Be the Change: Weekly Community Update April 30, 2021

Simply Living’s Sustainable Living & Garden Tour Our Planning Team Needs Volunteers!

We did much of the work last year but COVID foiled our plans. We have seven locations and need volunteers to help us greet guests at each garden location. We meet and snack at an amazing sustainable home as we organize food/desserts at each home, music for ambience, promote the tour via online and print materials, and on the day of the event (TBD) pass our our literature and that of our sponsors. Assignments can be as little at 4 hours on the day of the Tour or attendance at several 2 hour gatherings to plan the details to make it a success!
Interested? Contact Chuck@simplyliving.org or call/text 614-354-6172.

Archetypal Astrology 101 with Chuck Lynd

Curious about astrology? Wondering how in the world it could be relevant today? Get answers and have some fun as we deconstruct the ancient archetypes of the Zodiac, with a nod to Carl Jung (who did a chart for each one of his patients). Bring your curiosity and your birth date and we’ll explore the symbolic language of the Zodiac. The $10 fee is donated to support the work of Simply Living.
Details and sign up here.

We want to hear from you!
As we renew, rebuild, and relaunch Simply Living, we want to know:
What sustainability initiatives are you working on?
What would you like to see Simply Living take on in Columbus?
How would you like to be involved?
**Please fill out our Simply Living survey to let us know: bit.ly/SLSurvey2021**

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SIMPLY LIVING’S BE THE CHANGE COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Friday, April 30th, 2021 from 2:00pm to 5:15pm We are setting up our trees at our tree nursery in Hilltop.
We will need volunteers to help with filling containers with mulch, planting trees in containers, and staking the pots.
COVID guidelines will be implemented so don’t forget to bring a mask!
***Every volunteer will get a Green Columbus t-shirt and a Green Columbus steel cup.*** **More here**

**Fri Apr 30th 2:00pm – 3:30pm** A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Morphic Resonance After 40 Years
In this talk, Dr. Sheldrake will summarize this hypothesis and discuss how developments in science over the last 40 years have made it more plausible. *Co-produced by the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Scientific and Medical Network* More **here**

THE ART OF JUSTICE
Fri Apr 30th – Sat May 1st

A multi-genre celebration of the arts within social justice movements MTSO will bring together visual and performing artists for a two-day event centered on the ways social justice is promoted through the arts. “The Art of Justice: A Multi-Genre Celebration of the Arts Within Social Justice Movements,” will take place virtually over two days: noon-4 p.m. April 30 and 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. May 1. This special event is cosponsored by two MTSO initiatives, the Theological Commons and the Anti-Racism Task Force. “The Art of Justice” will showcase music, poetry and visual arts through performances, workshops and scholar-led conversations. Performers include Bill Cohen, Paisha Thomas, Mark Lomax, David Butler, Barbara Fant, and Scott Woods. Free. Details and registration links here. Come for all or part of this 2 day event.

Another informative session with Jane Fonda interviewing the co-sponsor (with AOC) of the Green New Deal. Find out what else and if you miss the 2 pm live event you can still watch it. More **here**.

**HOME SOLAR SYSTEMS BASICS**
**Sat May 1st 11:00am – 12:30pm**
Presented online by Catherine Hope Cunningham and hosed by the Columbus Garden School.
More **here**.

**Sat May 1st 7:00pm – 9:30pm** ~ Java Central, 20 S. State St, Westerville OH 43081

Sun May 2nd 7:30pm – 8:30pm RACIAL HEALING GROUP DISCUSSION
Friends, a handful of us are processing racial healing as individuals, in communities and across society as a whole. In healing, we recognize our common humanity, acknowledge the truth of past wrongs and build the authentic relationships capable of transforming communities and shifting our national discourse. More **here**

Our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion. ~ Bryan Stevenson

A coalition of public interest, environmental and economic justice organizations will convene its second hearing to shine a light on Duke’s policies and practices that resist clean energy solutions and rely heavily on fossil fuels, which stand squarely in the way of addressing the climate emergency. More **here**

**CONSCIOUS AGING ONLINE WORKSHOP**
May 6 to June 10, 2021 Thursdays (for six weeks)
Explore Ways to Expand Your Perspective on Aging
**Details and registration here.**

**Fri May 7th 6:00pm – 7:30pm Foraging with Alexis Nikole Nelson**
Meet the Columbus-based foraging enthusiast and social media star Alexis Nikole Nelson in this virtual cooking class! Alexis has gained social media fame (@alexisnikole on TikTok and @blackforager on Instagram) for her fun and informative videos showcasing plants that many people might not realize are edible. Details and registration link **here**.

The events listed above are a fraction of those listed just this week. There are many more!
Browse now. Select the Monthly View to find events quickly.

**“ECDI’s impact on the Ohio economy comfortably exceeds $1 billion annually, stemming from locally-owned, locally serving businesses.”**
Overall Economic Impact Study of ECDI’s Lending to Ohio Entrepreneurs by Bill Lafayette, Ph.D.

“There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is
a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”
~ Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage

NEWS + RESOURCES
FOR LIVING LOCAL

Are there alleys in your neighborhood? Be inspired the work of Green Bexley! Get all the details **here**.

This program is about collaboration, sustainability, creativity and beauty. It is transforming our underutilized alleys into extended living space for everyone to enjoy, while creating our own Homegrown National Park in Bexley with native plants that support our pollinators and biodiversity.

Participants have the month of May to work on their alleys: planting native plants and rain gardens, adding benches, and installing temporary and permanent artwork in gardens, on fences, and on garages. You could even celebrate your new space you’ve created with neighbors by naming and hanging an alley name sign. This is a chance to collaborate with friends and neighbors to make your alleys greener and more beautiful! There will even be some garden installation teams to assist in creating this vision.

**Sunday May 23 ~ LOVE YOUR ALLEY**
The program will culminate with an Art in the Alley Walk, where everyone is invited to peruse the alley upgrades! More hhttps://bexley.org/loveyouralley

Protect the environment – and your health – by trading in your old, polluting gas-powered mower for a new battery-powered machine! Columbus GreenSpot teamed up with Columbus Public Health and Lowe’s to offer a deep discount on electric mowers. Pay only $159 for a Kobalt 20-inch battery powered mower. This is more than $100 in savings! You must register to be eligible. The first 55 people who register online are eligible to exchange a working gas mower for the new battery-powered Kobalt mower at a cost of only $159 (plus tax) on May 15 only. Exchanged mowers will be collected and recycled by Ace Iron & Metal free of charge. Register today!

GreenSpot Community Backyards

It’s that time of year again! Dust off the garden spade and shovel, and figure out what downspout to connect a rain barrel to. GreenSpot Community Backyards can help. You can be eligible for a $50 rebate on a rain barrel, compost bin, or native trees. There are also up to $25 rebates on native flowers.
Simply take an online quiz or virtual course to get the rebate. GreenSpot member Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District implements this aspect of GreenSpot for the city. Opens May 1, 2021! Check it out.

Shepherd’s Corner is offering a Labyrinth Walk May 7 and a Felt making workshop June 7.
See more **here**.

Simply Living signs letter on Yenkin-Majestic Paint factory explosion

**How To Keep the Earth Day Momentum Going**
No matter how you celebrated Earth Day — from picking up litter to watching the climate summit online — it’s vital to keep the momentum going. We’ve assembled a list of easy changes you can make to your daily routine to reduce your environmental impact and live more sustainably.
more…

**Recycling Mystery: Can You Recycle Underwear?**
What can we do with underwear we no longer want to wear? Is it possible to donate it? Can we recycle it? Let’s explore the options.
more…

**No-Fuss Repurposing Hacks Using Everyday Discards**
All kinds of things we might normally throw away can be upcycled to serve a new purpose. Check out these delightfully simple repurposing hacks.
more…

Join us in June for our virtual Foundations of Compassionate Nonviolent Communication Training
This four-week, online foundations training is perfect for people new to Compassionate Nonviolent Communication (NVC) or refreshing their practice with the basics.
Plan to meet from 3-5pm every Sunday starting on June 6.

Simply Living Membership with **Solar Training Discount** **Details and Registration here**

Want solar training? Get a discount!
We are super excited to announce a new partnership to provide a $50 discount for Simply Living members who sign up for online solar classes offered by Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station.

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme – but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being. Watch it free **here**

THE FOOD SYSTEM: ILLUSTRATED
**Chemical Farming & The Loss of Human Health**
**Watch the podcast free here.**

**Watch this short 4+ minute animated video from the Story of Stuff Project.** Much of the conversation about plastic pollution focuses on plastic in the environment – but that’s just part of the story. Watch and share! Simply Living will be sharing more news next week about a campaign to tell grocers it is time to find alternatives to single use plrastics!

Our next virtual “Chop with a Doc” is on Wednesday, May 12 at 5:30pm! Dr. Kelsey Sicker will lead us in learning how to cook for the most common food allergies. Sign up today!

**Tom and Jocelyn offer eco-conscious and award winning service in Clintonville.**

“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” — Carl Sagan

The Public Banking Institute just launched the
**FRIENDS OF PUBLIC BANKING WEBSITE**
https://friendsofpublicbanking.org/
As the public banking movement continues to surge forward, everyone can now learn about banking in the public interest and declare your support for the creation of public banks. Check it out **now**

The Columbus Free Press Network includes two awesome community radio stations! WGRN.org 94.1 and WCRSFM.org 92.7 / 98.3
Listen on your radio or online anytime!

CALENDARS!
LIVE LOCAL, BUILD COMMUNITY #SIMPLYLIVING

Columbus on the Cheap Good, Cheap, Fun

In This Issue…

COLUMBUS UNDERGROUND
Mega Weekend
Derby, Urban Living Tour, Markets & More!

*Jorell Williams as Don Giovanni. Photo by Dahlia Katz Photography*

Friday is National Bubble Tea Day! We’ll see you on the Urban Living Tour on Sunday, weather is looking great! Shop our Mother’s Day Gift Guide. Have a great weekend..

Food & Music

Shop a Pearl Market Mini-Market on Friday at Slammers.
Dublin Farmers Market opens at Bridge Park.
Saturday is Herb Day. Land Grant starts music in the beer garden.

Shopping and Fun

Friday is the last day to enter Roaming Goat Coffee‘s contest.
Scioto Downs has a Kentucky Derby Party. Or win a prize for best hat at Julep’s party. Shop the Southside Morning Market on Saturday.
Merion Village is having their neighborhood yard sale.
Craftin’ Outlaws has popup markets at the Columbus Museum of Art.
Shop the Powell Street Market.

ENJOY EXPLORING ART

Tune in to CATCO’s musical: Working. Explore the art of justice.
It’s International Jazz Day at Valley Dale on Friday.
Opera Columbus presents Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni in a whole new way! The Columbus Symphony has a few more concerts for the season.
Go on a Virtual Gallery Hop.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO
THIS WEEDKEND?

Explore some of the fashions you will see at CCAD’s upcoming Fashion Show. The AIDS Walk begins.
Celebrate Arbor Day. Go on a Critical Mass Bike Ride.
Get your papers shredded. Prologue has a sidewalk sale.
North Market has yoga on Sundays. Listen in on another book reading.
Go on the Urban Living Tour!
Day of tickets will be sold at The View on Grant.

**GET ACTIVE!** Items below are selected from the **Columbus Peace Newsletter**
edited by **Connie Hammond** (pictured above).
Email cmhammond11@att.net to subscribe to her Community Calendar or share meeting info.

Friday, April 30, and May 7, 2021, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Immigration Policy in the Biden Administration: The First 100 Days and Beyond. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden repeatedly signaled his interest in adopting an immigration policy very different from that of the prior administration. After winning the election, several leaders from the immigrants’ rights movement joined the new administration, suggesting that fundamental change was imminent. As we approach one hundred days into this new era, it has become clear that the Biden Administration will reset U.S. immigration policies. But reset to what? This conference will bring together important stakeholders to address three central questions: First, what should federal immigration policy look like, both in the Biden Administration and beyond? Second, have the first 100 days put the country on a path toward achieving those goals, or is the reality mixed? Third, what should immigrants’ rights advocates do to achieve the world they want, in terms of both substantive demands and tactics to achieve them? Topics: April 30: Movement Lawyering; The Department of Homeland Security; and Asylum. May 7: Inside vs. Outside Strategies; Congress vs. the Executive Branch. UCLA School of Law. More information and registration here.

Friday, April 30, 2021, 5:00 – 5:30 PM. GrassRoot Ohio With Carolyn Harding. Our mission is to profile every-day people working on important issues and to connect them with other folks who want to help. Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio Justice: environmental, social, racial, economic, w/ folks on the front lines. LISTEN TO 94.1 FM and stream US online at WGRN.com. You can find all GrassRoot Ohio podcasts/shows on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ.

Sunday, May 2, 2021, 2:00 PM. GrassRoot Ohio With Carolyn Harding. Our mission is to profile every-day people working on important issues and to connect them with other folks who want to help. Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Justice: environmental, social, racial, economic, w/ folks on the front lines. LISTEN TO 94.1 FM and stream US online at WGRN.com. You can find all GrassRoot Ohio podcasts/shows on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 10:30 AM. Nonviolence International Book Launch. NVI will host an interactive webinar with author Michael Beer. Jamila Raqib, Executive Director of the Albert Einstein Institution founded by Gene Sharp, will be our guest speaker. Michael Beer’s book is an update to Sharp’s 1973 classic where he documented 198 methods of nonviolent action. Please save the date, spread the word, and join us. More information coming soon. Here is a link to get your free online copy or order the paperback book here.

Thursday, May 5, 2021, 5:00 PM. ACLU Webinar: What’s Up With the Courts? Litigation Roundup. Join us for an upcoming webinar and hear from the fierce legal team at the ACLU of Ohio about our current legal docket and how our attorneys fight for civil rights and liberties inside and outside the courtroom. Register for the zoo link here.

Friday, April 30, 2021, 12:00 PM. PROAct Caravan. Central Ohio Labor Council’s caravan will circle the State Capitol and drive by Senator Portman’s office. Meet in the parking lot next to IAFF local 67 Union Hall (Columbus Fire Fighters Union), 379 W. Broad St., Columbus.

Saturday, May 1, 2021, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Postcard Writing Event. Join Central Ohio Labor Council in sending the message to Senator Portman to support the PRO Act! Location: Central Oho Labor Council, 4150 E. Main St., Whitehall, 43123.

Saturday, May 1, 2021, 2021, 6:00 PM. May Day Virtual Concert Honoring Essential Farmworkers. Just in case you were not yet sure how to spend May Day this year, here are three more reasons to join farmworkers and the Fair Food Nation for the 2021 May 1st concert: Amy Schumer. Mare Advertencia Lirika. Los Altepee. Earlier this month, we were thrilled to announce that singer, songwriter, and political activist Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine fame) and hip-hop artist and social justice scholar Olmeca would be joining the CIW live on Facebook from 6pm-8pm on May 1st for a Virtual May Day Concert to honor the extraordinary efforts of the country’s farmworkers, who have braved unimaginable risks by continuing to work during the COVID-19 pandemic so that the rest of us can eat. But we are not going to stop at thanking farmworkers: In true Fair Food style, we will also demand that Wendy’s, the final fast food holdout, ensure real and meaningful protections for farmworkers in their supply chain by joining the Fair Food Program. And today, we’re excited to add even more fantastic artists to the growing roster of performers and speakers for the May 1st concert: Comedian and actor Amy Schumer; Mare Advertencia Lirika, one of the first Zapoteca hip hop artists out of Oaxaca; and Los Altepee, a Son Jarocho group that has long accompanied the CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food. On Facebook Live. More information on Facebook.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 12:00 PM. Conversations with the Nation. Keep Transgender Youth Safe. During the past year, more than 100 state bills were introduced around the country targeting trans people’s ability to update identification documents to accurately reflect their gender, play sports in school, and access critical health care. Join an urgent conversation with activists and writers Chase Strangio and Raquel Willis on how to support the organizers and organizations on the front lines of this fight and resist this wave of legislative repression. The politicians pushing this anti-trans legislation are preying on the ignorance of the general public, wrote Strangio and Willis in a recent Nation article. They show how to counter the uninformed intolerance and build momentum to fight the systemic attacks that are continuing and, unfortunately, escalating nationwide. Hosted by Katrina vanden Heuvel, the conversation will have ample time devoted to audience questions. Tickets are $10. All proceeds directly support The Nation’s journalism. We hope you will join us! There will be ample time devoted to audience questions and conversation. Register here.

MORE LOCAL CALENDARS
Columbus Free Press Activists Calendar Editor Bob Roehm
WCBE Arts & Life Calendar

READ OUR BE THE CHANGE COMMUNITY CALENDAR

The hierarchical, top-down power structures
that ruled the world for thousands of years
are collapsing before our eyes. ~ Kalle Lasn

Be the Change: Join Simply Living Individual membership rates have been reduced to $25 annually. Seniors, $20. Students only $10. Business memberships starting at $100 now include membership in the Ohio Sustainable Business Council.

Sign up online here or email HELLO@simplyliving.org