Locals Share Green Action

Interview with David English, the founder of Black Owl Guitars in New Bern, N. Carolina, and wiring technician, Mark Schomaker.  Black Owl Guitars make full functioning strings instruments, amplifiers, and electric kazoos. Both of these musicians are talented creators that solve creative challenges to make instruments with great sound from what would have been waste.

http://blackowlguitars.com/index.html

https://www.etsy.com/market/black_owl_guitars

https://www.facebook.com/Black-Owl-Guitars-239474402756778/

Katherine Prior is a full-time university student, at The University of Western Ontario and an eco-blogger and social media influencer with “SweetSustainability.ca”. She grew up caring and being inspired by nature but began to notice the unsustainable aspects of her life.  She has since grown passionate about saving the planet, imperfect low-waste living, ethical fashion, flexitarianism, conscious consumerism, mindfulness, and intersectional environmentalism.

With her blog and social media, Katherine tries to find creative solutions for making low impact living more inclusive, as well as increase accessibility in the awareness of climate justice issues. Katherine aims to use her blog as a space to share her honest experience, research, and tips she has learned along her journey to a more intentional and sustainable life, with the goal of creating more climate advocates and activists. Katherine firmly believes every small step towards positive change counts, and that we all have a role to play in creating systemic and lasting change.

Kat | The Sweet Sustainability Blog

Website: https://sweetsustainability.ca 
Email: [email protected]

Instagram:@sweet.sustainability

Lynn Mehl as an environmentalist has taken her passion to save the planet and has used it to take over and convert a conventional florist business into one of the first full-service eco-florist models of sustainability in the country.  Lynn while running her business also promotes, writes, and educates that this CAN be done and profitably.  Her goal now is to influence and promote green planet-friendly thinking to both consumers and the industry.

https://goodolddaysflorist.com/

Pennye Napier-Jones and her partner, Julie Piez, together are the co-founders and owners of The Big Bad Woof incorporated.  Their company specializes in premium, organic, holistic, locally-sourced,  and raw foods and supplies.  Big Bad Woof works to source products that are sustainable, locally-made, fair-trade, and made using sustainable manufacturing methods.

When Nicky and Dave had children that were born with severe allergies, they decided that switching to safer and more nutritious foods would be part of the solution for better health. Together, they now run Permaculture Gardens where they educate people with free webinars, educational blogs, and offer a garden mentoring program to help families grow abundantly.

Permaculture Gardens has received the “Most Sustainable Brand” award at the Green Festivals and Nicky & Dave’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Permaculture Research Institute in Australia, and Green America.org. 

James Gatzke shares his background and experience that prepared him for his current conservation, restoration, and native plant nursery work with Walker Basin Conservancy in the challenging desert environment of Northern Nevada.

Steve Welzer was a founding member of the Green Party of New Jersey in 1997 and served on the Steering Committee of the US Green Party during 2012-2013.  He actively served the green movement by working in committees, running for office and editing, contributing to, and writing various green publications.  He is now working with a group of people to start an eco-village in either central New Jersey or Eastern Pennsylvania.  Steve shares good advice on how eco-villages can be one of the many solutions for the greening of society and how meeting and building relationships with other like-minded people can be the start of building close green communities that help weather the unprecedented challenges of our times.  

Chuck is one of the founders of Simply Living, nonprofit acting as a connector, organizer, and educator in the green community in Ohio.  Lynn also a board member of Simply Living and has been a fan from the beginning.  They both share the inspiring work that they are taking to grow greater green action through the use of multiple avenues to connect and educate the community in the Ohio area.

https://simplyliving.org/

Rebecca Nutter is one of the founders and the Executive Director of the Minneapolis Toy Library.  Thanks to this library, over 350 families are able to share resources, cut down on their waste and consumption, and provide toys for their young children who often benefit from varied developmentally stimulating and age-appropriate toys.

https://mplstoylibrary.org/

Crystal Dreisbach is the Founder & Executive Director of a non-profit organization called Don't Waste Durham which creates multiple solutions that prevent trash. She invented and operates GreenToGo, a city-wide reusable takeout container service for restaurants and grocery stores as well as additional innovative solutions for other types of waste reduction.

http://www.dontwastedurham.org/