tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10969797538813372792024-02-18T21:15:51.932-08:00The Harvest C0llectiveThe Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-33752391534452467052013-04-12T10:38:00.002-07:002013-04-12T12:12:29.087-07:00Using Our Voices: We will not be Silent on Tar Sands Expansion<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Last Tuesday I attended a talk at the Brookings Institute - a DC based non-profit think tank - titled<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">US
Alberta Energy Relations: A Conversation with Allison Redford</b></i>. I
attended with the full intention of having a conversation about Tar Sands
extraction and the climate consequences with Premier Allison Redford - the lead
government official from Alberta, Canada. When I arrived I quickly realized that I was
not going to be having a conversation with anyone. In this form of "conversation"
the Brookings Institute asks audience participants to write down their
questions on a card that get passed up, then a woman chooses which questions
get asked and the Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Association, Daniel Yergin get's to talk to Premier Redford about the question. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9hDvq_naN56vRGLJyj_TO3X3hFJHWXG_hyA18gk3sAD0OW0GFRLaxwTeah3zr1H1gNHaggPclfrzPxDoc2wUjMxZVM_M17uaKlKNCSkwww1o9QC9A7zktHfAEs3kGgPkauakMRL5co/s1600/picoyredford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9hDvq_naN56vRGLJyj_TO3X3hFJHWXG_hyA18gk3sAD0OW0GFRLaxwTeah3zr1H1gNHaggPclfrzPxDoc2wUjMxZVM_M17uaKlKNCSkwww1o9QC9A7zktHfAEs3kGgPkauakMRL5co/s400/picoyredford.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My viewpoint looking at Premier Redford and Alex Yergin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>According
to the dictionary the definition of conversation is "The informal exchange
of ideas by spoken words." Instead of having a conversation -which by
everyone's connotation implies an exchange of ideas with voices - the Brooking
Institute chose to assault and kick-out anyone who sought to use their voices to have a real
conversation with Premier Allison Redford. By the end of my time at the hearing, I would be assaulted by security guards and removed from the room for attempting a conversation about the climate impacts of tar sands extraction and proliferation. <a href="http://globalnews.ca/video/467663/on-scene-protester-tackled-during-redford-forum/">Here's the video</a> and below is my story. Here's a link to a <a href="http://globalnews.ca/video/467669/keystone-protesters-interrupt-redford-forum">major news outlet</a> that covered "the interruption." Here's a link to the entire <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/events/2013/04/09-alberta-energy-redford">conversation via webcast </a>made available by the Brookings Institute. </div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At the
beginning of the event there were about eight climate activists in the room. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these activists held up #noKXL signs every
time they heard what sounded like a lie coming from Premier Redford in her
opening statements. They were issued one warning and when they held up the signs
again, they were grabbed by security guards and forcibly removed from the room within
ten minutes into the talk.<br />
</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Meanwhile,
Premiere Redford was smiling and saying that she was excited to have a
conversation with us. That she would like to know our thoughts about Keystone
XL, so that she could share the truth about the pipeline because "the
dialogue that is going on right now about [the keystone xl pipeline] suffers
some serious, glaring deficiencies."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
sat there listening to all that was being said about Alberta's hugely
profitable energy supply and learning that if Keystone was built it could expand profits by 6 billion
dollars for Alberta, CA. I watched as these oil profiteers made casual the idea of extracting and exporting Tar Sands via pipeline or
rail to foreign ports over American soil. I watched as pipeline and rail car
spills were dismissed as unfortunate consequences and necessary side effects to oil proliferation. I
watched as the cimate consequences of tar sands extraction were being
completely ignored. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="spotlight" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/67972_564350163596001_638497916_n.jpg" style="height: 393px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 590px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pic of the spill from the Mayflower Pipeline in Arkansas last week.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I
watched, my passion for preserving nature and restoring humanity's rightful
place on planet earth began to overtake my attachment to the process of
conversation the Brookings Institute had provided to us. I asked a worker at
the Brookings Institute if I could use my voice as I felt that speaking is an
essential part of a conversation. I was quickly told no and to write down my
question. Then two security guards stood closer to me to remind me that I was
not allowed to use my voice.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, I
wrote down my question: "It has been noted that extracting all of the oil
from the tar sands would bring our climate to over 500 ppm Co2 concentration.
NASA's top climate scientist James Hansen has noted that 350 ppm is the healthy
level for life on planet earth. How do you believe we can sustain life on
planet earth with a 500 ppm concentration of CO2? Will your profits be there to
help rebuild my community after extreme weather events leave our infrastructure
compromised?" I wrote another comment below "If we were wise of climate
concerns and human rights, we would encourage localized permaculture (permanent
agriculture) sharing systems, energy efficiency, and small scale energy
production that is owned and produced within our communities." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then a
friend stood up and spoke. She said "This is a sham. We ought to
be more creative. Create Green Jobs. All we need is a little subsidies."
She showed courage and I was proud of her. She was escorted out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
watched as Premier Redford and Daniel Yergin said that building the keystone
pipeline was okay because it would only account for less than 1% of the
pipelines already existing in the United States. My passion for a healthy connection
with nature overtook me and without premeditating a statement I stood up and
spoke. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said "Let's get something
straight. You are responsible for these pipelines in the United States. You are responsible for oil
proliferation on our continent." And then I got tackled. If I had been
given three more seconds, I probably would've said "you are responsible
for permanently cooking our planet." In the video, you can see me dash towards the front of the room, simply because I was being chased from the back.You can also hear - as my Mom pointed out - me giggle as I am being tackled. I am always laughing and giggling, it is the only way to stay happy in such situations. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, I
am not usually a combative person, but I seemed to be so because I was under threat already
from security guard. I also felt despair as I live that "with eyes wide open to the issue" and
felt the obsession with profits and preserving the oil drenched status quo were
an attack on my potential to have a healthy family in the future. So, I stood up
and took a combative tone. If I had been given a chance to speak my mind
clearly without despair or threat, I probably would not have been so "you"
oriented in my tone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I
was being carried out of the room I said a couple things that probably saved me
from more persecution. I said "I am not hurting anybody. I am not hurting
anybody." As I was being carried by five security guards. I said "I
have legs and I know how to use them to walk myself to the door." Then a
security guard said to me "I am a real man and I will break your
neck." In an instant without hesitation, I responded "real men don't
break necks." Outside of the building I let all employees of the Brookings Institute know that they are complicit in cooking our planet and impeding human rights by providing a forum that wasn't a real conversation, but rather a platform to espouse mistruths about oil sands expansion. I also let the security guard know that he should seek anger management counseling and that "real men take compassionate stances for the world." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While I
was being carried off, it gave some friends who were still in the room a chance
to speak. One stood up and said "Climate Change means mass casualty famines,
mass casualty droughts." Another followed with "Can you tell us about
these facts about climate change outside of the area of Alberta?" Thus an
important point was made directly to one of the people who holds the most power
to avert climate disaster on the North American continent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Momentarily, a real conversation happened. And momentarily the truth about climate change
entered the room, but that truth was escorted out of the room just as soon as it had entered. They can hire security guards and advertisements, but no matter how much money the have, they can never buy the truth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If I
were to give advice about the courage it took to speak it's really quite
simple. If you live with compassion in your heart for all of living things -
people, plants, animals, fungus, and even soil microbes - you are embodying the
immune response for Gaia and humanity to climate change. If you hold compassion
instead of fear in your heart, you become a powerful and righteous voice on the
planet and your very being becomes grounded in the ethics that will restore
humanity's right relationship with mother earth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Regardless
of the present status quo or climate change, this right relationship is inevitable
because having a healthy, direct relationship with nature is one of the
fundamental aspects of being a human being on planet earth. I believe that the
vast majority of problems in America - from systemic economic oppression to
obesity - stem from our culture understating the importance of a personal
relationship with nature and substituting that relationship with fossil fuels. Speaking truth to this relationship is grounded in
the very physics, spirituality, and essential to living on this planet peacefully. Because this relationship is inherent within us all, it holds more
precedence when heard by an open minded person than any idea grounded in
momentary profits or egoist motives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To learn to live without fear is to learn how really
live for the first time.</div>
The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-34818605226242757972013-04-01T11:06:00.000-07:002013-04-02T07:15:53.406-07:00Label GMO's! Stone Soup Rally, part of my story, and a recording of the song "Adam Smith"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As many of
you know, I just completed a three year walk across America picking up trash
the entire way called </span><a href="http://www.pickupamerica.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pick Up America</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.
I am writing this to tell one of many stories about our country that I was able
to witness firsthand.I am also writing this to build momentum for the Stone Soup Rally happening next Monday at the FDA in College Park. (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/120662614779931/?ref=ts&fref=ts">RSVP here</a>). Here's the flyer for the rally. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpLwmjDZmxB1fkmUhejBL7ZoaGepWtWgGRTKhhX9MrUtYV9GhhrFbAsVdx6FDtz1E3G5JfT_X6QPFOLueZTzmTNMiS7Etm-4Ptv6v5zGiKPR-6kxQsx7STVPkcwOXU16As2msEYIN4Fs/s1600/labelgmos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpLwmjDZmxB1fkmUhejBL7ZoaGepWtWgGRTKhhX9MrUtYV9GhhrFbAsVdx6FDtz1E3G5JfT_X6QPFOLueZTzmTNMiS7Etm-4Ptv6v5zGiKPR-6kxQsx7STVPkcwOXU16As2msEYIN4Fs/s400/labelgmos.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For about
1,400 miles of the American heartland I saw the same thing. Everyday, I'd gaze
into what seemed to be an endless field of corn or soybean. I'd see rivers
choked with sediment and on particularly humid days I could even smell the
pesticides hanging in the air. It was a far cry from the "down on the farm"
vision I had always had for the Midwest. Aside from the small towns, the
midwest seemed to be one giant corn and soybean field spanning to the north,
east, south and west for more than 10 states.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Growing
just one or two heavily subsidized crops throughout our hearltand is an
environmental travesty in itself. It causes rapid degradation of two of life's
most precious resources - our soil and our flowing water. It requires huge
amounts of climate altering, fossil fuel fertilizers to produce our food. It
pours herbicides and pesticides all over our countryside killing bees and the
diversity of bugs that can provide resilience to evolving pathogens. It keeps
diversity of life, the staple of planetary evolution, at an abysmal low. And it
is only this way only because large agriculture industries seek to control our
entire seed bank and food chain to maximize profits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After these
GMO corn and soybeans are processed they are mostly transferred to CAFO's
-Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations - to make the meat most American's
believe to be the staple of a "real meal." The other corn and
soybeans are made into intensely processed foods that come into our lives as
fast food, TV dinners, and high fructose corn syrup. While this may seem to be
an overstatement to some, with all I've seen and heard I stand by this honestly
- The primary reason for disease and illness in America is this process of
producing our food. And it's all done this way because there are a vast
majority of people who don't know any better and with their ignorance are supporting
a fossil fuel drenched status quo that is on track to destroying a livable
planet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Along the
way I met a lot of farmers. There were plenty of honest farmer's doing it the
"old-fashioned" way. But they were barely making ends meet and often
times felt pressured into having to plant GMO's by federal subsidies and the
bullying done by Monsanto lawyers. In some cases farmers were being sued by
Monsanto for "Intellectual Property Infringement" because their
non-GMO cross pollinated with a GMO plant. Right now, we live in a country
where huge corporations are kicked down subsidies from the federal government
(our tax payer dollars) to outcompete the small farm. As a result of the </span><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/lobbying-and-advertising.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">38 million dollars</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Monsanto paid congress over the past 5 years, they have
essentially bought off the subsidies that come from our taxes in the farm bill.
They have also sought to curb any regulations seeking to address the health
effects of Genetically Modified plants/foods. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nbLXIHpgA6tJh4UzKhuBl6qKbP1LsUwyywXvYd2b3TEo2NsqJhEI7BRxaOO1MPQ9o_F2XwA0ai4C08MH2XJPBo7jiI8PqkGs20n8OP8s6pKusm1GQ5lku20O8JuAPV3pGhelzwKQ3DY/s1600/gmolabel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6nbLXIHpgA6tJh4UzKhuBl6qKbP1LsUwyywXvYd2b3TEo2NsqJhEI7BRxaOO1MPQ9o_F2XwA0ai4C08MH2XJPBo7jiI8PqkGs20n8OP8s6pKusm1GQ5lku20O8JuAPV3pGhelzwKQ3DY/s320/gmolabel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just a week
ago, congress and President Obama approved provisions in the budget
appropriations bill that grant <a href="http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/16633-senate-passes-monsanto-protection-act">Monsanto immunity</a> from any lawsuits that come as
a direct result of Genetically Engineered corn making people sick. What's up
with that federal government these days anyway?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
this doesn't even begin to address the environmental oppression of the
pesticide and herbicide factories that are the bottom line of the big
agribusinesses revenue stream. I have never seen a more blatant racist act
than Monsanto's pesticide factory in East St. Louis. In a town with
skyrocketing poverty, drug abuse, municipal neglect, and violent crime sits
Monsanto's primary chemical production facility. When I walked by the factory I
felt nocuous and light headed. When I asked people in the town about the
factory they would all tell stories about an uncle who died from a chemical
spill, a sister who was paid $800 to never sue Monsanto, and the class action
suit of the citizens of East St. Louis against Monsanto for the ill health
their facility has caused. The people of East St. Louis are oppressed and were
never given a real chance in the world because they grew up breathing air laced
with neurotoxins. It's all profits over people. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8ueGNO1v5RRTz-YKJDlu99jFuOz7hWiDA6KJnQL9vF5LCmTvYmJglqk99zxNvDnsvywx9AgW4klHI8sWdowxbLdywEEfCVvJS7dMYPmBO1jN9Dc-OdeFDidz_lpjUECFABKkz9zTvDU/s1600/esl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8ueGNO1v5RRTz-YKJDlu99jFuOz7hWiDA6KJnQL9vF5LCmTvYmJglqk99zxNvDnsvywx9AgW4klHI8sWdowxbLdywEEfCVvJS7dMYPmBO1jN9Dc-OdeFDidz_lpjUECFABKkz9zTvDU/s320/esl.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A photo from PUA's Clean-Up in East St. Louis in July 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
the white man came to America there were more than 50 million Native Americans
living in the United States. Our fallen native brothers and sisters didn't
require pesticides to sustain. They didn't require fossil fuels to make food or
maintain clean water. They didn't even need a job - a term only applied after
the industrial revolution - to provide for their family. White people have
savagely sought to settle North America for the past 500 years. We have ignored
the signs from nature and from indigenous peoples that the all of the pollution
in the world comes from the profit motive whose short sightedness spreads like
a cancer to the mind, spirit, body, and earth. While the motive has brought
incredible technological gains I ask "What have we lost by intellectually
justifying profits and ignoring the compassion that exists in our hearts?"
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
only way to save yourself and your family from the impending climate disaster
and increasing privatization of essential goods and services by corporations is
to awaken and enliven your compassion for the world and each and every one of
it's inhabitants - people, animals, plants, and fungus. Our path out of Babylon
begins with a revolution in your heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must embody compassion in our every motive. We must share with our
neighbors. We must seek real, healthy relationships with our families, our
communities, our food, our democracy, and our perception of the divine in self. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UlNaXkc_ZCdmZFyA4FRU6caqFCwwj7T9OB813cx4swFRG-GOidKSWBR1FYjNIEmnZUUGFc25ZXbjce38D0XtjZP2a4jZEFe8c4mokWcYGC1Q5aLBpgWHd-pa4pY3jYGtDq8wta6U0TI/s1600/loveimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UlNaXkc_ZCdmZFyA4FRU6caqFCwwj7T9OB813cx4swFRG-GOidKSWBR1FYjNIEmnZUUGFc25ZXbjce38D0XtjZP2a4jZEFe8c4mokWcYGC1Q5aLBpgWHd-pa4pY3jYGtDq8wta6U0TI/s400/loveimage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please
say this aloud. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I do not exist to make money, I exist to be healthy
and happy. I exist to bring health to my friends, family, and nature."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
is no better time to awaken your inner voice for compassion than now. Without a serious change in our behavior, we have very little time before the floods and droughts of climate change
seriously begin to disupt our resource consumption and unravel the ego of who you think you are within this morally
ignorant industrial society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
Monday April 8th, we will assemble at the Food and Drug Administration's
building in my hometown of College Park, MD to demand that our federal
government side with the health of the American people and not the profits of
big agribusiness giants like Monsanto, Bayer, Dupont, and Dow Chemical. We will
be making a Stone Soup on site to signify the lack of healthy food access in
our country. We will be asking folks like you to provide testimonies and will record an submit them to the FDA. Thanks to <a href="http://www.occupy-monsanto.com/">Occupy Monsanto</a> for putting the call out for the rally. Although, it
may seem so, we are not protesting anything. We are simply building momentum
for a truly sustainable food system that works for people and not profit. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Grow
a garden and bring abundance into your relationships. If you've made it this far in the blog, a pleasent surprise is this recording of my song called "Adam Smith (This Man, This Land)" And my EP - The Escape The Flames EP can be downloaded <a href="http://www.escapetheflames.bandcamp.com/">here for free.</a></span></div>
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The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-29038880728653652022013-03-09T21:30:00.000-08:002013-03-09T22:03:49.841-08:00The Foreword for the Dream City Community Plan<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This business,
community, and general plan to heal the track of human interaction with self,
community, and nature comes from the sons and daughters who grew up dumbfounded
and helpless to the confusing reality of a world not grounded in gratitude,
humility, and courage for a peaceful way. We went to your schools. We did our best
to follow your rules. But even our pure, honest light was oppressed in a
society based on conspicuous consumption, intimidation, and fear. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we grew
older, we further realized the degradation of morality within industrial
civilization. We'd see and feel pain for how our ancestors had disavowed the
sanctity of life, for the pursuit of greed, profit, and exploitation. We'd ask ourselves
"Could it have always been this way?" And in many cases we'd escape through
mindless self indulgence. But at end the end of the day our pain still remained.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then some of
us were inspired. We started taking steps to learn another path. But in doing
so, we felt isolated in our purge of consumer civilization. We'd wonder "Could
there really be others out there like us? Everything I see on the TV tells me
that this deep inclination for truth and respect is one I must keep in secret.
One that if I speak too candidly about I will be laughed at and degraded." </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you can
take anything from this life, know that <b>YOU ARE NOT ALONE</b> in this inclination. Deep
down we all seek healing and inner peace. Right now, it is obvious to say that
some of us fight harder to achieve it, but no matter what it is an achievable
goal for any who choose the path. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Within your
being, you hold the seed for the great social rebirth that will be 21st century
living. You possess a personal power to engender an abundant relationship with
nature. You are the only one who can transform your spirit to pursue compassion
in all interactions. No one else besides you is going to save you. No
politician. No sweeping technological fix. No environmentalist. No friend or lover.
And you are equally not doomed by any enemy or unforeseen force to a painful
uncertainty. You are your only hope at a better world. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once you
believe more in the healing potential of the human spirit than the greed and
convenient consumption of a debt based monetary system you will find true freedom. </span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This plan
represents a collective choice made by a group of individuals to better the
human condition. We've come together as a living testament that <b>WE ARE NOT ALONE</b> in our pursuit of a sustainable society and that we are not afraid to
bury the consumer identities we once believed in. We will freely share our
talents and energy to align more with their path to inner peace. As we recognize and usher more to the path, we sow a meaningful unfolding in our relationship with self, community, and nature. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Dream City is not only a physical place we seek to live at in
the very near future. It is also a state of mind capable of changing our belief
in the very way we think things are possible. It is our emotional, spiritual,
and physical exodus from a fossil fuel and debt based society many only align
with because they are too afraid to pursue the unknown.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The very concept of Dream City is synonymous with innovation.
We seek a relationship with anyone and everyone who has an idea to make a more
compassionate, expressive, and naturally abundant world. Even if you don't have
it fully figured out, there are plenty of projects to
volunteer for or to financially support. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In return, everything at Dream City will be free. We do not seek profit
in our pursuits. We seek only humble support to actualize these ideas in our
physical reality. We seek fulfilling symbiotic relationships with other people,
plants, animals, appropriate technology, and fungus. We will document and
freely share our successful projects and programs. We will freely share our
essential resources - food, shelter, clean water, and meaningful community- to
anyone who also works for higher self and abundance in nature. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We are all medicine people. Although we may appear different
to the physical eye, we recognize our common humanity and that we are all one. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We are here to cultivate harmony with our fellow people and
nature. We patiently encourage all towards a path of inner peace and emotional healing. We recognize the
pain we will all go through as we tread from decades of relentless oppression
of meaningful self expression. It will not be easy, but<b> WE DO HAVE THE COURAGE</b> to
do so; because we are not alone and because the compassionate human spirit can
erode even the most entrenched of realities. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We are farmers, artists, engineers, and carpenters. We are Christians,
Buddhists, Muslim, Hindi, Agnostics, and all borne from a Great Spirit. We are
black, white, yellow, red, brown, and all cut from the same cloth of LIFE. We are male,
female, straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bi. And we are here to build
allegiance with the oneness of our conscious existence. </span></div>
The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-22517571388068304922013-02-23T10:58:00.003-08:002013-02-23T11:02:15.088-08:00Plans for The Harvest Collective in 2013<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">If we choose to embody <i>COMPASSIONATE EARTH WORK,</i> we are the consciousness that will solve our society's present economic, social, and environmental crisis. We must choose to cultivate life - people, communities, social movements, animals, plants, fungus - in their most abundant and healthy form of self expression, rather than give our entire being to a modern civilization that is causing irreparable</span><span style="font-size: large;"> damage to our biosphere and the consciousness of humanity. </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLC0JOY9t02hx6ZyCt5MGq4A8XPiE5AiavfTY1Or3DmmVvvhRcD33Ks9n5FI_fuZrtW-m9KKefL6__ANJNFec7A7mV7lSDfJO3_8RHlDmniFGHcLHTsFBv4DUdXhawIZlxUKVrIyh11K0/s1600/rallyphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLC0JOY9t02hx6ZyCt5MGq4A8XPiE5AiavfTY1Or3DmmVvvhRcD33Ks9n5FI_fuZrtW-m9KKefL6__ANJNFec7A7mV7lSDfJO3_8RHlDmniFGHcLHTsFBv4DUdXhawIZlxUKVrIyh11K0/s320/rallyphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Davey Speaking at PUA's Stepping Forward Day - 11/11/2012</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: arial;">The mission of The Harvest Collective is to create a network<span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"> for individuals, communities, and businesses to actively share resources to provide families with cost savings, healthy local food, and community supported spaces for art and healing.</span> <b>We are now looking for volunteers, donors, and input on our vision to help us build our programs, website, and network. Below is a list of our most immediate initiatives. </b>Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work to empower our mission by donating through the <a href="http://www.pickupamerica.org/">Pick Up America</a> website. If interested in any of these ideas, please get in touch with me as soon as possible - davidrogner@gmail.com. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Upcoming Projects and Initiatives</i></span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br />
<ul style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<li><b>Visioning </b><b>Dream City Sanctuary - </b>We have assembled and are presently recruiting people to serve on our Vision and Wisdom Council for the creation of The Dream City Sanctuary. DCS will be an alternative agricultural and community development project just outside of Damascus, MD in western Montgomery County. In essence, we would like to create a artist farm and regional resource for permaculture, the healing arts, and sustainability education for the greater DC/MD area.<b> </b>We are presently drafting our business plan and the major activities occurring at Dream City Sanctuary will be organic farming, a major compost facility, a trading post of sustainable goods, the building of small scale sustainable housing, a small festival grounds, permaculture research, and most notably a healing arts education center where we can host yoga/meditation retreats and help people connect to their higher purpose. This effort is the long time dream of many of our visionaries and if you too share in the dream of living in a wholly self-sustaining community that is making a big impact on our world, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. The primary intention is to nurture co-collaboration and incorporate anyone who shares a passion for sustainability and wellness.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<li><b><b>Capitol Heights, MD Peace on Earthbench - </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">We have plans to build the Mid-Atlantic's first <a href="http://earthbench.org/" target="_blank">bottle brick bench</a> this spring in Capitol Heights, MD. The project is a collaborative effort between The Harvest Collective, Clean Water Action, The Alice Ferguson Foundation, the City of Capitol Heights, and The Peace on Earthbench Movement (POEM) to transform littered waste into a meaningful community</span></b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> space. We will be building the bench throughout April and May with the help of students from area schools and dedicating the space as a permanent reflection for peace in the Prince George's Community. We will be collecting bottle bricks, teaching cob construction, building a roof structure, and painting tiles that represent peace and/or sustainability. In a county that has seen the thoughtless murder of 6 teen students in the last 6 months, we must bring a strong calling for peace. </span></b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<li><b><b>Join Compassionate Earth Walk</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - </span><a href="http://www.compassionateearthwalk.org/" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">Visit the website.</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I recently learned about a pilgrimage occurring this summer to bring blessings to the earth, to raise consciousness for <i>Compassionate Earth Work, </i>and to exhibit a way of living beyond pipelines, hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, and mountain top removal. As one who has just finished an epic journey to rekindle a healthy relationship with nature, I can attest that a pilgrimage is one of the most spiritually transformative actions one can take in their lifetime. We will be walking along roads closest to the Keystone XL pipeline's northern route from Hardisky, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska from June - September 2013. We plan to do service projects along the way and build a platform of support for the consciousness of compassionate earth work. The walk is being organized by Shodo Spring, a practicing buddhist monk, and here is a short description of the walk in her words </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri-Bold;">“The ancient practice of pilgrimage responds to profound present and future environmental change. We walk to bless the earth. We walk to bless those we meet. We walk as a prayer for all earth’s children. We walk to ally ourselves with the peoples who never forgot they belong to the natural world.”</span></b></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Our Pick Up America bus and multiple pick up artists - including myself and Mark Chavez- have already committed to the walk. </span></b></li>
</ul>
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<li><b>Green Grooves After School </b><span style="font-weight: bold;">P</span><b>rogram - </b>We plan to start in April at the White Oak Recreation Center in Silver Spring, MD. Green Grooves program will work with disadvantaged teens to teach a mutual appreciation for creative expression through drumming and direct, meaningful contact with nature.<b> </b>We will be cultivating peace and stewardship in the younger generation by teaching students how to listen to each other while drumming and how to listen to nature while performing community stewardship projects. I am looking for an experienced drummer to work with to help me teach students different hand drumming techniques. We are also seeking donations of drums and other musical equipment to the program. </li>
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<li><b>Join or Start a "SnowFlake" within The Harvest Collective - </b>Do you have a sustainability initiative you hope to empower? We are open to ideas and programs and projects to add within The Harvest Collective. We are offering the resource of helping you to organize your own community initiative and will serve as a fiscal sponsor for some of your local food or art projects in the Maryland region.<b> </b></li>
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<li><b>Host Davey Rogner as Speaker for rekindling a meaningful connection with nature </b>- I have a lot of passion, knowledge, and many inspiring stories to share about how and why to rekindle an active and healthy relationship with nature. I appreciate being paid to be a speaker, but am willing to offer my time if I feel the cause is worth my effort. </li>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Initiatives <span style="font-size: medium;">W</span>e <span style="font-size: medium;">A</span>re Supporting</b></span></i><br />
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<li><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Trash Free Maryland - </b></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">There are two bills in the Maryland General Assembly that if passed would drastically reduce litter in our water conscious state. The Community Clean-Up and Greening Act (HB1086, SB576) would put a 5 cent fee on plastic bags in grocery stores throughout the state creating a consumer incentive to reuse their own bags and save businesses money by not having to buy bags in the first place. The statewide Container Recycling Incentive Program (HB1085, SB641) would create a 5 cent deposit fee on all beverage containers to drastically increase recycling rates, reduce litter, and grow our state's recycling industry. You can use this </span><a href="http://marylandconservation.e-actionmax.com/takeaction.asp?aaid=6879" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">automated action alert</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> to contact your legislators about the "Bag Bill" and please give them a call about the bills if you feel passionate about reducing litter in Maryland. </span></b></li>
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<li><b><b>Attend Mountain Justice Spring Break or Summer Camp</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - The ruthless activities of corporations that perform Mountain Top Removal and the expansion of Hydro Fracking remain as the biggest environmental justice issue in the Eastern United States. </span><b>There is no better time to learn more about and physically join the burgeoning movement than now!</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Mountain Justice will be hosting two camps this season to empower citizens to take direct action against these ruthless corporations. Learn more at </span><a href="http://mountainjustice.org/" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">the Mountain Justice Website.</a></b></li>
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<li><b>"NO TO KEYSTONE XL" </b> The pipeline will be used to ship <a href="http://ran.org/node/10042" target="_blank">Tar Sands Crude Oil</a> - a form of oil that yields nearly one unit of energy output per input - to the gulf coast to be shipped to domestic and foreign markets. It will incentivize the premanent destruction of an area of forest nearly the size of Florida in Alberta Candaa. Our nation's top climate scientist, James Hansen, has called building the Keystone XL Pipeline to expedite tar sands extraction to be <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddroitsch/nasas_james_hansen_says_tar_sa.html" target="_blank">"game over for our climate"</a>. Overwhelming science agrees climate change is happening faster than we anticipated, is being amplified by burning fossil fuels, and poses the most potent threat to our communities in the 21st century. It will be a lot of fun and will be something our children look at as a critical action in US history. JOIN US!</li>
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<li><b>Attend The Stone Soup Rally at the FDA in College Park, MD on </b><b>Monday April 8th</b> - <a href="http://occupy-monsanto.com/" target="_blank">More details here.</a> Amidst a dizzying array of environmental health issues, the issue of non-labeled and government promoted Genetically Modified foods poses a seriously dumbfounding threat to public health. <a href="http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/health-risks/articles-about-risks-by-jeffrey-smith/Doctors-Warn-Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Food-May-2009" target="_blank">The Institute for Responsible Technology</a> has called for an immediate moratorium on GMO's in our food supply until more long term studies are completed. Studies that have been performed on animals who have ingested GMO's have shown serious health effects including infertility, immune problems, and permanent changes to internal organs. As a result entire nation's, including France, Ireland, Japan, Peru, Kenya, and Russia, have banned genetically modified crops from being cultivated. Yet our nation's Food Safety Czar, Micheal Taylor, - an Obama Appointee - is the former chief lobbyist and defense attorney for Monsanto, the corporate profiteer of promoting genetically modified locally and domestically. If you haven't heard of the evil that is Monsanto yet, please watch the film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0" target="_blank">Food Inc.</a> <i><b>We will be gathering on April 8th from 8 am to 6 pm to have the nation's first ever "Eat-In" at Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway College Park, MD 20740. </b></i>The purpose being to encourage our government to create a safer, more transparent food chain by seriously addressing the issue of unregulated genetically modified foods.</li>
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<li><b>Middle River Preservation Project </b>- I am now interning with the Gunpowder River Conservancy to learn about rain garden and edible landscape construction, as well as installing rain barrels. We will be hosting workshops on Saturdays throughout the spring and summer in southwestern Baltimore County on how to build highly effective best management practices for homeowners to prevent harmful runoff to our streams, rivers, and ultimately the bay. Let me know if you'd like to attend a workshop. <a href="http://www.gunpowderfalls.org/" target="_blank">GVC's website.</a></li>
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The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-29012524314889874772013-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:002013-01-12T08:19:02.683-08:00Re-Entering the BlogosphereDear Friend, <br />
It's been a long time since I've blogged. It's not that I lost interest in sharing my story or that I didn't have anything to write about. I just simply needed a break from this electronic medium of communication. I needed to spend sometime living in the real world, learning from real world interactions, before I could get back onto the blogosphere to share the realizations that the real world can bring you to.<br />
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What has re-kindled my interest in blogging is knowing how unique of an individual I am. I know that that the experiences I've had for three years living on the road with <a href="http://www.pickupamerica.org/">Pick Up America</a> and the streak of activism and truth that has been my path for over 6 years make me very unique. The intense energetic interactions that bound me to understand the interconnectedness of life at a deeper level than most I've met, afford knowledge and understanding that is very unique. I am ready to blog again simply because my yearn for compassion tells me that my story as maybe it could be of some help to you. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hard at work in Cincinnati with Pick Up America - a non-profit I co-founded </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">that removed<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>more than 100 tons of litter over three years across 14 states. </span></div>
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God or the summation of all the energies in the universe that have been, presently are, and will be, (please except whichever term you are most comfortable with) have brought a game changing and ultimately fulfilling perspective into my life. My soul yearns to bring compassion and speak truth so that many of my fellow men and women might also align their mental, spiritual, and physical yearning with a path that brings them to their highest truth and allows them to tread out of consumer culture without hesitation, fear, or regret. <br />
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If you are starting on this path, it is essential to give thanks to our earth, our universe, our friends, our family, our guides, and whatever divine power you align with. We are spiritual beings and as such, the energies our soul displays are the primary reason for the emotions we feel on a daily basis. We emit feelings, (or you can even pray to feel a certain way) and those feelings attract a physical reality and social interactions that reflect our emotional stirrings. If we are thankful, God or the energies of the universe, (please except whichever term you are most comfortable with) will return our thanks with appreciation for who we are and why we have been born. This thanks will return in the form of deepened and more fulfilling relationships, a greater understanding of who you truly are, and a healthy energetic relationship with yourself, your community and nature. <br />
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By no means do I have everything figured out and in so many ways we never will. What I do know though is that true humility requires us to be honest and accept who we truly are. For a long time my struggle was knowing that I am special, but not understanding how to share my gifts without presenting myself as bossy, cocky, arrogant, or egotistical. My struggle was calmed by realizing that giving my time and energy to help other people spur a healthy connection with their higher self, their community, and their ecology, is truly a humble pursuit no matter how I am labeled.<br />
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I seek no label of fame or material wealth through these pursuits. I seek simply to be a light in the world leading people out of a culture that has brought destruction to our biosphere and intense pain into the hearts of men and women across the globe. While I do know this is a tremendous mountain to climb, I also know it will be easier if we do it together and if the knowledge on how to reach the plateau is readily shared. <br />
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I break my silence on the blogosphere because my soul must yearns with an unquenchable thirst to speak truth and radiate compassion to anyone who is ready to walk up the mountain with myself and so many others who are also on the path. As we travel together, remember to look deeper into reality to determine what steps you need to take to become fully at peace with yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for help from others on the path and remember to pray on peace and compassion to attract those interactions into your life. Once you have reconciled with yourself, you can begin to help other people get on their path.<br />
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As we reach a critical mass of enlightenment, the fundamental assumptions about what is and what should be will shift and guide us out of a reality that brings so much physical, mental, and spiritual degradation without haste. As we shift we will live with a creative fervor that brings greater peace, compassion, truth, knowledge, and humble power into our consciousness, our families, our communities, our countries, and ultimately the world as we know it. <br />
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I write for the greater internet audience again, simply because I pray for this shift everyday and that maybe this writing can help facilitate your personal shift. Whoever you may be, just know that you are loved, peace exists in human nature, and that it is our ultimate destiny to live this peace if you believe in it.<br />
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My name is David Allen Rogner. I am 27 years old. And I have arisen humbly to help facilitate our shift of consciousness.<br />
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With Peace, Love, and Positive Vibrations. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sitting atop Capitol Reef National Park realizing that life is all about perspective.</span></div>
The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com1Silver Spring, MD, USA38.990665700000008 -77.02608800000001638.891956700000009 -77.187449500000014 39.089374700000008 -76.864726500000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-27444417072644194782010-05-10T09:30:00.000-07:002010-05-10T09:31:27.007-07:00Composting Our Way to Freedom<p><i>By Davey Rogner</i></p> <p>This past Saturday I volunteered with my good friend, Christian Melendez, who is building three greenhouses to grow massive amounts of food. He and his counterpart Vinnie Bevivino have been learning and producing food in urban settings for the past three seasons. In College Park, my home, they are the face of the growing movement of individuals recognizing the need to produce our food in local, carefully managed ecosystems.</p> <div class="mceTemp mceIEcenter" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_1289" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 310px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-1289" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1289" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1289"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1289" title="Christian and Vinnie in the tunnel" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_20771.jpg?w=300" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_20771.jpg?w=300" alt="" height="225" width="300" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Christian and Vinnie in the Tunnel; Photo by Chris Mentzer</dd></dl></div> <p>They have both apprenticed with Will Allen <a href="http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4537249/" mce_href="http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4537249/">a Macarthur Fellow</a>, former NBA player and urban farmer who has designed techniques for urban farming and related educational programs with Growing Power, a non-profit based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They will be hosting Mr. Allen at the <b><a href="http://sowingseedshereandnow.com/" mce_href="http://sowingseedshereandnow.com/">Sowing Seeds Here and Now!</a> A Chesapeake Urban Farming Summit</b> on June 18th, 2010. If you are interested in a future where Urban Farming is commonplace, this conference is a must go. For more information on the summit or helping out with the garden, please check the <a href="http://sowingseedshereandnow.com/" mce_href="http://sowingseedshereandnow.com/">conference website</a>, or call Vinnie at (202-360-1805).</p> <p><img src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" class="mceWPmore mceItemNoResize" title="More..." /></p> <p>In the past they have both worked with many beautiful people at a place called the Engaged University; a former collaborative program of the University of Maryland. The program taught about bicycle maintenance and growing food, while providing workshops on art and poetry to the young people of Riverdale, MD. To many who knew of the space it represented a vision for future community engagement, sustainability and empowerment.</p> <p>At the engaged University Vinnie, Christian and others transformed an abandoned school field into the Master Peace Community Garden; a place where they grew food with preteens and sold the yield at a local farmers markets. However, last fall the University of Maryland stripped them of their jobs due to budget shortfalls. Presently, the University hopes to replace the employees with volunteers, a notion that underestimates the talent, passion and drive that the University had in the Engaged University's former employees.</p> <p>After receiving the dire news about their jobs, some of the former employees regrouped. They reorganized under a non-profit called <a href="http://www.ecoffshoots.org/" mce_href="http://www.ecoffshoots.org/">Engaged Community Offshoots</a> (ECO), to fulfill their vision of involving people of all walks of life in sustainable living activities. The farm, located on other side of the levee of the Northeast Branch of The Anacostia, in a town called Edmonston is amongst the first programs of the group. The farm will not only grow a plethora of crops, but it will also host an <a title="Wikipedia ROX!" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics" mce_href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics">aquaponics </a>system to raise tilapia in a closed system.</p> <p>A possibly even more impressive feat than the farm is that they are managing all of the nutrient inputs to the farm in a holistic manner. Instead of using fertilizers that are fossil fuel intensive and could potentially harm their neighboring stream they are composting on an industrial scale at another site and transporting the compost back to the farm. They are receiving the food waste from <a href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/" mce_href="http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/">Whole Foods</a> and providing the company with an outlet to divert what would be sent to a landfill, and subsequently rot producing the extremely potent greenhouse gas methane.</p> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_1292" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 410px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-1292" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1292" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1292"><img class="size-full wp-image-1292 " title="Wildcat Christian" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_5429.jpg" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_5429.jpg" alt="" height="300" width="400" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Composting with a Wildcat; Photo by Christian Melendez</dd></dl></div> <p>The vision provided by ECO is a realization of a community's assets and following through with the creativity to generate something that will alleviate the pangs of an under served area. In this case, the founders had the vision and worked to involve the proper stakeholders, Prince George's County Parks and Planning, Whole Foods, Kaiser Permanente, to achieve what to some would have seemed impossible. But in the end, this is only connecting the dots with those groups to do something great with underutilized land or someone's waste.</p> <p>All over the country there are ares known as <a title="define" href="http://fooddesert.net/" mce_href="http://fooddesert.net/">food deserts</a>, where a community has little or no access to healthy food found in a super market. The communities sustenance comes from McDonalds or the local "carry out." Last summer I worked in a food desert, located in the Kenilworth neighborhood of Washington DC. In a twist of inspiration, this farm is located about 4 miles from Kenilworth. If this farm is successful it will hopefully provide a model to eliminate these food deserts and get children the healthy food they need to grow and thrive.</p> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_1293" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 410px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-1293" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1293" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=1293"><img class="size-full wp-image-1293 " title="Driving Stakes" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_2075.jpg" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/img_2075.jpg" alt="" height="300" width="400" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Check those muscles! Photo Courtesy of Chris Mentzer</dd></dl></div> <p>While driving metal stakes into the ground that would soon prop up steel frames, ultimately constructing the large greenhouses I couldn't help but feel like a nineteenth century railroad builder. However, my brute force was going to be used to enhance natural resource wealth in a local community, rather than ship it somewhere else. As the stakes were connected we could see the frame of a greenhouse appear. A symbol that will become common place as people recognize and act upon the need to localize our food production.</p> <p>Diverting our food waste for composting is the initial step to generating real resource wealth within local communities. Transforming that compost into gardens will provide monetary gain, but it also provides a way of not having to buy food that has nasty preservatives, has been shipped across the globe, and produced in an industrial manner that is underming workers and the environment.</p> <p>Engaged Community Offshoots, Christian Melendez and Vinnie Bevivino inspire me. They are walking the walk in an age of talking, an age of advertising, an age of PR and marketing, an age where we get people to believe in something more than ever getting them to do it. They realize the rest will follow.</p> <p>In homage to my last post with intense number crunching, I leave you with two equations I hope to calculate many times in my life. These are inspired by Engaged Community Offshoots and a future vision for The Harvest Collective.</p> <p>(Inspiration + Navigating Red Tape + Composting + Volunteers + Sunlight + Water) * Love = Fresh Garden</p> <p>(Garden + Renewable Energy Source + Clean Water + sustainable housing) * (community *Love) = Freedom from Corporate Oppression</p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-80886246057781438312010-02-25T18:04:00.001-08:002010-02-25T21:51:00.466-08:00An Extra Serving of Bis-Phenol A at the Check Out Counter<p><i>By Davey Rogner</i></p> <p>Earlier today, the Maryland Senate <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/legislature/bal-bpa0225,0,5636332.story" mce_href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/legislature/bal-bpa0225,0,5636332.story">unanimously passed a bill </a>that would ban the chemical bisphenol A from baby bottles and sippy cups that toddlers use. Last week, the house passed a similar bill. If Governor Martin O'Malley signs on to the bill, which he is expected to do, Maryland will be the fourth state in the country to pass measures that reduce the risk of exposing our children to the dangerous effects of the plastic hardening chemical.</p> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_602" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-602" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=602" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=602"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-602 " title="BPA chemical composition" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/bpa.png?w=150" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/bpa.png?w=150" alt="" height="49" width="150" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Courtesy of Penn State University</dd></dl></div> <p>Bisphenol A -- an <a href="http://www.epa.gov/endo/pubs/edspoverview/whatare.htm" mce_href="http://www.epa.gov/endo/pubs/edspoverview/whatare.htm">endocrine disruptor</a> -- acts similarly to estrogen in the human body. The disruption means that the chemical alters how hormones are either produced and/or received by cells to signal new development stages in the human life cycle. Altering the endocrine system can affect the development of the brain and nervous system, the growth and function of the reproductive system, as well as the metabolism and blood sugar levels in the human body. In laboratory experiments, it has been found that small amounts of exposure to Bisphenol A in laboratory mice or rats can cause serious genital abnormalities, such as a 30% increase in prostate weight and permanent changes in the genital tract. The exposure levels that cause these types of changes are less than the estimated daily exposure to infants and toddlers in America. The bill was well timed and necessary.</p> <p><img src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" class="mceWPmore mceItemNoResize" title="More..." />The packaging for many consumer food products, such as canned foods, water bottles, and microwaveable dinners contain BPA in the form of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. When we consume food, soda or water from those types of packages we intake BPA leachates. One study found that 93% of Americans tested had BPA in their urine. <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/34406849.html" mce_href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/34406849.html">Additionally</a>, an overwhelming amount of studies performed have found that the chemical is linked to breast cancer, testicular cancer, diabetes, hyperactivity, obesity<b>, </b>low sperm counts, miscarriage and a host of other reproductive failures in laboratory animals. According to the Journal Sentinal, the government has a history of supporting it's determination that BPA is safe. However, those assurances are based on outdated science and chemical industry research. In 2007, the FDA said that BPA does not pose a risk to the health of Americans, because exposure to BPA from these sources is minimal.</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610124618.htm" mce_href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610124618.htm">groundbreaking study</a> published last summer states that there are multiple unknown sources of BPA intake to the human body that the FDA may not have accounted for in estimating daily intake. This particular study, exposed Resus Monkeys to 400 times the FDA's estimated amount of daily exposure for the average American, and found that even though the exposure level was astronomically greater, the monkeys still had less BPA in their urine than the average American. Just last month, the FDA decided to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504070.html" mce_href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504070.html">take a closer look at BPA</a>. Additionally, the National Institutes of Health is presently providing $30 million in stimulus funds to further the study of BPA's effect on humans.</p> <p>Between 8 and 9 billion pounds of BPA are produced every year in the United States. The general population is completely unaware of their exposure to the chemical. In 2009, <a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48084/title/Concerned_about_BPA_Check_your_receipts" mce_href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48084/title/Concerned_about_BPA_Check_your_receipts" target="_blank">Science News</a> reported that the most common form of exposure to BPA may very well be from the receipts we all receive at check-out counters. According to the <a href="http://www.warnerbabcock.com/" mce_href="http://www.warnerbabcock.com/" target="_blank">Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry</a>, the amount of exposure to BPA leached from polycarbonate bottles is merely nanograms. In contrast, John C. Warner, the co-founder of the Institute, says, “The average cash register receipt that's out there and uses the BPA technology will have 60 to 100 milligrams of free BPA.” And by free, he means loose molecules. This previously unaccounted for exposure may be one of many sources that the FDA ignored when determining that the chemical should continue to be allowed in the marketplace and in everyday commodities.</p> <div class="mceTemp mceIEcenter" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_601" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 510px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-601" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=601" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=601"><img style="width: 416px; height: 370px;" class="size-large wp-image-601" title="Common uses for BPA" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/plas_bpa_120207_big.jpg?w=500" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/plas_bpa_120207_big.jpg?w=500" alt="" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">courtesy of The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction</dd></dl></div> <p>About a month ago, I was visiting a close friend for his toddler's first birthday. Almost all of his child's toys were made from hardened plastics. And so I wonder: what kind of developmental risks is little Isiah's taking when he lives inside a plastic playground? Appropriately, I gave my friend a BPA-free sippy cup.</p> <p>I've been working at restaurants, handling gobs and gobs of printed receipts since I was 15. How much BPA exposure have I had? How has it affected me?</p> <p>Unfortunately, Warner lacks the resources to publish any reports about the prevalence of BPA in receipts. He also wonders how much of those BPA molecules can actually rub off. And if so, are they entering our bodies through the skin, or are there materials in our skin that prevent their entry?</p> <p>The overwhelming feeling I am having is that this is not a problem with one single chemical like BPA, but that our exposure is more of an issue of how our society consumes. Products are now valued more for their convenience, rather than their ability to increase our health and well being. This is why plastic packaging is so readily available and piling up in our oceans, landfills, and underutilized areas in the community. We do not need this type of consumption and the burden of dealing with the waste and the effects of exposure to harmful chemicals is beginning to outweigh the convenience at which we can consume.<br /></p> <p>If we are to improve the health of our children by reducing exposure to BPA, we must mandate by law and demand changes in the way industry package and prepare materials. I'd like to attribute this widespread use of plastics to the huge production capacity demanded by large industries who profit off the fast, large-scale manufacturing, packaging and shipping of goods.</p> <p>A common theme for the sustainable revolution is empowering local food producers and water sources to overtake the large manufacturers as the predominant supply of nourishment for our communities. While these initiatives are definitely less convenient as they require us to question how we choose to live, they do provide a healthy alternative.</p><p>Maybe this could also help with how we document our purchases. Maybe we could purchase less?? Maybe we could develop a widespread system of <a href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/raisersedge/archive/2009/01/02/a-brief-history-of-ereceipts.aspx" mce_href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/raisersedge/archive/2009/01/02/a-brief-history-of-ereceipts.aspx">e-receipts</a>. But most importantly, our choices have to give precedence to our health over convenience. The alternatives may be harder to find. The alternatives might even cost more money initially, but the alternatives <i>do not</i> externalize the value of American health. <br /></p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-12317507001381751272010-02-08T14:56:00.000-08:002010-02-08T15:09:07.312-08:00Saving the Wooded Hillock, Part I<h2 style="font-weight: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">At the end of January, the University of Maryland, College Park, released a statement <a href="http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/plant-purchase-could-save-money-time-1.1111605" mce_href="http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/plant-purchase-could-save-money-time-1.1111605" target="_blank">confirming that they will purchase</a> an abandoned Washington Post Plant just off their main campus for roughly 12 million dollars. The University plans to relocate facilities currently housed on the east part of campus to this location so that part of the campus can become an entertainment plaza and two huge graduate student housing apartments. Prior to the University’s land purchase, development plans had slated ten acres of forest on the north part of campus to be developed to relocate those same facilities.</span></h2> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_375" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://www.savethehillock.com/overview.php" mce_href="http://www.savethehillock.com/overview.php"><img class="size-medium wp-image-375" title="native_orchid_1" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/native_orchid_1.jpg?w=300" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/native_orchid_1.jpg?w=300" alt="" height="225" width="300" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Native Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid found on the Hillock. Photo by Clark DeLong. Courtesy of Save the Hillock!</dd></dl></div> <p>Why would the University suddenly change plans? How could ten acres of trees be more important than 12 million dollars? What could change the sprawl and development that has dominated the Maryland landscape for years? The answer may seem quite ridiculous to some and quite obvious to others.<img src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" class="mceWPmore mceItemNoResize" title="More..." />As simple as it sounds, the forest -- now known as <a href="http://www.savethehillock.com/" mce_href="http://www.savethehillock.com">the wooded hillock</a> -- was saved because it was the right thing to do. The University didn’t accurately consult its community before choosing the initial<span mce_="" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span>relocation site. The ethics of many students and faculty demanded development that excluded the destruction of a productive ecosystem. The hillock was saved because there were a number of people in the community whose inner values demanded something better than business as usual.</p> <p>In modern times, most would argue that 12 million dollars is worth way more than 10 acres of forest. The majority of College Park residents would have probably allowed the hillock to be paved and developed if someone had never called foul play. And many students expressed complete apathy -- the majority of which probably never gave the forest any value other than something that was written about in the newspaper.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.diamondbackonline.com/2.2795/wooded-hillock-site-to-be-bulldozed-1.276892" mce_href="http://www.diamondbackonline.com/2.2795/wooded-hillock-site-to-be-bulldozed-1.276892" target="_blank">Hillock to be Bulldozed</a><br /></h3> <p>In May 2009, The Diamondback, a student-run independent newspaper, published the views of a few students:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">"I went there for a bio class to study where the tornado went through," sophomore letters and sciences major Lauren Higgins said. "I don't think that land is helping the university, really - from a business standpoint, how much revenue will it bring in? From that standpoint, they should definitely [develop] it."</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Sophomore letters and sciences major Tod Tanis said the situation is being blown out of proportion.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">"Why is this so big?" Tanis said. "I've never had a class back there, I've never been back there, to be honest I didn't even know the woods were back there."</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">Sophomore pre-veterinary medicine major Destiny Coleman agreed.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);">"It's not like 'Oh, let me take this class so I can study something significant in the woods'," Coleman said. "It's just woods. People just smoke weed back there."</span></p> <p>To most people in my community, the forests around them have no value. Their existence is only an afterthought to economy and digital screens. To some, it's a haven of nature. A reminder of the kind of upland forests that used to dominate the Maryland landscape. The courage of a few outweighed the apathy of many to bring attention to the issue and ultimately preserve the space. Here is my story of how the hillock was saved.</p> <p><img src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" class="mceWPmore mceItemNoResize" title="More..." /></p> <p>On a chilly Sunday evening in December 2008, members of the <a title="SSC Website" href="http://www.umdstudentsustainability.com/" mce_href="http://www.umdstudentsustainability.com/">Student Sustainability Council</a> held a late-night meeting on campus. We used to discuss measures that would make our campus more “sustainable" and advocate for their implementation. Sometimes we were listened to, rarely were we allowed to have active participation. Most of the time, we'ld be told the University is working on it and/or they don’t have the economic means to change a present practice.</p> <p>That December night, we were joined by a university employee we'll c<span mce_="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">all </span><a title="BIODIVERSITY!!" href="http://www.eowilson.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=126" mce_href="http://www.eowilson.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=126"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Deep Green</span></span></a>. Deep Green disclosed the University’s present plans to raise 10 acres of trees on the north part of our campus to relocate the University’s east campus facilities -- a motor pool, a bus parking lot, the facilities management building, a mail facility and some maintenance sheds. Before this point, there were few students who knew of these plans. The University hoped to keep the relocation under wraps. Detailed plans of the relocation were omitted from the<a title="East Campus Development Project" href="http://www.eastcampus.umd.edu/" mce_href="http://www.eastcampus.umd.edu" target="_blank"> east campus website</a> until student activists notified Facility Management of the mistake. The University knew that if student environmentalists knew the plans, there would be dissent.</p> <p>At first, the six or seven of us present were obviously pissed off. I think one of the first ideas we had was to paint the administration building green for their blatant attempts at branding themselves green, meanwhile privately operating with the paradigm of limitless growth. It’s called <a title="No Such thing as Clean Coal" href="http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/coal-power-warming-world-0151.html" mce_href="http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/coal-power-warming-world-0151.html" target="_blank">greenwashing</a> -- learn to recognize it! Then we calmed ourselves and decided we had to finish the semester before we did anything that might get us kicked out of school. At that point, the forest -- soon to be immortalized as “The Wooded Hillock” -- rested in the hands of a few disheveled students dedicated enough to make it to the stamp student union on a chilly Sunday night.</p> <p>We finished the semester and dispersed for winter break. By the time we had returned for spring semester 2009,<a title="Who is Joanna?" href="http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/undergradexp/release.cfm?ArticleID=1879" mce_href="http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/undergradexp/release.cfm?ArticleID=1879" target="_blank"> Joanna Calabrese</a>, <a title="Who is Phil Hannam?" href="http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/undergradexp/release.cfm?ArticleID=1623" mce_href="http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/undergradexp/release.cfm?ArticleID=1623" target="_blank">Phil Hannam</a> and I had already met with other concerned faculty members and began to grasp the full complexities of the issue. We learned that:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">1). The decision was made without student and faculty consent.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">2). The University had to absorb its costs for the relocatio<span mce_="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">n, while...</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">3). The developers would profit off of the prime location in College Park, and the university would profit off of sales occurring on campus.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">4). <span mce_="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The University did not have enough money to build their parking garages for the motor pools and bus parking. So, instead they wanted to build on a productive ecosystem.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">5). The University declared the hillock the most environmentally sensitive choice of all the sites they considered.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;" mce_style="padding-left: 30px;">6). The developer reported that the 10 acres of forest needed for relocation were of “low quality.”</p> <p><b>At that point we weren't sure if we could or should stop the relocation.</b> Most involved generally supported the "<a href="http://www.smartgrowth.org/" mce_href="http://www.smartgrowth.org/">smart growth</a>" potential of the east campus development and didn't want to prevent it's proposed environmental benefits. Regardless, we began by identifying and contacting our potential allies and acquiring their opinion. There were a lot of professors, students and decision makers we thought would be sympathetic to our cause, so we brought the debate to a vote in the undergraduate student government.</p> <p><span mce_="" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On February 8, 2009,</span> the undergraduate student government voted unanimously to encourage the University to reconsider its decision to develop the hillock. We were inspired by the support, but unsure how to best proceed. Joanna set up a meeting to discuss the student position with Facilities Management for March 27th. We had a month to prepare.</p> <p>For a long time, I didn’t even believe that we could change the fate of the Wooded Hillock. It seemed like another case where our voices came too late in the decision making process. Students, myself included, had just seen a movement to halt the <a title="What is the ICC?" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121602757.html" mce_href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121602757.html" target="_blank">Inter County Connector</a> swiftly stamped out for the same reason. I felt disempowered; I felt that even though we were high ranking student representatives, our voices were unimportant in the grand scheme of making money.</p> <p>After much thought on what the next best move would be, Joanna and I drafted concessions for the University to follow if they were going to develop the forest. At our meeting, we presented those concessions to Frank Brewer of facilities management. He heralded us for our pragmatism and declared that we were very mature for not wanting to disturb the campus' plans for smart growth. Joanna and I were trying to play it friendly so as to not dismantle our hand before it was dealt, but the whole thing made me feel uneasy.</p> <p><b> </b></p> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_376" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 235px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-376" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/a-modern-land-ethic/hillock_map_1/" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/a-modern-land-ethic/hillock_map_1/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-376" title="hillock_map_1" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/hillock_map_1.jpg?w=225" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/hillock_map_1.jpg?w=225" alt="" height="300" width="225" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Map of UMCP. Hillock highlighted in green. Courtesy of Google Maps 2009</dd></dl></div> <p>I remember trying to justify to other student leaders on our campus why it was a good decision to develop the hillock. Joanna and I rationalized that the future of College Park needed the East Campus development to decrease the carbon entering our atmosphere by providing an entertainment center and more beds closer to campus. At that point in my environmentalism, I was still operating with the assumption that getting carbon out of the atmosphere and stopping global warming took precedence over all other endeavors.</p> <p>But then something changed in me. The only way I can clearly explain this change, is to tell you to go explore the wooded hillock in early April. If you can align yourself with the sounds, growth, and visual splendor of nature; if you could visit the hillock on a dewy morning to hear the bird songs and appreciate some of its plant life. If we could appreciate the incredible diversity of life these 30 acres have to share, no one would ever want to bulldoze such a place. (The total size of the forest is actually 30 acres. The university owns 24, ten acres were slated for development, and there are 6 acres accompanied by an abandoned privately owned house.)</p> <p>The students and faculty committed to saving the wooded hillock did so, because they understood the importance of this diverse ecosystem to the future of the campus. They also understood the rarity of such an ecosystem in the Maryland suburbs.</p> <p>I never fully understood what was at the wooded hillock until my friend and native plant expert, Clark Delong, showed me the diversity of plant life in the area. I had never seen the <a title="Pic of Flower" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pinkslipper.jpg" mce_href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pinkslipper.jpg" target="_self">pink lady slipper orchid</a> or the <a title="Native Flower" href="http://www.mdflora.org/plantinfo/plantofthemonth/pim_pinxter_flower.html" mce_href="http://www.mdflora.org/plantinfo/plantofthemonth/pim_pinxter_flower.html">native pinxter azalea</a>. My hydrology teacher, Dr. Prestegaard, told us there were gravel deposits on the hillock from the eroding piedmont plateau everywhere on the hillock. These deposits were now rare as they had been mined heavily at the turn of the century. On the west part of the hillock, a tornado blew through splintering trees and creating a disturbance that allowed an abundant understory of blueberry plants to establish.</p> <p>By far the coolest aspect of the hillock is that some kids built a three story tree house on three beech trees in the middle of the forest. The tree house even had a <a title="what?! " href="http://www.nba.com/playerfile/tom_gugliotta/index.html" mce_href="http://www.nba.com/playerfile/tom_gugliotta/index.html" target="_blank">Tom Gugliotta</a> poster on the second floor.</p> <p>It’s funny to me; everyone involved in this movement had their own reasons for wanting to save the Hillock. I can remember Joanna and I addressing students and her saying, “You gotta understand this isn’t just about trees!” and me butting in saying, “Actually, this is about trees!” People laughed, we made an argument, and then we moved on to the next person.</p> <p><b>By spring of 2009, the hillock was in full bloom and so was the student resistance to it's development.</b> There was a small contingent of students committed to preserving the hillock. We knew the only way we could affect the decision makers at the University was to get our issue into the press.</p> <p>We began by re-establishing a plan. I began drafting a proposal that outlined the student and faculty grievances with the hillock. The proposal was meant to be an ultimatum to the University so that if they ignored us, we could take bolder action. This original document still conceded that the University could develop the hillock so long as the university agreed to involve students in a greater movement to improve the health of all campus ecosystems. The demands we made were actually unreasonable, but I didn’t care; I thought the whole relocation was unreasonable. By this time, I was hoping to implement a legacy that would encourage the University to do much more for its environmental management than they already did.</p> <p>By early May, I was on fire. My entire soul was aflame with the purpose of saving the wooded hillock. I could see this same fire in Phil, Clark, Joanna, Alex, and other members of the <a title="My Favorite Students!!" href="http://www.umdstudentsustainability.com/members.html" mce_href="http://www.umdstudentsustainability.com/members.html" target="_blank">Student Sustainability Council</a>. At the last moment, I decided to drop one of my classes (I didn’t need it to graduate) and to make something positive come out of this whole hillock fiasco.</p> <p>After consulting with Phil, he advised that we not give in so easily; that we should demand the preservation before we start conceding to development. He had a good point. Joanna and I were on board. Phil took my draft, improved the writing, and created an ultimatum that we all signed and delivered to the University President Mote and Vice President of Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie.</p> <p>That’s when things really started to take off. We spread the word to as many students as possible -- emails, facebook, the whole nine yards. I emailed everyone that I thought might be interested in the cause. I knew that the only chance we had to save the hillock was to make the University look as bad as we possibly could. That meant getting as much media and spreading the word far and wide that the University touts its “green” status publicly, while deciding to cut down 10 acres of forest in privacy. While the entire SGA was partying for the end of the semester, I was in the office writing a press release.</p> <p>We began focusing our efforts on the May 8th Arboretum designation. The obvious hypocrisy of the University holding a public ceremony to tout its green efforts, while destroying this beautiful ecosystem simply enraged The Student Sustainability Council. We mobilized with signs and organized a “protestabration” during the event. Basically, we celebrated the University's designation as an arboretum, but protested the decision to develop on the wooded hillock. We planned to camp out on the hillock with friends on Friday, May 8. Clark and I organized to take anyone who was interested on a tour of the hillock on Saturday, May 9.</p> <p><b> </b></p> <div class="mceTemp" draggable=""><dl id="attachment_374" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px;"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a rel="attachment wp-att-374" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/a-modern-land-ethic/hillock-photoshoot-2/" mce_href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/a-modern-land-ethic/hillock-photoshoot-2/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-374" title="hillock.photoshoot" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/hillock-photoshoot1.jpg?w=300" mce_src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/hillock-photoshoot1.jpg?w=300" alt="" height="239" width="300" /></a><br /></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Courtesy of The Baltimore Sun</dd></dl></div> <p><a href="http://madrad2002.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/save-the-wooded-hillock/" mce_href="http://madrad2002.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/save-the-wooded-hillock/" target="_blank">The Baltimore Sun</a><b> showed up.</b> A reporter called me while I was riding my bike to school. I remember throwing my bike down on Lakeland Road and pacing for nearly an hour, spouting out as many facts as I could to the reporter. He sent a photographer out, and next thing I know, Clark and I are doing a photo shoot on the hillock with The Baltimore Sun.</p> <p>...To be continued...</p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-88796759471534771852010-01-22T10:55:00.000-08:002010-01-26T04:36:52.832-08:00My First Official Pick Up America Blog!!!!<em style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">By Davey Rogner</em><div class="snap_preview"> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">On March 20th, I am going to begin walking for a really long time. The journey will take about a year and a half of my life. I will stop to rest only for winter and to be the best man at my brother’s wedding. My friends and I will travel clear across the Unites States — visiting small towns, endless corn fields, dying estuaries, big cities, purple mountain majesties, decapitated mountain pastures, drying deserts, amber waves of grain, and smiling people — to understand the breadth of these United States. Along the way I am going to clean the litter that has become an omnipresent addition to the American landscape.</p> <div id="attachment_157" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 266px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a rel="attachment wp-att-157" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/walkin-the-walk-to-talk-the-talk/forrest-gump/"><img class="size-medium wp-image-157 " title="forrest.gump" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/forrest-gump.jpg?w=256&h=104" alt="" height="104" width="256" /></a></span><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" class="wp-caption-text">Tom Hanks' bearded face. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures</p></div> <div id="attachment_158" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 265px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a rel="attachment wp-att-158" href="http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/walkin-the-walk-to-talk-the-talk/davey-thumbsup-2/"><img class="size-full wp-image-158" title="davey.thumbsup" src="http://pickupamerica.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/davey-thumbsup1.jpg?w=255&h=106" alt="" height="106" width="255" /></a></span><p class="wp-caption-text"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">My soon-to-be bearded face. Courtesy of Colm Jenkins</span></p></div> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. The initial reaction is usually a combination of these four themes:</p> <ol style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><li> You can’t be serious.</li><li>That’s a lot of work.</li><li>How’s this really going to change anything?</li><li>…Something about Forrest Gump.</li></ol> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">So I’ll make this clear right now:</p> <ol style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><li> Yes, I am very serious.</li><li> A life worth living takes a lot of effort</li><li>We will be educating/distributing tool kits that describe how to support our efforts</li><li>…and Yes, I did cry at the end of Forrest Gump.</li></ol> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span id="more-140"></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Now that we’ve cleared things up, I’ll explain <em>Pick Up America</em> and my motives.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><em>Pick Up America</em> is a local, regional and nationwide initiative committed to reducing plastic waste in our communities and waterways. The <em>Pick Up America</em> team (also known as the <em>Pick Up Artists</em>) will coordinate community trash clean-ups while walking across the country to encourage alternatives to our nation’s throwaway mentality. We’ll document our encounters and experiences through our multimedia website and online social networks. The year-and-a-half-long trek will begin from Assateague Island, Md., on March 20, 2010, and span 13 states to the San Francisco Bay, Calif., sometime in August 2011.</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">My Motives</span></p> <ol style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><li>I walk so that I can be an ambassador of tolerance, unity and compassion. I have spent the entirety of my 24 years — with the exception of vacations — in Silver Spring or College Park, Md. The smorgasbord of culture that is Silver Spring has nurtured my unyielding tolerance and acceptance without presumptions.<br /></li><li>I walk to eliminate the concept of a waste stream. REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. Is it just a bumper sticker? A Jack Johnson song? What’s it even mean? Here’s what I mean: Buying bottled water and recycling it when you’re done drinking isn’t a real solution. Water bottles labeled with “green” or “eco” are a misnomer; it’s greeenwashing. The phrase has three parts: reduce, reuse, recycle. And we must act in that order. For example, we can eliminate bottled water (almost entirely) from the waste stream by reducing and reusing. An easy alternative to disposable water bottles is to have a reusable bottle (sans BPA) that you fill with filtered tap water. This immediately reduces the amount of plastic consumed, the amount of energy spent on recycling, and/or the amount of space it takes up in a landfill. We do not need to send so much of what we consider waste to land fills if we think about how our own actions can make a difference. As for recycling, it should be an option, but the last one. Time and time again, our economy has proven that one man’s waste is another man’s input. Our “waste” generation can be reduced through individual decisions on how we consume. <em>Pick Up America</em> will highlight alternative inputs for what some consider “waste” within industry. I walk with the belief that human economies can maximize resources by eliminating the concept of waste in the human paradigm. I walk with the belief that our economies can mimic ecology to use every organism’s output as a source of nourishment for another.</li><li>I walk because I know that the future of our country depends most on our ability to dis-entrench our belief systems and find common ground with one another. I believe the common ground that all cultures, all political parties, and all people can unite under is the banner of efficiency. That is efficiency in government, efficiency in resource use, efficiency in how we spend our time and money, efficiency in how we distribute our goods, and most importantly for this initiative, it is efficiency in how we dispose of our goods. At no other time in human history has a movement for efficient use of resources been so commonly heralded in speech, but so forgotten in action. If we were to spend less time on resource transaction/extraction and more time celebrating our resources by using them efficiently, I know the world would be much more hospitable. I walk for the belief that conserving resources will ensure a happier, more prosperous future for all people.</li><li>I walk because talk is no longer enough. I must walk the walk to talk the talk. I walk as an example of active participation in the reform of the American community and economy.</li><li>I walk because I know the heart rests easy when spent helping others. I expect nothing in return. To make our souls strong and the heart patient, we must all commit to <a href="http://hiderefer.com/?http://onemillionactsofkindness.com/" target="_blank">one million acts of kindness</a> in a lifetime. I hope that people will understand <em>Pick Up America</em>’s motives, but personally, I’m in it for soul stabilization.</li><li>I walk to see life in first-hand account. A digitized society views LCD screens as a means. I want to feel streams and rivers, not read about how they used to flow. I want to feel you smile, not see a picture of it. I want to laugh hard with you and not stop because we are with each other. I want to sleep in the forest and not dream about it.</li><li>I walk to endure some sort of physical hardship. I know privilege, but I walk in solidarity with the less fortunate. I walk to separate myself from commodities that exploit others. I can no longer participate in economic actions that harm other people as a means of their continuation. I walk with the hope that individual compassion enacted through conscientious action will alleviate others sorrow. </li></ol> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">The reason for any reform stems from a change in circumstance. Thus, we must step back from our belief systems to understand our changes in circumstance to achieve any state of reform. Our new circumstance is a dying world and <a href="http://hiderefer.com/?http://www.americandreamthemovie.com/americandream.html" target="_blank">declining human happiness</a>. What path shall we all decide to walk? I smile when I think of mine — an action that should precede all endeavors.</p> </div><style type="text/css"><!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -</style>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-52501966641789831742010-01-14T22:17:00.000-08:002010-01-20T12:53:33.272-08:00Pick Up America is Underway!!Last spring I decided that the next cycle of seasonal growth would signal my departure for the adventure of a life time. Jeff Chen and I have schemed on a way to walk across the country and pick up trash.<br /><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">We will be hosting a January 29th Community Clean Up in North College Park beginning at noon. Patrick Wojahn, the city council representative from District 1, will join us in our efforts to make Prince George's County a "Liveable Community."</p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">email me: davidrogner@gmail.com :if you are interested</p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">or check the facebook event-----> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255365292357">;)</a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">Here is an introduction to Pick Up America.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">Check the Route</p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106973869877664628943.00047d7b37db2b600c1ed&ll=37.230328,-95.976562&spn=1.906644,47.284127&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106973869877664628943.00047d7b37db2b600c1ed&ll=37.230328,-95.976562&spn=1.906644,47.284127&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Pick Up America Route!</a> in a larger map</small><br /></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><u>Executive Summary</u></p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> Pick Up America is a local, regional and nationwide initiative committed to reducing plastic waste in our communities and waterways. The Pick Up America team will coordinate community trash clean-ups while walking across the country to encourage alternatives to our nation's throwaway mentality. We'll document our encounters and experiences through our multimedia website and online social networks. The year-and-a-half-long trek will span 13 states from Assateague Island, MD, (March 20, 2010) to the San Francisco Bay, CA (August 2011).</p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> </p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> </p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><u>Mission Statement </u></p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> The mission of <i>Pick Up America</i> is to pick up trash across the country and inspire a transition to a zero-waste economy. </p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> </p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> </p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpLast"><u>Objectives</u><br /></p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpLast">The success of our mission depends on our ability to develop common objectives within the communities we visit along the route. The cross country journey is intended to inspire a prolonged effort to minimize the waste generated in The United States of America. Our main objectives are to:<br /></p><ol><li>Coordinate community and roadside trash clean-ups.<br /></li><li>Provide informational workshops to educational institutions.<br /></li><li>Provide local businesses with methods for reducing landfill-bound waste.</li><li>Empower individuals to use alternatives to non-reusable, harmful plastics.</li><li>Collaborate with regional legislators to implement laws that: <span style="font-family:Symbol;">·<span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></span></span>phase out the use of plastic bags<span style="font-family:Symbol;"> ·<span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></span></span>discourage the sale of single-serve bottled water </li><li>Pressure industry to create standards that eliminate excessive packaging.<span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></span></li></ol> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"> </p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-83071418540085195562009-12-09T16:51:00.000-08:002009-12-10T08:36:56.243-08:00White Oak Acorns for Reforestation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJewJA2_W0WJew-tjFvncr6wxU9Gq7xoh_OpdvGLz_6sa9-14lvt2sUy8F09t1dfIjL7bGGCTDv7JRCikQuPNyozatf57W-gAzOBIdhSYx8Uaosr2PMnQX4FEOf3CukIFIXnu8GmZeEkg/s1600-h/IMG_3150.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJewJA2_W0WJew-tjFvncr6wxU9Gq7xoh_OpdvGLz_6sa9-14lvt2sUy8F09t1dfIjL7bGGCTDv7JRCikQuPNyozatf57W-gAzOBIdhSYx8Uaosr2PMnQX4FEOf3CukIFIXnu8GmZeEkg/s320/IMG_3150.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413417766188688066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">The corner of the world that I have inhabited for over 21 years (my whole life with exception to the 3 and half years I spent in College Park) have been in a Silver Spring, MD enclave known as White Oak. I attended White Oak Middle School. I have bought the vast majority of my groceries at White Oak Shopping Center. I was raised on books from White Oak library. By all means I am a native White Oakian.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br /><br />Despite my upbringing and obvious connection to this mighty tree, I never understood the magnificence of this hardwood until recently. Historically, the White Oak (</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Quercus Alba</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">) has been an important source of lumber for Americans of all walks. It's acorns are an important food source for many different types of native animals. The acorns are even edible to humans if prepared properly. I have yet to eat acorn pancakes, but I know that if we plan to localize and diversify our food source in the eastern United States we must make use of all edible foods inherent in our ecosystem.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">My desire to increase the use of ecosystems as a source of local resource wealth has led me back to my metaphorical roots. Last week I was taking a walk at the confluence of the northeast branch of The Anacostia River and I noticed a germinated acorn. With further inspection I noticed that a great abundance of germinated acorns had littered the path beneath my feet. Like the radicles reaching from the acorns an idea sprung.</span> <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">What if I could transplant these germinated acorns across the watershed to increase the abundance of a tree that will provide multiple ecosystem services for future generations. In doing this I would combat climate change via reforestation, help wildlife by providing a food source, increase the abundance of an untapped local food source, get other people engaged in environmental conservation by giving them acorns to grow, and have fun!!! I grabbed as many as I could (only the acorns that were on the path) and stuffed them into my front pocket. I bought some row pots and planted them in my house for spring transplants.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br /><br />Now if the idea stopped there, it would not have come from my mind. So I went back to the confluence and gathered more acorns to give as holiday presents. Again I only took acorns that were on the path. These acorns would get eaten and/or the saplings would ultimately get trampled. I collected about 100 germinated acorns and organized them into categories for distribution to friends, families, and other environmental advocates across my watershed. If you can promise a safe to place to grow a white oak ask me for an acorn.<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />The acorns will grow long taproots very rapidly need atleast a foot of soil depth beneath them to prosper if they are grown indoors. Some can be planted outdoors now and will lay dormant over the winter before prospering in the spring. Other's can grow indoors if they have proper soil depth and be transplanted as saplings in the spring. Ultimately, all the acorns need adequate moisture and acces to nutrients so they can thrive. They are a very hardy species that have distributed across much of the Eastern United States. </span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdEyk7CEmX2LAA9mu9O3NYINKazA6jT06sescL0kFvdMKyxTYNqsusUQ7HE8D7O7KFY6p9LUG9-MZoZyQqq4ZZuadsxpxq8-w1hNEcc0GG8huqJmDz-j5yAoltc5B8zKpEjKmYp2NUH8/s1600-h/IMG_3144.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdEyk7CEmX2LAA9mu9O3NYINKazA6jT06sescL0kFvdMKyxTYNqsusUQ7HE8D7O7KFY6p9LUG9-MZoZyQqq4ZZuadsxpxq8-w1hNEcc0GG8huqJmDz-j5yAoltc5B8zKpEjKmYp2NUH8/s320/IMG_3144.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413416619361405714" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />By acting as a vector for acorn distribution The Harvest Collective will act as a catalyst for positive community growth and reforestation. I would like to replace every non-native bradford pear in the wa</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">tershed with a White Oak. (sorry for being a spicieist)</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> If you would like to be as happy as Eric J. Lewis is, send me an email to get an acorn. I can get you an acorn that is either ready for planting now, or one that could use some TLC before planting in the spring.</span>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-54544040645312650982009-11-30T04:01:00.000-08:002009-11-30T04:25:00.799-08:00THE HARVEST COLLECTIVE MISSION STATEMENT<span style="font-size:6;"><b> </b></span> <p align="left"><br /></p><p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeSTSJHmNUt0BoOzUH8rTxxDfyXV5IHf91ASCAols2ySf5uqRUc8TO-FwCfHsk4s0Hq_Cr95plyLIZNkd920mO2rmbIVD6Arws1Q9YsXfD4Vz2IHrRJyzgODYc-9pwrTTMoMeZvFJSv8/s1600/196.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeSTSJHmNUt0BoOzUH8rTxxDfyXV5IHf91ASCAols2ySf5uqRUc8TO-FwCfHsk4s0Hq_Cr95plyLIZNkd920mO2rmbIVD6Arws1Q9YsXfD4Vz2IHrRJyzgODYc-9pwrTTMoMeZvFJSv8/s320/196.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409869845535089058" border="0" /></a></p><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><b>Mission</b></u></span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> The mission of the Harvest Collective is to develop sustainable culture in communities by nurturing the abilities of individuals to proactively solve the stresses posed by climate change and overconsumption of natural resources. Through programming, artistic development, and coordinated outreach campaigns the collective will provide a voice encouraging the general American population to become stewards of their local environmental and social communities. Members of the collective will create and implement programs that build community around local environmental stewardship and creative expression<span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">. Initially, these programs will use creative expression to heal individual scars left from generations of exploitation of people and resources. Eventually, the programs will guide individuals into their local environments to maintain their communities ecosystem services. Ultimately, the collective hopes to sustain and nurture a culture capable of manifesting positive social and environmental endeavors.</span></span></p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Harvest Collective will employ numerous tactics to inspire community empowerment. <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">The first step to community empowerment is a celebration of present assets. The collective will work with the innovation of local leaders to develop the stewardship paradigm within the community. </span>The tactics used will work to implement the ideal of <i><b>community resource coordination. </b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The coordination of resources will be wholly determined by ideas generated from community members. </span></span>The collective will act as a catalyst for individuals to decide what they believe to be the most pressing issues they are facing. By creating dialog with the intent of generating sustainable culture, the collective will allow communities to sponsor their own actions to generate positive social change. Once individuals determine their priorities the collective will provide programming templates and information that can guide individuals and communities to their stated goals. If no resources regarding a communities stated goal have been generated, a local <span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">community resource coordinator</span></span> will work with individuals within the community to develop a programming template to reach the determined goals.</span></p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">The centralized control of The Harvest Collective will act to manage a comprehensive network of resources that encourage the ideals of community innovation and stewardship. The coordination of the entire Harvest Collective will work to generate programming templates for communities; maintain a database of proven programming techniques; provide monetary assistance to community resource coordinators; support artists who promote the sustainable paradigm; facilitate dialog between communities with similar aspirations; sponsor public awareness campaigns about conscientious resource consumption; and encourage all members to celebrate the splendor of creativity and the natural world.</span></p><p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JJS50cCyLJhuLfcTm__y4HXcRpC7J3p9zK0aQJqA5FGlC6dgiGLXenZ3bNdEsBfcHuZlJp-0xoKjR8Pe5afGxpIbuWExp9fC4wNwMeWyhr-Y5x7KvCH-MvH0cw-xlHoYmlVH-zBkmYs/s1600/052.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JJS50cCyLJhuLfcTm__y4HXcRpC7J3p9zK0aQJqA5FGlC6dgiGLXenZ3bNdEsBfcHuZlJp-0xoKjR8Pe5afGxpIbuWExp9fC4wNwMeWyhr-Y5x7KvCH-MvH0cw-xlHoYmlVH-zBkmYs/s320/052.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409868431033448178" border="0" /></a></p><p align="left"><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Our church can't be confined to one building.</span><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> America is already ripe with sustainable endeavors. In communities across the country momentum is mounting to recognize the collective spirit. A fusion of these effort within local, folk culture will provide a community health initiative that can ameliorate future environmental stresses. Innovation and environmental stewardship are integral to successful, thriving human civilizations. Many cultures throughout the world have lived closely and successfully with with this paradigm. Programs of the collective will fuse an appreciation for the natural with individual creative ingenuity to maximize the full potential of a community's given resources.</span></p><p align="left"><br /></p><p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9xxNUOQRMEwFy_MCnM_CvZj0gI_ZcbESZgmrSWjL2g2Bo3KHqrhuJ2Kv5oAqo0PjW7q_IZrty5tmePeoV11FosWMy4qNCV-VfGATy9M_NkWlN1xhHNaqnk-Vfr9X0i0XmGLfEMocE98/s1600/079.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 403px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9xxNUOQRMEwFy_MCnM_CvZj0gI_ZcbESZgmrSWjL2g2Bo3KHqrhuJ2Kv5oAqo0PjW7q_IZrty5tmePeoV11FosWMy4qNCV-VfGATy9M_NkWlN1xhHNaqnk-Vfr9X0i0XmGLfEMocE98/s320/079.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409869259283255314" border="0" /></a></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-83111600295695146722009-11-24T11:24:00.000-08:002009-11-24T13:38:13.865-08:00Edmonston's new Green Street!!!! and A Direct, Diplomatic Action on Mountain Top Removal!!!!!!!!!<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Just hours ago I was brushing shoulders with some of the most influential environmental decision makers in the State of Maryland. Members of UMD for Clean Energy were invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the City of Edmonston's new "green street." The groundbreaking was ushered in with keynotes from environmental leaders such as US House Representatives Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen; Maryland Department of The Environment's Deputy Secretary Bob Summers; The Executive Director of The Chesapeake Bay Trust and my former boss when I was his intern Allan Hance; and most notably the Administrator for The United States Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br /> Edmonston's new "green street" is a proactive response from the City of Edmonston to address how their local municipality will address the burgeoning issue of treatment of stormwater runoff. This project will line Edmonston's own Decatur Street with wind powered LED lighting, rain gardens catching and filtering stormwater runoff, native trees to provide shade, as well as light colored permeable pavement. The environmental benefits garnered by this type of project are noted to be the first of it's kind in the State of Maryland. With a price tag of roughly 1.3 million dollars the project will employ 50 construction workers from the town of Edmonston on a local, sustainable project. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgxYRW8o_MLfsTO2nPu8Ws0qyX1JfmLZ0VfBKhxj32u1J_tYB0yvLg_o-11-loiV_RJEGLjsXBMVrUpeR1cYCezMYJK2UyzsmCW3g0XR8HWhtsab11eHcdNX2YluXCHvs_gVtF7a5T4I/s1600/Greenstreet-1.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgxYRW8o_MLfsTO2nPu8Ws0qyX1JfmLZ0VfBKhxj32u1J_tYB0yvLg_o-11-loiV_RJEGLjsXBMVrUpeR1cYCezMYJK2UyzsmCW3g0XR8HWhtsab11eHcdNX2YluXCHvs_gVtF7a5T4I/s320/Greenstreet-1.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407781463758073298" border="0" /></a><br /> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Simply put, this initiative is a glimpse of the future within The Anacostia Watershed. It is a template for sustainable economic stimulus in modern economic woes. It is an example of what visionary leadership and proactive coordination can provide communities. In this case the vision being provided by Edmonston Mayor Adam Ortiz. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />The chance to brush shoulders with Lisa Jackson is an opportunity of a lifetime for young, outspoken environmentalists such as myself. Thus, Matt Dernoga and I jumped at the chance to somehow help influence the most powerful administrator ushering the sustainable future we hope to manifest. We drafted and delivered the following letter to Lisa Jackson. Our coordintated, informed and proactive action use some of the same ideals that Mayor Adam Ortiz proves possible with the redevelopment of Decatur Street. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDLGyWOz0NnndEi_YquFXIhcfgSdO7VxKX1Xfu3L2uhMObbyxMg-gNKJZ0MY7YXgWoOhvWWCmQD-KXkR-_-aiSW3pI6JkIQGNYwCfxGvGWLwDGF9N-SI7_vJnItCXAy-jBcPBXkAhK7E/s1600/epa-lisajackson.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDLGyWOz0NnndEi_YquFXIhcfgSdO7VxKX1Xfu3L2uhMObbyxMg-gNKJZ0MY7YXgWoOhvWWCmQD-KXkR-_-aiSW3pI6JkIQGNYwCfxGvGWLwDGF9N-SI7_vJnItCXAy-jBcPBXkAhK7E/s320/epa-lisajackson.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407780910167525618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">#### </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Dear Administrator Jackson,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to participate in the groundbreaking of Edmonston’s green street. As environmental activists and alumni from the University of Maryland, it is great to see the administration promote efforts to make the way we develop locally more sustainable. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />We also want to thank the administration for its support of clean energy spending in the stimulus, green jobs, new fuel economy standards, and a move to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to past efforts, the steps taken in only eleven months have surpassed those of all previous administrations. However, compared to what is necessary to solve the climate crisis and transition to a just clean energy economy, these steps do not go far enough.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />We feel that leaders in the White House and President Obama himself need to be more outspoken publicly about the need to address greenhouse gas emissions. Right now, the focus is largely on one half of the debate, which is that developing new clean energy sources and becoming more efficient with our current use will create jobs and save money. This is important, but by leaving out the urgency surrounding catastrophic climate change, we cede ground to the deniers of the science and the delayers of fast action. Please consider being more vocal about the vital need to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a clean energy economy. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />We are also concerned about the impact Mountain Top Removal Mining is having on the ecosystems and communities of Appalachia. This type of coal extraction is undermining the efforts to create a just and sustainable future for all communities. The valley fills performed as a part of this mining bury head water streams are continually permitted by the West Virginia Department of the Environment appear to be in contradiction to the Clean Water Act. Furthermore, the impoundment or injection of coal "slurry" in areas near homes poses a potent threat to the health and safety of communities in West Virginia.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />As concerned citizens we ask that the EPA reclaim the authority for permitting Appalachian coal mining from the West Virginia Department of the Environment and enforce the Clean Water Act. We also ask that you, Lisa Jackson, take a flyover of the coal fields to grasp the severe effects that this type of coal mining has on nearby communities and ecosystems. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> <br />Thank you for your consideration of our concerns. We can be reached at mdernoga@umd.edu</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Sincerely,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Matt Dernoga, Campaign Director of UMD for Clean Energy,</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Laura Calabrese, Organizational Director of UMD for Clean Energy</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Hilary Staver, Political Liaison of UMD for Clean Energy</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />Davey Rogner, The Harvest Collective, UMD for Clean Energy Alum</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br />#######</span>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-11076271041214247542009-11-18T09:03:00.000-08:002009-11-18T11:12:31.906-08:00Mountain Top Removal Education Panels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9eSMp0o6DTpFXviEaNEIscb9xICfVG4ZCvlofx6EYGLU2XKSsy7zivet-1vlUWX9TVg6pR0eHiB86lje2XRiy3XNllY1CMXN1dsessUxNrAMyhoh5dcT3VcyGCj4OCl3x01ODuS0MLk/s1600/MTR+UMD+flyer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9eSMp0o6DTpFXviEaNEIscb9xICfVG4ZCvlofx6EYGLU2XKSsy7zivet-1vlUWX9TVg6pR0eHiB86lje2XRiy3XNllY1CMXN1dsessUxNrAMyhoh5dcT3VcyGCj4OCl3x01ODuS0MLk/s320/MTR+UMD+flyer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405496165451011570" border="0" /></a><br /> This past Monday and Tuesday I helped facilitate an education panel at two local Universities. The panels, which were attended by over 70 students at The University of Maryland and American University, aimed to educate student activists about the challenges facing opponents of a Mountain Top Removal; a common form of strip mining occurring throughout Southern Appalachia. Attending students were given perspective as to why this form of resource extraction is highly contested by environmentalists and advocates for community rights alike.<br /><br /> I will do my best to provide some information that I learned by attending these events. <br /><br /> To date this form of strip mining has leveled over 500 mountains in the coal fields of Appalachia. As the nomenclature conveys, this form of mining displaces the portion of a mountain located above coal seams by using explosives. The thin seams of coal laden within the mountain are then extracted by using drag lines. Using bulldozers, the rubble of mountain that remains is pushed into adjacent valleys, a practice known as valley fills, burying vital head water streams. It has been estimated that 1500+ miles of headwater streams have been buried in Appalachia since this form of strip mining began.<br /><br /> In order to prevent toxic particulates from entering our atmosphere when the coal is burned, the extracted coal is washed on site before it is shipped to regional coal burning power plants. This washing produces "slurry ponds" which are either stored behind earthen dams or injected into the earth through abandoned mine shafts. This injection of coal slurry deep into the earth is responsible for polluting the well water that so many Appalachian communities are dependent upon for quenching their thirst. The slurry ponds sit precariously overlooking Appalachian communities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhnm70QdOw-57_dW_JPsVlIoLPQ1U7kk_cwONTnjjp0sRnlvLUlf-HeHKiXs_SePC6SJhLEI2PikA3X5Ki2kCdaDtjhv359Xr5ZumEW9l14o1el7QJsO9FjXVnmU0M-qL9gmVadwngWM/s1600/02_19_marsh_fork_elementary.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhnm70QdOw-57_dW_JPsVlIoLPQ1U7kk_cwONTnjjp0sRnlvLUlf-HeHKiXs_SePC6SJhLEI2PikA3X5Ki2kCdaDtjhv359Xr5ZumEW9l14o1el7QJsO9FjXVnmU0M-qL9gmVadwngWM/s320/02_19_marsh_fork_elementary.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405521965182347410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /> The panelists cite occasions when these dams have breached and buried communities. Last January, a coal fly ash pond in Tennessee burst open burying over 400 acres and 12 homes. This fly ash is slightly different from MTR slurry ponds as to how it is generated, but essentially it is the same toxic soup laden with mercury, arsenic, iron, and sulfates. This begs the question that even if we prevent toxics from coal entering the atmosphere, does it make sense to concentrate these chemicals in water when they are a direct threat to community health? It also begs me saying in bold: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!!!!!<br /><br /> Mountain Top Removal mining not only provides a maximal yield of coal (estimated that 98% of coal is effectively removed), but it is also the most profitable for coal companies. Companies that fight tooth and nail to ensure Mountain Top Removal continues. Companies that finance the campaigns of Appalachian politicians to ensure "cooperation" from local and federal government. Companies syphon the wealth derived from natural resources out of appalachia undermining local economic stimulus. Simply put, these coal companies exploit the health of appalachian communities and ecosystems for the sake of their own profit. <br /><br /> The panel was a small act done by The Harvest Collective to bring attention to this issue in the most powerful city in the nation. By reaching out to other concerned citizens we will build a more comprehensive and informed movement around Mountain Top Removal. University of Maryland students have already set up a lobby meeting with Senator Barbara Mikulski to talk about an end to Mountain Top Removal. They are also drafting a letter to Lisa Jackson that voices their concerns with EPA priorities that we hope to hand deliver at a local event in Edmonston, Maryland next Tuesday.<br /><br /> As one of our esteemed panelists, Andrew Munn, noted the movement to end mountain top removal needs multiple facets. The Harvest Collective and UMD for Clean Energy are two local groups committed to ending this form of strip mining and will take the neccesary means to organize our communities in coordination with the Appalachian efforts to end this practice. If you would like to get involved in the DC area to end Mountain Top Removal, please send me an email at davidrogner@gmail.com. I will get you plugged in!!<br /><br /> I'd like to thank our panelists Kate Rooth, Andrew Munn, Delta Merner, and Joe Overton for their time and information. Below is a picture of Joe performing a fantastic song called "Black Water" at American University. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzkxnjrbBavOsOnjHMXiUDk6SyVLhCM97P61Fe_OjTYU4O5WBvLuDWplF6leeNRsUDCMxtxSrnWI0m7k_bOgdKiImLQyVxDLLDPwzAxJ9jIQuN-ERf0lcWzq0qa4lbJFppH63EKq01Vs/s1600/IMG_3060.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzkxnjrbBavOsOnjHMXiUDk6SyVLhCM97P61Fe_OjTYU4O5WBvLuDWplF6leeNRsUDCMxtxSrnWI0m7k_bOgdKiImLQyVxDLLDPwzAxJ9jIQuN-ERf0lcWzq0qa4lbJFppH63EKq01Vs/s320/IMG_3060.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405491757910704914" border="0" /></a><br /> If you would like to learn more, please visit the following organization's websites.<br /><br /> Appalachian Voices- ilovemountains.org<br /> Mountain Justic Summer- mountainjusticsummer.org<br /> Coal River Mountain Watch- crmw.net<br /> Rain Forest Action Network- ran.orgThe Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-80538998535620416962009-11-09T13:25:00.000-08:002009-11-10T19:08:11.061-08:00November 8th Stream Clean Up on the Northwest Branch of The Anacostia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDdziK0wwjrKxFzmCuDXt6I-zMfAXUI-K0P6Z7THP_u-mj144rfK9oQY1D4dqCAkVPBMxwDX4SbvywiHYmUxIYIX7pf98_5ZUJ-pqJIiU0BBEVOKTgIDSIMCVFbFx1iYFRdcl-bkTzgM/s1600-h/DSCF0064.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDdziK0wwjrKxFzmCuDXt6I-zMfAXUI-K0P6Z7THP_u-mj144rfK9oQY1D4dqCAkVPBMxwDX4SbvywiHYmUxIYIX7pf98_5ZUJ-pqJIiU0BBEVOKTgIDSIMCVFbFx1iYFRdcl-bkTzgM/s320/DSCF0064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402556651666132722" border="0" /></a><br /> <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> In March of 2010 I am going to leave on the journey of a lifetime. One of the first active campaigns of the Harvest Collective will be to walk from Assateague, Maryland to San Francisco, California to catalyze discussion on the sustainable paradigm within American culture. For every mile I walk, my colleagues and I will be performing roadside clean ups. We will leave a trail of clean roadsides and streams from the Atlantic to the Pacific. During the walk, aptly titled- "Pick Up America"- we will be inviting local community groups help clean and to participate in evening potlucks. Through social media we hope to document the beautiful folk culture endemic throughout the American countryside. Through active community participation in roadside clean ups and conversations on the environment we hope to develop ideals of environmental and social stewardship within the communities we travel through.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> This past Sunday I led a group of roughly twenty-five students from The University of Maryland, College Park on my first stream clean up with The Harvest Collective. I was joined by Engineers without Borders, a student group dedicated to sustainable development through engineering assistance and training internationally responsible engineering students, to clean the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia. They were an enthusiastic bunch; I couldn't ask for a better group to start "The Pick Up America" campaign with. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Using the money I raised with a concert in October, I bought fresh latex gloves and trash bags for the clean up. I met EWB in the parking lot of the engineering building around 11:30. I briefed them on the mission of The Harvest Collective, the importance of watershed maintenance and how stream cleaning benefits local communities. With a a four car convoy, I led them over to the clean up site about 3 miles away in West Hyattsville. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> After about an hour and a half of cleaning we had filled over 40 bags with glass bottles, beer cans, plastic bags, wrappers, styrofoam, tennis balls, and soda bottles. The plethora of garbage we collected represents the litter discarded or ignored; the trash that eventually washes into our streams and floodplains when transported by heavy rains. It is affirming to know that by picking garbage out of the floodplain of the Northwest Branch we prevented 40+ bags of garbage from washing into the Anacostia River, The Chesapeake Bay, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> It's been estimated that every year 20,000 tons of garbage flows down The Anacostia River. In 2007 The Anacostia was only the second river (LA River is the other) in the country that the United States Environmental Protection Agency declared to be impaired with trash. These problems stem from generations of human neglect for their natural resources within the Anacostia Watershed. Trash is just one visible problem amongst many water pollution issues that are undermining the biotic and community health through continued neglect of our watersheds. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">In this interconnected world it easy to see the effect of watershed neglect compunded in our ocean and ocean fisheries. Research has shown that plastic is accumulating and moving through the food chain as it is absorbed after ingestion by fish and wildlife. This "bioaccumulation" is a threat to our fisheries and to our own health as we can accumulate dangerous toxic chemicals such as DDT and PCB from eating fish who may have previously ingested plastics in the raw form or broken down into other organisms they feed on within the food chain. A primary solution to this problem is to work locally within communities to develop watershed and ecosystem ethics through experiences such as cleaning a stream. </span><br /><blockquote></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">In the grand scheme of people combating the plastics and pollution in our water ways, The Harvest Collective and Engineers with our Borders won a small battle in Chillum, Maryland last Sunday. Changing people's attitudes about watersheds and how we package and dispose of our goods is the ultimate war. If we act accordingly and structure our society by valuing the same building blocks that are essential to our biotic being, we will become stewards of our own health, our watersheds health and ultimately community health. The new green economy that will appear will value these ideals equally. With the belief that all great movements begin locally; we act in accordance to the greater potential of humanity. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> I hope to perform stream clean ups every Sunday until I leave for my walk. If you would like to coordinate a clean up with me in your community please send me an email.<br /><br /> davidrogner@gmail.com<br /><br /> Davey via The Harvest Collective<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"></span>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1096979753881337279.post-65127191196930010062009-11-05T10:49:00.000-08:002009-11-05T11:14:13.589-08:00Matt Dernoga asked me to give a speech at The University of Maryland<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dear internet world,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> This is my first blog. Here we go!!!!!!<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> My good friend and comrade Matt Dernoga, of the Dernogalizer blog- madrad2002.wordpress.com - asked me to come speak at an election rally in College Park, MD on Tuesday. I wrote a speech the morning of and attempted to deliver it in the afternoon. The lack of practice showed. Regardless, I think the content was good. I feel bad for not letting Andy Fellows, College Park's newly elected mayor speak. IF I WAS to truly forge student and city bonds I would've let Andy forge it himself. There is always next time I suppose.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> We'll here is the speech. For better of for worse. I think I hit on some good themes that I hope to pronounce clearly to the world through the Harvest Collective. The enunciation has begun.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">------------------<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">MY <span style="font-size:130%;">FRIENDS, </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">We are gathered today for many reasons. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">First --to exercise our democracy by voting. To exercise yourselves physically by marching. To exercise solidarity with great Americans who have sought to restore, preserve and further our freedoms and democratic process. We march in solidarity to the fallen compatriots who fought valiantly in past wars to stop fascist threats and with those who fought to end slavery during the civil war. We march with the spector of American history behind us. We march with the spirits of Mickey Schwermer, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney who were brutally murdered at the hands of Ku Klux Klan members for working to register African Americans to vote in the heart of Mississippi in 1964. We march in solidarity to the sacrifices that have been made to preserve your and my right to vote. To these people we pay homage. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">We march in solidarity to those who have fought tirelessly to reform our government—those who still tirelessly work to remove corrupt special interests from the pockets of politicians and fill those same pockets with compassion for all cultures, creeds and beliefs. Our votes give power to that reform. Through our votes we will steadfastly change the way our politicians operate to bring the power back to the people. Through our congregation and our votes we will replace those who operate on greed and exploitation, those who have the ears of the politicians to become the real caretakers of OUR DEMOCRACY. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> MY FRIENDS.<br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> I don't know if you have been attuned, but we are going through a revolution in this country. This peaceful revolution is a revolution of how we view our role in democracy. This revolution represents American people knowingly becoming CITIZENS of this great democracy through informed voting, compassionate reform and non-violent direct action; it is the working and middle class not acting solely as consumers; what we know to be merely puppets of the corporate media and economy. An unsustainable economy that already imploded a year ago and that as we continue to inflate it we must conscious as to not make the same mistakes of allowing greed and corruption to rule our elected officials.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">This sustainable revolution begins first by connecting with the environment and the community you live in. That is College Park and the University of Maryland community. We here at the University are still young and we hopefully are still unjaded by the corporate economy. I see in your eyes, through UMD for Clean Energy's efforts that we are the future and that we have the creative prowess to shape our future economy, democracy and environment. We are the forerunners of the green economy. We are the forerunners of this new compassionate democracy that will not allow the wealthiest to pollute our water and air undermining our health for the sake of profit. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> The Green College Park campaign led by Clean Energy for UMD as well as the revolving loan fund plan to make College Park more energy efficient show that students are ready to connect with the citizens and the government of College Park. A connection that could have potentially halted development on the wooded hillock if it had been forged earlier in time. A connection that will give students a voice in one of the most important environmental issues locally and globally-- local zoning and land use planning. Imagine if community's could stand up to preserve the natural resources in their given geographic area. The compound effect would improve the health of our air, our water, our mental stability, and our physical health, while locally combating the threat of climate change. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> This connection you have forged by voting and participating in this campaign will ultimately make the future of College Park, the future of Prince George's County, the future of Maryland more Green. Here at this University we know that “going green” is not just about saving plants and trees- although preserving biodiversity is a must for our own sanctity as humans- it's about preserving our rights to a healthy community by replacing the antiquated polluters in our local economy with clean, just and efficient enterprises and technologies. We have the chance to lead in the State of Maryland. We have a chance to lead on the east coast. If the City succeeds with the revolving loan fund next year which your votes will help to manifest, an idea originally proposed by members of Clean Energy for UMD, the city will be among the first on the east coast with such a program. We will be the example that other municipalities look to. And at the heart of this program lies your participation. Your participation in the future of our green economy of College Park and the state of Maryland and ultimately the nation as a whole. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Before we march and before I beat this conga to oblivion. I leave you with some anecdotes. The first being that a constant and unyielding force can erode the most entrenched and established of the status quo. We, the youth, this green revolution, POWERSHIFT, Clean Energy for UMD, Community Roots, the Student Sustainability Council, the Campaign to Save the Wooded Hillock, Engineers Without Borders, TERP CHANGEMAKERS, Students for a Democratic Society, members of your undergraduate student government have shown through direct, informerd and impassioned action that we are that force!!! And that we shall never let up until we have a just world! That we will never fail and that we will never let down for we know that what we are doing is right.<br /></span></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Even if the apathetic mock you, you know that they will either get left behind or that ultimately you will help them through your actions and that fells good in your heart. We will remain headstrong in our commitment to shaping this country to our collective conscience that dictates our actions through compassionate ethics and scruples. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> I end by only saying that this gathering in one local municipality represents the hopes and wishes of those across our nation and across the globe. By acting local we will change the power structure of this world to bring the power back to the hands of our communities. Out of the most wealthy that are able to influence federal politicians. The sustainable revolution is underway. Lets flex our power!!<br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> Davey VIA The Harvest Collective<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> ######<br /></span> </p>The Harvest Collectivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529867893231925148noreply@blogger.com0