Earthkeepers: A Circlewood Podcast on Creation Care and Spirituality

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            In this episode we talk with Courtney Christenson, founder of Sparks and Matches—an organization committed to inspiring women to be changemakers in the realms of social and environmental justice. Courtney helps us to see that all of us have countless opportunities in our everyday lives to make choices that impact the health of the planet.

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 Guest: Courtney Christenson - founder of Sparks & Matches
online group for women to discover how they can make an impact 

 Mentions:
humpback whale migration
shampoo bars
reusable paper towels
recycled toilet paper
collecting microplastics in the washing machine
beeswax wraps
Bite - toothpaste bites 

 Keywords:
Social justice, environmental justice, grassroots, consumerism, sustainability, women’s enterprise, social entrepreneurship, small business, advocacy, community development, activism, shop local, green alternatives, fair trade

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            Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” Sometimes, we need artists to remind us how to see well, and how to “rightly consider” what lies beyond the surface of nature. In this episode we feature two artists whose work helps us to see beyond the surface of the created world. Our first conversation  will be with poet Lenae Nofziger, and the second with wildlife photographer Alycia Scheidel. You will find examples of their work in the podcast show notes at www.circlewood.online/earthkeepers. We begin with Lenae reading three of her poems, in a series called “Branches, Leaves, a Life.”  Welcome friends, to the Earthkeepers podcast.

To see a printed version of Lenae's three  poems, go here
See also a link to her writing page at lenaenofziger.com

To see Alycia's photos, go here
See also a link to her photography website AlyRenScapes

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In this episode we’ll have a conversation with Milmer Martinez Vergara, a Program Officer with the international development organization Plant with Purpose. Milmer works with the organization’s Latin American projects to incorporate conservation biology into their development work with the poor. According to him, protecting natural ecosystems also has the effect of creating resilient communities.

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 Guest: Milmer Martinez Vergara - Regional Director with Plant with Purpose 

Mentions: 

Gregor Mendel - Augustinian monk who experimented with inherited traits in plants and is now considered the father of genetics. 
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Colombian novelist and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature
agroforestry - UN definition and as practiced by Plant with Purpose
savings groups -how they work
Jacques Cousteau and Cousteau Society
Anna’s hummingbird

Keywords: community development, poverty, ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, native species, low impact farming, ecological development, Columbia, FARC, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia.

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In this episode I’ll be chatting with Ryan Metzger, the CEO of Ridwell, a groundbreaking organization that is pioneering a different approach to recycling and repurposing. Ryan and his young son Owen cofounded this growing company that now helps people by picking up materials and items that recycling companies normally won’t take. They saw a problem, and took risks to try new ways to solve it with an innovative business model. Today, they are on a mission to empower “neighbors and communities to build a less wasteful future.”

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or send an email: [email protected]

Guest: Ryan Metzger - CEO and founder of Ridwell 

Notes:

• Buy Nothing Project 
• NY reusable take out containers - DeliverZero 
• Social entrepreneurship: https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/focus/social-entrepreneurship

 Actions: 

• Asking questions when it comes to disposing of items- is there another option?  
• Talking to kids and sharing at their level about climate change, the effects waste disposal has on our world.  

 Ideas for actions we can take in community: 

• find a Library of things 
• create a tool library 
• learn about the sharing economy 
• start a community garden 
•  consider starting a housing coop 
• create a community compost 
• find a Makerspace to learn in 

Keywords: recycling, repurposing, reusing, grassroots environmentalism, community-based business, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, business for good

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Notes:

Guest: Roger McClendon - Green Sports Alliance
Cohost: Beth Knox - Circlewood board member and President of the Seattle Sports Commission

TV show - Wild Kingdom
Cuyahoga river catching fire
Flint, MI water crisis
United Nations sustainable development goals
Nelson Mandela quote - "sport has the power to change the world": 
Clean Water Act - 1970's
MLB - changing lightbulbs; 
PlanLED - changing lights in Safeco Field
ESPN network's ESPY awards
methane produced by food waste in landfills
bioplastics
Tesla - focusing on performance, but creating best electric vehicles
Apartheid in S. Africa - 1980's boycott of gas companies that supported Apartheid
Super Bowl 2021 - NFL Green
Mohammed Ali - refused the draft and lost his title
Colin Kaeperknick - kneeling protest
George Floyd's death
Ahmaud Arbery's death
Breonna Taylor's death
Lebron James' talking about Black Lives Matter
Environmental Justice - correlation between areas of lower socio-economic status and rates of environmental pollution
ESG - enviromental-social governance
BlackRock - ESG investing
"3 pandemics" - COVID-19, climate change and institutional racism
Dr. Jo

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In this episode we talk with Mary DeJong, founder of Waymarkers. The mission of Waymarkers is to help people to deepen their relationship to the sacred in all of creation. In particular, Mary helps people to shift their world views—and to embrace the profound understanding that we as human beings are not separate from the rest of creation, but instead are an integral part of it. When we shift our perspective in this way, it completely changes our motivation for environmental advocacy and earthkeeping.

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Notes:
Guest: Mary DeJong - ecotheologian & urban naturalist
Website: Waymarkers.net
How to engage Mary DeJong for wild soul guidance
How to join her Wild Winter course
$50 discount for Earthkeepers listeners! Use WILDWINTER50

Cedar River watershed
Duwamish people
SPU - Seattle Pacific University
Whidbey Institute - site of Mary's Rewilding Retreats
Randy Woodley - Earthkeepers episode & Eloheh
Thomas Berry - ecotheologian & geologist
Thomas Berry quote - "we are not a collection of objects, we are a communion of subjects"       (from his book Evening Thoughts)
Job quote: "Ask the animals and they will teach you..." from Job 12:7-10
Ganges River granted legal rights as a person
John Philip Newell - School of Celtic Conciousness (now called School of Earth & Soul)

Keywords:  eco-theology, Celtic theology, indigenous world view, re-wilding, spiritual direction, spiritual companion, kin-dom, copowerment, Iona

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            In this episode we talk to Timothy A Wise, author of Eating Tomorrow: Agriculture, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food. Recently, I interviewed a guest on this show representing the African Green Revolution Forum—an entity that promotes large-scale agriculture involving multinational companies as the key to Africa’s economic development. In response to that interview, listeners to this podcast asked if we could present an alternative view that might help us understand the risks and challenges of the AGRF approach.
            In the interest of fairness—and of seeing issues from all perspectives--I’ve invited Timothy Wise to that end. He argues that the key to a more sustainable, earth-friendly mode of development is not industrial agriculture—which, he explains, does much to harm the environment and disrupts local cultures. Rather, in his view we need to be supporting the work of small farmers, whose local knowledge and relationship to the land actually helps them to farm in ways that promote environmental health and produce food that is better for us.

Keywords:  industrial agriculture, Gates Foundation, African Green Revolution Forum, African Green Revolution Alliance, sustainable farming, small farm, Millennium Development Goals, seed patent, indigenous agriculture, local knowledge, community development, restorative agriculture, farmer cooperatives, climate change

Want to leave a question or comment for the podcast? Use the voice message link at:
https://www.circlewood.online/earthkeepers

Notes:

Tim’s web page (with a catalog of all his writings and a lot from the book):
https://www.timothyawise.com/

His book: Eating Tomorrow: Agriculture, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food:  https://www.timothyawise.com/book

Book excerpts: https://www.timothyawise.com/book#Excerpts

Video: set of clips from a great book launch in NY with Mark Bittman and Vandana Shiva

Book presentation, Seattle Town Hall, October 2019, with AFSA’s Million Belay

AGRA: https://agra.org

Earthkeepers interview with AGRF’s Debisi Araba: https://www.circlewood.online/podcastepisodes/episode/4798e197/a-beacon-of-hope-for-the-world-debisi-araba-and-the-african-green-revolution-forum

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In this episode we’ll be talking to author Hannah Anderson, and her husband and illustrator Nathan Anderson. Together they’ve collaborated on a book that will be released this week called Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit. Through poignant meditations and detailed drawings, this moving work helps readers to perceive the lessons that are present in every aspect of creation—if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

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Notes:

Guests: Hannah & Nathan Anderson - author & illustrator of Turning of Days
Hannah's other books

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming - Hymn
Isaiah 11 - referencing Christ as a shoot from Jesse's stump
Hannah and Nathan’s video clip    encouraging how to encounter nature in your backyard
Roanoke Valley Bird club
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology
Audubon Society
Scripture references: 

         "Cursed is the ground because of you" - from Genesis 3:17-19

         God sees the sparrow that falls - from Matt. 10:29

Key Words: nature as revelation, Christian environmentalism, birding, birdwatching, naturalist, meditation, creatio divina, devotional essays

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A Life of Meaning: An introduction to permaculture with Dave Boehnlein

In this episode in this episode we’ll be talking to Dave Boehnlein—cofounder of Terra Phoenix Design and author of the book Practical Permaculture. In our conversation today, Dave helps us to understand some of the basic tenets of permaculture thinking and practice. According to him, there is a place in permaculture for everyone, no matter what their skills or interests might be. In fact, he contends that this way of thinking and being is something that can help any of us to find greater meaning in our lives.

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Notes:
Guest: Dave Boehnlein of Terra Phoenix Design and coauthor of Practical Permaculture

 Mentions:
Doug Bullock, Paul Kearsley
Bullock's Permaculture Homestead
Bastyr University - holistic design certificate
Richard Louv - Last Child in the Woods
Permaculture definition - a design field/modality for making change in a holistic way
Jon Young - tracker and naturalist
Trackers NW
Wilderness Awareness School
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer
Bill Mollison & David Holmgren - founders of permaculture design

 Key Words: permaculture, sustainability, rewilding, native plants, nature awareness, homestead, garden design, landscape design

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In this episode, cohosts Forrest and James look ahead to our second season. They discuss exciting new directions for 2021, even as they draw key lessons from recent episodes from 2020. 

Keywords: Debisi Araba, African Green Revolution Forum, East Africa Energy Solutions, Randy Woodley, indigenous theology, Paris Climate Accord, solar panels, electric vehicle, permaculture, rewilding landscape, bobcat, Covid 19, Hannah Anderson, Bonnie Cretton, Forest Schools, federal land management 

Find us on our website: Earthkeepers
Support the Earthkeepers podcast
Check out the Ecological Disciple