As the end of winter approaches, and the frost begins to come out of the ground, many of us look forward to the coming warmth of Spring, the yielding soils and the smells of thawing compost piles.
ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. is looking forward to tree planting excursions and events that center around sustainability and permaculture. Spring is also a good time to reflect on plans for expansion and how far we have come in our pursuit of Eden. At last count we had over two dozen perennial plants that produce food each year with very little weeding, tilling, or trimming. The most work we do is the harvest.
We see our organization as a pollinator of sorts. Each of us and the groups we belong to are wonderfully complete in isolation, but once cross pollination occurs, new awarenesses and new forms begin to emerge. Through continued planting of seeds, we can reestablish life where none had been, create surplus where there had been lack and create life upon the harshest soils. Our home has been a microcosm of what we do on a larger scale across vast acreages. When we arrived here, there was one rotting Apple Tree and several very old Lilacs. The soil was prone to drying out and cracking. It had become so compacted as to only support invasive species, and very few of them. The grass always turned brown in peak summer and the water pooled around the house and made it's way into the basement.
We began a process of loving the Earth back to life, establishing a compost, mulching and introducing clay busters that would look beautiful and provide food for birds, bugs and butterflies. We planted several trees right away and added a few more each year until now there is protection from much of the harshest sun of summer and less of the biting winds o' winter for our bit of land to deal with. The longer we are here, watching what the climate dishes out, the more we see that can be done to make our part of the planet more hospitable.
Pemaculture has allowed us to find food at virtually every season, right near our back door. It has allowed us to see more wildlife, create a healthy, organic, and sustainable oasis in the heart of the city, and has led us to have such abundant harvests as to share our surplus with others. Our ecotours allow us a forum to spread the word about environmental recovery, sustainable approaches to housing, energy, and food so that more and more people can live better while using less. We invite you to share in one of our events or take a tour of our facilities. To arrange a tour, please either write or call ahead, so that we can be ready to make your stay great.
You can contact us through e-mail at: tnsaladino42@hotmail.com, write using snail mail at: 1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI 54301-3334 or call using our number (920) 884-2224.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Climate Change 202
The logical step, once Heat Islands are seen and understood, is to get a picture of large scale impacts of the hundreds of thousands of towns, transportation corridors, energy transmission corridors, etc. each belching up an energized bolus, carrying toxic compounds and particulate matter aloft. Again, perhaps a volcano would be more intense, and concentrated, but we are creating heat islands virtually everywhere. Like a child learning shades of red, we need to understand what we do to our atmosphere. Using the volcano as "out-of-the-box red" from the kindergarten set of Crayons. Perhaps what we are seeing on the global climate change scale is brick red, or terracotta. Still, undeniably "red" once we have matured and understand the range of color that makes up red. The amalgamation of these updrafts, which create nearly invisible columns of upwelling air, here in Northeast Wisconsin, have created a dense and stationary mass of heated air, so large, as to shunt winter weather as far south as Texas!
We see ever more heat, more drought, and wildly fluctuating diurnal (daily) temperature change, combined with heavier, and more prolonged wind, high rain events, etc. Two new types of rain events have now been seen in Wisconsin. One stalls normally, fast moving thunderstorms, (Which get their energy from superheated air blasting into the Stratosphere.) When vast amounts of energy are being released on still summer nights, the phenomenon can dump several times the monthly average, of rain, overnight. The second phenomenon is "training", where a series of nodes of heavy rain, travel perpendicularly along a storm's front, inundating a small area as it's parent air mass runs into these "bubbles", or "columns" of heated air which act as major atmospheric mountain ranges along urban/suburban corridors. I have seen as much as can be seen from the earth, and have integrated information gathered by flying as well. Most of the problem with these phenomena is that they are too small to be considered "weather" in and of themselves, they change weather. Yet, they are usually far too large scale for individuals to detect, perceive, or grasp without an understanding of the heat island concept.
In essence, we each have an atmospheric change map of our entire existence. It has mostly been lost to the scale of time, but we can imagine it quite easily once given tools to "see" this kind of process. At rest, we "contaminate" the air with carbon dioxide, this however is useful to plants, mosquitoes and a plethora of microbes. Because our body heat creates a tiny updraft, the CO2 tries to fall and the effect is of creating two counter spiraling vortecies. This can be imagined as a sort of doughnut shape. Along the inner surface of the bottom of the doughnut, air would be moving aloft, spinning the doughnut, and the CO2 would be curling out and down the outside of the doughnut. To help visualize this phenomenon, hold your right hand out and spin it clockwise, hold your left hand out and spin it counterclockwise. Now, move your hands from front to the sides. This gives you some sense of your "energetic addition" to the world when you are at rest. As you travel through life, you also bring with you a series of these doughnuts, spinning off like a nautilus through time-space. (please don't write this off as Metaphysics) If we exercise, our bodies, we actually make more CO2, and stir up the air more. Although we still make the generalized "doughnut effect", it is overwhelmed by fluid dynamics and eddy currents behind our moving mass.
Similarly, but without the counteracting CO2 is the car or truck at rest after use. It has the spiraling upward energy, but all it has to give back are the gasses and fumes borne up by the heat of the engine. When the car is running far more heat and fumes are created, borne upward by the energy of the heat. It sounds tiny, but we have hundreds of millions of cars operating every day!
Many of us remember the childhood banking lesson. Two sisters got a choice of having their annual allowance allocated in one of two ways. One chose to get ten dollars every month. She liked money and was very happy. Her sister chose a penny plus another penny every day, compounded for the entire year. The sister who picked the first payment plan thought ten dollars was a lot of money compared to a penny, and it is. However, a small change compounded over a long time has substantially more impact. "Penny Girl" has nearly seven hundred dollars by the end of three hundred and sixty five days, whereas the girl getting ten dollars per month only nets one-hundred and twenty.
Similarly, we need to look at long-term incremental changes that yield the biggest bang over the long term. Not everyone can go from a car using fuel at a rate of 25 MPG to one using it at a rate of 50MPG as I was able to do. This cut my transportation emissions by half. I could cut them by half again by always having one passenger, and by half again driving the car with three friends along. Carpooling could drastically the energy use we all have to use for transport. With four people riding in my car, we effectively get 200 MPG!
By using a solar furnace, frequently called a "scorched air" solar heater, I reduced my space heating bill by 1/3. This is only a few hundred dollars per year, but I am expecting the system to pay itself off in year three. From then on, that money saved stays in my bank, rather than flowing to a utility company. Perhaps, all one can afford to do is slow down a few miles per hour to save fuel, or check the air in their tires more frequently. Even keeping them two pounds psi harder can improve mileage without affecting handling. These small changes add up over time and complement one another in unique ways.
Find out if it is possible to ride share to work or the grocery, you may be surprised at how rich your life becomes while simultaneously saving resources! Imaging also, what life would be like if you just spent more time sitting and thinking, letting your CO2 cycle through the natural world the way God/ess intended.
We see ever more heat, more drought, and wildly fluctuating diurnal (daily) temperature change, combined with heavier, and more prolonged wind, high rain events, etc. Two new types of rain events have now been seen in Wisconsin. One stalls normally, fast moving thunderstorms, (Which get their energy from superheated air blasting into the Stratosphere.) When vast amounts of energy are being released on still summer nights, the phenomenon can dump several times the monthly average, of rain, overnight. The second phenomenon is "training", where a series of nodes of heavy rain, travel perpendicularly along a storm's front, inundating a small area as it's parent air mass runs into these "bubbles", or "columns" of heated air which act as major atmospheric mountain ranges along urban/suburban corridors. I have seen as much as can be seen from the earth, and have integrated information gathered by flying as well. Most of the problem with these phenomena is that they are too small to be considered "weather" in and of themselves, they change weather. Yet, they are usually far too large scale for individuals to detect, perceive, or grasp without an understanding of the heat island concept.
In essence, we each have an atmospheric change map of our entire existence. It has mostly been lost to the scale of time, but we can imagine it quite easily once given tools to "see" this kind of process. At rest, we "contaminate" the air with carbon dioxide, this however is useful to plants, mosquitoes and a plethora of microbes. Because our body heat creates a tiny updraft, the CO2 tries to fall and the effect is of creating two counter spiraling vortecies. This can be imagined as a sort of doughnut shape. Along the inner surface of the bottom of the doughnut, air would be moving aloft, spinning the doughnut, and the CO2 would be curling out and down the outside of the doughnut. To help visualize this phenomenon, hold your right hand out and spin it clockwise, hold your left hand out and spin it counterclockwise. Now, move your hands from front to the sides. This gives you some sense of your "energetic addition" to the world when you are at rest. As you travel through life, you also bring with you a series of these doughnuts, spinning off like a nautilus through time-space. (please don't write this off as Metaphysics) If we exercise, our bodies, we actually make more CO2, and stir up the air more. Although we still make the generalized "doughnut effect", it is overwhelmed by fluid dynamics and eddy currents behind our moving mass.
Similarly, but without the counteracting CO2 is the car or truck at rest after use. It has the spiraling upward energy, but all it has to give back are the gasses and fumes borne up by the heat of the engine. When the car is running far more heat and fumes are created, borne upward by the energy of the heat. It sounds tiny, but we have hundreds of millions of cars operating every day!
Many of us remember the childhood banking lesson. Two sisters got a choice of having their annual allowance allocated in one of two ways. One chose to get ten dollars every month. She liked money and was very happy. Her sister chose a penny plus another penny every day, compounded for the entire year. The sister who picked the first payment plan thought ten dollars was a lot of money compared to a penny, and it is. However, a small change compounded over a long time has substantially more impact. "Penny Girl" has nearly seven hundred dollars by the end of three hundred and sixty five days, whereas the girl getting ten dollars per month only nets one-hundred and twenty.
Similarly, we need to look at long-term incremental changes that yield the biggest bang over the long term. Not everyone can go from a car using fuel at a rate of 25 MPG to one using it at a rate of 50MPG as I was able to do. This cut my transportation emissions by half. I could cut them by half again by always having one passenger, and by half again driving the car with three friends along. Carpooling could drastically the energy use we all have to use for transport. With four people riding in my car, we effectively get 200 MPG!
By using a solar furnace, frequently called a "scorched air" solar heater, I reduced my space heating bill by 1/3. This is only a few hundred dollars per year, but I am expecting the system to pay itself off in year three. From then on, that money saved stays in my bank, rather than flowing to a utility company. Perhaps, all one can afford to do is slow down a few miles per hour to save fuel, or check the air in their tires more frequently. Even keeping them two pounds psi harder can improve mileage without affecting handling. These small changes add up over time and complement one another in unique ways.
Find out if it is possible to ride share to work or the grocery, you may be surprised at how rich your life becomes while simultaneously saving resources! Imaging also, what life would be like if you just spent more time sitting and thinking, letting your CO2 cycle through the natural world the way God/ess intended.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Twelve "First Steps" for the New Gardener.
1. Mulch. Never let soil remain bare. Organic, seed free materials work best.
2. Provide drainage for any potted plants. Roots need air as well as water.
3. Always plant at least one tomato plant.
4. Simplify lawn care to allow more time for your garden. Let grass stay 2-3" (5-7.5cm) high.
5. Always plant trees with the root flare exposed.
6. Compost! About 1/3 brown stalks & stems, 1/3 green leafy material, 1/3 food scraps. (Add a handful of soil from time to time to inoculate the pile with beneficial microbes and organisms.)
7. Plant the right plants in the right places. (Light, moisture, Ph, etc.)
8. Don't curse the earth, work with what you have.
9. Covet your neighbor's perennials.
10. Have one of each perennial.
11. Raised beds make weeding easier, extend the growing season and conserve water and your effort.
12. Use rain barrels for free, chlorine-free water, priceless in nearly any clime.
This was adapted from a top ten list that I saw on local public television. Please share it around with anyone who is thinking about starting a garden. We all benefit from one anothers successes!
Peace all!
2. Provide drainage for any potted plants. Roots need air as well as water.
3. Always plant at least one tomato plant.
4. Simplify lawn care to allow more time for your garden. Let grass stay 2-3" (5-7.5cm) high.
5. Always plant trees with the root flare exposed.
6. Compost! About 1/3 brown stalks & stems, 1/3 green leafy material, 1/3 food scraps. (Add a handful of soil from time to time to inoculate the pile with beneficial microbes and organisms.)
7. Plant the right plants in the right places. (Light, moisture, Ph, etc.)
8. Don't curse the earth, work with what you have.
9. Covet your neighbor's perennials.
10. Have one of each perennial.
11. Raised beds make weeding easier, extend the growing season and conserve water and your effort.
12. Use rain barrels for free, chlorine-free water, priceless in nearly any clime.
This was adapted from a top ten list that I saw on local public television. Please share it around with anyone who is thinking about starting a garden. We all benefit from one anothers successes!
Peace all!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
New Patriotism: Religion of the Soil
Patriotism has been referred to as the "Religion of the Soil". We do have a mystic relationship with local microbes. After all, we mutually exchange gasses with the same "local" air. We rely on their existence, inhabiting all the spaces around and some within us. Without bacteria, fungi, and primary decomposers, we would drown in waste. In a single handful of living, healthy soil, billions of relationships weave a complex web of life. It is time for us to have a true worshipful attitude toward soil. Earth is a daunting concept to many of us. The sheer scale of our planet trumps our imaginations from grasping the entire globe. Think locally can likewise boggle our ability to appreciate, the full complexity, overwhelming our imaginations. We have virtually sterilized much of our part of North America, leading to much less diversity of species, and far fewer organisms overall.
Imagine, intact forest, towering eighty to over one hundred feet. In this matrix are many thousands of individual plants, a myriad of creatures, living just on the bark of the several hundred trees per acre! Add in the thousands of insects that would inhabit a single dead tree...You can see that in short order, we would find billions of organisms, then trillions. Truly mind boggling. Now, remember the last parking area that you saw. Not only is there a minute area on which life to exist, but the conditions over the entire area are at odds with any sort of ecologic system. We can reclaim paved areas, we just need the will, and respect for the soil that it deserves. The desolation that has been rolled, like dice, out upon the landscape can be reclaimed. By the simple act of respect, for the land, the soil, and our "need" to civilize and control nature on this most basic level.
Our fresh air depends on other living things, our food, many of our clothes, our homes, our very ability to make a living, depends on the Mother, Earth. The earth's systems have developed over millennia to be perfectly suited to their locale. Ours is to find a way to encourage the unity of complexity in and amongst the inhabitants of every thimbleful of soil that we can. We need to develop ways to add verticality to our landscape as well. Trees, vines, herbs and flowers all multiply the area that is available for life to thrive in and on. Profusion of life is the rule rather than the exception in nature. If we are to survive as a species, we need to fit ourselves to the web rather than trying to make it bend to us.
Today, we only got to plant a few trees, but each one made a huge impact on the local landscape. these were larger, specimen trees, and relatively tower above what had been there before. Shade, even dappled shade reduces extremes of both temperature, humidity and wind. This in turn encourages a wider variety of life-forms who add their energetic spin to the vortecies of life. all beings imbibe and sanctify Earth, Air and Water, and through the furnace of metabolism, and harvesting solar energy, Fire. Every organism also brings to the equation Spirit. The will to survive is at the root of all life. Although it has been suggested that the death drive is equal to the drive to life, I see quite the opposite. The death drive is almost always aberrant. Think of the Kamakazi Squirrels, who run under your tires, deer in the headlights, and teenagers for that matter. If they were like that all the time, the species would have died out long ago. We can strive for incremental change to have lasting affects. What we can do now is better than what we hope to do in the future. That being said, each of the trees that we planted to day has a high probability of outliving me. What better way to serve the next seven generations!
Please plant a tree as soon as you can, and if you would like us to plant a tree with your blessings, send donations to ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. 1445 Porlier Street, Green Bay, WI 54301-3334
Imagine, intact forest, towering eighty to over one hundred feet. In this matrix are many thousands of individual plants, a myriad of creatures, living just on the bark of the several hundred trees per acre! Add in the thousands of insects that would inhabit a single dead tree...You can see that in short order, we would find billions of organisms, then trillions. Truly mind boggling. Now, remember the last parking area that you saw. Not only is there a minute area on which life to exist, but the conditions over the entire area are at odds with any sort of ecologic system. We can reclaim paved areas, we just need the will, and respect for the soil that it deserves. The desolation that has been rolled, like dice, out upon the landscape can be reclaimed. By the simple act of respect, for the land, the soil, and our "need" to civilize and control nature on this most basic level.
Our fresh air depends on other living things, our food, many of our clothes, our homes, our very ability to make a living, depends on the Mother, Earth. The earth's systems have developed over millennia to be perfectly suited to their locale. Ours is to find a way to encourage the unity of complexity in and amongst the inhabitants of every thimbleful of soil that we can. We need to develop ways to add verticality to our landscape as well. Trees, vines, herbs and flowers all multiply the area that is available for life to thrive in and on. Profusion of life is the rule rather than the exception in nature. If we are to survive as a species, we need to fit ourselves to the web rather than trying to make it bend to us.
Today, we only got to plant a few trees, but each one made a huge impact on the local landscape. these were larger, specimen trees, and relatively tower above what had been there before. Shade, even dappled shade reduces extremes of both temperature, humidity and wind. This in turn encourages a wider variety of life-forms who add their energetic spin to the vortecies of life. all beings imbibe and sanctify Earth, Air and Water, and through the furnace of metabolism, and harvesting solar energy, Fire. Every organism also brings to the equation Spirit. The will to survive is at the root of all life. Although it has been suggested that the death drive is equal to the drive to life, I see quite the opposite. The death drive is almost always aberrant. Think of the Kamakazi Squirrels, who run under your tires, deer in the headlights, and teenagers for that matter. If they were like that all the time, the species would have died out long ago. We can strive for incremental change to have lasting affects. What we can do now is better than what we hope to do in the future. That being said, each of the trees that we planted to day has a high probability of outliving me. What better way to serve the next seven generations!
Please plant a tree as soon as you can, and if you would like us to plant a tree with your blessings, send donations to ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. 1445 Porlier Street, Green Bay, WI 54301-3334
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Guidelines for ECO-Tourists
Respect local culture and tradition. encourage local pride, cuisine folk songs and tales, dance, dress, local etiquette and local architecture. Science, art and history lives in everything.Be friendly, inquisitive and patient. Respect Sacred places.
Understand that economic benefits of your travel should stay in the local community. Spreading your wealth to non-locally owned tourism businesses is bad. Give a fair price for locally grown produce. Indigenously crafted or value added products provide "right livelihood" to locals and use less resources.
Think eco-systems. Be conservation conscious. Support wise resource use through rainwater harvesting, composting and use of renewable energy. Use fuel wood sparingly.
Be environmentally sensitive; Honor biodiversity. Respect the carrying capacity of the physical environment and know that overcrowdinglessens the tranquility and simplicity that attracts you.
Make contributions to conservation. Revere the natural/cultural heritage of the area, it maintains local harmony. Help guides and porters observe eco-conservation measures. Remember that erosion of cultural integrity and values due to the introduction of 'outside' influences is ruinous to indigenous cultures. Avoid over-use of community infrastructure and imported products.
Keep local water sources clean and DO NOT USE chemical detergents in or around springs or streams. If no toilet facilities are available, make sure you defecate at least 30 meters, (100feet) from any water source. Bury all organic waste. Conservation of water is vital, especially drinking water. Water from kitchen waste or harvested rainwater can be used for sanitation and uses where water quality is less essential. Water sources should not be contaminated in any way. Ask about local water conservation etiquette.
Keep travel-generated garbage to a minimum. Compost, recycle and reduce pollution as much as possible. Proper disposal means only at appropriate points along the route. Leave no eyesores. 'Leave no trace' principles are to be followed. (If you are unfamiliar, ask) Leave camping areas cleaner than when you came. Another party will be using the site after you depart. Differentiate between biodegradable and petrochemical waste. Burn or bury paper, natural refuse and litter. Pack out everything else. Don't throw away any non-biodegradable waste! Keep all recyclables! Don't throw away any non-degradable garbage like plastic bags, foil packets, glass bottles or metal cans.
Reduce impact by seeing that no damage is done to vegetation. Taking away cuttings, seeds or roots without permission of authorized persons is illegal, especially in nature reserves. Stop people from plucking flowers and leaves. They should be left as they are for all to enjoy. As much as possible, keep to the paths and avoid stepping on vegetation. Avoid collecting souvenirs.
Do NO damage to trees/vegetation. Do not carve on trees or spray graffiti. Defacing rocks is pollution.
Firewood is scarce, even in wooded areas; use it sparingly, whether for heating water or for bonfires. Use fire-places that are provided or designated. Avoid making open fires and discourage others from doing so. There should be no carelessness with reference to fire. One small, careless fire can destroy an entire forest. Extinguish any fire, bonfire, grill, etc. before leaving the place. Do not throw away cigarettes or matches. Learn to strip out the tobacco, saving paper and filter for proper disposal. Be aware of the environs and surrounds. Be clear about the trek- some have a gentle slope, some have a moderate slope. Match your physical fitness to the tour being taken. Carry your personal water supply and medications. Inform your guide/networking coordinator of complete details about yourself. Personal needs, conditions and requirements need to be adressed before departure. you cannot ask halfway to terminate your tour.
Take every precaution to not get lost. In the eventuality that you do, specific instructions need to be followed. Always specify destination when leaving your party as well as expected return time. Stay put, if you lose your way or become disoriented to minimize the search area required to find you.
Minimize vehicle travel to reduce polluting gasses/smoke. Pooling for essential travel is cheaper and less polluting. Wherever possible walk. Use bicycles, horses, ponies or local pack animals when appropriate. Walking is healthy and non-polluting- stop, stand and stare-there is so much to absorb. Nature is awesome, serene and enriching. Avoid noise pollution, blaring horns, music systems, talking in loud voice, etc. Silence enhances the meaning and character of each precious moment. Take in the peace and tranquility. (That's what you are here for.)
Avoid offering food to animals and birds as you threaten their foraging and hunting skills. Non-native foods can make wildlife unhealthy. Feeding monkeys is hazardous and is discouraged. It always becomes a nuisance. NO hunting, hurting or teasing animals. Report offenders to the authorities. Wildlife viewing must be done, observing all security conditions prescribed. Shouting, teasing or chasing animals is strictly prohibited.
It is illegal to carry fire-arms/nets or any explosives.
Do not carry polyethylene or other prohibited plastics.
While taking photographs or shooting with your video-camera (for which there, most often, is a prescribed fee) you are encouraged to not disturb the subject you seek to capture in any way. Do not use flashes, particularly close up. as this can disturb and/or annoy wild animals and nesting birds.
Strictly follow guidelines for personal safety and security.
Wear comfortable clothes with inconspicuous colors like khaki, olive green or gray so as not to disturb environs with bright and gaudy colors. Use good quality trekking shoes-some are rainproof as well. Use hats/caps/sunglasses during hot days, rain gear during rains, jackets/wind cheaters, gloves, mittens, scarves and multiple layers during extreme cold. Travel light. Backpacker essentials- water, food, medicines (if any) and camera. Please ask your tour guide if tent, tarp or mosquito netting are needed for shelter on your particular tour.
For further information, clarification or ecotours, contact: ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc.1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI 54301-3334 or call (920)884-2224
Another helpful source of further information is a group called: Leave No Trace.
This information has been gleaned from several sources and personal experience. It is for educational purposes and needs to be used as a starting point when discussing your ecotouring philosophy with others.
Understand that economic benefits of your travel should stay in the local community. Spreading your wealth to non-locally owned tourism businesses is bad. Give a fair price for locally grown produce. Indigenously crafted or value added products provide "right livelihood" to locals and use less resources.
Think eco-systems. Be conservation conscious. Support wise resource use through rainwater harvesting, composting and use of renewable energy. Use fuel wood sparingly.
Be environmentally sensitive; Honor biodiversity. Respect the carrying capacity of the physical environment and know that overcrowdinglessens the tranquility and simplicity that attracts you.
Make contributions to conservation. Revere the natural/cultural heritage of the area, it maintains local harmony. Help guides and porters observe eco-conservation measures. Remember that erosion of cultural integrity and values due to the introduction of 'outside' influences is ruinous to indigenous cultures. Avoid over-use of community infrastructure and imported products.
Keep local water sources clean and DO NOT USE chemical detergents in or around springs or streams. If no toilet facilities are available, make sure you defecate at least 30 meters, (100feet) from any water source. Bury all organic waste. Conservation of water is vital, especially drinking water. Water from kitchen waste or harvested rainwater can be used for sanitation and uses where water quality is less essential. Water sources should not be contaminated in any way. Ask about local water conservation etiquette.
Keep travel-generated garbage to a minimum. Compost, recycle and reduce pollution as much as possible. Proper disposal means only at appropriate points along the route. Leave no eyesores. 'Leave no trace' principles are to be followed. (If you are unfamiliar, ask) Leave camping areas cleaner than when you came. Another party will be using the site after you depart. Differentiate between biodegradable and petrochemical waste. Burn or bury paper, natural refuse and litter. Pack out everything else. Don't throw away any non-biodegradable waste! Keep all recyclables! Don't throw away any non-degradable garbage like plastic bags, foil packets, glass bottles or metal cans.
Reduce impact by seeing that no damage is done to vegetation. Taking away cuttings, seeds or roots without permission of authorized persons is illegal, especially in nature reserves. Stop people from plucking flowers and leaves. They should be left as they are for all to enjoy. As much as possible, keep to the paths and avoid stepping on vegetation. Avoid collecting souvenirs.
Do NO damage to trees/vegetation. Do not carve on trees or spray graffiti. Defacing rocks is pollution.
Firewood is scarce, even in wooded areas; use it sparingly, whether for heating water or for bonfires. Use fire-places that are provided or designated. Avoid making open fires and discourage others from doing so. There should be no carelessness with reference to fire. One small, careless fire can destroy an entire forest. Extinguish any fire, bonfire, grill, etc. before leaving the place. Do not throw away cigarettes or matches. Learn to strip out the tobacco, saving paper and filter for proper disposal. Be aware of the environs and surrounds. Be clear about the trek- some have a gentle slope, some have a moderate slope. Match your physical fitness to the tour being taken. Carry your personal water supply and medications. Inform your guide/networking coordinator of complete details about yourself. Personal needs, conditions and requirements need to be adressed before departure. you cannot ask halfway to terminate your tour.
Take every precaution to not get lost. In the eventuality that you do, specific instructions need to be followed. Always specify destination when leaving your party as well as expected return time. Stay put, if you lose your way or become disoriented to minimize the search area required to find you.
Minimize vehicle travel to reduce polluting gasses/smoke. Pooling for essential travel is cheaper and less polluting. Wherever possible walk. Use bicycles, horses, ponies or local pack animals when appropriate. Walking is healthy and non-polluting- stop, stand and stare-there is so much to absorb. Nature is awesome, serene and enriching. Avoid noise pollution, blaring horns, music systems, talking in loud voice, etc. Silence enhances the meaning and character of each precious moment. Take in the peace and tranquility. (That's what you are here for.)
Avoid offering food to animals and birds as you threaten their foraging and hunting skills. Non-native foods can make wildlife unhealthy. Feeding monkeys is hazardous and is discouraged. It always becomes a nuisance. NO hunting, hurting or teasing animals. Report offenders to the authorities. Wildlife viewing must be done, observing all security conditions prescribed. Shouting, teasing or chasing animals is strictly prohibited.
It is illegal to carry fire-arms/nets or any explosives.
Do not carry polyethylene or other prohibited plastics.
While taking photographs or shooting with your video-camera (for which there, most often, is a prescribed fee) you are encouraged to not disturb the subject you seek to capture in any way. Do not use flashes, particularly close up. as this can disturb and/or annoy wild animals and nesting birds.
Strictly follow guidelines for personal safety and security.
Wear comfortable clothes with inconspicuous colors like khaki, olive green or gray so as not to disturb environs with bright and gaudy colors. Use good quality trekking shoes-some are rainproof as well. Use hats/caps/sunglasses during hot days, rain gear during rains, jackets/wind cheaters, gloves, mittens, scarves and multiple layers during extreme cold. Travel light. Backpacker essentials- water, food, medicines (if any) and camera. Please ask your tour guide if tent, tarp or mosquito netting are needed for shelter on your particular tour.
For further information, clarification or ecotours, contact: ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc.1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI 54301-3334 or call (920)884-2224
Another helpful source of further information is a group called: Leave No Trace.
This information has been gleaned from several sources and personal experience. It is for educational purposes and needs to be used as a starting point when discussing your ecotouring philosophy with others.
Patriotism: Religion of the Soil
Patriotism has been referred to as the "Religion of the Soil". We do have a mystic relationship with local microbes. After all, we mutually exchange gasses with the same "local" air. We rely on their existence, inhabiting all the spaces around and some within us. Without bacteria, fungi, and primary decomposers, we would drown in waste. In a single handful of living, healthy soil, billions of relationships weave a complex web of life. It is time for us to have a true worshipful attitude toward soil. Earth is a daunting concept to many of us. The sheer scale of our planet trumps our imaginations from grasping the entire globe. Think locally can likewise boggle our ability to appreciate, the full complexity, overwhelming our imaginations. We have virtually sterilized much of our part of North America, leading to much less diversity of species, and far fewer organisms overall.
Imagine, intact forest, towering eighty to over one hundred feet. In this matrix are many thousands of individual plants, a myriad of creatures, living just on the bark of the several hundred trees per acre! Add in the thousands of insects that would inhabit a single dead tree...You can see that in short order, we would find billions of organisms, then trillions. Truly mind boggling. Now, remember the last parking area that you saw. Not only is there a minute area on which life to exist, but the conditions over the entire area are at odds with any sort of ecologic system. We can reclaim paved areas, we just need the will, and respect for the soil that it deserves. The desolation that has been rolled, like dice, out upon the landscape can be reclaimed. By the simple act of respect, for the land, the soil, and our "need" to civilize and control nature on this most basic level.
Our fresh air depends on other living things, our food, many of our clothes, our homes, our very ability to make a living, depends on the Mother, Earth. The earth's systems have developed over millennia to be perfectly suited to their locale. Ours is to find a way to encourage the unity of complexity in and amongst the inhabitants of every thimbleful of soil that we can. We need to develop ways to add verticality to our landscape as well. Trees, vines, herbs and flowers all multiply the area that is available for life to thrive in and on. Profusion of life is the rule rather than the exception in nature. If we are to survive as a species, we need to fit ourselves to the web rather than trying to make it bend to us.
Today, we only got to plant a few trees, but each one made a huge impact on the local landscape. these were larger, specimen trees, and relatively tower above what had been there before. Shade, even dappled shade reduces extremes of both temperature, humidity and wind. This in turn encourages a wider variety of life-forms who add their energetic spin to the vortecies of life. all beings imbibe and sanctify Earth, Air and Water, and through the furnace of metabolism, and harvesting solar energy, Fire. Every organism also brings to the equation Spirit. The will to survive is at the root of all life. Although it has been suggested that the death drive is equal to the drive to life, I see quite the opposite. The death drive is almost always aberrant. Think of the Kamakazi Squirrels, who run under your tires, deer in the headlights, and teenagers for that matter. If they were like that all the time, the species would have died out long ago. We can strive for incremental change to have lasting affects. What we can do now is better than what we hope to do in the future. That being said, each of the trees that we planted to day has a high probability of outliving me. What better way to serve the next seven generations!
Please plant a tree as soon as you can, and if you would like us to plant a tree with your blessings, send donations to ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. 1445 Porlier Street, Green Bay, WI 54301-3334
Imagine, intact forest, towering eighty to over one hundred feet. In this matrix are many thousands of individual plants, a myriad of creatures, living just on the bark of the several hundred trees per acre! Add in the thousands of insects that would inhabit a single dead tree...You can see that in short order, we would find billions of organisms, then trillions. Truly mind boggling. Now, remember the last parking area that you saw. Not only is there a minute area on which life to exist, but the conditions over the entire area are at odds with any sort of ecologic system. We can reclaim paved areas, we just need the will, and respect for the soil that it deserves. The desolation that has been rolled, like dice, out upon the landscape can be reclaimed. By the simple act of respect, for the land, the soil, and our "need" to civilize and control nature on this most basic level.
Our fresh air depends on other living things, our food, many of our clothes, our homes, our very ability to make a living, depends on the Mother, Earth. The earth's systems have developed over millennia to be perfectly suited to their locale. Ours is to find a way to encourage the unity of complexity in and amongst the inhabitants of every thimbleful of soil that we can. We need to develop ways to add verticality to our landscape as well. Trees, vines, herbs and flowers all multiply the area that is available for life to thrive in and on. Profusion of life is the rule rather than the exception in nature. If we are to survive as a species, we need to fit ourselves to the web rather than trying to make it bend to us.
Today, we only got to plant a few trees, but each one made a huge impact on the local landscape. these were larger, specimen trees, and relatively tower above what had been there before. Shade, even dappled shade reduces extremes of both temperature, humidity and wind. This in turn encourages a wider variety of life-forms who add their energetic spin to the vortecies of life. all beings imbibe and sanctify Earth, Air and Water, and through the furnace of metabolism, and harvesting solar energy, Fire. Every organism also brings to the equation Spirit. The will to survive is at the root of all life. Although it has been suggested that the death drive is equal to the drive to life, I see quite the opposite. The death drive is almost always aberrant. Think of the Kamakazi Squirrels, who run under your tires, deer in the headlights, and teenagers for that matter. If they were like that all the time, the species would have died out long ago. We can strive for incremental change to have lasting affects. What we can do now is better than what we hope to do in the future. That being said, each of the trees that we planted to day has a high probability of outliving me. What better way to serve the next seven generations!
Please plant a tree as soon as you can, and if you would like us to plant a tree with your blessings, send donations to ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. 1445 Porlier Street, Green Bay, WI 54301-3334
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Jingoism: Whom Do You Serve?
I have lived through two periods of mindless flag waving, and hyper patriotism. Once, back in the seventies, when America (Pardon me, anyone from Canada, Mexico, South or Central America.) celebrated two-hundred years of independence. In those days, it seemed, we had more to be excited about. The vast majority of our population was living a higher standard of living than their parents. Virtually everyone had experienced civics classes, which taught the structure and function of the seven branches of Federal power, the process used to pass Bills into Law, and the system of checks and balances that assured us of freedom from undue government involvement in our lives. Knowing our own history and process made us better citizens. Red, White and Blue has made a comeback, I believe, for all the wrong reasons.
We have had more high-profile instances of economic terrorism in the past two years than I have seen in my entire life. "Free Market" Republicans, (We have not had free markets since the thirties or earlier.) were some of the first to bail out banks and other financial institutions. We serve greedy, inefficient systems that made billionaires out of the best cheats around. When the public realized that their house of cards was based on thin air, which was quickly escaping from the housing bubble, who paid? You and I. The same has been going on with car companies. In nature, it may not be pretty, but when any one thing over uses it's resources, over stays it's welcome or begins to lack flexibility, it's own demise is not far off. Locally, we have had "unions" bargain away 1/3 of their worker's salary, just to "keep companies going" in these tough economic times. It was bad enough when giant corporations used environmental blackmail to stymie meaningful regulation that would partially protect human health, but the mere mention of the possibility of economic change and the cacophony of voices chanting jobs, jobs, jobs, we need those jobs, at least you have a job, we would do anything to keep our jobs, etc. begin to sound like a sixty-thousand bird chicken house!
Our course has been altered. The writing is on the wall. If we are to survive a a country, we need to become less exploitative, less wasteful, less full of ourselves and yes, more integrated into a world of equals as opposed to the way we have seen other people and other countries as "poor", "childlike", "authoritarian" or "developing". Each of these terms comes with a heavy load of baggage and by using them we deny that there is value, insight, culture and history in these places. If we are to regain our position as beacon of hope for the oppressed, a force for Freedom and Liberty or a seed bank for fledgling democracies, then we need to begin to see our system, warts and all and begin to make meaningful changes that assure the rest of the world that we are not just here to pick their pockets, crush them underfoot, or ignore them to death. In our own part of the world we need to get to the heart of our own people, realize that we have the right to live in a country that we can be rightly proud of and take necessary steps to take our country back from corporate dogs that have saddled us with debt. We must rise up and tell the corporados that living the high life at our expense will not be tolerated.
When we all look back over this period, we should see things that we all did to make our country better. We should see the things that brought us together as families, as communities, as human beings, not the results of 9-11 and how it made us more scared, more distrustful, more reactionary on the world stage. Our fearless leader nearly ten years ago told us to shop and travel to "beat" the terrorists. Business as usual has brought us to the brink of collapse in banking and finance, in auto making, construction and housing. When we serve an outmoded structure that made sense in the past, we only reinforce our disconnect with reality. How we approach the future should be based on fact, not allegiance. How we see the past needs to be revised according to Truth, not cloaked in lies. How we live day-to-day needs to reflect our humanity and compassion, not mindless greed and narcissism. I for one, choose to serve others, but only those who appreciate it. The people who are served who think it is their birthright to become corpulent just don't appreciate the sacrifices we all have to make to let them get away with their myopic views and perspectives.
Patriotism based on people I can abide. This culture of greed and deception, and the economic system of rewarding snake oil salesmen has got to stop! Please, treat every dollar as a vote, and give yours to things, and people you can believe in! Stop terror by becoming more humane and for heavens sake, give the flag a rest. Lord and Lady both know, it needs one!
We have had more high-profile instances of economic terrorism in the past two years than I have seen in my entire life. "Free Market" Republicans, (We have not had free markets since the thirties or earlier.) were some of the first to bail out banks and other financial institutions. We serve greedy, inefficient systems that made billionaires out of the best cheats around. When the public realized that their house of cards was based on thin air, which was quickly escaping from the housing bubble, who paid? You and I. The same has been going on with car companies. In nature, it may not be pretty, but when any one thing over uses it's resources, over stays it's welcome or begins to lack flexibility, it's own demise is not far off. Locally, we have had "unions" bargain away 1/3 of their worker's salary, just to "keep companies going" in these tough economic times. It was bad enough when giant corporations used environmental blackmail to stymie meaningful regulation that would partially protect human health, but the mere mention of the possibility of economic change and the cacophony of voices chanting jobs, jobs, jobs, we need those jobs, at least you have a job, we would do anything to keep our jobs, etc. begin to sound like a sixty-thousand bird chicken house!
Our course has been altered. The writing is on the wall. If we are to survive a a country, we need to become less exploitative, less wasteful, less full of ourselves and yes, more integrated into a world of equals as opposed to the way we have seen other people and other countries as "poor", "childlike", "authoritarian" or "developing". Each of these terms comes with a heavy load of baggage and by using them we deny that there is value, insight, culture and history in these places. If we are to regain our position as beacon of hope for the oppressed, a force for Freedom and Liberty or a seed bank for fledgling democracies, then we need to begin to see our system, warts and all and begin to make meaningful changes that assure the rest of the world that we are not just here to pick their pockets, crush them underfoot, or ignore them to death. In our own part of the world we need to get to the heart of our own people, realize that we have the right to live in a country that we can be rightly proud of and take necessary steps to take our country back from corporate dogs that have saddled us with debt. We must rise up and tell the corporados that living the high life at our expense will not be tolerated.
When we all look back over this period, we should see things that we all did to make our country better. We should see the things that brought us together as families, as communities, as human beings, not the results of 9-11 and how it made us more scared, more distrustful, more reactionary on the world stage. Our fearless leader nearly ten years ago told us to shop and travel to "beat" the terrorists. Business as usual has brought us to the brink of collapse in banking and finance, in auto making, construction and housing. When we serve an outmoded structure that made sense in the past, we only reinforce our disconnect with reality. How we approach the future should be based on fact, not allegiance. How we see the past needs to be revised according to Truth, not cloaked in lies. How we live day-to-day needs to reflect our humanity and compassion, not mindless greed and narcissism. I for one, choose to serve others, but only those who appreciate it. The people who are served who think it is their birthright to become corpulent just don't appreciate the sacrifices we all have to make to let them get away with their myopic views and perspectives.
Patriotism based on people I can abide. This culture of greed and deception, and the economic system of rewarding snake oil salesmen has got to stop! Please, treat every dollar as a vote, and give yours to things, and people you can believe in! Stop terror by becoming more humane and for heavens sake, give the flag a rest. Lord and Lady both know, it needs one!
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