O, Christmas Tree ...

As an environmentalist, I've read up on Christmas tree issues and have decided to go with the live variety. There are benefits, as discussed in the clips from an article in Williamsburg Yorktown Daily by Eileen Weldon, below. In addition, a tree purchased from a local tree farm helps the local economy and allows a farmer to keep farming his land. Read more:

"Before Christmas trees were commercially grown, people cut trees indiscriminately from the woods, with little consideration for the continuance of the forest. The organization American Forests started the tradition of giving a cut Christmas tree to President Coolidge in 1924, a tradition continued each year by the National Christmas Tree Association. American Forest’s gift to the President was their way of encouraging the use of living Christmas trees as a conservation measure. It was meant to discourage the random cutting of forest evergreens. After all, Christmas trees provide benefits from the time they are planted until the time they are recycled after the holidays.

"Have you ever considered how Christmas trees are grown or what it takes to produce that perfect specimen? Depending on the variety of tree, the soils and the climate, it takes an average of seven to 12 years to harvest a seven-foot tree. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, nearly 35 million trees are harvested on 500,000 acres of land by commercial Christmas tree growers each year and two to three new seedlings are planted for each tree that is harvested. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states.

"The seeds are started in planting beds and grown for up to three years until established. Depending on the size, they are often transplanted into a second nursery bed for another year or two before being re-planted in the production fields. An average of 1,000 to 1,500 seedlings are planted per acre of land, with half a billion trees in various stages growing on Christmas tree farms nationwide.

" ... In the United States, from seeding to harvest, the industry employs more than 100,000 people.

"There are environmental benefits to live Christmas tree production. The organization American Forests estimates that every acre of Christmas tress planted gives off enough oxygen to sustain 18 people. And that the total number of Christmas trees in production commercially in the United States should supply enough oxygen to sustain 18 million people every day. They also point out the benefit of shelter for wildlife and, of course, the benefits gained by recycling Christmas trees after the holidays. One statistic I found surprising is that in 2007 only 21 percent of US households purchased real Christmas trees - 48 percent artificial. Artificial trees offer convenience but are made from non-biodegradable plastic and can last centuries in the environment.

"So back to live Christmas trees — here’s an interesting bit of trivia. In the 1840s, a German professor introduced the people of America to the custom of decorating live Christmas trees...and where else but in Williamsburg, Virginia?"

Make a Smilebox greeting

Everyday Environmentalist: Eat More Plants

As a vegetarian, I enjoyed (okay, smugly enjoyed!) a recent Everyday Environmentalist article on the Nature Conservancy website, which appears in a slightly edited and condensed version here:

Eat More Plants By Margaret Southern

Which would you rather do: Give up your car or give up eating meat? You might be surprised that taking meat off your menu could be the greener option.

A 2006 report from The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the planes, trains and automobiles on the planet. The methane emissions from cows have 21 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. But that's not the only problem. More and more forests are being cleared for pastures to feed all these animals. And as the trees disappear, so does the earth’s natural method of storing carbon.

The problem is getting worse. According to the FAO, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries has doubled from 31 pounds in 1980 to 62 pounds in 2002. The FAO predicts that meat production will double by 2050.

So what can you do? Start by reducing the amount of animal products in your diet. Replace the meat and cheese with healthier beans, legumes, whole grains and extra servings of fruits and vegetables.

I admit that when I first gave up meat eight years ago, the task seemed incredibly daunting. My friends and family were skeptical that it would last more than a few weeks. After all, the only vegetables I used to eat were baby carrots and iceberg lettuce, and I refused to touch tomatoes, mushrooms or beans. But after about a month, something amazing happened: I began to enjoy the healthy foods I never liked before. When I realized I was craving broccoli and apples, I knew that my diet was healthier than it had ever been before.

These days, vegetarian options are (almost!) everywhere. You can find a wide variety of resources, recipes and tips on the Internet or in your local bookstore. Greening your diet (literally) is a simple way to make a big difference in your health and the environment.

Buy Nothing Day Organizers Confront The Economic Meltdown Head On

Press Release from Adbusters:

Now in its 17th year, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated every November by environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in over 65 countries around the world. Over the years, Buy Nothing Day (followed by Buy Nothing Christmas) has exploded into a global movement, inspiring the world’s citizens to live more simply and buy a whole lot less.

Designed to coincide with Black Friday (which this year falls on Friday, November 28) in the United States, and the unofficial start of the international holiday shopping season (Saturday, November 29), the festival takes many shapes, from relaxed family outings, to free, non-commercial street parties, to politically charged public protests, credit-card cut-ups and pranks and shenanigans of all kinds. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending.

Featured by such media giants as CNN, USA Today, MSNBC, Wired, the BBC, The Age and the CBC, Buy Nothing Day has gained momentum in recent years as the climate crisis has driven people to seek out greener alternatives to unrestrained consumption.

This year, Buy Nothing Day organizers are confronting the economic meltdown head-on – asking citizens, policy makers and pundits to examine our economic crisis.

"If you dig a little past the surface you'll see that this financial meltdown is not about liquidity, toxic derivatives or unregulated markets, it's really about culture," says the co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, Kalle Lasn. "It's our culture of excess and meaningless consumption — the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that's at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in."

Economic meltdown, together with the ecological crisis of climate change could be the beginning of a major global cultural shift — the dawn of a new age: the age of Post-Materialism.

"A simpler, pared-down lifestyle – one in which we're not drowning in debt – may well be the answer to this crisis we're in," says Lasn. "Living within our means will also make us happier and healthier than we’ve been in years."

DNA Project

I've been spending a lot of time on the Early Chesapeake DNA Project this month in order to prepare an article and presentation for the Gloucester Genealogical Society. If you're in the area, the presentation is set for November 24 at 10 a.m. at the Gloucester Public Library.

Do you have family history in the Chesapeake region? Consider joining the group.

Early Chesapeake DNA Project Background:

This initiative has been established to extend the genealogical work of those with colonial and early U.S. (pre-Civil War) roots in the early Chesapeake region of Virginia and Maryland. Those with surnames and family histories linking them to the area are invited to join. Please forward information about your Chesapeake Bay region (Baltimore, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia) ancestor(s) to the Group Administrator. The administrator has taken on this project as a volunteer with a long-term interest in adding to the body of knowledge on the evolution of English society in the Chesapeake Bay region. Many immigrants to the area came in response to the need for labor for the large-scale production of tobacco. Since most were young and poor, it has been difficult for genealogists and historians to make the transatlantic connection. Up to the time of the Civil War, Virginia and Maryland received many whose prospects were bleak in the old world. It is hoped that the application of DNA genealogy will illuminate family connections and link researchers to English origins. Evidence based on DNA analysis has already illustrated that some related individuals from England settled near one another once in Virginia and Maryland. Early Chesapeake Project members with the same surname who did not know one another previously have found that their relations were in the same Chesapeake Bay county. An interest in exploring the DNA roots of early Chesapeake settlers began with the Group Administrator's research in Mathews County, Virginia, located on Virginia's Middle Peninsula and discoveries she made after having her father's DNA analyzed. She found she was related to groups that did not share her surname. Surnames were adopted in England from the 12th to the 18th century with the less wealthy being the last to adopt the practice. Many others with roots in the early Chesapeake region may find themselves in the same situation! As an author and freelance writer (www.saraelewis.com), she may ask participants who make interesting discoveries to allow her to publish their stories. If anything is published, no reference will be made to participants or their ancestors without permission. The surnames listed above are related to her Mathews County research, but participation in the group is not limited to them. About Mathews, Virginia: Mathews was formed in 1790 from Gloucester County, Virginia. Hugh Gwynn of Wales was an early settler whose land patents extended along the Piankatank River. Gwynn's Island bears his name and Milford Haven, the body of water that separates the Island from the Mathews mainland, is a clue to his Welsh roots. Other 1600s land records for the area that became Mathews include the names Armestead (Armistead), Bohannon, Billups, Curtis, Davis, Degges (Diggs), Dudley, Elliot, Forrest, Lillie (Lilly), Ludlow, Marchant, Mechen (Mecham), Morgan, Putnam, and others. The boundaries of Gloucester County's colonial period Kingston Parish include most of modern day Mathews. The parish vestry’s register of marriages and births from 1749 to 1827 remains a key tool for genealogists. The modern county is still populated by many descendants of its earliest settlers.

Trickle-up Bailout

The economy and the election. It's hard to think about anything else this week. At dinner with friends last night I tried to make a point about Reagan-age trickle-down economics. The friends (one backing each of the two political "teams") and the Margaritas were too good to push it too far.

Anyway, I was glad to see a little follow-up in the Washington Post this morning by two smart dudes from Yale. They propose a trickle-up bailout plan. Here is my pared down cut-and-paste of the article, in case you don't have time to read the whole thing:

The theory underlying the bailout plan stalled in Congress is that rescuing the finance industry will ... eventually trickle down to average Americans.

There is an easier and more politically palatable fix: Pay off all the delinquent mortgages.

Some will argue that it is grossly unfair ... why should my profligate neighbor be rewarded for overleveraging himself?

Because such unfairness is a small price to pay to avoid a rapid transition to a socialist economy, the collapse of our financial system (and its related global implications) and a frightening shift of economic power toward the executive branch. Why shell out $700 billion to Wall Street dealmakers and the companies they managed into this mess? Wouldn't it be preferable for individual homeowners to benefit directly?

Homeowners would become partners with the government in resolving the crisis.

This solution would start by helping ordinary Americans and would quickly spill over to revive the financial markets. Directly addressing the underlying cause of the crisis would help ensure that we would not be facing the same crisis again down the road. While Wall Street has only recently felt the bite of foreclosures and delinquencies, communities across the nation will face greater financial and social fallout if the foreclosure crisis continues.

www.saraelewis.com

Don't Rake Leaves!

Give yourself a break this year and don't rake your leaves! Leaf raking is an aesthetic choice that has evolved with the development of suburban lifestyles and the habit of growing carpet-green lawns.

But leaf raking is not necessary! In fact, it is downright harmful to the environment. There is no reason to rake leaves unless you are collecting them to use in a compost pile or as mulch underneath trees and shrubs or around perennials.

Instead, run over leaves with a lawn mower every five days or so. Leaf litter will not smother the grass. Microbes will decay the litter and treat your lawn to a feast of nutrients.

Pile up the leaves and jump in them with the kids. Afterwards, pile them up again and add twigs and branches to hold them in place. The leaf pile will provide food and cover for birds and all sorts of insects, reptiles, and small mammals. Enjoy looking for toads and watching rabbits. Develop your backyard as a habitat. The National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat program can guide you.

www.saraelewis.com

Today's Sermon

The topic of today's sermon at the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists church: "Is This All There Is?"

A loaded question, of course, and one that is seldom asked until life presents us with a crisis. I found the WUU church about 15 years ago ... after a crisis. I return time and again to center myself on this very question and to focus on being "at one" with the world.

Like 90% of Unitarian Universalists, I jumped ship from a mainstream church because I wasn't comfortable with pat solutions and a promise of afterlife. While services, prayers, and songs made me tingle, the mainstream church usually left me cold. Answers were easy to accept in the short term, but they didn't really address my yearning to explore, learn, and grow. Magical thinking didn't do it for me because is rooted in one historical story, embellished over time for largely political reasons, and humanity's story is a very recent one at that.

I found what I needed in the Unitarian Universalists church and I was reminded of this today. The minister discussed the fact that Unitarian Universalism isn't a church that believes in everything and nothing, as it is often portrayed. Rather, the UU church attracts those who are drawn to depth and a spirit-centered life. The UU church supports people in their exploration of the great questions of life. It supports people who have discerned that materialism is not the answer and that, after all, life is short. It supports people who value thoughtful spirituality.

The UU church supports people who value wholeness. Wholeness is spiritual and to get there we have to move beyond the material realm. The UU church is a place UUs support on Sundays and other days, as we are willing and able, because it helps us discover the fleeting beauty and awesome depth of life in a complex world. The church helps us focus on the fact that we feel whole when we simplify. We prefer a short, deep, thoughtful, and whole existence to a "long life of half-baked hapiness" where material things and magical thinking distract us from what it means to be human.

www.saraelewis.com

New Quarter Park Habitats

We're having an all-day Walk and Talk program at New Quarter Park on November 1. Here's the press release:

All-day Walk and Talk on Habitats at New Quarter Park

September 26, 2008 – A daylong “Habitat Happening” will be held at New Quarter Park, a York County park near Williamsburg, Virginia, on Saturday, November 1, in lieu of the park’s usual 2-hour Walk and Talk. Participants will explore the plants and animals that live in the upland forest, ridges and bottoms, meadows, and wetland habitats at the park with local experts.

The program, coordinated by the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, will begin at 9:00 a.m. with registration. At 9:30 a.m. participants will explore plants and their habitats with Dr. Donna Ware, retired herbarium curator with the Department of Biology at William and Mary, and Jim Orband, horticulture and natural resources agent, County of York. The brown bag lunch speaker will be Dr. Randy Chambers, director of the Keck Environmental Laboratory at William and Mary, who will talk about recent research on turtles. In the afternoon, Dave Graft, Lafayette High School biology and oceanography teacher, will lead participants in the discovery of animals that live in the wetlands and open water habitats surrounding the park. The program will conclude at 3:30 p.m.

The fee for the event is $25 (checks payable to Treasurer, County of York) and participation is limited to 30 people, ages 16 through adult. Download a registration form from the November 1 calendar link at http://historicrivers.org/. Complete the form and mail it with your check to Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, P.O. Box 6424, Williamsburg, VA 23187. For more information, call Shirley Devan, Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, at 757-813-1322. Participants should bring a brown bag lunch and dress to spend the day outdoors.

www.saraelewis.com

Cause Blogging

"It's not easy being green," croaked Kermit the Frog. This is one of my all-time favorite "quotes" and one that I paraphrase here: "It's not easy being a 1980s M.B.A.-turned-vegetarian-environmentalist."

Since leaving my traditional marketing career I've enjoyed freelance writing and consulting work that allows me to explore what it means to be a human being who is intricately tied to the web of life on planet earth. The more I look at the natural world, the more I am genuinely thrilled as I watch and learn about my living and non-living natural surroundings. Yes, that's me getting up close and personal with barnacles. A friend caught me (in the green shirt, of course) and other Virginia Master Naturalists watching and listening to them on the dock at New Quarter Park as we watched them chow down on a meal of whatever good stuff happens to float by.

Since becoming a vegetarian environmentalist I've challenged myself by participating in the Volunteer Chesapeake Steward (VoiCeS) training program offered by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I am currently enrolled in the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists program. I'm getting greener every day! And the good news is that more of us are becoming environmentally aware and doing something about it.

This blog as well as my Suite 101 posts allow me to "market" environmental events and ideas. As a marketing communicator, writing about and promoting the environmental cause is just ... natural.

www.saraelewis.com

Pro Walk/Pro Bike

I attended a great conference in Seattle, Washington, last week. See my Suite.101 postings for more information about Pro Walk/Pro Bike, the annual conference of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking.

My favorite workshop was a tour of the Interurban Trail in Shoreline, which made the formerly gray and impassable Aurora corridor into a walkable, bikeable, driveable community treasure. The slower pace, artful elements, and greenscaping make it more than just a way to get from Point A to Point B. Other workshops that presented information on partnering with public health to shift the emphasis from cars only to cars and bikes and pedestrians were valuable for planners and advocates.

www.saraelewis.com