Another Green Monday
Forty years ago a bunch of hippies and about half a million of their friends showed up on a dairy farm in New York state for three days of music. They left full of peace and love, having closed out one of the most tumultuous decades in our countries history by taking part in the defining event of the counter-culture movement.
All of the retrospective imagery of Woodstock being displayed all over the web this weekend left us in a "power to the people" sort of mood. And the anniversary of the largest display of peace and love couldn't come at a more appropriate time as our country is as dangerously divided as ever with partisan politics playing out in a no holds barred steel cage arena with the "lunatic fringe" making up more and more of the audience.
In our current consumer culture, power to the people is best understood by power to the dollar, where our spending habits say more about who we are and what we care about. So for all the jokes we've made over the last year about soap smugglers in Spokane who drive across the border to Idaho for dish soap following Spokane's phosphorous ban, the biggest smile we got over the issue was Sunday when the Spokesman reported the phosphorous ban was working. According to the S-R, data show that water coming into Spokane’s sewage plant in the first 12 months after the ban began had 10.7 percent less phosphorus than the annual average the previous three years. Spokane county is the first in the state to ban phosphorous from dish soaps, with the rest of the state following in 2010, and proposed phosphorous bans cropping up all over the country. “We’re literally leading the nation here in Spokane County, which is pretty amazing if you think about it,” said Rachael Paschal Osborn, Spokane River coordinator for the Sierra Club.
With good news being so hard to come by these days, we'll take it. Now it's your turn Seattle, be sure to vote tomorrow to approve Referendum 1 - send a clear message to Big Oil and their allies in the chemical industry that there is no market for highly toxic, petroleum based plastic bags in Seattle, the state of Washington, and the rest of the world.
“If you have a law and you don’t enforce it, you don’t have a law.” This was the message from former President Bill Clinton at the annual Waterkeeper Alliance conference in New York City a few months ago that resonated the most with our very own dedicated Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt who was in attendance. Rick recently posted his experience and perspectives of the five-day conference on the Center For Justice's "The Kitchen Table" site. In the brief time that Rick has been our Riverkeeper, he has been tireless in his efforts to levarge his new position as Spokane River watchdog, and the experience and knowledge he is picking up along the way will benefit all of us here in Spokane and North Idaho. Read his story HERE.
“People have been growing food down here since before Spokane was here. It’s nice to reclaim the space." This was a comment from Brian Estes in a recent issue of The Inlander. Brian was recognized for his philanthropy work, notably his work on a community garden in Vinegar Flats which is operated for St. Margaret’s Shelter. You'd be hardpressed to find anyone in Spokane who is more passionate about local food and the issues related therewithin than Brian. We've had the pleasure of working, talking, and getting to know Brian at a few different panel events, functions, etc and we were proud to see him honored for his tireless dedication. Read the article HERE.
100 years of forestry education. The University of Idaho's College of Natural Resources will celebrate 100 years of forestry education with a celebration Sept. 11-13 on the Moscow campus. The highlight of the event will be the keynote presentation on the 11th, “Our Legacy of the Past Leads Us into the Future” by Dale Bosworth, retired chief of the Forest Service. The University of Idaho has a rich history of forestry work through it's education programs, and to celebrate this legacy, they have created several very fascinating informational pieces on a special website. Check out the history, the achievements and the impacts HERE. Read more about the 100-year celebration HERE.
Russian-speaking residents on the bus. Did you know there are an estimated 25,000 immigrants from the former Soviet republics living in Spokane, many Protestant Christians who fled persecution? Among the elderly, getting around can be a challenge but thanks to the STA mobility training program they have a way to connect. “I can’t drive because I have bad vision, but I can ride the bus,” said Yevgeniy Sirokhin, 82, whose eyes were damaged by disease and captivity in German prison camps in the S-R. Read HERE.
Going postal. Alan Durning, executive director of Sightline, loves to try projects for a year like living car-lessly and writing about the results. 
His latest: Collecting 365 days worth of junk mail which came out to 50 pounds even though he signed up for direct mail blocking services. Forest Ethics has been pushing for a government-enforced "Do Not Mail" registry for quite some time, and Durning says it’s a bad idea, fearing the economic drawbacks. Still, the environmental impact remains:
---100 million trees are logged annually to produce the 100 billion pieces of junk mail Americans receive.
---Junk mail’s production generates the carbon emissions of over 9 million cars.
---U.S. junk mail accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44% of it goes to landfills unopened.
Check Durning’s story HERE and please visit donotmail.org.
