Earth Fest Phillips Exeter Academy

Phillips Exeter Academy Earth Fest October 11 2008. It was a beautiful fall day, sunny and warm. The event was held outside behind the library. There were tables set up for all sorts of green products, and sustainable living information.  Students visited my booth to make mini healing blankets, and learn about Mountain Top Removal coal mining.  So many students were involved making blankets at the same time that  the tables were full, and we made them in the soft green grass too.

New England Environmental Education Alliance Conference

October 4-6 2008 I was invited to make healing blankets with the teachers attending the NEEEA Conference at Sargent Camp in Peterboro, New Hampshire. Friday night I gave a presentation about Mountain Top Removal coal mining. The power point I used is filled with images I took on a trip to West Virginia. It shows the various stages step by step of how the coal companies destroy a mountain to extract the coal.  Afterwards we made mini healing blankets. The theme of the weekend was building  communities. The next day folks who made blankets Friday night made a blanket with someone who wasn't there. This helped bring people together at the conference, growing our community. On Sunday we joined the mini blankets together with raffia to created a large blanket. I use the blankets to tell the stories of  people whose lives have been impacted by MTR. The blankets act as a bridge bringing our communities together when they are sent to a person, or family to install into a landscape that needs to be healed. 

Air Your Dirty Laundry

This installation and performance by GAL (Green Artist League) invites participants to write their "ec0-confession" on used clothing, and hang it on the laundry line. As people read the confessions they recognize their own short falls. Through laughter and conversation many solutions are shared. "Air your dirty Laundry" helps people to face their own habits of waste and consumption, and empowers them to make positive changes.

University of New Hampshire Solar Fest 2008

April 26, 2008 University of New Hampshire Solar Fest. It was a cold blustery day, but that didn't keep the enthusiastic crowd away. My tent was set up with posters and hand outs about Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining for folks to learn about this devastating form of mining. We listened to live music as we ,made a healing blanket for Ed Wiley who has been working to raise awareness about the plight of the students attending Marshfork Elementary School in West Virginia. This school is located 200 feet away from a giant coal silo and impoundment pond with billions of gallons of coal slurry. If the damn breaks the students have 2 minutes to escape a wall of slurry moving at 50 miles per hour! This photo shows students laying down the wool fleece to create the tree on top of a sunset sky back ground. The blanket was sent to Ed to lay on the damaged earth of a mined area to help regenerate it.

Earth Day 2008 First Parish Church Newbury, Massachusettes

We made mini healing blankets. This project is suited for younger children, and shorter class time.  The mini blankets were sent to Marshfork Elementary School in West Virginia. The school is next to a coal silo and coal prep plant, both of which threaten children with chemicals and coal dust. The school is just 400 yards downslope from a 2.8 billion gallon coal sludge dam and impoundment. If the impoundment were breached, there would be less than three minutes to evacuate the school.  Up above all that is Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mine, with the associated blasting and dust.