Second Annual Local Solutions Conference Says, Yes, We Can!

March 16, 2008

Reported by Pamela Adams Hirst
publishingpamela@yahoo.com

Local Solutions held its second annual Sustainable Lifestyle Event at the Court Youth Center on March 8, expanded well beyond its inaugural event at the public library last year.

Gary Camunez and his wife Andrea initiated Local Solutions after being inspired by William Joseph’s first sustainability and global climate change conference in Silver City. “I thought, wow, we need this type of event in Las Cruces,” Gary said.

The focus of these conferences is to offer and demonstrate local solutions which can improve your quality of living while reducing your costs. The premise is that there exist already In our collective community all the tools needed, all the people needed, to grow our own food, create alternative energy, improve home efficiency, and initiate innovative recycling techniques.

Local representatives of all these solutions showed up by the dozens and devoted an entire day to exhibiting and educating the public regarding their products or efforts for sustainability and green living.

A stroll onto the school yard that crisp Saturday morning of the conference brought you first to an adobe brick display by Mel Acosta of A’dobe Acosta. He and his sister Angie Morgan had bricks on display and lots of photos and examples of dwellings demonstrating the beauty and efficiency of adobe bricks. “The John Paul Taylor Reception Center in Old Mesilla is made from our bricks,” said Mel.

Beyond their booth came the solar panel exhibits shown by Mark Westbrock from Postive Energy. “We design and install grid-tied photovoltaic systems,” said the system designer. “These systems produce clean electricity and offer tax credits up to 30 percent of the total installed cost,” he added.

Next door was Asher Gelbart who drove from his home in Silver City to exhibit the deisel truck he converted from gasoline to vegetable oil.

More exhibits were inside.The entire auditorium was rimmed with exhibit tables.

Rio Valley Biofuels gave out information on biodiesel fuels available in El Paso and Las Cruces. Such fuels do not require conversions. Biodiesel can be used alone or mixed in any amount with petroleum diesel fuel. It reduces our dependence on foreign oil and stimulates local economies.

Potters For Peace had a table of Colloidal Silver Impregnated Ceramic Filters, which remove bacteria and help combat diarrhea. The filter technology can provide potable water for rural families that draw their water from contaminated sources of water.

The non-profit organization creates filter production workshops in poor countries around the world.

Gene Kimzey came all the way from Albuquerque to man a booth displaying Mother Earth News pamphlets, the Original Guide To Living Wisely, along with a do-it-yourself solar-powered lighting system costing under $75.00). He was running three puck lights with 12 Duracell AAA NIMH batteries run off a solar battery charger.

“The system is set up for folks to experiment with solar energy without having to fork over thousands of dollars,” he said. “You can light up a dark closet without having to install an expensive electrical outlet, stick it on your entry door to find the right key at night, or even as an emergency lighting system if your power should fail. You can also run almost any electronic device that uses AAA barreries. The solar battery charger will also recharge D and AA batteries.”

Those attending the fair could drop the children off for music lessons, face painting, or an artistic project and seek out something special from the silent auction display to support the environmental cause.

Hours of workshops, movies, and demonstrations segued from the multiple panel discussions on local gardening tips, the benefits of urban chickens, and how to build your own solar water heater.

Additional discussions from the stage included green living, home energy conservation,and stage presentations from the Aldo Leopold Charter High School and Meadow Hawk Erdkinder Montessori Middle School of Silver City.

Mayor Ken Miyagishima addressed Local Solutions via DVD. “We are moving toward a new relationship with the world,” he said. “New Mexico is blessed with natural resources of wind, sun, and water to help us move forward.” He praised both Gary and Andrea Camunez for the emphasis they have placed on the future and sustainability issues.

They do seem to have moved mountains, evidenced by the sheer volume of information that any one person could find. Public transportation information, Quintessence chemical free housekeeping and biking infotainment kept a steady rotation of spectators milling in file past a coffee station from Occotillo Roasters, plus pastries, bagels, and snacks provided by Durango Bagels and Herrera’s Bakery.

The politifcally minded could stroll past the Southwest Environmental Center (SWEC) booth, next to the Sierra Club and Grassroots Press.

The entertainment lasted all day with “The Moonshiners” and other musicians picking and grinning in the schoolyard all afternoon. Belly dancers livened up the coffeebreaks, and the knowledge offered by all the exhibitors was boundless.

It was an incredible place to network and ask questions as the event brought out so many knowledgeable people. Paul Howard, a new transplant from New York, ambled by the outdoor solar exhibit. He said he spent many years farming on the West Coast. “I also worked with organic growers in southernOregon and helped them set up their own organization.”

Howard knew you could substitute a golf cart battery for a deep-cycle battery when solar heating, but never a car battery. He recommended Solar Living magazine as a good source of information and pointed out the bargain books at the Local Solutions resource booth.

There a do-it-yourselfer could stock up on the how-to books. Titles like “The Solar Living Source Book,” “How to Create a Sod Roof,” and the “Idiot’s Guide to Solar Heating” represent a minute portion of the myriad of topics addressing green living and sustainability.

Attending her first Local Solutions sustainability conference, Ellen Young of Las Cruces said more information is just what she wants. “ I came to learn how to take my efforts to the next level. I switched light bulbs, I carry a mesh bag around for my groceries in order to cut down on paper and plastic bags. Now I want to know what to do next.”

The curious citizens were joined by a good showing of local councilors this year. That is significant as politicians have been scarce at these events. During that first conference keynote speaker William Joseph asked any politicians or public representatives in the audience to raise their hands. Nada.

So it wasencouraging to see a healthy number of councilors there this year. The 6th District’s newly installed Councilor Sherry Thomas said her reasons for attending the conference were two-fold. She was there to educate herself as much as possible on the subject as well as support her daughter, who was a panelist for the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

“The City Council is in charge of policy, so I’m here to learn,” she said. “It’s like William Joseph said, none of these changes can happen without action, and it’s the Council that has to pass the resolutions and ordinances that we’re hearing about today.”

Other newly elected councilors at the event included Nathan Small from District 4 and Miguel Silva of District 1. Silva said he supports all forms of sustainable living that preserve natural resources. “Las Cruces has been a humble and sustainable community for centuries. We come from a humble and agricultural background.”

“Economic realities don’t necessarily favor farmers,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we should abandon that philosophy. We can’t continue to go on the same path we’re living if we really want to pass on an acceptable world to future generations.”

New Mexico State Senate candidate Steve Fischmann manned a booth and served as a panelist for the Southwest Energy Alliance. He organizes the E2 Energy Conference. His fall event compliments the Local Solutions’ spring presentations with an additional emphasis on new technolgoy, renewable energy, and energy conservation.

The entire day was an all-out-effort to get the word out to local citizens about the necessity for and of green living.

Schedule of Events:
Reported by Pamela Adams Hirst
courtesy of GrassRoots Press

9:00: William Joseph, the organizer of Silver City Climate Change Conference, gave the audience attending the Second Annual Sustainable Lifestyle Event an introduction to the philosophy and world of sustainability. Over the last few years he is emerging as the point man in New Mexico for sustainability outreach events put forward by concerned citizens.

The Silver City resident says he makes the effort to network and support sustainability events such as those created by Local Solutions in Las Cruces because he wants to connect with communities at a core level, not connect in the sense of place, but connect with a citizen’s personal values.

“We have to have a complete Cultural Renaissance. Our values must be shifted from profit to service,” he said.

9:15 Local Agriculture and food security discussed by Dr. Connie Falk, NMSU professor and coordinator of the OASIS project.

The Organic Aggie Students Inspiring Sustainability project offered ideas to small farm owners on how to increase pounds production per linear foot and studied how much water is actually required for crops to flourish.

Since the 1970s small irrigated farms in the Rio Grande River counties have been on the increase as a percentage of all the farms. She offers the concept of a three-legged stool of support in order to help see them flourish.
1: Education from kindergarten to university level.
2: Farming incubators, a form of mentorship, that segues to farm ownership.
3. Readily available resources to maintain farming.

All the education in the world doesn’t mean anyhthing if we don’t have any farmland left.

Falk also discussed the “selbsternte” system of farming in Austria, where local farmers prepare fields and the local population rents out small plots each season.

Discussing innovative marketing for small farmers, she raised an invocation for the vegetable trucks of yore to return and sell fresh produce in urban neighborhoods.

The next panelists discussed the benefits of Urban Chickens. Nora and Jon Simmons are representatives of Citizens Legalizing Urban Chicken Keeping (CLUCK) and part of the core group of Local Solutions.

Nora had fascinating statistics on how many chickens are allowed in urban areas in New Mexico. In cities the hens are legal but the roosters aren’t. You can’t slaughter in most urban areas, but you can have a limited number of egg-laying hens.

Jon discussed the importance of hydroponic growing and offered many gardening pointers to the audience. Parked by a table of tomato plants for sale, he had a converted electric bike on display which featured a BD-36 kit by Wilderness Energy. Basically he added a new front tire that came in the kit to his existing bicycle frame. He called the conversion process totally “simple” (www.wilderness.org).

“I ride the bike 12-14 miles per day when I ride downtown. Usually I pull a cargo trailer,” said the master technician in office equipment repair A nearby placard read: Why am I using 2,000 pounds of metal to haul around my 140-pound body?
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10:05 Low Impact Transportation panelists Andy Hume and Caeri Thomas represented the Las Cruces Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

Andy Hume explained the greatest challenge in creating low impact transportation is the network development. “Designers have to consider the impact of vehicles as they flow in and out of the county,” he said. “You want to create the best designs to move people and goods around, not just carsl.”

Panelist Caeri Thomas offered objectives for low impact transportation and called for a decrease in private motor vehicles coordinated with more transportation options. The objective is to “create a quality environment.”

“A ‘context sensitive solution’ brings place and thoroughfare design into balance with crosswalks, designs, landscaping, and crossing medians. Bike lanes and cafes complete the image,” she said.

Hume described “complete streets.” The big screen on stage read: Trying to cure congestion by adding more lanes is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt.

He gave concrete examples of how low-cost “restriping” of a four-lane street such as South Telshor can help reduce crash spots. “Move traffic away from sidewalks by creating a buffer with a bike land,” he suggested.

“A complete street accommodates four modes of transportation: bicycle lanes, sidewalks, auto lanes, and transit stops,” he said.

There was additional discussion with the audience of the local bus system with a plea for Sunday service and a call for creation of a program emphasizing safe rides to schools.

Thomas explained transit-oriented development supports a population with sufficient bus and rail support.

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11:20 Erica Williams, an alternative health and lifestyle consultant, discussed green living, in essence, living in harmony with the environment.

“What you do for your own health corresponds with what you do for the environment,” she emphasized. “Love and care for yourself and all else follows,” she said. She described cooking practically and household tips.

Panelist Dr. Norwood Yamini from the Qigong Healing booth (www.truesourceqigong.com) encouraged the audience to “change your life in the Smallest Doable Increments (SDI).“

The proponent of the 5,000-year-old Chinese system for self healing and self cultivation said, “Your body runs on oxygen and glucose.” Then he implemented an audience-articipation breathing demonstration.

“Breath work will help turn on the body’s immunity system,” Dr. Yamini said. “Stay sensitive to your internal environment.”

Staying sensitive to our outside environment was the message from third panelist Jack Noel of Earth Shine Cleaners. “We are cleaning ourselves to death,” he said and discussed the effects of microorganisms. He said the result is a slugfest between benefidial microorganisms and harmful pathogens.

At his booth he could be seen taking slugs out of his BIO+ all-purpose cleaner, degreaser, and deodorizer, demonstrating its environment-friendly qualities. He also offered a lecture on effective microorganisms.

Finally the panel took questions from the audiendce and answered questions about herbal remedies and the dangers of various common toxins.

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12:15 p.m. Steve Fischmann of the Southwest Energy Alliance (SWEA) and Jim Graham, president of Sun & Earth, Inc., discussed home energy conservation and politics. Graham has specialized in green building for over 30 years.

“Americans use twice as much energy on housing as they do on transportation,” he said. “The biggest loss is heat loss through air infiltration due to poor insulation.”

He explained the difference between conservation and efficiency; then later in the day, Graham provided even more information at his own workshop on energy efficient construction.

Fischman, sponsor of the upcoming E2 Energy Economy Conference and president of SWEA, said his organization focuses on legislative and public policy to push issues that help the environment and prmote energy efficient homes.

Las Cruces home owner John Hamilton rounded out the panel discussion explaining how to create a passive solar water heater. He told the audience how he designed his own heater from scavenged and salvaged materials.

2:15 p.m.: After the mayor’s address and a lunch break, students from Aldo Leopold High School, a three-year-old charter school in Silver City, presented their own program discussing their classwork and student projects like bike trips, trail maintenance, and a community garden. They claimed their field trips to learn about solar energy and water quality, plus internships, all assisted them in learning about cultural geograph and economics.

Their motto read: We learn not what to think, but how to think.

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“The Future of Food” was one of the movie shown at Second Annual Local Solutions Inc. Sustainability Conference.

A lot of us don’t know what it takes to grow food or have any concept of the loss of native crops we are losing. According to the film “The Future of Food,” 97 percent of the vegetable varieties grown in the beginning of the 20th century are now extinct.

Today’s crops are design to be sprayed with herbicides like Roundup and pesticides modified from the nerve gases used in the First World War. The pesticide industry has bought up the seed industry.

Monsanto owns 11,000 patents, and whoever controls the seeds controls the food, the film emphasized.

The saga of Canadian canola bean farmer Percy Schmeister is documented from Saskatchewan to Canada’s Supreme Court. Judges ruled against Schmeister in a lawsuit accusing him of patent infringement when he sold the soybeans grown in his own field that had been germinated by windblown Monsanto patented soybeans. A similar patent case arose involving American Rodney Nelson. Over 9,000 letters of protest did not sway the judge in this patent infringement case either.

Patent laws are in direct opposition to farmers’ rights, claimed the frustrated farmer from Amenia, ND.

The film discussed the lack of oversight of the industry and the heavy presence of former Monsanto representatives now employed as government regulators.

Today there are 21 states reporting the presence of “superweeds” impervious to many modern pesticides due to the overuse of pesticides and herbicides. They require an Agent Orange-type product to fight them back.

The film stressed that the future of food is in dire straits and called for major reform of mega-farming practices and patent laws regarding crop seeds.
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