Making Tracks

I'll be driving from Cleveland to Columbus on March 3rd to attend the Passenger Rail Lobby Da y in our state's capital. If all goes well, my future trips will be spent reading or computing on a train instead of spewing carbon as I grip my steering wheel with eyes glued to Interstate 71.

I have never lobbyed for anything before, but the Lobby Day sponsored by the Sierra Club, Ohio Environmental Council and All Aboard Ohio is supposed to teach me how to effectively communicate the importance of passenger rail to my representatives .

The deadline to register is tomorrow, February 25th. Register for Rail Lobby Day

The Schedule is as follows:

8:45 am Arrive at Sierra Club Ohio Chapter Office (131 N. High St., Columbus 43215)

9:00 am Training and Educational Session

11:00 am Teams begin Ohio Senate visits

12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch available

1:00 pm Teams begin Ohio House of Representatives visits

3:30 pm Teams report back to Sierra Club staff

Light breakfast, lunch, and materials will be provided at no cost to you.

For more information about passenger rail initiatives in Ohio, check out All Aboard Ohio.

Makin' Babies

During last Monday’s discussion/action group, which we are now unofficially calling Transition Cleveland, we discussed chapters 7 and 8 of the Transition Handbook. This part of the book transcends the typical fear, doom and gloom predictions for post-peak oil society. The author asks us to create a positive vision for the community. 

As a group, I think we struggled with this; we seem to be more comfortable talking about transition-ing rather than what life might be like after the transition.

We also learned how to ferment tea to make Kombucha. Jeff and I were given a “baby” (a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria)  to start our own batch. Each batch of tea has a “mother” (a colony of yeast and bacteria) and produces a baby colony that can be given away. Kombucha has a refreshing taste and is said to contain probiotics. Kate says she has been drinking it everyday and has never felt better. 

I am interested in learning more about fermentation to increase the nutritional properties of preserved food. 

DIY Plumbing

Yesterday I  converted my bathroom sink into a simple greywater system. It didn't take too long to accomplish, but I should have had the foresight to wear rubber gloves. There was a bit of an ick factor with the trap.

The way this works: The greywater in the sink drains into the bucket. The water from the bucket is re-used to flush the toilet. This prevents the flushing of drinking quality water. I should have the added benefit of a less expensive water bill. 

What am I really saying?

I created a Lustfelt Wordle--surprising to see which words I use the most.  

The first Wordle is from just the first page of my blog and the second is from the past 6 months of posting.

Represent Descent

 

I just joined Transition US. This ning social networking site serves as a virtual hub for proponents of planned energy descent and independence from fossil fuels. It’d be nice to have a Cleveland contingent on the network. 

 

Ohio City Crematory Community Meeting

A community meeting about the Bodnar-Mahoney Funeral Homes' request for a zoning variance will take place on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 7:30 pm. The meeting will take place at 3500 Lorain Avenue which is the Green Building that houses the 5th/3rd Bank.

 

Board of Zoning Appeals Notice: 

Louis Bodnar Funeral home, owner, appeals to construct an addition to an existing funeral home and expand the use to include cremation services, located on a 50' X 106.5' corner lot in a Local Retail business District at 3929 Lorain Avenue; subject to the limitations of Section 343.01, the proposed expansion of use is first permitted in a General Industry District as an accessory use or incidental to a permitted use, and only on special permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals when such use is within 300 feet of a Residence District, according to Sections 345.04(b)(5) of the Codified Ordinances.

Previous Crematory Post

Cows: An Invasive Species

It never occurred to me that America's beef-eating culture is a holdover from feudal Europe. 

World Changing blogger Justus Stewart on eating American:

Because, really, it makes no cultural sense. There were no cows in America when Europeans landed here. The cattle we know today are here because we brought them here. We eat beef because the English ate beef. We have lawns because the English had lawns.  . . . beef and lawns were status symbols

Possible Ohio City Crematory

Ohio City's Bodnar Funeral Home applied for a zoning variance on December 22nd to build a crematory at 3929 Lorain Avenue. Ward 14 Councilman Joe Santiago is in support of the building addition and expansion of the funeral home’s on-site services. An Ohio City resident told me representatives spoke with only one block club prior to the zoning appeal which occurred three days before Christmas.

I live 9 blocks east and 2 blocks south of this facility, but that's not close enough that I had to legally be notified about the zoning appeal. The crematory would be located within feet of homes and within blocks of many schools: St. Ignatius, Urban Community School, Orchard Elementary and Paul L. Dunbar Elementary.

In addition to homes and schools, the Gather ‘Round Farm is right next door. According to several reports, crematoria release toxic chemicals into the neighborhoods in which they are located and several health professionals oppose locating them in residential areas. I can’t imagine they would recommend growing vegetables and eating eggs from within feet of those toxic emissions. See below for links to reports.

According to the Board of Zoning Appeal’s applicant guide, the board will take into account “whether the essential character of the neighborhood would be substantially altered or adjoining properties would suffer a substantial detriment as a result of the variance”. I think a crematory operating on a main street in one of Cleveland’s few thriving neighborhoods, could be detrimental to the essential character of the neighborhood.

I am not sure if the appeal was approved, but if it was, I believe the community has 30 days to protest an approved zoning variance. I will check into this and post an update.

According to the All Ohio Cremation and Burial Society which curiously shares the same Lorain Avenue address as the Bodnar Funeral Home:

. . . we do not currently own the crematory facility, we are in the process of planning and obtaining the necessary permits and authorizations for a bran new state of the art facility.

So, it seems as if they are sure enough of zoning approval that they have already started advertising their crematory.

As far as I can tell, most urban funeral homes outsource their cremations. Cremation Service Inc. is a crematory that operates in the Flats at 1612 Leonard Street in a mostly industrial area. Does anyone in the blogosphere know if this facility produces any odors?

Crematory Links

Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s chief medical health officer, says the provincial government should consider regulating emissions from crematoriums because of possible health risks.
Vancouver Sun

Crematoria may put babies at risk

Mercury Emissions from Crematoria

By coincidence, a positive application of crematoria emissions found its way into my news aggregator.