www.sustainableways.org

February 2012

Tuesday, February 7 (snow date Thursday, Feb. 9)

Free Winter Movie Night 4:45 pm West Custer County Library, 209 Main Street, Westcliffe

Dirt! The Movie

 "Floods, drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."

for more infomation and trailer see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfgVWs-iQc 

DIRT! The Movie--directed and produced by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow--takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation.

The opening scenes of the film dive into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, "dirt is very much alive." Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. "Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."

DIRT! the Movie--narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis--brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

DIRT! the Movie is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: "When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked." But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, DIRT the Movie is a call to action.

"The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again."

Presented by as a community service by Sustainable Ways.  Co-sponsors include Custer County Conservation District, and the West Custer County Library

support local businesses - dine in town after the movie.  Sangrita's is offering a 10% discount this evening for those attending the film

Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685 sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Saturday, February 11
Cliffs' Park Community Garden 2012 Planning Meeting, 11 am
Candy's Coffee
106 S. 2nd St, Westcliffe
Everyone welcome
Contact: Garden co-chairs Randy Hanson 783-0636 or Nancy Eubanks 783-0364

Tuesday, February 28 (snow date Thursday, March 1)
Free Winter Movie Night 4:45 pm West Custer County Library, 209 Main Street, Westcliffe

BagIt!

For more information and trailer see http://bagitmovie.com/ 

Try going a day without plastic. Plastic is everywhere and infiltrates our lives in unimaginable and frightening ways. In this touching and often flat-out-funny film, we follow “everyman” Jeb Berrier, who is admittedly not a tree hugger, as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its affect on our waterways, oceans, and even our own bodies. We see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

Presented by as a community service by Sustainable Ways.  Co-sponsors include Custer County Conservation District, and the West Custer County Library

Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685 sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

March 2012

Tuesday, March 6 (snow date Thursday, March 8)
Free Winter Movie Night 4:45 pm West Custer County Library, 209 Main Street, Westcliffe Carbon Nation www.carbonnationmovie.com/
a documentary movie about climate change SOLUTIONS. Even if you doubt the severity of the impact of climate change or just don't buy it at all, this is still a compelling and relevant film that illustrates how SOLUTIONS to climate change also address other social, economic and national security issues.

Presented by as a community service by Sustainable Ways.  Co-sponsors include Custer County Conservation District, and the West Custer County Library

Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685 sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Saturday, March 24
10am to 3pm  “Make an Easter Basket”
(limit to 7 people) Location TBA)
Contact: Simone Soucy or sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

April 2012

Tuesday, April 3 (snow date Thursday, April 5)
Free Winter Movie Night 4:45 pm West Custer County Library, 209 Main Street, Westcliffe
Green Fire http://www.greenfiremovie.com/
The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, Green Fire highlights Leopold’s extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. Leopold remains relevant today, inspiring projects all over the country that connect people and land.

Presented as a community service by Sustainable Ways.  Co-sponsors include Custer County Conservation District, San Isabel Land Protection Trust, and the West Custer County Library

Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685 sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Friday, April 20
High Country Recycling Mobile Paper Record Shredding Event - 10AM to 1PM
in the west end school parking lot.
Contact: Joanie Liebman

Sunday, April 22 (Earth Day)

Start a can wall at the community garden & Transplanting wild chokecherry
Cliffs' Park Community Garden
time TBA
Contact: Simone Soucy or sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 24 (snow date Thursday, April 26)
Free Winter Movie Night 4:45 pm West Custer County Library, 209 Main Street, Westcliffe followed by Sustainable Ways Annual Meeting
Fresh the Movie http://www.freshthemovie.com/
Our current industrial method of food production is increasingly viewed as an unsustainable system, destructive to the environment and public health. But what is the alternative?

Fresh profiles the farmers, thinkers, and business people across the nation who are at the forefront of re-inventing food production in America. With a strong commitment to sustainability, they are changing how farms are run, how the land is cared for, and how food is distributed. Their success demonstrates that a new paradigm based on sustainable practices can be profitable and a model for our food system, if people choose to support it.

Fresh opens with a short summary of the problems and consequences of industrialized food production, then focuses primarily on the individuals who are creating new approaches to address environmental, health, and economic challenges throughout the food chain.

Joel Salatin is a world-famous sustainable farmer and entrepreneur who, by observing nature, devised a rotational grazing system for his animals that heals the land while making his operations many times more profitable than his conventional farming neighbors.

Will Allen, a former pro basketball player and recipient of a Macarthur “Genius Award”, is now one of the most influential leaders of the urban farming movement. He teaches people in the inner city the value of healthy food and how to grow their own.

David Ball saw his family-run supermarket and a once-thriving local farming community dying with the rise of Walmart and other big chains. So he reinvented his business, partnering with area farmers to sell locally-grown food at an affordable price. His plan has brought the local economy back to life.

Fresh also features a farmer in Iowa who illustrates the struggles family farmers face, a hog farmer in Missouri who stopped using antibiotics on his pigs, and commentary by noted food expert and author Michael Pollan.

Presented as a community service by Sustainable Ways.  Co-sponsors include Custer County Conservation District, Custer Health!, and the West Custer County Library

Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685 sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 24
Sustainable Ways Annual Meeting and Board Elections, 6:30pm
Westcliffe Public Library Community Room
Members may nominate new Board Members (Contact Sue Pitman in advance with suggestions or make them from the floor)
Contact: Sue Pitman 371-3685

May 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 7PM
History of Sustainablity in Colorado's High Mountain Valleys
Professor Duane Vandenbushe,
Westcliffe Public Library
209 Main Street, Westcliffe
Contact:  Sue Pitman 371-3685

June 2012

Saturday, June 23
Spring Wild Edible Plant Class 8am – 4 pm
(traveling to different sites by vehicle)
Cliffs' Park Community Garden
contact: Simone Soucy or sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

Saturday, June 30
Making a Solar Dehydrator out of old windows at Community Garden
Time TBA
Contact: Simone Soucy or sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

 July 2012

Saturday, July 28
7th Annual Solar Home Tour
meet at 8:30 am in the south parking lot of the Custer County Courthouse
contact:  Kim Stein 371-0509
suggested donation $5

August 2012

Saturday, August 11

Summer Wild Edible Plant Class 8am to 4pm
(traveling to different sites by vehicle including primitive pit cooking at the Community Garden)
Contact: Simone Soucy or sustainablewaysorg@gmail.com

For calendar of events for previous months:

January & February 2009, March 2009,  April 2009  , May 2009 ,June 2009 ,July 2009 ,
August 2009 , September 2009 ,October 2009 ,November 2009 , December 2009January 2010 , February 2010 , March 2010, April 2010 , May 2010 , June 2010 , July 2010 ,
August 2010 , September 2010 , October 2010 , November 2010 , January 2011 , February 2011 , March 2011, April 2011 , May 2011 , June 2011 , July 2011 , August 2011 , September 2011 , October 2011 , January 2012