Your local library may not be the first thing you think of when you consider sustainable practices in your community, but sustainability is a core value of librarianship. You might be surprised at all the ways your library contributes to sound environmental stewardship. The American Library Association Council passed a resolution in 2015 on the importance of sustainable libraries. The resolution notes that libraries play an important and unique role in wider community communications about resili...
Dec 09, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 50
A one-of-a-kind approach to community gardening pulls out the stops on community building. Richard Mee and a few fellow community garden advocates wanted to take the “my” out of community gardening and make it “ours.” They charted new territory in their effort to launch the Westside Community Garden in Colorado Springs. Building community was as important to the group as growing food, so they strived to make it truly community run. This cooperative concept builds community, educates gardeners, e...
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Colorado Springs was recently teetering on the edge of violating ground level ozone standards, but we had a good summer. Meanwhile, reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst of the climate crisis is on all our minds. In this episode, learn about progress, challenges and initiatives pertaining to environmental air quality in the Pikes Peak Region (as defined in the regional sustainability framework PPR2030 ) through regional collaboration and outreach. LINKS: Gordon's PowerPoint Slides...
Nov 23, 2019•54 min•Season 1Ep. 48
How do you like your electricity? Hot and fresh from burning polluting and CO2-emitting coal? Or clean and green from the sun and the wind? Colorado Springs Utilities is in the early stages of updating its EIRP – the Electric Integrated Resource Plan, a road map for the city’s electric generation mix over the coming years. Studio 809 assembled a panel of experts to educate us and offer their views on the subject. Also: Singer/songwriter Lindsay Facknitz entertains with an original song on the su...
Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Less than 1% of our food was grown within 50 miles of Colorado Springs, estimates Larry Stebbins. Larry is one of the panelists gathered by moderator Ellen Johnson-Fay to discuss what is needed to help local food flourish in the Pikes Peak region. This panel discussion took place on October 19, 2019 as part of the Peak Environment Podfest , recorded in front of a live audience and co-hosted by Studio 809 and Stargazers Theatre & Event Center. The panel: Ellen Johnson-Fay Convener of the Gree...
Nov 07, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Is your water safe to drink? Is your soil safe to grow veggies? These questions are front of mind for many residents of the Pikes Peak region. For years, firefighting exercises at air bases in Colorado Springs used chemicals that we now know have contaminated area groundwater and are bad for our health. Find out what we know, and what’s being done about it, from an expert panel convened at the Peak Environment Podfest. The podfest featured three panels recorded in front of a live audience on Oct...
Nov 01, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Light pollution is the one pollution that costs less to solve than it does to continue polluting. It also represents a lot of wasted energy and has potential negative health effects. Plus, the lights of the city hide the wonders of the night sky from us. Clint Smith reacquaints us with what we’re missing and tells the story of how the Wet Mountain Valley (Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, CO) became the first International Dark Skies Community in Colorado. One accomplished amateur astronomer started ...
Oct 24, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Candidates for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2020 share their positions on issues related to the climate crisis. This candidate forum was hosted by Indivisible Denver and fourteen other organizations (links below), held at the Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs on October 6, 2019. Ten candidates (links below) participated. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner and former Governor John Hickenlooper did not. This is part 2, the last half of that forum. Moderators: Tania Van Pelt, event ...
Oct 16, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Candidates for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2020 share their positions on issues related to the climate crisis. This candidate forum was hosted by Indivisible Denver and fourteen other organizations (links below), held at the Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs on October 6, 2019. Ten candidates (links below) participated. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner and former Governor John Hickenlooper did not. Moderators: Tania Van Pelt, event co-organizer, writer/producer Philip Oke-Thom...
Oct 15, 2019•58 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Learn what’s going on at the podcasting hub of the Pikes Peak region, the Studio 809 podcast collective. Over a dozen podcasts originating in the area can be found at studio809podcasts.com. Studio 809 founder Dave Gardner fills us in specifically on the environmentally focused podcasts originating in the “basement studio” – Peak Environment , the GrowthBusters podcast about sustainable living and The Overpopulation Podcast . Also, local activist and singer/songwriter Lindsay Facknitz shares a co...
Oct 10, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Have at least one “arts and culture” experience this month. Art and culture have a lot of value to our community both in quality of life and economic impact. Just the non-profit arts in our region generate 153 million dollars of economic activity annually. The most recent Sustainability in Progress gathering at Ivywild School featured two speakers telling us about arts and culture happenings during Arts Month and year-round as part of a sustainable community. Andy Vick, executive director of the...
Oct 03, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 40
What is about 40 times as heavy as a hippopotamus, 180 times as heavy as a grand piano, and 42 times as heavy as a car? Listen to this week’s episode to find out. You can pitch in to have clean, healthy waterways in the Pikes Peak Region, starting September 28, in the 2019 Creek Week. Debbie Vitulli, co-chair of the Pikes Peak Library District’s Green Team, along with Green Team member Bill Thomas, talks to Alli Schuch about the upcoming Creek Week and how the event has grown since its inception...
Sep 25, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 39
It’s one of the best-kept secrets in town! There is a service that can evaluate your home’s energy-efficiency and potentially trim your utility bill by 25%. Energy Resource Center is a non-profit that focuses on providing the service at no cost to families that most need the help. But homeowners who don’t qualify can still use the service, paying market rates (which helps ERC do work at no charge for those in need). ERC technicians are experts in heating, air conditioning, hot water heaters, ins...
Sep 19, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Coal, gas, solar, wind? How should each of these factor into our utility’s future energy plans? CSU is beginning to develop a new Electric Integrated Resource Plan (EIRP), and the utility wants your help. Michael Avanzi, Energy Planning Manager for the utility, provides an overview of the process, and Jim Riggins, president of Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy Society, provides an engineer’s perspective on why renewable energy is not just the wisest, most responsible generation resource, bu...
Sep 12, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 37
When the Trump administration messes with Central Colorado’s public lands, the results are not pretty. Hear what’s happening and what you can do to help protect our “Big Back Yard.” Pikes Peak Group of the Sierra Club Wilderness Chair John Stansfield and Conservation Chair Jim Lockhart discuss multiple planning projects underway, some of which are nearing the end of their public comment period. The Bureau of Land Management is preparing a resource management plan (RMP) and environmental impact s...
Sep 05, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Manitou Springs has a rich history, and is taking action on climate change. If you missed the July 2019 Green Drinks event at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center, this episode is the next best thing to being there. Michael Miao gives us the lowdown on this museum, and Manitou Mayor Ken Jaray shares about a proposed Manitou resolution for city action to reduce the city’s net carbon footprint. Manitou senior planner Karen Bechtold also speaks about progress in Manitou to help homeowners apply low ...
Aug 25, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 35
If you missed Sustain-a-Fest, this is the next best thing to being there. Over 50 exhibitors and hundreds of Colorado Springs residents and visitors converged on Acacia Park July 27 to crank up the volume on sustainable living. In this episode, Peak Environment Co-Producer Dave Gardner visits with several exhibitors and with Ryan Trujillo, the city’s Innovation & Sustainability Manager, at the event, to bring us perspectives and stories of sustainability efforts in the Springs. Producer: Dav...
Aug 15, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 34
When kids put their hands in the dirt and connect with nature, the results are awesome. Catamount Institute is dedicated to connecting kids with nature and helping them develop into ecological stewards. In this episode, recorded at the June Green Drinks event of the Green Cities Coalition, we learn about the activities of Catamount Institute and Generation Wild, a special Colorado program to provide nature experiences for youth. Speakers: Konrad Schlarbaum, Chair of Green Cities Coalition Beth A...
Aug 07, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 33
How do we navigate a time of ecological crisis? It’s not too late to add joy, kindness and beauty to our lives. Carolyn Baker recommends rekindling our love affair with nature and living contemplatively. She believes learning to grieve is a critical resilience skill. Pikes Peak Permaculture leaders Brian Fritz and Becky Elder sit down with Carolyn Baker for an intimate conversation about finding ways to live well as we observe and experience climate disruption, species extinction, and the many o...
Jul 31, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Join the crowd and get your sustainability game on at Acacia Park in downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday, July 27, 2019. In this episode, Peak Environment co-producers Ellen Johnson-Fay and Dave Gardner are joined by Ryan Trujillo, Innovation & Sustainability Manager for the City of Colorado Springs. Ryan fills us in on the upcoming Sustain-a-Fest event, and also answers questions about the interesting activities of his office and staff. Innovation can play a key role in slimming the ecolo...
Jul 18, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 31
How are Pikes Peak Region sustainability efforts doing? What are the challenges, achievements, strengths, weaknesses, progress and setbacks? This episode provides a valuable history of efforts to promote sustainable policy and practice in Colorado Springs, and a snapshot of where we are today. It’s all explored in this community dialogue recorded at the June 17 Sustainability in Progress meeting of the Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future. Peak Alliance Chair Mary Barber shares most of the sto...
Jul 12, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 30
You can fight Mother Nature or you can work WITH her. Forest gardening is a way of landscaping that saves time, money, water…and the planet. Learn all about this ethical style of Earth care, and how you can practice it in your own garden, from permaculturist Becky Elder. This episode is a recording of her Forest Gardening class at the 2018 People’s Tiny House Festival . This episode of Peak Environment comes to us courtesy of Pikes Peak Permaculture, celebrating 15 years of Permaculture educatio...
Jun 14, 2019•50 min•Ep. 29
Can cooperation and collaboration trump competition and profit maximization in generating community wealth? Matt Noyes, son of Chinook Bookstore founders Dick and Judy Noyes, shares his vision for the variety of ways Colorado Springs can benefit from models of cooperative organization and solidarity economy. There are several cooperatives today in the city of Colorado Springs. The state of Colorado has some of the best cooperative law; it’s a great place to form a cooperative. Listen and learn a...
Jun 05, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Everything you want to know about the PikeRide bikeshare program in Colorado Springs. How does bikesharing help us achieve the objectives of our sustainability plan ( Looking to Our Future – Pikes Peak Region 2030 )? What are the various ways it serves the needs of, and provides joy to, city residents and tourists? If you heard our interview with PikeRide Executive Director Jolie Nesmith in episode 25 of Peak Environment, this episode will take you farther and deeper. We recorded this episode at...
Jun 01, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Everything you wanted to know about vaping, but didn’t know who to ask. How much do you know about the dangers of vaping? Did you know e-cigarettes contain toxins and carcinogens? That youth who vape are four times as likely to start smoking traditional cigarettes? That second-hand vape smoke can affect the health of bystanders? Our health and the health of those in our community is an essential part of sustainability. Looking to Our Future , the Pikes Peak region’s 2030 sustainability plan stat...
May 23, 2019•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 26
Did you know there are over 200 bikes in a 12 square mile area of central Colorado Springs available for you to borrow? Over a million calories have been burned by riders on PikeRide bicycles since bikesharing began in Colorado Springs ten months ago. Jolie Nesmith, Executive Director of PikeRide Bike Share, fills host Ellen Johnson-Fay in on how bikesharing works, the genesis of the bike share system in Colorado Springs, and the benefits of bikesharing. Get the full story and try PikeRide out o...
May 16, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Who Gives a Scrap is a donation based scrap store in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins that carries an impressive mix of arts, craft and hobby supplies in addition to unique vintage finds. At the April, 2019 Green Drinks , co-founders Jayne Blewitt and Lorrie Myers shared their story and how the store works. It’s an excellent resource for teachers, and it’s a beautiful alternative to tossing scraps and supplies you no longer need. Visit www.WhoGivesaScrapColorado.com for locations and informatio...
May 10, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 24
How do we get the sustainability message beyond the choir? Social media is an opportunity to tell your story, capture people’s attention, engage with supporters and build community. Skyler Leonard, digital communications specialist for the City of Colorado Springs, shares how to better engage the community about sustainability using social media. He highlights best practices and effective messaging to reach a wider audience, and to engage with other interested citizens in the community. Skyler L...
Apr 23, 2019•54 min•Season 1Ep. 23
“All mushrooms are edible – at least once,” quips environmental scientist and mushroom expert Mike Essam, president of the Pikes Peak Mycological Society. Mike shared the wonders of fungi in this very popular talk at the March 22 luncheon of the Pikes Peak Environmental Forum. The photographs Mike showed are a key part of the presentation, so it’s recommended you view the slides (see the links below) while listening. The mushroom is just the fruit of the mycelium fungus. Most of it is in the soi...
Apr 12, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 22
The chemicals used in firefighting foam, Teflon, stain-resistant carpet, outdoor sports apparel, and even the lining of your movie theater’s popcorn bags, are everywhere. Since they were first developed in the 1950s, they’ve become so widely used that traces of them have been found in the most remote regions of the globe, and in the blood of over 99% of the U.S. population. They’re correlated with several types of cancer, and are believed to disrupt hormone balance and be particularly harmful to...
Apr 05, 2019•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 21
