Group Philanthropy Information Session on November 5th

Come discuss your ideas about Resilient Cultures at our October 26^th Idea Club meeting

Resiliency is the ability to adapt to change and bounce back from catastrophe. Some cultures have shown themselves to be more resilient than others. Some are no longer here because of their lack of resilience. What was the guy who cut down the last tree on Easter Island thinking?

What qualities are required? Which do we currently lack? How can communities become more resilient? Those will be some of the topics we discuss at Idea Club on Monday, October 26.

Have you heard about the Pizzly bear (also known as the Grolar bear)?  As the climate has gotten warmer, grizzly bears have been extending their habitat further north into polar bear territory.  While their habits are quite different, cross-breeding has now been found in the wild.  This little nugget, among many others, came out during a free day-long workshop for 6th through 12th grade teachers sponsored by Facing the Future  and The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Committee in July.

Because Sustainable Path awarded a grant to Facing the Future this spring, they invited us to send representatives to the workshop. Attendees participated in hands-on activities from Climate Change: Connection and Solutions, an interdisciplinary, self-contained two-week unit aligned with national education standards that lays the foundation for understanding some of the forces behind climate change and its connections to numerous social, economic, and environmental factors.  Zoo staff also presented information about polar bears, how climate change is affecting their survival, what the Zoo is doing to support polar bears and how we can help them.  Holding the workshop at Point Defiance Zoo also gave us a chance to see polar bears close up.

Facing the Future staff have been presenting workshops for math, science, and environmental educators at regional and national fall conferences.  These have included a workshop about "Real World Math" at the Northwest Math Conference in British Columbia and several workshops about climate change and education for sustainability at the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) conference in Oregon.  Both conferences draw K-12 educators from not only the Puget Sound region, but throughout Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, with the NAAEE conference drawing educators from throughout North America as well.

Solutions-based programming materials are designed by and for teachers and are available on the Facing the Future website.  The goal of Facing the Future is to provide timely and useful information to teachers at less than $2 per student.  Sustainable Path Foundation is happy to be providing funding for a portion of their work.   

Tour of Tani Creek Farm

A few of us went on an early fall trip to Tani Creek Farm on Bainbridge Island.  The truly sustainable farm, which is the home of the Sassenfeld family, features impressive solar and water systems as well as an active organic farm that functions as a CSA and sells produce around the island.  This year Tani Creek Farm will be the largest supplier of heirloom beans in Washington State and beyond, helping to bring biodiversity back to our food supply.

Toxics Testing  with Washington Toxics Coalition , a 2009 Grantee 

What toxics are lurking in your home?

We try to keep our homes safe and clean of toxics by being careful about products we use in the home, and dirt and dust tracked in on our shoes, but it is hard to know what toxics might lurk in our furniture, carpets, paint, or dishes, often there for well-intended reasons.  Flame retardants and stain retardants are routinely applied to furniture and carpets to make them safer and easier to care for, but there are possible health risks associated with these chemicals that should be balanced against the benefits. Knowledge of what toxics exist in your environment can help you make good choices for your own home.

Sustainable Path had the unique opportunity this fall to spend a fun evening testing for toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium, and bromine in June Eisenman's remodeled 1912 Craftsman home. Wonder Woman (AKA Laurie Valeriano) and  Erika Schreder from Washington Toxics Coalition, a Sustainable Path grantee, brought their hand-held x-ray fluorescence instrument to look for toxics around June's house.  Actually seeing and learning first hand about toxics we live with, and the choices we can make in exposure of our families, was enlightening. June was pleased to learn that the paint in her home did not contain high levels of lead, but disappointed to find a favorite earthenware mug from Mexico did have very high levels of lead. That mug has now been repurposed to hold pencils!

The report card: