REFLECTIONS on full-time networking in Tucson

I went to Tucson, Arizona in Oct/November to see what would happen if I became a full-time networker/pollinator. I spent a few weeks meeting with as many interesting people as possible, channeling their wisdom and sharing it as I went. At the end, I hosted a potluck and slideshow to bring people together and share my stories from Portland. It turned out to be a beautiful night…….

Click here for my little essay about the experience.

Jenny's story about the cross-pollination potluck/slideshow
Tucson, AZ, Thursday, November 16th, 2006

So I put the call out there to people who want to talk about grassroots activism and how we can learn/listen from/to each other. I put myself out there as a cross-pollinator of stories. I spent weeks floating through Tucson meeting anyone and everyone who seemed to be somehow engaged in changing the world, asking them what their story is, sharing with them stories from Portland, and planting the seed that somehow we need to work together.

And people responded.

A lot of people who showed up last night were referred by a friend who either met me or got my email, so it was almost an almost all new audience (I had met maybe 25% of the people before last night). The 50-60 people who shared the evening included a diversity of ages, interests and avenues for engaging with the sustainability/social change movement(s).

The space we were in was great. A community gathering place for 28-years, “Shangralee,” as it is called, is a grouping of four or five city lots with a protected space in the center where a tri-weekly “sweat” happens. The central yard has a small earthen sauna (holds ~10 people), a small pool, and various sitting areas scattered under branched out trees. Numerous hammocks, massage tables and back stretching contraptions dot the yard, and three times a week, so do dozens of happy sweat-goers. A community of more than 200 people care for the maintenance and flow of the place. And, as one long-timer said, “this place is really responsive: you put a little in and get a lot out.”

So on our cool Thursday evening, a new group of people gathered at Shangralee for a delicious potluck (Tucson passed the test) and lots of interesting people to meet. The one email that I sent out, along with a scribbled poster or two that I managed to hang at a few coffee shops, community centers and the co-op, brought together a new network of people.

With every new person that walked in, I made sure to greet them, introduce myself, find out what they were into, and thank them for spending the evening exploring these ideas. People seemed generally happy and curious about the unique place we were in and the evening to come.

At 7:32 I called people to gather ‘round. I began by introducing myself and sharing a bit about my journey and why I called everyone together… that for more than a dozen years I have been actively thinking about and working to create harmonious connections between our social and ecological systems, and through my work with non-profits, local governments, businesses, schools, and thousands of people, I realized that while it is so important that we are each working on our different issues and employing many strategies and tactics for changing the world, we need to learn from each other and work together somehow. The dominant, top-down system that controls much of our living experience is strong, and if only we could see how the sum of our parts put together is much more powerful… this is what I am asking in this year of travel and cross-pollination. Somehow, we need to figure out how to learn from each other, listen, and see that we are like an ecosystem… the product of many small connections and relationships that builds together to create larger patterns and processes. So I am spending the year as a channel of stories, and one thing that I have learned is the value of just having the time to go to other people’s things, hear people’s stories, get out of our own “issue silos” to see how we can support each other across our movements and projects.

I continued by saying that I brought stories to share from two projects I have worked with in Portland, and that while they are both incredible stories in and of themselves, they are also examples of this idea of connecting creatively across sectors and issues to change the world in beautiful and wild ways.

But this evening was also about Tucson, and for everyone to meet and learn what’s happening here, so I carefully framed the conversation to begin and end with Tucsonians meeting themselves.

I asked people to shout out their issues of passion and strategies for change, and for about 15 minutes many people offered their perspectives. It was, of course, quite varied and interesting, and illustrated the points I had just made: the myriad issues and approaches that people offered built into a sense that we are all connected in deeper ways. It felt good to have these intentions and sharings in the air as we continued into the stories from Portland.

And as I began my slideshow, I feel like I disappeared and just became a channel of stories from City Repair and TLC Farm. I spoke for many people’s experiences, and for our collective experience.

My presentation
*see below*

Very quickly after my presentation the conversation led to something I anticipated and had previously made a commitment to myself about: I didn’t want to let any new entity, listserve or group form – the point here is that we already have so many listserves and meetings and that we need to learn how to use what we have. One woman kept saying that she wanted a list of everyone’s emails so that she could stay connected, so we asked the crowd how people can stay connected. And out came a host of networking opportunities already existing: the Sustainable Tucson listserve, the monthly Green Drinks gathering, the weekly political movie nights and Indymedia, and a handful of current projects.

One of the other interesting bits of the ensuing conversation was a group of people pleading people to help them stop a development in their neighborhood, and while we all need to work where we live, we need to also support communities in the struggle, at a time of need.

One other fun moment (for me): someone brought up the question of fundraising, and I felt really excited to share my newfound relationship with the golden opportunities and joys of asking people for money… that people feel really good when they get to say “yes” and feel part of something, and that you are just giving them the opportunity to participate in a really helpful way… just how I am giving everyone the opportunity to support my journey and the work I am doing and help me get to the World Social Forum in Kenya!

I ended the group discussion by offering people the opportunity to now meet someone new and ask them what they have to share….

…and people quickly broke into many groups of lively conversation, which continued around the fire and the trees for hours.

Some of people’s comments to me (roughly quoted):
--“I have never said out loud to a group what I do, and it felt so good – thank you!”
--“It was so cool to meet all of these people that I sort of knew or had heard of.”
--“Somehow you have really pulled together the who’s who of Tucson’s sustainability movement”
--“I was really impressed with the diversity of ages and different kinds of people there.”
--“It was so refreshing hearing positivity and possibility – usually we just hear about what’s wrong and how bad it all is”

And various affirmations of “thank you—this was so inspiring!” and “Thank you—you are doing very important work.”

I also got a lot of great feedback about the “Tucson meet yourself” section. It is often refreshing to hear an “outsider” view of your own place.

About 25 people signed up to stay in touch and hear about my journey, and together we raised $340 for my journey, including a $100 contribution from the Health and Harmony Foundation. Thank you!!

Overall, my goal was to just bring people together and let the conversations happen for themselves… to have the evening be a dispersed ecosystem of many connections. And for me to not be involved… to just be a quiet focalizer. And to trust that that’s what we need right now…

My presentation

I began with the 12-minute City Repair video, as I think it explains the basic principles and story of City Repair quite nicely… and the professional quality of the documentary I think also builds respect and interest. The movie ends with a surge of energy about people interpreting Intersection Repair in their own way in cities everywhere, so I transitioned to the slides by showing street murals from 5 cities across the US, including the “four seasons of the prickly pear cactus” painted right here in Tucson.

The photo of two cute little kids looking at the newly painted street led me to step back and talk about the deeper impacts of the paintings… that they represent a neighborhood that has come together, created their local identity and physically imprinted it into their shared public space. With a few photos of people in circles looking at maps of the neighborhood, and kids showing off their cardboard, clay and crayoned intersection repair ideas (“after all, kids are the ones who really know the neighborhood”), I mentioned that City Repair’s role is to facilitate these projects and that we have learned a lot (and put it into the Placemaking Guidebook, available at the table by the door). The basic ideas are:
· replicable projects…

So, after a brief tangent to introduce people to cob and show a sequence of cob-dancing to cob-building, explaining why we like to use this as a natural building and community building material, I dove into an almost dizzying flow of many emanations of Intersection Repair artifacts. I showed about 30 different benches, kiosks and other forms, and pointed out that each represents what they neighborhood wanted for itself… some with crazy, curvy flowy forms and other with straight lines and roofs that matched the surrounding porches.

This built nicely into the concept of coordinating efforts for greater impact: The Village Building Convergence. And then into the question of “how do I begin?”: tea parties. With a brief overview of the T-Horse, I ended with the idea that it all starts with a conversation over a cup of tea, and then builds into a beautiful celebration of localization (with corresponding images, of course).

Whew!

Then, before I dove into the story of the Farm, I asked people as a transition to close their eyes, take three deep breathes, and take in what they just heard about… and that it is all about you and me, here and now.

And onto TLC Farm: another incredible story of bringing together a lot of people over a vision for what is and what could be. I started with flashing images of the Farm from above, the potential development, and our vision of a public resource sustainability education center. I then gave a little tour of the farm to give a sense of its beauty and intrigue, and then went back to the development and our story of saving the farm. Then I moved into our work as an education and demonstration center, and the deeper layers of what it means to be a forum for many different types of groups to use the land to connect with each other and the earth. Anyone can be a visionary in an inspiring community and natural environment.

After a round of applause (but not comments/questions), I brought the conversation back to Tucson and said that I wanted to show people my experience here… I asked if people were still with me and into this idea, and heard back lots of shouts of “yes!” so I continued. The simplicity of an outside opinion can sometimes be quite impactful.

First I showed what I thought to be Tucson’s unique (but not) issues: 1. cookie cutter sprawl (“I can’t believe how there are 6-8 lane roads every half-mile cutting the city into an isolating grid and then filling the area with cookie cutter developments that have insane covenants about what people can and can’t do (no solar panels, or water harvesting, yes green lawn (in the desert!)) and I can’t wait to see how y’all retrofit this. I mean, at some point, people are going to realize that they have built themselves into a cage); 2. water – people in Tucson seem to be scared of water and want to get it away from them as fast as possible, when with your 12 inches of rain you actually have enough for all of your needs, if you only harvest it!; 3. the border and immigration – what a complex issue but what an amazing opportunity to see each other as people living together on this earth…

And then onto some of the cool things that I have found here… and into the heros I have met. All in all, I touched upon about 30 different groups and individuals’ perspectives.

This of course led quite nicely into opening it back up to the group and asking people for reactions, responses, ideas, comments, questions….

ISSUE: The Border

It’s pretty easy to not notice immigration-related issues when you are thousands of miles from the border, even though these complex issues affect us all. Tucson, however, is infused with border-related phenomena. Though most of these issues stem from “free” trade madness like NAFTA, it was amazing to learn about the local manifestations of the border… like the sound of border patrol choppers overhead each night, beaming their search lights through the city. Craziness.

Here are a few more:

Each year, thousands of migrants walk toward “el norte” and the dream of earning money to support families. And each year, hundreds die in the harsh desert. A few groups, like “No Mas Muertes/No More Deaths” provide humanitarian aide to migrants, offering them food, water and medical support on the Mexican side.

When I visited the No Mas Muertes tent in Nogales, MX, a busload of men who had been deported were just dropped off.

Hector told me that he was in good spirits, excited for the adventure and feeling confident with Jesus on his side. He was heading north to find work…

And after some food and water, the men headed back to try again. Until we stop exploiting cheap labor in Mexico, people will head to the U.S. to try to find living wages.

Another terrible side effect of the border is that is has split many indigenous nations in half. Mel and Otis are from the Tohono O’odham Nation, and now they have to show passports and deal with plenty of other inconveniences and even Border Patrol harassment to move within their own tribal lands.

HERO: David Eisenberg

David, along with Tony Novelli, is leading the country in changing building codes to support sustainability... THANK YOU!! Check out the Development Center for Appropriate Technology (www.dcat.net).


One tidbit of wisdom that David shared with me is a beautifully simple way to introduce people to the basic ideas of sustainability: feedback loops. As our systems (food, resources, economic flows etc.) become globalized and consolidated, it means that the time and distance of the effects of any action is great, and therefore far from our individual control and potentially quite dangerous (and there are some juicy examples of this). However, in a localized system, the feedback loops are smaller, more accessible and more in our control, therefore safer, more adaptable and appropriate. Easy: act locally!

HEROES: Councilwoman Nina Trasoff, Tony Novelli and Monique

This is Nina, Tony, and Monique.

Tucson's City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff is thrilled about The City Repair Project and Intersection Repair. She wants to partner with neighborhoods who want to transform their street intersections into vibrant public gathering places!

HEROES: Teena Jo, Josh and Area 520

Area 520 is an emerging collaborative youth center in downtown Tucson. It was fun meeting with some of the core organizers to compare notes about non-hierarchical organizational structures and collaborative organizing in general. They appreciated hearing TLC Farm's story and learning about our lessons and systems. In particular, concepts like a "social ecology working group" and the value of everyone learning about meeting facilitation and consensus were useful to them.

HEROES: Leslie and Ann

Leslie and Ann are two thirds of Tucson's Office of Sustainable Development, and they have quite a task at hand! This is a brand new office, and they are struggling (in the best of ways) to define their role in Tucson's sustainability movement. I shared with them the stories of City Repair and TLC Farm, and emphasized the immense resources of grassroots groups, if only they reached out to them.

They are starting to plan a Sustainability Forum, and I encourage Tucsonian activists to offer ideas for helping this City office serve to coordinate and connect the many threads of sustainability in Tucson.

HERO: Isabel Garcia

I only met Isabel briefly, after attending a weekly vigil in honor of migrants who have died in the desert (quite moving). She left quite an impression as a superstar organizer and attorney addressing many complex issues related to immigrantion.

What struck me was the deep collaborative nature of Derechos Humanos... decades of collaborations with many movements: human rights, faith, LGBT, ecological, unions etc.

STRATEGY: succession model education – Desert Harvesters

Brad, Rodd, Chi, and other superheroes formed “Desert Harvesters,” a group dedicated to promoting native foods in the Tucson area. They make it fun and easy to integrate native foods into daily life. One fabulous event is their annual Mesquite Pancake Breakfast.

Mesquite trees are found in abundance throughout the Sonoran Desert and Tucson itself! The pods are a traditional food, full of flavor and nutritional delight. Once ground, the flour makes dee-licious pancakes and breads.

Click here for more photos!

Mesquite pancakes with prickly pear cactus syrup – super yum!

Hundreds of people line up for a taste – what a great educational experience.


After breakfast, people can bring their collected mesquite pods (from the many trees right in the city) and get them ground into flour. What a cool concept!

STRATEGY: plant yourself and work from there

Barbara Rose is another superhero! Dancing Rocks Permaculture Community has been planted on the edge of the saguaro “forest” desert for twenty years, and provides a stark contrast to the ever-developing town around them. Right next door to their thriving gardens that use only rainwater, houses that utilize the sun’s free abundant energy and other sustainability technology, are the ever-expanding cookie cutter developments – built with NO regard to rain or solar abundance.

After trying to work with local developers to no avail, Barbara Rose is waiting for them to come begging for her advice once they are in crisis with their ever-lowering aquifer, rising heating/cooling costs, etc. In the meantime, she has been working with Marana City Council (fastest growing city in America) – and has successfully gotten the words “permaculture,” “natural building,” and “sustainability” into the city charter… but do they know what the words mean? We’ll see!

STRATEGY: Listening tour!!

Sometimes we need to learn things first hand to “get it.” I was one of those people who vaguely knew who the Zapatistas are and what the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is all about. So I went to meet them, and had a fabulous time.

Very briefly, the Zapatistas work to create local economic and social systems in response to the oppressive nature of neoliberalization. They have worked for decades to build local health, education and political systems in Chiapas, Mexico. And now they are on “The Other Campaign” to connect with local and native people across Mexico.

The Other Campaign is a brilliant strategy of grassroots mobilization. The Zapatistas are basically on a “listening tour,” moving from state to state calling together indigenous people and other activists to share their grievances, concerns, traditions and ideas with each other. The Zappies are the sparks and the threads from place to place.


I met them in Magdalena, in the State of Sonora, Mexico. During the weekend event, we listened to dozens of people speak their truths, and I was completely enthralled for hours and hours!

Click here for my story and photos of my adventure with the Zapatistas!

An enounter with the Zapatistas

We arrived at the eco-hostel ranch in Magdalena at about 3pm on Saturday, joining the other carloads of eager young activists from Tucson. Little by little, locals and nearby indigenous communities began to arrive.

I walked around and got a feel for the place and general vibe of the people. To one side of the central building was an outdoor kitchen, fire cook pits, lots of tables and chairs under some nice shade trees, and a few people enjoying the big pots of beans and rice ready for hungry travelers. In the distance beside the hostel/ranch was a big, reddish cliff with a three story Virgin of Guadalupe painted on it.

On the other side of the central dirt area, where a few men from the Tohono O’odham tribe were starting a ceremonial fire, was a covered pavilion with many rows of plastic Tecate-sponsored chairs facing a long table in front. Next to the pavilion were some very noisy goats.

I quickly got into a conversation with a smiley man named Carlos, a therapist (what kind? all kinds) from Nogales, the city on the border. He was one of those people who you immediately like, full of energy and eyes that listen. His sense of inner peace emanated gracefully.

The conversation revolved around the concept of changing ourselves before we can change the world -- a great start to a sacred weekend. This was a reminder to me about my own path, my own journey as an organizer and as a Saturn-returning woman. This is an essence of my personal struggle: to find my own sense of personal peace (including things like taking care of my body – he told me I should do a cleanse and clean my skin thoroughly, and I agree!) in the midst of my work as an activist. This is all of our struggles, no? So, to invoke this concept – that it starts with myself – at the beginning of this weekend, was quite apropos. Also, one year ago that day I began my three-month ritual for turning 28, which led to this year of wandering. I guess I should write about my ritual journey another time, but for now I will just say that it was quite synchronistic that this was the weekend that I went to Mexico to meet the Zapatistas, including sb.Marcos, to journey sola and freely flow with the go, and to let what happened happen.

So anyway, it was wonderful to meet Carlos. A few other things from our conversation: he taught me a peace exercise (basically, clench every muscle of your body and then let it go, a few times over) and we discussed how women are stronger than men and just don’t use our strength. Also, he said that if there’s something I can accomplish, I should get up early, put on my tennis shoes and get out there and do it. But don’t try to do what I can’t accomplish. He also said it’s always important to abandon the ego, the need to be the important person. Good stuff.

Next I met Martin, a professor of Mexican Literature at the University of Sonora (Mexico). At first we just had a nice conversation, kind of light. He seemed a little hesitant to share much, which only increased my intrigue, of course. I kept asking him questions, and he also inquired about me. I told him about my journey as a wandering organizer, looking to learn from/share with other grassroots efforts… and of course linking to the event happening around us (more people arriving, anticipating the arrival of the caravan). He told me about his poetry, and asked if I had read any of Marcos’ writing. Finally, he turned to me with a glint in his eye and said solidly, “I am a Zapatista with La Otra Campana.” Yes, a little rush went through me (I feel like such a starry-eyed little girl saying this)… this was why I was there: to meet people, individuals, and make personal connections, share stories, talk shop. It was a moment of “yes!,” I had made a friend, was building trust and connection with him, and we were both there to be there. I have to say that it was quite exciting talking about “the revolution” in such in a very real and direct, literal way… I mean, that’s why we were both at this event – this IS the revolution.

Then the EZLN caravan pulled in. Of course, everyone waiting around got all excited and started gathering around the bus to greet the caravanistas. What was interesting to me was how quiet it all was… folks silently piled out of the bus and accompanying cars (a myriad of revolutionaries: young people in black, older folks in cowboy hats, women in traditional clothes etc.) and people around were quiet, too. Finally a blob of people moved from one side of the bus towards the door of the main building: Marcos in the middle. Everyone wanted to see him. Digital and video cameras were everywhere. And all was quiet, very quiet. It was interesting.

So Marcos and the Zapatistas disappeared for a few hours to eat, rest, and meet with the local organizers. I was present and happy to wander around and talk to folks; after all, this is what I think the revolution is all about: connecting with people and going from there.

Martin and I struck up our conversation again and he invited me to Hermosillo, where he is from, to “know my country, my people,” to see for myself. Turns out he was organizing the Otra Compana event happening at the University on Monday. I told him I’d think about it and talk later. Oh to be a wandering traveler!

I next met Mel and Otis, the Tohono O’odham men at the fire. They were preparing for the opening ceremony and blessing that would begin the evening’s events. I learned that their reservation is on both sides of the border and they are having increasing problems both with Border Patrol and with migrants who are leaving a lot of trash through the desert. I also noticed that they didn’t speak much Spanish, though most people assumed they did.

Finally it got dark (after a beautiful sunset on the red saguaro-filled cliffs and the giant Virgin painting). And then Marcos appeared and the mass of starry-eyed (but still quiet) people gathered round and moved slowly with him to the fire.

The welcoming blessing and ceremony was good, as I expected, moving. Mel smudged about 25 people with some feathers… first Maria (the event’s organizer), then Martin (my new friend), then another guy, then Marcos, and many more. They all stood in a line around the fire. Drumming and dancers celebrated where we were, and blessed the event. At the end the dancers yelled (en espanol), “our hearts are of corn, our bodies are of corn, are souls ARE corn.” Then they yelled, “VIVE ZAPATISTA! SIGUE LA LUCHA” and the crowd joined in: VIVE! VIVE! SIGUE! SIGUE! Thus began the event.

We all moved into the pavilion to begin the testimonials. I was present and enthralled for the next five hours. I hardly moved. One at a time, representatives from native tribes came forward and spoke about the issues of concern for their communities, and of their appreciation for the chance to speak, be heard and be part of the Zapatista movement. People spoke in Spanish or their native languages and each time was translated into the Spanish (if native) and English. I was pleased at how much Spanish I still remembered and could follow.

Here are some of my notes:

~ We must work for justice. The government cannot break our souls.
~ From the governor (?) of the Mayo nation: the seven tribes in the state of Sonora have no housing and access to education. Megadevelopers and squatters are encroaching on their land,
~ A Ho’akum man: “The border was established without our consent”… their native land is on both sides, lots of problems now… to the north they face forced assimilation and to the south they face poverty. Not to mention more harassment from the Border Patrol, as they just try to live their lives on their land.
~ Someone spoke of how a non-indigenous woman was put as their representative (to the Mexican or local gov’t I assume) and this woman was not their chosen representative.
~ Toxic pollution is a major problem for many tribes, from major corporations
~ A young Navajo woman spoke first in her native language: it was one of the most beautiful sounds I have heard. Fascinating how many sounds we humans can make. She leaned towards the crowd and spoke slowly and simply, in a way that went directly to the heart. “O u r g o v e r n m e n t w i l l n o t l i s t e n t o u s.” Somehow that simple statement struck deep.
~ Then a man from Pheonix who works for a non-profit that supports indigenous causes started speaking and after a few moments an elder woman in the second row and said quietly but strongly (in her native language), “he is not native. He should not be allowed to speak here.” People all leaned forward to see what would happen, and the MC-type guy (an older indigenous man) stood up and spoke for a long time. I only caught some of what he said, but the gist of it was that anyone should be allowed to speak for the cause. I noted that Marcos stayed out of it, quietly writing.
~ Mike Flores, from the Tohono O’odham Nation spoke about the Border Forum that they had a few weeks ago, and that they webcasted it and people from all over the world responded in support. He got calls from Costa Rica, Germany, Italy, and was quite moved by this.
~ A chicano student from the U.S. said, “we are indigenous to a land north of here but we are strangers in that land,” noting another aspect of migration, acclimitization, etc.
~ “the Zapatistas remind us that reality is hard and that we have to work to change it for everyone.”

And then I started thinking about things, as I was listening. Things like:

* I noted that the Zapas and Marcos inspire people to fight, to struggle. Yes, this is quite an obvious and mundane thing to note, but I share it to remember the feeling of inspiration… what this actually means.

* I felt proud of City Repair and TLC Farm and our work for local power.

* A woman from Oakland talked about her group having a sister community in Chiapas, and at that moment it sunk it that this could be a really profound concept. I could see CR or TLC Farm having a sister community to learn from, exchange goods (like, coffee), visit, and generally keep connected. Hmmm, how do we set this up?

* I noted that so many activists in Tucson speak spanish. Interesting. That’s what living on a border does… and it has its effects. Knowing another language means knowing another way of seeing the world.

REFLECTION: to be or not to be

While at the Dry River Collective, I had a great talk with Eric. One of the many interesting phenomena we discussed was about how many young activists want to land somewhere, get involved and “do something,” yet they only stick around for a few months. Deep change usually requires a lot more time and commitment to a place (in order to build trust and really know the nuances of the issues). The average American moves every four years… and the average young activist probably much more than that!

It makes me think: maybe the most radical act we can do is plant ourselves somewhere and dig deeply into the issues from there. Isn’t this the most root issue: DISCONNECTION from place, people, our actions etc.?

This also reminds me of the question: when do we once again become native to a place?

On a personal note, I am aware that I am writing this during a year of traveling, but one of my reasons for taking a break from Portland is so that I can come back and dive in deeply. Places like New Zealand and Europe have it right: send youth out to see the world and then let them come back to settle (when they realize “there’s no place like home!”).

HERO: Deron

This is Deron... he started Freecycle and lives here in Tucson! I like the story of Freecycle: The City of Tucson wasn't collecting recyclables downtown because there was no space on the street for the blue plastic bins. So a small non-profit formed to collect recyclables from offices, and soon they had a warehouse full of useful stuff! Since they didn't have an outlet to get rid of the stuff, Deron posted an email to his neighborhood listserve announcing FREE STUFF. Well, one thing led to another, and now more than 3 million people in over 80 countries connect to each other on freecycle.org websites to give and get free stuff! Sweet!

One neat cross-pollinating side effect of Freecycle: Deron once asked his Tucson Freecycle group how many non-profits used the service, and within 24 hours over 50 groups responded that they check Freecycle regularly. Nice point of connection!

ISSUE: Spraaaaaaaaawl

Can you imagine a city with 6 to 8-lane roads every half mile, gridding the city into neatly confined squares for cookie cutter developments and gated "communities"? And instead of neighborhood centers, the only "places" are strip malls and chain stores?!

I just learned that Tucson had a chance to create an urban growth boundary at the same time that Portland did... man o man what a different quality of life exists in these two cities.

There are an incredible number of gated communities here, and some have sub(ju)gated sections within the main gates. When are people going to realize that they have built themselves into a cage?


typical Tucson cookie cutter

REFLECTION: an info center radiating outward

The Dry River Collective is an info center for “the revolution”—many avenues of people reflecting on the existing world-systems of colonialism and dominance, and seeking to share information and create action to regenerate systems of earth and social harmony (in my words… theirs might use more language of radical anarchism).

My experience at Dry River is a reveals some obstacles in the “movement” – we may not be fulfilling our potential!! Note: I fully respect and support what Dry River is doing; I’m using only Dry River as one example that we can learn from.

Three lessons:

1. I think it’s human nature to be attracted to places and people that feel/look like ourselves… and that’s ok. But it limits us! Dry River seeks to be a resource center for activists, yet even I was nervous to go there since the crowd seemed “different” than me… but when I got over this and walked in, I found a great community space, interesting conversations and an amazing library! This just gets me thinking…
2. Another tidbit: I had an interesting conversation with one DR collective member, Eric. He told me about their bi-weekly political movie night, and that on the off weeks another guy, Lee, hosts political movies in his backyard. Eric then mentioned that Lee should just host the movies at DR each week, since it is such a great space. BUT what Eric didn’t realize is that Lee attracts a totally different crowd, even though they are interested in the same movies (and has a great space, too—outside!). So I suggested to Eric that they make an effort to get DR folks to Lee’s and that I would encourage Lee to get his crowd to DR. What an easy and fun way to connect two different segments of political activists—nourish the diversity, but keep the safety of being with “your own crowd”! Imagine the power if we connect the punks and hippies!
3. Getting involved “outside” of our bubble: While DR activists are working on many issues globally, regionally and locally, it seems that many DR folks don’t even realize the resources they have right in their backyard. The Dry River Collective is located in a very active neighborhood, two blocks from Brad’s superpermaculture house. Brad (et al.) hosts an annual tree planting, and many open houses/workshops about regenerating earth systems, at home and throughout the city. So, I invited the DR folks to join in the tree planting (that just happened to be in a few days) and I encouraged Brad to bring one of his Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands books over to the DR library, and consider offering work shops in their space. Again, I think this is an example of a simple disconnect that with just a little effort, could deepen all of these movements… a little intentional cross-pollinating and magic happens!

STRATEGY: permaculture eden

Brad, Rodd and Chi Lancaster are my heroes. They have planted themselves firmly into the Dunbar-Springs Neighborhood and are creating ripples of inspiration, education and demonstration in myriad forms. First and foremost, they have transformed their urban home into a lively demonstration of simple ways that anyone can live in abundance and in harmony with nature’s cycles. And, their deep friendliness and affection for sharing wisdom has created a warmth around their house that attracts numerous visitors daily, thus increasing the local connections among Tucson’s sustainability-makers.

Click here for photos of their house.

A desert eden, watered by the rain!


The secret: basins to catch water, mulch to keep it in, and a dash of intention

Easy for anyone: greywater harvesting… the washing machine pipes water directly to the fruit trees nearby


Yum













Outdoor shower, and the three drains that lead to three garden beds. Notice the white covers that can be used to direct water one way or another.

Above: Garden beds with sunken clay pots… fill these with water and ya have slow drip irrigation!
Below: Clay pots can also be used as water filters.


Nuclear energy: the sun!! Solar electricity, solar water heaters and solar oven… shouldn’t all of Arizona be off the grid?!

STRATEGY: neighborhood identity

Dunbar Springs exemplifies a community with strong social capital.