Greetings. Probably the single most difficult part of our contemporary
experience involves healing the broken spaces between time past, present and
future. Malcolm X left us with a reminder of how deeply this discontinuity
can cut:
"Just as a tree without roots is dead, a people without history or culture
also becomes a dead people."
Conversely, though, wholeness converges on the moment and, like a ubiquitous
snow, falls across all time and space. This wholeness is accessible right
here:
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your
eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just
before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work
as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest
things in life. (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Indeed, from small acts great patterns emerge. Many people left their
ancient paths and came here to the United States, to San Francisco, to
participate in the Industrial Age. Those already here were forced away from
their path. In either case, much of importance was forgotten. Now we are
remembering. This issue reflects a good deal of activity that leads to and
stems from this healing process, across the past, present, and
future, and into the moment of our work. We'll close with both a discussion
of how these works combine for amazingresults and also with an invitation to
share from your experience.
In this issue:
== NoBAWC Rocked!
== What's shakin' in San Francisco
== Sister Spaces. The Web scene from our siblings at large.
== We, SFUAS. News of our organization's becoming.
== How to share the love. Growing our community.
== Synergy
========================================================================
The NoBAWC (pronounced 'No Boss') Bay Area Worker Cooperative Conference and
Festival held last weekend at the Women's Building in the Mission District
of San Francisco was a huge success. Workers from all over Northern
California converged to meet each other, network, play, skill-share and
learn the history of the cooperative movement. One of the many highlights of
this colorful event was the Saturday night variety show and fundraising
auction. Coop comedians, Susan and Riddle, from Rainbow Grocery, kept the
audience in stitches as they wooed them to bid on items donated by local
coops to raise funds for NoBAWC. The comics were interspersed with live
performance from coop bands Folk This, Wolverine, Urban Warrior, The
Cooperative, and Smirk. We topped it off with a show stopping performance
by the newest NoBAWC member, The Lusty Lady.
The conference itself was equally vibrant with 18 workshops on all different
aspects of cooperative development from how to start a coop to how to train
personnel and facilitate anti-oppression training within a coop. Much was
shared and learned and there are only bright things to come for local coops.
The bay area has the largest concentration of worker
owned cooperatives in the country and it is only going to keep growing.
Participants were enthusiastic about the event continuing as a yearly event.
Anyone interested in getting involved please contact info@nowbawc.org or
call 510-549-1514
========================================================================
Oct 1-3 @ Laguna Honda Hospital
SFUAS and SF Permaculture Guild are co-sponsoring an Introduction to
Permaculture Design Weekend Course October 1-3 Laguna Honda Hospital, San
Francisco
Permaculture is a design system driven by the core ethics of:
- Care for the Earth
- Care for the People
- Re-Distribution of Resources.
It employs sustainable and ecologically sound ways to create living
conditions in harmony with nature and our environment.
This one-evening and two-day introductory course combines fun, theory and
practical experiential learning . The topics will include Permaculture
Ethics, Design Principles and Techniques, Urban Permaculture, Site Analysis,
Organic Gardening Techniques, Water Use, Alternative Economics,
and more.
Suggested donation of $50 will pay for the basic operating costs of the
course as well as membership with the SF Permaculture Guild.
To register, visit http://www.sfuas.org/registration.html
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Saturday, October 9, 1-4pm @ San Francisco Culture Center
4th Annual Earth Charter Community Summit
"Creating a Better World: Our daily actions make a difference!"
Saturday, October 9, 1-4pm
SF Culture Center
2450 17th St@ Potrero
415.990.7740 for directions
http://www.earthcharter.org
http://www.earthchartersummits.org
(Sign-on in support of the Earth Charter!)
Keynote by Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher
Three hands-on Workshops:
*Smarter Energy Use at Home
*Shopping for a Green Household
*Composting at Home to Save our Environment
The Earth Charter is a "People's Treaty" for a sustainable, just, and
peaceful world based on recognition of the inter dependecnce of all life.
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Tuesday Oct 12 @ Herbst International Exhibition Hall
The Natural World Museum & SFUAS present DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE VENTURES
Natural World Museum and SFUAS join forces to launch Designing Sustainable
Ventures," part of the SFUAS monthly GreenHouse Sustainability Series."
Explore the issues of ethics and profit through both the experiences of
sustainable business and non-profit leaders and also through group
interaction.
Event facilitiators include leaders from Guayaki Yerba Mate, Social Fusion,
New Leaf Paper, Urban Permaculture Guild, Craigslist Foundation, San
Francisco Green Festival, and Off the Grid Consulting.
***FREE TICKETS TO GREEN FESTIVAL, ORGANIC TREATS BY LOVEMORE GOURMET,
A PROJECT RESOURCE WALL, A PROJECT LOTTERY AND MORE!***
Tuesday October 12, 2004
6:00PM 10:00PM
$15 limited presale
$20 limited general
$25 at the door
Herbst International Exhibition Hall
Building 385 Moraga @ Montgomery
(south of the bowling center, off Arguello)
San Francisco Presidio
FOR MAP: www.fortmason.org/directions
BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=73198
www.sfuas.org
unite@sfuas.org
415.820.1456
www.naturalworldmuseum.org
info@naturalworldmuseum.org
415.378-4097
Limited scholarships are also available.
CONTACT: intern@naturalworldmuseum.org or dima@sfuas.org
===========================================================================
Sister Spaces
Try a free two week trial offer for GreenBusiness.net discussion list!
(Regularly $8/month). Available exclusively through this SFUAS newsletter.
This discussion list is filled with like-minded entrepreneurs and
professionals who understand the unique challenges presented by running and
working for a green business.
Here you can share your thoughts, learn from others, brainstorm, develop
partnerships, share best practices, generate ideas for new businesses,
network, learn what is working for others, discover cost saving practices,
forge alliances, refine strategies to increase profits, get feedback, and
much more.
So, if you know somebody who is on the fence about joining, or have been
thinking about somebody to tell but haven't told them yet, fee free to pass
along this e-mail/link. Let them know SFUAS referred you...
http://www.greenbusiness.net/freetrial.html
CONTACT: Jason Trout (jason@greenbusiness.net)
==========================================================================
How to share the love. Growing our community.
ACTIVATE! SFUAS is looking for Active members to help the organization. Help
with grant-writing/funding research, the programs team, general help
(organizational, database, outreach) and more.
CONTACT: info@sfuas.org
VOTE! Strengthen your voting power by registering you and your friends to
vote. Go to http://www.registerandvote2004.org to register. Please take
your time to keep, and excercise!, your freedom of voice.
==========================================================================
It should be obvious from this edition of the NewMoon that the people that
compose Alliance are doing a great deal of work throughout all the spheres
of human life, from the home to the shop and within both the community and
the continent. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts and you are
invited to participate as you can. Our small works add up and then become
something bigger than you and me. One thing that makes all these individual
works ultimately emerge as something beyond their individual scope is
synergy. Two processes that share certain characteristics or that produce
complimentary inputs and outputs may form a synergy, which in
turn finds its complimentary process and so on....
The San Francisco Urban Alliance for Sustainability observes and
facilitates synergy in the Bay Area. It is perhaps our greatest
contribution. Given that our individual works contribute to a whole greater
than the sum of their parts, we'd like to highlite examples of synergy from
our member's works.
If you are involved in an endeavor where synergy plays a part, please send
me a note describing what you are doing. These endeavors may happen within
a single system -- a home, a company -- or they may occur amongst
systems, such as is the case where people from different homes may share a
ride to work or where people from two different companies share space,
labor, inputs/outputs or services. Synergy may take place across the full
spectrum of our lives -- in the details, where we plunge our fingers into a
bucket of dirt, or across the broadest swathes of existence, so... look
everywhere.
We'll publish an exemplary couple of these in the next NewMoon.
peace,
thomas@sfuas.org
http://www.sfuas.org |