Oct. 9, 7 p.m. @ Salem Public Library's Loucks Auditorium: FOOD CORPS

October's Lecture:
FoodCorps with
Curt Ellis, Co-Founder and Executive Director

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Salem Public Library Loucks Hall
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

When Curt Ellis left Iowa after creating the Peabody-winning documentary King Corn, something didn't sit right––and it wasn't just the home-brewed high-fructose corn syrup he'd consumed. Join Curt for a lively multimedia presentation as he shares the journey that led him to leave filmmaking and launch FoodCorps: a nationwide "Peace Corps" for healthy and sustainable school food.

A little more about FoodCorps:

Mission:  Through the hands and minds of emerging leaders, FoodCorps strives to give all youth an enduring relationship with healthy food.

We envision a nation of well-nourished children: children who know what healthy food is, how it grows and where it comes from, and who have access to it every day. These children, having grown up in a healthy food environment will learn better, live longer and liberate their generation from diet-related disease.

Join us after the lecture to meet Curt and enjoy some healthy refreshments provided by LifeSource Natural Foods.

* The Lecture Series is free of charge to those attending, however, if you like what you hear, we encourage you to contribute a $5 donation so that we might continue to offer these top-notch presenters on vital issues to our community and world.

Two of Salem's best things together, twice (12/4, 12/5)

Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center and Salem Cinema present

"Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time."

two benefit showings for
Straub Environmental Learning Center at Salem Cinema!

See the first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold and his environmental legacy at Salem Cinema! Green Fire shares highlights from his extraordinary career, explaining how he shaped conservation and the modern environmental movement. It also illustrates how Leopold's vision of a community that cares about both people and land continues to inform and inspire people across the country and around the world. Leopold’s ideas remain relevant today, continuing to inspire projects nationwide that connect people and land.

DATES: Tuesday, Dec. 4 & Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012
TIME:    7:45 pm
LOCATION: Salem Cinema
ADDRESS: 1127 Broadway St. NE, Salem
TICKETS:  $10 in advance/$12 at the door
MORE INFORMATION:  www.salemcinema.com

Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time has been honored with an Emmy award for Best Historical Documentary at the 54th annual Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in a ceremony that took place Sunday, November 18, 2012.

The first full-length 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.

Related articles

• Green Fire documentary wins Emmy award
• Aldo Leopold making conservation make sense in 1939

Thursday Night, 11/29, at Salem Public Library: The Willamette River

English: Aerial view of the Willamette River near Salem, Oregon, shown as a diagram to explain the 1996 flooding in the area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Straub Environmental Learning Center will be hosting another lecture in this year’s series on Thursday, Nov. 29th at the Salem Library from 7 pm – 8 pm. 
 
Travis Williams will cover a range of topics related to the Willamette River. He will focus on the Clean Water Act, and the status of the Willamette River's water quality and habitat. He will provide a brief update on the Portland Harbor Superfund site and the likelihood of a comprehensive and timely cleanup. He will also provide a focus on the Willamette River Greenway Program, a fantastic public lands vision for the Willamette that was created back in the late 1960s by Governor Straub.  The Greenway was hatched near the same time as the Beach Bill, originally envisioned with the same notion of public trust values, yet this program did not reach the same heights.

Travis Williams has worked in river conservation since the 1990s and since 2000 has led Willamette Riverkeeper (WR). In addition to directing WR’s operations, he serves as Riverkeeper, making regular patrols of the river from Eugene to Portland and seeking to uphold the Clean Water Act through Advocacy and legal action. While implementing the Clean Water Act, Cleanup up Portland Harbor, and decreasing the impact of dams along the Willamette are his main priorities, Travis also enjoys getting people to experience the river in low impact craft such as canoes.

Earlier Travis worked for American Rivers and Conservation International in Washington DC. He is an avid canoeist who has traveled many western rivers and photographed their natural beauty. He holds a B.A. in International Studies from Portland State University and an M.S. in Environmental Science from The Johns Hopkins University. A fifth-generation Oregonian who grew up in Milwaukie, Oregon, Travis was on the Willamette River with friends at a young age. In March of 2009, his book The Willamette River Field Guide, was published by Timber Press. He has received the Skidmore Prize in 2004 for his leadership, and was awarded the Columbia River Hero Award by the Columbia Basin Toxics Reduction Workgroup for his work on reducing toxics in the Willamette. He is now working on a book about the John Day River.

See you on Thursday night!  Life Source Natural Foods will be providing free snacks before and after the lecture.

Michelle Cordova
Manager, Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center
Mailing Address: PO Box 12363 Salem, OR 97309
Physical Address: 1320 A Street NE, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 391-4145
www.fselc.org

Permaculture Intro Series at Straub Aug 15/22/29 + Sep 5

Permacultural aspect: helping animals in a veggie garden; harnessing and maintenance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Four-Part Workshop Series: Introduction to Permaculture Design
Instructor: Kendy Radasky

Four Consecutive Wednesday evenings, August 22 -- Sept. 5, 6 - 8 pm
At Straub Environmental Center (1320 A. St. NE, Salem)

Permaculture is a design system that enables humans to interact in a positive and regenerative way with our surroundings, as we consciously create lifeways that emulate natural patterns such as diversity, connectivity, resilience, flow, and cycling.

This introductory workshop series will give a taste of the principles and applications of permaculture, and provide an opportunity to see the depth and breadth of its roots. It will be a jumping-off point for understanding how natural systems work and how we can design human environments that produce food, shelter, and energy. It will also provide participants with models of community organization and engagement by which they can strengthen their support network and encourage others to do the same.

The hands-on learning focus of this workshop series is key to its content. The workshops will be taught using lecture, images and videos, group discussion, exercises, and other methods that suit a wide variety of learning styles.

The first workshop in the series will serve as a great beginning to the 4-workshop series, though each of the workshops may stand alone as well (i.e. attendance at the first workshop is not required to attend any of the other three).

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August 15th: Introduction/ Designing with Nature

This workshop will introduce to you the guiding principles and potential applications of Permaculture. We will also explore a number of approaches to the process of design – learning how to integrate systems for efficiency, abundant yield, and beauty. Lecture, discussion, and hands-on, interactive (indoor) activities will help us reach our goals.

August 22nd: Cultivated Ecology and The Living Soil –
Food Forests, Guilds, and Soil Regeneration

Have you ever noticed that there is no waste in a forest? Come to this workshop to learn to emulate natural forest systems in designing and thinking about your yard and garden. We’ll discuss the importance of perennial plants (especially trees) in natural systems and how to harness the innate skills of a variety of plants in caring for your garden. We’ll use an outdoor, hands-on project to explore various ways of improving the life and health of your soil.

August 29th: Water Harvesting / Earthworks and Wastewater Processing

It’s all about water. In this workshop, we’ll discuss ‘water security’ and how to obtain it through passive and active rainwater harvesting. We will also learn about greywater systems design (to make double-use of your shower, sink, and washing machine water) and the power of bioswales to clean polluted wastewater before it leaves your site. Our hands-on project will focus on using simple tools to locate and lay out a swale on the land around the workshop site.

September 5th: Urban Strategies & Social Permaculture

Permaculture is so much more than growing food or harvesting rainwater! It can be practiced on any scale (even an urban apartment) and its principles are very effectively applied to localized social and financial systems. We will learn about small scale urban permaculture strategies as well as skills for projects in re-localization and community-building.

Contact Kendy Radasky to sign up or for more info: kendyrad@gmail.com.

Cost is $5/workshop or $15 for the series. See flyer attached and more info below.

Another great Straub event: The Birds and the Bees!

Image by Salim Virji via FlickrTuesday, April 19, 2011, 6:30-8:00pm
Sustainability Workshop
The Birds & The Bees: Backyard Animal Husbandry
Straub Environmental Learning Center

This workshop will give a basic introduction to animal husbandry for people interested in raising chickens and/or bees. Join us for this interactive workshop to hear local experts on both of these animals share their knowledge and resources for successful backyard animal husbandry. Workshops are free, but registration is required due to limited space.

RSVP to Alexandra at 503-391-4145 or email fselc@fselc.org. All workshops will be held at Straub Environmental Learning Center from 6:30-8:00 pm, unless otherwise noted. For a schedule of the entire series, click here.

Tonight: Learning the "reuse" part of "reduce, reuse, recycle"

Image via WikipediaThe great folks at Straub Environmental Learning Center are offering a helpful class, the kind that is much better done in a group than from solo research:

Monday, April 4, 2011, 6:30-8:00pm
Sustainability Workshop
Getting the Most of Your Household Wares
Straub Environmental Learning Center

This workshop will provide attendees with easy access to resources that make it easy to reduce, re-purpose, and recycle items in their homes. By reusing materials already in the home instead of throwing them out, people can have a large impact on improving environmental sustainability and reducing risks to public health, all while saving money and resources.

Workshops are free, but registration is required due to limited space. RSVP to Alexandra at 503-391-4145 or email fselc@fselc.org.

All workshops will be held at Straub Environmental Learning Center from 6:30-8:00 pm, unless otherwise noted. For a schedule of the entire series, click here.

Another look at getting around

From the wonderful folks at Straub Environmental Learning Center:

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 6:30-8:00pm
Sustainability Workshop

Transportation: The Alternatives!

We’re kicking off this year’s workshop series with a lesson on alternative transportation. With the price of gas continually climbing, the need for other, more sustainable modes of transportation is becoming exceedingly important.

This workshop will highlight some available modes of transportation in Salem: biking, busing, walking and carpooling. Representatives from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA), the City of Salem and Cherriots will be present to give some helpful tips on sustainable commuting. The Sustainability Workshop series is open to the public.

Classes are free, but registration is required due to limited space. RSVP to Alexandra at 503-391-4145 or email fselc@fselc.org.

All workshops will be held at Straub Environmental Learning Center, 6:30-8:00 pm, unless otherwise noted. For a schedule of the entire series, click here.

For your calendar planning: Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center

Don't plan your fall schedule without checking here first.