According to a report in today's Palladium-Item, Earlham College is serving as a leader when it comes to sustainability in higher education:

The National Wildlife Federation says Earlham, along with 12 other Indiana colleges, are leaders in environmentally friendly activity, according to a national report card on sustainability in higher education.

Earlham was one of 240 schools nationwide recognized as being exemplary in the areas of sustainability. That included, but was not limited to its waste reduction plan, says Julian Keniry, NWF's senior director of campus and community leadership.

You can read the article, or view the NWF report.

Starting next week, for the first time, WCTV will be joining other public access television centers across the nation for live and tape-delayed coverage of the Republican, Democratic, and Green Party Conventions.

Here are the updated Channel 20 listings for the week of Sunday August 24th to Saturday August 30th:

Democratic National Convention Coverage 2008: Monday at 10 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday at 3 a.m., 6 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m., and 9 p.m.; Thursday at 3 a.m., 6 a.m., and 2 p.m.; Friday at 5 a.m. and 4 p.m.  continue reading »

Kent Baxter, who helps to run the Abundant Acres Farms CSA mentioned here earlier, has an article in today's Palladium-Item about the benefits of buying local, especially when it comes to food. Highlight:

The advantages include boosting our local economy, possibly reducing the risk of bacterial contamination, and lowering dependency on fuel to transport these food items, possibly decreasing costs of the goods you purchase...By reducing the number of miles our food travels, we can enjoy a fresher and probably safer product due to reduced processing.

You can read the full article.

On Wednesday July 2nd, 2008, Progressive Wayne County sponsored a 100-Mile Radius Potluck in Richmond. You can view highlights from the event in this YouTube video:

If you're interested in being a part of future potlucks and similar events, stay tuned to this website and consider signing up for our e-mail newsletter.

Eating locally is as good for our ecosystems as it is for our bodies! If you'd like to practice eating locally and hang out with groovy folks, come to a 100 mile radius potluck on Wednesday, July 2 at 6pm in Clear Creek Park in Richmond (on W Main next to the municipal pool).

What is a 100 mile radius potluck? All the food you bring should have been grown/raised/created within 100 miles of your home. This doesn't mean that Twinkies from Fort Wayne are fair game, since the sugar probably came from Brazil, and the Polysorbate 20 isn't native to ANY ecosystem. So...any guesses on how many salads we'll get?  continue reading »

Ben Hastil, a student at Earlham College, has created a directory of local food options in Richmond, Indiana [860KB PDF]. The directory lists businesses, organizations, farms, and people in the region that provide different kinds of food resources. Example categories include baked goods, dairy products, meats, vegetables, places with general farm activities, and so on.

Locally grown food is certainly critical to creating a strong, self-reliant community, as we've discussed before, and this is just one more great resource available to those interested in eating more locally. You can find other resources related to food and agriculture here at PWC as well.

Why a local food directory? In the introduction to his directory, Ben writes:  continue reading »

This talk by Scott Hess, Assistant Professor of English at Earlham College, is on the ethical importance of sense of place (both social and environmental) in the context of globalization, and on how the liberal arts college experience educates students (or fails to educate them) for awareness of place.

The convocation will be held at Tuesday June 24th at 7 PM in Goddard Auditorium, on the campus of Earlham College in Richmond.

Jim Hair writes: "You are invited to help change the face of Richmond, literally. With the permission of Empire Title Company, we are about to paint a 50 foot tall Hoagy Carmichael portrait on the back of the “Readmore” building at Ninth and East Main Street.

Last week the building was power washed, next week 65 gallons (700 pounds) of grey primer will start to cover the building. The week after that, another 65 gallons of black paint will be applied, and then the artist, Pam Bliss, will start to create Hoagy’s portrait. Pam created many of the murals in Richmond, including the jazz mural on the 4th Floor Blues Club building in the Depot District.  continue reading »

This spring and summer, Earth Charter Indiana and Indy Sustainable Food Alliance are challenging 100 families to derive more than 50% of their diet from locally-grown foods, that is, foods produced within 100 miles of their home. Tips, resources, recipes, links, and more will be provided to help you achieve this challenge. More importantly, we hope that you will share your challenges and successes with each other through online discussions.

Read more about this challenge at Sustainable Indiana 2016, and then consider signing the pledge to eat local in June, July and August 2008.