Step it Up America!

Bill McKibben, environmental writer extraordinaire, was so pleased with his 2006 climate walk across Vermont that he decided to go further this year. He and some of his dedicated students have launched the Step it Up campaign, which will consist of rallies and demonstrations all across the country on April 14th, 2007 to call to curb carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. If that target sounds outrageously impossible and you feel like a naysayer by saying so, consider that the United Kingdom actually PASSED legislation in March to cut carbon emissions by 60% by the year 2050.

Even though the 2006 Vermont walk was a success, Bill McKibben couldn't believe that the 1,000 people who gathered to rally represented the largest US global warming demonstration ever...1,000 people!!! Help show Congress and our presidential candidates that we're not too busy for environmental activism. Check out Step it Up to find an event near you, and get out there to show your support for our planet.

Speaking of low impact living....

There's an article in today's New York Times that describes how one couple is living in New York City on a No Impact pledge for a year.

Although the article's author is sometimes baffled by their choices in typical New York Times speak, the articles is good at chronicling the difficult decisions that the couple has to face in a materialistic world. When living in a Compact, do you accept gifts? Is a birthday dinner at a restaurant ok?

You can read more on their blog: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

100 Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global Change

One of the many exciting things we talked about at our last potluck was the concept of a one hundred mile diet: eating foods that come from no further than 100 miles away from your home. The idea is that everyone can find what they need close to home, and doing so allows consumers to support farmers in their community, at the same time eating in season and saving the environmental costs that come from shipping food halfway across the world.

One couple from Canada record their journey of a year on this diet at 100milediet.org. Check it out!

Recap of Local and/or Organic Potluck(with pics!)

We recently held our second event of 2007: Local and/or Organic - a potluck with a discussion of CSA's, Farmers Markets, local agriculture and the implications of buying from factory farms or from places outside of the region.

There were over 30 people in attendance to hear Mark Smith(Brookwood Community Farm and FarmAid) and Danielle Andrews(The Food Project) talk about their work specifically as well as all of the issues in general. The attendees were quite interested in the subject so a lively Q&A session followed the presentations. There were brochures and sign-up forms for various CSA's as well as a guide to buying local(including farmers markets) that is published by The Food Project.

Thanks to Doerte for taking pictures at the potluck! To see all of them, visit our MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/consciousconsuming