NELA Transition News | May 9, 2012

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North East Los Angeles Transition News May 9th, 2012 NELA Transition is a community group working on positive changes in our community as we face global warming, peak oil and economic decline. We share our skills working on projects which increase our local resilience and strengthen community connections. Our members are located in the Los Angeles neighborhoods including Pasadena, Altadena, Highland Park and Eagle Rock. nelatransition.org Sacred Economics, by Charles Eisenstein The Sacred Economics website offers an artful and chock-full 12 minute teaser film for the book which Eisenstein offers free online in the spirit of the gift economy. He suggests that you pay what you are able. Returning the consciousness to old ways where economy was based on earth's resources and gift economy reigned, is a move that can guide us through the great turning. Time Banking fits beautifully with Eisensteins work. About the Book Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.   Take Action for More Solar Energy in CA! The California Public Utilities Commission is considering a plan to help encourage more solar energy in the state. It's good news but some utilities are fighting the proposal. I just sent a message to the Commission to let them know I support more clean energy. You should too! Take action now Pasadena's General Plan (excerpted from http://goo.gl/w453l ) Does Pasadena’s zoning code encourage people to live in a sustainable manner––walking, biking, using public transportation, with only occasional automobile use––or does it contribute to the sprawl of suburban development, where low density makes frequent automobile trips an unavoidable necessity of daily life? Downtown Pasadena, as a compact, walkable urban neighborhood served by the Gold Line, is uniquely able to provide the right kind of housing that isn’t auto-dependent. Because our apartments, office buildings, shops, and other buildings are so closely-spaced, Downtown Pasadena is sustainable. The choice presented by the General Plan is: Do we want to maximize Downtown Pasadena’s unique opportunity by allowing additional housing growth Downtown, or do we want to clamp the lid shut and say to prospective new residents, “Sorry, there’s no more room for you.” The larger issue in terms of climate change and sustainable planning is regional. Will Pasadena step up and provide a place to live for people who want to become a 1-car household, commute via the Gold Line, or perhaps get rid of all their autos altogether? Will Downtown Pasadena have room for people who want to move here and ditch their car? We should. Pasadena Plan Meetings and Workshops Thursday, May 17th Come make a difference: join us at our monthly “Third Thursday” meetings June 23 & 26 Community Workshops For more info visit: www.downtownpasadena.org   YERT Your Environmental Road Trip Thursday, May 10, 7pm free Presented by the Conscientious Projector The Armory Center for the Arts 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA Free On the Road to Environmental Awareness On July 4, 2007, Mark Dixon and friends Ben Evans and Julie Dingman Evans set out on a year-long journey in a used hybrid to discover the causes of climate change and see what creative innovators, entrepreneurs and organizations in each of the 50 states were doing for a sustainable environment. They took along a camera and a personal commitment to live the changes they seek for the planet, and the award-winning result is YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip), this month's Conscientious Projector feature screening on Thursday, May 10, 7:00 p.m. at The Armory Center for the Arts. Join them on their travels as they experience wonder, challenge and one big surprise (an unexpected pregnancy for Julie and Ben) that impacts their entire adventure. Potluck with a Purpose Saturday, May 12th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Hosted by the Arroyo Time Bank This is a NELA Transition and Arroyo Timebank potluck. An orientation for new Time Bank members will take place at 2:00 p.m. before the potluck. Armory Center for the Arts is located at: 145 North Raymond Avenue Pasadena, California 91103 NELA Transition Meeting Sunday, May 20th, 5:00 to 7:00 PM Presented by NELA Transition NELA transition Steering meeting is always the third Sunday of the month 5-7 pm. You are welcome to join us Sunday May 20 in planning our month for transitioning from oil dependence to local resilience. Please rsvp to people@nelatransition.org for location and directions.   Garden Angels and the Blessings of Sweat: NELA Transition/Throop Learning Garden Update By January Nordman Where do I begin? It has been a month of milestones & minor miracles. The garden transforms itself and all of us day by day. What ever we put into the garden is returned to us in abundance, friendship, health, and joy. My gratitude to all who have joined in: Therese, Michael, Liz, Mari, Andrew, Laura, Iesha, Wren, Melinda, David B., David C., Ginko, Scoop, Robert G., Robert H., James, Shale, Maya, Sherine, Jacob, Katrina, Seven, many of Joan Stevens’ environmental studies students, and all others who lent a hand. So here’s what we have all accomplished: April 15 we removed all the yellow caution tape after filling in the last trench from the irrigation project. Our fruit trees guild is fully planted. Apples and plums are already producing fruit. Native sages and mugwort ring the fruit trees. The urbanite terrace wall nears completion. All cardboard mulch on Del Mar side is covered with vegetative mulch and ready to plant. The native garden zone is almost fully planted, with a bit more to come on the Del Mar slope. The herb garden zone is nearing completion. The vegetable garden zone has been prepped & several raised beds have been constructed. This is all thanks to the gracious donation of blocks by our friend and garden angel, Mary. Just when we thought we would not have material to build the garden beds, Mary offered 340 recycled cinder blocks from behind her home in the San Fernando valley. The blocks were part of a fence that came down in the Northridge earthquake. Mary’s husband, Norm, removed mortar and debris from the blocks in hopes of using them on a future project. Unfortunately, Norm passed away before he could use the blocks. Now, many years later, Mary has donated them to us to use in his name. We are incredibly grateful for their help in bringing the recycled aspect of the garden to fruition. (And thanks to all who hauled them to the garden). The garden blooms with roses, yarrow, lavender and friendship. Yes, there is more work to be done, but there is also the peace to find one’s heart with others. Therese led a beautiful inner transition gathering in April. The evening ended in the garden with us seated in a circle around the olive tree. We sang and meditated. A calm fell over us. Traffic wheeled by, but we were caught in the timeless progression of seasons, sprouting, growth, and dissolution making way for more sprouting and growth. We recharged our energies in our simple circle around a tree we planted together. I am so grateful. Arroyo Time Bank Update by David Cutter The timebank continues to grow and NELA's association with the timebank grows as well. Our monthly potluck has and continues to evolve. What it will become next?.... well you'll just have to stay tuned. For this month though on May 12 the timebank is hosting at the Armory Center for the Arts. June 16th we'll be back at Throop and July will be in the streets of Pasadena. No kidding. Would you believe a walking tour of Pasadena's sustainable businesses. With eating stops along the way. Date to be announced. Another development with the timebank is some great work with a local Drupal group called Droplab. On April 28th, we had a work party for programmers. Drupal if you didn't know is a powerful website programming language that is open source. several programmers(5-8) worked to fix several problems with Community Weaver 2.0. We've moved the timebank application so that is completely online and automated the data entry part of the application process for our membership staff. We also have set up a "neighborhood" architecture so that one can more easily find people that are more local. "nieghborhoods" is a work in progress, but you can see changes already. Currently there are pull down menus for blogs and newsletters by individual neighborhoods. Individual people will need to step up to write those blogs and newsletters but hey the timebank is growing fast enough that those people will step forward any moment now. Other news includes a standing room only soapmaking workshop, a fruitpicking day with the fruit donated to Union Station homeless shelter and steady progress toward a 501c(3) filing with the IRS. If you are interested in helping with any aspect of timebanking you can email or call me. dcutter@aceweb.com (626)260-1615. See you at an event soon.