Ecomunicipality.com

Natural
Steppers from around the area met at UW-RF on Friday, November 14, to
continue a discussion begun at a previous meeting about forming an
umbrella organization. Representatives from Amery, Luck, Osceola, Rice
Lake, Hudson, Ladysmith, and River Falls met in the offices of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development on
campus. (Representatives from Menomonie/Dunn County who had attended
the previous meeting were unable to attend but did send input via
email.)

Madison's weekly newspaper Isthmus had an article in the Feb. 15
edition about how The Natural Step has taken off in the Chequamegon Bay
area of northern Wisconsin. You can read the article, called "Northern
Wisconsin seeks sustainability," here.

UW Extension is sponsoring a workshop called "Understanding Zoning and Its Uses and Implications" Wednesday evening, March 26, beginning at 7 p.m.
in the Government Center in Balsam Lake. While the intended audience is
members of local comprehensive planning commissions, the public is also
welcome to attend. There is a $10 registration fee, which can be mailed
to Plan Commission Workshop Series, UWEX Cooperative Extension, 100
Polk Plaza, Suite 210, Balsam Lake, WI 54810. 

I
know that questions about zoning have come up in some Natural Step
study circles, so this is a good opportunity to get answers. The
following topics will be covered:

We know that Americans are overweight. We know they need more exercise. We know they don't always eat well. And we also know that their cars are too big and consume too much fuel.

And, most of us, understand that Americans have too much square-footage in their homes.

But, check out this article in the NYTimes. Not only does too much house cost us money, consume fossil fuels and electricity and contribute to green-house gas emissions, living alone in a palace can actually contribute to an early death:

The Natural Step, or TNS for short, is the title of a book published in 2004 by New Society Press. The name also represents a working definition of the word "sustainability" as it applies to community development. Based on the work of Swedish oncologist Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, TNS describes a science-based systems framework for evaluating building and development practices.

1) In order for a society to be sustainable, nature's functions and diversity are not systematically subject to increasing concentrations

I saw this from the good folks at CivicActions.

You are all invited to the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Conference which will
take place in Ashland from April 24 to 26.

The listing of the conference
workshops will be up in a week or two. We are featuring three keynoters:
Bob Willard, John Ikerd, and Kelly Baxter. We will have 5-6 tracts inside
the conference, which will be held at Northland College, that range from
case studies to Sustainability 101 choices, environmental management
systems, to jobs and education.

To find out more about the conference at
this point, contact Steve or Nancy Sandstrom at 715-779-3676 or go to

allianceforsustainability.org

The kick-off of the Amery Natural Step Study Circle is on Tuesday, January 29th at 7:00 p.m. at the Kolar Arts Building, 219 Keller Avenue (Mainstreet) in Amery, Wisconsin.

You will need to purchase the book, The Natural Step, but that is easily done over the Internet or by contacting Jeff Peterson at 715-472-2728.

See you there.

Living in this part of Wisconsin, it is evident how far we have strayed from a sustainable way of life. There are cars, trucks, planes, buses--all run on fossil fuels--along with the whole agricultural economy, not to mention the recreational world of snowmobiles and ATVs.  Garbage trucks come home full every day.  We get our power from coal plants and here and there are ethanol production sites, belching steam and ruining watersheds.

Yet, only decades ago, this area was a rich, self-sustaining, locally oriented economy which produced its own food, products and energy. The know-how was among the people, from medicine to mushrooms, tinctures to trains, cabinetry to composting. They didn't need a lot of government, or corporations, or extensive educational facilities. 

They had in-tact, integral communities. They fed themselves, cared for their own, and lived good lives close to the land, values and people they loved.