latitude that enables collection of winter sun and shade of hot summer sun!), Super-insulating walls windows and ceilings, a south-facing sunroom, and porous pavement! The home also uses a geothermal heat exchange to heat the home in the winter. We talked R values of the building envelope. There is an impressive ventilation system! Eric explained the all electric design allowed them to cap their natural gas line, which was of particular importance because of the environmental degradation caused locally by natural gas drilling and distribution. Carbon neutrality efforts extended from structure, to energy supply, and to finishes. We must retrofit existing buildings! This is the suburban way to an efficient consumer-producing community net-zero electric grid! (Disclaimer: Due to the variability of electricity source, home appliances and heating systems, I have not been calculating the carbon contribution of the lights, hot water or heating we use in the mornings or at night during the tree tour. We moved around too often, slept on too many couches, with too many end uses for those calculations to be feasible.) Happy our last two days of "building envelope energy" will be carbon neutral! We have burned 7 gallons of gas since arriving in the Bolder/Fort Collins area 4 days ago adding 133 pounds to my carbon footprint! My total carbon footprint is 1.356 tons! #plantyourcarbonfootprint #plantatree #solarharvest #airbnb #casestudy #cleantech #cantstopwontstop #cleanenergy #solar #renewableenergy #freefuel #getpaidtobegreen #retrofit #energyretrofit #ilovecolorado #thereisgreenchileheretoo #treetour2016 (at North Boulder, Boulder)

[growlocalliving]

This home owner and I had the same collaborative professors who wrote our textbook!!! #johnrandolph #virginiatech #greatpaperweight #communityrenewableenergysystems Staying at "Solar Harvest" a home in Bolder and net producer of solar power to the grid! 100% of the environmental impact is the materials used to build the house. More on the house and our carbon footprint soon! #treetour2016 #carbonnegative #plantatree (at North Boulder, Boulder)

[growlocalliving]

Action steps if you cannot physically be at standing rock right now. Prayers to the water protectors. Thank you @treejenny, @briannabob And @sunnydayfai for witnessing last night's soulful, uplifting, compassionate and empowering sold out @risingappalachia show! It felt OH SO GOOD to dance my butt off with beautiful women and in solidarity! #NoDapl #dance #gratitude #onelove #treetour2016 #bolder #ilovecolorado (at The Fox Theatre)

[growlocalliving]

Day 13: Industrial certified organic hemp farm! Industrial hemp is a clean, environmentally safe and carbon-negative alternative to virtually all of the nonrenewable, toxic and unsustainable resources we consume heavily today. The use of CBD oil, a non-psychoactive extract of the hemp plant, has been shown to alleviate some of mankind's most endemic and debilitating diseases. This farm has been growing CBD hemp for two years! The crop this year has been harvested and the last portion was hanging to dry. Inside the aquaponics greenhouse were incredible edible greens like kale and lettuce (that are sold to high end restaurants) among the mother hemp plants. I love sustainable industrial agriculture with no environmental externalities. My carbon footprint remains steady at 1.289 tons! #zerowastesystems #plantyourcarbonfootprint #plantatree #growmorehemp #hempandrainforesttrees #savetheplanet #colorado #sustainable #seeds #organic #cantstopwontstop #CBD #hemp

[growlocalliving]

Day 12: We drove from Santa Fe, NM to Pagosa Springs, CO after we spent the afternoon at this beautiful organic farm called Synergia Ranch. We spent the night at Taramandala; a Buddhist retreat center! The 152 miles added 85.5 lbs of carbon to our tree tour footprint! After morning meditation we started driving to Fort Collins, Colorado! We will add 190 more lbs of carbon to our footprint. My total carbon footprint is 1.289 tons. Can't wait to see this hempcrete dome! #plantyourcarbonfootprint #plantatree #communitycarbontrees #kale #somuchkale #organic

[growlocalliving]

Day 11: We drove from Taos to Santa Fe to spend the night with some tree friends and watch the new Leonardo DiCaprio film #BeforeTheFlood! This morning we drove to Santa Fe Community College to hear about their cutting edge technical programs. Zero waste systems of study include solar technology, algae, and biodigesters. The focus here is carbon neutrality! Anaerobic respiration turns me on!! We racked up 70 miles, burning 2 gallons of gas, to add 0.0195 tons of carbon dioxide to my emissions! My total carbon footprint is 1.149 tons of carbon dioxide! Off to Synergia Ranch to learn about the biosphere project!! #newmexico #cleantech #algae #innovation #plantyourcarbonfootprint #communitycarbontrees #santafe (at Santa Fe Community College (NM))

[growlocalliving]

Adventure is out there! "Let yourself go, and see how far you can rise!" #Balloonfiesta #Taos #treetour2016 #balloons (at Town of Taos)