Based on an article from the Blog of the Park Slope Food Coop’s Environmental Committee.

The village of Wildpoldsried, in Germany, produces 321% more energy than they need to cover the villages’ needs. Because of their investment in eco-friendly technology, such as wind turbines and solar panels, the village is now able to make money by selling energy back into the grid. At their current rate of energy production the local population, of 2,600, is making about $ 5,7 million in revenue per year. Not bad.

Wildpoldsried (source Wikipedia)

The village mayor visits and advices other communities about how they too can make the energy shift, and the village council offers tours to people who want to learn about energy efficiency.

Wildpoldsried offers inspiration to us all. It is possible to be energy self-sufficient!

For more information, visit Coop’s Committee Blog, or read this more extensive article.

For more info visit: http://gmofilm.com/

Last week Dreamriver Press supported Ecovillage Movement NYC‘s screening of “A New We.” About 100 people showed up for the screening, demonstrating the strong interest in new sustainable models of living. The event was hosted by the Brecht Forum in NYC.

In “A New We” Austrian filmmaker Stefan Wolf traveled through Europe to explore 10 well established eco-communities. As stated on the film’s website, www.newwe.info, the lives shown in the documentary are more motivated by imagination, vision, respect and cooperation than by economic forces and social expectations. In the 10 communities the creative solutions to many social, environmental and economic challenges exemplify the nearly infinite capacity of humans for self-development through living in community.


Before the film, a short introductory presentation was be made by Jonah ‘Cecil’ Scheib, who is a founder of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, has lived in 5 different intentional communities and is the current Director of Energy and Sustainability at New York University. Cecil stayed on after the screening and answered many questions from the audience.
 
One of the sponsors of the evening was the Fellowship for Intentional Community, which also distributes a fascinating documentary on intentional communities in the United States. The film is called “Visions of Utopia.” For more info visit www.ic.org
 

The following passage if from Meagan O’Nan‘s blog entry 10/12/2011:

“Imagine having a conversation with someone whom you don’t know or someone whom you think you know…what would you ask them? Perhaps, you would ask them what they do for a living, if they are married or have kids, where they are from, their favorite things, etc.

BUT, what IF all conversations started with questions like, what do you want to be remembered for? Or, at the end of your life what will you look back on and value the most? Yes, I know, these are the questions I have asked in my survey. I feel as though if we were to ask each other these questions then we have a wonderful opportunity to really get to know someone.

Why don’t we get to know someone with questions like these initially? My thoughts are that we don’t want to expose ourselves in fear that we might be rejected by the other person. Just a hunch, and perhaps a bit deep, but a good guess nonetheless. We don’t ask the questions because we don’t want someone to ask us the same questions…not because we don’t love to answer questions like those, but because we want to be heard and we are not sure if that person is really going to hear us AND accept us.

Maybe from now on, I will ask these questions to everyone who crosses my path. Afterall, I want to be remembered for loving others. I believe that loving others is truly taking the chance to hear them and love them for who they are. And if I want to be remembered for loving others then I must be willing to expose myself as well – to be ready to answer the same questions that I ask.”

On October 1st a diverse coalition of organizations, businesses and individuals will begin to march from the Historic Flatbush Food Co-op in Brooklyn, NY to the gates of the White House to ask the Obama Administration to support labeling of genetically engineered foods, also termed “Genetically Modified Organisms” or “GMOs”. The GMO Right2Know March will feature daily events between New York and Washington, DC October 1-16 as hundreds of marchers are expected to walk part or all of the 313 miles to the White House. The route and details on daily events can be viewed at Right2KnowMarch.org.

“Pesticide companies develop Genetically Engineered food crops by combining DNA from plants, animals, bacteria and viruses, to contain or resist pesticide, which results in more pesticides sold and sprayed,” says Michael Hansen, Chief Scientist of Consumers Union. “Genetically engineered foods contain untested novel foreign compounds that can be detrimental to our health, just as they are to the environment and farmers’ livelihoods. American consumers deserve the choice whether they want to eat GMOs, just like their counterparts in Europe and Japan,” says Hansen who will join the Oct 1 NYC Right2Know March kick-off rally at Prospect Park at 11am to 1pm followed by marchers walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to the United Nations.

Dreamriver Press author, Eric Herm, will be one of the keynote speakers when the march ends up in Washington DC on October 15-16.

See the complete press release for the march, or visit Right2KnowMarch.org for more details.

Olivier Clerc, author of Invaluable Lessons from a Frog and The Gift of Forgiveness, will be doing a workshop-ritual at the Coyote Institute, next weekend (September 9-11), in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Based on his latest book, The Gift of Forgiveness, the workshop will focus on teaching a powerful ritual that don Miguel Ruiz bestowed on Olivier Clerc in Mexico, back in 1999. To find out more please visit www.coyoteinstitute.us/forgiveness.html

This is an excerpt from an article by Derek Singleton. Follow the link below to read the complete article.

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Most of us would eat better if we could afford to. I know I would. Even though I’m a proponent of organic farms, grocers and food, I tend to lose my organic appetite when I see the hefty price tag that comes along with it. It may just be a few cents here or there, but multiplied over an entire bill – and then multiplied over weeks and months – the difference adds up.

So what makes organic food more expensive? A major factor is scale. Because most organic farms don’t operate at economies of scale, the amount of man hours required for harvesting and post-harvesting activities is much greater than conventional methods. For the same reason, the cost of marketing and distributing organic food is higher as well.

“The national options really boil down to two distributors: Tree of Life and United Natural Foods. With them being the only major distributors, products often get discontinued and then we have difficulty stocking the item.” – Dan Gilotte, Wheatsville Co-op

In addition to scale, organic food also suffers from an inefficient distribution network that’s still largely based on word-of-mouth business. To manage the organic distribution network, distributors will need to adopt technology that automatically informs grocers of available inventory and pricing. At the same time, grocers will need to invest in technology that allows them to find the right organic distributor at the best price.

Further pushing the price up is the fact that the demand for organic food far outweighs the available supply. All things combined – scale, distribution, supply, and cost – the consequences are creating unequal access to quality food for many Americans.

Read more: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/distribution/organic-food-distribution-network-108161/

Living Your Perfect Life Now.
A Discussion with Richard A. Singer

When: Saturday July 23, 12:00-2:00pm
Where: The Association for Research and Development of New York
241 West 30th Street, 2nd Floor, Buzz in #102, Manhattan, NY

Cost: ARE Members $20, Non-Members $25
For reservations and further information call the ARE Center, tel.212-691-7690

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head and laugh at the sky.
-  Buddha

Do you desire a perfect life? You may not realize it but to obtain this life is quite simple. Based on my study of spiritual figures and philosophies, I truly believe that it comes down to two simple practices:

• Live Now! Live completely in the miraculous energy of the present.

• Help another member of your human family. To help humanity is to truly live.

Join us to explore ideas on how to perfect our lives, as found in my latest book, Now: Embracing the Present Moment, as well as in Eastern Wisdom for Your Soul.

Richard Singer is an award winning author, trained psychotherapist, Asst. Professor of Human and Social Services, and most importantly a seeker of truth. He continuously searches for wisdom to use in his life, as well as helping other human beings in their precious journey. He seeks to impart this knowledge to the world through his writing. Richard states that “My books are not only for reading, they are meant to be lived.”

Richard has been featured in many magazines, on various radio and television shows including BBC News in London. His books have been reviewed by, amongst others, Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, and Martha Stewart’s Body and Soul.

For more information you can visit Richard’s website at www.EmbracingthePresent.com.

After visiting Word Up, the new Pop-up bookstore in upper Manhattan. I wondered how hard it would be for more such stores to make their appearance throughout New York City or even other cities. Commenting on my thoughts, a friend of mine said: “It is not hard at all. All you need is to partner with a real-estate company with store front property they are trying to rent or sell.”

Apparently, real-estate companies would prefer to have a furnished & functioning store to show perspective clients, rather than an empty space. So, it could turn out to be a win-win situation: you could create pop up store, with no rent fees (!) for a limited amount of time, and the real-estate agency would have a nice store to show clients.

I’m sure pop-up stores could sell various items. But, more bookstores would be great!

Find out more about “Word Up” by visiting: http://wordupbooks.wordpress.com/