News Magazine

Peak Moment - Creating a Home Graywater System - Trathen Heckman

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Trathen Heckman takes us on a step-by-step tour of how to make a safe, ecological and legal suburban home graywater system. Follow the water as it drains from the bathroom tub (and sink and laundry) through a unique valve leading into the backyard garden. It flows into an optional wetland and underground pond for filtering. The water is then piped below ground to several destinations in the yard, where it will supply water for plants growing above it.

Peak Moment - Community Gardens Grow Community Patrick Marcus

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Patrick Marcus and other motivated citizens sprouted a community garden on city land slated to be a park in Ashland, Oregon. When the garden was threatened by plans to develop the park, they got active. Their research and advocacy led to official policy supporting community gardens in city parks.

Peak Moment - For the Love of Trees Jerry Becker

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Though born and raised elsewhere, Jerry Becker is now a de facto indigenous member of Oregon's Elk River watershed. The credo he lives by is Respect. He and his family have lived lightly "long before it was cool." An ecoforester, Jerry manages the woods sensitively with an eye to its wholeness.

Peak Moment - Building Ecologically Sensible Home and and Gord Baird

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Wanting to live a "reasonable, comfortable life" in tune with nature, Ann and Gord Baird are building a "net zero energy" home on rural Vancouver Island. Their plans: a thick-walled cob house with passive solar heating. Wind and solar panels to provide electricity. Solar thermal hot water for domestic use and radiant heating. Composting toilets to enrich the earth for orchard, gardens and chickens. Rainwater catchment and a well for domestic and irrigation water. Follow their progress at www.eco-sense.ca.

Peak Moment - Suburban Permaculture with Janet Barocco and Richard Heinberg

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Tour Janet and Richard's quarter acre for an example of what's possible in suburbia. Their front yard of edible plants also provides habitat for birds and insects. The backyard radiates out from an herb and kitchen garden to vegetable beds and containers; 25 fruit and nut trees; and a restful Zen garden. Near a future pond is a "three sisters" spiral of corn, beans and squashes.

Peak Moment - Energy Independence Americas Road Not Taken Glenn Rambach

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Energy researcher Glenn Rambach's charts show how America budgeted for energy independence following the OPEC embargo in 1973. Then the Reagan administration switched to having "the market" create research incentives, so federal funding declined severely. He says we've lost 30 years, are spending in the wrong places, and need to get back to serious research in energy development.

Peak Moment - Economic Localization - A Community Rediscovering Itself

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In this freewheeling conversation, Jason Bradford and Brian Weller, co-founders of Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL), discuss local food security, creating a farm at a nearby grade school, being rooted in community, urban / rural friction in wealth and land use, regional trading partners, reinventing local public transportation, and more. (www.willitseconomiclocalization.org).

Peak Moment - Practical Tools to Grow an Intentional Community

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Communities Magazine editor Diana Leafe Christian concisely spells out what the successful 10% of intentional communities do: common vision and purpose, fair participatory decision-making, clear agreements in writing, good balance of right and left-brain knowledge, methods of staying accountable to agreements, criteria for new members, good communication and processing skills. She also discusses peak oil effects on the wider community. (www.creating-a-life-together.org).

Peak Moment - City Repair - Permaculture for Urban Spaces

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What happens when citizens apply permaculture principles to a city grid? They create friendly places within the grid that invite people to come together. Mark Lakeman, co-founder of Portland, Oregon's City Repair Project describes these "creative intervention" projects as placemaking at its best. People learn to work together, build trust and have fun.

Peak Moment - Post Carbon Cities - Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty

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Smart municipalities are planning and preparing for energy vulnerability and climate change. Daniel Lerch, manager of the Post Carbon Cities project, has prepared a guidebook including case studies of cities large and small planning how to maintain essential services in the face of energy and climate uncertainty. (www.postcarboncities.net).