Brookside Farm – Growing Food, Growing Energy

Take a whirlwind tour of the one-acre Brookside Energy Farm with Jason Bradford and Christoffer Hansen at planting time. Along with perennials, annuals, a food forest, and dryland crops (grains), they're growing Jerusalem artichoke and dale sorghum to produce both food and … [Read more...]

Sustainable Vashon – A Learning and Action Network

Three women envisioning a sustainable island share their activities: Sustainable Vashon's Merrilee Runyan describes "Edible Island" and "Green Seed grants." Farmer Lisa Mathias of Vashon Island Growers Association envisions more neighborhood food production. Hillery Crocker … [Read more...]

The Elephant in the Peak Oil Living Room

Richard Katz and Dennis Brumm burst the technofix dream-bubble by naming the hard stuff: the lack of sufficient alternatives to oil and gas at the enormous scale needed. Overpopulation exceeding the planet's carrying capacity. Potential collapse. But wait! they close with … [Read more...]

BriarPatch Co-op – Building for the New Century

Manager Paul Harton welcomes us to the newly-built BriarPatch Co-op Natural Foods Community Market. It's built to qualify for LEED™ certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and incorporates innovative design throughout. Architect Jeff Gold shows … [Read more...]

The Worm Guy

Watch a worm birth from a cocoon. See compost produced from food scraps, horse manure, and lots of worms. See the machine that separates castings (worm poop) from compost. The Worm Guy, Mark Yelken, says that worms are "the intestines of the Earth", fertilizing and … [Read more...]

Conserve First! Saving Energy in the Home

Todd Cory lives in a zero energy home. He started by conserving a whopping 70% of his energy use. Then he installed solar hot water and electricity connected to the grid. This renewable energy installer brims with enthusiastic ideas about having fun consuming less energy, … [Read more...]

Fossil Free by ’33

Tam Hunt of the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara, California outlines a strategy for regional independence from fossil fuels — and it centers around electricity. Start with efficiency & conservation, add renewables to replace fossil fuels for electricity, … [Read more...]

It’s the Compost! Creating Abundance at K-JO Farm

Karen Biondo and Joe Walling take us on a tour of their incredible backyard farm on Vashon Island, Washington. Pet the goats, see chickens dusting in divots, and crunch a carrot. See how Karen's colorful paintbrush combined with Joe's creativity with salvaged materials and … [Read more...]

Sustainable Ballard: A Blueprint for EveryTown USA

David Wright, Vic Opperman and Andrea Faste are "making ripples around Puget Sound" by empowering folks in their northwest Seattle community of 70,000 around "the one issue that unites us" — energy. Sustainable Ballard volunteers educate, facilitate, and collaborate … [Read more...]

Community Responses to Peak Oil

Peak oil educator and author Richard Heinberg discusses what communities can do to prepare for peak oil. He covers transportation, including a novel ride-sharing scheme, assessing municipal vulnerabilities, local food and energy production, as well as the Hirsch report's … [Read more...]

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