EcoLocalizer

I have been completely engrossed and inspired by Alison Piepmeier’s new research: Girl Zines: Making media, Doing feminism. Her book is a vibrant mixture of girl power, art history and intelligent feminist analysis of do-it-yourself political action. Professor Piepmeier examines various ways in which women in the United States have expressed themselves and chronicled their experiences, tracing a historic lineage from the handmade personal scrapbook of suffragist Ida Harper, to Nomy Lamm’s fat-positive xeroxed zine, i’m so fucking beautiful.

These are a few of the unique creations from my friend Ryder’s zine archive in Vermont.

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One extraordinary 14-year-old New Hampshire boy is showing that kids have the power to change the world.

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This is a letter that I wrote to my local Bayview librarian to promote Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower as a book that our entire city reads together:

Dear Linda Brooks Burton,

I wish to recommend Octavia Butler’s brilliant Parable of the Sower as a selection for San Francisco’s “One City One Book” project. Butler’s prescient fictional tale, set in the urban dystopia of a permanently drought-stricken California in the year 2024, reflects many of the pressing issues that face our city and community. She deftly weaves topics concerning water scarcity, local food production, books, race, religion, politics, poverty and sustainability into her gripping story, and depicts a dysfunctional world not all that different from our own.

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I met several lovely chickens yesterday when I was in Oakland, and I am now quite smitten. They are truly engrossing creatures to observe; the animal’s social behavior is very complex, their vocalizations are both soothing and fascinating, to say nothing of the delicious fresh eggs they provide. More and more urban chickens are being raised in cities, as increasing numbers of people are growing their own food and trying to create a more locally-based, sustainable and self-sufficient food supply.

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Los Angeles has proposed a new water management law that would require rainwater harvesting on all new homes, large developments, as well as on some redevelopment projects. The Department of Public Works unanimously approved the new ordinance in January for the increasingly parched region. It requires various methods to capture, reuse or infiltrate all of the rainwater runoff that is generated by a 3/4 inch rainstorm.

These rain barrels have been made from recycled cherry containers.

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Officials from 13 nations are meeting to discuss conservation efforts to save the endangered tiger.   Officials from countries where tigers still roam – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam -  are taking part in the Asia Ministerial Conference (AMC) on Tiger Conservation. The conference runs from January 27 to January 30, 2010,  in Thailand. Read the rest of this entry »

Male Tasmanian Devil

A relatively rare form of transmissible cancer–known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD)–has been decimating Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harisii) populations in Northeast Tasmania over the past thirteen or more years. First identified in 1996, the cancer has become so pervasive that the animal–the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial–has now become one of the world’s most endangered species.

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It’s a long-standing debate; just how much of a role should humans be playing when it comes to the environment and their influence on the natural order of things with regards to ecosystems and the animal kingdom. There is even more controversy when humans choose to be involved to rectify species decline that have occurred as part of nature and not as a direct result of human impact. A new situation in the UK brings this debate to light. Read the rest of this entry »

In an effort to prevent animal abuse, China is taking steps to end a centuries-old tradition.  Recently proposed legislation would outlaw the human consumption or sale of cat and dog meat, often called “fragrant meat,” which is still considered a delicacy in some parts of China.  Read the rest of this entry »

Last week when I was in Brooklyn I encountered the most excellent recycled lamp shade creation ever. Innovative New York based artist and designer, Sabina Batelman, has constructed colorful translucent lamp shades from old 35mm film slides. It is a lamp shade and a slide show simultaneously—utter genius.

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