Fall/Winter 2005 Newsletter
Welcome to the Fall/Winter edition of the Ecology Center E-Newsletter. This Newsletter and the Eco-Calendar are provided to the community for free, as are almost all of the information and services the Ecology Center has provided since 1969. We do rely on memberships and donations for support. If you’d like to become a member, visit our website at http://ecologycenter.org/donate/
In this issue:
- Tips for an Eco-Friendlier Holiday Season
- Checklist for Saving Energy and Money this Winter
- Look it Up in the EC’s New Online Eco-Directory
- For Holiday Gifts, Don’t go Big-Box — Go Nonprofit
- Protect the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market!
- Holiday Craft Fairs Support Ecology Center Programs
- New DVDs in the Lending Library
- Ecology Center Holiday Wish List
1. Tips for an Eco-Friendlier Holiday Season
Americans
throw away an additional 5 million tons of trash — 25% more
than usual — between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. That
extra helping of consumer goods, packaging, food waste, and Christmas
trees takes a real toll on the environment. More paper and plastic
packaging means more trees are cut down and more petroleum is
extracted; more consumer goods means more energy is used for manufacture
and for transport. But the holidays don’t have to be a time
of waste! The Ecology Center offers some practical
tips to lighten your impact this holiday season.
Eco-Friendly
Tips for the Holidays
Don’t
call me a free-range turkey! Read the Terrain article
on free-range labeling
Check out eco-labels.org
for clear and unbiased explanations of food labeling and their
certification (or lack of certification)
2. Checklist for Saving Energy and Money this Winter
The
coldest months of the year are upon us and utility rates are soaring.
PG&E’s power mix includes 21% nuclear (up from 11% in
2002), 17% large hydroelectric, 3% coal, and 48% natural gas.
The generation of electric power produces more pollution than
any other single industry in the United States. Proponents of
nuclear power are gaining steam everyday. What better time to
do an energy audit of your home and workplace?
Maybe you know that using compact fluorescents uses 65-70% less energy than incandescent bulbs but did you know that in most homes you can save about 2% of your heating bill for each degree you lower your thermostat? We bet there are items on our Home Energy Checklist for Action that can save you money and energy this winter. The checklist has easy steps you can do today, along with suggestions for longer term projects to lower your energy use, lower your energy bills, and decrease harm to the environment. To find out more about the environmental impacts of electricity production, including the emission of greenhouse gasses, visit powerscorecard.org.
Home
Energy Checklist for Action
Check into a free home energy
audit at greenneighbors.org
Check into low-income
energy assistance programs at turn.org
Help
Promote Renewable Energy and Stop the Expansion of Nuclear and
Coal
Tell
Congress not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
and natural gas drilling
3. Look it Up in the EC’s New Online Eco-Directory
Wondering where to get worms for your compost? Want to find companies that use least toxic methods for dealing with termites? Want to know where to get your soil tested? Many of you have called our information line to get answers to your environmental questions, and referrals to organizations and businesses. Now you can also get referrals online at http://ecologycenter.org/ecodirectory/. Check out our new Eco-Directory!
We’re always on the lookout for local, Bay Area storefronts that provide quality, eco-friendly products and services. If you have favorite resources that others should know about, please let us know. We’re especially interested in hearing about places to get: recycled content products, least toxic pest control services and products, sustainable and reused building materials, alternatives to plastic products, bulk goods, energy and water efficient products, and indoor air quality appliances. Email erc@ecologycenter.org with your suggestions.
4. For Holiday Gifts, Don’t go Big-Box — Go Nonprofit
The
holiday shopping season is here and now is the time to either
boycott consumerism or buy gifts at your local nonprofit, eco-friendly,
cooperative-supporting, affordable store. Perhaps you wish to
purchase gifts and want to find some that take the environment
and people into consideration. The Ecology
Center Store has what you’re looking for. Our holiday
hours are 11am to 6pm, Tuesday through Sunday.
Environmental sustainability, fair trade, economic justice, local production, affordability…. We consider all of these factors when we’re choosing products for the Ecology Center Store. We find and support small producers who are dedicated to these concepts and it’s exciting for us to be able to buy from local companies like Grateful Body, and Dis-Scent, both of whom make wonderful, natural personal care and skin care products right here in the East Bay.
Most of us are familiar with Fair Trade certified coffee, tea, and even chocolate… but how about scarves, bowls, book-ends and bags? We have them. We’re also able to support vendors from around the world that make products in small, worker owned, often women owned cooperatives, who pay a living wage to their producers but may not be able to afford Fair Trade certification. One of our most fun finds is a set of wooden blocks for children that is made of wood harvested from defunct orchards in Eastern Europe. Our Tree-Blocks vendor buys this wood from the farmers, who are then able to buy new trees to re-start their orchard production, a process that might otherwise be financially unattainable.
Environmental and economic sustainability, supporting small producers, going local and going global… we consider all of these factors when we’re choosing products for the Store. Come in and ask about the stories behind our products. (We didn’t have room to tell them all: candles made by beekeepers, salves made in rural Washington State with wild crafted and organic ingredients, hand-made recycled paper journals… the list goes on!) Come in and see our selection of sustainable gifts, books, and home and garden products! Members always receive 10% off; come enjoy your benefit!
5. Protect the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market!
The
Ecology Center has operated the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’
Market on Derby Street for nearly twenty years, providing access
to fresh, healthy, locally grown seasonal foods for the south
Berkeley community while supporting small farmers and local businesses.
Its future is now uncertain.
In September 2005, after almost ten years of debate, the Berkeley Unified School District voted to close the block of Derby Street on which the Farmers’ Market is sited in order to put in a regulation size baseball field for use by BUSD players. The issue will now go to the Berkeley City Council, who will decide before April 2006 on whether to take the next steps to close Derby Street. If Derby Street does close — which could disrupt the Market — we must ensure that the BUSD and the City of Berkeley adequately provide for the continuation of a thriving market at this location.
As a cornerstone of the East Bay alternative food system, the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market is an important part of a web of organizations that ensure regular access to fresh, healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods. These programs include Farm Fresh Choice, Spiral Garden, People’s Grocery, and Food Not Bombs. Farmers’ Market staff teach nutrition and agriculture classes in Berkeley elementary schools and lead field trips to the Market. The Market also provides the Berkeley schools’ Salad Bar Program with administrative support as well as direct access to produce from local farms. Chefs from all over the Bay Area, including Chez Panisse and Oliveto, shop at the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market every week.
What you can do to ensure the Market’s future
6. Holiday Craft Fairs Support Ecology Center Programs
The Berkeley Farmers’ Market Craft Fairs are happening on Saturday December 3rd, 10th, and 17th. Local craftspeople will sell a variety of beautiful handcrafted gifts (jewelry, fabric arts, leather, ceramics, hats, dolls, fine art, photos, soaps and herbal potions, and other surprises). There will be live music, hot apple cider, and of course, the farmers' market will have lots of organic vegetables & fruit. The event benefits the Ecology Center. Visit the Eco-Calendar for times and locations.
Also, on Sunday, December 11th, come to the GAIA Holiday Recycled Craft Sale, which benefits GAIA, a project of the Ecology Center. The sale will feature handicrafts from reused and recycled materials, perfect for holiday gift giving. On hand will be bags, peace banners, toys, jewelry, blank books, bowls, and more at affordable prices, along with eco-friendly products from the Ecology Center Store. Ecology Center members will receive a 20% discount on all purchases. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) works to stop waste, stop waste incineration, and to create a toxic-free future. The craft fair is on Sunday, 12/11, 11am - 4pm, Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way, Berkeley. Info: 510-548-3402.
7. New DVDs in the Lending Library
We’ve
recently expanded our DVD collection in our Environmental Resource
Center library thanks to generous donations and some new aquisitions.
(If you have environmental DVDs or videos you are no longer using
please donate them to us.)
Ecology Center members can check out two at a time. Come enjoy your benefit! You can search our entire library catalog online. Here are a few of our new titles:
- MicroCosmos
- Monumental - David Brower's Fight for Wild America
- Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage
- Life + Debt
- The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
- Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
- Super Size Me
- The Future of Food
- Rivers and Tides
- Sidewalk Story — 30 Years of Curbside Recycling
- The Yes Men
- Global Warming: the Jury is In
- The Corporation
- Up Close & Toxic
8. Ecology Center Holiday Wish List
We’re marching into 2006 with ambitious plans for all our programs. We strive to make the most of our resources and continually expand our services while hewing close to our budget. The following list contains items that would make a big, positive impact on our day-to-day operations. If fortune has smiled on you this year, please gift us with any of the following items (new or lightly used). You will make this non-profit giddy with gratitude, and you’ll get a tax deduction, too. To find out how to donate an item from our wish list, contact Amy Kiser at 548-2220 x222 or amy@ecologycenter.org.
- Mini-fridge for staff kitchen that fits a space 34 inches tall, 20 wide, and 26 deep
- Donated advertising space in a magazine, newspaper, or website for the Ecology Center or any of its programs
- Gift certificate for services from Sign*a*rama for signage
- Lightweight, folding, all-weather chairs and tables for the Farmers’ Market café seating
- Caravan brand 10’ x 10’ shelter tent with the most durable cover
- Magazine rack for Farmers’ Market info booth
- Rechargeable lanterns for Farm Fresh Choice
- In-kind graphic design services, or volunteer with expertise, for improvements to our Environmental Resource Center displays and documents and ad design for the Farmers’ Markets
- Donations of quality DVDs with environmental or social justice topics for our lending library
Software:
- Adobe InDesign Software for Macs
- Photoshop for Mac OS X
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Quark for Mac OS X
Computer Hardware:
- G5 Mac for Terrain magazine, (G4 Mac OK)
- G5 Mac for Terrain for Schools, (G4 Mac OK)
- G3 or newer Mac for database server
- USB external CD burner
- USB external hard drives
- USB "jump" or “flash” drives, (preferably Mac and PC compatible)
- USB Mac keyboard and/or mouse
- USB FireWire
- Mac iBook or Powerbook with FireWire for use with digital projector
Electronics:
- Small, basic, digital recording device for Terrain interviews
- Digital camera with 3+ megapixels for Farmers’ Market
- DVD player
- Digital projector
We hope you find this information useful. This newsletter can also be found online at http://ecologycenter.org/newsletter/20051202.html. Email newsletter@ecologycenter.org or give us a call at 510-548-2220 x233 with your comments. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a note to newsletter@ecologycenter.org
The Ecology Center is a membership organization providing environmental information and direct services to promote sustainable living and a healthy, socially just world. Please support this community resource for the environment by becoming a member or making a donation. Support our work on-line at http://www.ecologycenter.org/donate/