Homeless Children Deserve A Chance At Camp.

I normally don't get caught up in the media circus that is television "news", but the other day there was a special segment on homeless children, focusing on just one county in Florida. Needless to say, multiply that problem by thousands of counties nationwide, all hit by the same real estate collapse and the amount of heartbreak and stress that presents itself is beyond comprehension. Having worked at summer camps and in programs designed for latch key kids, I know what a single stable force amongst turmoil and desolation can make the difference between success and failure in life. Listening to the stories of homeless children eclipsed the deep love and protective feeling I have for the planet and perhaps even the Great Lakes Ecosystem.
Those who know me remember that I rode bicycle 4,280 miles (6,850Km) around all five Great Lakes, taking eighty days to rediscover my world in person. For years I studied he lakes in books and through research papers dedicated to their many environmental catastrophes, but in those two and one half months of travel, I learned a lifetime of lessons. That is why I want to share what I have learned about sustainability with the next generation and especially those who have prematurely had the weight of adult issues thrust upon them. I am willing to devote my entire working life to finding more and better opportunities to teach eco-ethics, sustainability theory and practices as well as an understanding of living in harmony with the planet as well as her creatures, including people as possible.
The closest estimation of cost is about $125 per day. That figure would allow staff to attend to all of the needs of children and provide enough trained guidance to know that the principles of sustainability are evidenced at all levels of their experience. From transport, whose carbon footprint is offset with our tree planting program, to solar and wind electricity generation, from aquaponic greenhouses providing vegetables and protein, to composting, vermicultue and free range chickens, virtually everywhere a student looked, they could see evidence of humans cooperating with nature exemplified. Two weeks at camp, can easily cost thousands, but we rely on many of our own programs, and long term support of committed individuals to offset capital investments that would be used to sustain the camp over the long haul. Blocks of eighty days ($10K) can be purchased to ensure that five children can attend out camp, each for two weeks. An investment in those five children attending our unique program would come with an additional ten day stay for the generous investor who wants to see our programs in action, or at your discretion, those days could cover ten additional days for a needy child's visit instead.

There is no shortage of children who can benefit from some time in the country, experiencing nature and having fun adventures in fresh air and all kinds of weather. especially in these times where the number of homeless children in America has doubled from one year ago, it is high tiome that we respond with an innovative program of training our most disadvantaged children what can be done with an eye to the future and the inspired actions toward sustainability. children of hardship often become future leaders and knowing that the goodness to help out exists especially when the chips are down, can make a world of difference in how they turn their lives, and our planet around.
Many of our actions are designed to make our immediate friends, family and environment better, through our unique programs, we allow exponential change to occur and spread it all around, into other communities, that the children return home to and into the future as they raise their own families into the future. The time has come to re-think education from the ground up. Living the future now is the only way to invite the next generation to accept the inevitable change that is needed to achieve sustainability in their lifetime.
Tony Saladino is a liflong environmentalist, shaman and permaculture enthusiast who has led the organization, ECO-Tours of Wisconsin for the last seven years and was formerly the local leader of Citizens for a Better Environment's Green Bay office. Prior experiences as nature guy for the City of Green Bay and for College Settlement Camps of Philadelphia make him an excellent choice for both outdoor guide,sustainability expert and guide for those interested in having both the highest standard of living possible, while assuring that mother Earth will not suffer in the process of providing you abundance.
Corporate rentals during the off season at our facility include leadership training and team building exercises and outdoor adventures to build cohesion between employees and management teams.
Reach us at (nine2zero) 884-triple two-four or write using snail mail to 1445 Porlier street, green Bay, Wisconsin 54301-3334. you can also make donations directly through paypal at: tnsaladino(number forty-two)@hotmail.com. You can also e-mail us at that address.
bless you for sharing this note around. If you cannot personally invest in giving a child this opportunity, let others know who can either consider a gift or share this opportunity with their friends.
bless you for taking the time to read this post, I know it was a little long.

Beyond Petroleum

The recent ad campaign mounted by BP would be inspiring if it were not so sad. The bucolic pictures of hard hatted men swinging solar panels into place, climbing atop giant wind powered electric generating turbines, and holding up beakers presumably full of bio-fuels are heart warming. Sadly, each of these technologies is over 100 years old and their effectiveness proven. In the Netherlands, wind power and dikes have allowed them to push back the sea, creating more country. Solar panels have been on most calculators since I can remember, and provided reliable power in virtually all space flights. Bio-fuel has had a proud history as far back as cavemen who used fire to heat their homes. Many of the first steam powered cars ran on wood. It is time non-fossil fuel use. The mess in the Gulf of Mexico just proves what has been said for the last few generations.

I just wish that BP had spent as much on safety as they had on their promotional ad campaign. Perhaps if they had done that, we would not be faced with yet another oil related catastrophe. I cannot understand the big oil mentality of paying lips service to transforming the energy economy, while simultaneously pocketing the largest profits in history. If you take the profits over the last three months alone for BP and the top four US oil companies they made twenty-five billion. Their profit alone was nearly two hundred and fifty dollars per US household. In just three months!

Using this as a starting point, because most of their increased profits were tied to the rising price of oil, which will continue to go up. Every household in the US could be supplied with either a solar furnace (which would provide direct heat in cool climates) or a Photovoltaic system (which would provide electricity in warm climates) Because of scale, approximately one hundred million total units, the cost would be reduced significantly. At current prices, this investment of, say, just a single year's worth of profits could provide half of either home heating costs (in cool climates)or half of the electricity consumed (in warm climates) Even without the benefits of scale, within at least five years, we could have all of our home energy needs met through solar alone. I don't advocate confiscatory tax systems that would make this a government program, I'm just making a point. This is the kind of money we are talking about. Twenty-five billion dollars every three months. Just think what good it could do!