Each year Americans grow a crop they mow but do not eat. Join Brigitte Mars & BethyLoveLight, Awake & Aware, to discover how to "Get Off Your Grass and Create an Edible Lawn".   Have you ever wondered how to get people to understand the problems with lawns and what to do instead? Herbalist, Brigitte Mars, and eco-conscious hip hop artist, BethyLoveLight, have been working on this very thing. Join us to learn about their videos, songs, books, and courses that demonstrate the absurdity of massive lawns and the healing power of dandelions and other herbs. Articles: Brigitte Mars, Huffington Post, Get Off Your Grass and Create an Edible Lawn https://www.huffpost.com/entry/get-off-your-grass-and-cr_b_533359 Events: May 14: Light It Up Conscious Talk May 30: Herb Walk June 6: Bee In September: Ten Week Herbal Healing Course Books: Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Brigitte Mars Websites: Brigitte Mars: https://brigittemars.com/ BethyLoveLight: https://bethylovelight.com/ Resources: People & Pollinators Action Network Bee City USA Nontoxic Communities   Upcoming Green Team Academy Event: 2021 International Climate Action Challenge https://www.climateactionchallenge.net/challenge

Green Team Academy with Joan Gregerson, Eco-Nut

121: Get Off Your Grass and Create an Edible Lawn

Tune in for an interview with Doug Good Feature to hear about his new book, Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World.   The book is a guide to integrating indigenous thinking into modern life for a more interconnected and spiritual relationship with our fellow beings, Mother Earth, and the natural ways of the universe. This book's intention is not to teach you to "be Native American," but instead to use the indigenous culture of the Lakota to help you connect with your own indigenous roots and help you remember your ancestral knowing that all beings are divinely connected. Get the book through Hay House. About Doug Doug Good Feather is a full-blooded Native American Lakota, born and raised in the traditional indigenous ways of his elders on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is a direct descendant of Grandpa Chief Sitting Bull. He is the executive director and spiritual leader of the Lakota Way in Colorado and the co-founder of Spirit Horse Nation. You can visit Spirit Horse Nation online at spirithorsenation.org. Podcast Catch us live on the Green Team Academy Facebook page, YouTube channel, or on Twitter. Or watch the recording on the Green Team Academy website or wherever you get your podcasts https://www.greenteamacademy.com/podcast Upcoming Green Team Academy events: 2021 International Climate Action Challenge Kicks off August 18, 2021 Join us and go from passion to action in 90 days! Get live trainings, weekly check-ins, book, workbook, portal and more. Find out more in our free Quick Start Training at https://www.climateactionchallenge.net   Show notes https://greenteamacademy.com/120-think-indigenous-doug-good-feather/

120: Think Indigenous, Author Interview with Doug Good Feather

Discover what's in store for you during the 3rd Annual Earth Week Summit! Find out how to: Join our Earth Month Pop-Up Group to meet our partners and connect and collaborate with eco-enthusiasts from around the world Get in on Live Workshops that show how to go from passion to action in 90 days Hear our interviews with featured guests on Earth Day Participate in our Happy Hours Help us meet our 1,000-tree challenge goal with Mabinju Power House Youth Group in Kenya Get in on virtual events hosted by our partners around the world Find online and in-person events in the Metro Denver area Upcoming Green Team Academy events: 2021 Earth Week Summit April 17-24, 2021 Live workshops, happy hours, and a month-long pop-up group. Help us meet our goal of funding 1,000 trees with our partners in Kenya. Promote your organization and events by becoming a promoting partner. Free registration https://www.earthweeksummit.com 2021 International Climate Action Challenge Kicks off August 18, 2021 Join us and go from passion to action in 90 days! Get live trainings, weekly check-ins, book, workbook, portal and more. Find out more in our free Quick Start Training at https://www.climateactionchallenge.net

119: 2021 Earth Week Summit Preview

Looking for a way to get people together in-person, while social distancing? Organize a cleanup! In this episode, we'll hear from Jake Rubenstein of EARTHDAY.ORG about the Great Global Cleanup and from Dann Diez, SEED4COM. Find out how to do plogging, individual cleanups, or group cleanups and how to get your cleanup on the map! https://cleanup.earthday.org/  How can you make a cleanup more impactful than just a one-day event? Join us to find out strategies for planning a training, cleanup, and forum to mobilize your community, using a cleanup as the catalyst. https://www.seed4com.org/ Catch us live on the Green Team Academy Facebook page, YouTube channel, or on Twitter. Or watch the recording on the Green Team Academy website or wherever you get your podcasts https://www.greenteamacademy.com/podcast Upcoming Green Team Academy events: 2021 Earth Week Summit April 17-24, 2021 Live workshops, happy hours, and a month-long pop-up group. Help us meet our goal of funding 1,000 trees with our partners in Kenya. Promote your organization and events by becoming a promoting partner. Free registration https://www.earthweeksummit.com 2021 International Climate Action Challenge Kicks off August 18, 2021 Join us and go from passion to action in 90 days! Get live trainings, weekly check-ins, book, workbook, portal and more. Find out more in our free Quick Start Training at https://www.climateactionchallenge.net

117: Great Global Cleanup with EARTHDAY.ORG & SEED4COM

Looking for some fun and meaningful ways to celebrate Earth Day in the Metro Denver area? We've got you covered! Tune in for my chat with Kastle Waserman, journalist with Westword in Denver.  We'll be sharing ideas for individuals, groups, and families, including online and in-person options. See the complete list of Denver events on the Earth Week Summit schedule page. https://www.EarthWeekSummit.com/schedule Kastle Waserman is a freelance journalist for Westword in Denver, Colorado. She’s been a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, Yahoo!, Fodor’s Travel Books, Women’s Wear Daily and more, covering music, culture, fashion and environmental events and business. Upcoming Green Team Academy events: 2021 Earth Week Summit April 17-24, 2021 Live workshops, happy hours, and a month-long pop-up group. Help us meet our goal of funding 1,000 trees with our partners in Kenya. Promote your organization and events by becoming a promoting partner. Free registration https://www.earthweeksummit.com 2021 International Climate Action Challenge Kicks off August 18, 2021 Join us and go from passion to action in 90 days! Get live trainings, weekly check-ins, book, workbook, portal and more. Find out more in our free Quick Start Training at https://www.climateactionchallenge.net

118: How to Celebrate Earth Day 2021 in Denver with Kastle Waserman

Tune in for a conversation with Chris Woodburn, School Gardens Specialist with Denver Public Schools. Find out about Garden of Youth, an innovative garden program to help plant seeds of opportunities for students with obstacles to employment. We'll also hear about volunteer opportunities in the DPS gardens and the April 2021 DPS Sustainability & Garden Forum. GARDEN OF YOUTH INTERNSHIP Garden of Youth provides students with special needs soft job skills through 10-week paid summer internships. Eight sites host interns across Denver where students plant, maintain and harvest produce to share at local farmers markets while practicing merchandising, sale skills, and money math. Each week interns explore one garden or sustainability topic while honing their job skills working in small groups with a job coach. Garden of Youth is in its tenth year and still growing strong. VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Looking for an outdoor volunteer opportunity with kids and gardens in the Denver area? Individuals and groups can volunteer with DPS school gardens on a one-time or ongoing basis. To be matched with schools who have requested support, contact Chris Woodburn at Christopher_Woodburn@dpsk12.org. More Info - DPS Gardens https://sustainability.dpsk12.org/gardens/ - DPS Garden of Youth Internship https://sustainability.dpsk12.org/garden-of-youth/ - Youth Sustainability Board https://www.youthsustainabilityboard.org/ - Denver Urban Gardens https://dug.org/ DPS Sustainability & Gardens Forum https://sustainability.dpsk12.org/sustainability-garden-forum-summit/   Upcoming Events from Green Team Academy 3rd Annual Earth Week Summit: Apr 17-24, 2021 2021 Annual International Climate Action Challenge: Aug 18, 2021

116: Garden of Youth – Chris Woodburn, Denver Public Schools

Schools use a lot of paper. That's what got two high-school seniors, Sethu Odayappan and Lizzy Elsner, thinking.  They decided to take action to help replace the paper that they and their fellow classmates had used during their senior year at Mansfield, Massachusetts. That was the start of Tree-Plenish, with its first tree-planting event. The team has grown from 2 to 25 and turned a small-town project into a national one. The Tree-Plenish team is working with 90 schools in the 2020-2021 academic year and is on track to plant over 14,000 trees across the country. The team is working with schools across 20 states from California to New Hampshire. Tree-Plenish works with high school students to host tree-planting events in their communities that will offset their school’s paper usage during the last academic year. Students, guided by Tree-Plenish mentors, follow a 3-step process. 1) Planning - During this phase of the process, students figure out how much paper their school used during the last academic year. They then take that number and convert it into the number of trees they will need to plant. We estimate planting one tree will offset 10,000 sheets of paper. 2) Marketing - During the next phase, students reach out to the residents of their community to ask them to request a tree to be planted in their yard or to volunteer to help plant trees on the day of the actual event, or both! 3) Hosting - The final phase is for students to host their actual event. On this day, teams of volunteers plant trees in the yards of residents of their town. Tree-Plenish has developed guidelines for planting during the coronavirus pandemic to keep everyone safe.  Visit the Tree-Plenish website to get involved: Find an event and volunteer Donate Host your own event https://www.tree-plenish.org/ Upcoming Green Team Academy Events: Apr 17-24: Earth Week Summit Aug 18: 2021 Intl Climate Action Challenge https://www.greenteamacademy.com 2021 Challenge Registration now open! Hey, do you want to start your own initiative? Register for the 2021 International Climate Action Challenge to launch your eco-initiative in 90 days! Get in on the free Quick Start Training to learn more!

115: Cat DeMassi, Tree-Plenish, Empowering Student Tree-Planting Initiatives

Let's celebrate #EarthDay together! Get in on the FREE Earth Week Summit and be part of live workshops, happy hours, and a 1,000 tree challenge to #RestoreOurEarth! Register early to join the Earth Month pop-up group to connect with eco-buddies from around the world! Sign up for the April 17-24, 2021 summit here:  https://www.EarthWeekSummit.com

114: Announcing the 2021 Earth Week Summit

If you've heard of permaculture but you're not sure what it actually is, you're in luck! Join me for a conversation with Lee Recca, President of the Denver Permaculture Guild (DPG). In this interview, we'll explore what permaculture is and discuss their upcoming Permaculture Design courses. Denver Permaculture Guild (DPG) is a community-organized, membership-based nonprofit with the aim of building healthy, resilient, regenerative, and inclusive Denver area communities. DPG is offering a Permaculture Design Course from April through October 2021, with a mix of remote and in-person workshops. The course includes the core 72-hour internationally certified curriculum as well as detailed breakout sessions and regionally appropriate resources. DPG is also offering a hands-on, intensive outdoor course starting in late July. Additional 2021 course offerings include Social Permaculture, Advanced Landscape Design using Permaculture, Financial Permaculture, Decolonizing, and Indigenous Phenology. Links: -- Denver Permaculture Guild https://denverpermacultureguild.org/ Books: There are many great books on permaculture. Here are a few: -- The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country by Peter Bane https://newsociety.com/books/p/the-permaculture-handbook -- Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/gaias-garden/ -- The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience, by Toby Hemenway https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-permaculture-city/ -- Permaculture in Pots: How to Grow Food in Small Urban Spaces by Juliet Kemp https://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Pots.../dp/185623097X -- Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison (co-founder of the movement) https://www.amazon.com/Permaculture.../dp/0908228015 UPCOMING EVENTS 2021 Earth Week Summit April 17-24, 2021 Live workshops, happy hours, 1000 tree campaign, April pop-up group, and more! FREE Registration https://www.earthweeksummit.com 2021 International Climate Action Challenge Kicks off August 18, 2021 Register by April 10 for 50% discount and introduction in Earth Week Summit https://www.climateactionchallenge.net

113: What is Permaculture? Lee Recca, Denver Permaculture Guild

 The pandemic and economic implosion have exposed and amplified the pre-existing flaws in our food system. Hunger, access to nutritious food, and the means of food production are more important now than ever. Tune in for my interview with Benu AmunRa, a food justice advocate in Colorado.   Benu is working on her masters degree at Naropa University, centered on Resilient Leadership with an emphasis on Sustainable Systems. She is pursuing a doctorate in Transformative Studies in Fall 2021.  Benu is active with numerous groups across Colorado that are filling the gaps. She will share about organizations that are providing training and resources for BIPOC farmers, food security measures for students, and much more!   Upcoming Events: Hunger Action Week - March 24-31, 2021 https://p2a.co/V8VXO2y  2021 Earth Week Summit, April 17-24, https://www.earthweeksummit.com 2021 International Climate Action Challenge, August 18, https://www.climateactionchallenge.net Resource Links: Alliance Center, Regenerative Recovery Coalition https://www.thealliancecenter.org/coalition/  Bee Campus USA – https://beecityusa.org/about/ Boulder County Health Dept. – https://www.bouldercounty.org/families/food/fruit-and-veg-boulder/ Boulder Farmers Market – https://bcfm.org/food-access/ Boulder Food Rescue - http://boulderfoodrescue.org Bronzeville- Black and Brown Growers Collective – Gathering of Peoples Event - https://gatheringofpeoples.splashthat.com/ Colorado Food Finder – https://www.cofoodfinder.org/ Community Food Share – https://communityfoodshare.org/get-food/ Emerald Gardens – https://www.emeraldgardens.farm/ Food Rescue Alliance - https://www.foodrescuealliance.org/ Front Line Farming- https://www.frontlinefarming.org/ Herbal Gardens Wellness – https://www.herbalgardenswellness.org/ HungerFree Colorado- https://www.hungerfreecolorado.org/ Karen Washington - https://www.karenthefarmer.com/about Leah Douglas - http://www.leahjdouglas.com/work.html Mo Betta Greens MarketPlace & Seeds of Power Unity Farm -https://www.facebook.com/mobettagreenMKT/  Naropa University – https://www.naropa.edu/ National Black Food & Justice Alliance - https://www.blackfoodjustice.org/ Project Protect Food Systems- https://www.projectprotectfoodsystems.org/ Soul Fire Farm- https://www.soulfirefarm.org/ Spirit of the Sun- https://www.spiritofthesun.org/ To contact Benu, reach out at benu11 (at) yahoo . com 

112: Benu AmunRa, Bridging the Gaps - Food Justice in Colorado

Film is a powerful type of environmental education that can reach beyond the classroom and the trail. Join me for a discussion with Shawna Crocker, founder of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF). Hear how the festival was started, how you can participate this year and in the future, and how to emulate their success. We're joined by Shiela DeForest, Mrs ECO-International and the founder of Golden Residents (and Friends) Eco-Action Team, one of the Exo-Expo exhibitors and an Eco-Champion Award Winner from the 2020 International Climate Action Challenge.  This year’s Colorado Environmental Film Festival will be entirely virtual, which means you can now enjoy the best of the fest at home! Watch over 70 films, short and long, featuring environmental issues and solutions from around the world. JOIN THE VIRTUAL FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 12 – 21, 2021 at www.ceff.net.  April 17-24, 2021 Earth Week Summit www.EarthWeekSummit.com August - December 2021 International Climate Action Challenge www.ClimateActionChallenge.net Green Team Academy www.GreenTeamAcademy.com  

111: Colorado Environmental Film Festival

Desperation is never a good look.  You've probably had this experience many times. When you act needy, the exact thing that you've decided that you need so desperately continues to elude you. Maybe we're all like those buds just below the surface, just so excited to pop! But unlike the buds who aren't rushing or feeling inadequate, it seems like there's a lot of anxiety right now about not having or not doing enough.  This is something that I work to manage in my own life every day.  In this week's Green Team Academy Podcast Live, I'll share my thoughts on how to: Handle the feeling that you need more time, money, or anything Discern the levels of having, doing, and being Consider the multiple forms of currency available in your life and your work Notice words that creep into our language that create the illusion of desperation Say no with gusto rather than guilt Switch the vibe from repel to attract Lean on nature for reminders on how to roll with grace Get clear about who or what you are working for so you can define success on your terms This episode is a gentle reminder that you are already enough! Climate Action Challenge https://www.climateactionchallenge.net Earth Week Summit https://www.earthweeksummit.com

110: Being Enough

What is biochar? How can you use it? Should you make it yourself? How can it build community? Find out in my interview with Charmaster, Tony C. Saladino. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts - Stitcher, Apple, Google, Spotify Tony C. Saladino is a Charmaster, Biochar Educator, Founder and Guide for ECO-Tours of Wisconsin, Inc. As a participant in the 2020 International Climate Challenge, he met his goal of creating his weight in char and turning that into over half a ton of biochar, enough to enrich a dozen 4X10 foot beds to a depth of six inches, forever! He also taught a dozen more biochar classes so that more people would be able to do the same, cheaply and efficiently. https://www.climateactionchallenge.net In 1987, Saladino rode his bicycle around all five Great Lakes, teaching people in person, through TV, radio and print publications how to live lightly on the planet and experience a higher quality of life at the same time. Over ten million residents of the Great Lakes Basin heard him speak or read about his trip. Tony committed his life to "helping heal the rift between humankind and nature" as a child and has helped plant over 60,000 native trees and hundreds of thousands of native perennial food and medicinal plants across Northeast Wisconsin as an adult. He leads plant-ins, seed collection and dispersal tours, biochar classes, permaculture garden tours, canoe and bicycle trips across the region. He also advocates for the Earth Charter, www.earthcharter.org, which encourages people to utilize information from Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org especially their Skin-Deep database of personal care products and their zip code specific water quality database. The focus on the six steps required to make biochar will help people understand how-to double crop production, sequester carbon, protect water quality, reduce the need for irrigation and fertilization by half, all while providing a host of environmental benefits. He will help people decide if they are better served by making their own biochar or purchasing it and for those who decide to buy, how to tell if the char you are buying is worth the investment. Six steps required to transform dry woody material into biochar: Make it by getting it to glow, without air Micronize it to bits 2mm or less. Moisten that material to as wet as a wrung-out sponge. Add Minerals Add Microbes Let it mature, stirring several times a day and keeping the moisture steady. Saladino and his group, are currently working to secure funding for an 80-acre parcel that will not only serve as a home base for ECO-Tours but allow guests to come and learn the principles of sustainability by doing. In a living laboratory, that builds community through diversity. The property will only be available for Leave No Trace Camping and classes in and about nature which helps guests understand and create more sustainable lifestyles. Support the new center via the GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/52fa3b77

109: Biochar Building Community, Tony C. Saladino

Join me for an interview with special guest, Renee Millard Chacon. In this episode, we'll talk about defining environmental justice, and what it means to be an ally to or accomplice with the BIPOC community. Renee Millard-Chacon is a writer, educator, Danzante Azteca, Xicana activist, and most importantly the mother of two sons. She is an indigenous womxn of Diné/Mexica descent, fighting for future generations and committed to relating climate justice to social justice. Her family is from the Denver community and she now works as a cultural educator and teacher. She works as the Youth Program Coordinator/ Cultural Educator at Spirit of the Sun and Co-founder of Womxn From the Mountain in hosting, organizing, and leading marches, workshops, and educational resources for social justice and environmental justice. She maintains her culture every day as a Sahumadora/Malinzin in Azteca Danza for Grupo ColorAztlan in Denver and Tlahuitzcalli in Boulder. Her goal now is to help in the circles she has the opportunity to engage in to move forward to heal through environmental awareness, transformative education, and support to diverse leaders ready to fight for future generations. She welcomes any respectful correspondence to start doing the tedious but powerful work of creating better relations in spaces that deserve to be healed because of the trauma from historical inequality and environmental racism. If you have any questions about Spirit of the Sun programming, please email Renée at reneemchacon@spiritofthesun.org Renee is working in Colorado to define environmental justice for legislation. Renee worked with 350 Colorado, Conservation Colorado, Western Conservation, and many environmental organizations to address how womxn and children are often trafficked in these same areas affected by exploitative practices, such as fossil fuel development. In a collective effort with the International Indigenous Youth Council, they presented an art installation on 16th Street Mall in Denver to highlight Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn, Black Womxn, and Migrant Womxn by hanging red and black dresses individually dedicated to a womxn missing or deceased. During the strike with Greta Thunberg, they painted handprints over the mouths of hundreds of individuals to continue to bring attention to these silenced individuals. Renee provides fee-based cultural and allyship trainings for groups and organizations. Get ready for the 2021 International Climate Action Challenge! Register now for early bird pricing! Each purchase creates a scholarship for another person or team. 

108: Relearn & Reimagine, Renee Millard Chacon

Are you ready to become an Eco-Leader? If so, then you're in the right place! Join Joan Gregerson, author, coach and eco-nut! Discover how to get together, make a difference and feel better by starting and growing a green team or eco-club in your community. You'll be informed and inspired with tips, strategies, movie reviews, book reviews and success stories. We'll also focus on developing the emotional and spiritual strength to do this important work. Now is the time to take action because there is no Planet B! For more resources, visit www.GreenTeamAcademy.com

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Green Team Academy with Joan Gregerson, Eco-Nut

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