Dear Subscriber,
"Corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power."
So declares the brand-new Declaration of the Occupation of Wall Street, an update of the Declaration of Independence for our corporatist era. It is thrilling to see the widespread support for this movement, now in scores of cities nationwide. In Los Angeles, for example, the mayor had 100 rain ponchos distributed to protesters standing in front of City Hall in the rain.
Occupy Santa Cruz (not surprisingly) already has over 2,000 friends on Facebook and a rally in San Lorenzo Park happening today.
This same week, the Transition movement in the U.S. reached a milestone: Lawrence, Kansas became the 100th American City or Town to form an official Transition Initiative.
With increasingly massive movements underway both for the rejection of unaccountable corporate power and for the embrace of local community resilience, our goals of relocalization seem more and more within reach.
Cheers!
—Michael Levy
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The Transition Companion: out soon!
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It's been just 3 busy years since Rob Hopkins' brilliant Transition Handbook was published, and Transition Santa Cruz became part of the worldwide Transition movement. Now his long-awaited follow-up is out and coming our way at the end of October.
The Transition Companion discusses where we are now in terms of resilience and vulnerability in the face of rising oil prices, climate change, and economic challenge. It then looks in detail at the process a community in transition goes through, calling on the experience of those who have already embarked on this journey.
You can pre-order the book through our affiliate program with Bookshop Santa Cruz (benefits them and us) or wait until you see us at an upcoming event and let us hand you one with a smile.
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It's time for Time Banking
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Saturday, October 8
2 to 5 pm
United Way, 4450 Capitola Rd.,
Ste. 106
RSVP here by 9 am Friday!
Time banking is a way that we can create our own local economies completely outside of the money system. It's been well-tested and refined since becoming well-known in the 1990 early '90s. Best yet, it's legal!
Sheryl Walton, a trainer for TimeBanks USA, will be in town to help us discuss how we can get a time bank system going here. A great opportunity, sponsored by Reskilling Expo.
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Shall we keep the market table?
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After joining our monthly potluck with that of the Grange and the Homesteading Meetup, we elevated our market table to a central feature of the potluck. Here is what Skip from the Meetup group says about it:
What's a market table? A way to share when we produce more of something than we need or otherwise have surplus of the stuff of sustainable living. Just bring your bounty to sell, barter, or gift.
The market table opens for about 15 minutes at the end of dinner. If you want us to keep this feature of our potlucks, vote "yes" by bringing things and participating.
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Learn about aquaponics
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Tuesday, October 11
7-9 pm
Live Oak Grange
Free
Aquaponics is a revolutionary farming method that mimics nature to grow organic vegetables and fish in a resource efficient system. The fish waste nourishes the hydroponically grown plants which in turn clean the water for the fish; providing pesticide free greens and toxin free proteins.
Come learn about it with presenter Max Meyers, an Ecological Designer, Permaculture Teacher, and Executive Director of the Mendocino Ecological Learning Center. (If you can't make this one, look for another aquaponics presentation by TSC in November.)
Co-sponsored with the Grange and CSA Aquaponics.
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Also worthy of attention...
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Two events from Women's Earth and Climate Caucus:
♦ Women and Water: From watersheds to grey-water systems and roof water harvesting
October 28th, 29th and 30th in Corte Madera (Marin County)
♦ Women’s Leadership and Building Resilient Communities: A personal and practical seminar and training. Includes visit to Black Dot Artists Community. December 16-18 in Berkeley.
More info on both of these at this site. |
Contact Details
831-427-9916
http://transitionsc.org
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Potluck with a Purpose
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♦ Tuesday, October 18
6:30 to 9:00 pm
♦ Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave (map)
♦ Free/donation
♦ Family friendly
♦ Bring a dish to share
Will climate change
get us all wet?
Join us for a presentation from the City's Cathlin Atchison about the proposed plans to protect Santa Cruzans from rising sea levels, higher temps, and other effects of climate change.
Whatever you may think about preparing for climate change, this presentation concerns you because the City is proposing spending many millions of dollars on projects, including sealing underground pipes downtown as the water table rises, building walls to protect the sewage treatment plant from inundation, raising the Hwy. 1 bridge to reduce flooding risk, etc.
Plenty of time to ask questions and say what you think a resilient city would look like.
To read up on the City Climate Adaptation Plan ahead of time, go to this link on the City website.
Bring a dish to share, or come at 7:45 if you are skipping dinner.
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