The Organic View

The summer has arrived and with it come the invitations to graduation parties, family picnics, beach parties and country getaways. With all of the work that goes into your own garden, why not have a party in your own garden? Garden parties are a way to show off your collection as well as your taste in landscape design. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Horticultural expert, John Peter Thompson, who is President of the National Agricultural Research Alliance (http://www.NARA-B.org ). John Peter will talk about some really creative tips and tricks to making your garden party THE party of the summer! Stay tuned!

Waterpower is the largest source of renewable energy in the world today, and microhydro is a mature, proven technology that can provide clean, inexpensive, renewable energy with little or no impact on the environment.

Serious Microhydro brings you dozens of firsthand stories of energy independence covering a complete range of systems, from household pressure sites to higher pressure installations capable of powering a farm, business, or small neighborhood. Topics include: Low head and medium head sites, AC-only systems as well as ones using a battery/inverter subsystem, Stand alone power supply or grid intertie setups, and Hybrid systems (combined with photovoltaics or wind).

With all the variables involved in microhydro, there is no “typical” system. These case studies represent the most comprehensive collection of knowledge and experience available for tailoring an installation to meet the needs of a site and its owner or operators. If you are considering building a system, you are bound to find a wealth of creative solutions appropriate to your own circumstances.

Serious Microhydro shows how scores of people are achieving a high standard of living from local energy sources with a minimal ecological footprint. It has particular appeal to homeowners, teachers, renewable energy professionals, activists, and decision makers who want to understand the technology from a “hands-on” perspective.

In this segment of The Clean Energy View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Scott Davis, an award-winning renewable energy project developer with decades of experience operating, installing, designing, selling, and teaching microhydro technology. He is a founder and president of Friends of Renewable Energy BC, and the author of Microhydro: Clean Power From Water.

It is that time of the year again in New York as well as other parts of the world where spring has sprung and the grass is beginning to grow. In garden centers and nurseries, there are a myriad of products that are being pushed on the consumer that are not necessarily needed in order to keep your lawn healthy all summer long. There are also products that contain harsh chemicals that are dangerous to all beings. Chemicals, such as Imidacloprid, which are part of the neonicotinoid family, will wipe out any chance that a butterfly or bumblebee will visit your home to pollinate the vegetables in your garden much less any flowers. Many of these products, subsequently, are very expensive and completely unnecessary. Thanks to clever marketers, people are buying them without having any idea as to how much damage they are doing to their own lawns.  To top it off, there are certain times of the year when specific products should be used but are marketed to be used all year round.

When it comes to alternatives to these chemicals, they are never even mentioned because this would prevent the chemical companies from enjoying their healthy profits while your lawn becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, the public only knows what they learn from clever commercials and ads as they spend dollar after dollar buying products that are a complete waste and are contributing to declining pollinator populations.

In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Tom Kelly, CEO of Firebelly Organic Lawn Care about what consumers should know in order to have a healthy lawn. Stay tuned!

What do you do when you have a flawed technology? You come up with an advanced version. This is a common practice with manufacturers of cell phones, computers and even with agro-chemicals. With the race to get sulfoxaflor, (a sap-feeding insecticide) “emergency” registration, the question remains, what is the rush to get this new systemic on the market?

In 2010, Clothianidan was also granted registration without having completed the requirements for registration as mandated by law. Clothianidin is of the neonicotinoid family of systemic pesticides, which are taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar and gutation droplets from which bees then forage and drink. Scientists are concerned about the mix and cumulative effects of the multiple pesticides bees are exposed to in these ways. Neonicotinoids are of particular concern because they have cumulative, sublethal effects on insect pollinators that correspond to CCD symptoms – namely, neurobehavioral and immune system disruptions.

Is this new agro-chemical going to improve agriculture? What effects, if any, will this have on the bees as well as other pollinators?

In this special series produced by The Organic View called “The Neonicotinoid View”, host, June Stoyer, is joined by special guest host, Tom Theobald to discuss the impact of sulfoxaflor. Tom Theobald is a founding member of the Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association. In July 2010 Theobald wrote an article about clothianidin and bees for Bee Culture magazine. “Do We Have a Pesticide Blowout” ignited a conversation about the connection between systemic pesticides, specifically clothianidin, and declining bee populations in the United States. Stay tuned!

What really makes the Green Earth Guide for Traveling Naturally in Span and the Green Earth Guide Traveling Naturally in France unique is that it includes options for those on a budget—an important aspect considering the current global economic downturn. Eco-friendly travel is often associated with increased expenses, but Dorian Yates explains how travelers can experience Spain and France’s sustainable side without draining their bank accounts. For those really eager to get off the touristbeaten path, Green Earth Guide offers information on camping as well as volunteer opportunities where one can work on an organic farm in exchange for meals and accommodations. Ms. Yates provides contact and address information for each destination featured, and useful insider’s tips to planning your trip, from visiting the most bicycle-friendly locations, to planning your meals around the local dinnertime

Dorian Yates has worked for consumer advocacy organizations as an environmental activist and congressional lobbyist; as an advisor on environmental, health, and social justice issues; and as a consultant on non-toxic products, indoor air quality, and organic farming issues. A researcher and consultant for the books The Green Pages and Ecopreneuring, as well as publisher of The Alternative Health Guides, a web and print guide for Vermont and New Hampshire. Ms. Yates lives in Vermont. Tune in to this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, as host, June Stoyer is joined by special guest, Dorian Yates.

Today’s global economy relies on a massive demand for products, leading major resource consumption and growing pollution. However, out of great problems come great innovations, and Dezeen.com’s Marcus Fairs shows off some of the most brilliant, cutting-edge products that stemmed from a serious need for more eco-friendly designs around the world, in the US release of his book, Green Design: Creative Sustainable Designs for the Twenty-First Century. Unlike most design books which focus mainly on one niche, the unique inventions presented in Green Design, hand-picked by Dezeen.com founder and former Icon magazine editor Marcus Fairs, cover the full spectrum of eco-conscious products and structures, from water-filtering bicycles to apartment buildings with plant-based natural cooling systems; from solar-powered garden jar lights, to art prints created from non-toxic bacterial symbiosis.

With vivid, full-color photos of each design and concise backgrounds of the designs and their creators, Marcus Fairs shows readers how a movement towards a greener lifestyle has become easier than ever before, without sacrificing fashion or function in product designs. Each product offered in this book caters to a specific need or desire – from cleaner water in developing countries to more energy efficient lighting in dance clubs, and eccentric found-art made from garbage to crank-powered computers – leaving no stone unturned in an effort to make every aspect of life, regardless of income or the region of the world, as green as the next great designer can conceive. Without preaching the graces of “going green,” the stylish and fun designs the author presents will inspire readers to understand eco-conscious living and modern living as one and the same.

In this segment of The Clean Energy View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Marcus Fairs.

Women’s hormones can fluctuate due to tremendous stress which can cause a myriad of problems from irregular pap smears, polyps, irregular cycles, and the list goes on. People tend to joke around about imbalances such as PMS or even hot flashes, but it is an issue that millions of women must deal with at some point. There seem to be a lot of choices from pills to a various therapies, but regardless of how trendy an option may be, the solution may not always be a healthy one. Some of these remedies range from heavy medication, which can often impact the health of the liver to Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT). Is it possible that women can achieve optimal health and wellness without extremities? Dr. Claudia Welch discusses how women can achieve optimal health and wellness through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and even Western Science, in her book, Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Dr. Claudia Welch, MSOM about how what women need to know in order to balance their hormones. Stay Tuned!

Over the past 50 years Africas lion populations have plummeted from over 200,000 individuals back in the 1960s to fewer than 20,000 today. This is a shocking number considering the geographical size of Africa and the fact that the greatest number of remaining lion populations are very small, scattered throughout the continent and remain highly vulnerable. There have been many conservation foundations working to improve the lot of the African lion, but sadly to date the declines have not abated. In fact the rate of decline in lion numbers is accelerating, Ghana is probably the latest African country added to long list that have lost all their lions, and Kenya and Uganda predict local extinctions in the next ten years. Lions are a major trophy for hunters. Despite their well-documented decline, there is still a considerable trophy hunting effort. Since the last-published decline in lion numbers on the continent were made public in 2002-2004, over 4,400 lions have been exported as trophies. As such, trophies are largely male lions. The effect of this commercial activity has greatly impacted both overall lion numbers and the ability for remaining lions to reproduce. Trophy hunting must cease. LionAid.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of lions. Their mission is to create awareness about the huge decline of the lion population and work with government officials and other organizations to cease the legal hunting of these animals. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to the founder of LionAid.org, Dr. Pieter Kat and to Christine Macsween. Stay Tuned!

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme—but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being. Sacred Economics is about how the money system will have to change—and is already changing—to embody this transition. A broadly integrated synthesis of theory, policy, and practice, Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies and the restoration of the commons. Author Charles Eisenstein also considers the personal dimensions of this transition, speaking to those concerned with "right livelihood" and how to live according to their ideals in a world seemingly ruled by money. Tapping into a rich lineage of conventional and unconventional economic thought, Sacred Economics presents a vision that is original yet commonsense, radical yet gentle, and increasingly relevant as the crises of our civilization deepen.

In this segment of The Clean Energy View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Charles Eisenstein about Sacred Economics. Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His writings on the web magazine Reality Sandwich have generated a vast online following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events, and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts. Writing in Ode magazine's "25 Intelligent Optimists" issue, David Korten called Eisenstein one of the up-and-coming great minds of our time. Stay tuned!

Death is a path we all must take. However, that path doesn’t necessarily have to be filled with gloom and doom. Sometimes when dealing with a painfully difficult situation, there are circumstances or events which create a unique type of “comic relief” that can really help to break up the intensity and monotony. In the new book,Exit Laughing- How Humor Takes the Sting Out of Deathbest-selling author, Victora Zackheim shares true stories from Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Barbara Graham, Ellen Sussman and so many others. Exit Laughing makes death more approachable as it reveals the funny side of “passing on.” As painful as it is to lose a loved one, Exit Laughing shows us that in times of grief, humor can help us with coping and even healing.

Tune in to this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, as host, June Stoyer is joined by special guest, Victoria Zackheim.

Victoria Zackheim is author of The Bone Weaver, a novel, and the editor of five anthologies: For Keeps, The Face in the Mirror, He Said What? and Canadian bestseller The Other Woman. Her play based on five essays from The Other Woman will begin a six-week theater run in summer 2012. Ms. Zackheim teaches Personal Essay in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and is a frequent speaker at writers' conferences, non-profit educational and philanthropic organizations and book fairs. A 2010 San Francisco Library Laureate, she is actively involved in the local and national literary community, including Redroom, Shewrites and the AARP Writers Forum. Stay tuned!