The EarthLab Carbon Calculator
Nick Uren from the EarthLab Foundation sent us this tool to help us each make a personal difference in the fight against climate change.
Nick Uren from the EarthLab Foundation sent us this tool to help us each make a personal difference in the fight against climate change.
In this article, Mark Bowen presents an abridged version of his 2016 doctoral thesis entitled, “Mental Vitality: Assessing the Impact of a Walk in the Woods”.
The thesis attends to a gap in literature pertaining to studying nature and late adolescence. In particular, Dr. Bowen mentioned that “this study measured one aspect of mental vitality, that of mental acuity in 16-18 year old students at an international school. Using the d2 Test of Attention to measure the impact of regular nature walks, this study found a significant improvement in participants’ mental acuity after a regular, twice weekly, 40 to 60 minute duration nature walk intervention.”
“It’s a detail, but just in the years 1973-74 the Italian government claimed some “Sundays with no cars at all”. All people, not only children, were very happy for living in a world with no cars.
That was “Last call”: nobody answered.”
In this essay by Guido Dalla Casa, he explains how economics and population growth are the main contributors to what seems to be inevitable demise.
Yet hope is not lost. Read the “Last Call” to see his perspective.
The Ayahuasca Ceremony as a Viable Treatment Modality
by Mel Falck, Appalachian State University
The ayahuasca ceremony is an ancient shamanic custom that is gaining popularity and acceptance amongst many in the western world. Some are turning towards this sacramental ritual in order to acquire healing, wisdom, and insight, in the hopes of obtaining some glimmer of hope and respite from a culture that seems to alienate us from ourselves, our communities, and our planet. This paper explores the potentiality for healing that this sacred and ancient ceremony offers to modern day humans.
a poem by Ceó Ruairc
When days turn brilliant and cool
and the forest breathes
with footprints seldom seen
when these dark trails
are mostly mine
I will rest immersed
in piles of Maple leaves
sleep in this amber glow
until Squirrel stops scolding
and even Wren becomes brave
I will dream as I bathe
in her melodious song
as wild Wolves return
a flow of grey
whispers in the woods
running
I will watch Salmon struggle home
from their ocean run
as glistening Bears dine
on river-gifts
and the great rains come
I will give thanks
for the unfathomable
connection of it all
this balance of give and take
death and birth
summer fruits fading
into rich black earth
I will burst open
with the sweet grief
of knowing
my smallness in this world
then slowly trace
a sinuous path home
Returning
I will step lightly
silent as the moon
golden leaves in my pockets
chlorophyll in my veins
fragrant as the earth
Naturalist/poet, Ceó Ruaírc writes from wild places, inspired by wolf song, coastal storms, and the tenacity of trees.
This never-more-relevant quote from the late Martin Jordan, much beloved in the EP community, from Ecotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, the book he co-edited with Joe Hinds in 2016.
“Counselling and psychotherapy cannot fully alleviate the [patient’s] symptoms unless they can treat the cause (the political and historical constellations that shape the era), and yet that cause is the exact subject psychology is not allowed to address… the critiques put forward by ecopsychology and ecotherapy, of dominant social norms which are inherently destructive to the environment and also destructive to thehuman race, are attempting to place counselling and psychotherapy within a wider cultural and political sphere where nature and the environment play a central role in mental health and well-being.”
This piece was submitted by “Sally Writes” after reading a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggesting that humans are pushing the 6th great extinction. She wrote, “Part of this is overpopulation and overconsumption, but part is accidental. One area where we’re harming the environment is with our windows, which kill millions of birds each year. As the Content Manager for a small window cleaning service, I felt it important we cover this topic.”
Birds, like all other creatures on this planet, are essential to the natural balance of the ecosystem. They pollinate our plants to enable fertilization and reproduction. They give trees the chance to colonize new areas by assuming an active role in successful seed dispersal and regeneration. They transport the nutrients found in soil from one place to another and play a hugely important role in agricultural systems by regulating the number of pests.
The Green Gathering is an extraordinary event that happens over several days every year in the UK. When I lived in England I attended with my partner and co-founder at riverOcean, Clive Pepe. We went in style with the full-sized yurt we used for our community festivals, and loved every minute of it. The all-solar-powered gathering is set in a beautiful meadow, like an intimate “Green” Woodstock with the creativity of a super-mellow verdant Burning Man, complete with wonderful music, outstanding networking, hanging out, and friend-making opportunities, and free classes in everything from permaculture to bronze-casting. You can still snab a Early Bird ticket for 2018 – only £90 from the Bristol Ticket Shop.
Check out their website for more information.
At the 2017 UK Festival Awards, the Green Gathering was awarded with the Greener Festival Award for outstanding commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating positive social impact.
A research request from Eric Windhorst, PhD candidate and Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Brock University:
Are you a gifted adult who loves nature? Eric Windhorst is recruiting participants to his PhD research study which is exploring how gifted adults experience ecological self (nature connection)—and how this experience relates to mental health and environmental behaviour. Eric is currently seeking out gifted men in particular.
Contributing to the study will involve participating in two, one-on-one interviews with Eric. Each of the two interviews will be approximately one hour in length and can be conducted over Skype.
Study participation is open to all individuals over the age of 25 that self-identify as gifted.
If you’re interested in contributing to the study, or want to learn more about it, feel free to reach out to Eric directly (ew14ft@brocku.ca).
Resources for Eco-driving are available here
Information about Electric Vehicles can be found here
**Thanks to Penny Williams for sharing these resources with all of us!”
Eco-Friendly Guide to Recycling Electronic Waste
Guide to Recycling
For general recycling information, please visit this link.
**Sending thanks to Nadia Sommers for sharing these resources with all of us!**
Photo from huffingtonpost.com
It might seem strange to talk about container gardening in February (at least, for people who live in the middle of winter at the moment), but for those who are interested in creating a container garden it is worthwhile to prepare for plant health and growth in a context bounded by containers.
This Field Guide to Container Gardening covers topics such as appropriate soil, types of containers, plants that thrive in vessels, as well as demystifying this kind of gardening by comparing the benefits and differences between in-ground beds and container gardens.
Using very accessible language and beautiful pictures, read more about container gardening by clicking on this link. Continue Reading →
The Holos Institute is holding a 100-hour Ecopsychology Certificate Program that aims to facilitate a deeper connection with the natural world with subjects such as eco-therapy, climate change grief and anxiety, and sustainable practices. Continue Reading →
In this article which appeared in the March 2017 issue of the Ecopsychology Journal, Sophia Reinders asks us a compelling question:
“How can we bring into being in ourselves and in our communities a consciousness that is earth-cherishing and aware of the planet as the living matrix in which all earth communities, including the human, are embedded and have their ground?”
The manner in which the author suggests that we go forward is poetically derived from her own experiences of oneness with nature as she beautifully recounts her embodiment of a coyote’s song and melding with the fragrance of the morning. Using these examples, the author asks us to go beyond contemplation and gently invites us to act by “sensory reception” and “intuitive perception”. She suggests that, as we re-awaken “our ancient capacity to be enchanted with the mystery that has given birth to us and surrounds us… we may begin to listen to the ancient dialogue of body and earth”.
Sophia’s full article may be found at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/eco.2016.0035
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This article first appeared in the March 2017 issue of the Ecopsychology Journal, which regularly features articles free of charge to the public for a limited period of time.
Acknowledgement for featured image: “Coyote Leaping” by John Nieto, 24″ x 30″ acrylic. Available at Ventana Fine Art, 400 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Orion is one of my favorite magazines. It’s an extraordinarily beautiful and well-put-together quarterly publication celebrating Nature and Culture, featuring stunning photography and articles about subjects I want to know more about by authors I am stimulated & inspired by.
They carry absolutely no advertising; their income is entirely subscription-based, which is an incredibly challenging economic model to sustain. So when they ran a Kickstarter campaign last month asking for help producing a special 35th Anniversary issue, I was more than happy to support them.
To give you as taste, here’s a little excerpt from from the current issue – Stellar, about Stellar Jays, by Peter Friederici.
Their Kickstarter campaign is still going, although they have reached their immediate goal. Given that a magazine of this caliber & integrity will need our ongoing support if it is to survive and thrive, I urge you too to contribute generously.
This fabulous interview of UK ecopsychologist Mary Jayne Rust by ecotherapist Linda Buzzell aired on the Ecopsychology Voices series produced by Carol Koziol, founder of the Canadian Ecopsychology Network.
