NY State Senator Tony Avella has sponsored a bill to ban hydraulic fracturing. “Fracking is the most important environmental issue this state has faced in the past 100 years,” he said.

Click to read the article in the Wall Street Journal.

What is Sustainable Living?

Our definition is “A life that is deeply satisfying, fulfilling, and appealing – and at the same time, environmentally responsible.”

To understand what sustainable living is, it helps to understand what it’s not.

First of all, it’s not about living in the woods, eating nuts and berries, and wearing tie-dyed clothes. It’s for mainstream adults – typical Americans with two cars in their garage, one of which might be a sport utility vehicle. It’s for people who ski, watch TV, hike, read, snowmobile, go to movies, rollerblade, play video games, bowl, and camp. For people with mortgages and those who drop their kids off at child care. It’s for people with credit cards and those who shop at malls. And for people who regularly drive up to fast food windows.

Second, sustainable living is not about never buying anything again. It is about making thoughtful decisions, considering the impacts of our consumer choices, and finding alternatives.

Third, sustainable living is not competitive. Individuals have different needs and values. Sustainable living is deeply personal, based on individual definitions of quality of life. For example, this quote might express your sentiments exactly – or it might not.

Fourth, sustainable living is not guilt-driven. It focuses not on what was done in the past but on what will be done in the future. It combines practical ideas – such as turning off lights – with intangibles such as lifestyle values and personal quality of life.

And finally, sustainable living is not “gloom and doom.” It does, however, put our individual actions into a global context. While it’s about taking positive steps at the individual and family level, the world we live in is an important consideration. Wackernagel and Rees, in Our Ecological Footprint, state, “It would require four Earths for everybody on the planet to live the lifestyle of North Americans.”

Read more about the OSU Sustainable Living Project at cof.orst.edu/cof/extended/sustain/

“Our goal when we opened Living Light Marketplace was to carry products not only for the raw food chef, but for anyone who wants to make a difference when they select household items, products, and gifts for family and friends,” says Soria. “We’ve created this simple holiday list for the conscious consumer with sustainable values in mind.”

• Bamboo-one of the fastest growing renewable plant species on the planet. Try bamboo flatware or chopsticks. Cherie’s advice: “Use these plants to eat more plants.”
• More Bamboo-The Bamboo Bottle for hot or cold beverages is BPA free, durable, and 1% of sales go back to the planet.
• Acacia bowls-sustainably produced of Hawaiian hardwood are both beautiful and durable.
• Glass Dharma Straws-lifetime guarantee, and made of borosilicate class in Fort Bragg, California, where we live. It’s the last straw you’ll ever need.
• Greenware-this stainless steel water bottle is lightweight, BPA free, durable, and 1% of the sales go back to the planet.
• EcoBags Natural Tote-in durable cotton canvas with Living Light logo – great for shopping, errands and travel.
• Thai Coconut Sugar-known also as jaggery, coconut sugar is a world renowned low-glycemic sweetener favored by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Rawsome Creations Nut Milk Bag-fair trade, philanthropic, functional, and durable. Make your own nut and seed milks with this simple tool, and drink to your health.
• Guatemalan Aprons-beautiful striped, hand woven icats in a palette of rich colors and patterns in long or short styles, with adjustable straps.

Click to read the entire article

This article in EcoSeed – Energy | Environment | Economy explains how His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales will marry Miss Catherine Middleton in an eco-friendly way, from the wedding ring to the flowers.

Let us hope their marriage is totally sustainable, too!

Click to read the article in EcoSeed.

photo by Jim Fairchild

Maharishi University of Management has launched a $1.5 million renovation project to fix buildings, upgrade facilities, and improve energy efficiency at the same time. After completing a $2 million dorm renovation project last year, the University plans to spend half of the new funds on energy efficient upgrades.

“Our University Trustees were eager to make energy efficiency a major focus of the project,” said David Streid, MUM chief administrative officer. In addition to making the campus greener, the upgrades will save money in the long run.

The roof of the Art Center received an additional 2 ½ inches of insulation and a system to capture the heat from the kiln . . .

Click to read the rest of this article.

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.

The Green Dragon

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.

On Saturday December 5, the Dharma Foundation will hold a Holiday Trade Fair at the Field House on the MUM campus, next to MSAE, from 10-4. Admission is free. There will be local artisans, local companies and lots of incredible food!

M.U.M. Organic Farm

The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm in Fairfield, Iowa, has received a $13,750 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to study growing vegetables in large gutter-connect greenhouses in winter without added heat.

Not heating the greenhouse will reduce the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by about 88%. “This is an innovative study and a significant step in making the M.U.M. Farm and the University more sustainable,” said Steve McLaskey, assistant professor of biology and agriculture and director of the farm.

The method involves placing an extra layer of plastic directly over the plants to retain more heat. The research is innovative due to the large size of the greenhouses, which grow organic vegetables in the ground. Past studies at other institutions have examined this method in smaller greenhouses.

“Most of the large greenhouses in North America are used for ornamental crops, not vegetables,” Dr. McLaskey said. “There are large vegetable greenhouses in Canada, but they mainly use hydroponic [soil-free] techniques. I do not know of any other places, besides Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, that grow organic vegetables in the ground in one-acre greenhouses, especially in our very cold winter temperatures.”

The process started in January, when the heat in the greenhouses was switched off. The plastic on the roof of the greenhouse was replaced recently, so the old plastic was reused and placed over the plants in newly-built frames. This saved money and prevented the plastic from going into a landfill. The beds must be covered and uncovered daily.

Now that the grant is secured, the research will begin. The farm workers will measure growth and yield of four crops, measure soil and air temperatures, and estimate heating cost savings.

If this study is successful, Iowa farmers will be able to grow organic vegetables in large greenhouses without spending money on heating fuel. Then this type of farming will be more profitable and thus, more likely to become popular.

The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm provides fresh produce to the dining halls and Golden Dome Market on the Maharishi University of Management campus.

Written by Lee Leffler. Published in M.U.M. Review March 18 2009.

Follow-up, May 2010: Results of this research were in the May 5th, 2010 issue the M.U.M. Review. Winter Crops Can Grow in an Unheated Greenhouse.

A study, funded by a $13,000 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, has been completed and has found that winter crops can be successfully grown in an unheated greenhouse.

Steve McLaskey, who runs the campus organic farming operation, experimented with covering the plants with an extra layer of plastic at night to help them survive the extreme cold. He also used a control plot that was heated so that he could compare this energy-saving approach with the conventional. The result was that there was very little loss.

“We saved over $17,000 on energy bills because of this approach,” Dr. McLaskey said.

He presented his research at a special event in April that was held on site at the greenhouse so that growers in the region could learn about this new option.

“About 60 people attended, and they were very interested to see our operation and to hear how this was done,” Dr. McLaskey said.