Fresh Greens

News You Can Use

Here are a few events and happenings you may want to be aware of and participate in over the coming weeks.

MAPS3 Survey for Public Transportation

The Alliance for Public Transportation seeks responses to an important survey by Friday, August 21, 2009. This survey is brief and involves answering only ten questions through the link below.

These questions request information about your interest in transit, MAPS3 and your interest in the Alliance for Public Transportation (APT). Please select the answer that best fits you! Thank you!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yaDjumCT10Goi9JmYD53UA_3d_3d

 

Sierra Club Cimarron Group Movie Night
Friday, August 28
7 pm social 1/2 hour

Movie at 7:30 pm with discussion following at Backwoods, 12325 North May, Suite 103, OKC

Encounters at the End of the World directed by Werner Herzog

There is a hidden society at the end of the world. One thousand men and women live together under unbelievably close quarters in Antartica, risking their lives and sanity in search of cutting-edge science.

Now, for the first time, an outsider has been admitted. In his first documentary since GRIZZLY MAN, Herzog, accompanied only by his cameraman, traveled to Antarctica, with rare access to raw beauty and raw humanity of the ultimate down under.

Encounters at the End of the World, Herzzog's latest meditation on nature, explores this land of fire, ice and corrosive solitude.

 

 

Eaton to host Prawn Field Day Demonstration

Sept. 12 at 9:30 a.m.

Register by Sept. 4

Eaton will host a field day to demonstrate how he’s been raising freshwater shrimp, or prawns, for the past two years in the pond on his farm near Cashion, northwest of Oklahoma City.

During the two-hour field day, which starts at 9:30, Eaton will harvest his second crop of prawns in as many years. In the meantime, he’ll give visitors the lowdown on production methods, potential problems, and harvesting and marketing.

Eaton received a 2008 Oklahoma Producer Grant from the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture to demonstrate the feasibility of raising prawns in farm ponds as an additional income source for Oklahoma farmers.

Registration for the prawn field day is free, but required by September 4 to reserve a place. Space is limited. To register, email jcastillo@kerrcenter.com, or call 918.647.9123. 

Your Future, Your Ideas, Your Story

by Shauna Lawyer Struby

In a recent bit of news, Rob Hopkins, author of the Transition Handbook and co-founder of the Transition Network, was invited to give a TED talk. About this rather intimidating invite, Hopkins wrote:

 If you are unfamiliar with TED, they give you 18 minutes, an audience of very successful thinkers, inventors, geeks and business people, and ask you to give the talk of your life, which they film in HD and put online where it is viewed by millions of people.

In his usual humble and playful way, Hopkins got to talk about the ideas making up the Transition model and process, about the inspiring way this movement is spreading around the globe, and about harnessing the creative power of people everywhere to help solve the many exceptional and urgent challenges we face.

Rob opened his talk with this declaration (to read more notes from his talk, excellent stuff, go here):

Two of the important stories we tell ourselves are either that someone else will sort it all out for us, or that we are all doomed. I’d like to share with you a very different story, and like all stories it has a beginning.

At a recent brainstorming session in Oklahoma City for Transition Town OKC, we talked a great deal about the stories of our current culture and about what an energy secure, food secure, shelter secure, abundant future without fossil fuel dependence might look like. It was an empowering, inspiring session that gave people a safe place to express vision, fears, hopes and dreams as well as a means of taking control of their lives and telling a different story.

Again and again we circled back to the current stories society tells about the meaning of success, wealth, abundance, growth and happiness. And in imagining new stories, like Rob Hopkins, we found many joyful ideas, we found hope, we found inspiration.

And now it's your turn:

• What are the stories you hear every day about the meaning of success, wealth and happiness?
• How do these stories affect your daily life?
• Do you find yourself fearful, worried or hopeful, or some combination of all three and more when you think about the future?
• Do you have an idea of what an abundant, joyful future without fossil fuel dependence might look like?

Start at the beginning and share your story, thoughts, ideas and perspectives. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Nosh, nibble and buy local goodies at the Local Food Fair today

Sample delicious food, shop, chat and gab at the Local Food Fair this evening. No admission!

A Local Food Fair

Tuesday, July 14

6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Harn Homestead

1721 North Lincoln Blvd.

Oklahoma City

Local foods, plants, flowers & wine vendors and live music!

Come ready to:

• Shop for locally-grown food & wine (please bring a reusable shopping bag).
• Learn how easy it is to make more sustainable food choices.
• Sample fresh locally-grown food & get to know the people who produce.

Sponsored by:

Turning sustainable ideas into reality: Jim Horne's very determined green revolution

by Chelsey Simpson

Jim Horne and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture have long imagined agriculture with an entrepreneurial spirit and holistic ideal that transcends conventional agriculture and big industry. Their creativity and innovation introduced a quiet and growing revolution in Oklahoma, and while they've taken their lumps from the powers that be, they've doggedly continued to help family farmers keep their farms and enriched Oklahoma in ways too numerous to compile here. This past June, Fresh Greens contributor, Chelsey Simpson, interviewed Horne for an article in Oklahoma Living magazine. She graciously shares a portion of that interview here.

More than 20 years ago, Jim Horne made a decision for which he was ostracized and temporarily blacklisted by mainstream agricultural institutions across Oklahoma: he decided to put the “sustainable” in sustainable agriculture.

When Horne made the unpopular decision to change the Kerr Center’s official name to the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture  in 1985, he took the organization, and perhaps even the state, in a new direction. From their farm and office in Poteau, the center conducts research, produces educational materials, hosts field days and offers direct support to farmers, all in the pursuit of their mission “to assist in developing sustainable food and farming systems.”

On a rainy morning in early June I sat down with Jim Horne to talk about the role he and his Kerr Center teammates have played in shaping Oklahoma’s agricultural landscape.

When did your thinking start to shift toward sustainability?

The change started in the 1980s for me because there were thousands of farmers who went bankrupt in the ‘80s, and these were not bad farmers, these were good farmers who were going bankrupt. There were cracks in the system, and I could see that we had built an agriculture system around agribusiness, and the [crop] prices would not pay for the inputs we were using. It seemed to me that there had to be a better way to farm using the tools of nature instead of just using solutions that you had to buy.

My father passed away at 42 years of age from acute poisoning from using chemicals, and that probably had a bigger impact on me than I realized.

I understand that it created quite a bit of turmoil and that members of the board even resigned because you added the word “sustainable” to the Kerr Center’s name. 

Why was it unpopular? How could you be against it? To make something endure forever—that only makes sense. But it carried a connotation that a lot of Oklahomans felt was a threat to the funding of their institutions from agribusiness if we promoted farming that involved a lot less chemicals. We were singled out as a group of weirdos and naive tree-huggers because we started the process of asking, “How do we make sense out of farming this way?”

My approach was to ask, “How do you meet the needs of this generation without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs? How do we keep from destroying our ecological capital?” That was a pretty foreign thought for most people.

Professionally, it was probably the hardest time in my life. I really felt ostracized for this belief, and it was a belief that I wasn’t totally sure of. I kept struggling with how to implement farming with nature. That’s when I came up with the Eight Points of Sustainability, which is all in the book [I co-wrote with Maura McDermontt.] I started breaking it down into what would make sense to a farmer.

What kind of results did you see? Did the methods you promote manage to save any farms that were in bankruptcy?

I know it managed to save a few farms, but I can’t really say how many. So many farms were so far gone by the time we started this.

We have to move to a different style and we need our universities to do research to help us move us in this direction. We have been building that concept among everyone that we don’t want to go through this [mass bankruptcy] again—we have too few farmers already. Sustainability is a necessity, not a luxury.

How financially viable is the kind of farming you promote?

The whole idea is to keep every drop of rain that falls on your farm, on your farm. The waste from one enterprise—pigs or cattle or chickens—is used as fertilizer in another enterprise, and you use clover to smother weeds. That’s the kind of research that we are looking at and trying to promote because it reduces what you have to buy off the farm, and farmers who are doing it, yes, they are finding profitability. Yields are probably not quite as high, but we have less invested.

How can the general public encourage sustainable agriculture?

I think consumers are the farmers’ best friends.

We have this giant agricultural industrial system that is a worldwide competition, and only large, large farmers can really compete in that system. For a small farmer to compete in a global system is a disaster. What we can do is compete in a local system, and I think that is what is overlooked.

We have lost so many rural communities, particularly in western Oklahoma. What people are realizing now—and I think it is why sustainability is becoming more popular—is that having a neighbor is valuable.

A common argument against these methods is that if everyone farmed this way we couldn’t feed the masses. I’m curious what your response is when you hear that.

The typical response is that if we farmed sustainably, half the world would starve. My answer is that right now we produce enough calories in the world that every person could have enough to eat—it is all about political strife and corruption. My take is—and I have thought a lot about this—is it our responsibility to feed the world, or is it the responsibility of each community to feed their own? I think that is really what we need to think about.

How do we equip people, whether they are in China or Oklahoma, to create their own local food system and how do we minimize the importation of stuff?

What makes you believe so deeply in sustainability and local food? 

I think the point that it comes alive to me is realizing how interconnected we are as humans and in nature. I think that God created everything with a purpose, and when we decide that we don’t need this or that we have gone awry.

We can’t impair our systems just so we can live affluently today. It is better to work with those systems, and that’s what sustainability is all about.

A longer version of this article is available online.

No-cost energy efficiency assistance program

by Christine Patton

Free energy efficiency upgrades for lower-income families and individuals are now available through a Weatherization Assessment Program sponsored by the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City (CAA). This program is designed to lower your energy bills and improve your home’s energy efficiency and comfort. This is a time limited offer, so apply today!

How it Works: Call 232-0199 to apply for a free energy audit of your home. CAA will help you identify and install the most important energy efficient improvements (up to $7,000). For example, CAA will install extra insulation, new windows, new exterior doors, caulk, weather stripping, etc. They might even help you with a new refrigerator. You do not have to pay for these improvements - they are a free program sponsored by the United States stimulus package!

Who is Eligible:
1. You must reside in Oklahoma or Canadian County.
2. Your income must be less than 200% of the federal poverty level (Family of one cannot make over $21,660, Family of 2 cannot make over $29,140 and a family of four cannot make over $44,100: other income qualifiers available by calling CAA)
3. You do not have to own the home that is having the energy audit, as long as you fit the income qualifications and have the permission of your landlord.
4. Priority assistance is available for persons over 60, persons with disabilities, or households with children under 12.

This is a free program. Take advantage of this grant to help you live more economically and comfortably in your home! Call today and take advantage of this program (232-0199), or for more information about CAA check out www.caaofokc.org.

The Next One in the Nest

by Nancy Love Robertson

I love Oklahoma City. I really do. I am a life-long resident and have watched our community ebb and flow over the span of my 53-year lifetime.

In my life, it seems we’ve ebbed more than we flowed for so long, and I, like many of us, experienced discomfort when people from other parts of the U.S. would grimace when I’d tell them where home was.

Today, however, I sing a different tune. I defend my hometown with the fierceness of a momma lion. I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past 15 years or so.

As a community, we invested in ourselves and made the first MAPS happen in 1992. We marveled at our pretty new ballpark, and applauded when we stepped into the Civic Center, Downtown Library and Cox Convention Center for the first time. It all looked good and making progress FELT good.

We the people stood tall on April 19, 1995 and survived the Oklahoma City bombing with dignity and compassion. The whole world watched us in awe, and through the profound sadness of that time, we found our voice as a community with heart.

The momentum of the 1990s propelled us to further our city’s promise when we took a stand to advance public education in our city in 2001. We made a down payment toward our future by telling children in our town that they mattered when we passed MAPS for KIDS in November of that year. “Good for us,” I thought at the time. “I’m proud of you, Oklahoma City!”

So, that’s our community basket of golden eggs we laid over the past 15 years. And, to paraphrase a Joni Mitchell line from For the Roses, “Who’s to know if the next one in the nest will glitter for us so?”

Don’t mistake my question as doubt or as a complaint. That’s not my intention at all. On the contrary, I have an idea on how we can produce another golden egg that will sparkle for our city long into the future.

Thankfully, Oklahoma City as a micro-society is finally beginning the dialogue of what the pressing environmental issues of the day mean to our way of life. Don’t forget, we used to pride ourselves on being the largest city, in landmass, in the United States. Thankfully, Jacksonville, Florida, now owns that dubious distinction. However, in our quest to “be somebody” back in the 1950s and 1960s, Oklahoma City sold its soul to developers and thus created a scenario that took decades to create. Now, it will take decades to unwind.

For what it’s worth, I am throwing my voice behind my fellow Oklahoma Cityans who’ve been calling us on our BS for the past several years about having one of America’s most livable cities. They’re correct. If we really want to be a livable city then where are the sidewalks? Where is the network of running trails and bike lanes? Nothing spells “l-i-v-a-b-l-e c-i-t-y” more than a community that encourages walking, running and cycling.  So, what have we done to put our collective muscle to work on this issue? First of all, doesn’t it make sense to create a world-class city for the residents who live and work here before we cast our net to the larger world?

Fortunately, we’ve been blessed with the hard work of a few. A case in point: Every year, thousands of us enjoy the fruits of the labor of those dedicated staff members and volunteers who breathe life into the Lake Hefner Trails. I have personally logged many hours and miles running or cycling around that lake. And, as a birder, I truly enjoy the opportunity to connect with nature in such close proximity to my home.

Or, take the mountain bike trails at Lake Stanley Draper. In less than half an hour, my partner, Shelly, and I can be resetting the little computers on our mountain bikes (one of us captures time, the other distance) at the Draper trail head. Generous people give their time and sweat equity to creating and maintaining the patchwork trail system at Draper Lake so folks like Shelly and I can have a getaway that is restorative far beyond the two hours we spend flying through the woods, practicing German and playing like two little kids. For those of you responsible for making that space the oasis that it is, I say, “Thank you.”

I am certain there are many more examples in our city that illustrate my point. All of them can inspire us to do more to make our city livable and sustainable. And, these examples of what could be might be the indicators of the next golden eggs we produce in our nest.

So, how does a grassroots initiative get traction in Oklahoma City? In reality, it starts with civic and business leaders.

Attention please! Mayor Cornett, take note. Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, tune in and pay attention. Your constituents might be onto something here.

How marvelous it would be if the next MAPS project involved a network of sidewalks and cycling/running trails that would be the envy of forward-thinking cities like Portland, Oregon? We’ve had MAPS and MAPS for KIDS. How about MAPS for LIFE (Living in Full Enjoyment)? Like two of the other three MAPS projects, (MAPS for Millionaires was a step backwards) this MAPS project, Living in Full Enjoyment…of our community, of our healthy bodies, of our scenic beauty (our sunsets have been known to take one’s breath away) and of each other…has something in it for everyone in our community. I also like the metaphor of a network or web of life for our city. What a gift to be connected to people and places, via a bike trail, to parts of town that are off of our beaten paths. How awesome it would be to figuratively stumble onto a celebration of a culture that’s different, while running along a trail that connects one part of town with another.

I like imaging how this could weave together for the good of our community.

In addition to promoting recreation, fitness, a sense of community, sustainability and livability, there’s a pragmatic side to bike lanes, running paths and sidewalks, and it’s called safety. Here’s what I mean, and it begins with an image that’s burned into my mind’s eye that I never want to see again. It’s an image borne from years of unsustainable city planning for our way of life and a visual that would’ve been less painful to see had there been a sidewalk.

Right before Christmas, Shelly and I were driving on May Avenue just north of N.W. 63^rd. It was a freezing cold and blustery Saturday afternoon. Against the curb as close as they could get for safety, was an elderly couple. The man was bundled up in a wheelchair and he had an oxygen tank in his lap.  Behind him a few paces, was an old woman in a car coat, clutching her purse and holding onto what was left of her dignity. In the face of this dangerous situation, both of them appeared stoic. Shelly and I were stunned at the sight, and I am confident that the other motorists who saw it were equally as horrified. There was so much traffic, there wasn’t an opportunity to stop and help them, so we moved our car as far to the left in our right-hand lane to give them as much room as possible under the circumstances. Nothing was in the headlines the next day, so I trust they made it to where they were going.

Now, back to sidewalks. Is this the image we want to project as a city?  Does the scene I’ve just described bespeak a community that’s forward-thinking, sustainable, livable?  For those whose jobs it is to bring commerce and people into our town to expand our tax base, it might be a wise investment of time to take a look at an initiative that has broad implications for the common men and women in our city. MAPS for LIFE would not only promote a healthy lifestyle for our community, therefore enhancing the quality of life for everyone. It could also say to residents and ultimately the rest of the country that we are doing our part to be sustainable and leave a smaller footprint as a city. While this utopian network of sidewalks and trails isn’t the light rail system many of us dream will someday connect our suburbs with the city center, it is likely to come into being more quickly and for less money. Yet the long-term benefits would be far-reaching. 

What about the next golden egg? MAPS for LIFE could be the next one in our community nest that could glitter for us so. 

A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings, And...

by The Madfarmer

I was thinking this week (after I planted my 73rd tomato plant) about how small decisions can radically alter the lives of those around us. It was only five short years ago that my wife and I lived in a small patio home in OKC, and I had never grown any type of vegetation on purpose. But a casual interaction with a friend of mine changed the course of my life forever. My friend lives in Houston, and he had planted a 6' x 5' salsa garden. I think he had two tomato plants, a four foot row of onions, some cilantro, and a jalapeno pepper plant. I thought it would be fun to try something similar. So I went back to our 20' x 20' yard in the suburbs, removed a little sod, and planted a tomato plant. One little tomato plant was all I needed to fall head over heels in love with gardening. Now you can't keep me out of the garden, but just a few years ago I knew nothing.

I tell this story because we never know what will become of the seeds we plant in the lives of others. Small conversations may be the impetus one needs to begin a new course on life. A simple comment about how you choose not to use paper napkins just might be all it takes to spur your entire office into a way of life which produces less waste. Offering a neighbor a free pepper plant could irrevocably alter their life. Offer a friend a book, or better yet encourage your existing book club to read something by Wendell Berry or Barbara Kingsolver.  We all have stories such as this. Someone around us encouraged us to view the world through green eyes, or to plant that first plant, or to start buying organic food. And now we will never be the same.

Got Resiliency?

by Shauna Lawyer Struby 

A resilient system is adaptable and diverse. It has some redundancy built in. A resilient perspective acknowledges that change is constant and prediction difficult in a world that is complex and dynamic. It understands that when you manipulate the individual pieces of a system, you change that system in unintended ways. Resilience thinking is a new lens for looking at the natural world we are embedded in and the man-made world we have imposed upon it.

 --Chip Ward,

“Diesel-Driven Bee Slums and Impotent Turkeys: The Case for Resilience” 

Oklahoma’s storm season is upon us. We watch clouds boil and roil, hope and pray for rain versus hail and tornadoes, and while we may joke about Gary England’s drama, as anyone living in these here parts knows, the season is no joking matter.

When the tornado sirens blow, most of us know our take-cover routine like we know our own phone number. We head to hidey holes, closets, basements and storm shelters with family, friends, pets, memorabilia, emergency radios, flashlights, water and food in tow. We watch and listen to some of the best meteorologists in the nation track threatening weather in stunningly detailed Doppler radar. We know the meaning of wall clouds, hook clouds, vortexes, the difference between a tornado watch and a warning, and of course Oklahoma children learn the Fujita scale long before they have any idea about do-re-mi.

Yes siree. When it comes to tornado season, Oklahomans have the warning/planning thing down.

This friends, gives me hope for the future.

 

Fruit trees build resilience in a community.

If we can plan and prepare this thoroughly for Mother Nature’s annual spring tantrums, I’m hoping we can apply the same can-do, innovative spirit to the broad and deep energy challenges we face. That means first thinking more deeply about what a community really needs and how those needs are met.

Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Movement and author of The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependence to Local Resiliency, notes one of the key characteristics of healthy communities is resiliency. According to Hopkins resiliency is …

“ … the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change, so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks.”

The primary point here: a change or interruption in one part of a system doesn’t take down the whole. Resilient communities have food, transportation, shelter, water, health, cultural, and education systems that are self-sufficient enough to provide for essential needs regardless of boiling chaos. When you pair resiliency with sustainability, you have a community that’s ready to face the future. 

So what does resilience look like in real life? In communities and homes it refers to our ability to not collapse at the first sight of oil or food shortages, or in the case of the threat of a pandemic, like the current swine flu, to be able to respond with adaptability.

To help illustrate the concept, Hopkins does a little contrasting and comparing below. Note: Just because an activity doesn’t add resilience, doesn’t mean it should never happen; what Hopkins is suggesting is that we think beyond the norm, think beyond even sustainability, and add resilience to the planning equation.

 

So have you got resilience? What are your ideas for making your home and community more resilient and less vulnerable to abrupt change in an increasingly complex and volatile world?

What's red hot, green and fun?

Answer: Rethink: Recycle: Redesign

Special preview party 

Saturday . April 18 . 2009

7 - 11 p.m.

IAO Gallery . 811 N. Broadway . Oklahoma City

Purchase preview party tickets here.

Proceeds from the preview party benefit Sustainable OKC and IAO. More info at www.rethinkrecycleredesign.org.

Local art, local food, local thinking. Hang out with old friends, make new friends, tap the green vibe!

Sustainable OKC presents an art event and juried show created to challenge artists and designers to RETHINK objects that have reached the end of their lifecycle. The event promotes and encourages green design and sustainability and rethinking how we use objects. The idea is to RECYCLE and REDESIGN by repurposing and transforming objects into art—functional and non-functional. Included works were considered according to various criteria with emphasis on originality of transformation, effectiveness of repurposing, and aesthetics of design. Exhibit runs through May 8.

Rethink:Recycle:Redesign (RRR) is proud to present work from many artists including: Jacine Arias, Paul Bagley, Nick Bayer, Bryan Dahlvang, Bill Derrevere, Ron Ferrell, Helen Grant, Preston Greer, Aaron Hauck, Susan Horton, Reta & Vana Howell, Brad Humphreys, Amy Jones, Trent Lawson, Darci Lenker, Tanya Mattek, Michelle Himes, Regina Murphy, Rebek & Holmes,

Diana Smith, Julie Strauss, Sue Moss Sullivan, and David Surls.

RRR preview party features:

• A silent auction with great items available for bid including: an Oklahoma State Park stay, a "made in Oklahoma" product basket, Oklahoma Today magazine limited edition Centennial Collection and subscription, private yoga lessons, Yard Dawgs tickets, OKC Thunder basket, a Colcord Hotel stay and more.
• Educational information will be presented including: Trash Factoids, Green Event Guide, Guide to Green Living, Art Class Contest, World Population DVD, and a geospatial mapping project with information about urban food deserts, 100-mile diet and sustainable dining.
• Tasty food provided by local restaurants and food producers. Gratitude to: Kam's Kookery, The Wedge, Earth Elements, Hardesty Cheese, Seasons, Cuppies and Joe, Flip's Wine Bar & Trattoria, Prairie Gypsies, and Pure Prairie Creamery. 
• Local music provided by 13 Seeds.

Our generous sponsors: Sonic America's Drive-In, Sierra Club, Weatherizationsource.com, Arts Council of OKC, Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates, Amanda Ewing, Jennifer Alig, Shelley Branum and Matt Leveridge, Jamie MacIvor, Shauna and Jim Struby, Vicki VanStavern.

For downloadable educational information about how to put together a green event, lower your carbon footprint, resources and more visit www.sustainableokc.org.

Take your sustainability IQ up a notch at the OSN conference

by Shauna Lawyer Struby

You'll get a visionary view of life and a short cut to sustainable knowledge at the Oklahoma Sustainability Network's 8th annual statewide conference, so don't wait, register now. It's scheduled for next week, Fri. and Sat., Mar. 20-21, and is an excellent opportunity for networking, brainstorming and learning. The OSN conference provides resources and information on a variety of topics such as environmentally-friendly building processes and business p

ractices, water resources, farming, purchasing local products and transportation, agriculture, daily living and more.

Register now online at the Oklahoma Sustainability Network Web site.

Friday conference speakers will include city leaders from Greensburg, Kan., who will discuss their green rebuilding efforts after a May 2007 tornado leveled nearly the entire city. On Saturday, William Greider, former Rolling Stone and Washington Post editor, will be the keynote speaker. Greider will discuss relevant and timely topics such as how economic and political forces have brought us to the financial crisis of the day, and how a return to our nation’s core values will bring a better, more fulfilling society. To see the full slate of programming go to OSN's Web site.

Come learn and share with others about:

• Energy - speakers include Oklahoma Secretary of Energy Robert Wegener, who will explore the latest developments in alternative energy and coal burning po
  
  wer plants.
• Activism sessions will teach you how to incorporate sustainable practices at home and work. You'll also learn how put your own activism to work.
• Water rights and the importance of water quality for recreational use. Oklahoma Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, will discuss protecting water resources. Oklahoma Secretary of Environment, J.D. Strong, will lead a panel discussion on water rights.
• Agriculture sessions take a look at urban farming, the Community Food Project, and agriculture market concentration.
• Farmers markets and food cooperatives will be one of several panel discussion topics. Bob Waldrop, founder of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative and local advocate for social and environmental responsibility, will lead the panel.
• Sustainable daily living featuring Trathen Heckman, founder and executive director of California-based Daily Acts, an organization that promotes and educates on earth-friendly lifestyles for individuals. Check him out at www.dailyacts.org.
• Transportation including sessions on electric vehicles, transit-oriented development and freight and passenger railroad transportation.
• Business and nonprofit tracks will explore marketing green business, real estate, green building codes, alternative business structures, business pollution prevention and marketing nonprofits.
• Education topics focus on sustainability and the student body, sustainable university curriculum, the sustainable campus and the Oklahoma Farm to School Program featuring representatives from Tulsa University, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Sustainability Network Conference is March 20-21 at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, and begins with registration at 8:15 a.m. each day. Admission is $75 for both days or $42.50 for single day registration. The OSN Conference is presented by the Oklahoma Sustainability Network and hosted by Sustainable Edmond. To register or to get times and further information, go here.

Please forward this information to anyone you who might be interested in attending. Hope to see you there!