Earth Care 2007 Sustainable Santa Fe Guide by FlavorGrafix Design

2007

S ustainable S anta F e A Resource Guide S h ow ca s i n g innovations & time-honored traditions: Community Business

Development Agriculture Energy Transportation Education Environment Food Finances balancing

c u lt u r e s ,

economics

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An Ear th Care Inte r national Publication

ecology

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Sustainable le e Santa Sa S an n ta a Fe e A Resource Guide Guid G uide uide de 4

Letter from the Executive Director of Earth Care International – Taylor Selby

7 9

The Cover Artist – David Bradley Artist, Vignette Illustrator – Peter Aschwanden

10 A View from the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission – Margo Covington 11 Welcome Back to the Fight – A View of Leadership from Santa Fe Future – Rick Garcia

Community

14 Culture, Education, Social Sustainability 16 An Interview with Mayor Coss 21 The Journey Home: A Personal Story on the Path to Sustainability – Diego Mulligan 24 Greening the Trenches – Carolyn Parrs 29 Students of Fundamental Change – The Ecoversity – Nora Saks 32 Classes in Sustainable Building at Santa Fe Community College – Dan Clavio 35 Creating Thriving, Just and Sustainable Communities Through Education – Christina Selby 38 Community Building through Agriculture for Indigenous Communities – Clayton Brascoupe 43 Acequia Democracy – Esteban Arellano 46 Birthing the Future – A Missing Piece of Sustainable Santa Fe? – Suzanne Arms 48 Healing the Mind, Recovering Our Sanity – Catherine Hebenstreit

Ecology & Land Ethic

50 Agriculture, Food, Water 54 Food and Land-Based Culture in New Mexico: Past, Present and Future – Paula Garcia 58 Northern New Mexico Seed Sovereignty Alliance / A Declaration of Seed Sovereignty – Traditional Native American Farmers Association and New Mexico Acequia Association 63 Picuris Pueblo Sustainable Forestry Project – Lynda Taylor 66 Rebuilding Resiliency – Courtney White

Credits Contents COPYRIGHT ©2006 Earth Care International A non proﬁt educational organization. All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced without written permission. P.O. Box 885 Santa Fe, NM 87504-0885 Phone: 505-983-6896 Fax: 505-983-2622 guide@earthcare.org www.earthcare.org

Editor in Chief: Seth Roﬀman

Editorial Team: Rachel Balkcom, Erin English, Rachel Myrowitz, Jessie Parker, Monica Rainer

Graphic Designer: Frank Wechsler - fw graphic designs Associate Graphic Designers: Adrienne Barrett, Jessie Parker, FlavorGraﬁx

Involved Earth Care Staﬀ: Taylor Selby, Christina Selby, Katya Franzgen

Photography: All photos are by Seth Roﬀman unless credited otherwise.

Sales Team: Anya Acton, Drew Lenihan, Dylan Brody, Edan Didak, Emily Wingren, Hanna Quayde La Valle, Hoku Donovan Smith, Jake Charney, Tom Knoblauch, Robin Poling

3 66 Eating As If It Mattered – Lynda Prim 72 The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market is one of the Best Farmers’ Markets in the Country – Sarah Noss 77 Slow Food – What it Is – Deborah Madison 84 Revitalizing the Santa Fe River – Mayor David Coss 84 Re-Imagining the Santa Fe River – Ben Haggard 89 The Strategic River Reserve: Sustaining New Mexico’s Living Rivers – Kristina Fisher

Economic Well -Being

92 Business, Finance 94 The Santa Fe Economic Development Plan (Executive Summary) – City of Santa Fe Economic Development Division 96 Santa Fe Design Week – Linda Milanesi 99 UNESCO Creative Cities Conference – Tom Maguire 102 Sustaining Santa Fe One Latte at a Time – Gershon Siegel with Vicki Pozzebon 105 The Santa Fe Living Wage – Dr. Lee A. Reynis 108 The Key Ingredient – Kimberly Keil

The Built Environment

110 Design, Energy, Transportation 113 Architecture 2030 – Quilian Riano and Casey Crawmer 119 Designing for a Sustainable Planet or… What do Two Young Professionals, a Wine Bar, a Twelve-step Program, and a Day Care Center Have in Common? – Brian Skeele 122 Santa Fe Steams Ahead with Sustainable Energy – Mark Sardella 125 Introduction to Solar Heating – Boaz Soifer 126 Santa Fe’s Achievements in Reducing Oil Dependence 129 A Transportation Transition Plan for New Mexicans – Charles Bensinger 133 Watersmart – Homewise, Inc. 137 Graywater Introduction and Irrigation Guide – NM Environment Department 141 Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Vol. 1 – book review 143 Santa Fe’s New Recycling Center

79 Map of Sustainable Santa Fe 146 Resource Guide Listings

Credits

Special recognition to: Santa Fe New Mexican for their partnership (Sales, training, distribution and printing on recycled paper with soy-based ink), Christina G. Cogdell and students at the College of Santa Fe (Green Map), Ann Marie McKelvey, Jim Reid, Robin Johnstone, Ed & Marilyn Winter-Tamkin, Rose Linda Martinez, Cyndi Harris, Hans, Carolyn & Irv, Mang Family, Phoenix & Stryder, Bill Fishbein, Barbara Burns, Tanya Story, Balkcom family.

Earth Care deeply appreciates the generous support of: Andrew & Gay, Doug & Mela, Eric & Lisa, Jeﬀrey & David, Kirby & Melinda, Bill & Virginia, Tai & Satara, Robert & Lynda, the Daniels Fund, Messengers of the Healing Winds, Aurora Foundation, Garﬁeld Foundation, McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Community Foundation, Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation, Santa Fe Community Foundation, Los Alamos National Bank, First National Bank of Santa Fe, Southwest Learning Centers, Whole Foods, Valerie & Steve Sapourn.

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don’t have children yet. When I do, I want to look into their eyes and say, “I did everything that I could to ensure that Santa Fe would be sustainable and that you gained the tools necessary to be successful in the world.” In order to say this with integrity to my future

We make choices every moment that we are alive. We choose where to shop, with whom to talk, what to talk about, where to work, how to respond to an idea, what book to read, what charity to support, who to vote for, and if we are going to ride our bike to work. Every second we have choice. Every choice impacts the planet and our community in many ways. Sustainability is about deeply understanding the consequences of each choice and making the choices that will create the healthiest and brightest future for our family, our community and for future generations.

Letter from the Executive Director of Earth Care International

Taylor Selby with student David Chavez at the Academy for Technology and the Classics charter school.

Taylor Selby is the Executive Director and co-founder of Earth Care International. He has a Master’s degree in Environment and Community from Antioch University of Seattle and lives in Santa Fe in a “co-neighboring intentional” community. He is a permaculturist and an optimist.

children, I had to wake up and take my life off of cruise control. It required me to commit to a life of learning. I had to gain humility, re-evaluate what was important and challenge my assumptions about the world. I had to learn the governing laws of nature, ask new questions and seek new answers. If I wanted to live in a sustainable community, I had to start looking at myself and get engaged in the community that my children will eventually grow up in. The traditional definition of a sustainable community is one that meets the needs of the current generation without taking away from the ability of the next generation to meet its needs. This means not taking more water from our aquifers than gets replenished. This means planting five trees for every one that we cut down. This means leaving as much topsoil on our farmlands as last season, and this means having as many wild animals roaming the plains as last year. The definition of a sustainable community goes beyond an ecological/environmental perspective to include the interaction of economic, societal and cultural needs of a community. This understanding is the foundation of sustainability. It requires us to think about the world differently and to remember ancestral wisdom. Sustainability is a journey, like life.

Integrating sustainability into our lives requires constantly asking simple questions like the following: 1) What would nature do? 2) How does this impact the community, ecologically, socially, economically and culturally? 3) What perspective is not represented in this decision? 4) What can other people see that I cannot? 5) What can I learn from this challenge? 6) How will this choice impact the diversity of my community? 7) Do I really need this product? What are the consequences of this product? 8) What are the consequences of this choice seven generations from now? 9) Is there a better way? These questions are the heart of this magazine. It is an exploration of the wisdom in Santa Fe. It is a work in progress that represents a snapshot of the work our community is currently doing to move us towards sustainability. It is a snapshot of our community’s current understanding of how we view a Sustainable Santa Fe. I would like to thank everyone who has made this magazine possible. I would also like to thank everyone who is exploring the consequences of their choices and those who are helping to raise the consciousness of our community. Kind Regards,

I view sustainability as expanding and deepening one’s personal and one’s community understanding of how our choices impact the world we live in. Then choosing, to the best of one’s ability, the path that assists life in ﬂourishing.

Taylor Selby

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he painting on the cover by David Bradley is entitled Indian Country Today. “I wanted to paint a quintessential scene of the area around Santa Fe. At the foundation of the scene is the Rio

Grande. Paralleling that is the tourist highway. Along the Rio Grande is an Indian Pueblo. A harvest dance

The Cover Artist - David Bradley is taking place there. Presiding over the landscape is a mesa with a face on it, the idea of the earth as a living entity. There is an Indian casino in the background and in the distance is a sign on a hill above the city that says Santa Fe.” David Bradley is a Minnesota Chippewa painter, sculptor and musician. He has lived in the Santa Fe area for almost 30 yrs. Bradley graduated first in his class (1979) from the Institute of American Indian Arts and got his Bachelor’s degree from the College of Santa Fe. In 1984 he was named an “Artist of the Year” by the Santa Fean Magazine and was chosen to be the official poster artist for the Santa Fe Indian Market. In the early ‘90s, he was invited to do an Artist-in-Residence/Visiting Professor stint at IAIA. In 1996 he received the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. During his career he has received many awards and his work has been exhibited around the world. In 2005, he was an Artist Fellow at the School of American Research, where he prepared for his year-long exhibit “Iconoclash” (with Marcus Amerman) at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

In Memory of Esther Martinez Ohkay Ohingeh elder P’oe Tsawa, Blue Water, Estefanita Ortiz Martinez, renowned storyteller, Tewa language and cultural preservationist, died at age 94 in September 2006, while returning from Washington, D.C., where she was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as a National Heritage Fellowship recipient. The federal “Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006” has been established in her name to provide funding for Native language preservation programs.

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9 A meticulous illustrator and an excellent draftsman, Aschwanden created an extensive and unique body of work, illustrating numerous books and posters. He gained national prominence by illustrating a series of auto repair manuals, beginning with the 1969 classic, “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot,” written by John Muir and Tosh Gregg. The manual is now in its 19th edition. Aschwanden’s 19th century graphics style, made contemporary, was one of his trademarks. Much of his work was rooted in the black & white line art of the 1880s that developed into steel engraving and woodcuts and eventually the cartoons of the 1920s and 30s. To order the (24 by 36 inch) poster, checks should be made out to Deborah Reade and sent to 117 Duran St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505-986-9284). Its cost: $20 + $1.53 tax for in-state orders plus $5 shipping & handling (please include name, address and phone number).

Peter Aschwanden – Artist, Illustrator

Vignettes from the “Old Santa Fe” Map Poster

eter Aschwanden is known in the Santa Fe arts community for his passionate love of New Mexico and his satirical wit. Aschwanden completed the “Old Santa Fe” pictorial map two years before he died of cancer in December 2005. He spent ten months working on the poster, which he sketched from 300 reference photos and painted with acrylic. We have used a number of the vignettes from the poster throughout this resource guide. Conceived by his partner on the project, Jon Sanford, the “Old Santa Fe” poster includes tributes to Santa Fe traditions. What looks like a 19th century artifact is really a satirical view of a city that changed considerably over the 42 years that Aschwanden lived in the area. “It’s kind of tragic and humorous at the same time,” he said about the development that has transformed Santa Fe.

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t’s been an enlivening year for sustainability discussions and activities in Santa Fe. Our city’s creative efforts seem to have emerged above the radar in many conversations, activities and successes in our City Different. The public’s interest and activities to “do” sustainability are, in my mind, the primary cause. While each thing we do may feel small, they add up into waves of results. The Sustainable Santa Fe Commission, an all-volunteer group, was sanctioned by the mayor and city council since 1998 to assist the Governing Body, city staff and citizens to create and celebrate

A View from the

Sustainable Santa Fe Commission Margo Covington

Margo Covington chairs the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission. She may be contacted at 982-0444 or Margo@covingtonconsulting.net.

an ever-more-sustainable community. We have: • Researched and synthesized who we are that makes us a City Different and what we want to sustain from dozens of documents containing a wealth of public input over many years. Much of this work was included in the City’s Economic Development Plan of 2004; • Suggested indicators for sustainability; • Designed and tried out a model for selforganized, synthesized communication and coordination between city-wide efforts and City Hall; • Played the role of convener of conversations to answer concerns of city staff to achieve implementation of more sustainable activities in city government. With phasing-in the implementation of biofuels by the city fleet, and the civic center being built (and Sweeney Center “unbuilt”) to more stringent sustainable standards, we are pleased to have helped the city implement more sustainability. The benchmark standards we recommended to city staff were set by Governor Richardson in his Executive Order 2006-1. That requires the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED© Silver standards with specified points in energy and water use to help our high desert ecosystems. City Councilors Coss, Chavez and Wurzburger sponsored the successful resolution to require LEED certification (with the stipulated points) for the civic center. Built to these standards, our civic center will be an emblematic building, proving our commitment to being a

world-leader in energy and water conservation. And, with an eye toward every building in Santa Fe being built to some kind of sustainable construction standards, the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission is working step by step toward that possible goal. Similarly, we have an eye on the master planning for the Northwest Quadrant – a large piece of city-owned land that will be developed to allow for more affordable housing for our citizens. The commission sees that we must find “bite sized chunks” to move toward – much less finalize – such ambitious goals, particularly when there seem to be many pieces that are not yet clear or in place. The commission has been blessed by the support of Santa Fean Ed Mazria, an internationally recognized expert who is showing that how we build, use and deconstruct our old buildings contributes almost 50% of global warming. And given that construction and demolition wastes are large contributors to our landfill, the commission has decided to continue our current focus on construction/energy/water use for now. There are many questions to be answered as we move in that direction: • Which construction standards are available and optimal? • What is the most effective way of ensuring standards are achieved? • What are city councilors inspired to lead the charge on? For example, should new building codes be written? What can we learn from other cities about their lessons learned? Councilors Calvert and Wurzburger are leading these efforts. How can we help them? • What can be done to support the potential for profitability for developers, contractors and subcontractors? If our efforts don’t make financial sense in both the short and longterms, they won’t happen. • How can we keep the cultural aspects and styles of our city vibrant, while also allowing for more sustainable construction and land-use elements or features? • Might there be creative opportunities for new businesses to profit from the use of construction and demolition wastes here in our bioregion and economy? You are invited to join us as we explore these questions and more. Everything you do to compost, reduce, reuse, recycle and creatively collaborate reduces our costs for trash hauling, landfills, clean up, energy and water use today and tomorrow. Whatever creative solutions you are inspired to do, thanks for all that you do to make our lives in Santa Fe and the bioregion more sustainable.

ustain: to give support or relief to; to supply with sustenance. In the context of our community, sustainability means to balance the social and economic needs with the impact they have on the environment. This resource guide is ﬁlled with facts, resources and ideas for promoting and developing the sustainability of our community here in Santa Fe, around the country and around the world. How do we as individuals and as a community accomplish that? Many of the articles you’ll read here touch upon the issue of how to achieve this goal in one way or another. Any idea what that might be? The answer can be summed up in one word…Leadership.

is about more than leading a group. True leadership begins with something much more basic: taking that ﬁrst step and getting involved. We cannot hope to develop a sustainable community unless we stand up and get involved.

Welcome Back to the Fight A View of Leadership from Santa Fe Future

Feel a cold shiver run down your spine? That’s the feeling most people get when they hear that word. Right away we imagine being thrust out of the crowd and forced to deﬁne a direction for people to follow. We feel isolated and don’t have the slightest idea what to do. However, leadership

You’re standing up…Good! As Victor Lazlo said to Rick in the movie Casablanca, “Welcome back to the ﬁght.” You’re getting involved. Now what? Still worried you’re not cut out to be a leader? A wise woman once said, “Leaders are not taught – they are challenged.” Put away any concerns you might have about not being ready to lead. We’re all ready…we’re just waiting to be challenged. Over the past two years a group of individuals has gathered together with just that purpose in mind. To be challenged by - and charged with -

Rick Garcia Rick Garcia, human resources project administrator with Presbyterian Medical Services and Santa Fe Economic Development Inc. Advisory Board member, was one of the participants in Santa Fe Future 2006.

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12 researching the issues they felt were of prime importance to Santa Fe and the surrounding community. These groups were part of Santa Fe Economic Development Inc.’s (SFEDI) Santa Fe Future program. This program was designed to “provide leadership and a forum to promote the creation of jobs, economic development and opportunities for the people of our community.” Partnered with Santa Fe Community College and the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, SFEDI has instituted a program that challenges its members to look Santa Fe in the eye and come up with possible solutions to the issues at hand. Santa Fe Future 2006 focused its eyes on promoting collaboration for a sustainable community by investigating issues in such areas as education, immigration and the local economy. After nine months of research spent interviewing members of the community, city government, business and education leaders, non-proﬁts, members of the media and

various civic organizations, the group determined that these areas and the issues they involve were woven into the very fabric of the community. All matters had to be addressed equally as progress in one area would have a profound eﬀect on the others. To learn more about their ﬁndings and recommendations, visit the website www.santafefuture.org and read their White Paper. This paper is testament to what a determined group of people can learn about their community and the actions for change they can promote. It takes collaboration to sustain a community and its environment, and it takes leadership to sustain that collaboration. Whether on a world stage or simply in your own town, collaboration and the leadership behind it is what moves ideas and programs forward. Your parents, older siblings, friends and neighbors may remember what real collaboration for a sustainable community and a sustainable world is all about. The seeds they

planted some thirty years ago bore real fruit and effected real change. Although in the ensuing years we lost our focus, the ideas and value behind collaboration for a sustainable community have become clear again. You’re still standing? That’s even better. The thought of leadership can leave one weak in the knees. You’re ready to get involved in working to sustain your community but you might not know where to begin. You hold the keys in your hand. This resource guide is filled with groups and organizations working on sustainability and I’m sure most could use an extra pair of hands. However, collaborating on a project or a cause involves much more than just lending a hand. Be a real leader and add your voice as well. By sharing your thoughts and ideas you’ll help to ensure that your collaboration will work to enrich, support and supply sustenance to the City Different. You can’t get more sustainable than that!

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Excerpt From Santa Fe Future 2006 White Paper Santa Fe as a community faces a critical crossroads in its history. With such a wide range of talent and resources combined with progressive policies and a high level of social consciousness of community members, Santa Fe has great potential to become a national model for sustainable communities. On the other hand, Santa Fe faces a median cost of housing that continues to increase alarmingly faster than the median household income, public schools that are more segregated than ever before, and a signiﬁcant gap in student achievement between ethnic and socioeconomic groups. These factors and others serve as signiﬁcant barriers to the health of, and

quality of life in, Santa Fe. In order for the community to become truly sustainable, we must actively address the economic, social and educational gap that continues to grow in our community. … It is our overarching belief that we must ﬁnd ways to promote collaboration between individuals, organizations and institutions for a sustainable community…Collaborative solutions have the greatest likelihood of success. Our diversity is both an asset and a challenge… Diverse groups of people can work together to achieve a common goal. We must commit to listen and learn from others.

Community

Culture, Education, Social Sustainability A sustainable community means different things to different people. To parents it means a safe environment in which to bring up their children. To business owners it means a healthy economy so that their businesses have a place in which to create and sell their products. Everyone wants a secure, productive job to support themselves and their families. Everyone wants clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Sustainability is related to the quality of life: whether the economic, social and environmental systems that make up the community are providing a healthy, productive, meaningful life for all residents, present and future. A sustainable community does not grow larger indefinitely. Sustainability does not mean sustained growth. At some point, a sustainable community stops getting larger but continues to change, improve and develop. A sustainable local community must meet its basic resource needs in ways that can be continued in the future. The environmental sustainability of a community is largely determined by the web of resources providing its food, water and energy needs and by the ability of its natural systems to process its wastes. A community is unsustainable if it consumes resources faster than they can be renewed, produces more wastes than natural systems can process or relies upon distant sources for its basic needs. Santa Fe Fiesta Pet Parade

In addition to the many community members actively pursuing sustainability, and existing eﬀorts by the city government, Santa Fe has a long history of cultures with an awareness of sustainable practices.

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ustainable Santa Fe: Tell us about the statement you made that was a cornerstone of your campaign platform, “My goal is to make Santa Fe a leader in renewable energy, sustainability and green design. Mayor Coss: That is an immediate goal spoken to in the Economic Development Strategy. I was just in a meeting to come up with a strategy or a program for river restoration and water conservation. We are trying to move forward with water conservation with the Buckman Diversion Project so that we can get oﬀ the need to use our aquifers so heavily to make sure they survive or continue to be of use, to make sure that a hundred years from now, if there’s a drought like we had this spring, we can rely on that aquifer if the surface waters aren’t there.

An Interview with Mayor

David Coss

We passed a resolution called the 2030 Challenge. The concepts for that were developed here by Ed Mazria, with architects and others in this area. We were the ﬁrst city in the country to adopt that and now the U.S. Conference of Mayors has adopted it. Following out of that we’re working with the Sierra Club on the “cool cities.” I meet with [NM Environment Department] Secretary Curry this week about the Chicago climate exchange. We want to become a party to that. A lot of it’s based around becoming carbon neutral by 2030 as a community, embracing rather than running from the Kyoto Protocols. What I’ve learned in the last year or so is that economies that are pursuing alternative energy and trying to reduce their carbon are actually stronger than the old fossil fuel economies trying to pretend it’s not happening or even if we acknowledge that it’s happening, acting as if there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s just a singular lack of creativity and foresight. We think we’ll be better oﬀ, especially when we see natural gas prices and fuel prices. We need to be more externally oriented too in terms of working with agricultural communities and rural communities and other urban areas along the Rio Grande to make sure we really are sustainable and we really are making the best use of our water resources. I think for a community like Santa Fe, that includes food security, food management of agricultural lands, wild lands, riparian lands. So that’s again something to pursue during this administration.

SSF: In regard to security for the future, it seems integral that citizens be educated and active. How are you dealing with the community as far as education and citizen involvement? That’s a big question. I do know a lot about it because I spent a lot of my career in natural resources management. There are so many people in Santa Fe that know even more and are actually working on it. I very much like Taylor Selby’s idea of green collar jobs. I like some of the work that Ecoversity is doing, the Community College, St. John’s College… We’re already doing some of this but we’d like to have a stronger partnership with the school system. The young kids really get involved in water conservation. They love the Bradbury Science Museum and the schools themselves manage a lot of land and touch a lot of peoples’ lives, so we think it’s a good area to work in. Our economic development strategy calls for workforce development training, promoting green collar jobs. We’ve had some talks with Cedar Mountain Solar. He’s got some great technologies that he’s putting together where you can heat your home with solar hot water but it’s fairly complicated engineering and plumbing systems and so there’s a lot of demand. He’s up to 20 employees I think in just a couple of years. He could see himself growing to 40 or more but ﬁnding those folks and being able to pay them while they’re learning is something that we want to spread around more and more. We met with Youthworks. We talked about provid-

ing youth work, and not just cleaning up trash in the rivers, important as that is, but actually learn-

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19 ing how rivers function, how stormwater… how you harvest it, how you store it, how you control erosion and manage the process of erosion so that it’s a river again. Move that back into the watershed with our arroyos. This week we will have had close to two inches it seems like when we’re done. It makes me wish our watershed was in better shape so it’s not just rushing oﬀ and eroding and doing property damage; that it’s actually soaking it up like a sponge. We have someone who works with a special group of young people you know, mostly Hispanic or minority, mostly in trouble with the law, mostly didn’t ﬁnish high school. It’s very important to reach out and knit back together community around restoring a river and a watershed and I think there’s a lot of that kind of work to do. The other piece that’s new to me but it’s very exciting is the arts and the cultural aspects of having a healthy environment and a sustainable future. Santa Fe’s well positioned with a remarkable creative community and 400 years of history with many diverse cultures that have contributed to that and so, knitting that back in too… I think that all is a long roundabout answer to your question about education but I think those are all components of it.

sity of how we use energy and how we use water and land makes Santa Fe a more beautiful place than it is even now. SSF: You touched on it already but can you say a little more about your concept of cultural sustainability in Santa Fe? I can try. If that’s a piece I may have more clarity on by the time I’m done being mayor, it will be a good thing. We’re about to celebrate our 400-year history as a city or town, probably a European town of Santa Fe from the Spanish king. And there is a long complex history of Spanish, Native Americans and cultural development here that went a certain way up to the Pueblo Revolt and a diﬀerent way after the Pueblo Revolt, and a diﬀerent way when the United States came in after WWII, to the point now where a lot of that culture feels like it’s shoved

We’re trying to provide conceptual structure. Not everybody has to be doing the same thing but hopefully the efforts of the community as a whole will be leading us towards a sustainable future and I think, a more beautiful future. SSF: How has your background led you to promote sustainability? …My administration comes up out of the community. I’m just a kid who grew up here that always thought my parents were really smart for moving to Santa Fe, that it was such a beautiful place. We rode around and camped in so many places that I formed an idea that the best job you could get would be for somebody to pay you to drive around in the woods in a truck with a really cool picture of a bear on it. It was Game and Fish. I didn’t even know that. And so I went into the field of wildlife science and wildlife management. That brought me into contact with farmers, hunters and photographers…and then landscape architects, oil people and road builders. I keep thinking of that training as an ecologist and what makes the ecosystem function and how complex and diverse it can get. And the more complex and diverse it gets, the more beautiful it becomes but also the better it is at using energy, water and land. Our attempts to oversimplify it have led us off in the wrong direction and it’s abundantly clear once you come to see the river has run dry. That was about a 50-year mistake. I always tell a little joke in my talks that an architect told me a long time ago. If someone asked how your marriage was and you said, “Oh it’s sustainable,” how excited would you be? But if you said “it’s beautiful and getting better,” you know, that’s another way of thinking about it.” And so I think the complexity and the diver-

Mayor Coss hears youth groups’ ideas at “Coﬀee with Coss” meeting to the Airport Roads and the margins of this community. And so I’m looking for ways that, that particular culture, a blended culture, feels like it is their town, their community. At the same time, as [city councilor] Miguel Chavez says, “I’m a minority in my own hometown,” and that has changed. We already have started on government-to-government relations with Tesuque Pueblo, primarily as a result of this project out here [the civic center]. We’re hoping to put a young Native American woman on contract to work on improving government relations with the other pueblos. We’ve become a very diverse community in terms of Asian, African, European, Midwest, East Coast, West Coast folks. Putting it back in my ecological training, diversity is a good thing. We need to welcome it and celebrate it. I met with a small delegation from South Africa yesterday and the Deputy Minister, the bigwig, she said, “How did you do this folk art festival?” And I said, “darned if I know, really.” It’s become that kind of a theme that we can support and relish and make money oﬀ of that. But our history is what it is, and our diversity is here now. It’s especially acute with the immigrant population that we learn how to celebrate and welcome and enjoy diversity, and not be afraid of it and not try to say “I wish it was like it was in 1950,” because as soon as you say that, my friends from Tesuque can say, “I wish it was the way it was in 1609.”

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ach of us has a story. To share our personal and collective stories is to share our Humanity. At the heart of our human story are creative strategies for survival collected over thousands of generations. Our hominid ancestors became Human because they chose to solve problems collectively and develop mutually beneﬁcial relationships with many “others.” In time we learned that, despite our differences, ultimately we’re all in this together.

and how much they wanted to be like us. They wanted what they saw on TV, and their favorite show was “Dallas.” They wanted big houses full of stuﬀ, swimming pools, lots of clothes and big cars just like us. Like most of us here, they didn’t realize this lifestyle is the least sustainable and most wasteful way of life on Earth. As I wrote then,

Our country was founded on this principle and it’s enshrined on our Great Seal: Out of many, One. E pluribus unum.

“…the failures of one culture have been sold as the fantasies for another.”

The Journey Home A Personal Story

on the Path to Sustainability

Diego Mulligan When I realized how much the “Myth of America” had inﬂuenced them, it made me start digging into our own notions of prosperity, happiness, success and ultimately sustainability. I began to see how much we had lost in our mad rush toward modern suburban consumerism. If we really want to make the world a better place, then we should lead by example and start here in our own nation and right in our own backyard. After over a decade exploring abroad, this compelled my personal journey home.

So what’s this got to do with our story today, or sustaining our future generations? Thirty Years Ago Back in the ‘70s I had the opportunity to travel and work in Europe and Africa. I explored how people in traditional villages survived and even thrived in the face of adversity such as changing climate, harsh weather, war and globalization. I heard stories of elders describing their lives, labors and loves. They talked about their land, how they got it, how they cared for it and how it supported them. I watched how they raised their kids, earned their livelihoods and incorporated new ideas into their traditional cultures.

So, the question I’ve been grappling with for twenty years since then is, “How do we restore our core values and reinvent The American Dream?”

Photo: KSFR

I witnessed how and why traditions matter, and what happens when they are lost. For example, I heard from both the Bedouins and city dwell-

ers in North Africa how much they admired the United States with our high standard of living,

A New Story What if we began by creating a new story, imagining a sustainable future built on tradition, yet open to innovation without becoming seduced by corporatism? Was there a way to include thousands of people from all over the country, each with their own piece of the story, and share this wisdom with our local and global community? And from there could we develop new models that demonstrate these values and define these new relationships between people, profit and planet? Could we actually do this on the ground, with diverse stakeholders each with real needs, aspirations, resources and fears, and in a way that would appeal to Mainstream Americans? In answer to these questions I began a two-pronged approach: 1) Create a daily radio program that told the new stories of sustainable culture; and 2) Establish a new nonprofit organization devoted to move communities toward sustainability.

In addition to being the afternoon drivetime anchor on KSFR-FM 90.7, Diego Mulligan is the father of two children with his wife Jennifer. He is founder and executive director of the New Village Institute. Diego may be contacted at: DiegoRadio@aol.com.

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22 My reasoning was simple. Communicating the new story was key, and radio is a great medium for storytelling; plus radio was my first career so I knew the ropes. I’d also had a lot of experience working with nonprofits in sustainable community development, so I knew quite a bit about land restoration, community economics and grassroots eco-village projects. I’d also made just about every mistake possible in these areas, so I knew many of my own weaknesses and what could go wrong. Ten Years Later After a decade the strategy seems to be working. The Journey Home Radio Show is now in it’s tenth year on KSFR-FM 90.7, Santa Fe Public Radio, produced live every weekday afternoon from 4:08 to 6:00 PM Mountain Time, and streamed Worldwide on the Web. The show gives us all a window to the outside world, with expert guests offering insights into what’s working in the world … and why. We cover everything connected to creating a Sustainable Culture, within a context of a world that’s teetering on the edge between breakdown and breakthrough (and actually doing both simultaneously) depending on where you’re looking. I’ve used this platform to explore the emergence of what I’m calling the regional “Sustainability Sector,” spotlighting the people and initiatives growing around Santa Fe. This helps us appreciate what each other is doing and helps connect us all together. Our prominent national and international guests provide essential outside pollination. Their ideas serve to inform and inspire, and help us adapt and cultivate innovations from the global garden here in our own backyard. I also ensure our local success stories get the coverage they deserve. New Village Institute (NVI) I founded this new nonprofit organization with the general mission of cultivating sustainable community, livelihood, technology and culture. Sounds great, eh? But what’s really interesting is that NVI stemmed from a unique opportunity to provide education, technical assistance and guidance to the real world developer, future residents and local builders who are creating a new village. NVI’s task is to find practical solutions to some very specific challenges faced in creating this actual Sustainable Community model that can be embraced by mainstream Americans, and the institutions that control the patterns of economic and real estate development. Personally I’ve been pushing for ecological village communities for over 25 years, because I think they provide the best chance to solve so many social, economic and environmental problems all at once. And therein also lies one big reason they haven’t gone mainstream.

EcoVillages and Sustainable Communities are very hard to actually build in the real world where financial institutions and deep pockets call the shots. Most often full value is not accorded to homes that save energy or water. In a world where profits are privatized and problems are externalized, the many long-term benefits of sound design are not valued as much as short-term ROI (return on investment). Add to that the complexities of mixing residential with commercial uses such as local retail, artisan and light industrial (all required to create a true village), plus the innovative “sustainability systems” for water and energy conservation, Green Building, ecological land-use planning and local food production, all within a legal and zoning environment meant to separate the functions of life… and it’s way more than even most socially-minded developers can handle. This is where a nonprofit organization like NVI can make a difference. By educating people about why sustainability is a good thing, and why a walkable village is better than a suburban subdivision, and how a Green Building will benefit both the occupants and the planet ecologically and financially, the homebuyers market will support this positive change. The NVI Green Team, headed by former EcoVersity dean Amy Pilling, is working with Oshara Village, a new sustainable community now under construction on 470 acres on Richards Ave. between Santa Fe Community College and I-25. As a “place based” project involving a wide diversity of stakeholders - each with practical, not just theoretical concerns - Oshara Village provides a great opportunity to gather data and discover insights on building and sustaining a healthy community. Here is one place a new story can be told, and where some small steps toward a positive future are unfolding. Stay tuned, and enjoy the journey. Resources www.KSFR.org (listen live 24 x 7) www.JourneyHomeRadio.com www.NewVillageInstitute.org www.OsharaVillage.com

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24 “Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi “Now!”

- Carolyn Parrs

fter an hour and thirtytwo minutes of what felt like doom and gloom, the movie screen faded to black. I was frozen solid. Unlike the Greenland ice sheet that is melting two times faster than just five years ago. Global warming. So what do I do now? What do WE all do? Everyone sitting in this theater? Everyone everywhere? The time between fade-to-black and the fade-up of Al Gore’s simple and singular messages of hope seemed endless. But thankfully they arrived. And, for me, the most important part of his film, “Inconvenient Truth,” began, thirty seconds from the end. The first message read:

Greening the Trenches Carolyn Parrs

Are you ready to change the way you live? For me, it doesn’t get any more basic than this. Am I willing to change? To do my part - however insigniﬁcant it seems? Just seconds before the next message scrolled across the screen, this is what scrolled across the movie in my mind:

Carolyn Parrs is the co-owner of Mind Over Markets, a Santa Fe marketing/business development company dedicated to helping green companies and organizations grow. She is also a holistic life and business coach, helping women, men and teens live the lives they were born to live. 505-989-4004 or Carolyn@MindOverMarkets.com www.MindOverMarkets.com

But I am already committed to green living. After all, I bought a relatively “green” house. I eat organic. The skin cream I slather on each day doesn’t contain parabens or any artiﬁcial ingredients. And haven’t I recently taken up the habit of picking up at least ﬁve pieces of garbage a day in parking lots and Santa Fe streets? Even my kids love this “I Spy” game. (My husband, however, is suspicious of the Colt 45 bottles in the trunk of my car). Before I could squeeze in another thought, the next message slid by: Here’s what you can do: What followed was a montage of messages like, “Tell your parents not to ruin the world you will live in.” I have to admit, this one still chokes me up. So? What now? What can I really do to slow down the carbon dioxide emissions that are thinning

our atmosphere? And what about the current threat to water down the certiﬁcation criteria for organics so more big businesses can get into the action? And whatever happened to the electric car? According to the Roper Green Gauge study, more than 50% of Americans want to do something, and would do it if they only knew what and how. This is where we can all get immobilized. Or… Thoroughly charged. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead Rarely does anything change from the top down. It all happens in the trenches. And that’s you and me and a million other Americans speaking out and making it happen in our own, unique way. What is needed is not just big solutions but many people doing small things that add up to big things. When enough people reach a critical mass of consciousness and don’t leave it for the next guy to do, then real change happens. It always does. “If enough minds are changed, we cross a threshold,” Al proclaims in “Inconvenient Truth”. “We have everything we need -- but political will. But that’s a renewable resource.” From your mouth to God’s ears, Al. After all, this whole green thing isn’t about right versus left. It’s about right versus wrong. So here is what I have committed to do: America the Green Being a communicator, marketer and life/business coach, I have created a forum with a couple of fabulously committed partners-in-green, Irv Weinberg and John Biethan, that is meant to wake up and inspire people across our beautiful country to green up their lives. The forum is in the form of podcasts at AmericaTheGreen.com.

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26 Each week we speak up and out with green business leaders, forward thinkers and people like you from sea to shining sea. Here you can ﬁnd out how others are greening up their businesses, homes and hearts, being the change they want to see in the world. But that’s just me. Here’s what Beth Walker is doing in Centennial, Colorado… The Green Team Every week, she and an inspired group of citizens have committed to get together to advance the greening of their com-

planet into proﬁts and in turn became an industry leader in healthy home improvement. Don’t you just love it! Check out www.bioshieldpaints.com. Now What About You? What are you willing to commit to right now that will have a permanent, positive impact on our environment? What is the one thing that you know for sure you are really good at? Now, how can you morph that skill and creatively use it to have a lasting impact on the environment in your home, your community, your world? And have it be fun too? What are you willing to do to advance that idea today? Will you commit to emailing me your action step? If you’re stuck for ideas, visit my website at AmericaTheGreen. com or www.ClimateCrisis. com. But I have a sneaking feeling you know in your gut what you can uniquely do right now that you would really shine at. Trust that. And tell me about it so I can tell the world. Big or small. Soft or steely. Extravagant or extra simple. No action is insigniﬁcant.

munity through environmental awareness and stewardship. How it works is each person in their Green Team heads up a project in one of five resource areas: water, energy, solid waste, chemicals and transportation. The Green Team then meets regularly on what’s being done and not done in their community. Then they make it happen. It is said that graduates in their programs save between 10%-30% in each area – as well as a fair amount of money. And the best part is Green Team is a nationwide educational movement. To form one in your community or neighborhood, check out GreenTeamProject. org. For Rudolf and Amrita Reitz in Santa Fe, their greening goes back over 20 years with… BioShield Healthy Living Paints. Being a true pioneer, Rudolf has been greening homes, buildings and businesses across the country for a long, long time with non-toxic paints, floor finishes and cleaning products. Here’s a couple that turned their passion for people and the

We are but one species of an incredibly complex interrelationship of ﬂora and fauna. We belong to the Earth. The Earth does not belong to us. It’s not hopeless and it’s not a foregone conclusion that’s its all over and too late. Just do your little acts of environmentalism and spread the word. As Mother Teresa once said, “There are no great things. Only small things with great Love.” With that, I am happy to report that Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed all his Hummers into storage. See, anything is possible.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

tanding serenely in one corner of the greenhouse, the San Pedro cactus is sharp in all the right places, and then some. Every morning it is best to give it a deferential nod, and then go about other business, always keeping a safe distance between ﬂesh and thorns. And then one day, out of the blue, are huge white trumpet shaped ﬂowers bursting out of the branches, so lovely as to make witnesses overlook the spikes and reach out to the petals in gasps of delight. The sudden blooming of the San Pedro is a sweet reminder of what life can be – unexpected, beautiful, wondrous and endlessly triumphant.

Thankfully, in ever widening circles, people are ﬁnding new ways to contemplate the beauty of the earth and at the same time learn the skills they need to improve the quality of life for themselves and their communities, human and non-human. People are gathering, whether in eco-villages or chat rooms, and are recognizing that fundamental changes need to happen. They are beginning to articulate what these changes will look and feel like, and in what direction we want and need them to take us. People are beginning to reject fractured

Students of Fundamental Change

The EcoVersity

It is those gasps of delight that often seem to be missing from modern daily life and obligations. For many people, the relationship to life in its many raw forms and stages, whether thorny or ﬂowery, hides under the swivel chair in the cubicle and seems to get paved over by another road. It’s hard to ﬁnd at the local grocery store and it certainly isn’t on channel 20 or 25. This pervasive lack of understanding and sense of connectedness to cycles bigger than the human species, cycles of change and renewal in time and space, from planetary to ecosystem to individual levels can leave us feeling out of touch. Our basic needs of food, shelter, water, energy and interaction may be technically met and are often overcompensated for materially, and yet most often we do not even know which mechanisms are involved in sustaining us, and this leaves us feeling powerless and wondering about our existence. As Rachel Carson

noted, “those who contemplate the beauty of the earth ﬁnd reserves of strengths that will endure as life lasts.” This seems especially relevant in the face of serious global threats such as climate change.

communities, unstable economies, non-renewable resources, untrustworthy political structures and polluted environments. They are instead embracing lifestyles that reconnect us to the basic experiences that make us feel alive, such as cultivating the land and growing our own food, interacting with nature, learning about the patterns of life and the landscape and forging supportive bonds again with our human community. These real basic needs and skills are the ones that provide us with the power and strength necessary to withstand changes we may not choose and a future we may not be able to predict, but one we can try to shape.

Nora Saks & Heather Gaudet

These circles are forming across the country and around the world. The gathering places are popping up not on remote mountain tops but often right down the street. In fact, one such gathering place happens to be right in our midst, right in the heart of Santa Fe across from the Allsups on Agua Fria Street. It is called EcoVersity. EcoVersity is a small and dynamic educational and resource center where people come to feel good about life again, on small and grand scales, and to gain the knowledge about themselves and their surroundings necessary to start enacting these changes at home and in their communities. For some people, that means taking charge of their health by growing their very own backyard medicine chest of herbs.

Nora Saks, the summer gardening intern at Ecoversity, had help and inspiration from Heather Gaudet, former admissions counselor and program director. Ecoversity is located at 2639 Agua Fria Street and is open to the public Tuesday through Friday. 424-9797

Photo: Ecoversity

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30 For others, it might mean learning how to communicate with more authenticity in a Naka-Ima, or Heart of Now, class. And for others still, it might mean learning how to build a rainwater catchment cistern to provide water during our (sometimes) hot and dry New Mexico summers. The various courses and programs offered at Ecoversity exist to teach people that these connections to life can be found everywhere, under just about any heading, and that they are not as far removed as we have come to think. In addition, learning a few small techniques can often have big implications and far reaching effects. For example, a student who learns how to plant a food forest may get active in larger issues of local food security. For those at EcoVersity, the point is to do what you can where you are, whether that means having a rosemary plant on your apartment balcony or building your own off the grid straw-bale house. Real change occurs as all sorts of people start to learn and act in ways that respect and support the processes needed to sustain life for all who call this planet home. This is ultimately a reflection of a greater awareness of human activity and its interconnectedness to the web of all life.

EcoVersity is a thriving demonstration site of the many ways we can start to rework lifestyles and mindsets, challenge routines and perceptions, and evaluate what we want out of interactions with human and non-human communities, all the while turning problems into solutions. Locals and passersby alike are invited to walk around and meet the staff, visit the gardens, animals, bee circle, library, classrooms, yurts and composting toilets to see and sense for themselves how the pieces fit together. Volunteer garden parties, potlucks and free events are aimed at integrating Ecoversity into the larger and diverse community of Santa Fe. From attending a lecture on Gandhian non-violence to participating in the tenweek Earth Based Vocations program, students can decide what is right for them. For many people, coming to the Ecoversity is like finding a piece of home, or at least a bright arrow pointing in the right direction. It is an ever-changing place where one can discover new ways to celebrate life, ways that are compelling and deserving of a closer look. In these circles that are growing, we are growing too.

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Sustainable Santa Fe

anta Fe and the northern New Mexico area have long been a center for sustainable design and building methods. Centuries of “green” building by Native Americans and Hispanics have allowed people to build with sustainable practices and live comfortably with modest resources. As New Mexico has grown with successive waves of newcomers, interest in green and sustainable building methods has remained high. The 1970s were an especially rich and lively time in the advancement of green building, with people combining tried-and-true practices with emerging

architects and builders with the intention of bringing sound green ideas and practices to the general public. The classes have been oﬀered every semester, three times each year. Robin and her partner Dan Clavio teach the classes with the help of experts who bring working knowledge and practical, hands-on expertise to each class. For instance, local water system designer Richard Jennings helps with the Water Harvesting/Recycling class, while builder Danny Buck discusses numerous green building methods he’s worked with over the years, and contractor Jim Cebak shares his experiences of 30 years building homes.

Classes in Sustainable Building at SFCC: Bringing Green to the People Dan Clavio

ideas and technologies. The growing enthusiasm in the ﬁeld weakened signiﬁcantly, however, in the 1980s when solar tax credits were dropped by the government. Still, interest remained high, particularly among “owner-builders” – those “do-it-yourselfers” who wanted to design and build their own home. But other than the odd (and random) workshop or books in the building section at the library or bookstore, where could someone learn about current (and old) sustainable building practices and methodology in Santa Fe? Fortunately, the founder of a Santa Fe-based network of architects and builders stepped up to the plate with the idea of bringing smart design and building practices to the public through classes at Santa Fe Community College.

Dan Clavio is an educator, arts administrator and designer. He helps artisans and small businesses ﬁnd customers through the web site ComeOnHome.biz and helps clients and building services connect through ADC Referral Service.

The “Building and Design” series in SFCC’s Continuing Education department was established in 1997. This series of evening classes on well-designed energyeﬃcient homes, water harvesting and recycling, alternative building methods and the design and build process has been one of the most successful and longest running series offered at SFCC. Robin Dorrell, director of ADC Referral in Santa Fe, designed the series with the input of many of our region’s best and brightest

The classes appeal to a wide range of locals who are considering building or remodeling. Some “hope to build” in a vague future timeframe, while others are ready to start next month. Classes are generally attended by a real cross-section of Santa Feans; attendees may include a rancher, a young couple just starting a family, an aﬄuent businessman, a local school teacher, a retired couple new to town, a doctor and a couple of local builders. All have dreams of the perfect house for them, and despite a range of budgets, all wish

to be smart with their design and wise in their use of resources. All walk away from the classes inspired - and perhaps a bit overwhelmed - by the ideas they’ve been exposed to. The classes were planned as a response to northern

33 New Mexico’s drought issues as well as affordability and sustainability. Specific topics include: • Water Harvesting & Recycling: Water budgets; stormwater, graywater and blackwater; collection, storage and distribution systems; international practices. • Great Southwestern Design for Energy Efficiency: Passive solar principles; southwestern architectural styles; thermal gain and mass; massing; layering of space; light and shadow; texture; color; indoor-outdoor living spaces. • Alternative Building Methods: Energy efficiency principles; thermal mass and insulation; adobe; straw bale; pumice-crete; insulated concrete forms; autoclaved aerated concrete; rammed earth construction. • Guide To Successful Building: Budgets; hard and soft construction costs; the design process; working with an architect; the building process; working with a contractor.

The long-term success of the classes, based on continued interest and enrollment, has shown SFCC how important these issues are to the community. During the first few years, these sustainable building classes were grouped in the “Do-It-Yourself ” section of their catalog along with quilting and sewing, hardly a fit. Currently the classes run under a designated “Home and Garden” section, which makes more sense. In order to better serve the increased interest in green issues in our community, SFCC has recently started a for-credit multi-class program in several sustainability areas through their new Center for Community Sustainability. Certification programs include energy and water conservation technologies. As always, these classes are affordable and open to the public. Registration is through Santa Fe Community College at www. sfccnm.edu or 505-428-1000. These classes are being offered again in Spring and Summer 2007.

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Sustainable Santa Fe

ne summer afternoon I was sitting on my porch admiring the soft light of the evening sunset. I bent my head over the back of my chair and could see peeking over the top of my house a glowing white cloud framed by a silver lining. In front of me, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains were also glowing in the soft light of the evening sunset, turning the pink and purple colors they tend toward at that time of day. It was a peaceful summer afternoon in Santa Fe. As I turned back to my newspaper, a huge crash of thunder ﬁlled my ears. My heart skipped a beat from the intensity. I stood up to see what was going on behind the house blocked from my view. The silver lining cloud was actually a huge, somewhat ominous thundercloud which had been creeping up on the neighborhood for quite sometime, unbeknownst to me.

pare ourselves to deal with the unknown? Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth began ﬂashing in my mind. The eﬀect global warming will have on our lives remains largely unknown. Would this movie help people see their blind spots? How many young people went to see the movie? How do we prepare young people for the environmental and social challenges they are inheriting? If we admit that we cannot know or see every cloud coming, how do we educate in such a world? What skills, knowledge and ways of thinking will serve young people in the future? How can the next generation engage in creating the future, today? Answering

Creating Thriving, Just and Sustainable

Communities through Education

Suddenly another thunder crash ﬁlled my ears, this time from the direction of the Sangre de Cristos. A menacing black cloud had rolled up from the east, blocked from my view by the mountains. The black

cloud covered the entire mountain range and was rolling out in my direction, raining, thundering and crashing lightning bolts into the ground. Blind spots. I began to ponder what else might be lurking in my blind spots unknown to me, or, more dangerously, unknown to anyone. What are the proverbial thunderclouds that are soon to aﬀect my proverbial summer afternoons? Or, to state the question another way, how can we pre-

and living these questions is what informs sustainability education and the work of Earth Care International (Earth Care).

Christina Selby

Earth Care educates and supports young people in creating a thriving, just and sustainable world. It builds a foundation of understanding in four mutually reinforcing areas – environment, community, economy, and culture – and how they interrelate. But different from Al Gore, we don’t solely focus on the technical solutions and answers. Instead, Earth Care prepares young people to face the unknown lurking in their blind spots by developing two capacities: how to think, and how to engage people with diverse perspectives to increase our collective view of the world. The first capacity, how to think, includes developing an understanding of the complexity of relationships and the interconnected nature of the world and the issues we face. Einstein said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved with the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Earth Care students learn to think in new ways by uncovering and examining how they think (paradigms) and how that thinking shapes their behavior and actions, their relationships with nature and each other, and their participation in community, governance and economic systems. Students explore how paradigms (theirs and others ) do or do not contribute to the health and sustainability of our communities. The exploration of how to think about the world rather than what to think about it allows students to learn how to

Christina Selby is the co-founder and Program Director for Earth Care International.

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36 turn problems into opportunities, to identify what they are passionate about and to develop a capacity to tap into their passion and engage their communities and the world in sustainable change. The second capacity includes inviting and engaging people with diverse perspectives in order to gain a broader view of “reality.” Learning how to engage people to create shared visions and understandings is no easy task, but is one that will allow us to create a future for our communities far richer than anything that could have been achieved alone. Engaging Earth Care students at the Academy for people across Technology and the Classics charter school. boundaries and perspectives in building sustainable communities requires us to create processes that break down systems of privilege to allow all cultures to participate equally in dialog, decision-making and in the shaping of their own futures. Creating sustainability requires a process of change that engages all those who can broaden our collective understanding of local and cultural contexts, needs, priorities, the land and the local ecology. It is by exploring and learning new ways of thinking as well as engaging with and inviting diverse perspectives that Earth Care prepares young people to meet the challenges of the 21st Century with creativity, time-honored wisdom, innovation, inclusivity and most importantly, with hope. This is the basis for all of Earth Care’s programs, which support “young people creating tomorrow today.” Programs One World Coffee and Trade is a youth-led coffeehouse, created by a group of thirty students from all area high schools. One World educates about sustainable business: one that is environmentally and socially responsible, and contributes to the improvement of the global community. It also serves as a center for young people to educate the community about sustainability through public events and the educational experience the coffeehouse provides to all who frequent it. Youth Allies for Sustainability serves as a forum where young people from various cultures can work together to address community needs and educate the community about sustainability,

diversity, youth issues and in creating change. Participants take on leadership roles in their communities by serving on nonproﬁt boards, city commissions, educational committees, by organizing and leading public educational events, while receiving on-going support and mentoring from peers and adults. Sustainable Santa Fe: A Resource Guide is produced by young people and adults. Teenagers sell advertising, participate in the development of the design, select and edit articles, interview community members and help identify the criteria used to evaluate advertisers, organizations and businesses for sustainability and inclusion in the Guide. Sustainability Courses oﬀered at high schools in Santa Fe allow students to explore sustainability in depth over the course of a full school year. These courses include “real world” experience engaging the community in sustainable change. Earth Care educators have taught at Monte del Sol, Academy for Technology and the Classics, Santa Fe Waldorf High School and Santa Fe Secondary schools. Courses have included Health, History, Science, Economics and Government. Earth Care International is one of many organizations in Santa Fe that are helping to create a sustainable future for our community. We hope that all young people in Santa Fe can be supported in dealing with the clouds hiding behind the mountains, since it is their future, and their sunny afternoons that we are creating through our actions today.

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n 1991, Native Seed/ SEARCH, a non-proﬁt seed conservation organization based in Tucson, Arizona, conducted a survey of Native American farmers in Arizona and New Mexico to learn about how they were faring in the struggle to maintain their crops, land, water and way of life. Sixty-two farming and gardening families on seventeen reservations and pueblos responded. The survey revealed that as a result of various socio-economic pressures, native agriculture has clearly been in a downward cycle. Moreover, native farmers were aﬄicted with a startling lack of

rors a decline in the physical health of our people. Most of our Native communities are experiencing a health crisis from poor diet and nutrition. Heart ailments are on the rise. Diabetes is more than twice the national average. Most contemporary health programs address the symptoms, not the causes. This has also impacted many of our other social programs. TNAFA’s approach is to rebuild our communities, literally from the ground up. Each growing season provides us with an opportunity to help existing farmers and interest new young farmers in the tradition of agriculture, land care and healthy lifestyles. Even though our area (the southwestern United States) has been going through 10 years of drought, we have seen a marked increase in interest in organic farming with our communities’ members. TNAFA’s programs have contributed to an increasing number of people farming for home, community and commercially.

Community Building through

Agriculture for Indigenous Communities interest from their own communities. Few of their young people saw farming as a viable profession.

Clayton Brascoupe

As a result of the survey, an intertribal meeting of “traditional” family-scale farmers was convened,

Indigenous peoples have faced social, economic and cultural oppression over generations. Native leadership and elders have spoken of the reclamation of our cultures and control over our daily lives as the way to rebuild our communities. They have also advocated traditional agriculture as the foundation of this rebuilding process. TNAFA states it this way: Healthy soils = healthy food = healthy people = healthy communities. Rebuilding our traditional agricultural practices, protecting our land, water and seed is also a way of maintaining our native sovereignty. Clayton Brascoupe with corn harvest at Tesuque Pueblo

Clayton Brascoupe (Mohawk Algonquin), Program Director of TNAFA, is a farmer, artist and permaculturalist. He has designed and developed traditional, organic and sustainable agricultural programs for indigenous communities in North and Central America for the past 15 years. He lives with his family at Tesuque Pueblo.

and from that, the Traditional Native Farmers Association (TNAFA) was formed. Since 1992, TNAFA has been working to reverse the decline of native family farms by developing educational programs that demonstrate sustainable agriculture. Educating farmers and youth in traditional, community scale organic farming will ensure a future in agriculture and a healthy community. Our mission “to revitalize traditional agriculture for spiritual and human need” impacts social, economic, cultural and health problems in our communities. Agriculture has always been the basis of our culture and economy. The decline in farming mir-

It is our traditional belief that each person plays an important role in the health of his or her community and that this strengthens the community. When each person fulﬁlls their responsibility, harmony is found in the community. TNAFA works with its membership and communities through this approach. Our programs train individuals to become teachers, guides and examples within their own families and communities. By working with key individuals within communities, we are working to restore and continue an unbroken tradition of agriculture. All TNAFA programs are co-sponsored with community organizations. Communities that invite us to assist with the development of agricultural projects are required to invest time and other resources in the program. All TNAFA programs are devel-

39 Advertising · Invitations · Illustrations · Branding · Publications Designer of your Sustainable Santa Fe Resource Guide

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fwgraphics@earthlink.net · 505 660 9678

A Resource Guide 2007

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Becket DeChant certified arborist 505 699 7007

Matt Aronoff climbing arborist 505 982 8718 Professional tree care solutions for Santa Feâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high desert climate Climbing, Technical rigging, Removals, Installations & Pruning with a Strong Sense of Aesthetics Remember, Winter is the time to prune your fruit trees!

oped through a variety of input from its membership, staﬀ and Board of Directors. Program design and content is discussed at length with elder farmers and other leaders in the communities. During workshops and meetings we ask our membership what type of programs they would like, what their priorities are, and how TNAFA can help. We also use evaluations of participants to make adjustments to programs if need be. We work with all members of our communities – young, old, male and female. We have developed speciﬁc programs for women and youth from consultations from our membership. Most contemporary agricultural programs have focused on agribusiness type models, often overlooking farmers already in the community and not developing the interest of our youth. TNAFA, on the other hand, sees family-oriented farming is the best approach in developing a sound agricultural future. This approach also helps strengthen family ties. There was a study done which showed that when a family ate at least one meal together, the children were less likely to get into trouble, did better in school and tended to stay away from drugs or alcohol. TNAFA contends that if these children also participated in growing a portion of these meals, these positive ties would be strengthened even more.

TNAFA’s Programs • Corn processing for home use (traditional foods/nutrition) • Community “seed library” workshops (methods of storing and growing for seed) • Seed distribution (free seed and information about seed) • Home gardening workshops (garden design, composting, organic methods, irrigation, drip irrigation, etc.) • Traditional Agricultural/Permaculture Design Course (12 day course on sustainable community design) • Youth in agriculture (developing youth garden projects) • Other workshops (marketing traditional crops, packaging, value added crops, growing herbs) Since 1996 TNAFA has been an Aﬃliate Program of the Seventh Generation Fund for Native Development, a nonproﬁt 501(c)(3). For more information, see the Seventh Generation Fund web site: www.7genfund.org Contact us at: Traditional Native American Farmers Association PO Box 31267 Santa Fe, NM 87594 505-983-4047, email: cbrascoupe@yahoo.com

TNAFA’s Objectives • To reverse the decline in traditional, family-scale farming among the community by developing educational programs that demonstrate sustainable agriculture • To demonstrate and train communities and youth in a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture based upon community ethics and traditions • To help the community access heirloom/traditional seeds • To educate the community on traditional seed saving and the Students building spiral rock garden Genetically Engineered Melanie Kirby from Tortugas Pueblo learns beekeeping.

Photos: TNAFA

Tradtional Agriculture / Permaculture Design Course 2006

(GE), Genetically Modiﬁed Organism (GMO) threat to our traditional seed heritage • To identify local resources for agriculture such as compost materials, plants and herbs, water supplies, farmers, markets, etc. • To revive and restore a sustainable economic base through organic agriculture for our youth

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Sustainable Santa Fe

he word acequia originated in Yemen. Acequias apparently were ﬁrst used in the Indus Valley. From there, this type of irrigation was taken to the Middle East where it ﬂourished along the Nile. It was then imported to Andalucía in southern Spain, where the Arabs used some of the old abandoned Roman infrastructure, which had been used primarily to take water for urban use, to make the rural areas blossom. From there this knowledge came to Mexico, where it appears it was taught to the Tlaxcaltecans by the Franciscan priests who incorporated their native knowledge of irrigation and brought it up the Camino Real to what is now New Mexico. It appears it was the Tlaxcalas who laid out many of the acequias in New Mexico, for there were 400 Tlaxcalan families that came with Oñate and only 129 criollos, mestizos and penisulars - mostly men - who also made the journey north. So the acequias of northern New Mexico appear to be a blend of Arab knowledge and ingenuity along with Tlaxcalan know-how and labor (along with Native people) that produced the sophisticated and complex irrigation system we have today. Acequias, it is said, are the most democratic institutions in this country, and it’s true. When compared with a precinct, an acequia is far more democratic because it represents far fewer people and the fewer people, the more democratic an institution. Take, for example, the acequias within the Embudo land grant. There are two precincts to take care of all the voters during elections, Democrats

and Republicans, Greens, Independents, etc. But this same land grant is home to sixteen acequias, most of which are historic; that is, they predate the 1907 water code. Each acequia, those that have at least four parciantes or water-rights owners, must have bylaws, a three member elected commission and a mayordomo who is usually elected by the parciantes. Due to people not using their land for agriculture anymore, as the villages are becoming bedroom communities, some acequias have dropped by the wayside. In Embudo, the Acequia de la Nasa, watered with the sobrante or excess water of the Acequia Junta y Cienega, hasn’t

Acequia Democracy had water in several years. The concept of sobrante is part of the acequia democracy, as is auxilio, the sharing of the water with others less fortunate. The Acequia de la Bolsa also abandoned their traditional point of diversion as did the Acequia de las Rinconada, and now the property owners pump the water directly from the Rio Grande. These two latter ones are also less democratic because they no longer are traditional acequias because the rituals have fallen by the wayside. But what makes the acequias democratic more than any other institution, is that they share the water to the last drop. This concept, called equidad or equality, comes directly from the Qur’an. Under Muslim law, possibly because it evolved in the desert, people must never deny water to another being. To proportion water to other beings including animals and plants is considered a limosna piadosa (zakat), a pious charity. This concept has been practiced here forever. My grandfather, I am told (I was born after he died), always had a trough full of water for travelers and their animals. Our people never thought of selling water. Another aspect of the democracy of water is that it could never be severed from the land because, as the saying goes, “el agua es la sangre de la tierra,” water is the blood of the land. And water was always shared based on the amount of land one had; that’s where the concept of peones (a laborer) comes in. A peon can be broken down to quarters. Usually a quarter peon meant the person had one acre of land to irrigate, and it was divided based on the twenty-four hour day. Therefore, a quarter

Estevan Arellano

Estevan Arellano is a fruit grower and writer from Embudo. He is also a columnist for the Taos News and his latest work, Ancient Agriculture, a translation of Obra de Agricultura by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, published in 1513 and the ﬁrst agricultural book in the Spanish language, will be published in English for the ﬁrst time by Ancient City Press.

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44 would be six hours, but if the water had to be shared (repartimiento), that six hours might equal only ﬁfteen minutes. This also depended on the number of parciantes in a particular acequia, but again it was based on the amount of land irrigated by the acequia. Two other concepts besides repartimiento enter into making the culture of the acequias so democratic. One applied to food, el convite, from convivium, and the other to labor, cooperacion, cooperation in the true sense of the word, for an acequia is a worker-owned co-op. In a conversation with a person from the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain, a man told me, “no puede haber cooperativas sin cooperacion,” there can be no cooperative without cooperation, a very simple concept but one so diﬃcult to implement in this country of individualism. And the person in charge of administering the water, making sure everyone had water and didn’t abuse it was the sahib al-saqiya (the zabacequia or repartidor del agua), known in New Mexico as the mayordomo. In the Hispan o - Mu s l i m Native northern New Mexico corn and bean plants world, water does not belong to any one person or institution and has to be shared equally by those who need it. Of course the water was divided based on the amount of water in the river, then according to the amount of land each acequia irrigated, then based on the number of water users in each particular acequia.

to be repaired to get water ﬂowing again, or helping out the neighbors during the planting or harvesting. Just as water is shared, so is the labor, and those that have more land need more labor. Some might help with labor and others might take a plate of food to the workers. This means that when the harvest is in, everyone will also partake of the harvest, whether it’s with chicos (made of tender corn when it’s in the xilote stage), Acequia-irrigated chile hung to dry made in the horno, a piece of meat after the matanza (the ritual butchering of an animal) or for Lent, a special bowl of panocha (a sweet desert made of ground harina de triga enraizada, dried wheat sprouts). An acequia, then, is the epitome of democracy, whether it be how the commission and mayordomo are elected, based on one vote per person regardless of whether that person has one acre or twenty acres, democracy of food allocation or security where those that have provide for those that don’t, or in labor, where everyone cooperates from the spring cleaning to putting away the harvest. Three words that deﬁne acequia democracy are repartimiento, convite and cooperacion. When one of those is lacking, democracy begins to deteriorate. James Romero of JR Farms in Velarde at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market

An acequia also promotes food democracy based on the concept of convite. As my mom would say when she would prepare a special plate, she would tell me to go take a plate to my aunt or some special person, “dile que aqui le convido aunque sea un poquito” (“tell her that I am sharing even if only a small portion.”) Probably the ultimate of the convite philosophy was the “gueso guisandero,” a bone that was shared in times of very scarce resources to at least give the taste of meat to a gravy or seasoned dish. This bone, it is said, was passed from house to house. Then, of course, there’s the democracy of labor, known as cooperacion in the workings of an acequia, whether it’s the annual spring cleaning, or after a ﬂood when an acequia needs

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hat does it take to transform a progressive-minded community such as Santa Fe into a sustainable one? I propose that the challenge lies in how to create what I’ll call “social sustainability.” In a socially sustainable society, members - young and old alike - are truly healthy. Few act out in socially unacceptable ways - destroying property or harming living things (in-

Birthing the Future

A Missing Piece in the Puzzle of Sustainable Santa Fe?

cluding themselves). Social sustainability demands that everyone feel a fundamental connection to both our earthly mother and our mother earth. A sustainable community, by deﬁnition, has wellbonded families. Everyone cares about the needs of others beyond their kin. Children and adults are at ease in their bodies, creative and comfortable tackling whatever problems arise. A high level of wellness for all life on this planet is necessary for genuine sustainability. We are putting together a sustainability puzzle, the kind you and I might have played as kids on a rainy weekend, sitting around a table with family or friends. Completing a puzzle requires having all the pieces and being able to put them all in place.

Suzanne Arms

Suzanne Arms is author of seven books including Immaculate Deception, named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, producer of a film, cofounder of a birth center and is currently working on a documentary. She is founder of Birthing The Future, a 501c3 nonprofit creating model projects that embody the finest of ancient wisdom and modern knowledge about caring for mothers and babies from preconception to age one. www.BirthingTheFuture.org, Suzanne: 970-884-4090.

“Germination”, Cynthia West, oil on linen

47 I propose that sustainability is all about being connected and making connections between seemingly unrelated things. The piece I see missing from this puzzle is what I call birth: all the experiences and perceptions a person has from pre-conception to their first birthday. This piece will reverse the tide of chronic illness, disease, addiction, emotional and learning disabilities in our children and violence. Transforming the way we care for mothers and babies is the shortest path to accomplishing this! The industrialization of birth, motherhood and baby care has dramatically changed the nature of being born and being a mother. Just as the industrialization of farming degrades and pollutes the soil in which our food grows, high-tech birth degrades and pollutes the soil in which human beings develop. There are so many reasons why birth is an issue closely linked to all aspects of sustainability. Many of us were born unnaturally, with lots of drugs in our bodies, or pulled out with forceps or vacuumed out with suction or cut out by cesarean, then separated from our mothers, and if you were a boy circumcised. Afterwards, we were nourished bottle-fed artificial formula and spent weekdays in daycare. We slept alone. So life began. The nature of our experience at the beginning of life lays down the pattern for how we experience relationships and our sense of connection with our self, everyone and everything. A growing body of scientific evidence, supported by ancient tribal and cross-cultural wisdom, says much of what we believe to be innate or genetically determined was “hard-wired” from our experiences at the beginning of life. This includes basic traits how hopeful and optimistic or anxious and lonely we are. Patterns laid down as our nervous systems and brains were developing continues to affect whether or not we can creatively and confidently take action. The modern American way of birthing sets us up to feel isolated, disconnected, anxious and ill at ease in our bodies. It also sets us up to need hyper-stimulation. Look at the num-

ber of people who regularly engage in high-risk behaviors (e.g. drug abuse), the high rate of suicides among teenagers, the number of people who are anti-social. Consider the enormous percentage of our population now incarcerated or taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. More than ever, we need to create children, teens and adults who function well in society. Healthy, happy human beings do not destroy the earth. They honor and protect it. In a sustainable community birth will be handled very differently. It will begin with conscious conception and move to honoring every mother-baby pair (one biological system from pre-conception through age one). When women can have joyful experiences in birth that truly empower them, they are more likely to be both fiercely protective and deeply nurturing mothers. These women (and eventually their children) will bring practical and resourceful energy to creating a Sustainable Santa Fe. Ancient wisdom and modern scientific evidence show us there is a practical way to create a healthy, sustainable society. I envision, as part of sustainable Santa Fe, 1) an independent Birthing Center for normal, natural childbirth, 2) long paid maternity leave for all mothers (adoptive too) and paternity leave, 3) a “Mothers’ B&B” for mothers and babies with birth trauma to be nurtured for up to 40 days, 4) “Grandmothers’ Circles” to honor older women and catalyze their energy by giving them a safe space to share their childbearing stories and encouraging them to support pregnant women and new mothers in Santa Fe, and 5) a Birthing Village – a retreat center to bring people from around the country to Santa Fe for experiential courses on such subjects as breaking the cycle of family dysfunction, detoxifying our bodies and minds, sacred sexuality, conscious conception, peaceful pregnancy, having the most natural normal birth possible, healing birth-related trauma and fully welcoming and bonding with our babies. Santa Fe can be a model for this country. Let’s begin at the beginning.

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here is a segment of our population that has been largely neglected and often outcast by our society because of stigma, sensationalism and mischaracterization by the media and because of fear. Ironically, these people, for the most part, are gentle and sensitive, intelligent and kind. They are people who are recovering from mental illness. In Santa Fe there are several thousand. Not long ago, I became aware of a program that is extraordinarily successful in helping people with this condition ﬁnd hope and health, and in many cases make their way back into the community as

Healing the Mind, Recovering

Our Sanity Catherine Hebenstreit

a contributing member of society. These programs are clubhouses, of which there are over 200 in the United States and over 400 worldwide. A group of local people is now working to create a Santa Fe Clubhouse based on this model.

Photo: Santa Fe Clubhouse

Mental illness is one of the leading causes of disability in the US and all too often results in debilitating personal and social problems such as poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, incarceration and suicide. This condition has no boundaries with respect to race, age, gender, geography, net worth, etc. The social and economic impact in our communities is devastating. Medications and therapy have become more eﬀective through the years but do not solve the problem by themselves. More must be done to facilitate recovery and rehabilitation of this vulnerable group. Catherine Hebenstreit is a Santa Fe businesswoman and mother of a son who is recovering from mental illness.

Clubhouses, starting with the Fountain House in New York City in 1948, have made a vast diﬀerence in the lives of many people. The members work side by side with the staﬀ to run the facili-

ties. The member-driven nature of the clubhouse model, which gives them active participation in all aspects of running the clubhouse, is central to their success. It fosters self-esteem, responsibility, and is central to the empowerment of the person. Clubhouses provide a healing and rehabilitative environment where people recovering from mental illnesses can find community, a sense of belonging, a daily purpose and productive employment. They follow a tried and true program that has evolved over nearly 60 years. One aspect of this program is the work-ordered day where members and staff share responsibility for the management and operation of the clubhouse. For instance, members and staff in partnership as a work unit prepare the lunch meal. Office work, reception, cleaning and gardening are examples of other work units. All of these work groups represent an opportunity to re-learn basic life skills. At the same time they receive training and preparation for working in the community. Members are mentored and guided by staff and other members in these jobs. The underlying belief of the work-ordered day is that regardless of a member’s disability, every member has a contribution to make that will assist with achieving the work necessary for clubhouse operation. The feeling of being needed, wanted and expected at the clubhouse gives members the message that they are important in getting the work done. This sense of contribution and belonging is very powerful and ultimately helps members increase their self-esteem and confidence. These activities take place in an environment conducive for members to “socialize” with their peers and staff both during the work ordered day and at periodic “after-hours” clubhouse-sponsored social and recreational activities. In addition to these activities, the clubhouse establishes relationships with community businesses to provide transitional and supported employment. Typically at any given time in a clubhouse, 45% of the average daily attendance will be out in the community working or in school. This type of service for some of the most disadvantaged members of our community is long overdue. The stigma around mental illness, the misguided notion that they are dangerous and the fear that prevents many of us from addressing the situation head on, has resulted in a shameful lack of services. Families are faced with the daunting and devas-

49 tating task of caring for their loved ones in isolation. Those without families ďŹ nd themselves being cared for by the prison system, which has neither the professional expertise nor the facilities for the job. On the street or hidden behind closed doors in their apartments, this segment of our population is living in a kind of dark ages. The solution to this problem takes an awakening into the awareness of the problem, a few good people and funding. Making the Santa Fe Clubhouse a reality will save lives and will bring back into our community the most atrisk adult population. Ultimately the long-term sustainability of our society relies on our ability to reintegrate disenfranchised persons and learn to nurture the needs of the whole community, not just the majority. Santa Fe needs this consumer driven recovery center, this â&#x20AC;&#x153;Clubhouseâ&#x20AC;? to help

people in recovery get back into life! If you are a person in recovery from a mental illness and would like to volunteer contact: Jim Fisher 505-204-1963 or sfnmjimbo@yahoo.com If you would like to make a donation, please contact Catherine Hebenstreit at 505-920-5830 or Cheb1@comcast.net.

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“Seasons of the Acequia”, oil on panel by Jim Vogel of Dixon, NM. (Blue Rain Gallery, Taos and Santa Fe) www.blueraingallery.com

Let us not just pay lip service to the word sustainability. The reality is that regardless of one’s political position, none of us are inseparable from the Earth or our biology. I only hope that as we desperately try to ﬁnd more equitable and just models for the revival of our battered democracy, local and beyond, we can all create new priorities rooted in Earth-centered values. A tall order, but we take one hopeful step at a time. – Matthew Ellis, Santa Fe Sustainable Network

Ecology Few things reveal the inherent connections between economy, society, environment and culture as much as our agricultural systems, regionally and globally. In recent years there has been a groundswell of grassroots resistance to pesticides that harm the environment and worker health, monocropping, genetically engineered seed, seed patenting and corporate domination of local cultures and economies around the globe. Farmers’ markets, slow food and organic food movements, backyard gardens and community bartering systems are beginning to shift the way our food is grown and how we live in communities. At a time when the overall number of farms in New Mexico is decreasing and the trend of American agriculture is toward agribusiness with larger corporate

& Land Ethic Agriculture, Food, Water

farms and fewer producers, Santa Fe and neighboring counties have seen an increase in small farms. Family farms involved in organic farming, horticulture and niche markets that sell directly to consumers utilize traditional skills, innovations and a deep appreciation for life on the land. The Agriculture Revitalization Initiative was formed recently to address concerns about the loss of agricultural land in New Mexico and to serve as a clearinghouse of information about ways to protect land that is under cultivation. The group’s first brainstorming meeting at the Santa Fe Business Incubator included about 40 farmers, ranchers, educators, county and state officials and staff

members of non-proﬁt organizations. With the high cost of farmland, owners are tempted to sell to developers. The group discussed how to prevent this, how to keep water rights with the land and put land not being farmed back in production. According to state law, a water right is subject to forfeiture when a person entitled to the use of water fails to apply water to beneﬁcial use for four or more years. The group also discussed the need for a database to match farmers with tools, machinery, labor, technical assistance, business planning, distribution and marketing. For more information about the Agriculture Revitalization Initiative, call Paul White: 505-988-1082 or Lynda Prim: 505-579-4386.

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Water From November 2005 through May 2006, seventeen locations in New Mexico endured the driest months ever recorded. Just 1.2 inches of rain was reported in Santa Fe. The old record was 1.65 inches in 1903-04. In addition, Santa Fe experienced ten days of record-high temperatures in June. All of Santa Fe County was designated an emergency The Santa Fe Reservoir before the summer rain area or severe drought area by the state Drought Monitoring Committee. Despite a summer of record rainfall, Santa Feans are certainly not ready to take our water supply for granted. We have been conserving at record rates. The city’s average water use per customer has decreased from an average of 170 gallons per capita per day before 1997 to 116 for the past ﬁve years. Due to the projected population increase over the next 40 years, the need for water is expected to increase by more than 60%. The major portion of Santa Fe’s water has been coming from the Buckman Supplemental Wells, which were drilled in 2003. According to the Albuquerque Journal, city water oﬃcials have acknowledged that they have no idea if the city has been over-pumping its aquifer. The Santa Fe city - and county-funded $160 million Buckman Diversion Project will divert water to the city directly from the Rio Grande by 2009, and is expected to raise water rates by 40%. According to a January 2006 study, additional water rights on the

Rio Grande for diversion will be needed by 2015. The City Water Division has not been doing anything to limit growth based on water availability. However, since 2002, the city has made most building permits contingent on retroﬁtting low-ﬂow toilets in existing buildings and has also begun requiring large developers to purchase and transfer to the city the water rights needed to supply their projects.

Meanwhile, questions remain about the pollution legacy of the Manhattan Project that some say now threatens the Rio Grande and Santa Fe’s regional aquifer. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has discharged wastewater into area canyons since 1943. For more than 60 years, radioactive pollutants have filtered through surface and groundwater systems. Municipal drinking water wells supplying Los Alamos and White Rock and several springs along the west side of the Rio Grande have been affected. In February 2006, the NM Environment Department issued its first ever “do not eat” fish advisory on the Rio Grande in the vicinity of LANL because of PCB contamination. The Environment Department has proposed limits on LANL’s wastewater discharges. LANL has appealed the proposed terms with the intention of overriding Gov. Richardson and the state’s authority. Amigos Bravos, a Taos - and Albuquerque-based statewide river conservation organization, is among those insisting on a thorough cleanup of over 1,400 toxic dumpsites.

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ew Mexico’s cultural heritage is rooted in the land and water. Landbased culture, understood as the relationships between people, communities and the elements, is based on a way of life intertwined with food traditions. These relationships have changed in a very profound way in the short span of two or three generations in the traditional communities of New Mexico. Still vivid in the collective memory of people raised in land-based communities are the stories of a more communal existence when food traditions were more central to the lives of families and communities in the region. To illustrate the connection between food and culture, a storyteller from Mora relates how families in the past had a strong tradition of exchanging gifts (intercambio) of food grown on their own ranchitos. Every visit involved a gift of atole, carne seca, fruta empacada, harina para panocha, posole and a variety of other foods. These gifts were an

and corporations. Worldwide, this has displaced land-based, indigenous people from ancestral lands and to a large extent undermined smallscale agricultural livelihoods. Other injustices endemic to the current food system range from violations of the human right of all people to healthy, nutritious food to violations of the human rights of farmworkers. Adding to the injustice, biotech companies are genetically engineering and patenting life to further their proﬁt motives, which left unchecked, will ultimately dispossess humanity of the right to grow food. In New Mexico, the strength of our connection to the land is based on the practice of growing food, which requires an intimate relationship with the soil, water and seeds. Despite trends driven by global economic and political forces, landbased traditions endure because culture, to a great extent, continues to drive our lifestyle. Thousands of families in New Mexico retain ownership of their ranchitos passed on for generations and they continue to grow food for family use or local markets. These practices continue even though they do not reﬂect the dominant model for food production and there is little economic incentive to continue traditional farming and ranching. This demonstrates a good degree of resiliency in the food system in traditional communities in New Mexico.

Food and Land-Based Culture in

New Mexico: Past, Present and Future

Paula Garcia

Paula Garcia is Executive Director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, 607 Cerrillos Rd., Ste. F, Santa Fe, NM 87505, 505-955-9644.

expression of the interdependence between families in villages who needed one another to help clean acequias, prepare the ﬁelds for planting and harvest the crops at the end of the growing season. Practices such as hunting and gathering wild foods, growing traditional crops, raising small herds of animals, sharing water through the acequias, saving seeds and celebrating community and family events with traditional foods continue in communities throughout New Mexico. These cultural practices are vital to our identity as a landbased people but they are not as strong as they once were, particularly among younger generations. Present-day families are more likely to be wage earners in addition to being ranchers or farmers than in previous generations. This has coincided with a dramatic decline in the extent of local food grown or raised, processed and eaten at a local community level. Today, in alignment with global trends, most food consumed in local communities is imported and marketed through grocery stores. The industrialization of the global food system has resulted in the concentration of food production and processing by fewer and fewer individuals

One vital element of the resiliency of our farming and ranching traditions is the acequia along with the customs of sharing water that are embodied in the acequia. The repartimiento is the tradition of sharing water, or sharing shortages, in such a way that water is distributed in a manner that is equitable and recognizes the fundamental reality that water is vital to all life. These customs often involve a system of distributing scarce water for essential needs like human or animal consumption and gardens for growing food. Other customs that are rooted in ancient practices and legal traditions include the view that water is a community resource and that it is inseparable from the land. In New Mexico, as in other states in the West that govern water through the prior appropriation system, water is treated in the law as a property right that can be severed from the land. Tribal and pueblo land and water rights are held collectively and are not severable from the

Max Garcia, a farmer from the Embudo watershed, is a lifelong seed saver and expert in traditional agriculture.

Antonio Medina, a traditional rancher from the Mora Valley, is a mentor for the Sembrando Semillas youth project.

respective tribe or pueblo. Despite the fact that (state-based) water rights are transferable, few acequia parciantes have chosen to sell. Most retain farmland with water rights intact because of a strong cultural relationship to the land and water and also because of hope that their children and grandchildren will continue to revitalize a land-based way of life. Up to the present, these cultural values have countered broad economic and political forces to commodify water. The cultural view of water as a community resource was the underpinning for a successful campaign to pass laws in 2003 allowing acequias to regulate water transfers. During this era of drought, water scarcity and increasing commodiﬁcation of water, we will be greatly challenged to retain local, community-based control of water rights. Struggles for land and water rights in New Mexico are an expression of a movement for self-determination. This has taken place through actions to reclaim indigenous territory, to assert Clayton Brascoupe is Program Director for the Traditional Native American Farmers Association.

Ermita Campos of Embudo discusses the importance of revitalizing the use of traditional foods and medicines.

communal grazing rights on former common lands under control of the federal government, to protest against water rights transfers out of acequias and agricultural uses, to enact policy protections for acequias, to recognize community land grants as local governments and to enact local ordinances to protect irrigated farmland from development. In addition, acequias and community water systems have joined forces to protect rural water rights from various threats. Recently, the Traditional Native American Farmers’ Association and the New Mexico Acequia Association (NMAA) joined eﬀorts for a Declaration of Seed Sovereignty. The NMAA has also initiated a project based on the concept of Food Sovereignty. This project seeks to rebuild local food systems by protecting local ownership and control of land and water rights by encouraging landbased traditions in new generations of farmers and ranchers, and by strengthening our ability to grow food in a manner that has spiritual and cultural meaning. The theme for this project is “Cosecha de las Acequias: Lucha, Labor, y Alimento.”

Gilbert Sandoval, from the Jemez Basin, helped create water agreements between the pueblos and acequia associations.

Former Zia Pueblo Governor Peter Pino discusses a water sharing agreement on the Rio Jemez .

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56 for markets but it places food in a proper context. Growing high-end crops for specialty markets may be part of a strategy to strengthen farming and ranching but it should not be the focus of our attention. Rather we should be seeking to reclaim modes of production in which we can meet our spiritual needs for connection to the earth and to our families and neighbors and also meet our material needs for food that is healthy, nutritious and culturally meaningful. A great challenge will be to do so in a manner that is economically viable for small-scale farmers and ranchers.

Gilbert Naranjo, a farmer from Santa Clara Pueblo, teaches young people culture and traditions. Concurrent to these struggles in New Mexico and throughout the US, a greater awareness of locally grown food has sparked the creation of farmers’ markets in neighborhoods and villages. Additionally, several projects have emerged connecting local farmers to schools and state nutrition programs. Since the 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of farmers selling at local markets. Although these trends suggest a positive direction for local food systems, there are some diﬃcult issues for some traditional farmers. Farmers’ markets and other local marketing approaches attract new farmers who often are more entrepreneurial. There is a disparity between farmers who are relative newcomers and traditional farmers in terms of those who are selling to local markets. Also, much of the food produced locally is targeted for niche markets to get a higher price and therefore makes much of the food grown locally inaccessible to low income people or to people within the same community in which it is grown. In summary, a movement to reclaim local food sovereignty should be grounded in the land-based culture of the region. Growing food traditionally has been intertwined with family and community relationships of sharing work and sharing the food that is grown. Emphasizing the cultural importance of food traditions does not preclude the value of growing food

Policy initiatives surrounding food and farming could be substantially strengthened by being more grounded in the experience of traditional land-based communities. Also, such initiatives should include considerations of the importance of

Cipriano Vigil and Cipriano Vigil, Jr. perform at NMAA’s March 2006 Tierra Aqua y Cultura Conference in Alcalde. sustaining the historic land and water rights of acequia and land grant communities, which are at risk of gradual erosion through market forces. It is imperative that land-based people have a collective voice on the issue of food that is connected to existing struggles for self-determination and to our collective desire to live a good and wholesome life, “una vida buena y sana.”

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

ission Statement: To continue, revive and protect our native seeds, crops, heritage fruits, animals, wild plants, traditions and knowledge of our indigenous, land and acequia-based communities in New Mexico for the purpose of maintaining and continuing our cultural integrity and resisting the global,

Northern New Mexico

Seed Sovereignty Alliance

Traditional Native American Farmers Association and The New Mexico Acequia Association

industrialized food system that can corrupt our lives, freedom and culture through inappropriate food production and genetic engineering. Project Overview On March 10-11, 2006 a Traditional Agriculture Conference was held in Alcalde, New Mexico. As part of this conference, a seed exchange ceremony and signing of a Seed Sovereignty Declaration was held between members of various Pueblo and acequia communities as well as other concerned citizens and agriculturalists in attendance. The need for this kind of Declaration is apparent in view of recent developments of seed corporations that genetically manipulate and patent crops, wild plants and animals. This technology is largely unregulated and has eﬀects on the natural world that are not clearly understood. The imminent danger of this technology on indigenous communities and agriculture is that the components of traditional agricultural systems (seeds, crops, wild plants and animals) can be corrupted via wind pollination or other means from these genetically engineered organisms. This has already happened in the case of canola in Canada and maize in Mexico. The potential of this occurring locally and elsewhere is a violation of indigenous and land-based peoples’ right to continue the seed saving, seed sharing and food traditions that have been central to their survival from time immemorial. Currently

there is no regulation, monitoring or labeling of Genetically Engineered products. In response to this concern, members of the Traditional Native American Farmers’ Association and the New Mexico Acequia Association began a conversation on ways to protect our common interests in keeping our agricultural systems free of corruption by genetic engineering. After several meetings, the attached Seed Sovereignty Declaration was developed and ultimately signed by over 100 people at the above-mentioned conference. Recently it was endorsed by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, the All Indian Pueblos Council and the National Congress of American Indians. This document will eventually be taken to county, tribal and state government levels across the country to address the growing concern of genetic pollution. People concerned about this issue are invited to learn more at www.e-plaza.org/ NMSeedSovereigntyAlliance and to post comments on an online petition (entitled “New Mexico Seed Sovereignty”) at the Platica / Forum page at www.e-plaza.org.

Paula Garcia of the NM Acequia Association, Miguel Santistevan of Sembrando Semillas Acequia Youth Program and Louie Hena (Santo Domingo) of the Traditional Native American Farmers Association present the Declaration of Seed Sovereignty at the Tierra Agua y Cultura Conference in Alcalde.

. Whereas, our ability to grow food is the culmination of countless generations of sowing and harvesting seeds and those seeds are the continuation of an unbroken line from our ancestors to us and to our children and grandchildren. 2. Whereas, our ancestors developed a relationship with plants that allowed their cultivation for food and medicine and this has been a central element of our culture and our survival for millennia in regions throughout the world.

nity coming together for communal work such as cleaning acequias and preparing ďŹ elds as well as in ceremony, prayers and blessings; thereby binding our communities, traditions and cultures together. 8. Whereas the practices embodied in working the land and water and caring for seeds provides the

A Declaration of Seed Sovereignty: A Living Document for New Mexico 3-11-06

3. Whereas, the concurrent development of cultures of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas resulted in a plethora of food and crop types including grains such as maize and wheat; legumes such as beans and lentils; fruits such as squash and chile; vegetables such as spinach and those of the cabbage family; and roots such as potatoes and turnips. 4. Whereas these foods and crops, though developed independently of each other, came together in New Mexico with the meeting of Spanish, Mexican and Native American cultures to create a unique and diverse indigenous agricultural system and land-based culture. 5. Whereas, just as our families are attached to our homes, our seeds learn to thrive in their place of cultivation by developing a relationship with the soil, water, agricultural practices, ceremonies and prayers; thereby giving seeds a sacred place in our families and communities. 6. Whereas, the way in which seeds become attached to a place makes them native seeds, also known as landraces, also makes them an important element of the generational memory of our communities. 7. Whereas the continued nurturing of native seeds or landraces has provided the basis for the commu-

basis for our respectful connection to the Earth and with each other. 9. Whereas, our practices in caring for native seeds (landraces) and growing crops provide for much of our traditional diet and results in our ability to feed ourselves with healthy food that is culturally and spiritually signiďŹ cant. 10. Whereas clean air, soil, water, and landscapes have been essential elements in the development and nurturing of seeds as well as the harvesting of wild plants; and that these elements of air, land and water have been contaminated to certain degrees. 11. Whereas corporate seed industries have created a technology that takes the genetic material from a foreign species and inserts it into a landrace and is known as Genetically Engineered (GE) or transgenic crops. 12. Whereas seed corporations patent the seeds, genetics, and/or the processes used in the manipulation of landraces, and have gone so far as to patent other wild plants or the properties contained in the plants. 13. Whereas GE crops have escaped into the environment with maize in Oaxaca, Mexico and canola in Canada and crossed into native seeds and wild plants.

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60 14. Whereas organic farmers have been sued by seed corporations when these patented genetic strains have been identified in the farmers’ crops, even though the farmers were unable to see or stop pollen from genetically engineered crops from blowing over the landscape and into their fields, thus contaminating the farmers’ crops. 15. Whereas the effect of this technology on the environment or human health when consumed is not fully understood. 16. Whereas the seed industry refuses to label GE seeds and food products containing GE ingredients. 17. Whereas the pervasiveness of GE crops in our area cannot then be fully known due to the lack of labeling and therefore carries the potential for genetic pollution on our landraces. 18. Whereas countries such as Japan, England, and countries in Africa have refused genetically modified foods and prohibit the introduction of GE crops on their lands because of their unknown health effects. 19. Whereas indigenous cultures around the world are the originators, developers and owners of the original genetic material used in the genetic engineering of crops by corporations today. 20. Whereas this declaration must be a living, adaptable document that can be amended as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that brings about other potential assaults to seeds and our culture. 21. Be it resolved by the traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American ancestry of current day northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to continue the seedsaving traditions of our ancestors and maintain the landraces that are indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico. 22. Be it further resolved that we seek to engage youth in the continuation of the traditions of growing traditional foods, sharing scarce water resources, sharing seeds, and celebrating our harvests.

23. Be it further resolved that we reject the validity of corporations’ ownership claims to crops and wild plants that belong to our cultural history and identity. 24. Be it further resolved that we believe corporate ownership claims of landrace crop genomes and patent law represent a legal framework for the justification of the possession and destruction of stolen cultural property. 25. Be it further resolved that we object to the seed industry’s refusal to label seeds or products containing GE technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified seeds and foods containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be labeled as such. 26. Be it further resolved that we consider genetic modification and the potential contamination of our landraces by GE technology a continuation of genocide upon indigenous people and as malicious and sacrilegious acts toward our ancestry, culture, and future generations. 27. Be it further resolved that we object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but especially within range of our traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the contamination of our seeds, wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property. 28. Be it further resolved that we will work with each other, local, tribal, and state governments to create zones that will be free of genetically engineered and transgenic organisms. 29. Be it further resolved that we will also work together to address other environmental abuses that contaminate our air, soil, and water quality that certainly affects our health, the health of our seeds and agriculture, and the health of future generations. 30. Be it further resolved that the undersigned traditional farmers representing various acequia, Pueblo, tribal, and surrounding communities will create, support, and collaborate toward projects and programs focused on revitalization of food traditions, agriculture, and seed saving and sharing.

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mall diameter trees (less than nine inches) thinned from Picuris Pueblo’s forests (pinon, juniper, ponderosa) are not used to their greatest economic potential. Most of them are of little value beyond use as firewood. With 60% unemployment, there is a great need for economic development at Picuris. Sustainable Communities, Inc. (SCI), a Santa Fe-based non-profit connected to the international network of ZERI (Zero Emissions, Research and Initiatives), received a 2003 grant under the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP) project funded by the U.S. Forest Service. The grant was for a pilot project to use “waste” small diameter trees in their landfill and slash left in the forests after thinning, to create “value added” products. The five value added product areas proposed included the production of (1) natural wood charcoal, (2) preserved wood by capturing and using the charcoal fumes, (3) native edible mushrooms grown on wood chips, (4) spent mushroom substrate after mushroom harvest as an animal feed supplement and (5) a mushroom compost amendment for forest soil restoration. Implied in this pilot demonstration was the potential for replication everywhere in the country where thinned trees are being wasted. We are happy to report that after 2 l/2 years, our joint project achieved all its stated goals and has demonstrated the successful production, independent testing and potential for uses and sales of these products, as well as the successful application of native fungi inoculated wood chips on eroded forest soils. Based on the success of the demonstration project, Picuris has formally decided to start a new forest-based enterprise with support from

Igniting small oven SCI. Through this enterprise, the pueblo will be able to have a sustainable program for economic, ecological and social beneﬁts. It is ideal to create new jobs using natural resources judiciously and to have employment linked to the management and enhancement of their natural resources. This

is culturally compatible with their longstanding tradition of living oﬀ the land. The new enterprise will be owned and operated by Picuris, and all thinning, monitoring and soil restoration, as well as the charcoal and preserved wood production will be done right there. This project is being further supported by the infusion of state capital outlay funds for the necessary building and equipment, obtained by Governor Bill Richardson, the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the State Forestry Division. The markets being looked at for the Picuris products outside of the pueblo are varied. Natural wood charcoal and edible mushroom markets in northern New Mexico include natural food stores, farmers’ markets and restaurants. Preserved lumber markets are still being evaluated, but children’s playground equipment is the most promising, as wood treated with the conventional arsenicum is now prohibited for this use. The spent substrate produced from commercial mushroom production at Picuris will in part be used for the bison as a feed supplement, helping to reduce feed costs and grazing impacts. Also, there is a market for rich mushroom compost for vegetable gardens and plants. Use of mushroom compost for forest soil restoration work, while not immediately economic, will support a healthier forest ecosystem long-term.

The Picuris Pueblo

Sustainable Forestry Project

Picuris forest soil and test results: Thinning small diameter trees at Chamisal has taken place over the last couple of years. More than two hundred baseline soil samples were taken by SCI and Picuris in July 2005 on eleven eroded runs, four test plots each, before treatment with native fungi inoculated chips. Our baseline samples had shown poor quality soils in this forest – only l/2 inch of topsoil, ten to twelve inches of dry hard clay with rocks beneath and virtually no measurable organic matter. In May, we took our second round of soil samples. We really didn’t expect much to have changed in less than one year after applying the fungi inoculated chips from nearby slash piles. To our surprise, while the forest ﬂoor was bone dry everywhere from lack of rain, under the chips it was not just moist but wet at the soil. Topsoil had increased from about l/2 inch to one and one half inches,

Lynda Taylor

Lynda Taylor is Co-Director of Sustainable Communities, Inc. / ZERI-NM. She can be reached at Lyndataylor@cybermesa.com or 505-986-1454. SCI’s website is www.scizerinm.org for more information.

and the underlying unbreakable clay soil had started to break down and form a composite soil for about ﬁve to six inches. Our respiration tests showed organic matter clearly measurable and as high as three times compared to last year. Finding a big fat worm in the soil under chips where no sign of soil life was evident last year was a delight. Plants, ﬂowers and grasses were growing out of the chips, whereas there was little in the surrounding area. We thought it would take a couple of years to see positive changes, if any, from our treatment. We were pleased that we are able to say in The charcoal oven sends fumes to the our CFRP monitorwood preservation oven. ing report that posi-

Photos: Robert Haspel

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64 tive soil results were achieved in less than one year. This type of restoration work has not been done in New Mexico and is pioneering a new way of enhancing soils and forest restoration, which could also beneﬁt rangelands and agricultural lands. CFRP student and youth natural science education project: Given the need for land-based rural economic opportunities and the need for our youth to develop stronger capacity in the sciences, this project has brought both aspects together. Youth can learn about creating economic opportunities based on natural resources and how the natural sciences – particularly biology – can strengthen knowledge, self esteem and careers in the sciences and land based activities. This can help keep them in New Mexico for jobs and foster pride in restoring our environment. A number of students at Picuris, Peñasco High and Middle School, and other schools in northern New Mexico have now been exposed and trained in the mushroom lab work and related soil and forestry science activities. End note. We hope that within a year the new forest-based enterprise at Picuris will be a successful undertaking for social, cultural, economic and ecologic goals. We also know that continued thinning – whether small diameter or invasives such as salt cedar – will continue to present opportunities for other rural areas of the state and the West where little has existed previously. We look forward to working with interested communities in the future.

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Sustainable Santa Fe

esiliency is defined in the dictionary as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” In ecology, it refers to the capacity of plant and animal populations to handle disruption and degradation caused by fire, flood, drought, disease or insect infestation. That’s only the dramatic stuff. Resiliency also describes a community’s ability to adjust to incremental change, such as a slow shift in rainfall patterns, or a rise in global warming. The word also has a social dimension. The ranching community, for instance, is the epitome of resiliency, having endured a century or more of cyclical drought, low cattle prices, as well as a host of modern challenges today. Of course, some ranches

Rebuilding Resiliency Courtney White

were not strong enough to ride out the storm, succumbing to sprawl, loss of income, or the loss of the next generation. But many endure and are ﬁnding ways to keep hope alive. Resiliency, in other words, means strength. For those of us who live in cities, there is a lot to think about in that one word. Take local food and energy, for instance. If there was a major disruption in our food supply – what is sometimes referred to as a concern for ‘food security’ – what would we do? Where would our next meal come from? Are there enough farms and ranches in the area to feed all of us? Do we have enough resiliency as a community to weather a food crisis? What about energy? Or water?

Courtney White is co-founder and Executive Director of The Quivira Coalition, a non-proﬁt organization based in Santa Fe that works to build bridges between ranchers, environmentalists, scientists and public land managers.

Like grass, we need to build communities that can ride out the bad times, including climate change, and flourish in the good ones. To me, in addition to local food and energy production this means a healthy local democracy, a regenerative economy, shared goal setting and work that strengthens the bond between people and the land – all built upon a foundation of healthy land, or what ecologists call ‘proper functioning condition.’ It’s not as idealistic as it sounds. Over the past twenty-five years, for instance, a progressive ranching and farming movement has held at its core those practices that work within nature’s model of sustainability. This is one reason why many progressive ranchers today call themselves ‘grass farmers.’ It all starts with the resiliency of the soil. The proliferation in recent years of collaborative watershed-based groups across the region is a sign that grassroots democracy is spreading. The rise of innovative, effective and efficient restoration methodologies, whose aim is to repair and maintain land health, means we have the knowledge now to rebuild resiliency in our ecosystems. And the slow decline in federalism means local communities are having increasing influence over their futures. In the cities, too, resilience is making a comeback. From the rekindled interest in gardening to the technological advances of ‘green architecture’ and other practices, cities, both large and small, are finding ways to ‘get off the grid’ of industrialism. This is slow but hopeful stuff. What needs to be kept in mind, though, is this: we used to be more resilient. Over the years, and for a variety of reasons, we let our capacity to recover from misfortune erode along with the topsoil. Today, our homework assignment seems clear: to rebuild this capacity. And we need to do it, one acre, one business and one community at a time.

It doesn’t need to be a crisis either. In fact, the most resilient communities are ones who developed an innate ability to adapt incrementally to changing conditions. For example, in nature the ultimate resil- Tree thinning, Santa Fe Watershed ient community may be grass. In North America, it’s been around for a mere 66 Pick a place to make a stand. Raise chickens in million years at least (recent research indicates that your backyard. Support a local farm. Do someit may even have been consumed by dinosaurs). If thing resilient, big or small. It all adds up. damaged by drought or ﬁre, grass has the strength to recover. If blessed with good rains, it ﬂourishes.

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Sustainable Santa Fe

n a 1990 essay, Wendell Berry put forward the proposition that “Eating is an agricultural act; eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth.” The role of food in each of our lives is without question a significant one because everyone eats. However, most people rarely have any awareness about the drama taking place for food to end up on their table. I once asked a group of children at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum where peanut butter came from. They replied unanimously, “the grocery store.” Most adults can tell you that food is produced on farms but they probably don’t know much about the difference between large-scale production and a small-scale farm. How many of us are familiar with the perseverance, knowledge, skill and ingenuity it takes to grow food where soil health is the main product or where water is ecologically insecure and scarce? Many people are concerned about the cost they pay for food but don’t stop to think about the cost in price or quality of large-scale production—wasteful use of soil, water and energy; processing, packaging and advertising; the rising costs of transportation; and the health of people and all life on the planet. We must start being more conscious of our own consumption habits and of our responsibility within our own food system. I will argue that just as eating globally obscures the negative impacts of food production, eating locally can catalyze a sense of the relationship between food, farming and how the way we eat affects the world.

Seeds of Change organic seed company research farm

To begin with, eating what’ s grown locally reduces the cost of transporting food and fosters a connection with the land and the people who grow food. As author and environmentalist Bill McKibben points out, “We’ve gotten used to eating across great distances. Because it’s always summer somewhere, we’ve accustomed ourselves to a food system that delivers us fresh produce 365 days a year. The energy cost is incredible—growing and transporting a single calorie of iceberg lettuce from California to the eastern U.S. takes 36 calories of energy. What would it take to get us back to eating more locally, to accepting what the seasons and smaller scale local farmers provide?”

Eating and Farming

Although the majority of the food consumed in the U.S. ﬂows to us from many places throughout the world, in our consciousness, it comes from no place in particular. I agree with Frances Moore Lappé that if our food supply comes from nearby rather than distant places where the production practices remain invisible to us, then there is a point of identiﬁcation with the much larger issues of the global community. Food is still very much associated with family, ethnic and community traditions that remind us of who we are, where we are and what we value. Food is the source of the health and vitality of our bodies and it represents our most intimate link with the land. In localized production, purchase and preparation of food we have the potential to disengage from some of the most damaging components of the global economy. One of the principal dynamics in the globalizing of the world market has been the subordination of agriculture production in one place to the needs and demands of another. This has meant the displacement of local food production by commercial production geared to distant markets and the impoverishment, poisoning and even destruction of local communities of farmers and indigenous peoples.

As If It Mattered

The Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment and Develop-

Lynda Prim

Lynda Prim came to New Mexico in 1977 to do ﬁeldwork in cultural anthropology / ethnobotany at the Pot Creek site. She stayed to pursue her interest in traditional agriculture and its role in sustainability. In 1992, she co-founded The Farm Connection and the New Mexico Organic Farming & Gardening Expo. Lynda currently works as an organic farming consultant and on her farm in Dixon.

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70 ment report, 1987) concluded that the best way to achieve food security is through food locally produced by local people with local control. As our population increases, we have to use less of our ecosystem’s resources to restore and regenerate the health of the ecological neighborhoods in which we live. To do this and have any hope of keeping the world fed, it’s necessary to have an ecologically oriented agriculture that mirrors and maintains natural ecosystems. There is substantial evidence now to suggest that the best way to achieve a balance between people, food and land is through local community-based agriculture that is tied to ecologically responsible land use rooted in local culture. Of course the capacity of people in a local ecological neighborhood to feed themselves will vary greatly depending upon local climate, land, water- based resources and food crops. Exporting surpluses from one place to another could

continue to be part of a new food system, but the first priority would be food self-sufficiency in each ecological neighborhood. The idea of local ‘foodsheds’ is catching on gradually. The USDA’s Community Food Security Program has revealed that throughout the U.S. hundreds of communities are creating new food and farming markets. In many communities farmers are linking with community organizations to exchange food for labor. Non-profit organizations and farmers are working together to help preserve farmland by bringing new and inexperienced farmers onto the land in innovative tenure arrangements. Farms and community gardens are linked with

local school systems to provide food and teach children how to practice organic gardening. Local businesses work with nonproﬁt organizations to make locally produced food available in communities that have limited access. These initiatives, together with the growing number of farmers’ markets, direct marketing arrangements and Community Supported Agriculture, are all indications that the global industrial food system is not working for more and more people. The concept of the ‘foodshed’ is a useful way to think about these possibilities. It was derived from the concept of a watershed as early as 1929 to describe the ﬂow of food from the place where it was grown into the place where it’s consumed. In the sense of creating a local, community-based and ecological food and farming system, the concept of a foodshed emphasizes a respect for the importance of place. It also provides a framework for looking at other ecological concepts and sys-

tems such as climate and weather, trends over time, geography and cultural and biological diversity. This movement towards local is not intended as a retreat from the global realities of the world we live in, but as a means to respond more sanely to its challenges by providing a place to take a stand for action and from which to work toward a more sustainable, just and equitable way of farming and eating. We tend to forget that food comes from the land and that not only does the land need the skillful care of people, but people need the land. If we remove people from closeness to the land and all of its wonderfully complex cycles, its myriad creatures, earth and sky, then we will suﬀer

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

hen the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market ﬁrst started back in the late 1960s, it was a group of farmers who were selling out of the back of their pickups. With a little help from the League of Women Voters and the County Extension oﬃce, some rules and regulations were put into place that have helped guide the Market and helped it grow into New Mexico’s largest farmers’ market and one of the top ten nationally, according to Sunset Magazine. The foresight of our founders guarantees you access to fresh nutritious food that has the following hallmarks: local, agricultural and direct. The “agricultural” moniker is of utmost importance, especially lately. New Mexico has lost 200,000 acres of farmland since 2000 and more

would be reserved for value added products like jams and salsas, baked goods, meats, dairy, etc. By creating the 80/20 rule, the Market has helped preserve and sustain regional agriculture. To ensure the agricultural products are “local,” the founders required that everything sold at the Market be cultivated or gathered plant crops grown in the local area. Products of domesticated animals (livestock, rabbits, poultry and fowl, bees and ﬁsh) must be raised in the local area, and all processed and crafted items must contain a majority of local content. The Farmers’ Market considers “local” to be from 15 counties in the northern half of the state, so with the exception of three out of region vendors who sell organic chicken, pecans and pistachios, all 150 members of the Market come from this region.

Santa Fe Has One of the Best Farmers’ Markets in the Country than 500 farms. When agricultural lands disappear, the land dries up, water rights are often lost or transferred and lovely greenbelts around our cities disappear. Then we become even more dependent on store-bought food, which travels an

Sarah Noss

By putting emphasis on locally produced agricultural products, the Market set the foundation 35 years ago to make a major impact on our regional agrarian economy. With just two half-day markets and a third market on the south side of Santa Fe during select times during the summer, the Market generates $2 million in sales. Studies have found that for every dollar spent at a farmers’ market, another $3 is spent in the surrounding community. So money goes home in farmers’ pockets to support rural economies and a good chunk stays right here in Santa Fe to power our own economy. Jake West’s melons are legendary.

Sarah Noss is the Executive Director of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute.

average of 1400 miles to market and reaches the shelf up to two weeks after it was harvested, depleting its taste and nutritional value. The founders of the Market wanted to keep the focus on produce, to not let the Market slip into the habit of selling everything from food to ﬂea market items. Their rule was that least 80% of the vendors at the market sell produce. The other 20%

“Direct” means that farmers are only allowed to sell fresh fruits and vegetables that they, themselves grow. This is important because we want you to know your grower! We want to provide our customers with a community-building experience that links urban and rural people on an ongoing basis. Looking Toward the Future In 35 years, the Market has become a venerable

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75 cultural institution; yet, it has also had to move around a lot because of disappearing open space in the downtown area. In 1995, the city acquired the 50-acre parcel of downtown property called the Santa Fe Railyard. From 2000 to 2002, the city hosted more than 20 open meetings that fostered an unprecedented amount of community input into the Railyard Redevelopment Master Plan. Once completed, the Master Plan called for the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market to retain a central presence in the Railyard and for the Trust for Public Land to put a park at the current site of the Market (on the corner of Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe Street) starting in late 2006. It was clear in 2002, therefore, that the Market would need a new home in 2007. Realizing there were very few other downtown locations available, the Market began negotiations with the Railyard and created its nonproﬁt arm, the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute, to ﬁnance and construct a building in the Railyard. The institute also creates programs to help farmers utilize the year-round location and educational programs to educate the public about the value of buying locally produced food. In this day and age, considering what the Mar-

ket represents, there is no way on God’s green earth that the new Farmers’ Market facility would NOT be green! The Institute is seeking Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, a program of the US Green Building Council. All water will be harvested from the roof. Solar panels will heat the building and provide hot water. We will salvage or recycle up to 50% of our construction waste and use recycled materials in the construction, as well as local and regional materials from within a 500-mile radius of Santa Fe. The indoor environmental quality will be improved through the use of low emitting materials. Water efficient landscaping will reduce outdoor use by 50%. Ambient lighting will reduce the use of electricity during daylight hours. These and other innovations will make the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market building the first LEED certified new construction in the Railyard District, and also the first of its kind for a farmers’ market in the country. Groundbreaking for the new facility is slated for January 2, 2007. More than $2.1 million has been raised, and the Institute needs to raise an additional $1.5 million before the end of the year.

Mariachi Camino Real de Santa Fe performs at the farmers’ market.

Santa Fe Farmers’ Market SE Aerial Vieew

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hen McDonald’s opened shop on the Spanish Steps in Rome in l986, not all Italians were pleased. Some, in fact, were decidedly disgruntled. “We don’t want fast food,” they cried, “we want slow food!” And this marked the beginning of what has become a movement of some size and bearing, something called Slow Food. What McDonald’s threatened to obliterate was no less than a way of life, a life where food is an occasion for interchange and enjoyment, not something viewed as wasted toil to be gotten through as quickly and cheaply as possible. The pleasure of sharing meals in a leisurely fashion wasn’t the only thing that fast food threatened. Hand in hand were those foods that had been made in particular traditional ways, with wisdom, practice and integrity, foods that Italians had enjoyed for centuries, particular cheeses, regional wines, a type of lentil or a breed of cow. Foods that were about diversity

and particularity were, in the world of fast food, to be replaced by those marked by a pervasive sameness. Of course Italy wasn’t the only country in danger of losing its rich food culture. Industrial food and fast food have threatened and damaged the quality of food —and life—everywhere, which is why Slow Food has grown so quickly to become an international movement. The United States has been growing a thriving Slow Food membership since l996. Slow Food as an organization can be a little hard to explain. As somet h i n g that’s the opposite of fast food, it’s instantly easy to grasp — it’s about slowing down, for starters, not speeding up. But it’s not a wine and cheese club either. While intense appreciation and enjoyment of food is central to Slow, so are such values as tradition, locality, sustainability, fairness in production and goodness of ﬂavor. It is central to our awareness that you can’t enjoy the pleasures of food and wine without being well informed about where such foods come from and what conditions support or threaten their existence. A group of slow food members, called a convivium, (a word which means a feast, a gathering), is far more likely to spend an afternoon visiting a local farmer or cheese maker than spending a lot of money to import some rare delicacy from thousands of miles away.

Slow Food – What it Is

These kinds of pleasures and concerns have resulted in an international program of some scope. Slow Food, in fact, does many things.

Dr. Trevor Hawkins prepares to dig into his Spicy Tuna Cakes at Body Café in Santa Fe. The meal contains red peppers, onions, cilantro, jalapenos, eggs and spelt bread over greens with onions, tomatoes and avocado with a spicy red oil sauce. Body uses organic, locally grown ingredients whenever possible and donates a part of its income to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market.

Most centrally, Slow Food promotes taste education, not only for adults, but also particularly for children. To this end, many programs are about eating and sipping—for example, tasting the difference among diﬀerent breeds of heritage turkeys and industrial birds, or experiencing the nuance that exists in a variety of apples. When possible, producers themselves are included in a tasting experience to explain what goes into their product, be it a bottle of wine or a type of chicken. World Continued on pg. 82

Deborah Madison

Deborah Madison is the author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, The Savory Way and many other books. She helped start the Slow Food Santa Fe Convivium ﬁve years ago. An active member of Slow Food for over ten years, she has served on the Ark and Presidia Committee, has been a U.S. board member, governor, and serves as a board member of the Foundation of Biodiversity in Italy. She lives in Galisteo.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

anta Fe now has its first-ever map of sustainable resources! Ever wonder what restaurants serve locally-grown organic foods, what businesses sell environmentally beneficial products, what organizations are supporting sustainability in our community? This map offers a first glimpse, showing you where many of these businesses and organizations are located. It focuses on resources within the city limits only, and therefore only offers a partial showcase of the numerous resources available in the broader community. For a much more complete list, see the Resource List at the back of this guide. You might wonder, what are sustainable resources, and why do they deserve to be on a map? The Sustainable Santa Fe Resource Guide as a whole offers much insight into the ideas of sustainability. Sustainability considers more than just environmentalism, which alone has not offered a workable, long-term solution to the problems facing our world. Environmentalism, along with cultural / social equity and economics, combine to form the basis of current sustainability thought. Sustainable resources in Santa Fe, therefore, are resources – businesses, organizations, schools – that practice these principles. They support the local business and agricultural economies, care about and protect our environment and, ideally, also promote social equity in our community. They also offer you some of the tools you need to do the same. What criteria were used to determine which resources appear on this map? The most honest answer is “a slightly flexible criteria.” Unfortunately, few organizations and businesses meet all three of the above requirements. Should we wait to make a map until they do? Rather than wait, this map recognizes those organizations and businesses that are trying to make a difference toward these ends. It serves as a benchmark for future developments that we can work toward. Many sustainable resources are not easily “mappable.” For instance, when asked, many individuals declined being included on this map because they work out of their homes and are not “open for business,” per se. Other quandaries faced us, such as restaurants that buy and serve locally-grown food when it is available, but which do not as a usual practice serve organic foods. Should they be included on the map? How does one decide what type of health care is sustainable? We could not es-

tablish an absolute criteria – western? nonwestern? preventative? affordable? effective? We therefore limited our selection to major providers of herbal products. The complexities of these decisions suggest a need for dialogue and refinement. There is no blanket answer for how sustainability applies to a community – the solutions will be local and specific. Let’s start talking about what we want to see in our community, what will work for us long-term to keep alive the beauty that we know makes up Santa Fe. The initial work for this map was completed by fifteen students at the College of Santa Fe. They were studying Environmentalism and Sustainability in the Arts during the fall of 2005, and this map was their group project. It is produced in collaboration with Earth Care International for printing and distribution with the Sustainable Santa Fe Resource Guide. If you think your business or organization deserves to be added to future versions of this map, please let us know (information below).

Your Map of

Sustainable Santa Fe

“Green Maps” are being created all over the world by individuals who care about the environment and their local communities. Many of them, like this one, move beyond just mapping “green” (environmentally beneﬁcial) resources into the broader categories of sustainability. This map is part of the award-winning global Green Map System and uses the Green Maps Icons for symbols. Find out more at http://greenmap.org/

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

82 Continued from page 77 wide, there is a big effort to build school gardens and to introduce children to taste workshops as well, hopefully from the food they grow themselves. Biodiversity is another big theme that runs through all of Slow Food’s activity. The Foundation for Biodiversity seeks to help small communities who are involved in resurrecting traditional foods, or keeping them from disappearing, such as traditional rice growers in India, or in the US for that matter. The Foundation also puts on an enormous conference every other year called Terra Madre, which convenes 5000 small-scale producers from around the world for five days of intense discussion and exchange. A meeting of unprecedented scale, it provides an opportunity to unite those who seek to grow, raise, catch, distribute, teach about, cook and otherwise promote food that in some ways respect the environment, defend human dignity and protect the health of workers and consumers. (This is nothing like the WTO. It is an extraordinary experience to be at Terra Madre and meet passionate people from 132 countries, many from countries difficult for Americans to access, like Algeria, Cuba, Iran, and the “stans.” It is a profound experience of human biodiversity to be among so many different kinds of people, their unique dress, their languages, their manners of being.) The Ark of Taste is another program that seeks to keep from oblivion those foods that have historical significance to a culture as well as an appealing taste. Creole Cream Cheese, which was once made in New Orleans, disappeared but was brought back through the Ark. Heritage breeds of turkeys, almost lost to our culture, have been re-introduced. Other American examples of Ark foods are hand-gathered, parched wild rice, chicos and chiles from New Mexico, Corriente cattle, the Crane melon and hundreds more foods of historical import and good flavor. The Presidia extends the work of the Ark by creating small projects that assist artisan producers working in cooperation with other groups. The Navajo Churro sheep is one such example of a Presidia that is just getting off the ground here, but there are projects all over the world - in fact, mostly in developing countries. The goals of presidia are to promote artisan

products, establish production protocols to ensure the quality of the food, and to introduce these foods to a wider public. Slow Food also puts on a stupendous show every other year in Turin called Salone del Gusto, or the Hall of Taste. There, one can sample and buy not only food from Presidia projects, but also thousands of artisinal foods from around the world. Almost always, the person who has produced the food —from Celtic sea salt to fossa, a kind of cheese that’s been made since the time of Charlemagne, from manifest breads to Sicilian white peaches, is there standing by her product, ready to talk about it so as a visitor you can actually learn something. Attended by hundreds of thousands of people (including many school children), Salone presents one with an overwhelming opportunity to see and taste the extraordinary foods that human culture is capable of producing. At the Salone many classes are also offered that revolve around tasting, from different kinds of raw beef to exquisite teas, to wines, cheeses, traditional candies and sweets. Slow Food also organizes events worldwide to celebrate and promote those producers who are growing the foods we so enjoy in ecologically friendly ways. Often convivium events are focused on learning what our individual locations have to offer in the way of producers, of increasing awareness of our own resources and promoting them when possible. In Santa Fe, we have been fortunate to have 13 delegates chosen from our region to attend Terra Madre, both two years ago and this year. To help pay the airfare for those farmers, ranchers, cooks and educators, we had a fundraiser based on a screening of short films about food and life, assembled by Slow Food International. In addition to the film festival that Slow Food hosts, it also has a number of publications, many of which are guides to slow eating, cheese, wine and culture, biodiversity, cookbooks, essays and manuals. All of this, and more, can be explored on the Internet, of course, at slowfoodusa.org. There is a local convivium in Santa Fe, which can also be accessed via the Slow Food USA website.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

ver the centuries, the Santa Fe River has drawn people to Santa Fe seeking refuge, rich farmland and a home. The region’s history has been shaped by the resources the river has provided, and the various cultures which have resided here have considered it an integral part of their identity. Today, the river is not what our parents and grandparents grew to love. While the community of Santa Fe once decided that our residents’ needs for water consumption outweighed our need for a healthy watershed and a living river, today we have a strong community-wide voice for restoring the river and reviving that element of our identity. Since the 1990’s, the City of Santa Fe has had a vision of a restored Santa Fe River combining ﬂood control, environmental restoration, a continuous bicycle and pedestrian trail system and rec-

Mayor David Coss

reational improvements within the river corridor. Various studies and plans have been conducted to address the future of the river, such as the 1995 Santa Fe River Corridor Master Plan and studies by the Army Corps of Engineers. While we have moved forward with important elements of that work, such as the San Ysidro Crossing and the Camino Real River Connection, we have years of work ahead to realize our collective vision of a living Santa Fe River for all of us. Creating a healthy Santa Fe River is a top priority of Santa Feans as well as myself. Today, we are presented with a real opportunity to build community through the river and create a space that is cherished, cared for and respected by all our community members. My administration is building on the work that has been done thus far and collaboratively compiling a vision of the river that will continued on next page

Revitalizing

the Santa Fe River Reimagining

“R

eally? There’s a river in

Santa Fe??!? Where??”

Ben Haggard Imagine a river flowing through Santa Fe again. Imagine bosques (native cottonwood forests) shading the river; trout slipping upstream through the shadows; children splashing in the old swimming holes; springs reappearing after drying up a half century or more ago; acequias running through our neighborhoods after having been almost lost. Imagine a community coming together to make it happen—across the lines and differences that so often divide us. Author, educator and ecological designer Ben Haggard is a lifelong resident of Santa Fe. He works with the Regenesis Group, a consulting firm that partners people and their place to regenerate ecosystems and the human spirit.

When we imagine our river as it once was, we often experience the feeling that the water has gone away. Truthfully, the water that once fed the Santa Fe River never really went away—it’s still here, but it moves very diﬀerently than it once did. The river now runs through our faucets and sewer lines instead of in the river channel.

The trees and willows that were once supported by the river have mostly died out, leaving the river banks vulnerable to erosion and downcutting. The grasslands that once soaked up the rain, putting it into the ground where it could steadily seep into the river, have been turned into streets, buildings, yards and parks. The rain races down into arroyos and storm drains and is gone, almost before we know what’s happened. The farms have mostly become neighborhoods. The acequias have gone underground. The west side of town gets hotter and drier. And a shrinking water supply has to be divided up among a growing population. No wonder people feel pessimistic about our water future, let alone the future of our river. But, in fact, there are ways to bring our river back to life. What’s needed is a hope injection— jumpstarting the natural creativity, faith and desire continued on page 86

85 bring together and connect all Santa Feans, no matter which neighborhood they live in. We see a river which is alive hydrologically, biologically and ecologically while simultaneously alive culturally in the hearts of our entire community; a connection between neighborhoods, across cultures, and among disciplines and constituencies; and embedded within a healthy and functioning watershed.

shown that access to nature signiﬁcantly impacts the development of a child. While we may have denied access to a healthy river to a generation of Santa Fe’s children, we can once again provide that access to future generations who will know the joy that their grandparents felt at exploring the river. We can provide opportunities for our youth to learn about watershed restoration in the short and long term processes of rebuilding our river.

Historically, the Santa Fe River’s flow has been seasonal, regardless of climate conditions. While a healthy river may not flow 365 days a year, it will be a riparian zone, which supports plant, insect and animal life. We will be able to turn over rocks in the riverbed and find interesting life scurrying around underneath. The riverbed will be able to absorb water and recharge our aquifer rather than sending the water racing through, eroding sediment and digging a deeper, faster tunnel. While it may take years of effort and present technical issues to work through, we can raise the bed closer to former depths and slow the flow of the water, helping to create an absorbent, sponge-like river bottom that will truly make the difference for a living, sustainable river.

The City of Santa Fe is working collaboratively with community members to create a healthy, living river. You will see us working now on improving and maintaining our parks and trails. In our next efforts, we will need to look for state and federal funding to support our work so that we can tackle the difficult, technical questions that lay ahead, including what the sources of water will be and how we will get that water to the river. The city recently passed a utility check-off program where residents can choose to donate $1 on water bills to purchase additional city water rights, just one of the various ways we will bring water to the river. I encourage you to keep an eye out for this opportunity to support the river when you pay your monthly city utility bills.

Santa Fe riverbed, September, 2005 Since the river is, historically as much as currently, an important transportation corridor, a vital part of our vision is to create more public open space along with a network of bicycle and pedestrian trails which will follow the river and traverse the city. These trails will bring us closer to passing the “popsicle test,” where parents can send their children out on their bikes, skates or feet to go buy a popsicle without worry. This integration of our parks system and the river will provide opportunities for community members to share a common experience and invite us to enjoy our river. Youth oriented groups have spent long hours cleaning, clearing and caring for our river; the need to create a living river is based on, if nothing else, the need to care for our youth. Studies have

Santa Fe River, September, 2006 As the city develops plans for restoring our Santa Fe River, we will provide many opportunities for public input and communitywide partnerships so that we can work together to regain an important part of Santa Fe’s history and identity. I invite all Santa Feans to participate in this process. I look forward to the day when we will no longer hear children at Bicentennial Park asking where the Santa Fe River is; they will know where the river is and they will teach us about its plants, snails and their favorite four legged critter that lives there. While we have much work ahead of us, I am convinced and thrilled that Santa Fe has the determination, passion and expertise to bring us through the community building process of restoring a river for the beneﬁt of our environment and the wellbeing of all Santa Feans.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

86 continued from page 84 to contribute that runs very deep in our community. As we begin to engage in successful actions, this creativity grows hope. And hope grows confidence that we can create a healthy community and environment through the choices we make individually and collectively. Here are a few themes and ideas—some new, some old, and some that are just plain wacky. Consider this an invitation to come up with your own ideas and share them around—the more outrageous, the better. It’s fun, free, and reminds us that a living river really is possible. Work like a watershed. When we built the city of Santa Fe, we displaced natural systems that maintained the watershed and the river. Nobody’s proposing to unbuild the city—what we need is to find new ways to have our city work like a watershed. Ideas: • Hold your water! There are lots of ways to soak in rainwater instead of letting it evaporate or run into the street or arroyo (swales, terraces, cisterns, mulches, dry wells, and more.) There are lots of knowledgeable people in Santa Fe who would be happy to help you learn how. An excellent resource is the newly published book, “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands” by Brad Landcaster. • Permeate your pavement! Let’s find low places (I’ll volunteer the edges of my street!) where we can safely dig up pavement, create basins to collect the runoff, and plant trees. Our parking lots could become passive irrigation systems. Even better, we can install pavements (like cobblestones, which are still popular in Europe) that let the water soak in. • Vegetation, not dessication! Rock and gravel landscapes, because they reflect so much heat, often make drought problems worse by drying out the neighborhood. It works better to plant drought tolerant native species that can cool The Santa Fe River flows from the Santa Fe Watershed.

soil and paved surfaces. Things really start to pop when we tie these plantings to water harvesting. Welcome back the wastewater. At present, the Santa Fe River flows through our sewer pipes and water mains, finally reentering its channel just below the sewage treatment plant. This gets us the water we need for our homes and businesses, but it leaves the river low and dry. How about a City Different approach? Establishing miniature biological sewage treatment plants in each neighborhood along the length of the river would both clean the water right where we use it and give it back to the river—all without diminishing our water supply. Ideas: • Redevelopment of the Railyard and the creation of a major new park opens up an opportunity to capture wastewater from new railyard buildings. We could invite engineers to create biological sewage treatment systems. The treated water could be used to irrigate the park. The park’s proximity to the river means we would also recharge the aquifer that feeds the river. • Sponsor the parks! Why stop with the Railyard Park? There are plenty of parks up and down the length of the river that could receive and purify wastewater from adjoining neighborhoods, use it to irrigate parks, and in the process recharge the aquifer that feeds the river. • Activate the acequias! Acequias represent a major historical and cultural resource for our community, yet much of the network has been abandoned and is in danger of being lost. Can we find new life for our abandoned acequias by having them convey purified wastewater to the places it is needed? Keep faith with our river. Santa Fe, the city of faith, seems to have broken faith when it comes to the river that has for so long nourished us. A long story of betrayal and loss lies hidden in the story of how that came to be. But we have always had the power to create a new story, to act in good faith toward the land, the river, and the people of Santa Fe. The old Camino Alire bridge over the Santa Fe River

87 Ideas: “River Keepers”! Already the Santa Fe Parks Department has committed itself to care for the river. Individual Santa Feans, youth groups, and volunteer organizations like the Santa Fe Watershed Association have spent many hours and years working to bring the river back to life. How do we grow this The Santa Fe River overﬂowing the San Ysidro crossing

commitment until it is carried in the hearts and actions of every citizen? Perhaps through working with neighborhoods and schools. Do you know how your neighborhood is connected to the river? Can you trace the channels by which water moves from your backyard or street all the way to the river? How about a treasure hunt to ﬁnd out? • Water endowment! Let’s buy back some water rights and give them to the river. (The good news: Santa Fe’s City Council has already adopted this as a policy.)

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

ne of New Mexico’s greatest challenges is achieving a sustainable water management policy that balances the water demands of cities, industry, agriculture and our rivers. Water is an extremely limited resource in this high altitude desert, and as the state’s population has nearly doubled from 1970 to 2000, our water supplies have been increasingly overdrawn. Today, every drop of water in the rivers has been claimed by private users and the rivers are increasingly at risk of drying up entirely. Indeed, in recent years the Rio Grande has repeatedly run dry in long stretches and failed to reach its ﬁnal destination in the Gulf of Mexico.

agriculture, industry, or household use – that person established a water right. First in time is ﬁrst in right, so water users who came later could claim rights only to what was left – even if they were upstream of earlier diverters – and in dry years these junior water rights holders were not permitted to divert any water until the senior holders had received their full share. In addition, water rights are “use it or lose it,” so if a right is not used for a certain period of time, it is lost, and that water can be appropriated by another user. Unfortunately, while these policies served to encourage the productive use of the state’s water, they

The Strategic River Reserve:

Water law in New Mexico holds that the state’s water belongs to the public, but rights to use water are private property rights. Water policy in the past has been directed toward assigning all of the state’s water to private uses without much consideration of setting any aside for public use or environmental needs.

Sustaining New Mexico’s Living Rivers

Under the law of prior appropriation, the state’s water has been allocated on a “first come, first served” basis. When someone first diverted water from a river and put it to a beneficial use – such as

The Rio Grande ﬂows through Ohkay Ohingeh Pueblo

failed to take into account long-term sustainability or the needs of the river environment. Achieving sustainable river management will require innovative new policies that value the rivers not only as mere water pipes, but as living, vital ecosystems that provide valuable services such as diluting pollution, purifying water, moderating ﬂoods, and maintaining habitat for ﬁsheries, birds and wildlife.

Kristina Fisher

Kristina Fisher has served as Think New Mexico’s Research Director since 2002. She is currently studying Natural Resources Law at the UNM School of Law.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

90 One such water policy reform is the Strategic River Reserve: a pool of publicly held water rights dedicated to keeping New Mexico’s rivers flowing to meet the needs of endangered species and fulfill our interstate river-sharing agreements with other states like Colorado and Texas. The essential idea behind the Reserve is that rather than having all of the state’s water rights held privately, the public should own some to keep the rivers flowing, protect endangered species and meet our obligations to other states. Think New Mexico, the statewide, independent, results-oriented think tank, first proposed the creation of the Strategic River Reserve in 2003, and over the next year, the organization mobilized a diverse coalition in support of the plan, including groups from New Mexico’s business, agriculture, and environmental communities, water users who rarely agree on anything but who share an acute awareness of the crisis facing our rivers. The coalition supported the Reserve as a way to protect current water rights holders, avoid the expense and wasted resources of lawsuits over water, and begin to move our water use to a more sustainable balance among agriculture, cities and river ecosystems. In 2005, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a

bipartisan bill establishing the Strategic River Reserve, providing an initial appropriation of $2.8 million; $2 million more was added this year. The first acquisitions of water, on the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers, are on track to be completed by the end of 2006. The Strategic River Reserve is only a first step, and we have a long way to go before New Mexico’s water use is sustainable. Think New Mexico is currently working with state water managers to ensure the successful start-up of the Strategic River Reserve, and see that it continues to be funded. There are many opportunities to become involved in working for a sustainable water future. A good way to start is by learning more about where your water comes from and how it’s being managed – a great deal of information is available through the City of Santa Fe’s Water Division (www.santafenm.gov/waterwise/index.asp) and the Office of the State Engineer (www.ose.state.nm.us). Then consider weighing in on water management decisions with your city councilors and state legislators, whom you can contact through Think New Mexico’s Action Center at www.thinknewmexico.org. With strong community involvement, we can ensure that New Mexico’s future continues to be a vibrant one of living rivers.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

Spanish Market 2006

Economic Business, Finance

From the perspective of sustainability, there is no separation between eﬀective economic development and overall community development. Sustainable economic stability for individuals, families and businesses starts with creating meaningful jobs. This inﬂuences how people live their lives and can impact education successes, lower crime rates and the overall quality of life in the community.

Jobs can be generated by growing businesses from within our community and helping entrepreneurs fulfill their vision. The ideal company profile for Santa Fe would have a high economic impact, low or no environmental impact, would hire locally, pay higher than average wages with benefits and offer career opportunities. It would generate a product or service that would serve the local community and could be exported or traded, bringing money into our economy.

Recommendations From Santa Fe Future 2006 • While continuing to support the tourism industry economy, the city must pursue greater economic diversification. • Provide continued support and development of the City’s Economic Development Plan, which includes the development of water conservation and clean energy industries, establishing Santa Fe as a major design center and goals for addressing issues in education and workforce development, community and neighborhoods, and affordable housing, with ongoing review and adjustment of goals as necessary, or as other opportunities develop. • Reframe issues so as not to construct binary oppositions such as “business versus neighborhoods”; Create spaces for dialogues in which local business owners are recognized as part of the neighborhood and members of the neighborhood are recognized as essential to local business. • Encourage and sustain a local business culture that recognizes community assets as worthy of consideration, and in some cases, assistance or protection. • Create a collaboration between Santa Fe businesses, nonprofit organizations, Santa Fe Public Schools (including charter schools) and Santa Fe Community College to develop and implement a merit-based internship program, meaning students must meet certain criteria with regards to academic performance to participate. • Recycle local dollars by supporting programs like Locals Care, and organizations like Local Energy and the Santa Fe Business Alliance.

Well-Being Excerpt

From Santa Fe Future 2006 White Paper Disagreement exists in Santa Fe about what it means to have a healthy economy, and whether or not we have one. Traditional measures, such as an unemployment rate at 4.5% for 2005, which is slightly lower than the national and state rates of 4.8% suggest the economy is robust. Other statistics suggest the opposite: The city’s cost of living is 18% above the national average and its workers

earn approximately 23% less than the national average. The ratio of the median price of a home ($398,000) to median household income ($45,500) is extremely high. Alarmingly, median home costs continue to increase much faster, 132% from1995-2005, than household income, 26% in the same period, with most of the acceleration in housing prices occurring since 2000 (city of Santa Fe Planning and Land Use Dept., 2006).

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

n November 2002, the City started to develop a new economic development strategy for the City of Santa Fe. An intensive community process ensued to determine the goals and activities the new plan should address. Fifteen hundred people participated in the development of the plan; more than thirteen hundred individuals and businesses answered surveys; more than five hundred people attended the announcement of the Economic Development Strategy at the Lensic in April, 2004. The final report prepared for the City by Angelou Economics contained specific recommendations to improve the city’s economic health, improve

ganizations, and government agencies. Economic development cannot be successful unless these groups work in a coordinated, collaborative fashion. The Santa Fe Economic Development Plan is a five-year plan. The Governing Body requested that the Economic Development staff set priorities for the first year to get the plan underway. This report reflects the priorities adopted by the Governing Body and highlights the accomplishments of the community. The results of the first year of the City’s implementation of the Santa Fe Economic Development Plan include a number of accomplishments, which are a beginning and a foundation upon which to build a stronger economy in Santa Fe. The creativity, imagination, collaboration and hard work of hundreds of volunteers and community members have made these accomplishments possible.

Santa Fe Economic Development Plan Executive Summary (October 2005) conditions for cultivating target sector businesses and small entrepreneurial businesses, and provide new opportunities for all Santa Fe families. The report further suggested that, based on research of the City’s strengths, Santa Fe should encourage the development and expansion of seven target industries: Arts and Culture; Design; Hospitality; Water Conservation and Clean Energy Technologies; Software Development; Publishing and New Media; and Outdoor Gear and Apparel. The report also recommended instead of focusing on recruiting new, large companies into the City, that Santa Fe place a strong emphasis on community development activities to improve education and training for the local workforce, infrastructure, and business climate helping local companies grow and new ones emerge.

The Santa Fe Economic Developement Plan was prepared by the city of Santa Fe Economic Developement Division.

Several themes emerged from the community discussions: Santa Fe is a unique city and any new development should reﬂect its creative character. Santa Fe wants to attract a targeted audience of visitors and businesses to the community, who are able to invest in the local economy, shop in the local galleries, eat in locally owned restaurants, and stay in hotels in the city. Santa Feans feel a strong connection to the region’s heritage. The essence of Santa Fe lies in its creative people, its strong history, and its core of arts and culture. Santa Fe must develop highly integrated networks of businesses, training programs, capital providers, educational institutions, non-proﬁt organizations, labor or-

The City set six goals to inspire the community’s work. They are: 1. Santa Fe will be the leading Arts, Design, and Cultural Industry Center of the U.S. 2. Santa Fe will be the leading Water Conservation and Clean Energy Capital of the U.S. 3. Santa Fe’s citizens will be well educated and well trained for high paying jobs. 4. Santa Fe’s entrepreneurs will work in a supportive community that encourages and celebrates their success. 5. Santa Fe will celebrate its cultural, historic and business neighborhoods and emphasize respect and collaboration among businesses and neighbors. 6. Santa Fe will increase aﬀordable housing opportunities for renters and homeowners.

The key accomplishments of this report include: • Award-Winning Santa Fe Design Week, the leading initiative born out of the Santa Fe Economic Development Plan to recognize and promote Santa Fe as a leading international design and creative industry center. This community driven event unified all aspects of the Plan with community members in most of the target industries who worked together to educate the public and promote their products. • Center for Community Sustainability, a center to help create and support small businesses that can deploy new community based water conservation and renewable energy technologies in our community, to create greater local self reliance, and to educate workers for careers in the fields of water-conservation and renewable energy. • Creative Santa Fe, a not-for-profit grassroots organization dedicated to strengthening and promoting Santa Fe’s creative economy. The mission of Creative Santa Fe is to promote the prosperity of Santa Fe’s creative economy by elevating its creative industries in terms of status, opportunity, capability, and economic potential. • Santa Fe Arts and Culture Web Portal, a single on-line presence for information on Santa Fe Arts and Culture, a reference center for workforce development, and an on-line marketplace for arts and culture commerce. (www.SantaFeCulture.org) • Small Business Support by the city of Santa Fe, including the first annual Santa Fe Small Business of the Year Award; more than $270,000 in small business loans to the local community; Santa Fe Alliance’s “Find Your Independents Week,” a celebration of our locally-owned firms; and “Local Farm-to-Restaurant Project,” a collaboration between local farms and restaurants to promote locally-grown and produced products • TicketsSantaFe.com, an on-line system for purchasing tickets to a wide variety of events through the Lensic Box Office. The centralized community box office will generate more than $1.9 million annually for the performing groups that use the service. • UNESCO Creative Cities Program designated Santa Fe the first city in North America and one of the first three cities in the world a Creative City for folk art and design. • Water and Energy Target Industry Support, promoting local environmental technologies and businesses by encouraging collaborative working relationships and bringing the industry representatives together with policy makers to build Santa Fe as a nationally recognized center of green building and water conservation.

A Resource Guide 2007

Sustainable Santa Fe

ustainability has been a hallmark of life in New Mexico since the first dwellers faced their caves south and dug pit houses into the ground to benefit from earth temperatures warmer than the air. In its heyday, the New Mexico Solar Energy Association boasted 1,500 members and built “sun dwellings” at Ghost Ranch. Solar pioneer Peter Van Dresser laid a roof of beer cans on his El Rito house in the 1950s, innovating solar power west of the Mississippi. And Santa Fe architect Ed Mazria is known for “daylighting” - using skylights and reflective surfaces to project outside light deep into the interior of buildings - in important public and private projects like the State Printing Office and Genoveva Chavez Community Center, both in Santa Fe.

Santa Fe Design Week Linda Milanesi

When Santa Fe Design Week celebrates its second year from October 22-29, 2006, it carries forth those proud traditions as it promotes a 21st Century vision rooted in the interdependence of creativity and sustainability in design. Commenting on Design Week, Mayor David Coss said, “Our desire is to facilitate a broad coalition of interests and launch a community campaign to address sustainability issues. We aim to make Santa Fe the green design, water conservation and renewable energy capitol of the Southwest.”’ Architecture, interior, furniture, landscape, graphic, media and fashion design, all represent areas of design leadership that Santa Fe Design Week will showcase and cultivate. Young architects and designers are throwing creative initiative behind an architecture competition planned to bring new ideas to the Civic Housing Authority’s Hopewell Mann community housing development. Renewable energy innovations and design products will be displayed at an Expo at El Museo Cultural in the Railyard district.

Linda Milanesi is a marketing and public relations consultant who has worked internationally in the visual and performing arts. She has been working on Santa Fe Design Week with Grace Communications.

Ideas will circulate at workshops, roundtables, keynote lectures and panel discussions. Charrettes an architectural drafting concept, which oﬀers the community opportunities to brainstorm and sketch out design notions will take place on the issues of livework spaces and playground design. The Ecoversity will present workshops. A fashion runway show and designer/artisan market, along with design competi-

tions for furniture, and a “Chairs for Charity” benefit auction will spotlight an emphasis on how green and excellent designs mesh. More than 60 events will fill the eight-day period. A playground, designed by children and their parents in 2005, will have just been completed in the Pueblos del Sol neighborhood. This project is an example of Design Week’s thrust to promote great design at the heart of city life. Design Week exemplifies the principles of sustainability rooted in New Mexico. And a fresh commitment to sustainability by city and state planners encompassing respect for tradition and an investment in a creative future nestled in green principles is blowing strong on the horizon. At the heart of such a vision lies community – and, in particular, the City of Santa Fe’s commitment to excellence in design, as well as to principles of green and renewable design, as cornerstones of the city’s future economic growth.

Classic Southwest Hacienda-style House This classic Southwest hacienda-style house was built with energy-eﬃcient Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) that use recycled styrofoam and do a superior job of insulating. The portal columns are made from trees harvested from the site excavation. The u-shaped house was designed with simple yet eﬀective green principles: passive solar orientation to capture the winter sun and summer shade, and operable windows strategically placed for great ventilation. (Photo: ADC Referral)

In that Design Week represents the city’s leading economic development initiative to promote Santa Fe as a “Creative City” for excellent design with a green attitude, Design Week also will reach out to send its message abroad. The “Creative Cities” designation is a tag that UNESCO has applied to nine

97 cities internationally, which feature design as integral facets of local cultures. “Design Week’s eﬀorts can help galvanize the community,” said Coss. It is foreseeable then, that in a design-driven, sustainable future, we might travel to visit New Mexico’s solar-oriented ruins in cars run on biofuels; light and cool our houses with sun and wind; and enjoy the pleasures of excellent design that promotes values cherished then and now.

Modern Mesa-top House This modern mesa-top house utilizes passive and active solar elements. The living room acts as a kind of greenhouse (heat sink), which helps keep the home warm in the winter. Solar panels preheat the hot water supply. Extra-thick insulation saves energy. Water run-oﬀ from the roof is diverted with French drains into a cistern for later uses. Photos: ADC Referral)

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ooking at our city’s many artists, authors, musicians and thinkers, there can be no doubt about the boundless creativity found in Santa Fe. Today the reach of Santa Fe’s timeless traditions and innovative style extends into ever more remote corners of the world with something greater than an aesthetic note – it embodies a powerful message about the future. For creativity is no longer only a measure of individual talent or artistic ﬂare; creativity now must be thought of as a thing of substance to be used like capital in an evolving global economy. In Santa Fe’s case, creativity is a tightly bundled part of the area’s history. Long before there was a city of Holy Faith there were people here merging beauty with practicality in their daily lives. Pots with intricate designs, communicative rock art of stylized symbols and enduring architectural style are almost taken for granted as an indelible part of Santa Fe’s creative legacy.

our economies are being driven by creativity and the individuals who not only create, but live a creative lifestyle. A recent study by the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research on the economic impact of the arts & cultural industries on Santa Fe County revealed, “In 2002, Santa Fe’s arts & cultural industries and cultural tourism generated over $1 billion in receipts, employed 12,567 workers (17.5% of total employment in Santa Fe County) and paid $231.5 million in wages and salaries.” This clearly underscores the critical role creativity plays in the long-term economic health of the city. Recognizing the reputation Santa Fe earned over

UNESCO Creative Cities Conference Will Help Drive Santa Fe’s Creative Economy

From this organic foundation has come an unimaginable wealth of artistic diversity in structure and service. Today we stand on the shoulders of those who brought us rough-hewn furniture, simple vessels, and practical clothing; once cherished for function, now prized for form. This heritage ﬁlls citizens and visitors alike with an increasingly reﬁned appreciation for the value of traditional creative expression and opens our eyes to the new potential worth of future creativity. It is this value of creativity that is being increasingly appreciated as an agent of positive change on an international scale. Perhaps more than ever, Museum of Fine Arts - Museum of New Mexico

the decades for its creativity, UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) honored the city in 2005 with a formal designation as the United States’ first Creative City in Design and Folk Art. Joining a short list of other UNESCO Creative Cities around the world, Santa Fe is poised to become a key player in the development of strategies to meet the needs of cultural entrepreneurs. Through this process, new ways are being defined in which the city itself can benefit from growing its creative economy through new thinking and business paradigms.

Tom Maguire

To quote an overview of social scientist Richard Florida’s groundbreaking book, The Rise of the Creative Class, “The Creative Class now comprises more than thirty percent of the entire work force. The choices these people make already had a huge economic impact, and in the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither.” A growing number of Santa Fe organizations and individuals are leveraging the strength of their own creativity to insure the city’s future is bright with the promise of this prosperity. A signiﬁcant step will be taken to further the beneﬁts the city can derive from a robust creative economy when Santa Fe hosts delegates from all of UNESCO’s other Creative Cities at a Planning Conference in October, 2006. The conference

Tom Maguire is Acting Director of the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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100 will also focus on shaping strategies able to be implemented elsewhere. The goal of the conference is to develop short and long-term methods for providing 1) intensive training 2) ongoing technical assistance and support and 3) access to policy and funding resources for cultural entrepreneurs worldwide. The group’s visit coincides with Santa Fe Design Week as well as United Nations Week. In a further stroke of propitious timing, the day the delegates are expected in Santa Fe, October 24th, is UN Day. The Global Alliance scheduled to attend the Planning Conference will consist of three representatives from each of the nine UNESCO Creative Cities: Aswan Egypt (UNESCO City of Folk Art), Berlin, Germany (UNESCO City of Design), Bologna, Italy (UNESCO City of Music), Buenos Aires, Argentina (UNESCO City of Design), Edinburgh, UK (UNESCO City of Literature), Montreal, Canada (UNESCO City of Design), Popayan, Colombia (UNESCO City of Gastronomy), Santa Fe (UNESCO City of Folk Art and Design), and Seville, Spain (UNESCO City of Music). Each of the representatives from every city will have a particular area of expertise in tourism, economic development or their city’s target discipline. The strategies created during the Planning Conference will then be the focus of a larger, International Summit on Creative Tourism to be held in Santa Fe in 2007 or 2008. Further, the creation of a permanent Global Center for Cultural Enterprise and Entrepreneurship is expected to be addressed with the hope that the center will be located in Santa Fe. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for Santa Fe to play a role in the development of a global approach to creative capital,” said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss. “This can also help the city with its own creative initiatives and deﬁne better ways to use the talent and resources already found here.” A Santa Fe leadership team including Mayor David Coss, City Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger, Art Commission Director Sabrina Pratt, Kris Swedin, Director of Santa Fe’s Economic Development Division, and Tom Maguire, Director of the Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau, will play pivotal roles in shaping the International Summit and making it a reality.

All Species Day 2006 - Santa Fe

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ver the last four years the Santa Fe Alliance, the independent business association, has drawn considerable public attention to the importance of spending our dollars with our own homegrown enterprises. Now, with the creation of Locals Care, a brand-new loyalty/gift-card program, not only do patrons get to feel good about supporting their neighbors, they also get to benefit personally as well as make a contribution to the nonprofit community. Imagine being able to walk into your locally owned clothing store or restaurant, for instance, make a purchase or eat a meal, and have a percentage of that sale go not only to your favorite local nonprofit, but also to your own personal account toward future purchases in other locally owned businesses.

Sustaining Santa Fe One Latte at a Time Gershon Siegel with Vicki Pozzebon

For information concerning the Locals Care program, contact 983-2581 or www. locals-care.com. David Kaseman may be reached at david@locals-care.com. For the Santa Fe Alliance, contact Executive Director Vicki Pozzebon at 989-5362 or www.santafealliance.com.

The idea of a loyalty card is not unique. For years Borders and other national chains have encouraged customers to come back to their stores by offering an accumulating credit that can be used toward the next purchase in one of their stores. What makes the Locals Care card unique is its combining of the accumulating credit and the percentage that goes to the nonprofit. In addition, the accumulating credit is good not only in the store where the original purchase was made, but in any local participating business. Each time a Locals Care cardholder makes a purchase at a participating Locals Care business, the merchant commits from 4 to 10 percent of the purchase amount to Locals Care. Of that purchase amount, 50 percent is issued back to the cardholder as “community points” to be redeemed for future purchases, and 40 percent goes to the nonprofit linked to the card. The remaining 10 percent is directed into a community fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation that will further benefit nonprofit organizations. The projected income to nonprofits with 5000 cardholders spending $5.00 a day adds up to $365,000. That’s a staggering amount of locally raised money that stays right in the community to help the nonprofits doing good work right in our own backyard. Locals Care has the potential to be the largest funder of nonprofits in the city of Santa Fe within two years. Quite simply, buying a latte every day at a local café will help sustain Santa Fe. To obtain a Locals Care community card, an individual can request one from a participating non-

profit organization or pick one up at a participating business. Cardholders will receive a current accounting of the available-points balance on the receipt issued at the time of their purchase, or they may check their balance and donation amounts online at www.locals-care.com. In 2003, the Santa Fe Alliance did a study that found that locally owned businesses are the soul of a healthy economy in most cities: small, locally owned businesses create between 60 to 80 percent of new jobs; the owners of these businesses are more committed to their communities, sitting on boards of churches and nonprofits; and give more time and money than corporations. The Alliance uses the “local multiplier,” a measurement tool that demonstrates how a dollar spent locally is recycled back into the community through retaxation and goes into community coffers for education programs and community services. When consumers see their dollars filtered back through their own community, it helps them make better choices about shopping locally. “The partnership of the Santa Fe Alliance and the Locals Care card is a good match. As an organization that promotes local businesses and community it makes perfect sense that we would support a program that not only educates the residents of Santa Fe, but gives them an immediate call to action. Every time they spend money locally they are rewarded and so is the nonprofit that they feel most connected to. It’s tangible. That’s what consumers want these days; instant rewards. And it has the potential to reach households who might not have considered buying locally,” says Vicki Pozzebon, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Alliance. Should Locals Care prove successful in Santa Fe, it will only be a matter of time until it will be replicated in other communities around the country. David Kaseman, one of the Locals Care principals, imagines the day when a Santa Fe Locals Care cardholder will be able to use his or her card in any participating store, whether in Denver, Dallas or Pittsburgh. And of course, those visiting tourists who have a Locals Care card from their own hometown will have the same incentive to spend their money at locally owned Santa Fe businesses. If they’re successful, Locals Care is ready to serve as an example for the rest of the country. “There are about 40 communities waiting to see what happens to Locals Care in Santa Fe,” advises Kaseman.

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he Santa Fe Living Wage (SFLW) Ordinance mandated an $8.50 minimum wage on January 1, 2004, for all employees and contract workers of private businesses registered with the city with 25 or more employees. The SFLW called for an increase to $9.50 per hour on January 1, 2006, and to $10.50 on January 1, 2008. Legal challenges delayed the law’s implementation until June 24, 2004. An effort to postpone implementation of the $9.50 wage was defeated and the $9.50 wage went into effect, as scheduled, on January 1, 2006. The SFLW is one of a number of efforts by cities and states around the country to put a floor under the hourly wages paid to millions of low-wage workers. The federal minimum wage was last increased to $5.15 per hour on September 1, 1997. Had the federal minimum wage been increased regularly with inflation, by January 1, 2004, it would have exceeded $8.50. The SFLW goes further than most of the new living wage legislation passed in other jurisdictions in its coverage of private sector employers and in the magnitude of the increase mandated above the federal minimum wage. The city of Santa Fe, nestled at over 7,000 feet against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains is a place of scenic beauty, historic significance, rich cultural traditions, a center for the arts, recreational opportunities, and a gateway both to the pueblos and historic Hispanic villages of northern NM. Santa Fe is a worldclass tourist destination and it continues to attract the more affluent visitors. The luxurious homes that dot the foothills and residential real estate prices attest to the city’s attractiveness to amenity migrants. Santa Fe has a wealthy population, with per capita income from dividends, interest and rents more than twice the national average. There is, however, another side to Santa Fe. It is a multicultural city with a large Hispanic/Latino population (48%). Santa Fe County is one of only two counties in New Mexico where per capita income exceeds the national average, but the average wage before implementation was only 80% of the U.S. Despite having relatively more people in the highest income category, median income is lower -- $40,392 versus $41,994 for the U.S. in 1999. Moreover, median earnings for households with

a white non-Hispanic head were roughly a third higher than for those headed by a Hispanic/Latino. Educational attainment for the population 25 years and older is very high, with 18% having an advanced degree versus 9% for the U.S., but 30% of the city’s Hispanic population 25 years and older did not have a high school degree or equivalent (versus 4% of white non-Hispanics) and only 15.4% had a college degree or more (versus 60% of white non-Hispanics). Labor force participation for both men and women is higher than the U.S. and unemployment rates have been lower. However, both male and female Hispanics/Latinos had lower rates of labor force participation in 1999 than non-Hispanic Whites and their rates of unemployment were almost twice as high. Compared to the

The Santa Fe Living Wage U.S. in 1999, a smaller percentage of the workers residing in the city of Santa Fe worked full-time and a larger percent of the men worked part-time year round. The problems of low wages and unemployment were compounded by the high cost of living – 13% higher than in other U.S. cities in 2003. Costs were above the national average in nearly every category but most signiﬁcantly for housing. The lack of aﬀordable housing is the other side of the real estate boom that has driven housing prices into the stratosphere.

Dr. Lee A. Reynis

Has the Santa Fe Living Wage helped? Opponents of minimum wages argue that such governmental interference in the marketplace will raise wages for some but at the expense of jobs, resulting in higher unemployment and less investment. Investigating the impacts of a policy change on the economy of a city is not like conducting a controlled experiment in a scientiﬁc laboratory. Many factors are at play in a regional economy. Thus, when the law went into eﬀect, the Santa Fe economy was in the process of recovering from a period of slower growth that dates back to the mid-to-late 1990s. The economy had weathered a national recession and the sharp reduction in business and leisure travel that occurred after 9-11 and as a result of the

Dr. Lee A. Reynis is Director of the University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER).

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106 general slowdown of the national economy. The city had just embarked on an ambitious effort to develop and implement an economic development strategy for the future. Since then, oil prices have risen from $25 per barrel to over $70; the Federal Funds rate is up from 1.00% to 4.50%. Amidst all these changes and crosscurrents, the economy of Santa Fe has been doing quite well. Private sector job growth in the second quarter of 2005 hit 2.6% yearover-year and it remained at or above 2% through the second half of the year.1 The unemployment rate in Santa Fe County has been in the 3 – 4% range since the beginning of 2006, down from 4 – 5%, where it had been since the second quarter of 2003. The trend is very similar to that observed for New Mexico and the other MSA’s. Construction activity – both residential and nonresidential -- has picked up in recent months.2 Public assistance programs generally saw a relative drop/slower growth in caseloads compared with the state after the minimum wage went into effect, although Santa Fe has lost ground relative to NM in 2006. BBER’s survey of Santa Fe businesses, conducted in the fourth quarter of 2005, found employers, large and small, increasing wages in response to the mandated $8.50 minimum wage.3 Wages were increased for workers at the bottom of the pay scale, but at least 40% of those firms claiming to be impacted increased wages for workers earning more than $8.50. Some 36% of those impacted reported cutting overall employment, while 44% cut overtime. Some increased their use of full-time workers and/or increased hours for part-time personnel. About

6% of the businesses affected were closing their operations in Santa Fe, and about half of these were moving elsewhere, while 46% said they were limiting their investment within the city limits. Some reduction in employment might be expected. BBER’s statistical analysis of the Santa Fe city experience pre- and post-SFLW compared Santa Fe businesses with those in the city of Albuquerque. It was difficult to conclude with any confidence that the living wage ordinance had any negative impact on employment in Santa Fe as a whole. It may have had negative employment impacts for a few large firms in some industries, but other industries showed substantial positive growth relative to Albuquerque and/or previous years. Santa Fe businesses and the city’s economy are still adjusting to the SFLW. The dire consequences predicted by some have thus far not materialized; indeed, the economy has performed relatively well. Although the higher wage has helped many lower income households, the challenges faced by lower income households in Santa Fe and elsewhere – rising energy and housing costs among them -- continue to increase. 1.

2. 3.

The Current Employment Survey numbers indicate a slowdown in the first half of 2006, but these figures are often revised in light of the figures on actual employment, which are available only with a several month lag. The value of single-family units permitted by the city in the third quarter of 2005 was the highest on record and the number of units ranked third. While the ordinance applies only to firms with 25 or more employees, BBER research indicates that many firms with less than 25 employees also increased wages.

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here is always a key ingredient; this is obvious in cooking, but in investing? If you look at the quality of a key ingredient, it is what makes the difference in a food dish. What is an apple pie without the sugar or the apples even? In socially responsible investing, the key ingredient is shareholder activism. Three components make up socially responsible investing: screening, community investment and shareholder activism. Screening separates out things we find offensive and don’t want to support from things we do want to support such as alternative energy. Community investment, which usually entails CD-like loans for below market rate returns, supports small businesses often started and run by women and minorities either domestically or internationally. Even rebuilding efforts in New Orleans are an example of vital community investment. Finally, we have shareholder activism.

The Key Ingredient Kimberly Kiel

Here, it is important to remember that if some of us excluded all the offensive areas of investing there might be little or nothing in which to invest. There are simply no perfect companies; which grants tremendous import to the role of shareholder as an agent of change. We can all participate in this kind of activism, no matter how busy our lives might be. In the past 30 years, shareholders have filed thousands of social resolutions that have helped to break new ground in progressive corporate policies. These policy changes range from better disclosure of environmental liabilities to more corporate board responsibility to improving wages, benefits and working conditions for workers both here and abroad. The most well known display of shareholder action was during the 80’s in the divestment from South Africa to abolish apartheid. Pressure resulting from hundreds of resolutions filed at many U.S. companies was a major factor in their leaving South Africa. Today we see similar pressure in Burma.

Kimberly Kiel has worked in the financial industry since 1998. Her goal is to help people make financial decisions based on their values to achieve their goals and dreams while making a positive difference.

Nowadays millions of mutual fund shareholders consent to experienced social research departments and individual equity managers ﬁling resolutions on their behalf. In the most recent proxy season, shareholders saw proxies ﬁled at companies like Johnson & Johnson for safer chemical policies. Mutual fund companies requested reports on the use of chemicals currently banned in the European

Union that are still in products sold to non-EU markets. They wanted to know the feasibility of implementing a global reformation plan and the costs and timeframe for doing so. Changes are occurring across the board with big name companies that we all recognize. There have been recycling efforts with Coca-Cola and PespsiCo for better recycling strategies of their beverage containers. Computer recycling is also an important topic these days with Apple Computer and Hewlett Packard. We are seeing a plethora of resolutions being filed with WalMart, again including requests for Sustainability Reports and specifically a resolution to amend the company’s EEO policy to bar intimidation of company employees who exercise their right to freedom of association, code for joining a union! Many times, victories in shareholder activism are the result of dialogue concerning undisclosed, socially problematic policies. For instance, a major fund company has successfully withdrawn a proxy regarding predatory lending at a major banking chain. After the initial resolution, there was dialogue with the company about their unwritten policies of charging higher fees and interest rates to minorities and poorer clientele. In the end, the bank moved to have a written policy that would specifically ban their mortgage lenders from these activities. Sometimes the mere mention of filing a resolution can draw out companies who prefer to avoid the limelight and publicity of a full proxy vote. Information such as reports on energy efficiency or EEO reports surface and threat exposure. More and more often, we are seeing success with both social shareholders and non-social shareholders when the proxies do go to a vote. If the vote total is high, we might see company action. Even if the total falls short of 50%, we can bring back a resolution a second time the following year. Again, companies often avoid the publicity and will either change a policy or start a dialogue. Shareholder activism is the key ingredient in socially responsible investing. If we are not making a change in our world, a change for the better, then we are allowing change to take place that is not in our best interests. Global warming is happening. Workers across the world are being treated unfairly. CEO’s often make too much money. If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, then who will?

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The Oldest House

The Built Design, Energy, Transportation

Translating ecological sustainability into the built environment is a challenge for environmentally conscious designers, builders and developers. People involved in building construction today have to cope with signiﬁcantly higher energy costs, an increased threat of climate change, the depletion of key resources, the introduction of thousands of chemicals whose impacts are not well-known, increasing air and water pollution, growing levels of solid waste and a host of other local and global environmental problems.

Sustainable design balances architecture’s emphasis on style and structure with the creation of buildings that protect the environment, human health and save resources. This means taking into consideration the life cycle of a structure’s non-polluting renewable materials, and combining lower energy requirements and energy eﬃciency with durability and recycleability. Ecological balance may be achieved by merging natural resources such as daylight, solar heat and natural ventilation with innovative (or age-old) technologies into an integrated system of indoor-outdoor relationships.

111 An increasing number of developers have endorsed green construction as increasing numbers of buyers and tenants want homes and offices with these qualities. Renowned architect William McDonough’s “eco-effective” designs reflect his principles of ecology, equity and economics. In designing, he thinks about creating an environment for a community (including all species), something that builds multigenerational diversity, mixed use, and is healthy to live in. That means homes and commercial spaces with

minimal toxicity, utilizing solar energy, that are still aﬀordable. Some of McDonough’s buildings make more energy than they need to operate. Water may be channeled oﬀ-site to create a wetlands habitat for plants and wildlife. For McDonough though, sustainable development starts with the restoration of our cities and rebuilding of existing communities. To support the local economy, utilization of local materials and services is a keystone of his approach. Next, he seeks to redesign waste disposal systems, “eliminating the concept of waste.”

Note to Building Professionals: For Green Building Guidelines to become the normal standard for residential construction in our community, we need your participation and support! This means not only choosing sustainably-harvested woods and other more environmentally friendly materials and methods, but educating your suppliers, subcontractors and clients to the value of such choices. As suppliers respond to demand, choices will increase and costs should decline. Over time, your commitment to Green Standards will make a positive diﬀerence in the public’s perception of our industry and in the environment as a whole.

Environment Note to Homeowners:

Living in the Santa Fe area, you know about our city and county water conservation measures, which are imperative given our semi-arid landscape and growing population. However, the conservation of other resources is also an area ripe for increased awareness – individually and as a community. Your willingness to educate yourself to the ideas and standards of Green Building puts you in a powerful position as a force for positive change. You, the consumer, hold the keys to ensuring the future of our natural resources by requiring accountability from planners, builders and legislators… Sharing your desire for Green Building standards with realtors, lenders, designers and planners will raise the level of support for builders who make the eﬀort to build green, thus constructing a community that is even more environmentally sustainable. From the booklet Santa Fe Area Green Building Guidelines by Aysha Griﬃn, published by Sustainable Communities, Inc. and the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association. A free copy is available by calling 995-0195 or through the web site www.GoRealtySantaFe.com.

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112 Transportation A transportation hub is being developed at the state Transportation Department headquarters on Cerrillos Road between Alta Vista Street and Cordova Road. The hub will serve as a stop for the state’s biodiesel-fueled Rail Runner Express commuter trains from Albuquerque, Park-and-Ride busses, Santa Fe Trails busses (possibly) and other city transit. A large oﬃce complex and a new train station will be built on the site. The ﬁrst phase of the train program began in July 2006 in the Albuquerque area. Trains are slated to start traveling to Santa Fe in 2008. The hub project is expected to be underway by that time. Various routes for the approach to Santa Fe have been under consideration. The train will stop at least at the new hub and the downtown Railyard depot. Meanwhile, the number of riders on the state’s Park-and-Ride program has greatly increased with the rise in gas prices. The bus system is geared toward workday commuters, providing trips between Albuquerque

and Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Santa Fe and Los Alamos and Santa Fe for $3 each way. Monthly passes are available for $90. Fares for Santa Fe to Espanola are $2. Most runs take place during rush hours. There are restrooms on board and handicap access. The system generally runs on schedule and breakdowns are rare. Santa Fe Trails natural gas-powered busses pick up many Parkand-Ride passengers to get them around town. Monthly Park-andRide pass holders ride the Santa Fe Trails busses for free. The transfer point between park-and-ride and Santa Fe Trails is the stop near the corner of Cordova and Cerrillos Roads. Santa Fe Trails also oﬀers a discounted college student pass. The City of Santa Fe operates the Santa Fe Ride Program, a curb-to-curb transportation service for senior citizens and the disabled who are unable to ride Santa Fe Trails busses. The city also operates a free shuttle to accommodate city employees and other downtown workers who need to get to the city’s remote parking lots while major parts of downtown are under construction.

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ACKGROUND Architecture 2030 was founded in 2005 and is sponsored by New Energy Economy, a non-proﬁt, non-partisan organization located in Santa Fe. Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030 has a long history in the advancement of sustainable design practices within the architectural profession. His current mission is to protect our global environment by using design innovation and common sense to develop and implement bold solutions to global warming. His immediate goal is to ensure that by 2010, all new buildings and major renovation projects will be designed to achieve a minimum reduction of one-half the fossil fuel energy they would typically consume to construct and operate. By 2030 they shall use none. The following describes the “2030 Challenge:” SCIENCE In the quest to cut greenhouse gas emissions and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, we have overlooked the biggest source of emissions and energy consumption both in this country and around the globe: buildings and the energy they consume. Building operation costs and their construction account for nearly half of all the greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumed in this country each year. This includes energy used in the production and transportation of materials to

building construction sites, as well as the energy used to operate buildings. Globally, the percentage is even greater. The Building Sector is the key source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases. U.S. annual energy consumption is projected to increase by 37% (34 quadrillion Btu) and greenhouse gas emissions by 36% over the next twenty years. Annual global energy consumption is projected to increase by 54% (230 quadrillion Btu) over this same period. The Building Sector as the major U.S. and global

ARCHITECTURE 2030 greenhouse gas emitting sector, is poised to fuel the world’s rush toward climate change. The U.S. alone is projected to need 1,300 to 1,900 new power plants over the next 20 years (about one power plant per week). Most of this new energy will be needed to operate buildings. The United States will add 22 million buildings that will not only consume electricity produced at a central power plant, but also directly burn oil, natural gas and/or propane in boilers, furnaces and hot water heaters. In fact, 58% of end-use energy needed to

Quilian Riano and Casey Crawmer

Ed Mazria is an architect based in Santa Fe and is the founder and director or Architecture 2030. This article was composed by Quilian Riano and Casey Crawmer, who are associate agents of the Architecture 2030 organization. For more information please contact: info@ architecture2030.org

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114 operate a building is consumed by the burning of fuel onsite. With a lifespan that lasts for 50 to 100 years throughout which they consume energy and produce emissions, it is important that a building’s design work to decrease GHG emissions during that life cycle. The scientiﬁc community estimates that by 2030, the reduction and stabilization of CO2 emissions is a must in order to avoid catastrophic consequences. We have about ten years from today to enact policies that aim to help stabilize and begin reductions in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions before reaching a series of tipping points, one being the irreversible melting of the polar ice caps. 2030 CHALLENGE To mitigate this problem, non-proﬁt Architecture 2030 has issued the global “2030 ºChallenge” calling for design and building

professionals to adopt the following global targets immediately to curb building sector GHG emissions: 1. That all new buildings and developments be designed to use 1/2 the fossil fuel energy they would typically consume (1/2 the national average for that building type). 2. That at a minimum, an equal amount of existing building area be renovated annually to use 1/2 the amount of fossil fuel energy they are currently consuming (through design, purchase of renewable energy and/or the application of renewable energy technologies). 3. That the fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings be increased to: 60% in 2010

115 70% in 2015 80% in 2020 90% in 2025 Carbon-neutral by 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG emitting energy to operate). SANTA FE Recognizing the importance of this issue, the Santa Fe City Council became the ďŹ rst in the world to adopt the 2030 challenge. By doing this, the city is making a commitment to leadership at the local level on the issue of building sector greenhouse gas emission reductions. Now the city has focused resources to fully implement the 2030 challenge. The leadership shown by the council will make Santa Fe a more sustainable city, with buildings that are healthier to live in and built in intelligent ways, thus improving the quality of life for all residents and the environment.

Starting with New Mexico, Architecture 2030 hopes to create local models that meet this objective, serving as a member of both the Technical Working Group and the Advisory Steering Committee for the New Mexico Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Climate Change Initiative. Architecture 2030 is currently collecting data on the New Mexico building sector and developing global warming emissions targets and strategies to meet the Climate Change Initiativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s targets. This will require the Santa Fe city government to have all city-funded buildings meet a fossil-fuel consumption performance standard of one half the national average for any given building type. By the year 2010, all new buildings and major renovation projects will achieve a minimum delivered energy

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116 performance standard of one-half the U.S energy consumption for that building type as defined by the U.S Department of Energy. NATIONALLY Fortunately, Architecture 2030 is making real progress outside of New Mexico as well. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) was the first organization to take the bold step in adopting the targets set out in the “2030 ºChallenge”. More recently, the US Conference of Mayors (USCM) adopted the “2030 ºChallenge” for ALL buildings; the resolution was sponsored by the Mayors of cities from the 4 corners of the continental U.S. - Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Early in 2006 the State of New Mexico became the first government to officially adopt the “2030 ºChallenge”. Since, the City of Santa Fe and the County of Sarasota, Florida have both legally adopted the Challenge. Now that the “2030 ºChallenge” has been recognized internationally and widely adopted within governments and organizations, the goal is to implement both the regulation changes that inform the building industry policy standards and re-invent how buildings are designed and built by architects and developers. Architecture 2030 has provided the American Institute of Architects with a strategy for curbing U.S. building sector greenhouse gas emissions and has issued the Architecture “2030 ºChallenge” to provide a similar strategy for the international professional architecture and building community. In May 2005 the presidents of 16 of the world’s leading architecture institutions signed the “Las Vegas Declaration” calling on the profession to “do all it can to influence a major reduction in the level of carbon emissions that result from the creation of the built environment.” Architecture 2030 is currently working on influencing architecture schools to adapt to these new standards into their curriculum. This is really the most critical step in the transition to a renewable energy economy. It is getting the young designers of today to recognize the issues that need to be resolved for the stabilization of tomorrow. The real “challenge” is coming up with the design and implementation strategies fast enough. DESIGN A 50% reduction of building GHG emissions and the ultimate goal of carbon neutral buildings by 2030 is readily achievable primarily through design. Today’s design professionals can wean the world from its current fossil fuel addiction and it can be done through design innovation that takes into account

passive systems. What we need today is an architecture that takes advantage of regional climatic processes to lessen the need for additional energy input. A way of building that uses simple concepts such as climatic conditions, site-orientation, material choices, daylighting, natural ventilation and the abundant energy we get each and every day from the sun. This is a call to both boldly move forward and to also take a step back to look at vernacular architectures that worked within its environment, taking advantage of the local daily and seasonal climate as well as solar variation. These traditions have fallen behind as the culture at large accepts the myth of a never-ending supply of energy. Today and throughout most of the twentieth century, architecture in the U.S. and most of Europe has been characterized by our reliance on active technology, ignoring other passive factors. In most cases we are now prisoners of our mechanical systems. And in many climate zones buildings are designed in such a way that a small mechanical failure can render a structure uninhabitable. Local materials and know-how are ignored to the point that today we see the same basic building methods and materials from coast to coast with little regard to regional appropriateness. The good news comes from the steady movement from our community away from those inoperable systems to building methods and materials that take into account the local environment. We call on today’s architecture and building community to build on this movement to innovatively implement passive methods as alternate heating and cooling systems. Passive systems are simple in concept and use, have few moving parts, and do not require much more maintenance than today’s expensive mechanical systems. More importantly these systems eﬀectively used will contribute to a major decrease in GHG emissions preventing a possible catastrophe from happening. The nature of passive systems requires them to be an integral part throughout the building design process. Whereas conventional active heating and cooling systems can be somewhat independent of the overall design of a building, but it is extremely diﬃcult to add passive systems to a building that has already been designed. The “2030 ºChallenge” is a call to designers to step up and be global leaders doing that which they do best: design buildings using innovative methods. To read more on the science of the “2030 ºChallenge” please refer to www.architecture2030.org and the 2030 E-News Issue 1 and 2.

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he answer to this riddle* is, a well-designed house with a flexible floor plan that meets the needs of the current and future residents. When homes with flexible floor plans are incorporated into a mixed-use zoned neighborhood, a pedestrian friendly, lowered consumptive, more affordable lifestyle is created for all the neighbors. How can a flexible floor plan meet the needs of many American families? According to the US Bureau of Statistics, the 2000 Census reveals that only 24% of American households consist of two parents with children under the age of eighteen under the same roof. Currently 78% of the residential homes built in the United States are single-family homes. In other words, the majority of new construction is built for the traditional single-family American unit. What about all the rest of us that don’t fit that profile? Are our needs for housing being met? Is there a new American dream emerging that takes into consideration the current global economy and life cycles of most of America?

way they‘ll have a quiet renter and supplemental income. The middle room downstairs, behind the store, is completely dedicated to the ping-pong table and music, relieving stress and maintaining old college days ceremonies. A new cycle of life begins for Ed and Joey. After ﬁve years, Ed gets married, and he and his new wife Jill take over the upstairs. She sets up her studio in the front bedroom. The clothing store downstairs has outgrown the space and moves to a bigger location. Joey is able to move his living quarters into the owner’s studio downstairs and ex-

Designing for a Sustainable Planet or *What do Two Young Professionals, a Wine Bar, a Twelve-step Program, and a Day Care Center Have in Common?

The following is a story of one live/work house in a mixed-use neighborhood and ordinary people like you and me. Perhaps you will glimpse a new vision of ‘home’ in this familiar tale of Ed and Joey. Please refer to the floor plan graphic below for the room reference points. Ed and Joey are two young professionals, old college roommates and best friends searching for an affordable home where they can launch their careers and start building equity. The answer? A joint ownership agreement, called tenants in common, which they use to buy a home with a flexible floor plan in a mixed-use neighborhood. Ed, a self-employed free-lance writer, sets up his office in the downstairs owner’s studio. Joey, a new attorney anxious to jump into the courtroom, sets his office up in the media room and lives in the front bedroom. Ed takes the master bedroom and they share the kitchen and living room. To help make their mortgage payments, they rent the downstairs storefront to a local clothing store. This

pand his growing law practice into the ping-pong/ music room and the storefront. By now the Friday night music gathering has become a major tradition in the neighborhood and Jill and Ed decide to host it in the upstairs media room. Friends gather there on Friday nights to play music or watch a movie on the big screen and a good time is had by all.

Brian Skeele

As you can see, the flexible floor plans support our current lives where 3 to 5 career changes are becoming the norm. Affordable entertainment, eliminating a second car by not commuting to work, and live/work opportunities in the household lowers expenses and brings in income to support the startup entrepreneur. A few years later, Joey’s law practice has outgrown the space so he decides to sell his half of the live/ work home to Ed and Jill. Ed and Jill now have two children, Hunter and Bernard, and they start a small childcare center downstairs. Mom (Jill) still works upstairs, and the situation is very convenient and helps to bring in a little more income. Living in a flexible well-designed house zoned for business supports families to both work and stay at home at the same time. Children benefit by having parents close by and parents benefit with peace of mind.

Brian Skeele is a general contractor, visionary and educator of sustainable neighborhoods. For more information on how to get involved in making this vision a reality, please visit his web site at www.beyondsuburbia.com.

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120 ing for those intangible but highly-valued commodities. Around this time, Jill’s elderly father, Jack, moves into the downstairs owner’s studio – Jill’s choice for her aging father. It works out well, as Grandpa Jack gets to spend his last years independent and involved with his grandchildren. Ed moves his office into the sunroom, which works out as well. The sunroom, it turns out, has a great view of the neighborhood, and being able to watch people in their everyday lives give Ed the inspiration he has been longing for to finish his novel. Aging in place is one of the biggest challenges of our times. 80% of Americans over 50 want to age in place (AARP). 1/3-1/2 of the Baby Boomers currently have no retirement savings. Having an affordable lifestyle and a home that creatively accommodates aging in place are more that just good ideas, they are essential elements for a more sustainable life. The daycare center decides to move to a bigger location. Grandpa Jack passes on. Ed and Jill divorce. Their teen son, Bernard, takes his grandfather’s inheritance and develops a gambling addiction. Time passes. Ed, now 55, marries his secretary, Phyllis, who’s 33 and has a 3-year-old daughter. Ed and Phyllis open a wine bar downstairs (the zoning allows it) and live above. Through all this, every Friday night friends and neighbors gather in the media room to play music while their kids eat popcorn and watch a movie in the living room or play ping-pong in the downstairs daycare center. Connection and community are two of the biggest assets that retiring baby boomers are looking for in their neighborhoods according to a Fannie Mae survey. It’s predicted that 1/3 of the 70 million Boomers will migrate in the next 10-30 years look-

At 75, Ed’s second wife (Phyllis) leaves him, and Ed moves into the space downstairs, rents out the top floor to a young couple and leases out the storefront to two health practioners who open up an acupuncture/massage office suite. Ed has income and enjoys the end of his life with a neighborhood of friends within walking distance. Creative, alive neighborhoods are nurtured over time where the zoning supports people to stay in their homes. He passes the home on to his daughter Hunter and son Bernard. As you recall, Bernard, who had a gambling addiction, has spent years in 12-step programs and is now a successful counselor, lives downstairs in the owner’s studio, and sees clients in one of the shared front offices. Hunter and her two teen sons, Jack Junior, and Alex, live upstairs. Another life cycle begins. This story is a continuum. Over generations and across lifestyle choices, the flexibility of the multipurpose floor plan gives families, friends, children and storeowners a place they can live supported by an affordable home, connection, and community. If we are to begin living lighter on the planet, scale back our overly consumptive lifestyles and reunite our values with our living arrangements, mixed-use neighborhoods should be the master plan of every neighborhood and community in America. This make-belief scenario is our real-life story today.

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SF Prep LEED Library Santa Fe Preparatory School opened its new library on August 21st, 2006. The 20,000 sq. ft. building is the ﬁrst Santa Fe structure built in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System. LEED rates the sustainable site development, water savings, energy eﬃciency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The library has features such as sensors that adjust electric lights according to how much daylight is available.

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“M

y goal is to make Santa Fe a leader in renewable energy, sustainability and green design,” declared Santa Fe Mayor David Coss in a June, 2006 interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican. Take a deeper look at the city’s plans, and you’ll find that Santa Fe is working on more than just renewable energy projects. The new administration and City Council have committed to building an entire sustainable energy industry. No small task, but ever since an economic development report commissioned by the city identified renewable energy as a target development industry, Santa Fe has been taking bold steps to make sure it happens. Creating an entirely new industry in Santa Fe requires a number of parallel efforts, including entrepreneurship programs, vocational training, business development assistance, creative lending and finance mechanisms, and policy incentives. There will also be a considerable effort required to design, build, test, and deploy the new energy systems. These efforts are already well underway, and Local Energy is proud to be involved in many of them.

Santa Fe Steams Ahead with Sustainable Energy

Mark Sardella, P.E.

become truly sustainable, needs to be based on sustainable economics and its fundamental tenet: support your local, small businesses. Santa Fe has already begun setting policy to guide its sustainable energy efforts. A bold resolution passed by the council in June, 2006 calls for the elimination of fossil fuels in all city buildings by 2030. That’s a pretty good move, because the cost of heating buildings with natural gas has increased 28 percent per year for the last four years in a row! Meeting the technical challenge of the city’s 2030 goal requires taking the buildings in Santa Fe off of their natural-gas fired heating systems. This can easily be done, according to a research project carried out at Local Energy and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by installing a district heating system in Santa Fe. District-heating systems use a network of underground pipes to circulate hot water. Residents and businesses tap into the network and pay for the heat they take from it. Nearly every major city in America, including Santa Fe, has one or more district heating systems in operation.

Reaching the aggressive goals set by the mayor and City Council means that many new energy businesses will be needed to provide energy for Santa Fe. Given the city’s preference for locally owned, independent businesses, as demonstrated by its support of the Santa Fe Business Alliance and the new Locals Care program, we can expect that our energy will soon come primarily from local, small businesses rather than from the General Electrics of the world.

Mark Sardella, Executive Director of the non-proﬁt Local Energy is a licensed professional engineer. E-mail: msardella@ localenergy.org. Local Energy is dedicated to helping communities become energy self-reliant. For more information, please visit www.localenergy.org

And there are real advantages to going local with energy. By switching to renewable energy supplied by locally owned energy businesses, we can stop energy dollars – the ones you pay for your electric and gas bills – from leaking out of our community, and instead keep the money recirculating locally. That’s a good thing, especially given that a recent study commissioned by Local Energy and carried out by economics guru Michael Shuman, showed that about 85 cents of every dollar paid for natural gas, leaks out of the community. This one, simple statistic show how the energy industry, if it is to

Once such a system is in place, there is considerable ﬂexibility in how the water is heated. Ideally the heat comes from a diverse array of small heating plants scattered throughout the network and utilizing a combination of solar and biomass technologies. Heat-storage can be added to optimize the network, taking heat out when a surplus is available, and adding it back when needed. None of this ﬂexibility is possible with the current system, which relies exclusively on natural gas – a depleting fuel that, besides skyrocketing in price, produces greenhouse gases when burned.

123 Santa Clara Pueblo is on board with the concept of biomassfired district heating, and they’ve recently won a $360,000 grant to use biomass to heat 35 low-income homes on the pueblo. Local Energy helped write the grant and will be designing and overseeing the construction effort. The biomass will come from slash generated by their ongoing hazardousfuels reduction projects. They generate many times more slash than their system will use, giving them an opportunity to expand. The system will become operational in 2008. Local Energy is also helping to create the education curriculum and vocational training programs needed to usher in the new energy industry in Santa Fe. We joined the core faculty at EcoVersity, and the courses and lectures we offer are anchored by a 2-week intensive course in Community-Based Energy. This hands-on program is taught from a permaculture perspective, wherein energy issues are viewed as community issues, and as such, the social, economic, and ecological effects are all considered when selecting the technology and the ownership structure for an energy project. It’s all connected, as the “permaculturists” like to quip. How true it is. Santa Fe Community College seeks to become the premier biomassvocations learning center in the state, and Local Energy is helping to make that happen. We designed and built their on-site training unit – a 350,000 BTU per hour, highefficiency biomass heating system – for the first offering of their Biomass Vocations Program Training Course in February, 2006. We also taught the class, covering the basics of building, operating, and maintaining a system, as well as how to tie in to a customer’s boiler plant and sell heat. The class runs again in Fall, 2006 and February, 2007. With dogged determination, abundant resources, projects and policies in place, and a mayor with

a bold vision, Santa Fe is full steam ahead toward its goal of becoming a national leader in renewable energy. The unique respect our community shows for the role of small, local businesses in this eﬀort further ensures that the new energy industry we create here will truly sustain us as we head into an otherwise uncertain global energy future. Local Energy will be here helping to guide the eﬀort.

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he following brief introduction can help you determine whether solar heating is appropriate for your home. Overview: Solar heating is the most cost-effective residential application of renewable energy available today. This simple and reliable technology can be used for a wide variety of applications including to provide heat for radiant floors & baseboards, domestic hot water, pools, hot tubs and spas. System Technology: Solar heating systems use “solar collectors.” In our climate these are typically “selective-surface flat plate collectors.” This type of collector is basically a very well insulated box with special glass on the front. This glass lets more sunlight through than conventional window glass, due to its lower iron content. The box contains copper piping that is attached to an “absorber plate.” The absorber plate is made of a special material that absorbs sunlight very well, such as black chrome. When fluid is pumped through the copper piping in the solar collector, the sun’s rays heat it. The heated fluid can then be pumped to a variety of “heating loads” throughout a home.

heat both the radiant floor and the hot water for sinks and showers. The same collectors can be used in summer to heat a swimming pool or hot tub by adding very little equipment to the system. Solar heating systems are typically designed to reduce as much gas or propane consumption as possible without over-sizing the system. This usually amounts to an annual fuel savings of 60-75%. Solar heating systems can be planned in new construction or installed for retrofit applications. In almost all systems, a natural gas or propane-fired hydronic boiler, such as the one found in a conventional heating system is still used as a backup for the solar collectors. A control system turns the boiler on whenever it is needed so that backup heating is both seamless and automatic.

Introduction to Solar Heating

Solar collectors come in a variety of sizes. To heat a home and domestic hot water, about 10% of the home’s heated area is represented in the collector area. That means, for a 3,000 square foot house, about 300 square feet of collectors are required to

Environmental and Economic Benefits of Solar Heating: A solar radiant floor heating system for a 3,000 square foot house can offset over 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year. Carbon dioxide is considered a greenhouse gas and its release may contribute to global warming. Other toxic emissions such as sulfur oxides and nitrous oxides are reduced as well, as are particulate emissions. When solar collectors can be used to offset fossil fuel year-round by heating a radiant floor in winter and a pool in summer, the return on investment can be very impressive. The addition of solar collectors adds about 30% to the cost of an installed heating system. In new construction and when offsetting propane heat, solar collector installations can pay for themselves in under ten years. In some cases, as when they are used year-round, the payback is in under five years. The return on investment in retrofit applications can be slightly longer, since the mechanical room equipment requires reconfiguration. When offsetting natural gas, the return is also somewhat longer, as natural gas is less costly than propane for each unit of heat delivered. However, the cost of natural gas has been rising consistently each year and investment in a solar heating system insulates a homeowner from the effects of these increases.

Boaz Soifer

Boaz Soifer is a Santa Fe based heating system designer and contractor. His company, Cedar Mountain Solar oﬀers complete heating systems for new homes and retroﬁts incorporating solar collectors, high-quality hydronic boilers and custom control systems.

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Santa Fe’s

Achievements in Reducing Oil Dependence Santa Fe’s local commitment to alternative fuels and vehicles can help reduce American dependence on foreign oil while helping to reduce pollution and global warming. Below are some of the city of Santa Fe’s achievements in reducing oil dependence: 1993: • City’s purchase of a new fleet of compressed natural gas busses 2002: • Addition of eight Flex Fuel vehicles capable of operating on E-85 blended fuel 2004: • City resolution directing staff to develop guidelines to ensure city purchases are fuel, energy and water efficient 2005: • City manager’s directive given to staff to introduce additional use of biofuels Fifteen vehicles were dedicated to alternative fuel use, including E-85 and B-20 diesel. 2006: • The city is now moving forward to quickly convert our entire fleet of diesel vehicles to operate on biodiesel. Staff is developing a plan to convert our entire non-diesel fleet to alternative fuels, and we are pursuing a second distribution center for biodiesel to make it more convenient for all users. May 2006: • Adoption of 2030 Architecture Challenge policy. With the adoption of this policy, Santa Fe became the first city in the U.S. to set benchmarks and timelines to increase the fossil fuel reduction standard for all public buildings to be carbon-neutral by the year 2030. This means that the buildings will use no fossil fuels to heat, cool or illuminate by that date.

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here is a Buddhist saying, “The task before us is very urgent, so we must slow down.” This seemingly contradictory statement is perfect for our time – of rampant un-sustainability. In the case of transportation, we’re racing our cars toward a cliﬀ, while burning a ﬁnite supply of oil at a blistering pace. If we’re to avoid imminent catastrophe, we need to slow down and change course; but how? Most drivers think they have no alternative but to run their vehicles on fossil fuels.

actually moves the car. With diesel it’s somewhat better, about 35%. The lion’s share of the fuel energy is lost to heat and friction. But electric motors are 85% efficient. Electric vehicles or EVs are at least twice as efficient as ICEs, and EVs have other major advantages. They’re quiet, emit near zero air emissions and can be charged up at home using grid power. Electric motors go to full torque when activated so an EV can accelerate very quickly given sufficient electricity. A recently introduced EV, the Tesla Roadster, goes 0-60 in four seconds and

A Transportation Transition Plan

Let’s pause and examine this assumption. What if our vehicles could run just as well or better on other kinds of liquid fuels? What if we could switch to vehicles that don’t need any liquid fuels?

for New Mexicans

Better kinds of liquid fuels – biofuels – are available now in Santa Fe at two Giant gas station locations. At 1229 Cerrillos Road, two grades of ethanol (E10 and E85) are offered as well as B20 biodiesel. At 4354 Cerrillos Road (Horseman’s Haven) E85 is offered. E10 is 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline; E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline; and B20 is 20% soy oil and 80% petroleum diesel. All gasoline vehicle manufacturers approve the use of E10. E85 can be used in flex-fuel vehicles, and B20 can be used in any diesel engine without modification. Two years of experience with these fuels in Santa Fe have demonstrated that biofuel/petroleum fuel blends are generally superior in quality and performance as compared to petroleum-only fuels. And biofuels are certainly far better for the environment and our national security. But let’s look beyond biofuels and the internal combustion engine (ICE). ICEs are dismally inefficient. Only about 15% of the energy in gasoline

can reach speeds of 100 mph+ with a range of 250 miles. This new generation of EV is too expensive for the average person ($40,000 to $100,000) because of the high cost of the Lithium-ion batteries. But in mass production the costs would drop dramatically. Electric cars emit about 90% less air pollution than do petroleum-fuel vehicles even when charged with electricity from coal-ﬁred power plants. Since transportation generates around 30% of our CO2 emissions, let’s consider replacing our ICEs with EVs. Here’s my plan: Most people drive less than 80 miles per day so an EV would easily fulﬁll the majority of daily driving needs. Let’s say a basic EV costs $15,000. Then we’ll add $10,000 for enough solar electric panels to charge the EV at home. Thus the package of $25,000 includes a lifetime fuel supply. No more trips to the gas station. Since massive amounts of CO2 and other pollutants would be avoided by switching to EVs, and several hundred million dollars would be saved annually by New Mexicans not having to buy liquid fuels at gas stations, the state should help facilitate the transition to a clean transportation future. A 10% “Transportation Transition Tax” on the $12 billion in New Mexico oil and gas revenues would yield $1.2 billion annually.

Charles Bensinger

Charles Bensinger is Biofuels Program Manager for Renewable Energy Partners, a nonproﬁt corporation. For over 20 years Charles has been working to bring renewable energy options to New Mexicans. His present focus is on minimizing and eliminating the use of fossil fuels for transportation purposes. He can be reached at 505-466-4259.

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130 This amount would provide a charging his or her vehicle on $12,000 buydown for the pur- homemade solar power. chase of 100,000 new EVs each year. The remaining $13,000 Is this a radical concept? Not recould be financed with low-in- ally. Most of the technology is terest car loans. In ten years most readily available. State and fedof the vehicles in New Mexico eral governments already provide would be replaced tax credits for rewith EVs. An innewable energy centive program technology pursuch as this would chases. The potenquickly attract EV tial dollar savings car manufacturers to the consumer to the state. Thus are huge, and the environmental benefits of a zero emissions vevehicle purchase hicle fleet are vast. And the social, political and dollars stay in New Mexico, as does the money economic benefits of eliminating the need for normally spent to purchase petroleum fuels. A a U.S. presence in oil-producing foreign counNew Mexico driver traveling 15,000 miles per tries are beyond calculation. If we’re to move year can fork out $2,000 a year for fuel. Over toward true transportation sustainability, EVs 30 years at current fuel prices that’s $60,000 are the way to go. So let’s get going. that would have been saved by an EV car owner Tesla Electric Car

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atersmart oﬀers residences in the city and county of Santa Fe resources to do basic water conservation projects for their home. Saving water, our most valuable resource is everyone’s responsibility and homeowners can do their part with the assistance of Watersmart. Watersmart is one-stop shopping for water conserva-

an approved front loading clothes washer. Toilets Prior to 1994, toilets were using between 3.5 and 7.0 gallons per flush. Now toilets being manufactured use 1.6gpf (gallons per flush) or less. If you are living in an older home with the higher flush

Watersmart:

A Local Resource for Residential Water Conservation tion whether it be education, licensed contractors, below retail low flow appliances, construction management or low 4% fixed financing on water conservation projects. Watersmart can help you will all your efforts to save water. Watersmart offers five ways to save water in your home: purchase low-flow appliances (dishwashers and front-loading clothes washers), retrofit/replace fixtures (faucets, showerheads and toilets) to lowflow, install on-demand hot water (recirculating pumps), exterior water catchment projects (rain barrels, cisterns, grey water use & drip irrigation) and detecting and repairing existing water leaks in your home.

style toilet, look into your retrofit options with a toilet that is newer and more efficient. If you flush five times a day, the average number of flushes, then the annual savings for a 4 gallon toilet being replaced with a 1.6 gallon toilet is over 4,320 gallons. As with anything that uses water, toilets have the possible leak problem. You can check for leaks by adding a dye tablet to the back of the tank. Wait fifteen minutes and look in the bowl itself to see if there is the color of the dye you used. That will indicate a leak. If you hear a water running sound, and there have been no recent flushes, then you probably have a problem.

Watersmart has retrofitted over a hundred residences in Santa Fe and has saved over one million gallons of water through those retrofits. Water conservation can be easy and affordable with Watersmart. Indoor Water Use Indoor use accounts for 69% (2) of total use and includes clothes washers, toilets, showers, faucets, dishwashers, evaporative coolers, cooking and drinking. If the total indoor use for an individual is 70 gallons per day, that number can be reduced to less than 40 gallons per day by using water efficient appliances and by some minor changes in activities. Clothes Washers Most top load washing machines will use 40 gallons per wash. If a family of four does laundry once a day that is 14,600 gallons used annually. A front loading washing machine can be installed that would reduce this 40 gallons to less than 20 per load. City of Santa Fe residents can qualify for an additional $100 rebate toward the purchase of

Showers This is another activity that has a large potential for water use and savings. The average person in the U.S. showers for approximately 8.2 minutes per day. Showerheads can vary in amount of water used depending on type and age of showerhead, and water pressure. Prior to 1980, showerheads would use between 5.0 and 8.0gpm (gallons per

1. Sanda Postel, Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? WW. Norton & Company, NY 1999, p.112. 2. Amy Vickers, Handbook of Water Use and Conservation, WaterPlow Press, MA, 2001, p.12 3. Amy Vickers, Handbook of Water Use and Conservation, WaterPlow Press, MA, 2001, p. 12 4. Policy Statement on Eﬃcient Water Management for Conservation by Agricultural Suppliers, State Water Conservation Coalition Agricultural Conservation Task Force, Sacramento, Calif., March 1994.

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134 minute). Most of the showerheads in use now are between 3.0gpm and 1.5gpm. The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1994 requires a maximum flow rate of 2.5gpm for showerheads being installed after that date. If you use a 2.5gpm showerhead, and shower for 8.2 minutes each day, try switching to a 2.0gpm shower head. This will provide a water savings of 1,496 gallons per year. Take it one more step. Consider reducing the time you are in the shower to 7.2 minutes. Replace your showerhead with a 1.5 gallon per minute showerhead. You will save 3,540 gallons of water each year. Faucets Faucets can be responsible for a tremendously high amount of water, up to about 15% of total use. Many aerators will actually have the flow rate engraved on them. Since 1994, aerators in the U.S. have been manufactured at 2.5gpm or less. Individuals are using faucets an average of about 8.1 minutes per day. Watersmart can provide aerators that restrict the flow to 1.0gpm. Reducing the time spent using the faucets as well as the flow rates can be even more drastic than the savings that would be seen in the shower. Be careful to save the old aerator in the event the lower flow is not working for you. Dishwashers These account for only about 1% to 2% of total water use yet they still deserve attention. Depending on the habits of wash and dishwasher purchased, water can be either saved or wasted. Look closely at the energy and water saving specifications before purchasing the appliance. Also, like a clothes washer, be sure to only wash full loads to make the best use of water and energy. Watersmart offers below retail and tax-free low flow national brand dishwashers. On Demand Hot Water (Recirculation Pumps) As you wait for the water to get hot, where is that water going? If it is not going to a grey water system, you may want to consider having a recirculation pump installed. This will eliminate that waste and potentially save you an additional 10gpd for each person. Estimated savings are 16,000 gallons per year. On demand hot water can be installed by a licensed and insured contractor through Watersmart.

Outdoor Water Use This can vary depending on location and what landscaping is in place and is normally about 31% of total water use for most households. (3) If you have a professional carefully design and install a grey water system for you, a lot of the wasted water can be used for your irrigation needs.

You can also catch rainfall. This is probably one of the oldest methods of water conservation known. There can be simple steps taken such as that of rain barrels, or an elaborate cistern can be designed for you. For every 1000 square feet of roof, you can catch 550 gallons of rain per inch of rainfall. Leaks Leaks unfortunately, are responsible for an average loss of 4 to 9 gallons per capita per day nationally. (4) There are some examples of major leaks or gushers running for months with no one around to notice. This can potentially save lot of water and the home from damage. Do not ignore the leaky or dripping faucet. A drip per second can waste 2,700 gallons per year. ASK WATERSMART TODAY HOW YOU CAN CONSERVE WATER 983-WISE (9473) www.homewise.org Watersmart is a program of Homewise, Inc. Sponsored by Governor Richardson’s Water Innovation Fund and the city of Santa Fe

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137 Introduction Rainwater Harvesting – Rainwater is good for everything including vegetables. Graywater is ﬁne for lawns, trees and shrubs. Xeriscaping means using the many beautiful plants that are adapted to our semidesert climate, including native grasses such as Buffalo grass, which needs little or no mowing.

Some Santa Fe County residents who want to use septic system water for landscaping or who can’t put in a proper leach ﬁeld, have had blackwater systems installed. “Blackwater” is deﬁned as water that comes from toilets, the kitchen sink and the dishwasher. It is treated inside the septic tank and pumped out for use on trees and shrubs.

A growing number of landscape professionals are offering ways for homeowners to take household water and reuse it to nourish trees and gardens. For urban residents, graywater use is a good option. Graywater – water that comes from the washing machine, bathroom sinks, showers and tubs – can be channeled into a diversion tank placed under the house (or outside) and pumped out through ﬂexible pipes to fruit and shade trees, shrubs and garden plants.

mendments to the Water Quality Act now allow the discharge of up to 250 gallons per day of residential “gray water” under certain conditions and without a special permit.

Graywater

State law requires that graywater be dispersed out of the tank or treated in the tank within 24 hours or the unit is considered a septic system, said Richard Jennings, a designer of sustainable water systems who owns Earthwright Designs and works on graywater projects. Because of that legal requirement, graywater tanks are usually small – 25 to 35 gallons.

Introduction and Irrigation Guide

The washing machine can be the number one source of graywater for most city residents. Older washing machines use 40 gallons of water per load, while energy-efficient models use between 18 and 25 gallons. The pump on the diversion tank has a sensor that knows when the tank is full and water needs to be dispersed. Water can be diverted through up to six different outlets, so many areas of a yard benefit from the moisture. As an aesthetic choice, many people prefer to bury the irrigation pipes that lead to their plants. Since graywater has soap scum and hair particles, it can’t go through a drip irrigation system. A graywater system can cost thousands of dollars, although there are do-it-yourself systems that can be constructed by a homeowner. It can be as simple as running a pipe from the washer drain to the garden. Usually a pump is needed to move the water. Graywater systems should be used only in the summer months. The system needs to be turned off and the water diverted into the sewer or septic system during the winter due to freezing temperatures.

Graywater is deﬁned as “untreated household wastewater that has not come in contact with toilet waste and includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, washbasins, clothes washing machines and laundry tubs, but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers or laundry water from the washing of material soiled with human excreta, such as diapers”.

NM Environment Department

Graywater is distinguished from “blackwater”, which is wastewater from toilets, kitchen sinks and dishwashers. Black water should never be reused in the home because of the high risk of contamination by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Graywater may contain varying concentrations of disease-causing organisms that are washed oﬀ during bathing and from clothes during laundering, and may also contain fats, oils, grease, hair, lint, soaps, cleansers, fabric softeners and other chemicals. Graywater may also contain elevated levels of chlorides, sodium, borax, and sulfates, and have a high pH (is alkaline) that may be harmful to some plants. Gray water should not be used to irrigate root crops, or edible parts of food crops that touch the soil. A permit is not required to apply less than two hundred ﬁfty gallons per day of private residential gray water for the resident’s household gar-

References: Create an Oasis with Graywater: Your Complete Guide to Choosing, Building and Using Graywater Systems by Art Ludwig and the web site: www.oasisdesign.net

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138 dening, composting or landscape irrigation if the following conditions are met: The graywater distribution system must be constructed so that overflow from the system drains into the sanitary sewer or septic system. In some cases, a liquid waste permit may be necessary if an on site septic system is modified. A graywater storage tank must be covered to restrict access and to eliminate habitat for mosquitoes or other vectors. Standing water left in place for more than seven days has the potential to allow mosquitoes to breed and hatch. The graywater system must not be located in a floodway. Graywater is discharged only in areas where there is vertical separation of at least five feet between the point of discharge and the ground water table to protect ground water resources from possible contamination. Current Liquid Waste Disposal Regulations require that gray water is not applied within 100 feet of a domestic well or within 200 feet of a public water supply. Graywater pressure piping is clearly identified as carrying non-potable water. Graywater is used on the site where it is generated and may not run off the property. Graywater is applied in a manner that minimizes the potential for contact with people or domestic pets. Graywater application methods that reduce contact include drip irrigation, shallow piping systems, or mulch trenches. Ponding of graywater is prohibited and application of gray water must be managed to minimize standing water and to prevent saturation of the soil. Graywater must not be sprayed. Low-pressure drip irrigation or bubblers located under mulch help to prevent misting and exposure to gray water. Graywater must not be discharged to a watercourse. Cur-

rent Liquid Waste Disposal Regulations require that discharges of gray water be at least 100 feet from streams or lakes or 25 feet (plus the depth of the arroyo) from an arroyo. Graywater use shall comply with all applicable municipal or county ordinances and local building codes. The full text of the act can be found here: http://www.legis. state.nm.us/Sessions/03%20Regular/FinalVersions/house/ HB0114.htm Because most outdoor irrigation is seasonal, it may be necessary to divert graywater to the sanitary sewer or septic system during the non-growing season. Graywater systems designed to discharge more than 250 gallons per day require a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department. For additional information, contact the New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) Ground Water Quality Bureau.

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his highly detailed book with more than 40 photos and 115 illustrations is the core of a three-volume set on how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable waterharvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. The second two books are being published at the end of 2006 and in 2007. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Volume 1 is a treatise on desert survival without any of the unsustainable groundwater mining to which our society has become addicted.

urban, and rural. Living on an eighth of an acre in downtown Tucson, Arizona, where annual rainfall is less than twelve inches, the author practices what he preaches by harvesting over 100,000 gallons a year. He and his brother have created an oasis in the desert by directing harvested rainwater that would otherwise ﬂow oﬀ their property into storm drains, living air conditioners of food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape that includes habitat for wildlife.

Rainwater harvesting is the process of capturing rain and making the most of it as close as possible

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Vol. 1 Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain Into Your Life and Landscape to where it falls. By harvesting rainwater on the land within the soil and vegetation or in cisterns that will later irrigate the land, we can control erosion, reduce ﬂooding and minimize water pollution. Living in a world with a ﬁnite supply of fresh water that is increasingly polluted makes this practice especially valuable.

By Brad Lancaster; forward by Gary Paul Nabhan Rainsouce Press, Tucson, Arizona

Although rainwater harvesting has been utilized by humans in virtually every drought vulnerable region of the world for millennia, our society seems to have collective amnesia about the utility, efficiency, sustainability and beauty of these timetested practices. Author Brad Lancaster encourages us to turn water scarcity into water abundance by welcoming rain into our lives, landscapes and soils. Sharing techniques and strategies from around the world - some ancient, some new - he empowers readers to create their own integrated water-sustainable landscape plans. The book shows how to access your on-site resources (rainwater, graywater, topsoil, sun, plants and more), offers a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and provides guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional, water-sustainable water-harvesting landscape plan specific to your site and needs. Lancaster’s own home-site is featured in the book along with many other case studies – urban, sub-

Brad Lancaster is a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant and co-founder of Desert Harvesters (DesertHarvesters. org). For more information, visit www.HarvestingRainwater.com.

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anta Fe’s long awaited and much needed new recycling center is set to open in January 2007. The Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is being retroﬁtted into the Transfer Station at 1686 Paseo de Vista. It is now known as the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station or BuRRT (pronounced Burt). The Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency, an independent body governed by both the city and the county operates the facility.

BuRRT: 424-1850. Open 7 days a week, 8am5pm, Directions: Approach from the Buckman Road entrance. Take the Camino la Tierra exit oﬀ NM 599 and head east. Make an immediate left onto Buckman Road and watch for the sign on your right. All customers must check in at the scale house.

Santa Fe’s New Recycling Center

With the opening of the MRF, BuRRT is becoming a full service solid waste facility, handling everything from obsolete electronics and computers to dead pinon trees, newspapers and magazines. The agency’s Executive Director, Randall Kippenbrock says, “It is our goal to make BuRRT a onestop shop for all of our community’s solid waste needs. We hope BuRRT becomes a model facility for not just New Mexico but on a national level as well.” The MRF is designed to process all of the materials collected by the city’s curbside and the county’s drop-off recycling programs. This includes #1 and #2 plastic bottles, steel and aluminum cans, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, office paper and junk mail. The materials will be sorted and packaged for sale to the many vibrant national recycling markets. The agency has been shipping these recyclables to Denver for processing at a significant cost. With a MRF in Santa Fe, we will be able to recover the high residual value of these items. For example, recycled newspaper is currently worth more than $60 per ton, aluminum cans are approaching $2,000 per ton, and cardboard is valued at $90 per ton. BuRRT will continue to handle household trash along with a long list of recyclables including escrap, green waste, tires, scrap metal and a wide array of papers and containers. The agency has a long-range plan to develop a permanent drop-off center for household hazardous wastes. This waste is currently handled just one day a year at a special event in the spring sponsored by the agency, the city, county and Santa Fe Beautiful.

Recycled waste mut be separated correctly.

Mulch is available for free.

Curbside recycling is oﬀered as part of residential regular trash service to all city residents at no extra charge. Call 955-2208 if you need a bin. For more information about BuRRT, call Justin Stockdale at 424-1850. Workers unload green waste.

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Santa Fe’s new recycling center What Can Be Recycled in the City: Free Recycling 1. Corrugated Cardboard 2. Glass Bottles and Jars 3. Mixed Materials a. #1 & #2 plastic bottles b. Aluminum Cans, foil & pie tins c. Tin Cans d. Newspaper & inserts e. Junk Mail f. Oﬃce Paper g. Magazines & Catalogs 4. Phone books

Paid Recycling 1. Tires 2. Clean Green Waste 3. Electronics/Computer Equipment (Monitors, cpus, printers, peripherals, phones, audio/video equipment. No TVs) 4. Appliances and Scrap metal a. Refrigerators b. Misc Scrap metal

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Only accepted for recycling/special handling at annual HHW Event in April. BuRRT suggests storing until event, or if must be disposed immediately attempt to solidify all liquids (add sand to paint and let sun dry) prior to disposal. City bans liquids from regular trash pick up. State and federal law excludes HHW from regulation so it is legal to dispose in regular trash. BuRRT is planning a permanent HHW processing location in 2007 if funds are available. Santa Fe County Recycling Program The county collects materials for recycling at their seven county transfer stations located near the communities of Tesuque, Eldorado, La Cienega, San Marcos, Stanley, Jacona and Nambe. • • • • • • •

Mixed Paper: newspapers, oﬃce papers, junk mail, magazines Corrugated Cardboard: must have wavy layer in middle Brown Kraft Paper Bags: mix in with cardboard Mixed Containers: Steel cans, used aluminum foil balls, aluminum cans, plastic bottles #1 and #2 (must have a neck) Glass Containers – all colors Used Motor Oil Yard Waste, Scrap Metal, Scrap Wood and Ash accepted at some facilities. Call 955-3010 for details.

Other Info • • • • • •

City Curbside Recycling Program, 955-2208 County Drop-oﬀ Centers, 955-3010 or www.santafecounty.org. Go to Public Works Department and then the Recycling Division Waste Management (curbside & commercial) , 473-0982 Paper Recycler and More (commercial pick-up service), 982-9504 New Mexico Recycling Coalition, www.recyclenewmexico.com

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146 Advertising and Marketing Grace Communications (MAP) People centered marketing where proﬁtability and sustainability are linked. 3192 La Avenida de San Marcos, Santa Fe, NM 87507 438-8735 or 820-1764 www.gracecom.ws Mind Over Markets A unique marketing / business development company dedicated to helping socially responsible companies take their businesses to new levels of success. 1807 Second Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 989-4004 www.mindovermarkets.com

Insect control The Bug Lady (MAP) Oﬀering non-toxic pest management services as well as classes, workshops and lectures on insects, spiders and ecology. 304 Lomita St, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 984-2371 TheBugLady@aol.com

Plants, Herbs, Seeds Nurseries Agua Fria Nursery (MAP) A family owned and operated, environmentally sound agricultural/horticultural enterprise, focusing on native plants and organic edibles. 1409 Agua Fria, Santa Fe, NM 87505 983-4831

Santa Fe Greenhouses (MAP) Santa Fe Greenhouses is a full-service retail greenhouse and tree nursery located in Santa Fe, New Mexico that specializes in waterwise (“xeric”) plants that need very little or no extra water once established. 2904 Ruﬁna Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 428-7374 www.santafegreenhouses.com Tropic of Capricorn Nursery (MAP) Landscaping and green products. 86 Old Las Vegas Highway, Santa Fe NM 87505 983-2700

Mazria Odems Dzurek Architects (MAP) Architectural ﬁrm; work ranges from small single family residences to large scale commercial and public buildings. Attention to building and site ecology and its design principles, technologies and applications. 607 Cerrillos Road, Suite G, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 988-5309 or 983-9526 www.mazria.com Suby Bowden & Associates (MAP) Sustainable architectural design, community planning & industrial design architecture in Santa Fe since 1984. 333 Montezuma Ave #200, Santa Fe, NM 87507 983-3755 983-8118 www.sobadesign.net

SSF 2007 Resource Guide Listings Agriculture Farming Beneficial Farms, CSA A Community Supported Agriculture farm in Santa Fe. 286 Arroyo Salado, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 422-2238 stevew@plateautel.net www.beneficialfarm.com Heidi’s Raspberry Farm A certified organic raspberry farm, family owned, we produce organic raspberries and jam. P.O. Box 1329, Corrales, NM 87048 · 898-1784 www.heidisraspberryfarm.com

Gardening Cooperative Extension Services Master Gardeners, Research Publications, 4-H, Grant Directory, Agriculture and Gardening Resources, Rural Economic Development, Agri-tourism Santa Fe County Extension Oﬃce, 3229 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 471-4711 www.cahe.nmsu.edu/ces

Newman’s Nursery (MAP) Landscaping and green products. 7501 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-8642 Payne’s Nurseries & Greenhouses, Inc. (MAP) 715 St. Michael’s Drive, 304 Camino Alire, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Plants and advice for Santa Fe gardening; bulk soil yard. 988-9626 or 988-9638 HYPERLINK “http://www. paynes.com” www.paynes. com Plants of the Southwest (MAP) Nursery specializing in drought-tolerant United States native plants (wildﬂowers, grasses, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and trees) seeds, advice, conversation, and more. 3095 Agua Fria St., Santa Fe, NM 87505 438-8888 or 438-8800 www.plantsofthesouthwest. com

Building & Development Architects Baker-Laporte & Associates, Inc. Architecture Bau-Biologie. Sustainable building and design. P.O. Box 864, Tesque, NM 87574 · 989-1813 www.bakerlaporte.com Kreger Design/Build, LLC Kreger Design/Build creates fine custom homes; Singlefamily residences are our passion! AIA Architect & NM Contractor. 2006 Green Builder Award. 3068 Plaza Blanca, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 660-9391 www.KregerDesignBuild.com Lloyd & Associates Architects (MAP) Uses mostly “green” materials in buildings, i.e. rastra walls, recycled styrofoam, recycled linoleum floors, cork floors, rainwater harvesting, and more. P.O. Box 23764, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502 988-9789 ext 229 www.lloyd-architects.com

Builders & Designers ADC Referral Represents a variety of New Mexico Architects, Designers and Contractors committed to providing excellent designs, building methods, and energy and resource efficiency. 5 Bucking Horse Ct, Santa Fe, NM 87508 · 474-8388 information@adcreferral.com www.adcreferral.com Althouse, Inc. (MAP) Ensuring that homes and buildings are healthy, safe, comfortable, durable, energy efficient, and sustainable with recycled cellulose insulation that out performs fiberglass by 100% 903 W Alameda St # 129, Santa Fe, NM 87501 469-7480 www.althouse.biz

• Non-proﬁt (MAP) Map of Sustainable Santa Fe

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149 Building Energy Solutions Assists homeowners and builders in the design and construction of homes, supporting Green Builders and Energy Star for homes. 8 Trigo Road, Placitas, NM 87043 269-2969 or 867-7965 www. buildingenergysolutions.com Chandler Chair Company Furniture Dealers, New, Deck & Patio Furniture. Sustainably harvested woods available. 1808 2nd Street, Suite L, Santa Fe, NM 87505 982-2588 www.deckandchair.com Cornerstones Community Partnerships • A non-profit organization dedicated to helping communities preserve historic adobe buildings using traditional, sustainable materials and methods. 227 Otero Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 982-9521 info@cstones.org www.cstones.org Cuchilla Blanca Ecology Offering services in ecological development, stream restoration and erosion control using natural materials. 490-0594 Denman & Associates Regional sustainable development including affordable green housing and commercial structures, which integrate timber, water and energy conservation. 983-6014 1500 5th St., Ste. 15, Santa Fe, NM 87505 www.denmansantafe.com

Earthship Biotecture We strive to bring public attention and pro-activism to off the grid housing using alternative building techniques both locally and globally. P.O. Box 1041, Taos, NM 87571 · 800-841-9249 www.earthshipbiotecture.com Econest Building Company (MAP) Health, ecology, and sustainability begin at home in an EcoNest. 2300 West Alameda A-5, P.O. Box 864, Tesuque, NM, USA 87574 984-2928, 505.989.1813 www.econest.com Holistic Habitats Strawbale, adobe, rastra, woodframe construction integrating passive solar heating and cooling and permaculture landscapes. 12028 North Hwy. 14, Ste. 2, Cedar Crest, NM 87008 281-1298 or 281-1675 holhab@aol.com www.holistichabitats.net Palo Santo Designs, LLC A general contracting firm specializing in green designbuild projects, natural homes, nontoxic materials, natural wall systems, and solar. 108 ½ Huddleson St, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 670-4236 www.palosantodesigns.com Prinzivalli Masonry Provides designing and consulting for all phases of masonry, including custom masonry heaters, fireplaces, wood-fired ovens and stonework. 7A Los Hornos Road, Lamy, NM 87540 · 690-1929 micasl@yahoo.com prinzivallimasonry.com Ragano & Careccio, Inc. Contemporary green design & construction. P.O. Box 31623, Santa Fe, NM 87594 · 992-8854

Santa Fe Home Builders Association • Representing a wide array of professionals in addition to Builders and Developers. Together we contribute to the growth, prosperity and quality of life our “City Diﬀerent” has come to enjoy. 411 St. Michael’s Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505 982-1744 · www.sfahba.com Shapiro and Associates Design and build business focusing on residential renovation and new construction. Specializing in customer satisfaction and personalized service. 690-9663 Verde Design Group Modern design using the newest generation of sustainable products for our environment. 1213 Parkway Dr, Ste. A, Santa Fe, NM 87507 474-8686 verde@verdedesigngroup. com

Building Materials American Clay Enterprises (MAP) The original earth plaster, a combination of natural clays, aggregates, and pigments creates colors and textures. Made in NM 2601 Karsten Ct SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102 866-404-1634 or 244-9332 www.americanclay.com Bioshield Paint Company (MAP) The ﬁrst company to introduce environmentally safe paints in the United States. Your manufacturer of choice for all natural paints and no voc products. 3215 Ruﬁna, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 438-3448 www.bioshieldpaint.com

Brother Sun Specializes in windows, doors, and natural light. Residential business preferred. Commercial work is negotiable. 2907 Agua Fria Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-5157 www.brother-sun.com Come on Home.Biz An online directory designed to make it easy to find everything you need for your building and home improvement projects in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico. 474-8383 http://comeonehome.biz Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity Restore (MAP) Recycled building materials, hardware and more. Supports Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity. 1143 Siler Park Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 473-1114 www.santafehabitat.org Verde Inc. Offering insulated concrete forms, energy efficient, fire resistant, LEED certified; Nudura authorized distributor. 1213 Parkway Dr, Ste. A, Santa Fe, NM 87507 474-8686 verde@verdedesigngroup.com www.nudura.com

Home Repair Honey Do Home Repair & Closets Too Showroom Your “one call does it all” resource for home repair or remodeling, any room in your home.. 2356 Fox Road, Suite 700, Santa Fe, NM 87502 992-8382 www.honeydo-homerepair. com

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Housing

Landscaping

Lena Lofts - Artisan Group An exciting, multi-use community for business and residential/work combinations in a dynamic environment using native landscaping and renewable energy resources. 2240 W. Alameda, #7, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 983-7248 www.artisanhomes.com

Able Hands Landscaping Landscape design, installation, & maintenance, stone work, Xeriscape and Permaculture ideas. 920-7808

The Lofts (MAP) Mixed-use communities with studios for artists, offices for small businesses and residential units. 3600 Cerrillos, Ste. 718, 1012 Marquez Place, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 474-3600 www.thelofts.com Oshara Village A new planned community South Richards Ave by Santa Fe Community College. Incorporating mixed use designs and public transportation to encourage walking and reduce the generation of traffic, energy efficiency and the use of 100% water recycling. 505 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 920-0957 www.osharavillage.com Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity • Builds affordable homes in partnership with low income families and local volunteers. 1143 Siler Park Lane, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 986-5880 www.santafehabitat.org

Interior Design Healthy Living Spaces, LLC A member of the American Indoor Air Quality Council and the International Institute for Bau-Biologie (German Building Science) and Ecology. 369 Montezuma #169, Santa Fe, NM 87501 992-9904 www.hlspaces.com

Down to Earth Restorative landscaping. P.O. Box 32311, Santa Fe, NM 87594 · 983-5743 getdowntoearth@yahoo.com Dryland Solutions Specializes in hand-built, light on the land methods for the restoration of healthy ecological communities in the high desert. 607 Salazar Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 577-9625 craig@drylandsolutions.com www.drylandsolutions.com EcoScapes Landscaping Designs, builds, & maintains water catchment systems. 1730 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM · 424-9004 www.ecoscapesnm.com Four Season Xeriscape Full service landscape professionals 577-5767 www.fourseasonxeriscape.com Native Earth Landscaping Design. Install. Irrigate. Maintain. Specializing in water conscious and sustainable landscaping design. Honest and reliable. Over 10 years of experience. 316-2284 New Mexico Roots Down Permaculture Earth wise landscaping solutions, Permaculture, Natural Building, organic farm consulting, custom stone, water catchment. 770-8871 New Mexico Xeriscape Landscaping as nature intended. P.O. Box 28904, Santa Fe, NM 87592 424-1689 or 570-9094

San Isidro Permaculture & Landscaping Providing design services, land consultation, water catchment, grey water systems, native seed & land restoration. 1517 Camino Sierra Vista, Santa Fe, NM 87505 983-3841 sanisidroperm@hotmail.com Santa Fe Permaculture (MAP) An ecological landscape design and installation company whose landscapes work with Mother Nature, not against her. 551 West Cordova Rd, Ste. 458, Santa FE NM 87505 424-4444 www.sfpermaculture.com Santa Fe Premium Compost Fine local compost, mulch, red worms, home composting help and 20 years soil improvement experience with every purchase. 310-3971 Sfcompost@yahoo.com Santa Fe Tree Farm Specializes in the creation and development of commercial and residential sustainable landscapes for high desert conditions. 1749 San Ysidro Crossing, Santa Fe, NM 87507 984-2882 sftree@qwest.com www.santafetreefarm.com Soil Secrets Helping to restore the natural vegetation of New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert to its pre European colonial period. Products as a whole are designed to restore the natural process of the “Soil Food Web.” 505-550-3246 www.soilsecrets.com

Tooleys Tree Tooleys Tree provides ﬁeld grown, small caliper fruit trees, drought tolerant trees and shrubs. Workshops oﬀered on fruit tree grafting and orchard management. P.O. Box 392, Truchas, NM 87578 · 505-689-2400 mygttrees@valornet.com Trees that Please A parent company of soil secrets, a sustainable farmer with the largest selection of native and adapted trees in the region. 3084 Highway 47, Los Lunas, NM 87031 www.soilsecrets.com

Planners Roy Wroth, Urbanist Urban design, community planning, architectural design. 320 Aztec Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 982-4404 rwroth@nets.com Village Development of America, LLC (VIDA) Neighborhood planning and (Re)Development, Focus group meetings; sustainable planning; neighborhood proﬁt sharing, general contractor. 339 Plaza Balentine, Santa Fe, NM 87501 984-1739, 310-1797 www.beyondsuburbia.com

Real Estate Anne Ward Realty A Santa Fe Land and Homes Healthy Home Consultant and Green Realtor. 1533 Borrego Pass, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 577-4542 www.casasofsantafe.com DeVito Properties Realtor, sales, sensible land use, site solutions, sustainability, experience with co-housing, the truth. 946-0436, 984-1003 www.DeVitoProperties.com

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Go Realty A boutique agency specializing in helping outof-area buyers and investors and helping to promote green building. 830 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 995-0195 www.gorealtysantafe.com Tai Bixby, Realtor Experienced co-housing realtor; Oﬀering homes in Oshara Village, Santa Fe’s new sustainable development. 2300 W. Alameda St., Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 577-3524 www.taibixby.com

Woodwork Baglione Custom Woodworks (MAP) Locally made formaldehyde free cabinetry with nontoxic finishes 1701 D Lena St., Santa Fe, NM 87505 988-7326 or 988-5806 Kitchens & Closest Too Eco-friendly cabinets using formaldehyde free board or natural fiber board, custom water based finishing. 333 W. Cordova Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 992-0900 www.honeydo-homerepair. com La Puerta Originals Produces beautiful, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind custom doors, rustic and contemporary furniture and accents from architectural antiques and old wood. 4523 State Road Hwy 14, Santa Fe, NM 87507 986-5838 www.lapuertaoriginals.com Sierra Pacific Windows Works hard to maintain healthy forests and provides wood products for consumers. 333 Cordova Road, Santa Fe NM 87501 · 505-350-1656 www.sierrapacificwindows. com

Businesses, Products Clothing, fabrics Azulito Botique Recycling for our planet… neightborhood resale shop. 1412 Second Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 986-0368 Casa Natura Inc. Design, consultation, education; services and products creating healthy, sustainable interior spaces that nourish people and the planet. 333 W. Cordova Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 820-7634 info@CasaNaturaInc.com www.casanaturainc.com Janet Ruth’s Organic Clothing Clothes are safe to those who suﬀer from the chemicals in conventional clothing such as formaldehyde, pesticides and herbicides. 66 E. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 983-4155 www.mindandbody.biz Nearsea Naturals Organic cotton & organic wool fabrics, a collaboration between several work-athome moms, a work-athome dad in a solar-powered facility. P.O. Box 345, Rowe, NM 87562 · 877-573-2913 www.nearseanaturals.com Santa Fe Hemp (MAP) Sweatshop-free hemp and organic cotton clothing for men, women, children & baby; fair-trade wools and silks. Petroleum-free hemp seed oil body care, hemp pet products and more. 105 E. Water St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 984-2599 or 995-0916 www.santafhemp.com Sense Clothing Active, spa, and travel wear. 900 W San Mateo Rd # 300, Santa Fe, NM · 988-5534 www.senseclothing.com

Spirit of the Earth Unique jewelry and clothing for Santa Fe women. 108 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 988-9558 www.spiritoftheearth.com

Santa Fe Mountain Sports Outdoor & sporting equipment and more. 607 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 988-3337 Sfmtnspts@aol.com

Gift Stores

Wild Mountain Outﬁtters In store and online mix of outdoor clothing and equipment that has a real story and experience behind it. 851 St. Michaels Dr., Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 986-1152 www.wildmountainonline. com

Heart of the Lotus Gift Bazaar An exotic gift store selling precious stones and gems, unique crystals, and sacred souvenirs handpicked from diﬀerent areas of the world. 4250 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 466-1374 info@shopsantafeplace.com

Pet Supplies Critters and Me Supplier of natural pet foods, supplies and information. 1403 Agua Fria, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 982-5040 www.crittersandme.com Tullivers Pet Food Emporium Carries High-Quality Natural Dog and Cat Foods and supplements and a variety of pet supplies. 807 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 992-3388 www.tulliverspetfood.com

Sporting Goods Ace Mountainwear and Bike Shop (MAP) Sewing repairs on tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, horse blankets; bicycle repair and sales; Disc Golf supplies. 825 Early Street, Suite B, Santa Fe, NM 87505 982-8079 www.labikes.org NM Bike & Sport (MAP) Sales, repair, expert ﬁtting; everything you need to get you down the road around the block or around the world. 524 W. Cordova Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 820-0809 www.nmbikensport.com Rob & Charlie’s Bike Shop (MAP) Bicycle sales & service. 1632 St. Michael’s Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505 471-9119

Toys Dinosaurs and More A gallery dedicated to educating the public about fossils, minerals and meteorites. 102 W. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 988-3299 www.meteoritefossilgallery. com Horizons – The Discovery Store Santa Fe’s longest lasting toy store specializing in educational, nature and science items for young and old. 328 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 983-1554 Moon Rabbit Toys Real toys for unreal times. 112 W. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 982-9373 moonrabbittoys@ mindspring.com www.moonrabbittoys.com

Health Access Health Selling indoor air puriﬁers. 505-412-0473 www.eqoquest.com/ AccessHealth

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Cutting Edge, The Carries holistic health products including air purifiers, water filters, therapeutic magnets, pain relief devices, massage tools, electromagnetic field protection and full-spectrum lighting, and a unique selection of books and videos. P.O. Box 4158, Santa Fe, NM 87502 · 982-2688 www.cutcat.com

Green Products Earthstone International Innovative products for the home - born of a passion for the environment. Santa Fe, NM 888-99-GOEARTH www.earthstoneintl.com Emerald Earth Store (MAP) Local source for “Effective Microorganisms®”, a new patented technology using a special blend of beneficial microorganisms that naturally remediate harmful toxins and restore nature’s microbial balance. For gardening, composting, health, septic tank treatments and more. 1807 Second St., Ste. 30, Santa Fe, NM 87505 983-4014 www.emearth.com Firebird, The (MAP) High efficiency clean burning renewable fuel woodstoves and fireplaces also drip irrigation and rain water harvesting systems. 1808 Espinacitas St., Santa Fe, NM 87505 983-5264 or 983-4195 www.thefirebird.com

Furniture Pegasus Antiques, LLC Buy and sell antiques, collectibles, vintage, rentals, retro, quality used, dealers welcome. 526 Galesteo, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 982-3333

Stephen’s Consignments This consignment store has antiques, furniture, art, estates, and appraisals. 2701 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-1992 www.stephensconsignments. com

Other Batteries Plus (MAP) Accepts used batteries 1609 St. Michael’s Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505 992-1181 Beaver Toyota-Scion Toyota automobile Dealer. 1500 St. Michael’s, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 445-3643 www.beavertoyota.com High Desert Guitars Fine acoustic guitars, Mandolins, Banjos, Vintage instruments, Ampliﬁers 111 N. Guadalupe, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 983-8922 www.highdesertguitars.com Santa Fe Quilting Quilting and sewing supplies, oriental batik and southwest fabrics cottons, silks and rayons patterns & classes. 3018-A Cielo Ct, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 473-3747 info@santafequilting.com www.santafequilting.com Travel Bug Coﬀee Shop Carries a complete line of international guides and maps and can provide USGS maps for any area in the United States. 839 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 992-0418 www.mapsofnewmexico.com Video Library Eclectic selection of videos and DVDs, new releases. 120 E. Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 983-3321 Wild Birds Unlimited Retail and educational store catering to the backyard bird feeding hobbyist. 518 W. Cordova Road #B, Santa Fe, NM 87505 989-8818

Community & Society Community Centers E-Plaza.org Northern New Mexico’s Agricultural Meeting Place, Farming and Gardening news, directory, resources, youth, “post your own” info, events, etc. 1010 Marquez Place, Suite A, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505-820-1226 www.e-plaza.org Railyard Performance Center• A non-profit organization responsible offering events, parties, and dance classes. 1611 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 982-8309 www.therailyard.blogspot.com Warehouse 21 • (MAP) A nationally honored nonprofit venue where the youth of Santa Fe enjoy music, theater, culture, and art in a safe, hassle-free, alcohol and drug-free environment. 1514 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501 989-4423 or 989-1583 www.warehouse21.org

Community Organizations Assistance Dogs of the West • Provides trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities in order to increase self-reliance and independence. P.O. Box 31027, Santa Fe, NM 87594 · 670-0708 www.assistancedogsofthewest. org Berimbau Academy of Capoeira & Bikanda Gallery of Art, Dance, Music & Healing• (MAP) Oﬀering Capoeira the Afro-Brazilian Martial Art; Pilates; Massage & Body Work; Afterschool programs: Hip Hop, Spoken word, acrobatics, performance theater, art, and more. 2778 Agua Fria, 13A, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 474-4884 www.bikandasf.com

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico • Works to help boys and girls achieve their potential through positive adult relationships. 1229 St. Francis Drive, Ste. C, Santa Fe, NM 87505 986-8360 www.bbbsnorthernnm.org Bioneers• Promotes environmental solutions and innovative, social strategies for restoring the earth and communities. 6 Cerro Circle, Santa Fe, NM 87504 · 877-BIONEERS www.bioneers.org Conservation Voters New Mexico • A non-partisan, non-proﬁt organization, working to protect New Mexico’s natural environment by making sensible conservation policies a top priority. 320 Aztec St., Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 992-8683 www.cvnm.org Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety • CCNS researches and seeks solutions to the environmental, health and safety impacts of LANL operations on northern New Mexico and issues concerning the consolidation of U.S. nuclear weapons activities in New Mexico. 107 Cienega, Santa Fe, NM 87501 · 986-1973 www.nuclearactive.org El Rancho del las Golondrinas • A living history museum located on 200 acres in a rural farming valley. The museum, dedicated to the heritage and culture of Spanish Colonial New Mexico, includes a Xeriscape demonstration garden. 334 Los Pinos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-2261 info@golondrinas.org www.golondrinas.org

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Farm to Table • Farm to Cafeteria Resources for beginning a program at your school and selling local produce to institutions. 3900 Paseo del Sol Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 473-1004 www.farmtotable.info Food Depot • The Food Depot strives to end hunger in northern New Mexico through food banks and other programs. 1222 Siler Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-1633 www.thefooddepot.org Homewise, Inc. • (MAP) Helps modest-income New Mexicans become successful homeowners in order to strengthen families and build strong communities. Provides low-interest mortgages, down payment and closing cost assistance, build and develop new affordable homes, financial assistance for home repairs, and helps families retrofit their homes with water saving devices. 1590 B Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 · 983-6214 www.homewise.org Kitchen Angels • A non-profit organization providing nutritious, prepared meals to homebound individuals living with lifechallenging conditions. 1222 Siler Road, Santa Fe, NM 87507 · 471-7780 sfangels@qwest.com www.kitchenangels.org Life as Art Teaching Cob Building as a means of helping people live sustainable community and earth-based inspired lives. 1834 Otowi Dr., Santa Fe NM 87505 · 954-4495 www.earthprayers.byregion.net New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness • Working together to abolish homelessness in New Mexico P.O. Box 865, 802 Early Street, Santa Fe, NM 87504 982-9000 www.NewMexicoHomeless.org endhomelessness@prodigy.net

New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance • A statewide, private non-profit organization that promotes, protects, and advocates for New Mexico’s heritage. P.O. Box 2490, Santa Fe, NM 87504 www.nmheritage.org Santa Fe Community Housing Trust • SFCHT is committed to helping residents of northern New Mexico find affordable housing by providing counseling, training, and financial assistance to first-time homeowners while working with banks and other housing agencies to obtain favorable mortgage financing. P.O. Box 713, Santa Fe, NM 87504989-3960 wwwwsantafecommunityhousingtrust. com Slow Food Santa Fe • Resource for consumers & producers, “protecting the pleasures of the table from the homogenization of modern fast food.” www.slowfoodsantafe.org Sustainable Communities/Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives-NM • Supports environmentally, socially and economically sustainable projects, businesses and activities in small communities in New Mexico and on the US/Mexico border. P.O. Box 8017, Santa Fe, NM 87504 820-0186 suscom@cybermesa.com www.scizerinm.org Wild Angels • Highly focused, effective environmental group providing inspired environmental solutions. P.O. Box 4729, Santa Fe, NM 87502 989-1818 www.wildangels.org Senior Programs Jubilados • A non-profit that provides conscious aging educational programs, stimulates community service, and create replicable communities where residents care for each other, the earth, and the larger community. P.O. Box 23165, Santa Fe, NM 87502 982-5639

‘ Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services • Provides non-medical homecare services to seniors including assistance with hygiene, meal preparation, companionship and much more. 1301 Luisa St, Santa Fe, NM 87505 992-0822 www.sfvisitingangels.com

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