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Photo: Rebekah Azen

by Rebekah Zablud Azen

Luckily for me, I was rudely and unceremoniously thrown out of my long-term rental of twelve years for a minor infraction for which my dear puppy-dog was responsible. He had the good sense to bark at the new neighbor, a policeman, who, having the authority of law and finding no obstruction to bullying, threatened to shoot my dog. The landlord, being a true capitalist, scrambled to placate the policeman, and wasted no time in securing his rental property and possessions. I was told to “get rid of the dog” or vacate within a month. Having no rights as a renter, the decision was simple. Leave.

That was a year and a half ago. The departure forced me to examine my “homelessness,” a fact common amongst almost all people today; street people, renters, and so-called “homeowners,” the ones who owe a death-pledge, a mortgage. Homelessness is in reality a widespread phenomenon affecting not just street people, but anyone who doesn’t own a home and is vulnerable to losing their domicile. A renter is vulnerable to the vagaries of the landlord and can be given notice at any time. If a renter can’t pay the rent due to unemployment or illness, then he or she is evicted. As to most so-called “homeowners,” the real owner is typically the bank, or more likely, Wall Street, to whom the “homeowner” owes a lifetime debt. Should the “homeowner” fail to pay the mortgage due to the same causes of unemployment or illness, she or he will suffer the same consequences as the renter. The domicile is lost.

If the “homeowner” can suffer a lost domicile, in addition to the requisite servitude of a good 30 years, what security, what freedom from serfdom, what contentment, health, and peace, or more accurately, what sanity is there in traditional “homeownership?”

I had probably arrived, after many years of workplace struggle and career advancement where I could join my brethren in the all-American, race-to-indebtedness “homeowner” pursuit, but like so many things I’ve avoided, like pharmaceuticals, investments in corporate America, pesticides in my food, and cell phones, I decided it wasn’t a good deal. I just didn’t have the time at half a century, or money, but less so the inclination.

What I wanted and needed was a truly affordable home that I could quickly own outright so that I could obtain what I consider the necessities of life; freedom, security, and self-sufficiency – freedom from a lifetime of enforced workplace drudgery so that I might pursue loftier goals; freedom from enforced participation in an economic system I find reprehensible in its exploitation and destruction of the earth and its people; security against loss of a domicile; a secure place to retire when I am elderly; and the ability to obtain considerable sovereignty over my physical needs so as not to be completely dependent on corporate culture.

Far from being extravagant, these wants and needs are fundamental to life, and though they are my concerns, they are also the concerns of all people. All people should have time to pursue the things that matter to them in life and time to develop their abilities and higher nature. Everyone should have the freedom to pursue their livelihood in ways that are non-exploitative and non-destructive to the earth and her inhabitants. Everyone deserves a safe and secure home that no one can take away, whether in youth, middle age or old age. And everyone should have access to the natural resources of the earth to guarantee a basic level of self-sufficiency so as not to be dependent on, and controlled by others, such as the industrial food, financial, and energy industries.

These things: freedom, security, and self-sufficiency, are important and legitimate in any epoch but our generation is dealing with something more, much more. We are arriving at a time in history where the unnatural, antiquated, exploitative framework of private property and its sick progeny, capitalism, which has been generating the conditions of its own demise for centuries, has now reached its limits – the earth’s limits. Further expansion can only lead to collapse. We have overshot the earth’s limits with peak everything, resource depletion, and environmental degradation, of which climate change is just one calamitous, presently-unfolding manifestation.

To any observant individual, it is evident that Western civilization is tottering on the brink of collapse. An economic meltdown from any number of problems manifesting in the physical environment or elsewhere, all originating from the same unregulated “free market” system, will ensure widespread unemployment. Anyone without a job will certainly be without a home in no time flat. Our true state of homelessness, with all its accompanying ills, will soon become painfully apparent.

“Employment,” our modern notion of redemption and all things positive, is but a cover-up for what truly is…bankruptcy of the people who hold little but baubles, bells and trinkets. You can’t eat a DVD player, an automobile or a wardrobe, or stay warm from a T.V., a washer/dryer, or jewelry. These things don’t grow food or keep you sheltered from the cold, snow and rain. Most Americans today don’t even hold assets. What we hold and own are “negative assets;” debt. The great wealth we supposedly own is nothing more than a chimera, an illusion. It is not in our hands– it is in the hands of the wealthy few. Government assistance for the American people will be as rapid, life-saving, restorative and assuring as what we witnessed with Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill, or looking back, the Depression years. We should know by now that the government has other priorities and it is not us.

There’s good reason as to why the term “employment” has so much prominence in the Western vocabulary. Wealth is generated through labor (otherwise known as employment), and requires land and capital of which the laborer has none. All the extractive industries – from landlords to employers, corporations, loan companies, mortgage companies, banks, insurance agencies, the financial industry, Wall Street, and Government – depend on your continual, uninterrupted employment. It is through labor that wealth is generated but it cannot accrue to the laborer because those who own the land and resources of production siphon the wealth off for themselves. If we stopped working, the rich couldn’t get any richer. Unemployment is considered extremely undesirable because the unemployed require support from the public coffers; money which could be “better” spent supporting capitalist development and more jobs to enrich the wealthy.

Economists talk about employment as if it is, and has forever been, the only avenue to obtaining the necessities of life but this is fallacious and misleading. Employment is a Johnny-Come-Lately. Its spouse (the two are inseparable), unemployment, or arbeitslosigkeit in German (union activity and socialism had deep roots in Germany), was a term rarely heard before the 1890’s. Employment/unemployment is a modern phenomenon that accompanies landlessness and the rise of industrial capitalism. The fact is that access to land and the resources of the earth, not employment, is what got humanity through the millennia.

To understand landlessness is to understand how the system works. It’s very simple. If people are deprived of land, they cannot obtain the necessities of existence from the earth that they have a natural right and inheritance to. Others control their existence by owning the land; therefore the landless have nothing but their labor to sell in order to survive. When employment ceases for whatever reason, the laborer is still landless and homeless. But as long as the system operates the laborer can conceivably find other employment.

When the system collapses however, there will be no employment to be had. And then it will be clearly seen that the people at large are destitute – they own and control absolutely nothing of value; neither land, nor the resources of production, which flow from land and labor. When the system collapses, it won’t be for the reason Karl Marx anticipated, that the proletariat rise up in resistance, but from its own weight, through centuries of conceited, rapacious, arrogant and ignorant conflict with the ways of the natural world, enthroned in land-grabbing economic institutions from Roman times to the present. Regardless of what triggers the collapse, we will all need shelter, warmth and sustenance.

So these were my personal motivations and reasons for finding an alternative to traditional “homeownership.” I wanted to find a way out for myself as well as a way “in” to something new, but what I discovered was far more than I ever expected. As I began to research, I put the pieces back together, beginning with the story of land, to explain why housing is so unaffordable today and why everyone is trapped in this no-win game. What I discovered for myself was obviously of concern and use to all people. The explanation and answers to our predicament are spelled out in this series of articles, and the methods are sound. Freedom, security, self-sufficiency and sovereignty can all be re-gained and re-claimed through the Community Land Trust model, use of the Sustainable Development Testing Site Act, and small, earthship-type homes.

We are heading down the proverbial rabbit hole and for all who sense the danger, it’s time, way beyond time to act. We are late for a very important date. My only regret is that I came to these realizations so late in life; not the fact of systemic collapse, but understanding the causes that are rooted in inequitable land tenure and the logical, unequivocal solutions, which proceed from that. The implications are immense and I can hardly do this matter justice in these few short pages. But I would like to touch on some important points.

The longer this economic system survives, the more serious are the consequences for the planet and all life. We should be cheering for its demise as soon as possible if we had any sense about us. The consequences of climate change are compounding by the minute and at some point, not far in the future, we are guaranteed catastrophic results capable of eliminating life on the planet.

Climate change is not, as some would like us to believe, an isolated environmental problem that exists independent of everything, not the least of which the economic system that causes it. It is an economic problem. It is a problem of capitalism. It cannot be resolved with politics and legislation. Governments exist to support capitalists and capitalism. That is their function. This is why no significant headway will ever be made by petitioning governments. True to their capitalist agenda, federal and state government has abdicated all responsibility for climate change. The gubernatorial candidates couldn’t even support a state greenhouse gas cap-and-trade rule, which is little more than a symbolic act meant to appease.

Politics is nothing more than a smokescreen and a diversion for the gullible masses. Power is derived not from politics but from economics and economic relations. Politics is its handmaiden. Republican or Democrat does not alter the fundamental dynamic. As long as those in power (economic power) can deceive us, they surely will, using the political system as bait, always leading us on a wild goose chase away from our own best interests.

The issue of climate change may seem obscure and irrelevant to some but it’s actually incredibly symbolic of our situation and extremely instructive. The privatization and commodification of land, better known as imperialism or colonialism, which creates the conditions for economic exploitation, culminating in the autarchic reaches of modern corporate capitalism, has been going on for centuries, but the affects were always localized, until the present. The displacement of people from their homelands and the resultant poverty, war, slave labor, and suffering, happened elsewhere, to other people, in South America, Asia or Africa, or we think that it happened “a long time ago” when the indigenous inhabitants were removed for the advancement of “civilization.” We don’t see the connection; that the sufferings that other people have endured through time are now our sufferings, from the same causes. Climate change didn’t spring out of nowhere. It is the end result of land grabbing, and the concomitant rise and ascendancy of capitalist economics. The chickens have all come home to roost.

There is no stopping climate change until capitalism stops. It’s a runaway train on a global scale and it’s pointless to talk about political action, the greening of the economy, emissions trading, cap and trade, regulating polluters, geo-engineering, taxing polluters, or other airy fairy ideas about how to stop it that don’t deal with the root of the problem, capitalism. As long as people are employed, which they have to be because everyone is now homeless and landless, and completely dependent on a job, we are rapidly creating the conditions of our own demise. No one, not even the best intentioned climate change activist, can step out of this imprisonment which keeps us enslaved to creating the conditions for our own massive suffering and probable extinction until she/he has an option to employment, to not be employed. Think of it. If the world’s people were not forced into factories and industrial economies on a daily basis, the conditions for climate change making would cease immediately. But that is not possible and will never be possible until the one thing that matters most changes, the ability of people to leave the industrial economy by way of securing land which provides the provisions of life….for housing, food, and warmth.

Capitalism is simply unsustainable and there is no way around this inconvenient truth. Capitalism is predicated on landlessness. No one works who doesn’t have to but the millions of landless around the world must to secure their daily bread. This is how profits are generated and how the whole cycle works. The system cannot stop or even slow down without manufacturing dire consequences, unemployment and rampant poverty. Production and consumption are intimately bound causing resource depletion, environmental degradation and pollution. Growth is unstoppable. It’s a cancer that no amount of tinkering can fix because the fundaments (unequal distribution of land) are wrong. They’re out of sync with natural law which has inviolable boundaries. The natural world does not create inequity. Man does.

We are caught in a vise. If the capitalist economy continues as it is for some time, we will suffer more severe consequences from climate change, until the results of that cause the system to collapse. If the economy collapses before the worst of climate change kicks in, it will be better for the long term survival of the planet at large, but we will have massive unemployment and homelessness, unprecedented suffering, and grave social chaos.

What to do? Forget about a movement. The masses are asleep and have long since forgotten about the history of enclosures in medieval Europe, the rise of socialism as a repudiation of the growing capitalist order, or the celebrated writings of Henry George. Forget about political action for forging some broad social mandate which can’t make a dent in this gargantuan life-destroying system.

The end product of capitalism is not material goods but material man, having consumed so much rubbish over the centuries, he is degraded, lost, unaware, and unconscious of his collective humanity and his place on earth. He is controllable and unable to know or serve his own best interests. Economic powers have him sold on “sustainability” to solve the problem of climate change; he can obsess over “personal” responsibility, hanging his clothes out to dry, putting a solar collector on his rooftop, and bicycling to work rather than start a revolution. The natural impulse of collective resistance to exploitation, dehumanization, and life threatening forces has been abducted.

Take charge of this situation yourself. No one is going to resolve this crisis for us. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Get ready. Step outside of capitalism. Step way outside of capitalism. Don’t just wade in “local living economies” and antiquated traditional market forces, the green economy, “natural” or “sustainable” capitalism, protest against hegemonic corporate and government rule, petitioning for regulatory “fixes,” fighting pervasive government in-action, orthodoxy and apathy, or any other “solutions” that don’t leave capitalism in the dust or its compadre, socialism (owning the means of production to pollute and exploit just as thoroughly will not help us out of this crisis).

Start a Community Land Trust to create self-sufficiency and survival in these tumultuous, radically changing times. Show others the way out and forward. Change the fundamental equation of economics for good…an economics in sync and not opposed to natural law and the natural order….an economics starting from the ground up with the equitable distribution and communal control of land taken out of the market forever. There is no other way. Take the land back. Give the land back. Bring us back to who we are. One with the land. One with life. Equality and well-being for all.

* If anyone has land to donate for an emerging rural, self-sufficient, sustainable CLT, please contact Rebekah (contact info below).

This article is also available online at The Santa Fe New Mexican website http://www.santafegreenline.com/

Rebekah Zablud Azen is a long-time student of traditional indigenous lifeways, non-revisionist history, economics, and land tenure issues – passports to understanding humanity’s present predicament and enabling us to identify practical solutions for survival and restored balance in a new era. Rebekah can be reached at 505.424.9475 or rebekah@cybermesa.com

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I admit it: I’m a victim of the economy. But I was also a contributor to its demise. In 2006 while still married, I purchased a home with 100% financing. Wow. That was dumb. I was sold a bill of goods, a litany of “you should buy now, invest in your future, real estate is a good investment,” tag lines. I watched all the commercials for Countrywide, offering me a killer deal on 100% financing. And I bought into it. All of it. And then in 2008, I divorced. The economy tanked. My house value plummeted and I was still stuck with a mortgage from the divorce settlement. But I don’t blame my former husband. He was the smart one who said, “Take the house, please.” I, on the other hand thought, “things will get better. This has got to turn around. I’ll get a housemate. I’ll keep adding value with new landscape, a remodeled kitchen and bath. I’ll keep it up because it’s my asset. It’s not like it’s going to be a depression.” And then the rose-colored glasses came off and I was staring directly at my own debt. Ouch.

It’s no secret that I’m the Executive Director of the Santa Fe Alliance, working on local living economies, saving the economy from itself, trying to turn a huge consumer mind-set to spend local, move your money local, go green for green’s sake, eat local, act local. And yet, here I am, a victim of my own mind. I truly believed it would get better and that the work that I do would surely fix things – fast. Maybe I believed it because I HAD to believe it. Because when a friend of mine moved back to New England in 2007 and remained unemployed for two years, I believed Santa Fe was doing well. Or better, at least.

I ran into a colleague on a lazy Saturday afternoon in September. The conversation went like this: “Hey, how are you? What are you up to,” she asked, eye-balling my shopping cart filled with doormats and home goods. “I’m staging my house,” I said proudly. “For sale?” “Yes. More like unloading it. Actually, if I could just throw it off the cliff, I’d be much happier.” She laughed. And agreed.

Suddenly the American Dream of homeownership is not so interesting. In a recent NPR news story, a once-potential homeowner claimed that renting was a far better option than owning in this current economy. “Our front porch collapsed on our Milwaukee house. . . It was, like, $22,000 to replace it, just to get back to having a front porch. That’s a lot of money to get hit with just to be able to walk up to your house, your front door.”

Her husband says that when he writes his rent check every month, he thinks to himself, “This is worth every penny. . . It locks my cost in every month. I have no surprises. Utilities are included. Parking’s included. I write my check; I’m done for the month. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

I’m beginning to understand this feeling. But my feeling is connected to writing an inflated mortgage payment to a massive multi-state corporate bank, and watching my investment go nowhere. Selling my house might actually reconnect to my local economy in a meaningful way. I discovered something interesting recently in a conversation with Santa Fe Alliance member, Southwestern Title and Escrow owner, John Fox. Buyers and sellers have a choice in where they close the sale, purchase or refinance their home. When I bought my house, I wanted handholding through the process – my real estate agent was the expert. But at closing, I was asked to sign reams of paper with a pen from a title/escrow company based outside of New Mexico. I have learned now that buyers and sellers can choose to use a local title company because it means IF they sell their house, most of the fees for title insurance and closing which we pay from the transaction will stay in Santa Fe. Did you know that? I had no idea. As John Fox says, “All of the employees of Southwestern Title are based in Santa Fe. All our profits stay in Santa Fe. We all live here and want to keep the community’s engine running.” On the other hand, I can shop as local as I want to, shift my entire budget to 100% local and still not make a single dent in my mortgage issues because my mortgage is owned by a massive corporate bank.

I’m not crying, though. I’m relieved to finally admit I can’t do it anymore. Nor should I try. I can’t continue to believe that I’m building my future through homeownership. My asset management plan was not to pay “interest only” to a massive corporate bank.

When I made the decision to sell the house and talked about it out loud I met other people who are going through it too. We’re all in this mess together; we created it together. We made some bad decisions; we can make some better decisions now. We can move our money, reinvest in ourselves – our own sustainability. It’s more important to me to make sure my money goes to the locally owned businesses in this community who care about our community than to save my house. Imagine if in 5 years I buy another house and pay my mortgage to the newly formed Bank of New Mexico, owned by the State of New Mexico – a bank that might give 1% loans to farmers, and help locally owned businesses recover from this economy. That’s local. AND sustainable.

So, I’ve got a house for sale. Real cheap. Anyone interested?

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Gifts coming from a place of generosity rather than obligation are heartfelt. The approaching holiday season is an ideal time to rethink sustainable ways of connecting to others. There are many options, including shunning gifting or figuring out a more thoughtful expression. In economic hard times there may be a tendency to avoid gifting, yet this season can be an opportunity to think consciously about purchases.

Taking the focus off self during the holiday season can turn stress into joy. Think about what might delight another person, such as favorite foods or activities or a gift certificate from a particular store. Seen as a means of connecting, rather than an obligation, with the intrigue of you as a detective, gifting can become a mystery. What makes the “m-m-m” present is discovery, and this can become the fun of the holiday season. (Hint: Internet relationships don’t usually arrive at this point. Mindful gifting can move us closer to family and friends and (overcome) the disconnect of the electronic age.)

Conscious giving may take a little more time, but quite possibly a lot less money. The art of finding or making the perfect present is part of relating, the fabric of families and community. How to get there? Being in relationship is the art of connecting and observing someone’s preferences and needs during the year (and this can change over the years). What do they like to eat? Where do they like to eat? What do they need to stay warm for the winter? What are their preferred causes and non-profits you might give to?

Starting early reduces the stress and increases the chance to be present with other people. To revive the important heartfelt tradition of gifting, think several months ahead, “what does this family member or friend use?” Simple observation or a few questions will provide the hint.

RESTORING CONNECTIONS

Holiday spending in the U.S. is huge, estimated at 27 billion dollars. Now is the time to rethink this tremendous use of resources. The gifting season, besides being can be an opportunity for thinking consciously about purchases, can be about restoring connectedness to between people, and being supportive to others. Often when we purchase needed items, rather than luxuries, the consumer footprint is reduced. By purchasing locally-made items from locally-owned businesses, you are contributing to economy-building– a gift to the community. Presents from natural materials rather than synthetics could be considered as a gift to Mother Earth.

Here are a few options:

o CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share (yes, available even in winter)

o Donation to an environmental or social cause

o Old-fashioned, non-electric kitchen tools (e.g. meat grinder, flour mill)

o Gift certificate to a locally-owned, healthy food restaurant

o Gift cards to local businesses

o Books (or e-books)

o Packages of locally-grown whole foods

o A solar cooker

o Gifts of local art (watch for the tours)

Make a heartfelt, handmade present, such as:

o A family geneaology

o Saved seeds

o Hand knitted scarf or a hat

o A family photograph

o Photograph of a recipient’s favorite place

o Homemade pillowcases

o Bottles of homemade oils and vinegars, applesauce, or baked goods – tie with a ribbon

o A note promising a needed service, or one giving a little TLC

Rosemary Sage Olive Oil

16 oz olive oil (2 cups)

3 rosemary stalks

3 sage leaves

3 cloves garlic

1 T peppercorns

On a cutting board, crush the rosemary and sage lightly with the back of a spoon. Heat herbs and olive oil on low in a saucepan for 5 minutes, to mingle the flavors. Put herbed oil, garlic and peppercorns into a 16 oz. jar (fancy or plain). Let flavors mingle at least 1 week. This oil is delicious on salads, vegetables, or to cook any sauté.

While re-gifting is a sustainable option, it needs to be done with thought and not just a quick rewrap. My personal favorite is the thoughtful, handmade present.

Opportunities to find sustainable choices are everywhere. Just to name a few: The Santa Fe Alliance’s Local Guide to businesses (www.santafealliance.com), Studio Tours (www.newmexico.org/experience/…/studio tours), Farmer’s Markets (www.farmersmarketsnm.org), Mother Earth News (www.motherearthnews.com), American Environmental Health Foundation (www.aehf.com), American Environmental Green Products Company (www.greenproducts.com), Gaiam (www. Gaiam.com), the Vermont Country Store (www.VermontCountryStore.com) or search the internet for green products.

GIFTING AND SUSTAINABILITY

Now is the time to decide whether to participate in purchased consumerism or to avoid past trends. Have the holidays become overly-commercialized or have we become lazy, falling into the grips of commercialization? Instead of waiting for the “economy to turn-around” (which may never happen), turn the economy different. This is only possible with the cumulative actions of each individual. High priced, synthetic gadgets pollute the earth and deplete natural resources.

“Hard times,” can be a stimulus for regrouping and revisioning life. Reducing environmental and economic impacts is a good way to overcome the current societal malaise over the economy. This season is a good time to introduce friends and family to green, non-toxic products if they are open to the idea.

Indigenous peoples, with their expertise for caring for the earth, have ceremonies around giving and circulating goods within communities. Genuine connecting weaves social fabric, adding quality to life. Local items meeting basic needs and gifts that stimulate use of the senses also restore connection to place.

Eliminate the packaging. Think of gifts that contribute to wellness. Look for locally-made products and foods. Purchase from locally-owned stores, participating fully in economy-building, through the recirculation of local dollars.

Is generosity the key to sustainability in the future? We will only survive as a species through sharing resources, making environmentally sound choices, and supporting each other.

Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is Métis (Micmac Indian and Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural centers, cultural tourism and native foods. She is the co- author of Zen Birding (www.zenbirding.com) and the author of Planning for Balanced Development.

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The lyrics and musical arrangement were written by Cipriano Vigil and David Garcia, and are based on a Spanish Colonial version dating back to the 1700′s. The choreography and staging were created by Roger Montoya and Rosalia Triana, and reflect the traditions, care and folklore associated with El Mayordomo, and his or her duties with the annual ditch cleaning, which sustains farmers and families along the Rio Grande in Nuevo Mexico.

The multicultural cast of 12 performers from the Española Valley includes children from the Pueblos of Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara, Mexicanos, Hispanos and Anglo children who range in age from 4 to 13.

Moving Arts Española (MAE) is an outreach program of Moving People Dance Santa Fe, a nonprofit contemporary dance company. MAE offers low cost dance instruction to at-risk youth in an after school program in one of the most underserved counties in New Mexico.

The program is the creation of Roger Montoya, a former professional dancer, gymnast, visual artist and community activist. Eleven professional instructors offer more than 40 hours of instruction weekly in music, drama, visual art, ballet, Mexican folk dance, flamenco, gymnastics, yoga, hip-hop, break-dance, circus trapeze and drama. Since 2008, over 600 children have enrolled. For more information, contact Montoya at 505.927.0108 or e-mail rogermontoya@valornet.com.

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On Tuesday, December 7th, from 6–8 pm at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, ChemRisk, LLC will hold the third and final public meeting to discuss responses to comments they have received regarding preliminary drafts of the Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) Project Independent Peer Review (IPR) documents.

ChemRisk, a risk analysis corporation, was hired by BDD Project Board, which is composed of Santa Fe (city and county) elected officials. AMEC Earth and Environment, based in Socorro, NM, has collaborated with ChemRisk to assess the safety of surface water flowing downstream from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and groundwater traveling through the Regional Aquifer toward the Rio Grande. The report also contains a detailed evaluation of potential tap water health risks to Santa Fe residents. The advocacy group Healthy Water Now ASAP, a network of doctors, nurses, therapists, midwives, early childhood educators and concerned citizens, has expressed their public health concerns to the BDD Board for the past several years.

ChemRisk’s report summary released in October states that “LANL contributes very little, if any, chemicals and radionuclides to the Rio Grande during normal flow (non-storm) conditions.” It also says that LANL doesn’t present a risk during stormwater runoff, and that chemical and radionuclide levels in the river are “within acceptable drinking water standards and are naturally occurring.” The report concludes, “There will be no health risk to people drinking BDD Project tap water.”

The Buckman river diversion site is located three miles downriver of Los Alamos Canyon, which contains contamination from 67 years of Manhattan Project operations. A system has been installed that will shut off the Buckman intake in the event of any LANL contaminated surface water that could migrate into the river via the canyons. An “early warning system” that is supposed to keep contaminated water from entering the BDD was washed out by two flash floods between August 15-23 of this year, which were 200 year/1 hour and 100 year/1 hour storm events respectively. It reportedly took LANL 24 hours to report to the BDD Project that water was flooding down the canyon, and three days to repair the system.

In recent months engineers have been testing pumps that are to eventually bring about 15 million gallons of Rio Grande water a day, 11 miles uphill to Buckman’s Regional Water Treatment Plant in Santa Fe on Caja del Rio Road. A complex system utilizing sediment removal, membrane filtration, ozonation and granular activated carbon is designed to produce high-quality drinking water. The plant is expected to be running at full capacity in April and begin delivering water when the city takes over in May.

Santa Fe currently relies on two eastside reservoirs, which supply about 40 percent of the city’s water, along with a number of wells. The BDD Project is expected to provide 60% of the drinking water, including 8,730 acre feet a year of Native Rio Grande and San Juan-Chama Project water, for 100,000 Santa Feans living in the city, county and at the Las Campanas development.

A number of questions remain. When the economy improves, will water from the $217 million project enable growth and development while allowing the aquifers to recharge? Will it provide a sustainable source during drought years? Where the river reaches Albuquerque, it has recently been reported to be at its lowest level in years. What effect might Albuquerque’s demands on the river have on Santa Fe?

Despite ChemRisk’s reassuring assessments, some who have been closely monitoring the company’s complex analysis remain concerned about water, soil and air issues. Robert H. Gilkeson, Registered Geologist, and representatives of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) say that some of ChemRisk’s recent assertions are directly contradicted in the prelimminary draft report.

Some of their concerns:

1) Whether contamination has already migrated to the Regional Aquifer via pathways under San Ildefonso Pueblo. Gilkeson and CCNS say that the groundwater system connection to the Rio Grande is only partially understood as documented in LANL reports. LANL is now claiming a complete reversal of its 2005 position about the connection between the contaminated groundwater, the Regional Aquifer and the Buckman Well Field.

2) That since the Buckman Sentinel Monitoring Well has not yet been installed, the available data for the report has been compromised; that according to a 2007 National Research Council report, the system of groundwater monitoring wells is inadequate; and that studies have been inappropriately limited.

3) That flash floods and snowmelt flow over 212 dumpsites in Los Alamos/Pueblo Canyon with radioactive, toxic and hazardous contaminants including plutonium, cesium, strontium, americium, neptunium, tritium, selenium, hexavalent chromium, PCBs, perchlorate and others. The EPA, in its recently issued stormwater permit, has identified 40 “high priority” sites that require cleanup in the next three years. CCNS is demanding that in order to protect public health, these sites be cleaned up before the Buckman Project goes on-line.

4) That ChemRisk used the federal EPA standard for total chromium rather than the more protective NM standard.

5) Gilkeson and CCNS says that contaminant concentrations in the groundwater are high because large areas of the regional aquifer are contaminated with chromium at concentrations far above both standards, and that the “nature and extent” of a chromium plume accidentally discovered in 2004 is still unknown.

6) That the preliminary draft report of the IPR team states that drinking treated water from the BDD Project could result in a lifetime cancer risk of 1.76 people per 10,000, which exceeds the less protective public health standard of 1 person per 10,000.

At the conclusion of the BDD Independent Peer Review, the Final Technical Report, Executive Summary and Community Summary will be publicly available through the websites www.bddproject.org and www.chemrisk.com. Drafts of the documents are also available for those who wish to read them before the meeting.

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“Breathe in, breathe out. We are but one in the connectedness of beings. Become one heartbeat with the planet.”

Our relationship to other species as sentient beings is explored in this new book for those who enjoy nature, bird watching, Eastern and Native American worldviews. The text contains many captivating New Mexico nature stories that illustrate the Zen lives of birds – being in the moment, being skillful, using strategy, communicating, playing and even engaging in family dynamics.

This very different style of birding can be developed as a conscious approach that reinforces all the values that attract people to birds. Whatever else birding is to a devotee, it can become a practice that opens us to awareness of deeper meanings of the activity.

The book may be purchased at locally owned bookstores or through amazon.com. For more information, visit www.zenbirding.com.

“Through observational vignettes and musings on the nature of birds, Zen Birding presents an approach to mindfulness and humility in the presence of nature.”

– Tom Jervis, President, NM Audubon Society

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GFT: You live on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, co-founded Honor the Earth, and are the founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project.

“My work at White Earth is largely around the question of how you build a sustainable and durable culturally-based economy in a rural community. I’m a rural development economist, actually, by training.

The work we’ve been doing over the past 20 years started with the issue of wild rice. We had a lot of battles similar to the battle in New Mexico over chile; the question of if any corporation, or in this case it was a state university, similar to New Mexico State University at Las Cruces’ interest in the genetic engineering of chile. The University of Minnesota had an interest in genetically engineering wild rice. I believe that “wild” should actually mean something, like not genetically engineered. And the problem is that when you have an open-air experiment of a genetically engineered crop, it’s not sterile. And so there was the potential of contaminating natural wild rice stands throughout Minnesota. It was a huge battle. I was engaged for about 7 years in the legislature. We do now have a full environmental impact statement required before any proposed introduction, which would include all tribal participation.

Our organization started on the issues of recovery of land and recovery of economy, the foundation of which is a wild rice economy. We have a Farm to School Program. I’m sure you have a few of those here. It was the first tribal Farm to School Program in the state of Minnesota, serving about 100 portions a day; a small school.

Our new farmer partners are the Amish. We get their seconds for the Farm to School. Blemished cabbages are what we’re picking up today. Yesterday we picked up 60 dozen ears of corn. We’ll blanch and freeze them because my organization has a USDA-certified food production facility. We sell wild rice. It’s called Native Harvest. We try to capitalize our local economy with the greatness of the gifts that Creator gave us of food.

I’m a member of Slow Food. We won the international Slow Food Award for our battle to protect rice from genetic engineering and patenting in 2003. I know you have a large Slow Food movement here in Santa Fe. I’m making my plans to go to this year’s Tierra Madre Slow Food event in Italy. It’s an international gathering of farmers, producers and consumers who believe that food should be real, it should be fair, and that it has a cultural and biological basis to it.”

GFT: What else do you know about the situation with chile in New Mexico?

“Chile is one of the reasons we come to New Mexico. And you don’t want to hear that it’s genetically engineered. It’s like wild rice. Some things you don’t mess with. There have been some significant battles on this. You have had the NM Seed Memorial here. We have our battle for wild rice. That was largely around heritage varieties of corn. Your chile varieties are very special and genetic engineering will contaminate them. This is something NM needs to deal with. You need to cut the open-air experiments. If they’re going to do chile studies of genetic engineering, they should do it in an enclosed space because they don’t have a right to the public air to contaminate with pollen from the genetic engineering.

The same battle has been taking place in Hawaii. They passed a ban on genetic engineering of taro and coffee. The Hawaiian coffee growers who grow Kona coffee knew that their ability to market a gourmet crop that was called genetically engineered would be diminished, and also because taro is a sacred plant to the Hawaiians. But the University of Hawaii, similarly, has a genetic engineering set of plots of taro, or kalo, as it is called. You know, this issue of genetically engineering can hit everything. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

GFT: A couple of months ago you testified before the NM Environmental Improvement Board on behalf of New Energy Economy’s petition to have NM utilities cap their greenhouse gas emissions. 44% of NM is rural. What should we be considering in terms of food and energy sustainability?

“That was the basis of my testimony. It was interesting because there were 8 or 9 lawyers who cross-examined me from Public Service Company and the oil and gas industry.

At one point, one of the lawyers asked, “Is that a tribal opinion?” I said, “well, I do believe a have a couple of advanced degrees from Harvard, and so my opinion as a rural development economist would probably have some weight (and 30 years in the field).” It was interesting. It sounded dismissive, as if “a tribal view” does not have the same standing as another view. I happen to be an indigenous person. But I am also a person who has spent a lot of years doing economic work.

The basis of a lot of the work that I do, which has implications for NM, is that on my reservation we did a study of the food economy and the energy economy. We found that in my tribe we spend one quarter of our money on energy. That’s because we’re remote and cold. Town is 38 miles away. No one has a Prius. The houses are inefficient. So we have what’s called “fuel poverty,” which also exists in rural counties in NM, where you’re in the middle of the winter juggling if you’re going to pay your food bill or your heat bill, right?

On my reservation, households spend about $8 million on food. And of that, $7 million is spent off-reservation at Walmart or Bashas, or Food Service of America, Sysco… That’s a quarter of your money that’s spent basically on food. And the million that’s spent on the reservation is spent at convenience stores buying junk food. We’ve got a level of diabetes…

My experience is that in rural economies, the general ‘business as usual’ strategy is to figure out how to generate more cash by attracting businesses to get more employment. Well the reality is that we have a leak that represents almost one half of our economy; food and energy. It’s outsourced. So why try to dump more cash in when it’s just going to roll out? You need to stop the leak.

That takes a local food economy. Because first of all, if you garden yourself or you harvest yourself… I try to get maybe 40% or 50% of our food locally. Maybe you could get more. For other food, for instance, I’m trading with the Amish. I’m not very good at cabbages. And I don’t grow their corn because I grow my own heritage variety and I don’t want their corn getting messed up with mine.

And so, then you trade or you buy, that circulates locally and it generates more employment. It generates more health. It generates long-term food security because the average distance of food that travels today from farmer to table is 1,450 miles. And with the price of oil going up, that’s going to increase food insecurity because actually there’s a lot more oil that goes into food than calories at this point. That’s also a leak.

Look at the same thing with energy. Instead of trying to figure out how to get a larger power plant to serve a rural community, first you get efficient: weatherizing, putting in LEDs. And then you do what we do on my reservation, we put up a solar thermal panel, which, in the wintertime, with a south-facing wall, maybe adds 25% more heat; reduces your heating bill by 25%. That’s a much better plan. It costs maybe $1,000. It can be installed locally by your own people. You don’t need PNM to install it. Young people can install it. Train your young people to for the green economy.

And then you do local wind. I do medium-scale community wind. I put up a 75-kilowatt wind turbine. I’m battling the utility, of course, to get online though because they would like me to go small. I don’t want to stay in the ghetto. They call it the ghetto, the under 40-killowatt ghetto. I want to control power for my facility. It turns out that community controlled energy, wind or solar, generates three times as much revenue for a local community as if you lease out your land for wind to a corporation.

So my analysis, and the analysis that we look at is how you stabilize a rural economy. And that was the argument at the EIB hearing; was I expert in NM? I said, no, but this formulaic set of analysis applies in rural communities everywhere that have a similar set of data.”

GFT: In terms of energy sustainability, what about grid equality access?

“The power lines are antiquated. They’re set up for centralized power production and distribution and they’re inefficient. We’re finding this in Minnesota and in the punitive measures that the power company is taking against me because we’ve battled them. They’re basically making me upgrade the entire grid into the town of Calloway that our wind turbine is going into because they don’t want to do it. But they should do it because they own the power line and they have the grid access.

It’s the same thing with the Public Service Company of NM. At that hearing they were talking about that they’re doing all this renewable energy. They’re doing wind energy; they’re doing some solar, giving out light bulbs. I couldn’t understand why they were not on the side of the proponents of the bill if they were so pro-renewable. I even said, ‘you’re sitting on the wrong side. It’s your responsibility since you control the grid, to insure that there is access for local producers.’

They’re not set up for that access right now. The grid is antiquated. If they control the power lines and actually want to have an efficient system, they need to have a smart grid and a grid that has distributed capacity so that they can collect and distribute power. It’s also a real homeland security issue.”

GFT: What is your message to New Mexicans?

“Well, I hope you guys stand strong. You’ve got a beautiful place down here. Every generation has a responsibility. You’ve got a shot at doing something good here. You’ve got a shot on putting a cap on Co2 emissions in the state of New Mexico, which has national implications because you are big producers. You could provide a leading example of what policy could look like.

I have to say one more thing on behalf of the chile: You’re got a chance to say, “Our chile is worth more than your genetic engineering.” I’d like to see NM do both those things.

There is an Objibwe prophecy called the Seventh Fire. They say that at this point in time, we are a people that have two choices ahead of us. Two paths. One path is well worn but it is scorched. The second path is not well worn and it is green. And it’s our choice upon which path to embark.

I think that’s very much where we are in America, and I think that’s where New Mexico is. You’ve got a shot right now of going renewable and green, of localizing your food systems, of having some green employment opportunities and a healthy durable economy. Why squander that?”

Winona LaDuke (Objibwe) is a rural economist who lives on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She is program director of the organization Honor the Earth, and founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project. Journalist Lorene Mills of Report from Santa Fe contributed to this interview.

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Dec. 2, 6-9pm

Solar Drinks – NM Solar Energy Assn.

O’Neill’s Pub in Nob Hill

An opportunity for folks in the Albq. area to meet other community members who support solar energy. A relaxed social/networking event where you can speak with NMSEA members, solar industry members and neighbors. Speakers include NMSEA board members unveiling the latest updates from NMSEA. $20 donation. For additional info, contact Robert Nelson: robert.nelson.abq@gmail.com

Dec. 8 Deadline

Home Solar System Raffle

$16,000 PV Solar System donated by Consolidated Solar Tech LLC. 2nd and 3rd prizes Energy Star appliances donated by Builders Source. Tickets are $25 or five for $100. Drawing on Dec. 9 at the USGBC Green Tie event (see below). More info: 505.227.0474 or visit http://www.usgbcnm.org/

US Green Building Council – NM Events

Dec. 8, 4 pm – GreenBuilt Tour Committee will meet at the USGBC-NM office; Dec. 9, 5:30-8 pm – USGBC-NM’s Annual Green Tie Party, Tamarind Institute, 2500 Central Ave. SE. Enjoy good food, good friends and the drawing for solar system raffle winners. Members: $10, non-members: $15. To make a reservation, contact the USGCB-NM; Dec. 15, 5:30 pm at Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, 7601 Jefferson NE, the USGBC-NM Education Committee is holding its planning meeting for 2011 luncheon and salon programs. Info: http://www,usgbcnm.org

Dec. 2-3

Sustainability Reporting Training

Hotel Andaluz

In partnership with the ISOS Group, Concept Green hosts a Global Reporting Initiative Certification course through group exercises, lectures, group critiques and individual homework assignments for sustainability professionals, watch groups and sustainability students. Call 505.414.9313

Dec. 11, 6-10 pm

Holiday Gala Fundraiser for Albq. Center for Peace and Justice

First Congregational Church, 2801 Lomas NE (corner w/Girard)

14th Annual; Bring family and friends and enjoy a night of eating, talking and dancing with the world music band Wagogo. Opportunities to purchase locally made gifts. $10 admission; kids under 12 free. Food is extra. Donations of warm clothing gratefully accepted on behalf of St. Martin’s Hospitality Center. For more info, call Mary: 268.9557

Jan 13, 2011, 8:30 am – 4 pm

NM Water Dialogue

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Registration is now open for this event. The focus will be “Economic Stress: Hard Times for Water Planning and Management?” Speakers will discuss market-based transfers of water rights and how planning changes during a time of both scarce finances and water resources. Lunch is catered by the IPCC. Register online at http://www.nmwaterdialogue.org. Fees reduced for early registrants and Dialogue members. The Dialogue is a nonprofit with a diverse statewide board and seeks to foster communication and education about NM water issues.

Vendor Registration Now Open

Water Conservation & Xeriscape Expo, Feb. 26-27

16th Water Conservation & Xeriscape Conference, Feb. 24-25; Speakers, seminars, exhibitors. Contact the Xeriscape Council: 505.468.1021, PO Box 14311, Albq. 87191

Albuquerque Backyard Farms Collaborative

A group of organizers who lead gardening and farming education organizations are coordinating efforts in teaching how to grow and eat healthy foods and herbs, and live a more sustainable lifestyle. Groups include: The Gardeners Guild, Mother Nature Gardens, Mid Region Council on Governments, Sunstone Herbs, Albuquerque Backyard Farms, The Source, Girls Gone Green, Transition Towns NM, UNM Sustainability Studies, San Jose Elementary School Gardens, Zia Elementary School Community Garden, and the Albuquerque Chicken Coop Tour. For more info, visit www.abqbackyardfarms.com/ABQ_Collaborative.html

2012 Edible Albuquerque Gardens Registry

See what people are doing in ABQ. An “edible garden” is any place you grow food near where you live – from growing on your terrace – to having a full-scale frontyard or backyard farm. E-mail: info@abqbackyardfarms.com or visit http://.2012abqgardens.ning.com

Beneficial Farms CSA

Now accepting members in Albuquerque. Weekly distribution at La Montanita Coop Warehouse, 3361 Columbia Dr. NE. Beneficial Farms CSA works with up to 40 regional farms each year, and offers abundant, affordable shares of fresh fruit and vegetables and other local and regionally produced foods year round. All produce is grown with sustainable chemical free methods.

SANTA FE

Dec. 3, 6-10 pm; Dec. 4

Notions of Time

Santa Fe Complex, 632 Agua Fria

On Dec. 4, original thinkers will present ten-minute talks on time in physics, philosophy, Jungian psychology, the creative process, fiction, Buddhism, Native American culture and other subjects. Videos and photographs that illustrate different aspects of time will be projected. The event concludes Saturday evening with musical performances by the Contemporary Music Department of Santa Fe University of Art and Design and a second screening of Koyaanisqatsi. Admission for Friday night: Front row sponsors seating $50; General adm. $20. Saturday: $15. Saturday talks only are free to students with ID. Reservations recommended. Tickets: http://notionsdec2010.eventbrite.com/ More info: http://sfcomplex.org/

Dec. 4, 9am-4pm

SF Community College Arts & Crafts Fair

SFCC, 6401 Richards Ave.

Annual holiday fair featuring more than 100 of the region’s finest artisans displaying and selling works in knitting, quilting, pottery, painting, jewelry, tin work, straw appliqué, handmade cards, ornaments and much more. Admission and parking is free. For more information call 505.428.1437 or visit www.sfcc.edu.

Dec. 4, 10 am-12 pm

Buy Local Bowl

Sanbusco Market Center, 500 Montezuma Ave.

A shopping competition in support of National Buy Local Week. Get your holiday shopping done while having fun and bolstering our local economy. Show up at 9:45 am to be assigned to a team or call 989.5362 to sign-up in advance. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Alliance

Dec. 5, 1-4 pm

Winter Traditions Community Holiday Celebration

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Pueblo children’s book author/storyteller Emmett “Shkeme” Garcia, Navajo ribbon and basket dance performances by Diné Tah’ Dancers, Tewa Woman’s Choir (Ohkay Owingeh) and lots of hands-on activities. All by museum admission, NM residents with ID free Sundays, youth 16 and under always free. For more info, contact Joyce Begay-Foss: 505.476.1272 or joyce.begay-foss@state.nm.us

Dec. 5, 1-4 pm

Winter Celebration

Museum of International Folk Art

The Sangre de Cristo Chorale will perform, Los Titeriteros will present two puppet performances of the holiday favorite, Doña Adelina. Hands-on art making activities for ages 2 to 102. All by Museum admission, NM residents with ID free Sundays, youth 16 and under always free. For more info, contact Aurelia Gomez: 505.476.1211 or aurelia.gomez@state.nm.us

Dec. 7, 6-8 pm

Public Meeting on Buckman Project

SF Convention Center

Third and final public meeting to present the final BDD IPR reports and the responses to comments received. Copies of the Independent Peer Review Technical Report, which describes the evaluation of the potential health risks to Santa Fe residents from future tapwater use of the Rio Grande can be obtained on the websites www.bddproject.org and www.chemrisk.com. A Community Summary and an Executive Summary will also be available.

Dec. 9, 5-7 pm

A Cowboy Christmas

Vanessie’s Restaurant, 434 W. San Francisco St.

A benefit for Horses for Heroes – NM, Inc., a nonprofit horse therapy wellness program based in Santa Fe, free to veterans and active military who have sustained physical injuries or combat trauma. 5-5:30 pm: Cocktail reception; 5:30-6 pm: Guest speakers; 6-7 pm: Dinner; Tickets: $75 advance, $100 at the door. Music. For tickets call Nicole: 505.450.8850 or Rick: 505.670.2059 or purchase through the website www.horsesforheroes.org.

Dec. 9, 6 pm

Lucy Lippard, writer, curator, activist

Tipton Hall, Santa Fe University of Art and Design

The Santa Fe Art Institute presents Lippard as part of Elemental: Earth Air Fire Water – Art as Environment. She is author of eighteen books on contemporary art, and has partnered scientists and visual artist communities to dialogue regarding climate change and ideas of how provide a sustainable future. $10 general/$5 students/seniors/members. For more info about Lucy Lippard or this event, call 505.424.5050.

Dec. 11, 1-5 pm

Teen Art Workshop

ARTbarn, 1516 Pacheco Street

Ages 13-18: Graphic Illustration – Designing a Story

$10 includes all art materials and snacks; Fine Arts for Children & Teens: 505.992.2787, e-mail: admin@factsantafe.org. More info: www.factsantafe.org

Dec. 11, 2 pm

Nate Downey – Permaculturalist

Plants of the Southwest, 3095 Agua Fria St.

Nate will speak about and sign his book “Harvest the Rain.”

Dec. 11, 7-8:30 pm

A Photographic Journey Through India

Railyard Performance Center, 1611 Paseo De Peralta

The Lake of Nine Devotions: A Benefit for the Mudslide Victims of Ladakh, a remote Tibetan region of northern India. Q & A follows presentation by photographer Josh Schrei. Cost: $5 at the door, $20 suggested donation. Info: 505.919.9530, josh.schrei@gmail.com

Dec. 12, 4-6 pm

Gifts for Good

La Posada de Santa Fe

Holiday gift silent auction benefiting the Espanola Valley Humane Society, which will welcome over 4,000 homeless animals this year. 15 one-of-a-kind elevated pet dishes customized by acclaimed artists, gift certificates for fine dining, health and fitness, fashion, auto, spa and beauty, and of course pets. Hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and jazz trio

Tickets: $25 at www.evalleyshelter.org (easy-pay) or call 505.930.1450. More info: www.evalleyshelter.org

Dec. 17

Black Tie Red Carpet Benefit

Zane Bennett Gallery

Benefit for Haiti Sustainability includes video screening.

Presented by Extreme Green. Tickets: $100 per couple. Contact Rob Montoya

Dec. 18-19, 10 am-4 pm

Young Native Artists Show

NM History Museum/Palace of the Governors

Children of artisans who display their work under the palace portal offer their own handcrafted goods for sale in the John Gaw Meem Room.

Dec. 18, 10:30 am-12 pm

Storyteller Sunny Dooley (Diné)

New Mexico History Museum exhibition space. Free. www.nmhistorymuseum.org

Santa Fe Creative Tourism Initiatives

Artists and craftsmen who offer workshops and classes within SF County are invited to list their offerings with Santa Fe Creative Tourism at www.SantaFeCreativeTourism.org. See “Get Involved” tab to list. This service is free and provided by the city of SF Arts Commission.

Restaurants Needed for Souper Bowl

1,000 guests will decide which of SF’s finest restaurants has the best soups at Souper Bowl XVII. This benefit for The Food Depot, No. NM’s food bank will be held on Jan. 29, 2011 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm at the SF Convention Center. To sign up, call The Food Depot at 471.1633, ext. 10. Space limited to 28 restaurants. Advance tickets ($25/$10) to the event are available beginning Jan. 4 at The Food Depot, 1222 Siler Road, or may be ordered online at www.thefooddepot.org beginning Dec. 20. Tickets will also be available at the door (adults $30, children $10) Contact Sherry Hooper: 505.471.1633, ext. 10 or 505.577.0444

Save A Ton Recycling Campaign

The city of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe New Mexican have launched a campaign to double recycling in Santa Fe in one year. Santa Feans score way below state and national averages. For a city with its own recycling facility that envisions becoming a Zero Waste community, we can do better! People should get The Green Line in the Santa Fe New Mexican on the third Thursday of each month for a full page of recycling information. Find information on the Save A Ton campaign at www.sfnewmexican.com and click on Green Line or on Facebook. Contact Regina Wheeler, SF Solid Waste Director: 505.955.2209 or e-mail rawheeler@santafenm.gov

TAOS

Through February

Earthship Intern Program

Winter learning opportunities: month-long sessions. Participants work up to 5 days a week on Earthship projects. Those who complete a month will earn a certificate to attend a future Earthship Seminar (a $450 value). This opportunity is open to those who would like to live in an Earthship on site while learning. For dates for each session and an email application, contact Kirsten Jacobsen, Education Director, Earthship Biotecture: 575.751.0462, kirsten@earthship.com

HERE & THERE

Dec. 5-19

Jim Sagel, Poeta Nuevomexicano – A Tribute Performance

Convento on the Plaza, Espanola – Dec. 5, 2 pm; National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque – Dec. 11, 7:30; Dec. 12, 2 pm; Teatro Paraguas Studio, Santa Fe – Dec. 18, 7:30 pm and Dec. 19, 2 pm. Admission by donation. A tribute to northern NM’s beloved poet, author and teacher. Four actors will perform selections from Sagel’s 15 books in Spanish, English and Spanglish. A video of Sagel’s 1993 commencement address at UNM-Los Alamos will be screened at each performance. Presented by Teatro Paraguas. Co-sponsored by the Spanish Resource Center and the National Hispanic Cultural Center. For more info and reservations, call 505.424.1601 or visit www.teatroparaguas.org.

Dec. 8, 7 pm

Winter Wednesday’s Talk

Pajarito Environmental Education Center, 3540 Orange St., Los Alamos

Permaculturalist Nate Downey will speak on environmental topics.

Dec. 10 Deadline

Call for Presentations & Sessions

Submit a proposal for the NM Heritage Preservation Alliance’s annual statewide conference, April 6-10, 2011, Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, NM; The theme: “Championing Sustainability: Preserving NM’s Heritage.” An important gathering for sharing issues, ideas and tactics with historic preservation practitioners from across the SW. Subjects can range from preservation of material culture, arts & cultural districts, maintaining historic resources, sacred gathering places, NM’s list of endangered places, the green movement and its impact on historic preservation, trails, museums, the reality of economics and politics on preservation, education, etc. Pre-conference workshops are being planned. The conference will also host the NM Humanities Council annual award’s banquet. Contact Tom Chávez: Chavez.22@comcast.net or mail to: NMHPA, PO Box 2490, Santa Fe, NM 87504

Dec. 15, 8:30 am-5 pm

Mobile Chicken Coop Construction Workshop

NMSU Ag. Science Center, 1036 Miller Rd., Los Lunas

An opportunity for small farm operators and backyard gardeners to learn how to build an affordable chicken coop called a chicken tractor. This allows the chickens to graze, eat bugs and fertilize the soil. To register for the free workshop, call or e-mail Brenda at 505.565.3002 or Valencia@nmsu.edu before Dec. 13.

Dec. 22: Application Due

USDA Rural Community Development Initiative – $6.3 million

Eligible Entities: State governments, local governments, Indian tribes, non-profit organizations, and others. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture requests proposals for the Rural Community Development Initiative. RCDI supports organization capacity and ability to undertake projects related to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development in rural area. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to programs that support micro-enterprise and sustainable development, and programs to assist recipients in completing pre-development requirements for housing, community facilities, or community and economic development projects by providing resources for professional services, e.g., architectural, engineering, or legal. For more info, including state contacts, go to: http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=58143.

Jan. 18-19

Sustainable Foods Summit

San Francisco

How do organic, fair trade and other eco-labels contribute to sustainability? What are the sustainability needs of consumers and food companies? The summit is geared at business, marketing and technical professionals from food manufacturers, ingredient firms, retailers & distributors, industry organizations & certification agencies, researchers, investors as well as others looking at sustainability in the food industry. E-mail: info@sustainablefoodssummit.com, www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

Jan. 25-26

Solar Power Generation USA Conference

Las Vegas, Nevada

Networking opportunity for educators, solar professionals, utilities, developers, policy makers, vendors and government agencies. Speakers, seminars, training courses, exhibitions. For more info, call 971.238.0700 or visit www.solarpowercongress.com

Gifts from the Source

Visit Rio Grande Return’s online store to order gift packages with products from local farmers and producers. Each gift is in turn a gift back to the source – The Rio Grande. Conservation donations go towards spring and watershed restoration projects at Zia Pueblo and Hamaatsa. Info: www.riograndereturn.com, or call 505.466.1767 or toll free: 866.466.1767, E-mail: contact@riograndereturn.com

Veterans Green Jobs Academy

Northern NM College, Espanola

Workforce training and specific degree programs to support military veterans in fully accredited academic certificate and degree programs in areas of environmental science related to renewable energy, hazardous materials response, forestry, sustainable agriculture, wildland fire science, construction trades and others. A partnership with the NM Dept. of Veterans Services. For more info, call Dr. Biggs at 505.747.5453 or visit www.nnmc.edu/vetacademy.htm.

For Rent: 200 sq. ft. Strawbale Cottage

An opportunity to live in a sustainable, small community near Cerrillos. Passive solar plus attached bath and use of a 16 ft. yurt as well as outdoor kitchen/community space and 40 acre property. Warm and comfortable, rustic, off-grid, with earthen plaster and rain catchment. Looking for someone with experience in low-tech simple living. Ironically, wi-fi is available. A small PV system powers the strawbale. Best for someone not commuting 5 days/wk. Long-term preferred. $300/month plus work trade. Check our website to learn a bit about us. www.ampersandproject.org

Community Land Trust Forming

For those seeking a truly affordable home, stability and self-sufficiency, the Community Land Trust model provides an alternative to landlessness and its accompanying ills. We are forming a rural, self-sustaining, Community Land Trust in northern NM and seek donations of land/funds, or founding members who can invest at least $10,000. To learn more about CLTs, read Kidnapped by the House, a 6-part series in Green Fire Times beginning in April 2010 at www.greenfiretimes.com or call Rebekah at 505.424.9475.

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The $5 million facility will also reduce the yearly production of over 2,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and save over one million gallons of water per year.

The solar farm is located on city airport land directly across the road from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. For more information, contact Nick Schiavo, Energy Specialist at 955.6693.

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