By Nick Mullins
June 1, 2014 - Sorry for the delay in blogs folks. We hit a small bit of sickness in our trip that landed us back at home in Berea for a few days, that resulted in cancelling our dates in St. Louis and charting a different course for this coming week.
In Champaign, the day following our visit to Prosperity gardens and then the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, we were able to meet the folks of Prairie Rivers Network, especially Carrie Otto who had been doing the lions share of work setting up a venue for us to speak and promoting our visit. Prairie Rivers Network is a non-profit whose work has spanned 45 years in protecting rivers (and public health) from harmful farming practices (factory farms that release animal waste into streams), invasive species (Asian Carp), and all of the pollution that comes from coal extraction and use.
Carrie was also able to schedule a meeting with Scott Tess, Environmental Sustainability Manager for the City of Urbana, Il. In our meeting we were able to learn about municipal electric aggregation and the way the city of Urbana purchases renewable energy (in a roundabout sort of way) from the vast wind farms in the midwest. According to Mr. Tess, his office was able to accomplish a great deal while federal stimulus money was available, work that could have created many jobs, but that money dried up. Currently he is working in other capacities to enhance the city's carbon footprint in areas such as public transportation, building codes, and urban planning.One area the peaked my interest was his earlier attempt to transform Drivers Ed courses in public schools to Transportation Ed that gave a holistic approach to transportation, including walking, biking, and navigating public transportation systems.
Later that evening we set up in the Lewis Auditorium of the Urbana Free Library. We had a crowd of roughly 30 people turn out to see our presentation and they enjoyed the kids enthusiasm in talking about energy alternatives and their time spent on the Navajo Reservation.
Later that night Daniel got a bit sick. Unsure if it was contagious, we decided to head back to Berea rather than risk all of being ill on the road and spending additional money on hotels. We also made the decision to cancel our St. Louis engagements to be on the safe side. Thus far Daniel is doing much better and we haven't begun to see any symptoms, but to be sure, we are waiting an additional day or so to be certain.
Tomorrow or Tuesday we will be leaving for Mississippi to continue our tour. Along the way, we are hoping to find more interesting locations where folks are working hard to be more sustainable.
If you have any suggestions in the Nashville or Memphis area, please e-mail me at:
June 1, 2014 - Sorry for the delay in blogs folks. We hit a small bit of sickness in our trip that landed us back at home in Berea for a few days, that resulted in cancelling our dates in St. Louis and charting a different course for this coming week.
In Champaign, the day following our visit to Prosperity gardens and then the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, we were able to meet the folks of Prairie Rivers Network, especially Carrie Otto who had been doing the lions share of work setting up a venue for us to speak and promoting our visit. Prairie Rivers Network is a non-profit whose work has spanned 45 years in protecting rivers (and public health) from harmful farming practices (factory farms that release animal waste into streams), invasive species (Asian Carp), and all of the pollution that comes from coal extraction and use.Carrie was also able to schedule a meeting with Scott Tess, Environmental Sustainability Manager for the City of Urbana, Il. In our meeting we were able to learn about municipal electric aggregation and the way the city of Urbana purchases renewable energy (in a roundabout sort of way) from the vast wind farms in the midwest. According to Mr. Tess, his office was able to accomplish a great deal while federal stimulus money was available, work that could have created many jobs, but that money dried up. Currently he is working in other capacities to enhance the city's carbon footprint in areas such as public transportation, building codes, and urban planning.One area the peaked my interest was his earlier attempt to transform Drivers Ed courses in public schools to Transportation Ed that gave a holistic approach to transportation, including walking, biking, and navigating public transportation systems.
Later that evening we set up in the Lewis Auditorium of the Urbana Free Library. We had a crowd of roughly 30 people turn out to see our presentation and they enjoyed the kids enthusiasm in talking about energy alternatives and their time spent on the Navajo Reservation.
Later that night Daniel got a bit sick. Unsure if it was contagious, we decided to head back to Berea rather than risk all of being ill on the road and spending additional money on hotels. We also made the decision to cancel our St. Louis engagements to be on the safe side. Thus far Daniel is doing much better and we haven't begun to see any symptoms, but to be sure, we are waiting an additional day or so to be certain.
Tomorrow or Tuesday we will be leaving for Mississippi to continue our tour. Along the way, we are hoping to find more interesting locations where folks are working hard to be more sustainable.
If you have any suggestions in the Nashville or Memphis area, please e-mail me at:
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