Site Updates
Past Events Index
Worship and Celebration
Religious Educaton Site
Environmental Justice Site
Sustainable Living Site
Information Center Site
- Land Use and Conservation
- February 2011 Calendar Update
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Music: "There'll Come A Day" by Irthlingz
Words and Music by Bob Killian, courtesy of Irthlingz
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Business Member |
Main Site Links
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UUSC "Plant Justice, Harvest Peace" Totebag
GSP members continue to sell the UUSC Resuable
Shopping Bags. GSP members decided that this project helped further our
support of a bag ban in Bellingham, supported the UUSC (as all money made
on the bags will be turned over to the UUSC) and also supported our firm
belief in the interconnection of social and environmental justice issues.
Members will be encouraged to donate old bags to community programs
(continuing our support of such organizaions as Lydia Place) when they
buy the new UUSC bags.
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January 8, 2012 - 9:15 and 11:15 am
Responding to Fear, Part 2: Finding Hope in Stories of Grassroots Success
The Rev. Barbara Gilday, guest speaker
While there is a lot of fear mongering in our country that conspires
to get us down, hard times and injustice create creativity and energy for change. There is a
grassroots swell of invididual, small and large movements working for change. Are we feeding
the fear by our anxious reactions, or are we cooperating with the winds of change? Bellingham
leads this country in many experimental sustainable programs. Let's be faithful agents of change
in other ways, too.
No events planned at this time.
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Adult Sunday Forums
Green Sanctuary has offered to provide a speaker for the RE Adult Education
forum series, since Bob Keller (the original organizer) will be a way for the fall/winter session.
One Sunday a month, we will bring in a local community organization to present information and
lead a discussion in specific environmentally-related issue.
After much discussion, we will be encouraging presenters from the community
to talk about the issues that
make their organizations/programs necessary in Whatcom County, rather than what their
organizations/programs do.
The following is a schedule for upcoming forums. Forums run 9:30 -10:45 am and are held in the
Conference Room.
January 15, 2011 • Jean Rogers, Community Food Co-op Farm
Fund
Whatcom County is fortunate to have a strong local food movement, talented and dedicated farmers,
and good growing conditions. At the time, our county faces some unique challenges, as well as
issues many communities are facing across the US as we try to build a healthier, more secure
relationship with our food systems. This forum will look at barriers our farmers face, and some
of the innovative solving going on, both on the farms and in the community. While there are some
tough issues, there is great momentum right now, and a whole variety of ways for folks to plug in,
as Whatcom County continues to break new ground in sustainable food and farming practices.
Sponsored by Green Sanctuary.
January 22, 2011 • Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director for
the FoodFirst/Institute for Food and Development Policy
In addition to being the Director for FoodFirst/Instititue, Eric is a food system advocate and
author/editor on sustainable agriculture. Food Justice describes all those aspects of our food
system. It encompasses the environmental, social and economic aspects of a system that impacts
everyone, from the small local community to the global community. From sustainable agriculture
to farmer and farm worker rights, domestic and international fair trade, Food Justice is a growing
and necessary response to saving our planet and ensuring the people of the world have access to
healthy food in a way that is economically just. Join us as we take this first, formal step with
Community to Community into the world and work of Food Justice. Co-sponsored by Green Sanctuary,
Immigration Rights Team and Community to Community
February 12, 2011 • Tom Anderson, former general manager of the
Whatcom County Public Utility District
As a former Whatcom County Public Utility District manager, business owner of Advanced Solar
Energy LLC and an active member in Transition Whatcom, Tom has seen where Whatcom County has
been, where it is and where it’s headed when looking at the issue of energy use and alternatives.
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| Upcoming Community Events |
For more area events, check out our
Community Calendar
Whatcom Folk School - Medicinal Tincture Making with Jonah
Keith
January 7, 2012
Tinctures are one of the most effective ways to administer herbal medicine because they store well,
are easy to use, and are very potent. We will be making a wild-crafted Oregon Grape Root tincture
from start to finish. This course will cover ethical wild-crafting, optimal timing for harvesting
different herbs and plant parts, usage of different solvents, proper herb to menstruum ratios,
maceration tincturing technique, and basic diagnosis and treatment. Please be prepared for the
outdoors. Jonah Keith is a fi eld biologist and naturalist from Bellingham. He has a depth of
experience with survival skills, herbalism, wild foods, nature connection, and community organizing. Jonah has a degree in ecology and environmental education and is a certified wilderness guide. He has been practicing survival skills for over 20 years, and has spent many years in the remote wilderness. (min. # of students: 4; max. 12). Must register by: 1/5/12 or Call WFS
Time: 1:00 – 6:00 pm
Location: Bellingham
Cost: $35
Contact: (360-319-7495) or http://www.whatcomfolkschool.org/
Deep Winter Comfort Food with Charles Claassen
January 12, 2012
Are the dark days getting you down? Cozy up with chef Charles Claassen from the Book Fare Cafe with
some off-season comfort food preparations. In this class we'll prepare dishes with what's available
from our local farms and larders: Garlic & Leek Bisque, Fennel-Cider Braised Chard & Kale, Roasted and
Mashed Potatoes and Rutabagas, and Blackberry Buttermilk Biscuits. You can still eat locally in the
deep winter!
Time: 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Location: Community Food Co-op, 1220 N. Forest St., Bellingham
Cost: $19 members, $22 non-members/Downtown Co-op/register at Co-op. A wine option, payable at
class, is $7.
Contact: 360-734-8158
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Martin Luther King Day Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association
Work Party
January 16, 2012
Head on out to Acme and meet up with NSEA and the Whatcom Land Trust for a day of service to celebrate
Martin Luther King Day. Join us in planting hundreds of native trees and shrubs along the banks of this
South Fork Nooksack River tributary stream. From Bellingham, head east on Mt. Baker Highway (SR 542)
for about 15 miles. Turn right onto Highway 9, just outside of Deming, and follow for about 7 miles.
Turn left onto Rothenbuhler Rd., cross the railroad tracks, and look for signs on the right. Parking
will be available. Check in at the blue NSEA tent. By the chance that there is inclement weather,
please check our website for updates. Tools and gloves will be provided. Please wear sturdy shoes
and weather appropriate clothing. Refreshments will be provided by the Bagelry, the Community Food
Co-op, Starbucks, and Tony's Coffee. These work parties are free and open to everyone. Bring your
enthusiasm, your friends and family, and anyone else that can hold a shovel! See you at the creek!
Time: 11:00 am - 2:00pm
Location: See above
Cost: Free
Contact: 715-0283 or email aferderer@n-sea.org.
Revenge of the Electric Car
January 28, 2012
"If you thought you'd never mist up at a nonfiction movie about plug-in autos, you're in for a surprise.
This is a surprisingly emotional trip, and a very enjoyable one." Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star
Tribune. In 2006, thousands of new electric cars were purposely destroyed by the same car companies
that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back... with a vengeance. In
"Revenge of the Electric Car," director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of
Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global
resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of
car is America's future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever.
Time: TBD
Location: Pickford Cinema, 1318 Bay St., Bellingham
Cost: Varies
Contact: (360) 647-1300
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Pacific Gateway Terminal at Cherry Point
Currently Whatcom County is considering several actions that could have significant
consequences for our area. The topic right now has to do with the Pacific Gateway Terminal project at
Cherry Point. To get more information, below are links to several articles to help describe the project
and it's potential impacts. While the Council had originally planned to pass a resolution supporting the
project. Fortunately, with many thanks to Re Sources, a petition drive suceeded in getting the resolution
removed from the agenda; however, the battle is not over. Read the articles, check the
Re Sources website, sign the
petition and contact the Council at
(360) 676-6690 or council@whatcom.wa.us and let them know where you stand.
For more information see our webpage at genvir_justgateway.html
Bellingham Earns No. 1 Small City in NRDC's
Smarter Cities Project
Situated on Bellingham Bay at the northern end of the Puget Sound, Bellingham is both a
university town and an industrial center, home to an aging pulp mill owned until 2001 by Georgia Pacific and other
facilities that required waterfront access. Over the last 20 years, however, Bellingham has transformed itself from
a manufacturing port to a post-industrial city, while updating some of its industrial facilities and remediating others,
including the brownfield sites at the pulp mill. The city is well served by transportation options, including an Amtrak
train from nearby Vancouver to Seattle and points farther south and a ferry to Alaska. It is home to a large number of
parks and provides easy access to nearby mountains and boating, celebrated in the city's annual Ski-to-Sea race, an
89-mile relay race combining cross-country and downhill skiing, running, bicycling and mountain bike riding, canoeing
and kayaking. Even for the less athletic, the mild weather makes for year-round outdoors activities (assuming you don't
mind the rain). The city has also been recognized by the EPA Green Power Communities program for drawing 11 percent of
its total electricity usage from renewable sources, putting it in second place among the most successful cities in the
program. And in May 2008 ICLEI honored Bellingham for its climate action plan. A network of green businesses in town
find their forum in Sustainable Connections, established in 2002 to educate business owners in sustainable practices,
connect them to one another and market their efforts. Sustainable Connection has since become the model for green
business networks across the country.
Green Building Ranking: #4
Transportation Ranking: #7
Green Space Ranking: #1
Air Quality Ranking: #1
Recycling Ranking: #4
Energy Production and Conservation Ranking: #2
For more information see
NRDC's Smarter Cities.
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Next step for a Whatcom Watershed Preserve
The Whatcom County Council today approved the next step toward
a Lake Whatcom Forest Preserve. Creation of the preserve will restore old-growth forests within
a watershed that provides drinking water for about 90,000 people, half the people in Whatcom County,
including Bellingham.
On November 12, the County Council authorized the County Executive to enter into an agreement with
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to work together to set the stage for creation of the preserve.
DNR manages about half the Lake Whatcom watershed and the various types of trust lands are scattered.
Under the agreement, DNR will block up forest board lands in two areas in the watershed: above Northshore
and around Sudden Valley. Whatcom County will pay administrative and appraisal costs, and meanwhile DNR will
not log on the lands proposed for transfer. When the process is complete, sometime in 2010, the county will
decide whether or not to transfer these lands from DNR to the county parks department.
The process will likely ultimately lead to 8,400 acres of timberland, about 25% of the watershed moving from
DNR management to county parks management. The county intends to manage the preserve for low impact recreation
and for restoration of old-growth forests.
To read the rest of the article . . .
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