I was just informed of a great event coming up Feb 26th, 27th and 28th on the ASU campus that you should know about. An important conference with a festival feel open to all centering around justice in the local and global community with ongoing workshops at various times throughout the weekend. All are welcome and you can stop by any time that works for you, details below.

RE-STORYING COMMUNITY
www.localtoglobal.org

February 26-28, 2010
Farmer Building ASU Tempe

Here are some of the highlights of the event:

Friday February 26, 2010, 5:30-9:00pm: Reception and Film Premier showing of Mountains that Take Wing: Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama – A Conversation on Life, Struggles & Liberation, Directed by ASU faculty members, C.A. Griffith & H.L.T Quan

Saturday February 27, 2010, 3:15-4:45pm: Veronica Leyva and Charis Elliott from local fair trade organization, Las Otras Hermanas will talk about survival hope and community building amid violence and poverty in Juarez.

Sunday February 28, 2010, 3:15- 4:45pm: John O’Neal, Director of Junebug Production and Founder of the Free Southern Theatre from New Orleans. Will speak about the power of storytelling

There will be lots of activities for kids and teens! Youth ages 3-17 are invited to participate in workshops, art projects, and skill shares on both days.

Dozens of local grassroots and student groups will lead workshops on a wide variety of topics, from sustainability to immigrant rights to healthy food. You’re sure to find topics that will engage you and inspire you to act!

Music will be provided by Haymarket Square and other local musicians!

Delicious FREE food for all attendees provided by Green Vegetarian Restaurant.

The Teach-in runs from 8:30 am – 7 pm Saturday and 8:30 am – 5 pm Sunday, so feel free to stop in at any time on either day. For a full schedule of events, plus parking info and directions, visit www.localtoglobal.org.

With my little company, Strawberry Hedgehog, I seem to always be telling people “what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it!” Why? Because our skin is our biggest organ, just as it expels toxins in sweat it that delicate, thin membrane between your inner systems and the polluted outside world also absorbs what it comes in contact with. The trick is learning how to read the labels, how to decipher those ingredient lists and figuring out exactly what IS in the stuff we slather on every day or suds up with in the shower. Historically, we have done some crazy things for beauty but by being mindful of what you’re using you can count yourself out of that modern group. Cosmetics and beauty products have a huge range of ingredients from seriously hazardous and cancer causing, to allergy-inducing, to down right gross (hello carmine!). Ecocentricity, a fantastic ecofriendly shop in downtown Phoenix is offering an informative get together to clue you in on the No-No’s and what to look for.

Join us for light refreshments and a good time. Hear from Donna Harris, CEO of Naturoli Beautiful, LLC , a local natural skin care company; Rachael Ward, founder of Mixology Makeup, a local mineral makeup company; Elizabeth Allard, owner of Organic Excellence, a local company offering natural hair care, anti-aging and therapeutic cremes; and someone from Just B – B Just, a local social enterprise offering natural soaps and benefiting individuals trying to escape homelessness. Sample products from these and other local companies offering natural alternatives — that really are natural. (* Men are welcome, too — the nasty stuff is in your skin care products too!) RSVP by following this link or at 602.281-2725 so we will have enough refreshments to refresh everyone.

Host: ecocentricity!
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: 137 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ

If you can’t make it and want more information on your own products you should do some searching on the Cosmetics Database. You can also find valuable information on the Vegan Beauty Review or read some of my other posts on the topic:

1. How Natural Is Mineral Makeup?
2. Are you Polluting your Home?
3. Block a Burn, Bleach a Reef?

PHOENIX, AZ, January 8, 2010 – On February 7^th, Everlasting Marks, a local environmental education nonprofit, is kicking off their second annual “Take a Hike!” hike-a-thon fundraiser sponsored by REI. They are currently recruiting participants who find sponsors to pledge funds for hiked miles that can be completed over the course of the 8-week event.  There will be awards and prizes for the most miles hiked and the most funds raised.

Registration for the hike-a-thon ends January 22, 2010 and the first hike is February 7^th. It continues for 2 months with one scheduled hike each week at various mountains in the greater Phoenix area and ends April 5^th.  In order to meet their mileage goals, hikers can participate in the organization’s scheduled hikes, or hike on their own at locations and dates they choose.  All ages are welcome and families are encouraged to participate.

Jaime Collins, founder of Everlasting Marks states, “The ‘Take a Hike!’ program is not just an event to raise funds, but to increase the community’s awareness of the environment through the enjoyment of the outdoors.”

This year’s hike-a-thon is in honor of Tessa Worby, who had a fatal fall while rock climbing Camelback Mountain on February 5, 2009.  While her accident is a reminder of the dangers of hiking and rock climbing, her memory serves as an inspiration to others to live life to its fullest.

“Tessa was passionate about the outdoors, youth and the environment, reflecting the values of Everlasting Marks,” said Collins.  “May we each discover even a portion of her enthusiasm in our own lives.”

Everlasting Marks is an Arizona based organization dedicated to promoting cultural understanding and environmental awareness through youth-oriented educational service projects that involve sustainable construction from recycled materials. Current projects include the development of a sustainable garden and educational facility at Superstition Farm in Mesa. For more information visit www.EverlastingMarks.org

Michael Shuman will be speaking about localism on February 1st in downtown Phoenix, this is sure to be an interesting talk. He will also be in Tucson on the February 2nd at the UA Student Union at 6:30 in the Santa Rita room.

Below is a note from AZ BioDiesel owner Dan Rees about the federal tax incentive that expired this January. AZ BioDiesel is a local Arizona biodiesel producer that makes their fuel from 100% locally sourced waste vegetable oil.

Hi Everyone,

Az BioDiesel is still alive and producing for now without the $1 a gallon federal biodiesel tax credit.

It will hopefully be passed by Feb/March and be retroactive to Jan 1st but there are no guarantees.

For now, we (AZ BioDiesel) can afford to “weather the storm” and wait until the end of January to see if the tax credit will come back anytime soon.

Most plants around the country unfortunately, have closed or severely reduced production as they can’t weather a long wait to get the tax credit dollars.

The word is that if congress doesn’t get around to it before Feb, most of the industry will close and many may not be able to reopen. 29,000+ jobs will be lost very soon. Congress came back Jan 20th from their holiday break. Health care was still taking priority to anything else when they started.

Our industry is the victim of congress’ focus on health care and not having time to pass the biodiesel tax credit extension which helps biodiesel to be competitively priced to the already subsidized petroleum fuels.

Several senators (Dem & Rep) have sent letters to President Obama to get the extension passed quickly but, no answer yet.

Some are saying that Big Oil is behind this. The EPA was going to pass (this Feb) it’s new alt fuel standards which, for the first time, would include a national minimum requirement for 1 billion gallons of biodiesel to get the industry on its feet and growing. The EPA now is saying they may just give the 1 billion gallons to the ethanol industry to add to the minimum requirement they already have since they don’t believe the biodiesel industry can now live up to the new requirement.

Another win for Big Oil and their support of ethanol! The alternative fuel (ethanol) that isn’t a threat to the future of replacing petroleum oil.

It really concerns me that President Obama had the nerve recently to tout the $2.3 billion he gave out to create new forms of energy and add 17,000 jobs while he knows that the biodiesel industry is about to lose 29,000+ jobs and already can produce new energy but no one in congress or the white house seems to care. You’ll notice very little press about the loss of the biodiesel tax credit and it’s potential to bankrupt this industry even if they get around to passing an extension later in the year.

Please help save the biodiesel industry by going to this link and sending emails to our congressmen:

Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxcredit/default.shtm

With your help, this industry can survive!!!

Thanks,
Dan Rees, AZ BioDiesel