Archive for March, 2011
Early Results of Berkeley’s Split-Cart Recycling Show Big Gains
Last October, after a decade of research and planning, the Ecology Center introduced a split cart program, replacing our old blue recycling bins with 64-gallon rolling carts. So far, the program has been solidly successful in propelling us toward our goals. The reasons for transitioning to split carts were manifold: the carts would encourage more [...]
URGENT: Support Ecology Center Recycling at City Council Meeting, 3/29 at 5:30pm
Thanks to your recent efforts, it is clear that the Ecology Center has broad and passionate community support. We are making progress in our negotiations, but the future of the Ecology Center’s Recycling Program remains uncertain. Please come to the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at 5:30 and let the City Council know [...]
Farm Fresh Choice participates in Just Food workshops
Since January, Farm Fresh Choice, the Ecology Center’s food justice program, has been attending Youth Venture’s Just Food workshops, where they have been crafting their own proposals to implement food justice ventures in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through these workshops, the youth have formulated their own action plans, each with an exciting and unique mission [...]
Update on the Ecology Center Recycling Program
Many of our members and supporters have been following the situation that unfolded two weeks ago, when a consultant hired by the City of Berkeley recommended that the City terminate the Ecology Center’s recycling contract. At the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 8th, we were able to make a strong case for the continuation [...]
Unsilent Spring: Poetry for the Earth, the Seasons, & Justice
Join us on Sunday, March 27 for a series of poetry readings by Sharon Doubiago, Drew Dellinger, Rafael Jesús González, Lucille Lang Day, and Kirk Lumpkin. Sharon Doubiago is the author of two dozen books of poetry and prose. Drew Dellinger is an award winning poet, teacher, writer and speaker. Rafael Jesús González is a [...]
Natural Building Lectures from Merritt at the Ecology Center
Join us on Tuesday, March 22 to Tuesday, May 24 for a series of lectures from Merritt College’s Natural Building class. Sign up for the class, or just sit in on the talks! Lectures cover historical and current applications of natural building materials, design techniques for energy-efficient living, and ecological solutions for the built environment with [...]
EPA Announces New Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of mercury and air toxics standards for power plants that burn coal and oil. It is anticipated that as power plants abide by these proposed standards, as many as 17,000 American lives can be saved every year by 2015, mercury emissions would be reduced by 91%, direct [...]
Willow Rosenthal of City Slicker Farms interviewed by Berkeleyside
Berkeley-based blog Berkeleyside interviewed City Slicker Farms founder Willow Rosenthal around the work she’s done in West Oakland and Berkeley propagating the idea of fresh, affordable food that can be grown locally. (In the last issue of Terrain Magazine, we featured an article mentioning Rosenthal’s work in transforming the backyard of Berkeley resident Sophie Hahn [...]
It’s not just Alfalfa: threat of GM Sugar Beets and Fish
The debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is no longer just over alfalfa; the Center for Food Safety reports that GM fish and GM sugar beets are now being considered for the market. A bipartisan effort to ban the sale of these new genetically engineered products, or to require mandatory labeling if the items get approved [...]
Update from Berkeley City Council Meeting
Dear Ecology Center Supporters, Thank you so much for your engagement. Last night, the City Council Chambers were filled to capacity with Ecology Center supporters. Over 60 people had to wait in the hall because the seats in the Chamber were filled. We are enormously grateful that you took time out from your busy lives [...]
Berkeley Solid Waste Consultant Slams Sloan Report
As you might have heard, the City is considering terminating the Ecology Center’s Recycling Program. The recommendation is coming from a report by Sloan Vazquez, LLC, an Irvine-based solid waste consulting firm. The Ecology Center maintains that the report is inaccurate and incomplete, with enormous omissions and faulty conclusions for how the City can close [...]
Berkeley’s Transition Town
In February of this year, the Ecology Center hosted a Transition Town meeting with about 100 community members and representatives from the City of Berkeley’s Office of Energy and Sustainable Development, “as part of an international movement aimed at promoting community-based sustainability, specifically in regard to energy consumption, oil reliance and food production.” “Each Transition [...]
URGENT: Ecology Center Recycling Program in Danger
Dear Berkeley Residents and Ecology Center Supporters, The City of Berkeley is considering terminating our curbside recycling program based on an incomplete and inaccurate consultant report. We urgently need your help to save this community-based program. Please attend the Berkeley City Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 8th to voice your support for the Ecology Center. [...]
Book review: The Resilient Gardener
In The Resilient Gardener, Carol Deppe combines findings from resilience science, climatology, climate change, ecology, anthropology, paleontology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, health, and medicine to develop a gardening practice that will teach readers to garden in an era of unpredictable weather and climate change; grow, store, and use more of their own staple crops; garden efficiently [...]
