JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

We were thinking about all those New Year’s Resolutions we could write about when our friend, Maria Whitley at Shine, came up with the idea of a New Year’s Revolution! ... (click for more)

We were thinking about all those New Year’s Resolutions we could write about when our friend, Maria Whitley at Shine, came up with the idea of a New Year’s Revolution! (Thank you, Maria.)

We’d say it’s about time for a revolution. For the New Year, the news from climatologists is pretty dark. Copenhagen has yielded no reason for optimism. Health care? Yet, in spite of it all and because of it all, the beautiful people of Louisville are going about the business of saving the world one step at a time. There’s a quiet revolution going on, and it’s something to celebrate!

So this issue is dedicated to our 2010 Louisville New Year’s Revolution! We know change must come from the top – and to that effort we are happy to announce Jackie Green’s Green Mayoral Platform. Check out our Green Happenings pages for his vision . Best of luck to you, Jackie.

We also know that change too comes swelling up from the bottom – inspired by individuals and groups who understand that gloom and doom can stop people in their tracks, send them off into comfortable denial. But action and optimism can send a wave of energy into the world, sweeping us along in its power to transform.

We need dreams and we need dreamers. But Revolution is a call to awaken. To that end, we feature the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium. The Earth and her inhabitants are hurting. We need to know it and explore what one person can do. The power of one can become the power of one million! Here is a golden opportunity to deepen knowledge of both the disturbing and the inspiring.

Revolution calls us to action. We highlight a slice of that home-grown action with a look at 15,000 Farmers. Gary Heine of Heine Brothers Coffee and Breaking New Grounds isn’t dreaming of a local food economy. He’s planting the seeds for Easy Farms. Kurt Rutkowski offers an insight into easy stewardship . Local food looks good with washable, resuable linen. Local landfills look noticably undernourished.

Youth shows us all that the world is reborn again and again. The Revolution of evolution. Spencer Scruggs founded the Seneca HS Green Club to involve his generation in the environmental community. A dreamer and a doer, he shows us what one young person can do when he steps into the larger world. Anna Roeder, UofL activist shows us the quiet force of modeling. Beyond the scope of verbal messages, living your vision and sharing illuminates what can be.

The Earth gifts us with nutrients and medicine. Revolution requires stamina. We look at ways to care for ourselves while living in tune and perhaps living with less. Simplicity and clarity inspire articles on healthy food choice by Rae Hatherton ND, healthy dental care by Bob Lavely DMD, and healthy first aid with master herbalist, Jenny Boice.

And finally, Revolution requires embodiment. Earth Mamas draw from the music and movement of all cultures of the world to tell the story of Earth and her plight. Dance with them and come to know your place in this glorious and threatened web of life.

We wish a bold New Year to all in 2010.

Let the Revolution rock!