Are you making a difference?

Musician Jack Johnson has created a social action network All At Once, where you can take action in your local and world community. Through this network Johnson separates the ways you can accomplish change, Your Action, Your Choice, Your Voice. Each category allows supporters to find volunteer opportunities, ways to donate, how to speak out about your Eco concerns and many forms of creating local and global change.


This year's All at Once campaign is focusing on supporting Local Sustainable Food Systems, and Plastic Free Initiatives. On his website, http://www.allatonce.org/, there are numerous ways to get involved. Whether you contribute by small everyday strives to live more sustainable, or become a member of All At Once. It doesn't take much to make a difference, but once you do, the impact is contagious.







Johnson is teaming up with over 150 non profit groups on his To The Sea tour. These groups focus on plastic free initiatives, sustainable local food systems, and environmental education opportunities that include oceans & watersheds, tree planting and many hands-on community projects. All tour proceeds go to these groups and support their projects.

I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to be informed about what some non-profits are doing in order to make our world a better place. Next, self reflect on what your doing or not doing to actively make a difference in your community. Remember, here at Community Seeds we believe that its the small changes people make through information and encouragement that really produce a better world- the best thing you can do is be informed socially and environmentally.

For more ways to get involved with Community Seeds go check us out at: http://www.communityseeds.com/

The Community Seeds Foundation

The Community Seeds Foundation is the non-profit, philanthropic part of Community Seeds. We are dedicated to provide information, resources, and an a publication, Community Seeds Eco-Magazine, in order to promote sustainability. With your help, we can continue to educate, support, and inspire the local community and world communities through our publication and outreach.

Donate today and help us support sustainability, community, and charity groups. You can make a donation at any time and we will publish your name in our next issue under a special section called "Making A Difference". To donate and for more information go to:
http://www.communityseeds.com/ and click on the "Community Seeds Foundation".

"Be the change you want to see in the world.." - Mahatma Gandhi

Summer Squeeze Challenge

Make your own fresh juices from fruits and vegetables this summer season. It's an easy and sustainable way towards living a healthy lifestyle. By using a juicer, your not only making a healthier choice, but your also reducing waste. Eliminate plastic bottles and even reuse the extracted pulp. The pulp that is left behind is filled with fiber and be used in many ways to enrich your meals every day.


Ways to reuse pulp:

• Put pulp back into fruit juice for some extra nutrients
• Add fruit pulp to batters for a healthy boost to any baked good
• Substitute oils and butters by using vegetable and fruit pulp in recipes to cut calories
• Vegetable pulp can be added to sauces and soup bases to thicken
• Make a frozen treat by adding fruit pulps, juice and non fat plain yogurt together generating a Popsicle for any hot day

Remember to separate your fruit and vegetable pulp and keep in air-tight containers, preferably in the freezer.

Another benefit to "juicing it up" this summer is saving money. Fresh produce can be easily grown in the comfort of your home, or purchased every week at your local farmer's market. Can you imagine a refreshing drink without artificial ingredients, preservatives and no colors added? Yes, we sure can!

Community Seeds wants to challenge you this summer to pick some of your favorite fruits and vegetables, get juicin', and make that choice toward a healthier, more sustainable life.





Need some help getting started? Try a few of our favorites!
For a refreshing fruit drink try one of these combinations:

• 1 apple + 1 pear + 7 strawberries
• 2 carrots + 2 apples
• 2 pineapple spears + 1 orange (peeled) + 1 apple
• 7 strawberries + 1 orange + 1 mango

Try a homemade vegetable juice:

• 1 carrot + 1 celery stalk + 1/2 beet + handful of spinach + 2 small tomatoes + salt and pepper
• 1/2 half red bell pepper + 2 small tomatoes + 1/2 cucumber

Frozen Treats:

• 7 strawberries + 1 apple + strawberry pulp + 1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt (Try Fage 0 % Greek yogurt)
• 3 oranges peeled + 1/2 lemon peeled + 1/4 cup of orange pulp
• Juice 7 strawberries + 3 tbs of strawberry pulp to ice cube trays and freeze - Add to any adult cocktail for a cool festive treat

For more tips, article, and ideas for a healthier, more sustainable you, visit us at http://www.communityseeds.com/

Our Summer Issue is here!

Just in time for Summer!

Our Summer issue is officially available online and ready for review.

Be the first to read about all the fun you could be having this summer while being green!

Check it out! Located on the front page of our website:

http://www.communityseeds.com/

We are very excited about this issue, highlighting some of the best ways to be Eco concious while enjoying your Summer season. Be sure to check out our delicious Summer recipes, Eco- friendly must have products and how other non profits are changing communities around the world.

Love what you see? Interested in writing, advertsing or crurious how you can contribute to Community Seeds?

Check out our website and discover how you can help make a difference.

http://www.communityseeds.com/

C.S. Eco Non-Profit Foundation

The Community Seeds Foundation

With help from the North Valley Community Foundation, Community Seeds has set up The Community Seeds Foundation, dedicated to giving back to the community and world communities. As part of our commitment to promoting sustainability, we have vowed to donate to non-profits, charities, fund raisers, and events. We will also make a special section of the magazine where contributors to the foundation can share what they are doing to make a difference. Join us in promoting small changes to better the community and beyond!

You can donate to that foundation to help us support sustainability, community, and charity groups. We will publish your name in the magazine in a special section called, “Community Seeds Eco Magazine Gives back.” All donations are all tax deductable.

You can make a donation at any time. You can donate online at http://bit.ly/9O2T6y.
Checks can be made out to The Community Seeds Foundation.
Mail to:
The Community Seeds Foundation
c/o the North Valley Community Foundation
3120 Cohasset Road, Suite 8
Chico, CA 95973
(530) 891-1150

Email us for information at info@communityseeds.com.
You may also leave a message at (530) 570-5581.

***Ad sales are not part of this program and are available for your advertising needs. Please see our media kit (http://bit.ly/dmRwkw ) and contact us for ad sales.

David Bach’s
Go Green, Live Rich
50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying
Reviewed by Amy Behlke

In this time of economic crisis, many people want to help the environment, but fear they cannot afford to. There is often a concern that being eco-conscious is more expensive than just doing things “the old way.” A quick and easy read, David Bach’s Go Green, Live Rich is full of information, ideas and suggestions for leading a more eco-friendly life while saving, and maybe even making, money at the same time.

To get started, Bach helps readers calculate their carbon footprint and “litter factor” in terms of personal impact on the environment. Things that many people don’t even think about on a daily basis, can add up to a serious blow to the planet. Plastic water bottles and wax-lined paper cups used to hold that daily dose of caffeine can add up, and will sit in the landfill for forever.

The eleven chapters in the book are very quick to read, yet packed with interesting facts and ideas. In chapter 2, “Drive Smart, Finish Rich,” I learned that by driving a car that gets 35 mpg as opposed to a car that gets 20 mpg, you can save $884 per year in fuel costs. Bach, being a financial professional, suggests that if that $884 were invested at 8%, it would earn a return of over $108,000 in 30 years. Now that is some serious fuel savings!!

Becoming more aware of your home’s energy usage, saving water, green shopping strategies and recycling are all discussed; with the focus being not only on how to do these things, but how to save or earn money while doing them. Going green in the workplace is often a topic overlooked on a day-to-day basis, but Bach provides easy tips and ideas for making eco-friendly choices in your daily job. Chapters ten and eleven spotlight ways to give and receive in “green” ways. Investment and business ideas are provided, including some interesting links to “green” direct-sales businesses. Many environmental focused causes are cited, along with information about carbon off-sets and how to become an eco-activist.

Each chapter ends with “Go Green Action Steps,” full of great ideas and resources. These suggestions are easy to follow and full of links and other sources where further information can be found. There is also an amazing and well organized index at the back of the book, listing all sources cited in the book by chapter. I love this section because, with so many great links and resources mentioned in the book, I didn’t have to leaf every page and thumb through endlessly to find sites I wanted to visit after reading the chapters. Every interesting fact and statistic is listed by chapter with a short description of the source as well as a link when applicable.

Overall, I found David Bach’s Go Green, Live Rich and enjoyable and helpful book for anyone interested in learning how they can make changes in their lives that will help them tread more lightly on the earth while saving money at the same time. In this time of economic uncertainty, we are all interested in how to protect our investments and increase our income, and Bach’s book delivers with great suggestions for how to do both and help save the planet at the same time.

THE WINTER ISSUE OF C.S. ECO MAGAZINE IS HERE!

The winter issue of Community Seeds Eco Magazine is here! Take a moment and check it out! There are many articles on green tips for the winter and community connections. http://www.flashedition.com/publication/?i=27447&pre=1

Winter Issue preparations..

Hello everyone,

Community Seeds Eco Magazine is planning for the winter 2009-2010 issue. We have brainstormed a bit and have come up with a tentative themes for the winter issue: social responsibility.

We would love to know what you are doing to be more green and tips you can give others in our community.

As you might know, our magazine is a forum for the public to come together for a common cause. We would like to encourage our readers to send in an article that would be informative to other readers.

We would also like to encourage local businesses, as well as non-local businesses, with websites to place an ad with us. Our magazine is quarterly, so your ad would run for 3 months. We are one of the cheapest ways to advertise that you will find, and we are targeting a different market: internet users. In the event that you don’t need the advertising, you could also become a sponsor! Being a sponsor is a great way to get involved in a worthwhile cause and as a sponsor you will receive a great deal of exposure.

The deadline to place your ad, become a sponsor, or send in an article is October 25, 2009 so mark your calendars!

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.communityseeds.com/ or send us an email at: info@communityseeds.com .

Thank you for taking the time to read this and we hope you are having a fabulous day!

-Community Seeds Eco Magazine

Composting
The Low Hanging Fruit
By Greg Holman

The "Green" Craze
Okay, so there is this "green" craze out there, but I am a bit more pessimistic. Sure, I want to save the earth, but environmentalism has had some bad press over the years. People today are extremely busy and going green often seems like it would interfere with everything that has to get done. Well, let me tell you that there are some changes you can make, with little to no investment in money or time, that can make a difference - and cents! The easiest thing you can do at home is to start composting. This is the "low hanging fruit" of being green. This takes very little time, and ultimately can end up saving you money. How will it save you money? You can eventually downsize your garbage container, and then stop driving to the store every spring to buy organic soil for your plants. Interested? Read on.

Compost can take place in as simple as a pile, to as complex as an indoor compost machine. Your pile will depend on many factors, including your living situation and the space available. Convert one of your now obsolete trash cans into "compost bins." If you do not think that you can dump it daily, get something with a lid. (Again, reuse a coffee can, or work your way up to a ceramic container with an odor filter.)

According to an excerpt from Let it Rot!: A Gardener’s Guide to Composting, this is the number one rule for composting: The realization that no matter what you do, no matter how many little mistakes you make, you are still probably going to come up with reasonably good, usable compost.

Truth Be Told
This is so very true. Your container can be a fancy commercial container, a primitive chicken wire cylinder with two metal posts, or as simple as a compost pile. Begin by adding the "greens" (lawn clippings, and other green scraps) and the "browns" (coffee grounds and dead leaves) in equal parts - six to 8 inch layers of each. Try to keep the pile as moist as a rung-out sponge. If all goes well, the pile will heat up and decompose over the course of a few months. All you need to do is turn it and check moisture levels weekly.

Now truth be told, I never turn my pile, and seldom water it (unless it is raining). It comes down to a few things: space and effort. We happen to have some space for a compost pile, and I have little time for any effort above adding to the pile. Sure, it takes a few more months to make compost, but I am in no hurry.

I strongly suggest purchasing a copy of Let it Rot!(ISBN-10:1580170234). This will give numerous examples of bins, lists of acceptable and not-acceptable ingredients, and the scientific explanation for anyone interested.

The only hurdle is to make it part of your daily routine. You have no space for a compost pile? Talk with neighbors and make a common compost pile out of an unused corner. You will be surprised how much you can divert from your waste stream! You might even need to move to a smaller, cheaper trash container. Sure, you are saving the world, but more importantly, money! (Or do I have that backwards?) For now, reach up and grab that low hanging fruit!