> First Friday March 4 with David Celebrezze of Columbus GreenSpot and Aryeh Alex of Keep Columbus Beautiful. Register here

> Read Part 3 of Path to Ecological Culture here and register for the class on Weds March 2 @ 7 pm.

> Recording available for OSU's hybrid event on sharing space with large animals

> Blooms and Butterflies Oh My at Franklin Park Conservatory

> Live music at Java Central Saturday and Sunday + the March schedule

> Vernal Pools-R-Cool from Franklin Soil and Water experts + their Annual Tree Sale

> Common Greens features 2 local CSA's looking for members

> Start an Intentional Community with an OnDemand course

> Lessons from the pandemic - less consumption, no unnecessary travel

> Don't forget to browse community events on the Simply Living Calendar here

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Miss Part 1? Watch the recording here. Miss Part 2? Watch the recording here.

This is a 4 week discussion course based on the 4-part article “The Path to an Ecological Future for Humanity.” The article links here. It is not necessary to read the article but it will be helpful. It is not necessary to attend every class session.

Week 1: (2/16)The Cultural Creatives – a Third Force in the Radical Middle (Recording)

Week 2: (2/23) Literacy, Traditional Science, and the Problem of Dualistic Thinking

Week 3: (3/2) The Relational Shift to Ecological Sciences

Week 4: (3/9) A New Era for Humanity: Technozoic Age or an Ecozoic Age?

Instructor: Chuck Lynd will begin with a short slide presentation and then facilitate the discussion of each topic.

Simply Living member Michael Greenman's project was featured at our recent Simply Share gathering. It's fascinating! We're planning to do a full Meetup and record it this spring. See the Facebook post here that features more details and interaction.

EcoChallenge Dot Org invites you to join the Simply Living Team as we share our commitments to sustainable living. We're just starting but look for details for how sign up - April 1-30!

Simply Living volunteers will be exhibiting at the Green Bexley Fair and the Green Columbus Earth Day celebrations on Saturday, April 23rd. We will be at the White Casle Earth Day Fair on Weds April 27th at their new headquarters. And we'll be at the Green on the Green event in Worthington on Saturday, May 7th. These events will be lots of fun and a chance to see you in person! Volunteers are welcome! Drop us an email to Hello@simplyliving.org.

Fri Feb 25 @ 1-2 pm REGISTER

Fri Feb 25 - Sat 26, 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

The event is open to the public and we would love for you to join us. You’re welcome to attend any or every part of the conference.

RSVP: Please register to attend the virtual event

Butterflies take flight once again in the Pacific Island Water Garden for Blooms & Butterflies. Details about specific activities are available here

Doors for the in-person event open at 11:00 AM, with program beginning at 12:00PM. Tickets available on Eventbrite here

Sounds True is partnering with journalist and creative powerhouse Maria Shriver to produce a new free series that enables us to examine our beliefs and cultural assumptions about aging... and most importantly, how we can discover aging as a time to deepen our sense of purpose, joy, and meaning. Sign up here.

Presenters include icons William Shatner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Deepak Chopra, Anne Lamott, Goldie Hawn, Vanessa Williams, Rob Lowe, and others, along with leading medical doctors, researchers, and psychologists, all contributing their insights and wisdom to help us reimagine aging as an opportunity for personal development and evolution. You’ll learn about topics such as:

This free online event explores how to tap into the energy and inspiration of a frontier scientific community as it discovers life-changing, evidence-based treatments and practices based on the healing power of the mind-body connection. Free Online Event.

You can even watch The Wisdom of Healing again, as well as the complete panel hosted by Dr. Shamini Jain and featuring Bruce Lipton, PhD, Dr. Mark Mincolla, Rollin McCraty, PhD, and filmmaker Christina Vircillo Bresson. Sign up to watch for free here.

Details on the content of the presentations are available on the SL Calendar here.

If you are like us… you are craving non-politicized, science-based, unbiased information on COVID. There are SO MANY different ideas out there, you are not sure where to look for accuracy. We at Haven are diving into the fray so that we can offer information and advice on how to keep safe that is free from economic agenda, political bias, and focuses on community well-being.

Registration is free and open!

Art of Yoga has built relationships with art galleries to host our yoga classes for a “Pay what you can!” donation. By keeping our overhead low, we are able to host the most affordable classes in town! ALL CLASSES are just a $5-10 suggested donation! Every time, every location, every teacher. All profits from the class go directly to your instructor. We are currently offering classes at ROY G BIV Gallery, located at 435 W. Rich St, and Wild Goose Creative, located at 188 McDowell St. Contact our Program Director, Jordan Davis Turner at (513)368-5498 or info@artofyogastudios.com

Agraria Farm Yellow Springs

First Weds Mar 2 Land Walk 5-6pm Location: Agraria Farm,

Fee: $5/person, free for children under 5.

Come and walk the land! Experience how the sounds and sights of a regenerative farm change throughout the seasons on a naturalist-led hike on our trails. Dress for the weather. All ages welcome! Registration required.

Questions? Please email Celia at Cmontemurri@communitysolution.org

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/700420498

Spring is just around the corner! Temperatures increase, snow melts, and rain falls - emerging beautiful plants and critters. Where can you find these plants and critters? Wetlands! Wetlands come in many shapes and sizes from vernal pools to small streams to large marshes. Think of wetlands like a kidney - they act as an environmental filter and trap pollutants, break down organic material, and turn dissolved nitrogen into nitrogen gas. This helps reduce stormwater pollution and improve water quality. Let's talk about one unique wetland that emerges this time of year: vernal pools.

Vernal pools are low areas saturated with shallow water typically during late winter and spring, collecting water from winter snowmelt and spring rain. The size can vary and is dependent on weather patterns each year. They may dry up and disappear and then reappear multiple times in one season! They are full of life - you will find many plants, amphibians, and birds in or around a vernal pool. Many vernal pools have been lost to development and human interference, so it's imperative we do our part to understand and protect vernal pools.

You can find numerous amphibians that use vernal pools as their breeding grounds including toads, frogs and salamanders. Amphibians often return to their exact birthplace to find a mate and reproduce. While out and about, you might even hear it! Amphibians often make noises to attract a mate, so listen closely if you're out for a walk. In addition to amphibians, you can also find interesting plants in or near a vernal pool: Swamp White Oak, Skunk Cabbage, Buttonbush, Cinnamon Fern, and Marsh Marigold to name a few. Macroinvertebrate aficionado? You can find those too!

There are quite a few vernal pools around town in our local parks and preserves. You can even turn it into a family learning adventure by taking our "Venturing Into Vernal Pools" SWIFTlet activity with you. Check out these locations in our local Metro Parks, parks and preservation areas to find nearby vernal pools:

Want to learn more about wetlands and vernal pools? See the beauty for yourself by watching this video below from Eastern Nazarene College. Checkout the Ohio Vernal Pool Network for more resources on vernal pools and the Ohio Wetlands Association for more resources on wetlands.

More from the Franklin County Soil and Conservation District... Our Annual Spring Tree and Plant Sale is live. Each year, we sell a unique selection of small native shrubs, trees and perennial plug kits to raise money for our conservation fund. While the plants are small, they're very affordable. Given a few years of TLC, they can create a wonderful habitat for your yard! We also have seed packets and mushroom kits available this year. We still have plenty in stock, but get them before they're gone! Last day to order is March 27.

This post introduces the Reset series – a collection of briefings on lessons from the global pandemic on two vital areas for rapid transition: overconsumption and unnecessary travel. Learn about the series on Resilience and read the first full article here.

Read OCA's full newsletter, Organic Bytes, here

Charles Eisenstein Reports: “The Great Green Wall is a reforestation, land healing, peace, water restoration, and anti-poverty project spanning the entire African continent…Originally conceived as a way to contain the growth of the Sahara Desert, it is not simply a wall of trees but a complex mosaic of indigenous land use techniques for restoring life and livelihoods across the Sahel…” Read the article here.

February 20-26 is CSA Week! CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a farm membership system that allows customers to sign up to receive a season's worth of a farm's products every week - a "share." Dr. Booker T. Whatley, a black author and horticulturist, is credited for the idea of a CSA model in the United States. One of his ten commandments was the importance of what he called a Clientele Membership Club. Members of this club paid an initial membership fee which contributed to the success of the farm. In return, they received fresh produce that they would pick themselves.

Happy Toes Homestead - urban farm located in NE Columbus with a variety of share options, including a Sweet Grass Dairy pastured egg add on. More details here.

Paige's Produce - 164-acre farm located in Amanda specializing in orchard fruits. New for 2022: CSA will be a partnership between Paige's Produce and Henson Family Farm in Asheville. More details here.

Read the full Newsletter here and see the full Feb 26 producer lineup and more.

This course will show you how to make it happen. Avoid the common pitfalls of community building and set your group on a path towards success with the guidance of multi-community founder Yana Ludwig.

The new on-demand format means you can access this course immediately and learn at your own pace at ic.org/starting-course.

Peace and Social Justice Events

To subscribe to weekly events newsletter or to have progressive events for peace and justice added to this list, please contact cmhammond11@att.net.

Saturday, February 26, 2022, 10:00 AM. Coronavirus and Universal Health Care: Medical and Public Health Policy Implications.  Presenter: Dr. Johnathon Ross, current President of the Toledo Lucas County Health District and past president of Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Ross will give us an update of where we are in this pandemic and what we might expect as well as how our health care system needs to change in order to better handle a public health crisis. Questions and answers will follow his presentation. Single Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio).  Facebook Event.  Register here. 

Saturday, February 26, and March 26, 2022, 1:00 - 2:30 PM. Community Read and Discussion: "How the Word is Passed.”  Community Read and Discussion of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. Clint Smith, the award-winning author, “leads (us) on an unforgettable journey of monuments and landmarks that offers an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history and memory.” As activists, inspired by reading this book together, we will consider a continuum of actions: making reparations, challenging voter suppression, ending mass incarceration, and reframing the traditional racist narratives that omit the real history of what happened, including locally. In the first meeting, we will discuss the Prologue through Chapter 4; in the second meeting, Chapter 5 through the Epilogue. This Community Read is jointly organized by The New Democracy Coalition, Kevin Peterson, Founder, and the Racial Justice and Decolonization Working Group of Massachusetts Peace Action. Frugal Bookstore, a black owned business, has a good supply of the book: 57 Warren St, Roxbury, MA 02119. 617-541-1722.  https://frugalbookstore.net.  We encourage purchasing from them. Register for both sessions here. 

Sunday, February 27, 2022, 5:00 PM. Visionary Organizers Fighting Colonization from Turtle Island to Palestine to the Philippines. Indigenous people are leading and winning fights to protect people, the planet and what is sacred. Come listen to, learn from, and be inspired by visionaries who have been organizing at the forefront of movements from the Philippines to Minnesota, to Palestine. Three brilliant community organizers will speak with us about the ongoing colonization of these places, and the politics and strategies of decolonial resistance. We will be joined by Big Wind (Nation/Tribal affiliation, with Giniw Collective), Mohammed El-Kurd (Palestinian author and organizer), and Angelica Lin (with GABRIELA speaking on the Philippines). Register here. 

Sunday, February 27, 2022, 5:00 PM. Connecting the Dots: Race, Equity, and the Lead Crisis Part I. University Circle in Cleveland is home to CASE Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic, all cutting edge medical facilities. However, in the area surrounding University Circle an estimated 30 to 50 percent of children under the age of 6 suffer from lead poisoning. Thousands of families live in unsafe housing and send their children to schools with unsafe water. The urgency of diagnosing and treating lead poisoning cannot be overstated. If left untreated, high levels of lead in children can cause brain damage, developmental delays, and life-long disabilities.  Our February and March events feature: Kim Foreman, Director of Environmental Health Watch, Crystal M.C. Davis, Policy Director of Alliance for the Great Lakes, and Robin Brown, Concerned Citizens Organized Against Lead. Join us on to learn how to support the work being done to bring equity and health to marginalized communities suffering from the devastating effects of lead poisoning.  Register here. 

Monday, February 28, 2022, 1:00 PM. Conversations with the Nation. Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy With Rep. Jamie Raskin, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and John Nichols. Congressman Jamie Raskin is of the most engaged and effective proponents of real Democracy in Congress today. Raskin’s heroism at the center of the January 6 insurrection and brilliance in prosecuting President Trump in his second impeachment trial inspired a nation. Join Raskin, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and John Nichols to talk about his new book Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, the upcoming hearing and his priorities for 2022 in a wide-ranging discussion. Cost $10. More information and registration here. 

Monday, February 28, 2021, 8:00 PM.  Countering Anti-Asian Racism. From the time Chinese laborers first arrived in the United States nearly two centuries ago, through the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II to today, Asians and Pacific Islanders have been colonized, attacked, excluded, marginalized, discriminated against, and been the victims of brutal racist violence. Current anti-China politics have domestic as well as international expression. Racism, racist violence, and discrimination against Asian Americans have risen in tandem with anti-China politics. The FBI’s infamous “China Initiative,” supposedly intended to stop Chinese theft of military and scientific secrets, instead targeted respected scientists for merely failing to report ties to Chinese scientific institutions.To better expose this history and the relationship between anti-Asian policies and anti-Asian racism at home, and to explain how we can help end these injustices, the Committee has invited four noted scholars and activists to participate in this important webinar.  Organized by the Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy and co-sponsored by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, and Massachusetts Peace Action. Register here. 

Monday, February 28, 2022, 8:00 PM. Nurses' Campaign for Medicare for All National Strategy Call. Medicare for All has not one, not two, but THREE new cosponsors, bringing the total number of cosponsors in Congress up to 121 — a record-breaking milestone for our movement. This victory is the direct result of months of dedicated organizing, with hundreds of volunteers like you working hard to build momentum in the fight for guaranteed health care for all. We’ve got big plans to keep growing our movement to pass Medicare for All in Congress, but we’re going to need your help. Register for the webinar here. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 6:30 PM. Clintonville Area Progressives Happy Hour. Chelsea Clark, Candidate for Secretary of State will join us at 7:00 PM to discuss her campaign and get to know us as an organization. We hope to have a good turn out, so please share with your friends. Erin Gibbons will join us from the Board of Elections. Join the meeting: https://ashlanduniversity.zoom.us/j/97469743205. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 7:00 PM. Central Ohio Jewish Voice for Peace meeting. Join Central Ohio JVP for Schmooze the News on Zoom. Bring your own favorite pint of Ben & Jerry's to sweeten and sustain what promises to be a lively and friendly discussion of whatever is on your mind regarding current matters of JVP interest.  Facebook Event.  Register here. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022, 10:00 AM. Life Under Digital Occupation: The Global Implications of the Israeli Surveillance State. Session 1: Life Under Digital Occupation. The Israeli tech sector is booming more than ever and has come under increased scrutiny for its direct facilitation of the surveillance and spyware industries. Experts and activists have long drawn attention to the ways in which the Israeli state is directly complicit in technology-aided abuses of Palestinians living in the occupied territories - what might this mean for the future? This expert panel, co-hosted by 7amleh (The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement) and the Middle East Institute, will be part one of a two-part series examining the impact of the Israeli surveillance state on the lives of Palestinians. Speakers: Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian writer and researcher, Khaled Elgindy, Director, Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs Program, MEI, Sahar Francis, General Director, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and Nadim Nashif, Co-Founder and Director, 7amleh.  Register here. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 3:30 - 5:00 PM. Making Sense of the Ukraine Crisis.  Why is Ukraine under threat of invasion from Russia? We will dig into this with featured speaker Gerard Toal, professor of international affairs at Virginia Tech. This discussion provides a thick geopolitical description of the Ukraine crisis and illustrates how it is a multiscalar conflict that entangles low intensity war in the Donbas, national identity conflict between Kyiv and Moscow, energy infrastructure and climate, as well as great power perceptions of geo-strategic encroachment. Toal will offer some arguments as to why Russia's leadership decided to initiate the threat of invasion now, and what are its likely consequences. Mershon Center for International Security Studies.  Register here. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 3:00 PM. Immigrant Tax Issues Webinar: 2022. Immigrants face unique challenges in filing their taxes, and the global pandemic has increased the barriers for immigrant households to comply with tax laws and receive the tax credits they are entitled to. The National Immigration Law Center invites all those interested in tax issues facing immigrant taxpayers this filing season to join this webinar featuring leading experts in the field. Nevada Continuing Legal Education is available for participating attendees. This webinar is co-sponsored by the National Immigration Law Center, the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More information and registration here. 

Thursday, March 3, 2022, 11:00 AM. "Is Peace Possible?" Join Churches for Middle East Peace for a webinar discussion hosted of the recent publication: Is Peace Possible: Christian Palestinians Speak, with representatives from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land and CMEP board member communions, and moderated by Julie Schumacher Cohen, Assistant Vice President in Community Engagement & Government Affairs at The University of Scranton. The authors are the Justice and Peace Commission of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land, presided over by Latin Patriarch Emeritus, Michel Sabbah. The book provides an excellent introduction and background on today's declining Christian presence and their situation in the land of Our Savior's birth. It is highly recommended for those seeking to better understand the Holy Land and the Christian place within it. More information and link to the registration here. 

Friday, March 4, 2022, 12:00 - 12:45 PM. First Friday Lunch and Learn. Presented by Honesty for Ohio Education. Honesty for Ohio Education presents engaging, online "Lunch & Learns" on the first Friday of each month - building our capacity to know better and do better for Ohio! Join us to connect across Ohio; learn from practitioners, advocates and experts; and get updates and actions to oppose House Bills 322 and 327. The March program will feature the YWCA's 2022 Stand Against Racism Challenge. For more information, click here. Register here for any session.

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