Links About Ecology

Updates & bulletins on the Yogic & Conscious experience emanating from Santa Monica CA & the rest of the World.

Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis solonifera L.) is one of the first perennial
wind-pollinated crops being commercially developed for genetic resistance to
the widely used herbicide, RoundUpR. It is a valuable, high-maintenance crop
that if properly watered, mowed, aerated and fertilized forms a perfect
carpet for golf balls. However, unlike most of the transgenic crops that
have been commercialized in the United States, creeping bentgrass can cross
breed with native grasses that grow in areas where the grass will be
commercially produced or where it is likely to be used on golf courses. This
has raised questions about potential ecological risks associated with the
use of genetically engineered crops and highlighted the need for rigorous
methods to use in the regulatory risk-assessment process.

Field and laboratory research by Western Ecology Division (WED) scientists
has found that pollen from genetically modified (GM) bentgrass travels much
farther than previously measured. Results of this research by Dr. Lidia S.
Watrud and colleagues in WED's Risk Characterization Branch were published
in the Oct. 5 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This
paper documents gene flow at the landscape level from a seed company's
experimental fields in Central Oregon to 75 of 138 "sentinel" plants placed
to collect any drifting pollen, and to 29 of 69 genetically compatible
resident grass plants. They found that pollen from the transgenic grass,
estimated to be viable for up to three hours, traveled up to 13 miles from
the experimental fields. However, most of the gene flow occurred within a
mile and a quarter downwind of the experimental fields.

Because creeping bentgrass is an important seed crop in western Oregon's
Willamette Valley, the GM bentgrass in this study was grown east of the
Cascade Mountains in irrigated fields on a plateau above the Deschutes River
to reduce the possibility of accidental cross-pollination with conventional
grass crops. (Location of the experimental fields was more than one hundred
miles east of the fields in the Willamette Valley where non-resistant,
non-GM creeping bentgrass is commercially grown.)

Citta is a sanskrit word meaning consciousness. In the traditional Pali texts, the written text of Theravada Buddhism, Citta is interpreted as mind-heart. My understanding this word is through a practical experience with Buddhism during a silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat. I interpret it to mean the encouragement of the use of your heart as well as your mind as a form of conscious action and awareness. You may have encountered it in the word, Bodhicitta. In this case, it would mean to see with the Buddha’s mind and heart, to be more conscious in every moment and come from a place of compassion for all beings.

I am a member of the ihanuman yoga kula and I have an ihanuman teacher page.

You have to see for yourself. Mountain Top Removal is rape of the earth. Please help those who live in the mountains be stewards of the beauty we are surrounded by. In my opinion, Mountaintop Removal is linked to our own self image and consumption patterns.

The Farm is an intentional community in Summertown Tennessee, which was founded in 1971 and today has approximately 250 members. During its communal phase, which lasted 13 years, it was called by the Wall St. Journal, "the General Motors of American communes."

At its peak population size of about 1400 in 1980 it operated extensive year-round agriculture programs, business enterprises that were national and international in scope, and a series of satellite offices, projects and farm communities in more than 20 locations. It also carried a substantial, 7-figure, debt burden and this in turn was a factor in the reorganization and downsizing of the 1980s.

I have previously spoken or written on the history of the Farm,2 its economics,3 its technological innovations,4 and its philosophies.5 What I will attempt to do in the next 20 minutes is to provide a brief description of the changes presently underway at The Farm, with a view toward fostering some understanding of one of the indicia of success for intentional community, namely longevity, and how it can be strengthened by the conscious efforts of the group.

To reprise my earlier works, the Farm was conceived in a series of meetings in San Francisco from 1968 through 1970, called Monday Night Class. The leader at these meetings was a teacher at San Francisco State University, Stephen Gaskin. The constructs that grew out of Monday Night Class and into the philosophy of the Farm were comprised of numerous, commonly arrived at assumptions, known as "agreements," the central thrust of which was that great, pure effort must be directed toward harmlessness, right livelihood, right thinking, etc., while maintaining a sense of humor.

Dedicated to the increase and diffusion of information about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized, and perceived.

The Center for Land Use Interpretation is a research organization interested in understanding the nature and extent of human interaction with the earth's surface. The Center embraces a multidisciplinary approach to fulfilling the stated mission, employing conventional research and information processing methodology as well as nontraditional interpretive tools.

The organization was founded in 1994, and since that time it has produced over 30 exhibits on land use themes and regions, for public institutions all over the United States, as well as overseas. Public tours have been conducted in several states, and over ten books have been published by the CLUI. CLUI Archive photographs illustrate journals, popular magazines, and books by other publishers, and have been used in non-CLUI exhibitions, and acquired by art collectors.

The CLUI exists to stimulate discussion, thought, and general interest in the contemporary landscape. Neither an environmental group nor an industry affiliated organization, the work of the Center integrates the many approaches to land use - the many perspectives of the landscape - into a single vision that illustrates the common ground in "land use" debates. At the very least, the Center attempts to emphasize the multiplicity of points of view regarding the utilization of terrestrial and geographic resources.

Founded in 1983, The Buckminster Fuller Institute serves a global network of design science innovators working at the leading edge to "make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone".

We offer educational programs, publications, initiatives and tools to help further the design science revolution Fuller inspired. Our constituency crosses disciplinary boundaries and includes people working in the fields of the art, architecture, design, education, engineering, information technology, economics, mathematics, science, and systems theory.

“Nonprofits” come in every size, shade and flavor.

There is no such thing as “nonprofit management” if the phrase is taken to mean there’s a one-size-fits-all management discipline that can or has to be applied in nonprofit settings. It just doesn’t work that way.

Also, there is no great divide between managing a nonprofit and managing a for-profit of similar size and scope. Lots of what for-profit managers do sounds very familiar to nonprofit managers, and vice versa; in some jobs, the work is virtually identical.

In the same way, there are some features of nonprofit management that will vary greatly depending on the communities in which the organization works and some that are pretty much basic elements of any situation in which humans work together.

That said, nonprofit managers still need to manage. And nonprofit managers need to be able to recognize the very real differences in management dynamics that do exist in some parts of the work. At Idealist.org, we try to make it easy for people who work in nonprofits to understand the challenges they face and find useful tips and guidance that will make their organizations more effective and their jobs more satisfying.

Here's a short list of resources to consult for background information on starting a nonprofit organization:

Foundation Center's FAQ on Establishing a Nonprofit Organization
http://fdncenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/establish/index.html
The Foundation Center helps non-profit groups learn how to solicit foundation grants and deal with other aspects of financing and managing a new charity. The center's headquarters is at 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076; (212) 620-4230 or (800) 424-9836; fax (212) 807-3677.
(Last checked 05/01/06)

How to Start a 501c3 Nonprofit
http://www.mnaonline.org/starting.asp
Advice from the Michigan Nonprofit Association.
(Last checked 05/01/06)

How to Start a Not-for-Profit Business
http://www.drcharity.com/npstart.html
Advice from Dr. Charity's Nonprofit Resource Center.
(Last checked 05/01/06)

Info Central: How to Start a Nonprofit Organization
http://www.mncn.org/info_start.htm
You want to start a nonprofit? Great! MCN commends you for embarking on this wonderful new endeavor and welcomes you to the nonprofit sector. We hope the following information is helpful to you as think about starting a new organization. We also hope you'll rely on MCN as a information resource as you grow your nonprofit into a strong and successful organization. Advice from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.
(Last checked 05/01/06)

Internet Nonprofit Center's FAQx on Starting a Nonprofit
http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/keywords/1l.html
(Last checked 05/01/06)

IRS's Nonprofit and Charity FAQs for Applying for a Tax Exemption
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96590,00.html
(Last checked 05/01/06)

IRS Publication 557: Tax Exempt Status for Your Organization
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf
(Last checked 05/01/06)

NonProfitExpert.Com's Starting a Nonprofit
http://www.nonprofitexpert.com/starting_a_nonprofit.htm
(Last checked 05/01/06)

Nonprofit Resource Guide
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/znprofrg.htm
A directory of agencies that provide nonprofits assistance.
(Last checked 05/01/06)

Nonprofit Virtual Library
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/znonprof.htm
A compilation of resources on running a nonprofit.
(Last checked 05/01/06)


The following books may be of help. All are available for consultation in the Michigan State University Libraries and can be obtained through interlibrary loan or purchased through a local bookstore.

How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation, seventh or 2005 Edition. Anthony Mancuso. Berkeley, Ca. : Nolo Press, 2005. MSU College of Law Library KF1388.Z9 M36 2005
An in-depth guide to the legal aspects of starting a non-profit organization, including how to obtain tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. It includes state-by-state resources and software with samples of legal documents. Published by Nolo Press, 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, Cal. 94710; (800) 992-6656; fax (800) 645-0895.

How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation : With Forms. Mark Warda. Naperville, IL Sphinx Publishing, A Division of Sourcebooks, 2000. MSU faculty and staff can access this title online via NetLibrary. A legal survival guide.

The Nonprofit Handbook. Gary M. Grobman. Harrisburg, PA : White Hat Communications, c1999. 2nd edition, 353pp. Main Library Stacks HD62.6 .G755 1999
Subtitle on cover: Everything you need to know to start and run your nonprofit organization.

The Nonprofit Handbook. Fund raising. James M. Greenfield. New York, N.Y. : John Wiley & Sons, 2001. 3rd edition, 1154pp. Main Library Stacks HD62.6 .N662 2001

Five alternatives to starting a nonprofit
Study the list of nonprofits already active in the same area and join their efforts as a volunteer, a board member or even as staff
Analyze the list of nonprofits already active in the same area, identify the three most compatible with your ideas, and meet with them to explore creating a special project or initiative -- and negotiate your involvement.
Explore the list of national organizations in the area of your interest, and see if a local chapter is needed in your geographic area.
If your effort will be quite local and small, consider forming an unincorporated association or club -- have meetings and activities but skip the reporting requirements (an option for groups with annual budgets under $25,000).
If you are considering creation of a group to finance activities or needs of others (scholarships, family emergency funds for a specific population, etc.), explore sponsorship of the fund by a community foundation or other organization.

Source: Special thanks to Jon Pratt, Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

Creating a nonprofit is like creating a business. You need to engage in some serious planning before you start the filing incorporation papers, and applying for your tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Services.
Today there are more than 1.4-million nonprofits nationwide, with thousands being formed everyday. Competition for resources (money, volunteers, etc.) is fierce. More than having compassion, and commitment, it takes some research and planning to ensure the successful launch of your cause.
First, you need to identify the niche your nonprofit will fill by asking yourself these questions:
What nonprofit am I interested in starting?
What services or products will my organization provide?
Is my idea practical, and does it fill an unmet need in the community?
What is my competition? (You'd be surprised who provides what kind of services in the community.)
What is my nonprofit's advantage over existing nonprofit organizations?
Can I deliver a better quality service?
How will I sustain my operation, and can I create a demand for my organization? (Don't think you can rely solely on donations, virtually every nonprofit generates some type of income.)

ENA's Mission:


To engage the peoples of the Americas in common effort to join the global transformation towards an ecologically, economically, and culturally sustainable future.

* ENA serves as the Western Hemisphere representative of the Global Ecovillage Network.
* ENA works to unite cultures from North, Central and South Americas and the Caribbean to become a unified force in the ecovillage and sustainability movements.

Building a Strong Foundation:

Since its conception in 1995, ENA has built a strong organizational structure. We have:

* A 19 seat Council representing nine regions:
Southern South America, Northern South America, Brazil, Mesoamerica, Caribbean, United States West, United States East, Canada, and Mobile Ecovillage initiatives in the Americas.
* A large core group of volunteers serving on project committees, and, in Ecovillage Contact Offices in 18 countries in the Americas.

Robert Gilman, in his book, Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities (1991),
offers this definition and explanation:
An ecovillage is a human-scale, full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.

With the aim of creating and presenting to the world outstanding examples of what it means in live in harmony with nature in a sustainable way, GEN promotes and facilitates communities--whether rural or urban--which develop and implement technologies and practices such that human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.

The Global Ecovillage Network is developing the concept of sustainability auditing to provide measuring rods for individuals and for existing villages and communities to compare their current status with ideal goals for ecological, social, and spiritual sustainability. In addition, these tools are learning instruments - pointing out actions aspiring individuals and communities can take to become more sustainable.

One sixth of a square kilometer, 15.21 hectares of total land surface, 25.6 hectares of indoor floorspace, 8 hectares of public-use indoor ground floor spaces, 17.6 hectares of upper floor residential indoor floor spaces, 7.68 hectares of outdoor roof-deck patio spaces, 7.21 additional outdoor ground level public spaces including one hectare park within one block of every residence.

861,112 sq.ft of ground floor public spaces for churches, temples, theaters, supermarkets, cafeterias, restaurants, boutiques, shops, workshops, clinics, classrooms, gyms, health clubs, swimming pools, offices, bazaars, malls, take-out food, pet stores, storage units, post offices, court rooms, police substations, libraries, art galleries, karate studios, bakeries, cyber cafes, bars, nightclubs, bowling alleys, auditoriums, day care, pre-school, pawn shops, bike repair, copy shops, antiques, furniture, car dealers, convention center, exhibition hall.

Guided by intertwined educational, environmental, and social goals, the Ecovillage is an ecologically-sustainable residential and learning complex designed to meet housing needs for student families, childcare for campus children, and provide a living/labor opportunity for students interested in sustainability.

The Ecovillage is first and foremost about education. It is an example of learning by doing. Residents and children learn valuable lessons in environmentally responsible living through everyday activities and shared experiences. Other components of the Ecovillage provide educational opportunities for the entire campus and beyond.

The complex includes 50 apartments , a state-of-the-art Child Development Laboratory , a Commons House , and a Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) demonstration house . The Ecological Machine , wetlands, permaculture food forest, and individual gardens are other community features.

Rigorous performance goals for the Ecovillage include: reduction of energy use by 75%; reduction of per capita water use by 75%; treatment of sewage and wastewater on-site to swimmable quality, and recycling, reusing or composting at least 50% of waste. To accomplish these and other goals, the Ecovillage incorporates a wide range of "green design" elements including passive solar heating, photovoltaic panels and wind-powered electrical generators. On-site treatment of waste is accomplished through the Ecological Machine , which converts sewage to swimmable quality water, and through a composting toilet in the SENS house. Roof-top capture of rainwater contributes to landscape irrigation and production of fruits and vegetables.

Read more about the Ecovillage's performance goals in the November issue of The Sustainable Campus newsletter (Acrobat Format).

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) was founded in 1990 by a group of businesspeople who believed businesses have as much responsibility to workers, communities and the environment as they do to being financially successful. VBSR was started to pioneer a new focus for business: "the multiple bottom line."  Profitability is essential to business. However, VBSR members are equally concerned about the "other bottom lines" - quality of the workplace, the natural environment and community. VBSR members share basic values and goals. Our diverse and dynamic membership is what makes VBSR an energetic and growing forum for business in Vermont.

VBSR is one of the largest regional socially responsible business organizations in the US, even though it represents a small state. Our membership has grown rapidly, from 35 members in 1991 to over 600 members in 2006. Currently, VBSR's members represent over 30,000 employees and over $4.5 billion in annual sales.

VBSR's mission is to advance a business ethic that values multiple bottom lines economic, social, and environmental.

We do this through:

Education - Bringing together resources and information to help our members to meet their own goals for improving business practices and solving social, environmental and economic problems.
Public Influence - Representing a socially responsible business ethic to the larger community, including news media and legislative bodies, to foster positive change and resist exploitation of our people, our state and our planet.
Workplace Quality - Fostering a work environment and economic climate that enable every worker to earn a fair income safely, to contribute his or her labor to a high quality product or service, and to work and live with dignity and respect.
VBSR offers many services to its members - working for you, your business, and your community!


Education

VBSR's two annual conferences in northern and southern Vermont help you learn from other businesses how to use successful, socially responsible business practices in your business. Our conferences feature both respected local business leaders and nationally known industry experts.


Networking

Mix with other socially responsible business people at networking Get-Togethers, held at member businesses, and other special events. Enjoy thought-provoking discussion, and get an inside look at member companies. VBSR also helps you share information with other members on a range of topics, such as Marketing Plans, Creating Vision for Your Organization, Employee Handbooks, and How to Have Fun in the Workplace.


Public Policy Advocacy

VBSR is a business voice in Montpelier, supporting sustainable economic development, environmental quality and workplace quality.


Referrals

VBSR helps connect member businesses with the media, consumers, and other businesses.


Discounts

VBSR members have access to many member-to-member discounts.


To join VBSR, or for more information about VBSR, call us at 802-862-8347 or e-mail info@vbsr.org

The pioneers who founded Salt Lake City in the middle of a vast desert believed deeply in self-reliance. That may be one reason why their descendents and the rest of the state of Utah are responding so enthusiastically to the Buy Local First Utah campaign. It’s the first statewide Local First campaign, spun off by BALLE network Vest Pocket Business Coalition of Salt Lake City. The campaign has signed up almost 500 businesses from across the state.
Read more...

With every month that passes, we're given increasing information to motivate us, as a nation, to embrace renewable energy. Here are three of those compelling reasons:

Americans use 30% of the world's oil supply yet only 2% of that comes from our own soil. By embracing renewable energy, we can significantly reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Renewable energy and conservation projects create 300% more jobs than the construction and operation of new traditional power plants of equal costs.
With every mile that we drive our gasoline powered cars, we send 1 pound of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Are you ready to become part of the solution?

Sign up for the Monthly Challenge and join the many others working to see the power of the people!

or

Take a look at our Buy Green Energy page. Maybe you're ready to support the growth of a sustainable energy source.

LET US BEGIN BY ASSUMING what appears to be true: that the so-called "environmental crisis" is now pretty well established as a fact of our age. The problems of pollution, species extinction, loss of wilderness, loss of farmland, loss of topsoil may still be ignored or scoffed at, but they are not denied. Concern for these problems has acquired a certain standing, a measure of discussability, in the media and in some scientific, academic, and religious institutions.

This is good, of course; obviously, we can¹t hope to solve these problems without an increase of public awareness and concern. But in an age burdened with "publicity," we have to be aware also that as issues rise into popularity they rise also into the danger of oversimplification. To speak of this danger is especially necessary in confronting the destructiveness of our relationship to nature, which is the result, in the first place, of gross oversimplification.
The "environmental crisis" has happened because the human household or economy is in conflict at almost every point with the household of nature. We have built our household on the assumption that the natural household is simple and can be simply used. We have assumed increasingly over the last five hundred years that nature is merely a supply of "raw materials," and that we may safely possess those materials merely by taking them. This taking, as our technical means have increased, has involved always less reverence or respect, less gratitude, less local knowledge, and less skill. Our methodologies of land use have strayed from our old sympathetic attempts to imitate natural processes, and have come more and more to resemble the methodology of mining, even as mining itself has become more technologically powerful and more brutal.

And so we will be wrong if we attempt to correct what we perceive as "environmental" problems without correcting the economic oversimplification that caused them. This oversimplification is now either a matter of corporate behavior or of behavior under the influence of corporate behavior. This is sufficiently clear to many of us. What is not sufficiently clear, perhaps to any of us, is the extent of our complicity, as individuals and especially as individual consumers, in the behavior of the corporations.

Rocky Mountain Institute is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization that fosters the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining. We do this by inspiring business, civil society, and government to design integrative solutions that create true wealth.

Our staff shows businesses, communities, individuals, and governments how to create more wealth and employment, protect and enhance natural and human capital, increase profit and competitive advantage, and enjoy many other benefits—largely by doing what they do far more efficiently.

Our work is independent, nonadversarial, and transideological, with a strong emphasis on market-based solutions. For detailed descriptions of our Research & Consulting within the Natural Capitalism Framework as well as our activities and areas of impact, please follow the links at left.

William McDonough's new book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key design principles; and compelling examples of innovative products and business strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough and Braungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences.

Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun's energy—they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist.

Cradle to Cradle maps the lineaments of McDonough and Braungart's new design paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate within today's economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

In addition to describing the hopeful, nature-inspired design principles that are making industry both prosperous and sustainable, the book itself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle-to-cradle cycles.