Sept. 5 & 6: 173: Transitioning to the Elm Street Economy

How can you contribute your skills towards meeting real needs now and in the future? Paul and Sarah Edwards, the authors of Home-Based Business for Dummies, focus on the “Elm Street Economy” of locally-owned businesses rather than “Main Street”, which we hear so much about, but is comprised mainly of franchises. In the Elm Street Economy, local businesses meet local needs — for food, shelter, clothing, heating, electricity, healthcare, and other products. Sarah and Paul suggest: Keep your job and pay off your debts, while gaining enduring skills for the future. A large number of today’s professions won’t be around in five years. (www.elmstreeteconomy.com, www.letslivelocal.org).

Sept 12 & 13: 174: The Power of Neighbors

Jan Spencer didn’t stop with a permaculture makeover* of his suburban home in Eugene, Oregon. Now he’s taking on the neighborhood! As a result, his neighborhood association is teaming up with city programs like Neighborhood Watch and Emergency Response to empower neighbors to work together. They’re transforming lawns and abandoned lots into edible gardens, and sharing knowledge about energy efficiency, permaculture, and preparedness. These grass roots endeavors help people feel more secure in their homes, because they’re connected with neighbors they can rely on. (suburbanpermaculture.org).

Sept. 19 & 20: 175: Time’s Up! An Uncivilized Solution

What kind of life do you want, and what are you willing to do to get it? Keith Farnish, author of Time’s Up! An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis, sees industrial civilization as the most destructive way of living yet devised by humans. And it’s over: environmental degradation and depletion tell us it can’t continue. The system has myriad ways to make us believe we can’t live without it. But Keith believes we can - there are countless ways to move forward into contented, happy, and full lives. We can “disengage” and reconnect with the natural world, ourselves, and others.

(www.unsuitablog.com, www.theearthblog.org).

Sept. 26 & 27: 176: How We Live at Lone Bobcat Woods

Peek behind the scenes at Peak Moment TV’s home base. Janaia Donaldson shows guest host Ivey Cone the solar power system, woodstove for heat (and winter waffles), and super efficient refrigerator. Choosing to reduce their footprint, she and Robyn Mallgren, Peak Moment videographer, don’t feel deprived at all. Janaia discusses what led them to leave the Bay Area, what it’s like to live on 160 acres of forestland, which they’ve preserved “in perpetuity” as a wildlife sanctuary, and shows us some of the members of the natural community they live in. (www.peakmoment.tv). Listen to Audio.

Thirty-Seven Views from Lone Bobcat Woods

An artistic prologue to “How We Live at Lone Bobcat Woods”. Ever wonder how an artist sees the world? In 1998 Janaia created an image from each window in her Sierra Nevada home. Her paintings in many styles emerge from a photographic backdrop in a music video panorama created by Robyn in 2004. An official selection of the 2004 Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.

PEAK TV is sponsored locally by the Center for Excellence in Communication at Clarkson University and the Seymour Family of Potsdam.