Submitted by Trina Lynn

April’s Craft Night was ‘out of this world!’

While a few of us assembled Aliens & UFOs from recyclables in  preparation for the city’s ‘No Space to Alienate’ Kid’s Parade & May Fete event, others got serious with the sewing machines & cutting table and made some much needed pant & clothing adjustments. 

Herb provided a lovely soundtrack to a knife sharpener, an embroiderer and a coloring project & some of us talked business (aka as community building in these circles). 

All this was captured in a series of much anticipated ‘Black & White’ pics by our most wonderful Barbara Weinstein who made the coolest UFO of the night and offered these ‘Noir’ photos. 

No one is banned (inside joke*), in fact all are welcome at May’s Craft Night event.  Look out for the invitation early next month for details on the location and where to RSVP (*or just to be let in on the joke).

And Herb’s mood guitar.

Book group 6 continued its look at drought solutions on April 8.

Margaret Okuzumi gave a talk on ideas for saving water around the home. She brought faucet aerators and other handy things that people can install to start saving water in an instant. She also passed out info on unconventional water saving tips. Check it out: Margaret’s Unconventional Water-Saving Tips v2

Winner of numerous awards, including Audience Choice at the 2014 Hot Docs Film Festival.
“Hugely entertaining… will leave audiences gobsmacked.” – Variety

We all love food. As a society, we devour countless cooking shows, culinary magazines and foodie blogs. So how could we possibly be throwing nearly 50% of it in the trash?

Filmmakers and food lovers Jen and Grant (remember them from the Clean Bin Project film?) dive into the issue of waste from farm, through retail, all the way to the back of their own fridge. After catching a glimpse of the billions of dollars of good food that is tossed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food – you’ll see what happens.

After the film, join the discussion and hear Maybo Auyeung from Zero Waste Palo Alto share what’s happening locally.

Friday April 24
7:30pm (come at 7:15 for social time)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Fireside Room
505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA 

All ages welcome
$5 recommended donation – no one turned away for lack of funds

Films of Vision and Hope focuses on positive solutions to  environmental and social problems affecting our world. Provocative films, great discussion, and opportunities to connect with others who want to make a difference. Sponsored by Transition Silicon Valley, Transition Palo Alto, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, and Zero Waste Palo Alto.

Submitted by Trina Lynn
A report on last month’s TPA Craft Night and invitation to the next (April 14 Tuesday evening)

Last month’s Craft Night was a pretty low-key event, but whenever we heard Herb testing out the beautiful wind chime he was constructing from old or miss-cut keys, I swear he hit a high note (For more on this check out Scrapophony.net).

Emily tried out a cool project: re-purpose an old sock for a sling/sleeve bottle cozy.  William darned again (I need to ask him to show me how to do this someday) while Diana and I cut die-cuts for collage from old magazines.

Marie & Jose crafted too but mostly I think they came for the conversation. But then again we all did. And it was a lovely evening. 🙂

Join us again on Tuesday, April 14th.
Trina & Emily will host craft night
From 6PM to 9:30 PM
Kids are always welcome

Look for our invitation or e-mail pltredux@gmail.com for further details
Bring your own projects or find something here to work on
We’re not sure if we have a theme or a demo yet this month but Spring is here.

Whatever we do let’s be colourful!

What’s involved in setting up gray water systems and what are the options? At the Book Group 6 meeting April 1, Sharif Rosales-Webb of Greywater greenlandscapes gave an introduction to grey water systems. He explained the differences between branching systems, which take gray water from the kitchen and bathroom and distribute it in multiple places around a garden, versus laundry-to-landscape systems, which take water from a washing machine and distribute it with the help of the washing machine pump. Whatever the option, gray water systems give new life to water that would otherwise head directly to the waste treatment plant.

With the dire drought situation in California and the statewide call for reductions of 25% in water usage in mind, book group members brainstormed about other actions to take.  At an upcoming meeting, the group will make flyers to give neighbors who are wasting water in landscaping a gentle reminder to plug their leaks and cut back on irrigation.

Other ideas are welcome! To learn more about Book Group 6 meetings and activities, send email to barbara@ontrk.com.

An overflow crowd came to March Fourth Friday to see A Fierce Green Fire, a historical look at the modern environment movement from the early 20th century to today. Gathering in small groups after the film, people expressed conflicting emotions: awe and appreciation of the accomplishments of dedicated and passionate activists, despair at the current magnitude of the climate (and other) problems, and optimism that so many people are now involved in fighting for change. To paraphrase a quote from the film, “We’re not a movement, it’s larger than that. It’s the planet’s immune response to the disease that has infected it.”

What a fabulous Share Faire March 15 at Lucie Stern Community Center. Beautiful day in the courtyard, with kids corner, knife skills, shoe making, bike repair, gardening, biochar, conversation circle, and more – plus oodles of stuff to share.

As many people and organizations explore how to “step things up” – to get more active in working for climate and environmental justice – March Fourth Friday will take a look at where we’ve come from.

A FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle for a Living Planet explores fifty years of grassroots and global environmental activism – from conservation to climate change. The film premiered at Sundance in 2012 and has won acclaim at festivals around the world. Narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep, the film explores major fights and accomplishments of the environmental movement, and offers a deeper view of environmentalism as civilizational change, working to bring our industrial society into sustainable balance with nature.

Inspired by the book of the same name, A Fierce Green Fire brings together all the major parts of environmentalism and connects them. It focuses on activism, people fighting to save their homes, their lives, the future – and succeeding against all odds.

Friday March 27
7:15 for social time – Film starts promptly at 7:30 – discussion to follow
Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Fireside Room
505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA
All ages welcome
$5 recommended donation – no one turned away for lack of funds

It’s the Spring Share Faire!

Lucie Stern Community Center, Fireside Room and Patio, Sunday, March 15,  11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Bring stuff to share – garden produce, books, clothes, crafts, toys, etc., AND learn new skills.

Plus fun activities for kids!

We’re excited to be holding our first Share Faire at Lucie Stern Community Center.  The Fireside Room will give us some wonderful indoor space (and a place to hide from the rain, if only!).  The Patio will allow us to spread out, holding many skill shares and sharing lots of goods, as usual.

We’ve had quite a few teachers approach us, some who’ve shared skills before and who have new things to offer, others who are first timers.  You’ll want to spend a little time visiting them all.  And there’s certainly room for a couple more:  if you have a skill to share, let us know and we’ll see if we can fit you in.  Send an e-mail to Peter Ruddock at PeterRuddock@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Confirmed skill shares so far:

• Cecile Andrews, author of Living Room Revolution, will stir up a little Patio Revolution.  She will lead a Conversation Circle about Conversation and Community!
• Tom Kabat will help with bike maintenance, chain oil and adjustment etc.  Bring any parts you want to install (e.g. new brake cable, brake pads, inner-tube etc.)  Experienced bike fixer / ergonomic adjuster available to work with you.
• Emily  Rosen CMT, will facilitate massage, working with people in pairs. Sooooothe and connect.. Partner up with a friend and learn some great techniques for 10 minute seated massage.    We could all use some TLC! 
• Amanda Kovattana will demo simple shoe making skills using readily available hand tools and instructions. As a student shoe maker in her second year, she will speak to her successes and failures and show shoe samples of both.
• Nick Turner of deep nature gardens will offer pre-sprouted “eco-packs” – small pots containing a variety of interesting plants, many of them not available in nurseries, and he will demonstrate how to create them using planting mix, a pot, and the special “eco-mix” seed mixture. People can make up an eco-pack of their own and take it home for sprouting. There will also be eco-mix in small bottles, useful for boosting the diversity of any nature garden, plus more cool stuff as available.
• Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) will be providing some give-a-ways and sharing information about their programs that benefit the community. NHN has a Backyard Program for Gardeners-Beekeepers-Coopsters.
  Come see their backyard garden program display, receive seeds and more.

Transitioners from the South Bay joined thousands of other people from around California at the Anti-Fracking march and rally in Oakland February 7.  The weather cooperated, with just enough rain to put smiles on drought-weary faces,  but not too much to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

The event could have been entitled “Jerry Brown, listen up!” It was a personal message to the governor, who has positioned himself as a leader on climate policy, but has so far resisted efforts to ban the practice of hydraulic fracking in California. Major concerns about the process include contamination of groundwater from the chemicals involved and the amount of water involved in the extraction process.

Here are some pix from the march. And there are plenty of ways to get involved. Check out the Sierra Club and 350.org.

Pix from the march: