JUST ADDED – Events Calendar courtesy of Yahoo groups
See what Transition-related activities are coming to our area for 2011
—— JANUARY —— FEBRUARY —— MARCH —— APRIL —— MAY —— JUNE ——
After you’ve clicked one of the links, you are prompted to log on to Yahoo to access the calendar.
Anyone can see the calendar. Members of Transition Palo Alto Yahoo group can add events.
You can access these links by clicking on the Events tab on these pages.
We’re got plans in the works for a Newsletter too.
NEWSLETTER – December 30, 2010
CONTENTS
New Years Eve party
Upcoming Events
No Impact Experiment
Ideas for Community Building in the New Year
———-
NEW YEARS EVE –
World Centric has invited us to a New Years Eve event, starting at 7 pm
Transition members should have received an invite (see emailed newsletter)
———-
UPCOMING EVENTS –
* Jan 4 – Free workshop 7-9 pm at World Centric with Cecile Andrews
“Conversation, Community, and Calling” https://transitionpaloalto.org/2010/12/10/group_workshops/
* Low impact experiment (January) – see note from David Coale below
* New film series “Making Cities Livable” (tentatively scheduled to start in January)
* New low carbon diet class (scheduled for January) – contact Annette Isaacson
* New Transition book group starting in late January – contact Emily Rosen, Paul Heft or William Mutch
———-
NO IMPACT EXPERIMENT
Here is reminder about the No Impact Experiment I and other folks will be involved in starting Jan 2. Please join me in exploring ways to lessen our impact. This is a project by Transition Palo Alto. See: https://transitionpaloalto.org/2010/12/07/the-no-impact-experiment/ for more information or follow the links below.
– David Coale (Transition Palo Alto)
Join me, Transition Palo Alto, and many others in The No Impact Experiment! It’s a one-week exploration of how to reduce our negative impacts on our environment, beginning January 2nd (in partnership with YES! Magazine (http://www.yesmagazine.org/) and the No Impact Project (http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/).
We’ll learn a few things about living a happier life, and maybe change a few habits in the process.
This is not a test. There is no scoring, there are no judgments. It’s a chance to experiment with small changes in our lives, as part of the big cultural shift we are undertaking to live in balance on our planet. They supply information and support for each day of the week during your exploration experiment. We might learn whether less environmental degradation brings with it more happiness! If you already do a lot to lessen your impact, great! Consider this a tune-up.
Try it! Register on the No Impact Project website. http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/
(Visit How It Works to preview step-by-step instructions, http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/how-it-works/
or Reflections on a one-week carbon cleanse to read someone else’s experience.) http://eartheasy.com/blog/2010/01/reflections-on-a-one-week-carbon-cleanse/
Also think about sending this around to your friends and neighbors as it is fun to do as a group.
David Coale / Transition Palo Alto.
**********************
NOTES FROM POTLUCK
Ideas for Community Building in the New Year
(courtesy of Barbara Weinstein)
* More swaps – such as gardens, seedlings. Note that Acterra is planning a conference on sharing…
* Continuation of Cecile Andrews’ workshops on conversation – perhaps continue after she completes the initial sessions Jan 4.
* New book and study groups (science of climate change, any other topics..)
* Reskilling work group (possible workshop/conference this spring)
* Connecting with Stanford staff and students – for this, it would be best to have activities on campus, or in the case of staff, close to transit lines
* Workshops on bike repair
* Knitting groups
* Book exchange
* More social get-togethers
Things to work out…
* Arranging for space for meetings, films (since we won’t be able to meet at World Centric after March).
o Talking to KEEP in Palo Alto about partnering with them to get some city space (such as Lucy Stern) for free
o Local libraries (Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View
o Peninsula Conservation Center (where we held the first film series)
o Stanford rooms (need a faculty or staff sponsor to get for free?)
* How best to help people brainstorm ideas for activities and get together to make them happen.
o Use Facebook?
o Try to use the Transition web site to help connect people who want to work with others on ideas for activities
* Consolidating email lists
– Bart Anderson (temporary editor)
We’ll be following up our Conversation and Community group with three sessions, led by Cecile Andrews of Transition Palo Alto
Admission is open and free.
Conversation, Community, and Calling
Tuesdays, Dec 14th, 21st, and Jan 4th
7-9
World Centric, 2121 Staunton Court
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Free
Based on the practice of good, effective conversation, in this three session series we’ll examine how you can use conversation and community to advance your vision of cultural change. Among other things, we’ll explore Jeremy Rifkin’s idea of the empathic civilization, the new gross national happiness movement, and ongoing efforts for wealth equality.
The presenter is Cecile Andrews, author of Circle of Simplicity, Slow is Beautiful, and Less is More
Sponsored by Transition Palo Alto
This is a follow-up to last month’s workshop Developing Conversation and Community Building Skills
Saturday December 11th 2:00 – 3:30pm FREE !
World Centric Community Space
2121 Staunton Court, Palo Alto
Join us for the holiday community free exchange of garden bounty & Holiday creations. Bring Holiday cookies and decorations to swap & your homegrown fruit, vegetables, eggs, herbs, honey, flowers, and holiday greenery to trade!
Throughout the Bay Area, neighbors are coming together for swapping and sharing locally grown, fresh produce. Our first Garden Swap was held August 21, with people coming together to share produce, chat and get to know one another. Four other events followed where home gardeners met for a free exchange of garden bounty. Here is one guest’s rave review:
“What a great event, like a free farmers’ market – grapes and raspberries and oranges and two types of apples, sage and oregano and rosemary and thyme, sorrel and a plethora of tomatoes, seeds to save and plant, and some beautiful flowers. Thank you!” – Rani
Saturday, December 11, we will expand the concept to exchange homemade holiday creations, as well as all great late fall produce, such as persimmons, lemons, and oranges. Bring cookies and other sweets, crafts, decorations, & greenery to exchange for the handmade goodies of your neighbors. Expecting that some of the cookies will be eaten on site, we will provide apple cider to quench your thirst.
Come for the food, come for the community. Hope to see you there.
Our Palo Alto exchange is supported by a coalition of community ecological organizations and neighborhood groups including: Acterra, Barron Park Green Team, Barron Park Garden Network, Barron Park Assn, Common Ground, Palo Alto Community Gardens, Slow Food South Bay, Transition Palo Alto & World Centric.
You can print out this PDF of the event announcement to hand out to friends and co-workers.
(Information courtesy of Jan Butts)
Developing Conversation and Community Building Skills
Workshop November 16
Cecile Andrews, Simplicity author/lecturer will lead a workshop showing ways to build community and examining the essential ingredients of good conversation.
Tuesday November 16 7:00 – 9:00 pm
World Centric, 2121 Staunton Court, Palo Alto
(behind JJ&F, just off El Camino Real, in College Terrace)
Free
Saving the planet means creating a caring culture. Social ties are central to health, happiness, and civic life. Yet our frantic, distracted culture makes it difficult to maintain and deepen social connections. Trust and civil discourse are in decline.
Led by Cecile Andrews, author of Less is More, Slow is Beautiful, and Circle of Simplicity. Cecile will also be speaking at the Green Festival at 11am on Sat, Nov 6th.
Cecile Andrews has her doctorate in education from Stanford where she teaches in the Stanford Health Improvement Program. She is on the board for Take Back Your Time, and is active in Transition Palo Alto and Seattle’s Gross National Happiness Project.
Information: cecile@cecileandrews.com
Sponsored by Transition Palo Alto, World Centric and Silicon Valley Action Network (SVAN).
Two events marked the lives of a Palo Alto couple, Burt and Marjorie Liebert, who are familar faces at Transition meetings and film series. First, the Lieberts just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Secondly, they published a novel, Out of the Cage, which reflects their long-time interest in sustainability and social justice. Not by chance, it also expresses the values of the Transition Movement.
On Thursday, October 28, Burt and Marjorie hosted a discussion based on the book. The free event, sponsored by World Centric, The Humanist Community, and Transition Palo Alto, took place at World Centric in Palo Alto.
Burt dramatically presented the case for a new society, after explaining how our thinking can trap us in old ideas (using the metaphor of a “cage”). A little bit of awareness, and we can suddenly see new possibilities.
He described the current situation, in which, for example, we still rely on fossil fuels even though many understand the consequences. Energy use is still rising in the US and especially in developing countries.
Green technologies are touted by many but hold limited promise. They require a lot of materials and energy, and the big alternative sources of electricity are weather-dependent (varying with sun and wind). They are not a magic solution.
Burt argued that human culture no longer sustains us. Seemingly beyond our collective control, prosperity is depleting resources and changing the climate.
He presented four scenarios for our future:
In Out of the Cage, the population of the fictional nation of Civitas chose the fourth scenario. The novel describes in some detail how they remade their culture, and their political and economic system, for a sustainable (and definitely modern) existence. Their level of consumption is certainly different than ours; Civitans know that beyond a certain level of comfort, greater happiness does not come from more possessions. The solution involves changing the way we think, not sacrifice and suffering.
A key is to realize that we don’t own the earth, we only lease it from our children. Burt appealed to his audience, Let us put our human energies into the most constructive activities possible, not let the economy decide for us.
(For Transition, Burt compiled a list of a few interesting books.)
Out of the Cage: Cooling a Warming Planet
by Burt and Marjorie Liebert
Out of the Cage is a creative story of modern pioneers who set out to build a new society called Civitas, dedicated to establishing a more viable political, economic, and social system. Their goals are to eliminate global warming, relegate war to “a curious footnote in the history books,” and establish a new concept of human fellowship.
Through narrative, Out of the Cage suggests a pathway for you and me to build a more cooperative, ecologically sustainable world.
The book can be purchased from the Lieberts or from online bookstores. Contact Burt at burtmargie AT att DOT net
Logo for the new campaign in Palo Alto
“California already has on the books one of the toughest anti-global warming laws in the world (AB 32), and it goes into effect next year but not if a bunch of Texas oil companies get their way.”
Several people in local Transition meetings have brought up the “No on 23” campaign, since it ties in with the Transition concern about global warming. This particular group concentrates on the grassroots campaign, as opposed to the media campaign. This fits in well with Transition’s grassroots orientation.
The campaign workers John and Spencer are fresh-faced young men, not long out of college. They seemed to respond to Transition’s slogan of being “more like a party than a protest.”
If anyone is interested in volunteer work such as phone banking, house parties, or handing out flyers at farmers’ markets, you can contact the local office via the website at
http://act.credoaction.com/survey/prop23/index.html
or at their office at 3491 West El Camino Real, Palo Alto.
For a detailed, non-partisan report on Proposition 23, see the entry on BallotPedia:
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_23_%282010%29
A proposal that is sure to be hotly debated in Palo Alto is the anaerobic composting facility near the Baylands.
On the plus side, the plant would handle organic waste such as yard waste, sewage sludge and food scraps, turning them into compost suitable as a soil amendment. Electricity would also be generated. Proponents point to cost savings in waste disposal, as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since waste would not have to be transported elsewhere.
Opponents object to the use of 8 acres of what was to have been parkland.
Visualization of the proposed anaerobic composting facility
This proposal involves issues dear to the heart of the Transition Movement: recycling, green house gas emissions, energy self-reliance and composting.
One positive role for Transition would be to encourage informed and respectful debate. Other communities are watching us, so we have an opportunity to set a good example
Explaining the technical aspects of the process is also important. For example, how many people know what anaerobic composting is? What are the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions of the proposal? Why might energy self-reliance be important in the coming years?
More information
UPDATE (Sept 27, 2010). Post Carbon Institute just posted a chapter on Waste from their Post Carbon Reader. The complete PDF and a short video are available online:
Climate Change, Peak Oil, and the End of Waste
by Bill Sheehan
UPDATE (Oct 5). Volunteers are now gathering signatures to put the proposal on the ballot.
Related news article from the BBC: Oxfordshire town sees human waste used to heat homes
Garden Swap
September 25 (Saturday) 11 am
Common Ground Garden Supply
559 College Avenue, Palo Alto, off of El Camino Real
[A Slow Food Event will be held at the same time – see below]
September 25 – Dig In! Breaking Ground, Breaking Bread
Join Slow Food South Bay and partners Acterra, Barron Park Green Team, Barron Park Garden Network, Barron Park Association and Transition Palo Alto in the parking lot of our host Common Ground for a Garden and Food Swap as part of Slow Food USA’s National Work Day – Dig In! Breaking Ground, Breaking Bread.
Backyard gardeners, home canners and other people who enjoy the Slowest of food, here is your opportunity to meet like-minded people in your community to exchange the excess produce of your garden, seeds, home-made products, recipes, ideas and more.
We intend this to be a regular event, to be scheduled according to the desires of the members and the produce of the season. As such, we are in the process of creating a database of people and their produce which will help us connect with each other on a regular basis.
Recognizing that a Garden and Food Swap is the most local of events – you neither should nor want to drive half way across the county to swap your excess apples for someone else’s excess tomatoes – we intend to replicate this event at a number of other locations throughout our region as we can.
Come help us kick-off what should be a great project. Bring your tomatoes. Bring your grandmother’s secret tomato sauce recipe. Bring your ideas. If you live in or near Palo Alto, you’ll want to check this out, so that you can help organize it and plan to attend regularly. If you live elsewhere in the area, you’ll want to check it out, so that you can help set up a swap in your neighborhood.
[Text from Slow Flood South Bay Newsletter]
Garden Swap
September 11 (Saturday) 11am to noon
Main Community Garden, located by the Palo Alto Main Library parking area
1213 Newell Road off of Embarcadero.
Continue reading
Films of Vision and Hope – September 17 – October 22
World Centric 2121 Staunton Ct., Palo Alto (behind JJ&F Market)
Time: Fridays 7:30 – 9:30 P.M.
Concerned about the environment and climate change?
Looking for ways to make a positive, sustainable change for people and the planet?
Don’t miss our third Films of Vision and Hope film series,
focusing on hopeful and positive solutions to environmental problems affecting our world.
Provocative films, great discussion, and opportunities to connect with
others who want to make a difference.
September 17 – Energy Crossroads This award winning film exposes the problems associated with our energy consumption and offers concrete solutions. The film features passionate individuals, entrepreneurs, experts and scientists at the forefront of a new energy future.
September 24 – Kilowatt Ours Another award winner that explores energy sources and problems, then highlights people making a difference in energy conservation, efficiency and renewable, green power, all while saving money and the environment. This often amusing and always inspiring story shows, “You can easily make a difference and here’s how!”
October 1 Fossil Fuel Free Film, and More Meet filmmaker Matt Harnack, and follow his adventures as he tries to live life without fossil fuels. “I was determined to break my addiction to oil. I did the only thing I knew how to do. I made a movie.”
October 8 Bicycle Night Enjoy some great short films about how cities from Bogota to Havana to Copenhagen are working to make their communities bike friendly. Residents are lowering carbon footprints, getting healthier, and enjoying life much more.
October 15 In Transition An inspirational film about how local communities, like ours, can respond to peak oil and global warming while building community and enjoying life. Do come again, even if you saw the film last time – we’ll have more great discussion.
October 22 Join us for our second 100 mile potluck. Connect with others and learn about opportunities to get involved.
FILM SERIES POSTER (pdf) – Print out and post!
Sponsored by Silicon Valley Action Network, Transition Silicon Valley, World Centric, Acterra, and Transition Palo Alto
Transition Palo Alto 