According to a report in today's Palladium-Item, Earlham College is serving as a leader when it comes to sustainability in higher education:

The National Wildlife Federation says Earlham, along with 12 other Indiana colleges, are leaders in environmentally friendly activity, according to a national report card on sustainability in higher education.

Earlham was one of 240 schools nationwide recognized as being exemplary in the areas of sustainability. That included, but was not limited to its waste reduction plan, says Julian Keniry, NWF's senior director of campus and community leadership.

You can read the article, or view the NWF report.

This talk by Scott Hess, Assistant Professor of English at Earlham College, is on the ethical importance of sense of place (both social and environmental) in the context of globalization, and on how the liberal arts college experience educates students (or fails to educate them) for awareness of place.

The convocation will be held at Tuesday June 24th at 7 PM in Goddard Auditorium, on the campus of Earlham College in Richmond.

The 2008 Earth Day Celebration event will be held on Saturday, April 26th from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Starr-Gennett Building in the Gorge. Check back for more information, coming soon.

Imagine Indiana as a role model of sustainability by 2016. Join a growing movement of people from Indiana whose organizations and projects are incorporating principles of sustainability.

Sustainable Indiana 2016 is a Collaborative Project Initiated by Earth Charter Indiana, Inc. Indiana is not generally regarded as a role model for progressive causes but could, for that very reason, make a considerable impact for good by becoming a national and world “leader” in the race to sustainability.  continue reading »

A Premier Educational Event in Indianapolis for Food Consumers, Small Farmers, Gardeners, and Energy Users Who Want A More Sustainable Lifestyle.

This gathering will be a source of information about simpler lifestyles. Locate sources of food that is less processed, grown closer to home, constitutes a healthful diet and supports a clean environment.

Discover options for renewable energy technologies for your home. Watch a demonstration of biofuel production that anyone can do. Mingle with farmers that can supply food from local farms. Network with other like-minded people. Visit our trade show of resources and educational exhibits.  continue reading »

The course that’s been called “life-changing, transformative, and enormously affirming.” Help green the city and prepare for climate change. Build networks of support and empower yourself with the skills of ecological design as we search for the roots of permanent culture.

Consciously designed landscapes, which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings, and the ways in which they organize themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture.

The Permaculture Design Course spans five weekends:  continue reading »

This blog entry is a repository of personal "action items" that I suggest when I give my talk entitled "Going Local: Building a Self-Reliant Richmond, Indiana," first presented in its current form in November, 2007. As I say in the talk:

• You may already know a lot of this stuff
• I don't like telling people how to live, and I very much still aspire to practice some of these things myself, so I don't offer these up with any sort of moral authority
• This can be thought of as a menu of possibilities, rather than a list of imperatives or instructions

If you're not completely sure why it might be a good thing for Richmond to become self-reliant or why these action items might help, then please invite me to give the talk for your group or organization. It's chock full of great information about the energy crisis, climate change, the economy, and the implications for life in Richmond and Wayne County, Indiana. I also tell some jokes.

Now, on to the list, which is largely centered on reducing our dependence on and usage of fossil fuels:  continue reading »