Habitat Restoration – Page 2 – The Many Shades of Green

The Rewilding School with Founder Eric Stone

We are living in stressful times, and connecting with nature is a way to become calmer and more centered. Being in a forest, on a beach or any open space adds to ones sense of well being, and provides a needed respite from the day to day grind of life. While being locked up during covid was horrific on so many levels, it brought more people outdoors, as walks in the woods or any open space provided exercise and benefits to your psyche. Children especially needed to connect to the outdoors and play in a park, make a snowman, build a sand castle, climb a tree, spot fireflies or listen to the songs of the birds. In our busy work-a-day lives, it’s good to know that there are people who help us connect with nature, and with each other. In this episode we talk to Eric Stone, who is a true nature connector. Eric is the founder of The Rewilding School, an outdoor education organization he runs with his partner Megan, which is dedicated to building connections between people and the traditional lands of the Wappinger and Lenape that we now call The Lower Hudson Valley. The Rewilding School runs preschool programs, hands-on summer programs, parent child classes, and workshops for school-age kids. For more info go to rewildingschool.com and @rewildingschool

To listen to current and past shows go to hudsonriverradio.com and malcolmpresents.com. Follow TMSOG on Facebook and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen. Subscribe to our podcast on all major podcast apps. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Biodiversity, Birds, Tree Layers, Big Night for Amphibians, Wile E Coyote/The Roadrunner… BEEP! BEEP!

Listen to the birds, listen to their sounds. Watch birds in flight and take heed of their gliding in the breeze or building a nest in a tree. We can spot the majestic eagle or a Northern Cardinal and delight in their beauty. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), which recently took place, brought birders together from around the world to count birds. GBBC was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time. In 2013, it became a global project when the data was entered into eBird.org, the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science (community science) project. Biodiversity is a key element in creating a healthy environment for all earthlings. We can observe and even talk to the animals, but who talks for them? We all laugh at the old Looney Tunes cartoon about a bird and a coyote, in particular, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. Why does Wile E chase such a very fast bird, and is that even a thing? As it turns it is a thing, because the creator of the cartoon, Chuck Jones, based it on a book by Mark Twain called Roughing It, in which Twain noted that coyotes are starving and hungry and would chase a roadrunner for food. Wile E has to survive in the wilderness and a Roadrunner dinner will fill his hungry heart. So how do birds, coyotes, frogs and insects coexist with other species and interact with different ecosystems? What roles do trees play in habitats, and what can humans do to help wildlife have an easier time in their quest to live and survive? Our resident wildlife and habitat guru Victoria Alzapiedi, who is the co-founder of New Castle Healthy Yards, guides us and gives us some great info about biodiverse habitats, the importance of birds, tree layers, Big Night for amphibians and why coyotes are not the bad guys they are always depicted to be. For more information go to New Castle Healthy Yards on Facebook and ebirds.org For past shows, go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Follow TMSOG on Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on Facebook. Please subscribe to The Many Shades of Green podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spreaker.com and more. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Guest Greg Vizzi, naturalist and co-author of THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE: THE ANCIENT CULTURE AND WISDOM OF THE LENNI-LENAPE PEOPLE talks about the Indigenous world view and the philosophy of co-author Chief Quiet Thunder

How is the world view of Chief Quiet Thunder relevant to todays modern world? Guest Greg Vizzi talks about how the Indigenous world view has been lost to modern man, and why it is important to collect the oral histories and tell the stories of Native Americans. The traditions of the Lenni-Lenape, teaches “the sacred obligation to protect the Earth.” We should all be protectors of the earth and do our part to prevent further damage to the planet caused by fossil fuel pollution, which is having a damaging effect on the land, the air and the water. Greg is an American naturalist and writer, and he gives us some answers and background on the need to understand and appreciate the culture of the Original People. For more information go to https://www.natures-wisdom.com/ Please subscribe to TMSOG podcast on all major podcast apps (Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Amazon, Spreaker.com and more). Follow us on Instagram @tmshadesofgreen and on the web at themanyshadesofgreen.com, HudsonRiverRadio.com and malcolmpresents.com #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness #BEEGREEN

New Castle Healthy Yards Native Plants with Rene Artale and Karen Bazik

Our guests this week Rene Artale, Karen Bazik Leadership Team Members at NC Healthy Yards on Native Plants are forging the movement for more gardens, meadows, native plants and trees, and less lawn. We talk about the importance of native plants, one of which is poison ivy, which is beneficial to the ecosystem, but not to humans… think rash. There are other wonderful native plants that can make your land both beautiful and eco friendly (Summersweet; highbush blueberry, packera auera, coral honeysuckle Leucothoe – provides 4 season appeal, Fringe Tree, and Oak trees to name a few. Other tips, don’t use leaf blowers or pesticides and plant original species that keep your land sustainable. Gardens and Meadows are beautiful and are more beneficial to Earth’s creatures and they create pollinator pathways. For more info follow New Castle Healthy Yards on FaceBook and email them at [email protected]. For past shows go to hudsonriverradio.com, malcolmpresents.com. Subscribe to The Many Shades of Green Podcast and tune in on Spotify, Apple, Google Play Spreaker, and ask Siri or Alexa to play our podcast. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Listen to “Rene Artale and Karen Bazik, Leadership Team Members at New Castle Healthy Yards” on Spreaker.

Are we all EcoSexuals? Guests Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens give us insight into the field of Ecosexolgy

In this episode, we will explore the Ecosexuality movement, a relatively new sexual identity which connects environmental activism based around nature, and promotes the idea of the earth as a lover. It invites people to treat the earth with love rather than see it as an infinite resource to exploit. It was founded by our guests, Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, who describe themselves as “two ecosexual artists-in-love”, whose manifesto is to make environmental activism “more sexy, fun, and diverse”. Their new book, is titled, Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover. Annie and Beth give us insight about how they came together to collaborate on this latest work, how they took a stand against homophobia, xenophobia, and how this union led to the miraculous conception of the Love Art Laboratory.

Check out their new book Assuming the Ecosexual Position:The Earth As Lover
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/collections/arts-humanities-2021 and go to sprinklestephens.org to get more about the EcoSexual movement and films Water Makes Us Wet and Goodbye Gauley Mountain. For past shows go to hudsonriverradio.com and malcolmpresents.com. Follow us on FaceBook and Instagram, tweet us @tmshadesofgreen. A shout out to my Green Diva Sistas at thegreendivas.com

Listen to “Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens and The Eco Sexual Movement” on Spreaker.

1712 Suburban Coyotes and the need to coexist

Did you know that Wyle E. Coyote of Looney Tunes fame is cousins with Tech E Coyote, the main character in Loonatics Unleashed? We didn’t either, but if you toon in (ha!) you will find out the connection, as well as get important information on the suburbanization of coyotes, and how we can coexist with them. We talk with Victoria Alzapiedi who has vast knowledge on the subject, and we will help you understand their habits, and how we can live in harmony.

For more info check out: dec.ny.gov/animals/9359.html
#RaiseYourEcoConsciousness #TheGreenDIvas#TheManyShadesofGreen

1614: Accelerating Appalachia

My guest this week is Sara Day Evans, Founder of Accelerating Appalachia, which provides social and economic assistance to nature based and local businesses in the vast region of Appalachia, which spans 12 states and has a population of 25 million people. It is one of the most bio-diverse regions on the globe, and new businesses that are based on food, farming and forests are providing jobs and promoting sustainability. Nature Based Businesses (NBB’s) are part of a movement to protect the earth, and maintain the beauty of the Appalachian region. To quote Ms. Evans “My advice to someone thinking of starting an accelerator or a business is this: Be resilient, stubborn, and focused, and love what you do.” For more info go to acceleratingappalachia.org

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1602: Slick Water

It is no secret that mainstream media coverage of environmental issues is slow-moving, and many stories go un-reported in the press. Climate change deniers spout their ideology with reckless abandon. Enter my guest this week, Andrew Nikiforuk, an award winning environmental writer based in Calgary, Canada, who has written a new book about the hydraulic fracturing industry entitled Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry. The book traces the saga of Jessica Ernst, and the path she takes to hold Encana Oil and Canada’s environmental government agencies, responsible for secretly fracking hundreds of gas wells around her home, in a rural area northeast of Calgary. A cover-up ensues, which leads Ms. Ernst to take legal action against the various parties for their role in contaminating land, water and air in her community. For more information andrewnikiforuk.com and to amazon.com to check out his new and older works.

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What the Climate Accord Means at Home

By Susan Lutz

With the agreement of a landmark accord reached between 196 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and commit to truly working towards change, the planet has a chance to survive. We have a shot at making it.

Something happened when I heard the news of the accord. I didn’t rush to look up all the details of the agreement. Instead of wondering about the facts, I felt a sense of peace. It was as if what we do on the local level and in our homes really does matter. When nations all over the globe decided to finally get to work on these issues, get our priorities straightened out, and look the problem in the eye, it made the daily tasks I do in my home actually feel like they make a difference.

If the nations had fought to no avail, looked the other way, or ignored the problem, and gone home without an agreement, I think all of us would have felt a little differently. Perhaps in a subtle way, we might have stopped working so hard. We might have lost hope. It is hard to fight such a large battle without the unity of nations and without leadership at the highest levels.

Now, I can look again at my habits that help curb waste, lower greenhouse gases, and bring stability and life into our existence. Sorting out trash and recycling, and using that glass bottle over and over again, doesn’t seem like wasted effort. Taking the bus or carpooling feels like a good choice. Buying less stuff finally feels like it adds up to a real solution.

With acknowledgement at the highest levels, we can now look optimistically towards our future. It’s time to look into new ways to lower my impact on the planet. None of this change is easy, but we’ve spent too much time taking the easy way out. There’s something we can do every day to change things for the better.

Now that the big players are part of the game, we have a chance at winning.

COP21

“Between its celebrations of privilege, and the angst of its reckonings, human life gathers unto itself a chaos of contradictions… If we are ceaseless tamperers, we are also from time to time unobtrusive, Though we shout, so may we whisper.” (Michael Charles Tobias, quote from his work, After Eden: History, Ecology and Conscience) My guest this week is Michael C. Tobias, President of Dancing Star Foundation, who is a global ecologist, humanitarian, explorer, author, filmmaker, educator and animal rights activist. 195 nations are set to converge in Paris, a city recently struck by incomprehensible acts of terrorism, for the COP 21 (Conference of Parties), with the hopes of reaching an agreement to to set limits on carbon emissions to reduce the detrimental effects of global warming. Rich and poor nations must gather to form partnerships to be agents of change, rather than agents of destruction. Negative ideology has to be redirected, and ethics, compassion and morality, along with science and technology must lead the way to solutions. For more information go to www.dancingstarfoundation.org

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#1534: The End of Plenty

Can we feed the world without wrecking it? Are we farming ourselves out of food? My guest, Joel K. Bourne Jr. and I delve into those questions on this week’s show. Joel’s new book, THE END OF PLENTY: The Race to Feed a Crowded World, discusses the world food crisis, as it relates to population increase and environmental concerns. Farm land is becoming decimated, as water shortages are spreading globally, thus reducing growth of crops needed to feed the populace. Political unrest and revolutions have occurred in various hot spots around the world, as wheat crops have failed, which has lead to tightening grain supplies. Lives are lost as fights break out over bread. Will 3D printing of food save us? Probably not, but there is hope, as farmers are using innovations in food irrigation, as well as conservation methods to solve some of the problems. A new land ethic must be put into place to feed the world. For more information go to joelkbournejr.com and amazon.com for his book, THE END OF PLENTY.

#1525: The End of Plenty by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

#1333: Any Fish You Wish?

In the 1984 film Flamingo Kid, Matt Dillon’s character Jeffrey Willis, dines with his family at Larry’s Fish House, where the slogan is “Any Fish You Wish”. Cut to the summer of 2015, and my guest Noah Bressman, who is a budding marine biologist at Cornell University, has a big wish. That wish is to encourage more sustainable fishing practices on both the industry side and the sporting side. Fisherman should catch and release fish not caught for food. Regulations should be enforced to ensure more sustainable fisheries and fishing practices. Find out what mummichogs are, and how Noah’s research on that ‘intertidal killfish’ was featured on the Discovery Canada Show, The Daily Planet. Learn about what the signs at your local grocery fish counters mean when they say “all natural”, “wild caught” or “certified sustainable”. Noah is making great strides in his research, and he will continue to do great things in years to come. For more information visit Noah’s Facebook Page: Noah and Carl Fish.

#1533: Any Fish You Wish by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud