We are happy to announce that EcoSpaces now has a non-profit educational branch to our business thanks to The New Community Coalition. It only make sense for our socially and environmentally conscious business to have a component that reaches out to the public in ways to help educate the masses about the benefits of green building and green living in a way that is healthy for the home owner, the home, and the environment. After being on sabbatical from a career in environmental education, and classroom teaching, my "teacher" gears are starting to turn again and I am very excited about the opportunity to help educate my community about green buildings and the options that are now available to them.
EcoSpaces Educational MIssion:
The mission of EcoSpaces Educational is to make alternative green building materials the "main steam" We will do this by providing the public with free education about green building materials that are now readily available to them in their community. We will introduce and expose consumers to the sustainable, renewable, non-toxic, recycled and recyclable choices materials that are healthy for the individual, their home as well as the environment.
We plan to provide our community with workshops, lectures, demonstrations, films, and festivals that will give our community access and empowerment to greening our homes and thus our community.
Listed is our wish list for EcoSpaces Educational events that we would like to sponsor:
Tabling: bring our educational tabling display to conferences, workshops, schools, festivals, etc. as a way to expose the masses to readily available green building materials in a hands on display.
• Weekly presence at farmers market
• Presence at Blue Grass Festival
• 4corners green building festival
Monthly articles will be submitted for publishing in the Daily Planet as well as our web site blog related to living Green associated with green building .
Organize a green home tour
• one afternoon in summer, meet on bikes
• tour 6-10 homes in town that have used a green building material. Tour invited to see these materials in a finished form.
• ride to picnic on valley floor
Promote alternative energy with the human powered smoothie maker
• An exercise bike that powers a blender
• Will accompany our educational table
• Enjoy an organic fruit smoothie while learning about alternative energy and green building
Green movie series at the library
• Sponsor green movie night in conjunction with the Wilkinson Library
• Invite the community to share in free showings of films (documentaries) that highlight green living and green building
Internship position
• Offer summer internship position to student passionate about the world of green building
• We would expose a student to many angels of the green building world in order to empower him/her to many aspects of our business to inspire the student to find a direction they are interested in through their exposure to the field.
Non Profit Web Site: Construction Material New life
• Create a website where local builders can post extra building materials that would other wise end up in the landfill. People interested in salvaging materials for building can look here, too. This would not be a brokered deal, rather a free service to swap goods and reclaim materials.
• The EcoSpaces Green Community web site will help keep the community connected to green events, workshops, etc. available to them in their community
• A Green Blog will also be available
•
Provide Workshops:
• women's carpentry workshop with Rodney Porsche (book shelves)
• Do it yourself workshops: Flor carpet install, clay walls, denim insulation, or cork floors
Revitalize Green Bucks (small scale)
• Partner with Koto to conduct community greening activities (cock and seal, trash pick up, restoration projects, valley floor etc) 5 hours of volunteer work in exchange for concert ticket.
• Mountain Film, Film Fest etc. could get involved
Kinetic Sculptures powered by Alternative Parade and Race
• A call to contestants to build (out of recycled material) a vehicle that uses energy only from alternative energy (no automobile engines allowed)
• Parade down main street and race to the mine (or down the bike path)
Donate Green Building Materials at cost
• Obtain funding so that we can offer green building materials at a considerable lower price to schools, hospitals, Habitat for Humanity, non profits etc as show pieces to encourage others to use green building materials and build healthy build environments for our community.
2009 Green Build Conference in Arizona
• Help to make this conference available to others in our community by offering discounted registration fees (through group rates)
• Offer an essay contest or application for entrance into this event.
EcoSpaces Solar Panel
• Obtain grants to acquire solar panels for in front of our store in order to off set our coal powered energy that runs our showroom currently. Grid tie by creating our own power from the sun.
Long Term Projects
Green Building Conference in Mountain Village Conference Center
• Obtain $10,000 sponsorship money to host a Green Conference
• guest lecturers, workshops, LEED classes, education
• A arena to expose local people working in the field of greening our community
• Telluride as model sustainable community
• A green weekend, events all weekend long around the theme of sustainability.
--
Be Well,
Daniel Kanow
EcoSpaces "Green Building Solutions"
Telluride, CO USA
(O) 970-728-1973 (F) 970-728-8007
Green Building Materials
Green Building Design Consulting
"Be involved in a Movement"
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Lights Out
Have you unplugged lately?
Telluride was the first city street on the globe to be illuminated with street lights, thanks to the advent of AC/DC power conceived right here in our very own Ames Valley. Currently, almost every occupied home in this county is "lit" long after the sun has dropped.
The abundance of electrical energy flowing freely into our homes now allows us to watch a DVD, while on-line shopping, while nuking popcorn in the microwave as our clothes and dishes are washed spontaneously without even touching them. Around here, your fully charged cell phone that you nuzzle with every day, your warm blown dried hair in the winter chill, and your home brewed coffee machine, like all other electrical appliances, are charged by coal power burned at our neighboring Nucla power plant.
Today, in our current environmental and economic crisis, sustainable can simply be defined as "USE LESS!" Once dedicated to sustainability, as an attempt to heal the planet, you will also find that healthy personal, physical, and emotional benefits that follow from the practice of Living Green. Have you unplugged lately?
My friend Margaret, after working for the peace Corp in Honduras, retuned home to the typical American urban environment to see if she could maintain a connection to the natural rhythms of nature among a culture that does not support it. Thus, as a way to practice energy conservation, sustainability, and living simply, she vowed to not use electricity after the sun went down. She says, "Electronics seem to keep us constantly busy feeling that there is no end to work that could be done." The sun became the natural bell that signified the workday was over, instead of flicking on the lights and keeping the day going longer than it needed. She found that you get your computer work, laundry, and phone calls done during the day, so you can then enjoy time to unwind, be with family, share conversation, and relax. Think, how many electronics are on in your household at night? By disconnecting, saving a little energy, burning a little less carbon, she was also able to connect in a meaningful way with her family, enjoy the present moment, and her body, as noticed she was always well rested as bedtime came at a normal hour when darkness set in. This experiment in unplugging is uncommon in American households, as we seem to let our electrical appliances suck time and energy away from us. Unplugging, simplifying, getting in tune with the natural cycles are not new concepts. They are rather ways of life to which we strive and struggle to return to.
Every Friday, Jews celebrate Shabbat fully submitting to a day of rest from sundown to sundown, where all electronics, cars, or anything that "burns a fire" is turned off, in order to spend time with family and on spiritual enrichment. Furthermore, let us celebrate the Amish for all the energy they conserve for the greater good. Their religion restricts access to television, radio, and telephones since the Inception of these electronics as an effort to keep the modern world from intruding into their home life.
As the green movement gains momentum, find a small way to get involved. If you are not moved to change your habits in the name of the health of the planet, you may find that placing the health of yourself first is also a means to living green, and is healthy for you, your home, and the environment.
--
Be Well,
Daniel Kanow
EcoSpaces "Green Building Solutions"
Telluride, CO USA
(O) 970-728-1973 (F) 970-728-8007
Green Building Materials
Green Building Design Consulting
"Be involved in a Movement"
Telluride was the first city street on the globe to be illuminated with street lights, thanks to the advent of AC/DC power conceived right here in our very own Ames Valley. Currently, almost every occupied home in this county is "lit" long after the sun has dropped.
The abundance of electrical energy flowing freely into our homes now allows us to watch a DVD, while on-line shopping, while nuking popcorn in the microwave as our clothes and dishes are washed spontaneously without even touching them. Around here, your fully charged cell phone that you nuzzle with every day, your warm blown dried hair in the winter chill, and your home brewed coffee machine, like all other electrical appliances, are charged by coal power burned at our neighboring Nucla power plant.
Today, in our current environmental and economic crisis, sustainable can simply be defined as "USE LESS!" Once dedicated to sustainability, as an attempt to heal the planet, you will also find that healthy personal, physical, and emotional benefits that follow from the practice of Living Green. Have you unplugged lately?
My friend Margaret, after working for the peace Corp in Honduras, retuned home to the typical American urban environment to see if she could maintain a connection to the natural rhythms of nature among a culture that does not support it. Thus, as a way to practice energy conservation, sustainability, and living simply, she vowed to not use electricity after the sun went down. She says, "Electronics seem to keep us constantly busy feeling that there is no end to work that could be done." The sun became the natural bell that signified the workday was over, instead of flicking on the lights and keeping the day going longer than it needed. She found that you get your computer work, laundry, and phone calls done during the day, so you can then enjoy time to unwind, be with family, share conversation, and relax. Think, how many electronics are on in your household at night? By disconnecting, saving a little energy, burning a little less carbon, she was also able to connect in a meaningful way with her family, enjoy the present moment, and her body, as noticed she was always well rested as bedtime came at a normal hour when darkness set in. This experiment in unplugging is uncommon in American households, as we seem to let our electrical appliances suck time and energy away from us. Unplugging, simplifying, getting in tune with the natural cycles are not new concepts. They are rather ways of life to which we strive and struggle to return to.
Every Friday, Jews celebrate Shabbat fully submitting to a day of rest from sundown to sundown, where all electronics, cars, or anything that "burns a fire" is turned off, in order to spend time with family and on spiritual enrichment. Furthermore, let us celebrate the Amish for all the energy they conserve for the greater good. Their religion restricts access to television, radio, and telephones since the Inception of these electronics as an effort to keep the modern world from intruding into their home life.
As the green movement gains momentum, find a small way to get involved. If you are not moved to change your habits in the name of the health of the planet, you may find that placing the health of yourself first is also a means to living green, and is healthy for you, your home, and the environment.
--
Be Well,
Daniel Kanow
EcoSpaces "Green Building Solutions"
Telluride, CO USA
(O) 970-728-1973 (F) 970-728-8007
Green Building Materials
Green Building Design Consulting
"Be involved in a Movement"
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