Look for GAL’s Site specific Green Haiku made out of cast recycled glass around Amesbury’s pond and waterfall this Winter. This project was supported by a generous grant from the Amesbury Cultural Council.
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GAL is finishing up phase 1 of the New Eden Collaborative Sustainable Community Mural at First Parish Church in Newbury, MA. The Green Artists League asked members of the New Eden Collaborative for their vision of a sustainable community. Their aspirations were used as the inspiration for this 9’ x 60′ mural in the entrance hallway to Holtan Hall at First Parish Church. Come by on Fridays from 10AM-3PM to talk with the GALs as they work on the mural and let’s brainstorm what we can do for a sustainable future. This mural is partially funded by a generous grant from the Newbury Cultural Council. First Parish Church is located at 20 High Road, Newbury, MA.
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- Andrea Panaro stands in front of the New Eden Project Mural
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- Section of New Eden Project Mural, First Parish Church, February, 2009
Larry Gibson, Activist, and his dog, at Kayford Mountain, WV
GAL has made exposing the “dirty truth” about coal as a “clean” energy source one of its top priorities.
As our society’s wants and needs grow, the pressures being put on our natural resources are overwhelming. The environmental diversity of our flora and fauna is collapsing around the world under this strain. Here, in our own country, the seed bed of the North American continent, our mountains and forests are being burned, bulldozed, and exploded daily, all because behind closed doors in Washington, a group of people decided that the Appalachian Mountains and its people could be sacrificed so the rest of our country could have a cheap and readily available fossil energy source —coal. We are talking about ground zero for our nation’s energy.
The burning of coal emits hundreds of toxic chemicals into the air we breathe and is a leading contributor to global warming. For every ton of coal burned, 3.6 tons of CO2 enters our atmosphere. Although coal supplies about 52% of our nation’s energy, it is responsible for 97% of the particulate matter in our atmosphere generated from all of the various power industries combined. All of the mercury raining down on our land, polluting our waters, poisoning our fish and our people, comes from burning coal. Sulfur Dioxide, a contributor to acid rain, comes from burning coal. Ground-level Ozone air pollution is caused by burning coal.
Mountain top removal coal mining (MTR) is how most of our coal is obtained. MTR is a fast and relatively inexpensive operation for the mining companies. MTR sites can be manned by fifteen or twenty men, using giant equipment, and working round the clock —twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Mining companies are blowing the tops off mountains, often 1,000 feet down, to extract the thin seams of coal. For every ton of coal extracted, approximately 100 tons of rock and earth called “over burden” is bulldozed into the valleys below. Two thousand miles of rivers, streams, and headwaters have been buried in Appalachia by coal company operations. On our planet where water seems so abundant, only 1% is actually drinkable. Water is our lifeblood, and is too precious to squander.
After the coal is mined it must be washed before it can be transported. For every ton of coal washed, 95 gallons of water is poisoned forever, turning it into a toxic sludge that weighs four times what it did to start. The sludge is stored in man-made impoundments, held back by earthen dams, many of which are leaking. These ponds often store billions of gallons of sludge.
The time has come to end the tyranny of mountain top removal coal mining. Three thousand five hundred people (3,500) die prematurely every year in West Virginia from the effects of coal mining and its resulting pollution. We must all spread the word about how damaging coal is, and how coal companies are laying waste to our beautiful Appalachian Mountains and their people.
This new age of awareness means we can no longer hide from our energy problems. We have an ear in Washington now. We must inform our legislators on the issues, and get them to act. Let’s make clean renewable energy happen. We have the technology. All we need is the will.
We are all culpable in this destruction of Mother Earth. In Massachusetts 50% of all electricity comes from coal extracted from mountain top removal mining.
What can you do?
Reduce and use clean energy:
National Grid now offers 50% and 100% green energy options through their “GreenUp” renewable energy program in Massachusetts. Click on the following link to find out about this program: http://tinyurl.com/greenup.
To see if there are any similar programs in your state, look here: http://tinyurl.com/greenelectricity.
National Grid also offers a free energy audit. This is a great way to save money and save the planet at the same time. (http://tinyurl.com/energyaudit)
Go to the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (www.ohvec.org) and www.stopmountaintopremoval.org to find out how you can use the democratic process to stop the destruction.
(All photos in this post courtesy of Mark Schmerling. Click on each photo below for more information about it.)
GAL member, Deb Cinamon Whalen, A NOFA (New England Organic Farm Association) trained organic land care specialist, will be offering a two-hour Introduction to Organic Vegetable Gardening class for New Eden Collaborative participants. The class is also open to anyone else interested in organic gardening. It will be offered twice at First Parish Church of Newbury, 20, High Road, Newbury, MA, on Friday, February 20th from 6:30-8:30 P.M. and Saturday, March 7th from 5:00-7:00 P.M. $5 at the door.
Erin Stack
GAL created several temporary installations of site-inspired “Green Haiku” along the Newburyport waterfront. The installation site at an urban park and river boardwalk, brings into focus how the natural environment is “developed” and tamed for human consumption. Pedestrians discovering these “Green Haiku” were given the opportunity to reflect on their experience and influence on Nature. .
GAL has installed Green Haiku at the Newburyport Waterfront in 2007 and 2008. The photo above is a haiku by Erin Stack.
Savage Rituals
Erin Stack
Stephenie Strogney
Erin Stack and Stephenie Strogney collaborate annually on an interactive performance called a “Savage Ritual.”
“Savage Rituals”, Earth Day, 2008, Newburyport, MA
This roaming interventionist performance, addressed Americans’ ambivalent, veiled as romanticized, relationship to Nature. Our “friendly” polar bear offered gifts of cards to people on the street and in commercial establishments. These cards were inscribed with one of twenty-six “Savage Rituals”. These rituals, when performed, would press for a more intimate relationship with Nature and were often humorous and always challenging.
Hungry Ghost on Bartlett Mall, Newburyport, MA
Inspired by Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis and Buddhist Cosmology, GAL’s roaming intervention, “Metamorphosis: Hungry Ghost” is a cautionary tale of excessive consumption. A GAL barker led our character, the Hungry Ghost, through an Earth Day fair announcing the tragic news that Stephenie, a savvy, yet profligate shopper, awoke one morning transformed into a ravenous Hungry Ghost. She is now doomed to roam the world consuming without ever being satisfied. The public was encouraged to feed the hungry ghost by putting their waste water bottles, napkins, candy wrappers, etc. through the many gaping red mouths of the ghost. This waste could then easily be seen through the translucent “digestive sacs” that lay exposed on the outside of her body.
Hungry Ghost Getting Sugar Fix at Convenience Store
New Eden Gardeners Plotting the Garden 3/21/2009
Vegetables in Flower at Community Garden
In July 2008, First Parish Church, Newbury worked with GAL other New Eden Collaborative members on the the design and construction of a float for Newburyport’s Yankee Homecoming parade. The theme of the float was The Octopus’s Garden – One Earth One Family. Our float won the coveted Mayor’s Award for originality and best exemplifying Yankee Homecoming’s theme of “Family”. GAL also began working on a 9′ x 60′ mural on “Visions of a Sustainable Future” based on input from New Eden Collaborative members. GAL artists worked on the mural during the hours of the Greater Newburyport CSA weekly vegetable share distribution to create an opportunity for dialogue with New Eden members on vision and hopes for a sustainable future.
New Eden Collaborative projects for 2009 include:
- GAL-taught organic gardening classes and seed exchange
- Community garden design
- Design and construction of compost heap (Waste Folly) and cold frames (“We Reap What We Sow”) made from reclaimed materials
- Design and Construction of a children’s cottage and garden from recycled materials
GAL will be working with the three communities documenting their experience of working together through out the growing season.
Adam's Garden, First Parish Church, 2008