education

Come along on a tour with team-teachers Glenda Berliner and Jeralyn Wilson, as they show us their elementary school garden bearing many fruits. It’s an important part of the curriculum: children make mason bee boxes, grow colonial medicinal plants, learn of other cultures, and put science to work. It builds community: parents work together, students form a bucket brigade to transport wood chips. It’s a site for celebrations like a pumpkin harvest or a play. Whether it’s the flower and vegetable beds, or the restful Zen garden, the garden is a favorite place to be, and to grow from. Episode 126.

Energetic Kris Holstrom is the first Sustainability Coordinator for Telluride and a smart Colorado county. The action plan she developed encompasses energy efficiency and renewables, green building, food and water security, economy, and recycling/resource recovery. She enlightens us about green codes, incentives and rebates, a household energy audit program, public education speakers and conferences, even farm tours for schoolkids. For Kris, what’s at the heart of sustainability is building relationships within the community and with the land, wherever we live. Episode 120.

According to Professor Guy Prouty, every civilization rises, evolves, and then collapses to a simpler structure -- and this will include our own. Comparing America with the Western Roman Empire, Prouty notes the over-reach of our military, the unsustainability of capitalism, peak oil, and climate change. And, this time, we may see a global collapse. Transitioning to a simpler society will require us to change behavior and consciousness: decrease energy, get out of debt, decentralize, de-consume, grow our own food, build community, see ourselves as connected to the planet. Collapse is not the end, he says. It's part of a natural cycle. Episode 112.

Amidst cob-wall plastering in the background, co-director Stacey Denton relays the story of the first years at White Oak Farm and Educational Center in Oregon: Acquiring the 62 acres of food and pasture and protecting it through conservation easements, creating their non-profit organization. See food baskets for their CSA (community supported agriculture) program, visit their abundant permaculture-based farm; attend a workshop in natural building; and delight with kids in an educational program "down on the farm." Episode 111.

As a mom of two teenagers, Deborah Lindsay is deeply concerned about their future. As a peak oil educator, she paints a vivid picture of a post-petroleum world, with an emphasis on preparedness. With teens she talks about career choices and practical life skills. With parents, she focuses on safety, economic and energy contraction, and steps to begin now. In 2006 she began the daily talk radio show "Tomorrow Matters - Giving a Voice to a Better Tomorrow" to amplify her message. Episode 110.

In this episode of Deconstructing Dinner, we explore the creation of a market for local grain using a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. We also hear from a grade 4 student sharing some shocking information with his classmates on factory animal farms.

A closed landfill in Santa Barbara county is not just being restored with native plants. It also has a pilot project growing oil-rich jatropha for biodiesel. Restoration horticulturists Karen Flagg and Don Hartley of Growing Solutions do restoration education and remediate damaged landscapes -- bringing them back to life. Episode 71.

Take a tour with Joe, Doug and Sam Bullock on their Orcas Island property, site of a yearly Permaculture design course. Using nature as their model, they create edges and wildlife habitat, move water through the landscape, promote diversity, and raise an astonishing variety of plants from sub-arctic to tropical -- a wise investment in these climate-changing times. Episode 68.

Enjoy toe-tapping tunes as environmental educators Sharon Abreu and Michael Hurwicz regale us with songs like "Penguins on Thin Ice." Their shared goal is for education to be fun and entertaining. Their catchy lyrics bid "Goodbye, Oil" and ask "How do we find the balance?" Their answer: "The economy depends on the ecology." Sing along! Episode 65.