Saying Goodbye to January's Monthly Theme

January slipped past and I didn't get a chance to write about Gaviotas, a community of several hundred people living smack dab in one of the most dangerous places in the South America - eastern Columbia.

 I first heard about the village of Gaviotas about 7 or 8 years ago when I read this book. If you are interested in intentional communities or sustainability you definitely need to know about Gaviotas. Amazingly, after planting millions of pine trees in the surrounding area, an indigenous rainforest has begun to grow again! Here is an article with updates on what has been happening in the community over the last ten years.

Another community I wanted to write about is in West Virginia. I read this article in the wonderful magazine, Archaeology. I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of the Battle of Blair Mountain, although I think I'm not alone.

In 1921, over 15,000 coal-miners participated in largest civil insurrection  since the Civil War. Now the site of this battle is threatened by surface mining (mountaintop removal coal mining). Numerous organizations are working together to save Blair Mountain including the organization called i Love Mountains. If you have five minutes, you can learn more by watching the video below.