Sustainable Living Tips by Lee Leffler

Sustainable Living Center Will Be Unique in the Country

Press Conference and Earth Day Event Scheduled for 12:45 p.m. April 22

On Earth Day, April 22, the walls and the roof will go up on Maharishi University of Management’s new Sustainable Living Center — a building that will set a new standard for green building in America by being completely off the grid with respect to electricity, heating and cooling, water, and waste.

The Sustainable Living Center has been designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the highest standard for sustainable design and green building in the world. It will be one of the first three to achieve this. And it will be unique because it will be the first to combine that standard with the standards of LEED Platinum certification, Building Biology, and Maharishi Vedic Architecture.

“There’s no other building like this going up in the nation, or in the world for that matter, that we know of,” said nationally known green building expert Mike Nicklas, who co-designed the building and whose company Innovative Design has designed over 4000 buildings that use renewable energy solutions.

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Green Marketing Mavens Ellen Finkelstein, Phyllis Khare, and Lee Leffler

From the April 2010 issue of The Iowa Source. By Linda Egenes

Last spring while setting up a series of book talks around Iowa, I started to question this fossil-fuel extravagant way to sell a few books—not to mention the cost of gas. Then my publisher fired off an email, “Create an online presence and market your book that way.”

Gulp. Even though I wrote website copy for a living, learning how to set up my own site felt daunting. But determined to finally enter the digital age, I attended a free Internet marketing seminar by three consultants based in Fairfield: Ellen Finkelstein, Phyllis Khare, and Lee Leffler.

From the tools and strategies they shared, I was able to create a blog and social media campaign to market my books—without driving my car or printing…

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Note: Ellen Finkelstein, Phyllis Khare, and Lee Leffler will be giving Marketing Make-Over Sessions in Fairfield, Iowa on April 20 – click for details.

Image linked from the April 2010 issue of the Iowa Source

The Iowa Source just issued its special Green issue for April. “Cut Flowers, Locally Grown,” “”Sustainable Repairs: The Barhdyt Pipe Organ Gets New Life,” “You Too Can Go Green!” “An Alternative to Bovine Submission” and more. Pick up a copy in the state of Iowa, or check it out online at the Iowa Source website.

Are you ready for the EcoFair 2010 in Fairfield, Iowa on April 30-May 2?

Held on the Maharishi University of Management campus, this year’s EcoFair will feature Diana Leafe Christian, the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, speaking on Spiritually Oriented Ecovillages. Also, you will hear Mark Lakeman and Micahel Cook on City Repair and the Power of Placemaking. Meet Mike Nicklas, president and co-founder of Innovative Design, Inc., who will talk about Key Strategies for Green Development. And more. Speaker’s list. Schedule.

On Sunday May 2, the Ecofair will become an Unconference using Open Space Technology. Open Space Technology is a highly participatory process that has been successfully employed in multiple situations all over the world. Learn more.

Want to live a green, sustainable lifestyle without breaking the bank? Live it up at this new website by my friend Leanne, Green on a Shoestring. Find resources and tips for eating, shopping, composting, DIY and more! Visit the site now.

Leanne is a student in the Sustainable Living Program at a university in the Mid-West. This website is part her life-long desire to help the environment and help people.

Do you want a clean, healthy home? Tired of your current cleaning system? Clean House, Clean Planet is a the bible on cleaning your home without toxic chemicals.

Published by Simon & Schuster, Clean House, Clean Planet has a rank in the 60K’s on Amazon.com.

I spoke with author Karen N. Logan, and quizzed her about Clorox Wipes vs. natural cleansers for the bathroom counter. She explained how using a spray bottle of scented vinegar, a simple baking soda paste and a wash cloth could get the counter shiny-clean, free of soap scum and dry, without leaving a gritty baking soda mess!

Now I don’t need disposable wipes that clog up landfills and could harm my family’s health.

I ordered this book, and I hope you will too.

Mark Your Calendar!

Join us for Iowa’s Fifth Annual Natural Living Expo on March 27-28, 2010. We are the first Iowa expo to showcase natural, healthy and green living. We are enthusiastic about Connecting the Community! If you are looking for a fun way to promote your business, sign up to be an exhibitor. Visit the Natural Living Expo website to sign up to exhibit. Feel free to call any of our sales team with questions: Laurie 515-276-6971 / Tizzy 515-681-6781 / Angela 515-205-5494.

The Natural Living Expo is actively seeking volunteers! Volunteers are a vital role in making the Natural Living Expo a fantastic and fun-filled event for everyone. We have many options for service:

• Flier and poster distribution beginning February 25, 2010.
• Set up on Friday, March 26, 2010 at the Polk County Convention Complex. Assist vendors in the unloading and set up of their booth.
• Expo weekend – we need greeters, ticket takers, vendor relations, stage crew, and more.

To sign up, please email tizzy@naturallivingexpo.org or call Tizzy at 515-681-6781.

The *cool* volunteer t-shirt will be available mid-March.

The Green Dragon is a 45 minute documentary including interviews with Chinese people about building sustainably in the world’s most populace country. “Before making this film,” says Max Perelman, American Environmental & Agricultural, Inc., “I had no idea of what an amazing journey I was embarking on. I had been told that over half the world’s construction takes place in this one country, but only when you see it do you believe it.”

The Green Dragon website includes a trailer and a more in-depth multi-media project. http://www.greendragonfilm.com/

Max Perelman will be speaking at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA on Monday, January 11 at 8 PM at the Argiro Student Center. Mr. Perelman is the president of American Environmental & Agricultural, Inc., an import/export and trade consulting firm specializing in environmental technologies and focused on trade between Asia and North America. He is also an advisor to the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy. Max speaks and reads Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. He has presented at a number of green building conferences including the USGBC’s Greenbuild 2007 in Chicago and WestCoastGreen 2008 in Silicon Valley.

Carbon Trading and Carbon Offsets could be the worst thing to happen to the planet, according to Annie Leonard’s (The Story of Stuff) new video. Watch it today.

Click this picture to see The Story of Cap & Trade

By Hope Leffler, Age 7

The polar bears the threatened by global warming. Their ice is melting. Their habitat is shrinking. They must hunt on thick ice, so they are going hungry. Sometimes, there is too much distance between the ice burgs, so they can drown.

We can help by reducing consumption – don’t buy things that you don’t really need, because “stuff” creates pollution that contributes to global warming. Also, don’t use too much energy, and use clean energy.

My mom, dad and I sold Certificates of Polar Protection at the Dharma Foundation Holiday Trade Fair on Saturday, December 5, 2009. It was at my school’s gymnasium. For a minimum $5 donation to Natural Resources Defense Council, people bought a little certificate. They can fill in the recipient’s name, and sign it, and give it as a gift. We wrapped them with red ribbon. (For more information about the polar bears, please go to www.savebiogems.org and find out how to get involved.)

I brought my 6 stuffed polar bears. The big polar bear is Ruth, my mom’s bear. (We put some of the bears under the table because people thought we were selling stuffed bears!)

We raised $130.87 for the Natural Resources Defense Council. They help the government make laws to protect the polar bears and reduce global climate change. We had a great day! And we raised awareness about the polar bears and global warming.

People feel better about bad stuff if they do something about it. We did something, and we helped others do something, too. We helped 30 people give certificates instead of gifts that the recipients might not really want or need. Reducing consumption helps with global warming.

The Lefflers and Dharma Foundation are not affiliated in any manner with the Natural Resources Defense Council or any of its programs, projects or websites.