All Blog Posts (375)

Michael Doud-Ecology is the New Theology

Our Transition Whatcom book study group is currently going through Rob Hopkins’ latest book, The Transition Companion. Last week we looked at Chapter 4: “Resilience and Localisation.” The equivalent chapter in the previous book, The Transition Handbook, is “Why Small Is Inevitable.”  Both of these chapters are excellent introductions to the topic of “Localisation”…

DEAN KAHN The_Bellingham_Herald

LYNDEN - A new traveling exhibit at Lynden Pioneer Museum is small in size but it deals with a big issue: the importance of what people eat and where their food comes from.The "Salish Bounty" exhibit was put together by the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. It's the first such presentation to land in Whatcom County since Burke's traveling exhibit program began six years ago.The exhibit's subtitle, "Traditional Native…

I've just received my Membership Approved email & am glad to be here. 

I've been in touch with Travis Linds so far & am friends with Sandie Ledray of Still Water Gifts.…

Reposted from IntegralPermaculture.wordpress.com

Tim Winton recently posted an audio recording on his thepatternguy blog.

Click to listen to audio file:  …

Today's Bread-Making class was so fun! We learned the master bread dough recipe and made (and ate!) naan, pizza, and bread. The next class is slated for February 9th.

Many people wonder what is meant by open-pollination seeds, and the benefits of saving those seeds ,

verses hybrid seeds.

      …

This Saturday: Learn the ins and outs of bread-making using a very simple process that will enable you to have dough on hand all the time. This versatile dough can be made into many tasty things. We will make naan, pizza, and bread. Find out how easy this can be. Register at: Whatcom Folk School. $25 instructor/materials fee.

They stop accepting comments in regards to the proposed coal export terminal at Cherry Point after the 21st, so get them in now.

The easy way is to use their website form.

http://www.eisgatewaypacificwa.gov/get-involved/comment

View other comments to get ideas - it's OK to say "I agree with what so and so said in comment#xxx, and I want this impact scoped."  And you can copy and paste…

Food for thought for thinking about what fuels Transition on the broadest scale of our imagination:

http://www.nationofchange.org/religion-science-and-spirit-sacred-story-our-time-1358522881

After seeing Growth Busters last night at the Limelight, I find this clip from 'The Colbert Report' most appropriate.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/422893/january-15-2013/catacoffin-catacombo-sound-system?xrs=share_copy

Read Part 1 here.

The Maya Civilization has earned a great deal of respect. Beginning sometime around 2000 B.C., they had a fully developed written language, as well as well developed art, architecture, mathematical, and…

An interesting perspective on who we are: Another Year And I'm Still Here: A New Year's Meditation

As I reflect back on 2012, these are some projects that were another step forward: a better composting system, getting rid of the back lawn and adding about 200 more square feet of garden beds, growing lots of spagetti squash, finding GREAT recipes for the squash, and using our produce to create fermented foods like pickles and sauerkraut. 

" The third reason, she said, is that we’re paying more attention to the structure of our cities. Rust Belt cities that formerly relied on manufacturing, such as Detroit and Cleveland, “were in a state of utter catastrophic fall.” The land in Detroit is relatively inexpensive because there is no market for it, Tumber said, making agriculture a viable use. Another appeal of urban farming is that “people are losing confidence in the food system,” Ladner said. They are “realizing how perilous…

Transition Whatcom sponsors many wonderful events every month. They include co-sponsored author events at Village Books, our monthly movie night, gatherings and talks. In addition our members create and participate in many, many events.  With such a creative, diverse community, it is easy to miss out. The TWOG has decided to provide a recap each month of some of the many events that have brought us together and inspired us during the month.

Hopefully we will see you at some of the TW…

On the first night of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program Certification offered by the IBEW 191, the topic of the price of power came up. FERC mandates states sell citizens the lowest priced electricity available which in Washington is hydro produced. Thus, energy produced by the windmills in the eastern part of the state is not being fully utilized. Just another unintended consequence on the path to greener power.

The IEA is the international organization that many governmental bodies look to for authoritative data on energy, put in place during the energy crisis of the 1970s.  They put out a major report once per year, and I have been reading the executive summary of this report for about 7 or 8 years.  It is fascinating to see how the report evolves year after year.  I wrote a piece for Energy Bulletin a few years ago, looking at the trend of the reporting from 2005 through 2009 (…