School goes green with solar panels and new programme

Forward thinking: Bure Park Primary School’s eco team, who have been working with Low Carbon Hub on the solar panel installation

June 11, 2015, www.oxfordmail.co.uk | “Hunderds of solar panels have been installed at a Bicester school in the biggest scheme of its kind at a primary in Oxfordshire.  Bure Park Primary School had 240 solar panels put in over the May half-term, enough to generate 53,200kWh a year and power more than 15 homes.  Pupils on the school’s eco team worked with social enterprise Low Carbon Hub to set up the scheme, which officially launched on Wednesday, June 3.”

Mariette Low shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
School goes green with solar panels and new programme
HUNDREDS of solar panels have been installed at a Bicester school in the biggest scheme of its kind at a primary in Oxfordshire.
oxfordmail.co.uk

World Environment Day at Wollega University

Kannan Ambalam shared a post to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.

 Wollega University Officials, invited guests from East Wollega Zonal Administration and Nekemte City Administration, Communities, Teachers and Students were actively participated in celebrating the World Environment Day and planted seedlings.
Kannan Ambalam's photo.
Kannan Ambalam's photo.
Kannan Ambalam's photo.
Kannan Ambalam's photo.
Kannan Ambalam's photo.
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Wollega University celebrates World Environment Day (June 5, 2015)

Black Mesa Water Coalition

April 30, 2015, www.blackmesawatercoalition.org | “Black Mesa Water Coalition is dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures, with the vision of building sustainable and healthy communities. BMWC strives to empower young people while building sustainable communities.”

Thank you Louise Benally and friends!
Black Mesa Water Coalition is dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures, with the vision of building…
blackmesawatercoalition.org
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Organic vegetable garden at Amrita University

February 16, 2015, www.amritapuri.org | “Encouraged by Amma’s message that everyone should be able to eat vegetables grown organically at least once in a week, the college students at Amrita University’s Amritapuri campus have started an organic vegetable garden using natural methods of cultivation. The garden is flourishing with the growth of colorful, delicious produce, including spinach, okra, tomatoes, tapioca, green chilies, cauliflower, pumpkins, and bananas. The students take turns coming every day to water and tend to the plants, with Wednesdays set aside for all the students to work together.”

Robert BrothersGoodNews FortheEarth “Encouraged by Amma’s emphasis on the importance of growing and eating organic produce, students at the Amritapuri campus of Amrita University have started an organic vegetable garden. Recently, a few students asked Amma how to address a consistent problem they faced – the birds in the nearby area had taken to eating the tomatoes even before they were plucked. Amma replied, “It’s alright; let the birds also benefit from the garden. In fact, we should be giving them the tomatoes first. Aren’t they also a part of the nature we are trying to reconnect with?”

The students take turns every day to water and tend to the plants and Wednesdays are set aside for all the students to come and work together. With their continued determination and enthusiasm, the students plan to expand the garden to accommodate a larger variety of fresh produce and to accomplish their long-term goal of making the Amritapuri campus 100% organic.”

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Regenerative Ranching in North Dakota

Dec 11, 2014, www.youtube.com | “Outside Bismarck, ND is a ranch that exemplifies a quiet revolution in commercial agriculture. While more and more consumers learn about the overwhelming benefits of eating healthfully (preferably local, organic food), a growing number of farmers and ranchers are weaning themselves from the grip of a small cartel of extremely powerful chemical “pharming” corporations. They are returning to a style of farming that had always existed before. Gabe & Paul Brown are a father and son who are not shy about showing off their beautiful land and visibly happy livestock. They practice what they call “Regenerative Farming” – a set of practices that encourage biodiversity and the natural enrichment of untilled soils.”

An example of Regenerative Farming & Ranching to mitigate climate change: All no-till, with animals grazing on the cover crops and crop residues = less C02 into the atmosphere. No pesticides, fertilizers, or fungicides, since 1993.
Outside Bismarck, ND is a ranch that exemplifies a quiet revolution in commercial agriculture. While more and more consumers learn about the…
youtube.com
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My edible classroom gives deprived New York kids a reason to attend school

Stephen Ritz working on vertical planters with studentsAugust 20, 2014, www.theguardian.com | “Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York’s deprived South Bronx district where he began a pioneering project to farm plants and vegetables indoors at Discovery High School. The school’s so-called “edible walls” gave birth to the Green Bronx Machine, a project that helps other schools in the US start their own agricultural programmes to teach children healthy eating, environmental awareness and life skills. As well as continuing his educational work in New York, Stephen travels the world promoting the value of growing fresh produce, both in schools and the wider community.”

Robert Brothers shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Teacher Stephen Ritz explains how a project to grow fresh food in his school turned into a wider movement encouraging healthy eating among US students
gu.com|By Matthew Jenkin
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Greening America’s Capitals

The Downtown Greenway along East Boulevard in Baton Rouge is located in a median that once contained a streetcar line. Rain gardens are located on the side of the street to collect and treat stormwater runoff before it goes into the city's sewer system.

January 13, 2014, www.epa.gov | “Greening America’s Capitals is an EPA program to help state capitals develop an implementable vision of environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green infrastructure strategies. In collaboration with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, EPA provides design assistance to help support sustainable communities that protect the environment, economy, and public health and to inspire state leaders to expand this work elsewhere.”

Greening America’s Capitals | Smart Growth | US EPA
www.epa.gov
View of the Connecticut state capitol envisioned with native grasses and rain gardens. Image courtesy of Nelson Byrd Woltz.
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How gardening lessons impact positively on school kids

September 2, 2013, www.theecologist.org | “Growing food in schools looks set to become part of the curriculum starting from September 2014, furthering the positive impacts of those very successful initiatives already working to promote gardening and ‘grow your own’ schemes in schools nationwide.”

GoodNews FortheEarth shared a link.

“Children and the Environment: Increased Gardening Programs Help School Kids
www.theecologist.org
Pending reforms to the UK’s school curriculum mean that from September 2014, pupils aged 7-14 can expect to learn gardening skills. Camilla Scaramanga takes a look at some of the initiatives that are already taking the lead…”
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Building a new generation of local conservationists: how improving education in Uganda may save one of the world’s great forests

Kibale Forest Book Project. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Ross.

June 20, 2013, news.mongabay.com | “Conservation work is often focused on the short-term: protecting a forest from an immediate threat, saving a species from pending extinction, or a restoring an ecosystem following degradation. While short-term responses are often borne of necessity, one could argue that long-term thinking in conservation and environmental work (as in all human endeavors) is woefully neglected, especially in the tropics. This is why programs like the Kasiisi Project are so important.”

“Building a new generation of local conservationists: how improving education in Uganda may save…
news.mongabay.com
Conservation work is often focused on the short-term: protecting a forest from an immediate threat, saving a species from pending extinction, or a restoring an ecosystem following degradation. While short-term responses are often borne of necessity, one could argue that long-term thinking in conserv…”
  • Jenzy Tomaszewski, Rie Miyake, Su Glazier, and Jeremy Dion like this.

Growing food in abondoned Brooklyn lots

Photo: Interim use: These guys are growing chilis tomatoes beans mustard greens and some red leafs I don't know the name of :) all while waiting for the MTA to sign the lease and the NewYork Restoration Project to turn this into a landscaped oasis. http://596acres.org/en/lot/3042060001/

596acres.org | “The community is interested in reclaiming the portion of this lot that is at the corner of Forbell Street; it’s on top of the track at the point where train goes under ground.  This MTA site used to be a garden about 20 years ago. The residents who maintained the garden, mostly Italians, moved away and the lot became abandoned. The community, together, with the mosque next door, is ready to remove the fence and make this space a resource again.”

Interim use: These guys are growing chilis tomatoes beans mustard greens and some red leafs I don’t know the name of all while waiting for the MTA to sign the lease and the NewYork Restoration Project to turn this into a landscaped oasis.

  • Nancy Brophy, and Karolina O’Donoghue like this.