Sustainable Return is divided into four categories: Water, Air, Land, and Lifestyle.
It has a dual function of increasing awareness
and creating a format for student body at large to jointly volunteer
for environmental causes in the name of the school.
For those of you who don't know, water shortages will be one of our biggest concerns in the near future.
Quartet of Volunteers
In June 2009, alarmed after watching the movie FLOW, four staff members of the Tai Chi Center gathered around the fire (literally) for the first of a series of meetings on water, with the goal of forming a volunteer group. The focus and efforts of this group will become one even as our reasons for doing so are varied.
The Great Lakes are the largest body of fresh water on surface of the earth. We intend to joyfully and jointly volunteer our time and efforts protecting the health of the water in the Great Lakes, as we live, work and practice tai chi within the watershed of Lake Michigan.
We are looking to share the responsibilities of a single volunteer position with one of the local organizations charged with protecting the Great Lakes watershed.
Building a cistern may become a part of this project.
Rain barrel
In spring, 2007, The Tai Chi Center installed a rain barrel to capture the rainwater runoff from the roof to water our rooftop garden.
AIR
As Hsu Fun-Yuen would say, "One month breathing mountain air equals one year in the city, one day breathing mountain air equals one month in the city, one hour breathing mountain air equals one week in the city, and one minute of mountain air is not enough to live on."
350 Breaths
Oxygen is required for the biochemical reactions in the body that provide energy.
Without energy to power the brain and other organs the body dies.
In July of 2008, Elizabeth Wenscott and 6 student members filmed the first half of Tai Chi Chuan in collaboration with 350 whose mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis--to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.
7 people x 50 breaths each (first half of the Tai Chi form) = 350 breaths in total.
350 breaths = only 8 minutes!
350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide--measured in "Parts Per Million" in our atmosphere. 350 PPM--it's the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.
Currently we are at 390.18 Parts Per Million
Carbon Day
In 2009, Don Tomei, and Elizabeth Wenscott of the Tai Chi Center of Chicago was invited to participate in Chicago's Carbon Day Festival. The below film was created as a way to express the idea that the ancient art of Tai Chi and Qigong, as a form of exercise, have always had a low environmental impact.
LAND
The Bee Trail Project
In 2009, Elizabeth Wenscott and Lisa Hish from the Tai Chi Center of Chicago joined the growing movement of backyard beekeepers by keeping hives. The goal of the Bee Trail Project is to have as many interested households and gardens within the 3 mile radius from the hives make a changes that support the health of the honey bee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants
and that the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of this pollination.
On April 11, 2010, six members of the Tai Chi Center of Chicago joined Stuart Goldman, a naturalist from the Cook County Forest Preserve, Laurel Ross, a botanist from the Field Museum, and John Diversey, a steward of prairie land on the farm of Angelic Organics (Rockford IL.), in a controlled "burn."
Sustainable Gardening: The Greening of St. Ben's, a Sustainable Lifestyle.
Lectures covering:
Pollinators: Day pollinators: bees; night pollinators: bats
Colony Collapse Disorder: The negative effects of dryer sheet use
Dark Skies: Light pollution and its negative effect on bat populations, wildlife, plant life and human health
Soil nourishment: Biodynamic, organic nourishment of the soil (instead of fertilizer use)
Pesticides and genetically engineered plants: Trees providing our oxygen needs
Global Warming: Basics including the breaking apart of the Arctic shelf
Moss: A lawn alternative that holds both moisture and topsoil
Winter sidewalk management: Sand vs. salt
Three Trees Tai Chi
Coming soon. Until then here are some interesting facts about Trees
Bats (the night pollinators) & Chickens also coming soon.
LIFESTYLE
Community Supported Agriculture http://www.angelicorganics.com Community supported Illinois family farm, growning an astounding array of vegetables and herbs since 1990, farming in accordance with Biodynamic principles.
This Website
100% of our website host is powered by Certified Green Renewable Energy Sources.
HostPapa
has taken the initiative of going green by purchasing 100% green renewable energy to power our data center, web servers, office computers, laptops and office space. These energy sources supply HostPapa's entire equivalent energy consumption into the power-grid with certified 100% renewable green energy sources, such as wind and solar-powered energy.
WATER
Quartet of Volunteers
AIR
LAND
LIFESTYLE
