Living in Peace and Wisdom on our Planet

Tour the century-old organic Chaffin Family Orchards where even the animals are "farm hands." Visit chickens in their egg-mobile, scratching for bugs and pooping fertilizer in the heirloom stone-fruit orchards. Goats chomp off low branches from the olive trees, so no fuel or human labor is needed. This certified predator-friendly enterprise includes 200 acres of olive trees plus various...  See entire blog item

In this animated video dialogue, natural resource analyst Sean Brodrick provides a sharp-eyed perspective on what may be coming in this precarious economy and how to prepare for it. The author of "The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide", Sean is hip to peak oil and other resource...  See entire blog item

[Note: the cost of oil has doubled since this interview was made - ed.]

With a long-time eye to declining energy resources, Bart Anderson envisions a very different society in five years. The former editor of Energy Bulletin.net offers advice for post-oil living: Understand the problem. Prepare psychologically...  See entire blog item

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...  See entire blog item

"More Food Here Now" is Jenny Pell's mantra. For this permaculturist, merely sustainable is not enough. We need to be additive — especially with energy descent upon us. How?

She suggests belonging where you live and getting (re)connected to your chain of inputs and outputs. She invites us to to regain skills, especially in food production, and to participate in creating abundance, which is "the only way forward, the only way for the human family to survive." (...  See entire blog item

Kate Magruder feels that "Opinions make walls. Stories make bridges." Using narrative, music and images, Placement Project participants create short stories that not only empower the tellers, but also elicit respect, admiration and tenderness from listeners. Kate hopes that telling our stories can build an honest...  See entire blog item

Ecopsychologist Sarah Edwards, PhD, explains stages people often go through when facing the implications of climate change and resource depletion. She outlines various aspects of Denial, Anxiety, Awakening, Despair, Powerlessness  and eventual Acceptance. Differentiating these from the normal grief process, Sarah emphasizes how we can face inevitable feelings of grief and free our energy for positive,...  See entire blog item

Take a personal tour with members of Santa Barbara City College's Student Sustainability Coalition. They're propelling action — like bringing fresh, local organic produce daily to the salad bar, and placing recycling bins in the cafeteria. They're educating the campus all year round and especially during Sustainability Week — on the climate crisis,...  See entire blog item

Meet Diana Leafe Christian and Bob Banner, speaking about ecovillages and how to find one, and about sacred activism, respectively.

Diana Leafe Christian, author of Finding Community: How to join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community, zeros in on how to find an ecovillage.  Once you determine what you want, what are...  See entire blog item

In this excerpt from a longer presentation, Shannon Biggs, of Global Exchange, describes how more than 100 communities have enacted laws that place the rights of communities and nature over the claimed "rights" of corporations. It's a radical and inspiring approach that brings decision-making back to communities. Biggs is the Local Green Economy program director with Global Exchange....  See entire blog item