ECCO-Nov.-Dec. newsletter
Upcoming Events
Nov. 4 Energy Challenge panel at
Elgin Public Museum, 6:30 PM
Dirk Dypold on geothermal energy,
Lon Johnson on Blue Star Energy,
and Dewaine Nelson on Solergy.
Dec. 18 Elgin Alive Series
Tuesday, December 21st @ 6:30
P.M., at Gail Borden Library.
Found Treasure-Rusing Rules!
Imaginative children’s play that
shows how our kids believe they
can save our planet by following
one of the 3 R’s. Theatre
performance by Elgin’s Fox River
Country Day School Green
Troupe. Co-Sponsored by ECN,
ECCO and Gail Borden Public
Library. Free raffle with prizes and
free popcorn!
January, 2011 Plans are for
Updates from J. Fritz-Williams on
saving energy in your home. Caulk
and weatherstripping are the best
way to start.
During our visit to the One Watt
House, we heard about many ways to
insulate your house, including the
basement walls down to the
basement floor.
Windows are critical. Marko Spiegel
said he could heat his 3500+ square
foot home with 2 hair blow-driers on
the coldest days of the year! The cost
is comparable to geothermal, he says,
but the parts he installs never need
to be replaced! Check out his
website!
http://
www.conservationtechnologyinternational.com
10-10-10 at Hawthorne Hill
Nature Center was fun! We
planted a sustainable batch of
garlic in one of Elginʼs newest
community gardens! It will mature
with more veggies next Spring!
10-10-10-Doing it together!
Itʼs all about the kids and
grandkids!
I asked in a recent email for input
from you all on what youʼre doing
to go green, what is working, what
is not working, and had a few
replies. I will print them as they
come in. Hereʼs one from Robin
Migalla about an interview with the
Daily Herald:
“Start with the document titled
“Living Sustainably.” The other
documents are referenced therein.
There hasn’t been much change in
my life since then. We have put in
new windows. When we got a
new roof, we explored the
possibility of solar, but in our
Nov.-Dec. 2010
E C C O
latitude the environmental impact
of going with solar shingles out-
weighed the benefit. I understand
solar-thermal might be worth
exploring at some point in the
future when our financial picture
brightens.
Cheers,
Robin”
“Good health is not the absence of
symptoms, it is the presence of
peace.” – Neale Donald Walsh
www.healthforlifecoloncare.com
www.traditionalnutrition.org
www.ppnf.org
And hereʼs one from D. Koldos on
heating with wood:
Going green over here @ 408
Orange by using the time tested,
carbon neutral, renewable stored
energy source of geothermal/wind/
solar energy in the form of 125
year old dead and harvested rock
maple in our 87% efficient wood
burners!
Doesn’t matter much if the wood is
slightly green yet as the heat of
the stove dries it out as it’s placed
inside there. Basically all that
comes out of the chimney is water
vapor and the carbon dioxide that
would be released in the natural
decomposition process of the
material.
For more info contact Dave at:
dkoldos@ameritech.net.
Hereʼs one more from Karen
Morse of Fox River Country Day
School (same school that is doing
the Dec. program!)
“Our school recently won a
character award for our campus
stewardship program. Not
mentioned here is our solid
recycling program. We also have
an organic garden, bee box for
harvesting honey (though we’re
waiting for a new queen), and
composting.
Does this fit your newsletter?
(YES!)
Thanks,
Karen”
http://www.character.org/Page.cfm?
PageID=237&PPLPID=577&o=0
Check our website for more info:
www.ecco-foxvalley.net
ECCO is about CHOICES, choices we
can all make to use less energy. Stay
tuned for more info. If you have
something you’d like to share–we are
all in this together!–email me at
sakaptain@gmail.com and I will put it
in the next newsletter.
Rain Forest Rescue! Arbor Day
Foundation
Dave and I enjoyed signing up to
protect 25,000 sq. ft of Rain Forest
through the Arbor Day Foundation
and YOU CAN TOO! Anyone can
start with 5,000 sq. ft. It’s one of our
best first line defenses against Climate
Change. Just check it out at
www.arbordayfundation.org and see
Rain Forest Rescue!
I read No Impact Man by Colin
Beavan and was really taken with
what one young man and his wife did
for one year. The lived without
electricity, transportation that was not
muscle powered, (bikes and foot
powered pedicabs, no TV, no
disposable diapers, and more) but
found they were much happier
without most of the STUFF. After the
year, they use less electricity, and
walk more, and are healthier and
much happier than before.
His conclusions are even more
powerful:
We individuals cannot wait for the
system to change. We individuals are
the system.
He adds that the climate change
problem is so big we need a change in
the culture. We need to look at how
we live. We need to find a good life
that does not depend on energy and
material throughput. It is a battle for
hearts and minds, not for votes.
It will take all our minds working
together and supporting each other as
we find a new way!
10-10-10!
