newsbriefs


Bill McKibben to Present Free Talk: “Celebrating and Preserving Winter”


E Bill McKibben and Paul T.


dina-based Cool Planet is bring- ing Bill McKibben, environmental


activist, author and founder of 350. org, back to Minnesota to present a free lecture entitled “Celebrating and


is 392 and rising. McKibben’s landmark Rolling Stone article, “Global Warming’s Ter- rifying New Math,” was published in June 2012 and has become one of the most-read articles in the history of the magazine.


McKibben is visiting Minnesota as part of a cross-country ski trip. He will ski in


the 40th American Birkebeiner Cross Country Ski Marathon, North America’s largest ski event, on February 23. A seasoned classic cross-country skier, McKibben will be skiing 54 KM—from Telemark Lodge, in Cable, Wisconsin, to Hayward, Wisconsin—along with 10,000 skiers from all over the world. McKibben has pointed out that Minnesota and Wisconsin are the third and fourth fastest-warming states in the U.S., respectively, mostly due to lack of snow cover during the winter. During his visit, he will discuss ways that citizens can help to slow global warming.


Cost: Free. Locations: (February 20) Anderson Student Center, Woulfe Hall, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul; (February 21) Weyerhauser Chapel, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul. For more information, CoolPlanetMN.org, and MN350.org.


Fix-It Clinic Comes to Brookdale Library on February 9


T


he Hennepin County Fix-It Clinic will be held at the Brookdale


Library, in Brooklyn Center, from noon to 3 p.m. on February 9. At Fix-It Clinics, which are growing in popularity worldwide, residents bring in such items as small household appli- ances, clothing, electronics and mobile devices in need of fixing. They receive free guided assistance from a volunteer with repair skills to disassemble, trouble- shoot and fix their items. Fix-It Clinics reduce the amount of material that gets thrown in the trash, teach valuable troubleshooting and basic repair skills,


Preserving Winter” in St. Paul. McKibben will speak from 7 to 9 p.m. on February 20 at the University of St. Thomas and from noon to 2:30 p.m. on February 21 at Macalester College. A longtime environmental activist, McKibben completed his “Do the Math” tour at the end of 2012, during which he visited 21 cities, including the Twin Cities. “Do The Math” refers to the simple reality of the climate crisis. The fossil fuel industry currently has 2,795 gigatons of carbon in its reserves, five times more than the maximum 565 gi- gatons the world can emit and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, a goal agreed to by nearly every nation on Earth, including the United States. Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2


in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. Currently, that number T


Learn About Herbs and Women’s Health


he second annual Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, the largest in the


Midwest and the only herbal conference in this region that focuses on women’s health, will be held June 7, 8 and 9, in Mukwonago, Wisconsin (near Milwau- kee). The event features a kids’ camp and teen track, in addition to more than 40 workshops for women, preconference intensives, movie screenings, evening entertainment and 14 plant walks. Featured speakers include herbalists and authors such as Aviva Romm, M.D., who combines her skills as a physician, midwife and herbalist to offer compre- hensive, insightful clinical care, educa- tion, writing and consulting on general health, pregnancy and birth, women’s health, women’s and pediatric botanical medicine, health and ecology, and natural living.


Susun Weed, herbalist, author and


director of the Wise Woman Center, near Woodstock, New York, is known for her writing and teaching of what she describes as the “Wise Woman Way” of herbalism.


Location: The Beber Camp (two hours from Chicago). For more information and to register (early bird discount), call 920- 452-4372 or visit MidwestWomensHerbal. com.


and build community connections. Volunteer fixers are needed. Vol- unteers should have skills in soldering, electronics and electrical repair, com- puter repair, sewing and general tinker- ing, and have a strong desire to teach and empower people. Visitors are helped on a first-come-


first-served basis, and they also should bring any tools and supplies that might be helpful.


Cost: Free. Location: 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy., Brooklyn Center. For more infor- mation, visit Hennepin.us/FixItClinic.


natural awakenings February 2013 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32