Going Car-Free a Community Creates an Earth Building the Power Of

Natural Life Magazine Going Car-Free A Community Creates An Earth Building The Power Of Fun Green, healthy living from pregnancy through birth and early childhood Natural Child From Life Media, publishers of Natural Life Magazine since 1976 and Life Learning Magazine since 2002. Magazine • creating a green, healthy home • healthy pregnancy • non-coercive parenting • homebirth, water birth • feeding your child organically • breastfeeding support • vegetarian babies • wellness and natural remedies • children in Nature • natural family fun and play • cosleeping • holistic grandparenting • blended families and adoption • and much more... SUBSCRIBE NOW and join our digital natural parenting community. Read online or on your tablet, save to your computer, or print it out. Information and inspiration whenever you want or need it. www.NaturalChildMagazine.com Inside Subscribe. Natural Life Inspiring natural family living since 1976 May/June, 2013 4 From the Editor’s Desk Is your lawn contributing to climate change? 6 Eco Nomics ...and get on the Unjob yourself to freedom. path to saving money while living a 8 Car-Free greener, simpler lifestyle. How one family saves money while living green, using cargo and personal bikes for transportation. 12 The Whole Earth Building (WEB) Sign up today for a new, renewal, A child’s idea and a community’s collaboration or gift subscription to Natural Life create a unique green building from on-site earth. Magazine and create a green, healthy, self-reliant future for 20 Just Say No! yourself, your family, your How to turn compulsory schooling Into a more community, and the Planet. democratic way of educating ourselves. Natural Life Magazine has been a 18 The Power of Fun reader-supported source of Play is important for learning and health, in the workplace, and for motivating and bonding activists. information and inspiration about positive solutions for frugal, green 20 The Feast of Fools family living since 1976. A group of friends revives an ancient feast and shows that world changers need not be joyless and ascetic. 22 Land Trusts A set of tools for conserving and repurposing land for community control and benefit. 24 A DIY Raised Bed Make a garden planter using recycled materials. 26 Your Sustainable Home From Passive House to Active House. 28 The Media Beat Resources, films, books, and websites for green living. 32 The Back Page NaturalLifeMagazine.com A healthy, family muffin recipe to make your own. From the Editor’s Desk Natural Life e’re all familiar with the fact that precious food pro- Magazine Wducing land is destroyed when agricultural lands May/June 2013 undergo development and urbanization. But there is another important downside to building subdivisions on farm- land. A recent study published online in the Soil Science Society of America Editor: Wendy Priesnitz Journal shows that more carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than [email protected] corn fields. This research shows that such development could impact the car- Publisher: Rolf Priesnitz bon cycle and therefore exacerbate climate change. [email protected] David Bowne, assistant professor of biology at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, led the study to look at the amount of carbon dioxide being re- Contributors: Megan Gray, Rolf Priesnitz, leased from residential lawns versus corn fields in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- Dave Roberts, Gene Sager, vania. He and his co-author measured carbon dioxide efflux, soil temperature, Lori Straus, Jim Strickland and soil moisture under the two different land uses. They found that both car- Cover Photo: bon dioxide release and soil temperature were higher in residential lawns than © Megan Gray Photography in corn fields. Higher temperatures leading to increased carbon dioxide release was not a Copyright © 2013 Life Media. surprise for the researchers, as this relationship has been documented before. No part of this publication may be “As you increase temperature,” Bowne explains, “you increase biological activ- reproduced either in print or electronically without prior ity – be it microbial, plant, fungal, or animal.” That increased activity, then, leads permission in writing to more respiration and higher levels of carbon dioxide leaving the soils. What from Life Media. was unexpected, however, was that the higher temperatures found in residen- ISSN 0701-8002 tial lawns suggested urban heat islands working at small scales. Urban heat is- Established 1976 lands are dark-colored surfaces such as roofs, buildings, and parking lots. The Published six times per year dark color means more heat is absorbed, leading to an increase in temperature in digital format in the neighboring areas, including in lawns. We’ve written about two remedies here in Natural Life Magazine over the Subscription Rates: years. You could reduce the heat islands on your property by replacing paved www.NaturalLifeMagazine.com/subscribe driveways, walkways, and patios with permeable material. And you could tear up your turf and plant organic veggies, perennials, or fruit trees and shrubs, New Email Address? If you want to which our latest E-Compendium can help with. We have collected some of the change the email address that we use to send your issues, please contact us with best gardening articles, photos, and charts from our archives in this new Gar- both your old and new email addresses dening Inspiration addition to our popular reprint series. Topics covered include as soon as possible so you don’t miss an issue. garden planning; Spring garden preparation; companion planting; growing a We Value Your Privacy. Please contact garden full of pollinator-friendly plants; constructing and planting raised beds; us if you do not wish to receive third-party the benefits of mulching; Bokashi composting; attracting beneficial insects; mailings. Our privacy policy can be read on our website NaturalLifeMagazine.com. no-dig gardening; and more. You can read it online, save it to your computer, Contribute to Natural Life Magazine. and print out all or part of it. (www.naturallifemagazine.com/compendiums) Share your green living expertise with our Creating a diverse garden landscape rather than a monoculture of pave- readers. Contributors’ guidelines are at ment and grass on your property will not only help you play a small role in miti- NaturalLifeMagazine.com/writers. gating climate change, it will cushion its effect on your family by adding to your Advertise in Natural Life Magazine. Rates, deadlines and specifications are at food supply and providing a low-stress leisure space, while providing food for NaturalLifeMagazine.com/advertise. declining populations of bees and butterflies and exercise for the gardener. That’s a lot of benefit for a bit of effort! www.NaturalLifeMagazine.com [email protected] Read Editor Wendy Priesnitz's blog at WendyPriesnitz.com Page 4 www.NaturalLifeMagazine.com Success will be more likely if you’re a glass-half-full sort of person who can Eco Nomics see opportunities rather than barri- ers. Nurturing your Life and For many people, one of the big- The Planet While Making a Living gest unjobbing transitions involves removing the credentials from be- hind their names and disentangling By Wendy Priesnitz, Natural Life Magazine’s Editor their identities from their jobs. After all, this is all about seeing yourself and the world in a holistic way, Unjob Yourself to Freedom rather than identifying solely as a n the 1970s and ‘80s, my family bly as a consultant providing services teacher, an accountant, or a Ihelped lead an educational revo- under to other businesses or individ- plumber (although you may use lution; our children learned at home, uals. Unjobbing might involve free- many of the skills from your old job instead of at school, and without the lance or contract work. It might look as you find new ways of living). And trappings, expectations, competi- like a micro-sized business selling a because it includes the philosophy of tion, lack of respect and trust, and green or healthy product (without living simply and consciously, coercion that is part of school. I call greenwashing, of course!) to individ- unjobbing often involves working this “life learning” but some people uals in your local community or to less than full-time, and devoting the call it “unschooling.” And now, there other busi nesses. Or maybe you find rest of the time to family and home, is a similar term for the way many meaning in public speaking, writing, community service and volunteer- people are making their living; it’s film-making, teaching yoga, blog- ing, travel, or leisure. (Working less called “unjobbing.” ging, crafts, art, market gardening, is another challenge for many...you Unjobbing can be thought of ei- inventing green technologies, or do- don’t need to jump from one ther as the process of leaving a job ing odd jobs around the neighbor- treadmill to another!) you don’t like to work independ- hood. Your unjobbing adventure If you are making this decision on ently, or the actual state of living and might involve managing previously your own, rather than being forced working that results from leaving a acquired assets, or starting a B&B or to leave a job, you’ll need to figure job. (Or for many people these days, retreat center. out to pay your bills until your new it is the reality they face after their Most likely, it will involve a vari- way of life gels, either by new ways job has disappeared.) It might be the ety of activities in a patchwork of in- of income generation, lowered ex- way your family decides to live after come generation. Many unjobbers penses, or a combination of both. starting a family or deciding that do work similar to what they were Your personality (tolerance for risk) your children will learn without doing when they worked in a paid and family situation (whether or not school.

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