Earthworms

You say you've got squirrels in your attic. Garry Guinn says you've got a hole in your house, and works with you to secure a fix that benefits both the critters and you. Garry's business, Humane Wildlife Solutions LLC runs on eco-logic with super Green cred: this St. Louis enterprise endorsed by all the wildlife agencies in town! His practices like "exclusion and eviction" apply his deep understanding of animal behavior, including the animals (us) who call him to deal with their "pests." Note that "extermination" does not need to be on this action list, for a company that gives a multi-month guarantee of problem-solving success! Meet Garry Guinn and Humane Wildlife Solutions LLC at the Green Living Festival - Saturday June 1 - Missouri Botanical Garden. Music: Big Piney Blues, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms podcast engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Nancy Lawson, the Humane Gardener (Feb 2019) Bears! (July 2018) Bug Off! Mosquito Control Need-to-Know (June 2017) Camera Traps: Tools for Conservation (Aug 2016)

A power plant burns coal to produce electricity. As with any other combustion, ash remains. This ash is typically stored in "ponds" near the plant. What do ponds do? The fill up, they overflow, they leak into groundwater. With coal ash in this flow, toxics like Arsenic, Lead, Molybdenum, Mercury and more get into our water supplies. LEO, the Labadie Environmental Organization, has been tracking and acting on Missouri coal ash issues for more than 11 years. LEO organizers Patricia Schuba and Janet Dittrich bring to this Earthworms edition research, observations and an urgent request to YOU to weigh in as MO-Dept of Natural Resources develops a plan to present to US EPA. Groups like LEO across the country are working to hold power plants responsible for cleaning up coal ash ponds, and managing coal combustion waste responsibly. In Missouri, a public comment period through March 28 gives citizens the chance to comment on MO-Dept of Natural Resources proposal to regulate coal ash. You can sign a LEO petition through March 21. Check out related coverage by Eli Chen of St. Louis Public Radio. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Green-savvy enineer Music: Stomp Hat, performed live at KDHX by Matt Flinner Related Earthworms Conversations: Value of Water Coalition (Oct 2015)

A lot of enviro-info dis-credits our human species for the impacts of our "footprints" on Earth's systems, and on beings other than ourselves. Scientist and public health advocate Greg Norris was inspired, while working with Life Cycle Analyses, to look up from Footprints and focus on the human part that can collaborate, create and restore. "Handprinting" has become a vehicle to encourage and measure our capacity to be a benefit on Earth. Beneficial actions - and the ripples of influence they create - can now be measured through a key piece of Norris' work-in-progress, the app Handprinter.org. This tool and idea aim to ensure that Earth is better off because of human beings, than without us. Gregory Norris will presents "Handprints and Footprints" in St. Louis on Tuesday evening, March 12 for the U.S. Green Building Council-Missouri Gateway Chapter THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms net-positive impact engineer Music: Trambone, performed at KDHX by Brian Curran Related Earthworms Conversations: Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Dr. Daniel Wildcat (October 2018) The Patterning Instinct in Human Nature with Jeremy Lent (June 2017)

You too can BEE one! Or Taconite Fly or Opossum or Golden Ragwort one, gardening on an eco-logical team with critters and plants you've overlooked, or maybe even maligned. Nancy Lawson invites us to understand more of the habits and roles of species around us, to bust the dualistic myth of Pest vs Beneficial. Her book The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife is a long love note to relationships we can all enjoy. Such as with Tachinid Flies. Coming to St. Louis Friday March 8: Nurturing Backyard Habitat, a talk-and-mingle with Nancy Lawson and local native plant professionals, 5-8 p.m. at Powder Valley Nature Center. Click here to learn more and register. Thanks to STL Audubon, Greenscape Gardens, Missouri Department of Conservation and Grow Native! for bringing Nancy Lawson to us. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer and listening buddy. Music: Divertimento k131, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Kevin MacLeod Related Earthworms Conversations: Relatives, Responsibility, Mindfulness with Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Oct 2018) Bears! (July 2018) The Owl Man of Forest Park (July 2015)

In 2015, Pope Francis message about Climate Change called on people of faith world-wide - not only Roman Catholics - to take action to protect Earth's resources. A St. Louis consortium of Catholic parents, students and leaders is calling this community to convene, learn, strategize and respond. This edition of Earthworms talks about why, and how, this response is growing. Sacred Earth: Our Call to Action Conference, Saturday March 9 9 am - 2:30 pm, hosted by Nerinx Hall High School. Guests Jamie Hasemeier of Holy Redeemer Parish, Mark Etling from St. Nicholas Parish, and Maggie Hannick of St. Joseph's Academy are conveners, with other partners, of this conference. Music: For Michael, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms so-green engineer, on loan from Sierra Club Related Earthworms Conversations: Drawdown: Solutions to REVERSE Global Warming (March 2018) Brian Ettling: Climate Change Advocacy Marches On (Oct 2018) On Care of Our Common Home: Exploring Pope Francis' Message (Jan 2016) Zero Waste Fish Fry: Holy Redeemer Parish is Hooked on Green (Feb 2018)

So you know the "Three Rs," right? Recycle is the famous one, but #1 in this trio (REDUCE) deserves more creative attention and - use! In a recent blog post, recycling professional Kelley Dennings considered why the recycling community may be ditching out on waste reduction. Dennings serves as Advisor to NewDream.org, one of Earthworms' favorite educational orgs. When Dennigs added a degree in Public Health to her credentials and influence potential, she framed the sort of off-putting Reduce idea of in the human-centered focus of Prevention. Could this be a way to get our species to explore more New Dream's territory? Their motto: More Fun - Less Stuff! Resources that come up in this Earthworms conversation include New Dream's So Kind Alternative Gift Registry, an E-Z online way to request and give day-of-event help, shared experiences, homemade and secondhand gifts - and more. Plus references to Zero Waste, Scrap Exchange, Product Stewardship Institute and other Reduce-Reuse activity in the Waste Space. Music: Cadillac Desert, performed live at KDHX by William Tyler THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms so-Green engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Zero Waste Fish Fry Hooks Holy Redeemer in STL (Feb 2018) Life Without Plastic? (Jan 2018) TerraCycle's Rockin' Founder Tom Szaky (Sept 2015)

Getting modern humans out of our house-car-school-work boxes is no small feat. But whenever that may occur, our tall, spreading, leafy neighbors have what it takes to help our kind be more of our best selves. Potentials are TREE-mendous! Writer Andrea Sarubbi Fareshteh enjoys "Forest Bathing" and researching good stories, facts and quotes. She has composed a gorgeous new book In The Company of Trees - Honoring Our Connection to the Sacred Power, Beauty and Wisdom of Trees (Adams/Simon and Schuster, Jan. 15 2019). Each tree tale is illustrated with a color photograph, print or woodcut - in a work of art published in accord with Sustainable Forestry Initiative guidelines. Earthworms is proud to host the first interview for this book! If you are hearing this podcast in St. Louis before February 12, mark that date to learn about Calculating Tree Benefits in a free program at Missouri Botanical Garden in the BiodiverseCity STL Wild Ideas Worth Sharing Speaker Series. Tree Data is MOTIVATING! THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms True-Green Engineer Music: Bitter Root, performed live at KDHX by Matt Flinner Related Earthworms Conversations: Urban Forests: Seeing the Benefits from Trees - Oct 2016 PawPaw: Reviving America's Forgotten Fruit (Tree) - Sept 2015

Renegotiated by Congress every 5-7 years The Farm Bill impacts food production, nutrition assistance, habitat conservation, international trade, and much more. But try digging into its 1,000+ pages! Christina Badaracco, a registered dietician, dug deep into this topic for her new book (with researcher and author Daniel Imhoff) The Farm Bill: A Citizen's Guide (Island Press, Jan 2019). She brings perspective from this accessible, graphics-rich book to this Earthworms conversation. With a new farm bill just signed into law, we all need to understand the implications of food policy. What's the impact of crop insurance? How does SNAP actually work? What would it take to create a healthier, more sustainable food system? Eaters, taxpayers, sustainable food system advocates: listen up! Music: Who Gives, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran Thanks to Andy Heaslet, warmly welcomed back this week as Earthworms' engineer. Related Earthworms Conversations: Urban Agriculture Guide: a New Tool for City Farmers (June 2016) Citizenship: Responsibility is our Civic Ability to Respond (Nov 2018) People's Pocket Guide to Environmental Action with Caitlin Zera (July 2017)

Kirsten Lie-Nielsen lives her dream of self-sufficiency in rural Maine - and shares the experience in her new book, So You Want to be a Modern Homesteader? (New Society, 2018). From finding the home place to prioritizing work and funds to enjoying the community flow when neighbors drop in, Kirsten covers options with practicality and a smile in her voice. Her goats are never far from the phone! Check out Kirsten's blog at hostilevalleyliving.com. Music: Cuttin' at the Point, performed live at KDHX by The Freight Hoppers. Special THANKS tonight to Anna Holland, Earthworms audio engineer for the past year+. We say farewell with this edition, Anna, appreciating the media professional you already are, and wishing you the BEST in your next round of College work. It was especially fun to have your perspectives on Citizenship on the show we produced right after the 2018 Election. Related Earthworms Conversations: Green Finned Hippy Farm: Purpose, Passion, Perspective, Hogs (Aug 2018) Keeping Geese with Kirsten Lie-Nielsen (Nov 2017) Crystal Moore Stevens: Grow, Create, Inspire (Oct 2016)

In their super-service quarter-century, Forest ReLEAF of Missouri has moved over 200,000 native species trees from seedlings to nursery transplants to solid ground in communities around the Show-Me-State. ReLEAF works with Seniors to Young Friends to community folks. This intrepid non-profit trains and supports volunteer powered efforts to grow, track and maintain healthy Urban Forests. Community Forester Tom Ebeling talks with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi (some of her best friends are Trees) about this work, in a conversation celebrating ReLEAF's 25th anniversary and the many benefits of urban trees. If this interview inspires you to check out ReLEAF volunteer opportunities, don't resist! The work will grow on you. THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms Engineer Music: Magic 9 performed live at KDHX by Infamous Stringdusters Related Earthworms Conversations: Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape with Jill Jonnes (October 2016)

Want to eat your home landscape? Want to work with Nature in some of the most efficient, effective and - Yes, EASIEST ways? Farmer and Permaculture practitioner Matt Lebon will set up your place to grow a feast for you - and for your bug-bird-nature neighbors. Matt recently parlayed his five years of deep experience as manager of our town's EarthDance Organic Farm (home of the Farmer Training School) into his innovative enterprise Custom Foodscaping. He can design and plant a custom edible landscaping package for home or business customers, or work with you hands-on to help develop your own Herb Garden, Food Forest or profitable Vegetable Farm. Matt's enthusiastic skills can produce Edible Schoolyards to Chef's Gardens to Taste-Full Home Gardens. As he says, "Have your landscape and eat it too!" Photos of Foodscape at VICIA Restaurant, Permaculture Orchard at Principia College, Chicken Food Forest at a private home. Learning Opportunity: 2-Day Foodscaping Course - Feb 16-17 2019 THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms audio engineer. Related Earthworms Conversations: St. Louis Food Policy Coalition Grows Health & Environmental Resources (Dec 2015) Farming on a Downtown Roof: Urban Harvest STL (June 2015) Permaculturist Tao Orion Goes Beyond the War on Invasive Species (March 2016) Urban Flower Farming with Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack (Feb 2015)

Social philosopher and mathematician Charles Eisenstein takes on the issue of our time, in terms that may give humankind another way to get our minds, hearts and action around Climate Change. Drawing from Eisenstein's new book Climate, A New Story, this conversation with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi offers perspective, options and much-needed hope for our species capacity to course-correct relative to the systems that support life on Earth, including us. Music: Abdiel, performed live at KDHX by Dave Black. THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms audio engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Drawdown: Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (March 2018) Carl Pope: Creating A Climate of Hope (April 2018) Joan Lipkin: Theater Takes on Climate Change (October 2017)

What does "Citizenship" mean - and how can we revive, revitalize and re-energize it in society today? Earthworms host Jean Ponzi explores Citizenship ideas and options with guests David Wilson - longtime regional sustainability professional who has led Citizenship Education Clearinghouse, MO Coalition for the Environment, and the OneSTL Regional Sustainability Plan process for East-West Gateway Council of Governments - and Anna Holland - student at Lewis & Clark College, volunteer for the 2018 Illinois Congressional campaign of Betsy Londrigan - and Earthworms audio engineer! Citizens - Listen Up! Thank you! Music: Balkan Twirl, performed at KDHX by Sandy Weltman and Carolbeth Trio

Missouri Coalition for the Environment's Ed Smith, Policy Director, and Water Policy Coordinator Maisah Khan present a report on current energy, water and pollution-related issues from the St. Louis Region. This update covers potential EPA Superfund resolutions to the radioactive-material contaminated West Lake Landfill, clean-up proposals for lead contamination in the Big River, and more fine work from MCE. As MCE approaches their milestone 50-year anniversary of service in 2019, Ed and Maisah and the MCE staff, interns, board and allies continue hard at work protecting Missouri's water and air quality, open space and food access. This is exemplary work - worth hearing! Music: Hunter's Permit, performed live at KDHX by Mister Sun THANKS to Jon Valley, engineering this week's Earthworms

Daniel Wildcat, Ph.D., proffers Traditional Ecological Knowledges as antidote (literally) to destruction. His scholarship and teaching at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, is rooted in the relationships of Indigenous knowledge, technology, environment and education - elements related to each other, and to us. What can each of us learn from an Indigenous cultural and ecological perspective? And how can we apply ourselves as individual antidotes to destruction along this kind of path? Dan Wildcat directs the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center, and is a founder of the Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Working Group. Dr. Wildcat comes to St. Louis on November 8 as guest of the Harris World Ecology Center, and one of three speakers about Traditional Ecological Knowledge. This event is free, but registration is required. Music: Cadillac Desert, performed live at KDHX by William Tyler THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms diligent engineer. Related Earthworms Conversations: Plants, Indigenous People and Climate Change with Ethnobotanist Dr. Jan Salick (December 2015) The Patterning Instinct in Human Nature (June 2017)

Our minds and bodies are powerful healers, and strong in maintaining well-being for each of us, overall. But do we use these inner tools? The profession of Therapeutic Horticulture brings together plants and people, to explore and promote well-being in both profound and simple ways. Jeanne Carbone and her colleagues on the TH team at Missouri Botanical Garden offer a new program to help us explore and strengthen well-being, in partnership with Nature. The setting for this exploration is Seiwa En, the Japanese Garden of Pure, Clear Harmony and Peace, at Missouri Botanical Garden in the City of St. Louis. Pathways and reflection points provide many opportunities to cultivate personal well-being. This new program, Journey to Well-Being, includes three guided visits to Seiwa-En and prompts to experience and reflect on your own, in a series of weekly walks. Self-guiding options make this journey as convenient as it is powerful, especially in relation to a jewel of nature in the St. Louis region. Registration is open for the winter session, with additional sessions coming in 2019. Music: Bitter Root, performed live at KDHX by Matt Flinner THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Grow, Create, Inspire with Crystal Stevens (December 2016)

What's possible when we humans talk to each other? Brian Ettling believes a talk can turn the tide of harmful changes to Earth's climate. He's been acting on this conviction since 2012, when he joined the Climate Leaders Network, and became an active force in the Citizens' Climate Lobby. Brian returns to Earthworms with an update on his interactions with legislators and fellow citizens - and an emphasis on key solutions each of us has the power to achieve: Communicate with elected leaders about climate issues Get involved with a group to "make your voice louder" Invest in clean energy and energy efficiency in your life Vote! Coming to St. Louis October 17 - Brian Ettling and Fred Miller present "How to Speak about Climate Change with Confidence" hosted by St. Louis University - AND teaching a 3-hour adult class on Climate Change at St. Louis Community College, October 13. Music: Jamie, performed live at KDHX by Yankee Racers THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms Audio Engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: David & the Giant Mailbox: Walking and Talking Climate, Nation-wide (December 2015) DRAWDOWN: Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (May 2018) Climate of Hope with Sierra Club's Carl Pope (April 2018) Brian Ettling for the Citizens Climate Lobby (December 2016)

In a downtown office building, entrepreneurs work side by side with a visiting group of Tibetan monks. Business ideas are taking shape and a brilliantly vivid "painting" with sand is, literally, making peace. It's all in a week's work for innovation culture in St. Louis! Earthworms' guest Geshe Monlam Gyatso and his fellow monks of the Drepung Gomang monastery are on a Sacred Arts Tour to U.S. cities. Earthworms' friend (and fellow guest) Patty Maher is hosting this group, as she has with groups of monks for several years. The T-Rex incubator welcomes their creation of a World Peace Mandala, Sept 25-30. On Friday Sept 30, the monks' Dissolution Ceremony will transform this beautiful work into a blessing of the waters of the Mississippi River in a ceremony everyone is welcome to attend. Namaste! Music: Balkan Twirl, performed live at KDHX by Sandy Weltman and the Carolbeth Trio THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms' ace audio engineer. Related Earthworms' Conversations: Photographer Neeta Satam Documents Himalayan Climate Change (March 2018) Patty Maher's Historic Green Home Rehab (August 2017)

Batteries. We rely on them, we burn through them - some of us want to recycle them. The national Product Stewardship partnership Call2Recycle works with battery manufacturers to support "circular economy" management of resources in batteries, for us all. Tim Warren, Earthworms host Jean Ponzi's longtime recycling colleague, shares a thorough report on the what-why-how of battery recycling for the U.S. today. If you use power tools, a mobile phone, a laptop, a wristwatch or hearing aid, or drive a hybrid vehicle - or simply continue to use a flashlight - this update will be useful! The Call2Recycle Locator can help you find a battery recycling option near you. Check it out - and recycle your batteries, of all kinds! Music: Rear View, performed live at KDHX by Belle Star THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms' intrepid engineer

City of St. Louis and near-suburb residents might think "our" watershed is nothing more than a concrete drainage ditch. Theo Smith, coalition chair, and other members of the River Des Peres Watershed Coalition, see this urban waterway differently. River Des Peres drains over 115 square miles in the City of St. Louis and nearest suburbs, before it joins the Mississippi River. A coalition of Water quality and biodiversity advocates are joining together again this fall to raise awareness of the vital role of River Des Peres - and to pull out the trash that compromises its capacity in our regional watershed, overall. The River Des Peres Trash Bash will mobilize dozens of volunteers to support this waterway, on Saturday October 20, 2018, from 8 am to 2 pm. Results from 2017: Hardworking Trash Bash volunteers cleared 6.6 tons of trash from the rivers and creeks in the River des Peres watershed in just 3 hours! This tally includes 2.2 tons of scrap metal and 1.8 tons (101) of tires that were recycled! See yourself this year in this cadre of water quality champions! Music: Giant Steps performed live at KDHX by Dave Stone Trio THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms' audio engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Eco-Logic Applied to Road Salt Application Protocols (July 2018)

When a chance college dorm meeting prompts parlay about urban ag and life's design, can a live/work partnership based on decay, and inspired by nature, be far behind? In the everyday and enterprise of Tim Kiefer and Beth Grolmes-Kiefer, for sure YES. These two purposeful young sustainably-focused city residents are putting their ideals to work, raising and selling the outputs of hens, and transforming vacant property from poison-ivy infestation to rich-soil productivity. How? Primarily by collecting to rot the kitchen and garden scraps of others. Perennial City Composting is a novel subscription service, providing St. Louis City and central-county area customers with regular organic waste pickup. Their on-the-road amenity feeds abandoned lot soil toward Tim and Beth's near-term goal of NOURISHing their subscribers with veggies from the composted scraps these same folks pay them to haul away. This Earthworms conversation spotlights the Kiefer's unique, hard-working and visionary efforts, while also enlightening Beth and Tim to options host Jean Ponzi knows from her STL work and previous shows. Listeners: Be ready to Rot & Roll! Music: Jingle Bells - played live at KDHX by the Civiltones Earthworms is honored by engineering this week from Andy Coco, host of KDHX Rhythm Section and station Production Director. THANKS! Related Earthworms Conversations: Elaine Ingham: Soil Science Rocks Plant Health (Nov 2017)Fungus Farming for Food & Fun - McCully Heritage Project (Feb 2018) Food Policy Coalition Grows Health & Resouces (Dec 2015)The Easy Chicken - Fowl Fun Comes to You (Dec 2016)

Alicia and Josh Davis are farmers (and both are, by training, engineers) on a plot they call Green Finned Hippy Farm, near Pocohontas, Illinois. They started life together, and their farming ambition, aquaponically raising ("green," finned) Tilapia fish. That was 2010. Today their rural 18 acres support hens in pasture, their family of three (son Bean was born there), organic veggie beds, and herds of goats and of the endangered heirloom American Mulefoot Hog. Resourceful and determined, Josh and Alicia are figuring out farming as they go - helped by the Internet and their family-farming heritage. Innovations like their chicken truck and egg-washing apparatus continue to sprout, making their hard work more efficient. Farm events like Goat Yoga, Sips & Snuggles Baby Goat Happy Hour, and the truly sacramental Swine and Dine are growing their network of customers and friends. Where there are now is inspiring. Where they aspire to be in 10 years, Josh sums up: "I envision a community where we're Their Farmer, like someone is Their Doctor." Alicia adds: "Our hog program is a conservation effort. We selectively breed to produce excellent genetics. Our hope is that by humanely bringing this animal back to the table, we can remove it from the critically endangered list." Having this Earthworms conversation - and reading Josh and Alicia's blogs - I am in awe. These beautiful humans are working so hard to preserve and restore both a species of fellow living creature, and an essential way of life. Enjoy their story - and try their food! Music: Washboard Suzie, played live at KDHX by Zydeco Crawdaddies THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Slow Money: Woody Tasch on Investing in Food and Soil (July 2018) Fungus Farming for Food & Fun (February 2018) A Climatic Ode to Seed Savers (November 2016) Alpacas of Troy: Sustainable Farming on the Hoof (July 2016) Urban Agriculture Guide: New Tool for City Farmers (June 2016) The Easy Chicken: Fowl Fun Comes to YOU (December 2017)

Winter weather brings out fleets of vehicles working to keep roads clear and parking lots free of icy hazards. But run-off of the salt and chemicals used will harm the life in creeks and streams. Biologist Danelle Haake has researched options to treat slippery pavement without compromising her ecological focus, water quality. "Brining" uses conventional road salt, dissolved, in much smaller quantities. Her findings are informing local decisions with data on salt concentration in streams during icy-road treatment periods. Her perspective can help officials and citizens alike care for aquatic critter health. This Earthworms conversation affirms the importance of urban and suburban streams and supports transportation safety efforts. Local presentations on this topic are open to the public. Summer is the time to consider ecological winter road maintenance.. THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms audio engineer. Music: Inferno Reel, performed live at KDHX by Matt Finner

Investment pro Woody Tasch is evolving his own field. Profoundly inspired by the nature of soil - yes, that BROWN stuff we typically march right over - his work serves its loamy muse by plowing, so to speak, "Nurture Capital" directly into the Local/Sustainable Food movement, yielding ROI of healthier soil and stronger local community economics and culture. He calls this prophet-able enterprise Slow Money. Woody Tasch's turns of phrase and process grew an investment movement from his publication a decade ago of the now-classic Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money - Investing As If Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered. Now he is structuring SOIL, Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally. He articulates how and why the transformative aim of this economic system works in his mytho-poetic and colossally detailed new book SOIL 2017 - Notes Toward the Theory and Practice of Nurture Capital. Tasch is the bard of a new economic saga, the story of bringing our human relations with money soundly back to Earth. His work is surely, slowly meeting a "lively serious," planetary-scale human need. Music: The Exotic Future of Money, performed live at KDHX by Kinetics THANK YOU Anna Holland, engineer for Earthworms Related Earthworms Conversations: The Genuine Progress Indicator with Dr. Eric Zencey (March 2015) 2% Solutions for the Planet, Courtney White's Super Stories of Green Innovation (Oct 2015) Slow Food St. Louis Project Garlic (October 2015)

Grown locally and designed in-season. Using nature's diversity of shapes, textures and hues in pods and leaves as well as vivid blossoms. Keeping plastic and other material waste to a minimum. The trend in SLOW FLOWERS embraces all of these. Gardener turned floral business owner Kate Estwing makes these ideals (and more) work, beautifully, in her St. Louis enterprise City House Country Mouse. Floral artistry that can sustainably bedeck a wedding as easily as creating a planter box of succulents adds value to a service that everyone enjoys. And the values at work for Estwing help grow a bouquet of community resources along with her business! Open House August 16-18 at the new City House Country Mouse studio, 2105 Marconi Avenue on The Hill in St. Louis! Retail hours there are coming soon. Yes! this is Kate Estwing of Beep Beep Boop Boop, the popular KDHX radio show; Kate has also served as Program Director for KDHX. Music: Clavinova, performed live at KDHX by Messy Jiverson THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Urban Buds with flower farmers Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack (February 2015)

Missourians, meet our native neighbor: Ursus americanus. And meet Laura Conlee, Furbearer Biologist and Resource Scientist with the MO Department of Conservation, a true appreciator of bears. Photos from MDC Black Bear Research Cam - 2017 Black bears (who can be brown, ruddy and even sort of blonde) have always roamed the Show-Me State (OK, maybe only after Mastodons), but by the early 1900s their numbers had dived. Introduction of bears from northern populations through an Arkansas Game & Fish program in the 1950s and '60s reinvigorated the Missouri Ozarks with vital black bear roles in healthy forest ecosystems. By 2010, it was time to count MO bears. The MDC Bear Project now annually evaluates black bear reproduction and survival. Note: the bears in these field work-up photos are FINE! Laura Conlee and her skilled team are taking great care with the animals they're handling. This research collaboration - among specialists in wildlife and habitat biology, landowner relations, public education and more - is tracking multiple factors to better understand and support the animals. Bear data is one element of a new MDC Research Website, created to share this agency's expert knowledge with colleagues and with all of us! Check out MDC's new Bear Story Map to get a really cool feel for these beautiful creatures, and the research our state's conservation science teams are engaged in. Going out hiking or camping into bear territory? Or if you're concerned about recent bear reports near our metro area borders, become BEAR AWARE with important advice from MDC advocates for healthy populations of humans AND bears! Music: Hunter's Permit, performed live at KDHX by Mr. Sun THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering for Earthworms, and to Dan Zarlenga, communications maven for MDC.

7.6 billion and growing. Human beings on Earth, that is. But talking Population in enviro-circles is not the topic at top of mind. More like on edge of biases. So the Population Media Center, based in VT USA., marshals Entertainment-Power in societies world-wide (local writers, actors, production companies), to educate through stories of Love, Sex, Triumph, Betrayal and all the kinds of drama-rama that WILL make an impression among our kind. PMC data shows these shows are changing values, and influencing policy. Big work from soaps! This year PMC celebrates 20 Years of this innovative, globally-partnered service. Joe Bish, PMC Director of Issue Advocacy, returns to Earthworms with a report on how this important work is going. #RidiculousRight?! is PMC's awareness campaign for World Population Day 2018. The international focus for WPD this year is Family Planning is a Human Right. Throughout July, this hashtag will circulate ridiculous policies and investments contrasted with the value of family planning action and education. Chime in! Music: Big Piney Blues, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: DRAWDOWN: Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (March 2018) World Population Day 2017 (July 2017)

Plans and discussions rolled around our town for years. How could we make Bike-Sharing services feasible here in The Lou? In April, 2018 - just in time for Earth Day! - the cycle-access techno-breakthrough that is Limebike sped past barriers, onto our streets. Today, that first neon fleet of 1,500 Limebikes has multiplied. These Global Cooling Devices and humans of all kinds are moving each other around STL, safely and sustainably, at public attractions and in our city neighborhoods. David Woronets, Lime Operations Manager, details how Lime is peddling Smart Mobility with great success, and how St. Louis is leading the pack of U.S. Lime markets. Down the road? Lime electric scooters - and more! Music: Deep Gap, performed live at KDHX by Marisa Anderson THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer More Earthworms Conversational Cruises: Trekking Green: Big Adventure, Tiny Footprint (August 2015) STL Metro Market: Grocery Story in a Bus (June 2015) Trailnet's New Vision (March 2016) American Solar Challenge: Local Roadracing Teams (June 2016) Great Rivers Greenway St Louis Bike Routes (April 2015) RideFinders: Carpooling Made E-Z (May 2018)

Brothers Jeff and Randy Vines are turning 40 (local-speak sez Farty). Their upbeat, Ham-on-Wry style - and their business STL-Style - helps power the ultra-diverse, collaborative renewal of their city 'hood, Cherokee Street. These sons of STL suburbia, who went into advertising, know how to put their love of City into action. Their choice of digs on Cherokee, in South St. Louis, is a perfect place to invest their prodigious love-work resources. And to hawk the "St. Louis inspired apparel, merch and curiosities" that deck their corner store. This conversation is a valentine to City of St. Louis life, from these uber-articulate bros and City-dweller Earthworms host Jean Ponzi. New bedazzle on Vines' place is the eye-popping swirly-hue giant mural by daughter-father artist team Liza Fishbone and Robert Fishbone. A Fartieth BD present to themselves gifts big beauty to their City too! More Art-Related Earthworms: Enviro-Cartoonist Joe Mohr (November 2015) Joan Lipkin: Theater Takes On Climate Change (October 2017) Filmmaker Caitlin Zera: From The Pipeline (January 2016) Chalk Riot: Woman-Powered Street Art (May 2018) Music: Cherokee Nights, performed live at KDHX by Messy Jiverson THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering Earthworms

When a material (like paper) or a container (like a bottle or a can) has served its original purpose and still has useful life remaining, that material will remain in use as ingredients in recycled-content products - if you put it in your recycling bin. But not everything should go in that bin. Bob Henkel manages Recycling On The Go for St. Louis Earth Day. He has BIN there & done that Green thang at hundreds of events, with thousand of humans. He know his recycling stuff. So does Earthworms host Jean Ponzi. This conversation sorts through - literally! - what can and cannot be recycled, and why it's important not to use that Blue Bin as a catch-all for stuff you WISH could continue to be useful, if somebody else does something with it. Coming up June 30, 2018: the second Recycling Extravaganza collection this year for hard-to-recycle stuff. Check it out - and remember to ONLY bring what will be accepted! Global market shifts are puttin' the squeeze on our recycling industry. We need to work together with our recycling service pros to keep this fundamental Green activity functioning, solvent and useful. Got Sustainable Living questions? Missouri Botanical Garden's Green Resources Answer Service will give you any possible reuse and recycling options for other stuff - plus advice on more, FREE! Music: Washboard Suzie, performed live at KDHX by Zydeco Crawdaddies THANKS to Earthworms engineer, Ms. Anna Holland. Related Earthworms Conversations: Life Without Plastic? (January 2018 and Barge-Based Trash Basher Chad Pregracke (March 2017)

Artists Chelsea Ritter-Soronen and Liza Fishbone are so down with taking art to the streets. Literally. On the pavement. From their home bases in Napa, St. Louis and Austin they meet up in cities everywhere to transform our concrete jungles into vivid works that draw you in. Literally! ChalkRiot's mastery of anamorphic visuals, done in ephemerally dusty chalk or persistent paint, create a riot of art that celebrates special events, delivers a message, and grounds Art-Girl Power in stunning, funny, intentional ways. ChalkRiot work vividly explores themes of Love, Technology, the Environment, Women-Strong, Aliens, Pink Bunnies, Justice and more. Newest project Pavement Portals is ChalkRiot's ground-busting foray into Augmented Reality: your phone or tablet view of three fantastic Fortune Telling Machines jumps off floor canvas into scintillating, bubbly life. Look for a St. Louis media buzz around this work to amp up in other cities soon! Photo credits: RJ Hartbeck Basil Tsimoyanis, Art St. Louis Music: Jingle Bells, performed live at KDHX by CivilTones THANKS to Anna Holland for Audio-Girl Powering Earthworms. Related Earthworms Conversations: Artists Take on Plastic Pollution and Invasive Bush Honeysuckle (March 2018)

What stops you from considering a Carpool? Have to know someone who lives near you, who works where you do? Have to do it every day or it doesn't count? How can you get home in an emergency if you don't have your own car? RideFinders has all this covered, and more - including their database of over 16,000 peeps, living and going to work or school, all over the St. Louis metro area. Some of them can be carpool partners for you! Joe Wright shares the Carpooling how-to from experience, as well as his job directing RideFinders, our regional ride-sharing agency. This FREE service has been matching commuters in convenient, $$ and personal energy saving everyday travel partnerships since 1994. RideFinders is supported by federal highway funds designated to help clean up St. Louis air by reducing the ratio of cars to persons traveling around our regional "Airshed." Services include FREE membership for companies, universities and other organizations with many possible RideFinders participants, FREE sign-ups for these individuals, FREE taxi service up to 4 times per year as a Guaranteed Ride Home, and FREE workplace presentations about how easy and beneficial Carpooling is. Consider Carpooling (or joining a Vanpool) for any number of days of your weekly commute. And encourage your employer - or campus Office of Student Affairs - to join and promote RideFinders options. Special for this summer's Air Quality season: add a new person to your current carpool, or start a new carpool and you'll be entered to win memberships, free passes and other summer-fun goodies in the RideFinders Museum Mania Carpool Challenge. In a Carpool or Vanpool the benefits will add up way faster than the miles, as you Get Around Greener! P.S. Informally carpooling counts too! Make it a habit for workplace meetings and social events. Music: Lime House Blues, performed live at KDHX by legendary Del McCoury THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering this edition of Earthworms

On April 22, 1970, a conservative senator from Wisconsin led a diverse, national circle of organizers is bringing public attention to environmental issues of the day. Earth Day has since become the largest civic event on the planet its events strives to protect. Dr. Adam Rome, Professor of History at SUNY Buffalo, has made a passionate study of this worldwide phenomenon. He shares insights from his 2013 book, "The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation." Earthworms host Jean Ponzi swaps Earth Day bits with Dr. Rome from her experience as coordinator of the 20th annual Earth Day Festival in 1990, that helped launch today's vibrant St. Louis Green culture. Adam Rome will be in St. Louis on May 24 to give the capstone presentation in the 2018 Environmental History Speaker Series. This is a free talk at 7 pm at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Music: Modern Andy Down - performed live at KDHX Thanks to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer, and to Stephen Hanpeter, Sappington Concord Historical Society. Related Earthworms Conversations: David and the Giant Mailbox, December 2015 - "Climate Walker" David Henry also presented in this 2018 Environmental History Speaker Series. Earth Day St. Louis, April 2018

Once one of the wildest rivers of North America, some now call it the Missouri Canal. It has been dammed, dredged, cursed as it flooded, pinched between levees, straightened - and yet humans from many walks of life are dedicated to helping this river survive, and even maybe re-wild it a little bit. Thomas Ball talks with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi as an individual engaged in the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (he says "Mister RIC"). He's also active in the Sierra Club's Missouri River work Sierra Club originally filed to get the Pallid Sturgeon, a prehistoric MO River fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. He brings to our attention two bills moving through Congress that would prohibit citizens from doing this for future threatened species: HB 2134 and SB 935. River lovers: consider action here. Ball has taken countless humans - youth and adults - out on this river, and on other outdoor adventures. He loves nature, loves the big rivers, and persists in working with his fellow humans to right our actions that have crippled natural forces like the MO, actions which ultimately endanger us. He persists through knowledge, science, collaboration - and that big love. Music: Big Piney Blues, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran THANKS and welcome back Anna Holland, engineer & tennis champ Related Earthworms Conversations: Water Issues: Meddling, Muddling, Advocacy (Dec 2017) Cooperation for Water Security (Oct 2017) Invest in Infrastructure, Nature's and Ours (April 2017) Barge-Based Trash-Basher Chad Pregracke (May 2017)

Subtitle of the new book by Seamus McGraw is Making of the American Water Crisis. McGraw turns his curiosity and storytelling skills to focus on Texas, where he says every aspect of water use, issues, needs and potentials are in play. From a state he says is more like an Empire, where multiple desert climates overlay multiple aquifers, where water use planning and water rights laws still work in a form of frontier justice - what can we learn about how diverse interests might cooperate to equitably manage what all parties need? Water is life, but can people work out ways to share it? Left Bank Books, STL's premier independent bookseller, will host Seamus McDaniel on May 1 for a reading and book-signing. A Thirsty Land (2018) comes from University of Texas Press. Music: Cadillac Desert performed live at KDHX by William Tyler THANKS to Dan Waterman and Andy Coco, engineering this edition of Earthworms. Related Earthworms Conversations: Water Issues - Meddling, Muddling, Advocacy (Dec 2017) Mississippi River Infrastructure Investment Plan (April 2017)

The 2016 book Climate of Hope conveys a broad, powerfully encouraging view from a longtime environmental champion, Carl Pope - former Sierra Club national Director - and his co-author Michael Bloomberg, philanthropist and former Mayor of New York. This report on civic, economic, business and cultural alliances proclaims what Pope calls "Bottom-Up Climate Progress" even as U.S. federal leadership rolls back climate protections. Pope's perspective aims to foster citizen engagement and especially locally-based actions to boost clean energy and curb climate disrupting emissions from many sources. Carl Pope comes to St. Louis on Monday April 23, as Keynote Speaker for the Saint Louis University Climate Summit. Music: Cadillac Desert, performed live at KDHX by William Tyler THANKS to Dan Waterman and Andy Coco. engineering for Earthworms Related Earthworms Conversations: Project DRAWDOWN (March 2018) Dr. Peter Raven, Science advisor to Papal Academy and Climate Encyclical (June 2015) David and the Giant Mailbox: Climate Conversations (December 2015)

Caring for our planet is fun when St. Louis Earth Day's intrepid crew leads the action! On April 21-22 the 29th annual Earth Day Festival will fill the sunny, leafy environs around The Muny in our town's Forest Park with learning, music, food, people-watching and you-can-do options for all ages. Free and fabulous, this event is one of the largest Earth Day festivals on the planet! The non-profit hosts of this Green gala also coordinate waste-reducing services year-round, from Recycling Extravaganza's annual spring-cleaning support to Recycling On The Go teams that bring food waste composting, single-stream recycling and public education to festivals of all kinds. Check out volunteer opportunities with St. Louis Earth Day - they are rewarding, impactful and always well organized! Thanks to Jen Myerscough, St. Louis Earth Day Executive Director, and Bob Henkel, who heads up Recycling On The Go, for joining this Earthworms edition. Music: Extremist Stomp, performed live at KDHX by Pokey LaFarge and Ryan Spearman THANKS to Andy Coco, engineering Earthworms this week with assistance from Dan Waterman. Related Earthworms Conversations: 2018 Green Challenges Worth Taking! (March 2018)

With Earth Day coming up, we are challenged by a lot of "you can do." Individual efforts matter, but how much? Earthworms endorses two challenges that WILL have an impact, in our lives and for our planet. The DRAWDOWN Eco-Challenge, running nationally April 4-25, builds on ten years of eco-challenge experience from Northwest Earth institute to engage individual actions. Multiplying impacts, this 2018 challenge correlates our actions to the measures mapped, measured and prioritized by Project DRAWDOWN for collective capacity to pull climate-changing carbon out of Earth's atmosphere. Lacy Cagle, Director of Learning for NWEI, shares these potentials with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi. Then from April 27-30, residents of the St. Louis region - and 65 other cities around the WORLD - can contribute to understanding about local biodiversity by participating in the City Nature Challenge, as described by Earthworms guest Sheila Voss, VP of Education at the Missouri Botanical Garden . Using the (totally terrific!) app iNaturalist, humans of all ages can log observations of plants and critters as communities "compete" to gather intel about local biodiversity. In St. Louis, observations logged during City Nature Challenge days will establish a baseline of biodiversity data crucial to address regional nature-preservation goals. In Earthworms' opinion, these are two Challenges WORTH TAKING! Music: Rearview performed live at KDHX by Belle Star THANKS to Anna Holland, ace Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: DRAWDOWN Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (March 2018) Learning Green: Northwest Earth Institute (October 2017)

When Artists address environmental issues, people see/hear them in new ways. Art may fire us into action, more than mere info ever can. Jenny Kettler co-curated and has pieces in a group gallery show, Plastic Nation - The Trashing of America, on view through April 7 at Stone Spiral Gallery in Maplewood, MO. Photographs, multi-media works, ceramics and prints navigate the plastic tide we are awash in, with the message that we can reduce our use of this polluting stuff. This show opened March 10; a Closing Reception on April 7 from 2-4 pm will feature Artist Talks at 2:30 pm. Dale Dufer is bringing "suit" against one of our region's most destructive yet popular invasive plants. The Trial of Bush Honeysuckle comes to the historic Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis on Wednesday, April 4 at 1 pm. With a real Judge, real Environmental Lawyers and Expert Witnesses, this educational trial seeks justice for damages to the Biodiversity of our Native Plants. Man vs Bush should be a landmark case, whatever the outcome. Open to the public. These Artists want us to look deeply into problems we have created on our planet - with a sense of humor to encourage us toward turnarounds. Music: Mr. Sun, performed live at KDHX by Hunter's Permit THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms podcast engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Life Without Plastic? (January 2018) Fashion Through an Artists Eye: Bush Honeysuckle to Meat (April 2016) Permaculture Goes Beyond the War on Invasive Species (March 2016) Invasive Bush Honeysuckle: SWEEP It! (March 2016)

"Global warming is changing the Himalayas faster than any other region of the world, outside the polar caps," says documentary photographer Neeta Satam. She has made three working treks to the isolated village of Kumik, in the Zanskar valley of Kashmir, where village life, family relations and culture is endangered as climatic shifts remove water from a people who've lived in balance in this region for thousands of years. "Where should we go?" is one of many stories Satam relates through her perceptions as an environmental scientist, and now through her mastery with a camera lens. Satam's compassion, insight and courage illuminate her work, as she strives to make the world aware of impacts of Climate Change on human beings in places being hardest hit. THANKS to Prof. William Allen, University of Missouri, for making the connection to Earthworms for this interview. Music: Dirty Slide, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran Thanks to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Plants, Indigenous People and Climate Change - Dr. Jan Salick, ethnobotanist at the Missouri Botanical Garden (December 2015)

Humans are pumping CO2 (and other heat-trapping gases) into Earth's atmosphere, causing whopping changes to our climate, aka global warming. Project DRAWDOWN says (and documents with data) that actions currently in use can, if combined and ramped up, literally draw down over-concentrations of these gases into Earth systems (like soil, trees, oceans) designed to contain them. And reverse global warming. Chad Frischmann, VP and Research Director for Project DRAWDOWN, worked with multi-disciplinary professionals who have researched the potentials of measures ranging from increasing renewable energy generation to people eating plant-based diets to educating girls - and more. Erika Boeing, now based in St. Louis, is one of the DRAWDOWN Research Fellows and her company, Accelerate Wind, is developing technology to boost wind energy production. The entire project is summarized in a 2017 book that immediately hit the New York Times Bestseller list. A St. Louis talk on March 13 will spotlight four Missouri enterprises implementing measures defined by DRAWDOWN, including Ms. Boeing's work, and will describe the audience to Project DRAWDOWN. With plenty of work needed, this project is seeding optimism in what world leaders and scientists call the moral issue of our time. Music: Cadillac Desert, performed live at KDHX by William Tyler THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering for Earthworms Related Earthworms Conversations: Dr. Peter Raven, St. Louis advisor to Papal Encyclical on Climate Change (June 2015)

For any Catholic parish, a Fish Fry cooks up fun and some revenue during the season of Lent. At Holy Redeemer in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves, a portion of that green potential is being invested in Green education-by-example, led by two Moms. Jamie Hasemeier, Earthworms guest (pictured right, photo by Dave Leuking), came to "Holy" with strong personal environmental values. She wants to contribute in every way to a healthy world for her four children - and for her fellow humans everywhere. When Jamie teamed with fellow Mom Lisa Reed, who runs the church's annual Fish Fry, she worked through several cycles of Lent to cook sustainability into those events. Students educate guests about low-waste eating as they direct diners to correctly recycle and compost. Results of these efforts included less than 2 bags of landfill trash from each of 2017's Fish Fry evenings - that each served over 750. Green efforts continue growing! Features in the St. Louis Review, an archdiocesan publication, and the St. Louis Green Dining Alliance blog helped boost attendance in 2017, when these dinners went Compostable. Trays going into yellow Compost bins are not Styrofoam - they are plastics made from plants. Other parishes are acting on the Holy Redeemer Green example, set by Mothers who love Earth - and act on their faith. Music: Rearview, performed live at KDHX by Belle Star THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms skillful, tasteful engineer Related Earthworms Conversations: Laudato Si, understanding Care for Our Common Home, with Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (January 2016) Dr. Peter Raven, science advisor to Pope Francis' Climate Change encyclical (June 2015)

Illinois tourism writers call it a "best-kept secret." Visitors review it as a great place to camp, hike and learn some things. Director (and Earthworms guest) Michelle Berg Vogel says its a working farm and an environmental education place. And in March, a Fungus Farm! McCully Heritage Project, located in Kampsville, IL, is a nature haven at the Illinois-Mississippi Rivers' confluence. Its 940 acres are mainly forested, with native trees and plenty of native wildlife. Native - and visiting - humans thrive there too. On Saturday March 3, folks who fancy gardening can learn an Agroforestry skill: growing mushrooms on logs. Green oak logs, innoculated with mushroom spawn, sprout Shitakes, and softwood logs support the growth of Oyster mushrooms. Both delicious, nutritious - and easy to produce. Fun with fungus, anyone? Music: Redwing, performed live at KDHX by Currykorn THANKS to Jon Valley, engineering this Earthworms edition

Heading west from St. Louis on I-64, just over the Missouri River bridge, bluffs rise and land rolls. There is a golf course (hard to see) and a corporate campus area. With a St. Charles County zoning change, a high-density 350 luxury home development could soon alter 200 of these bluff acres. Conservationist and landowner Dan Burkhardt, guest for this Earthworms edition, was surprised in December to learn that bluff property owned by the University of Missouri was in a sale process to a home developer. His Katy Land Trust was formed to prevent just this kind of move. Adjacent to the Busch and Weldon Spring Conservation Areas - land purchased and given into care of the Missouri Department of Conservation in the 1950s and 70s respectively - the forested Missouri Bluffs acreage in question is currently zoned Agricultural. The outcome of a public hearing on February 21 by the St. Charles County Planning and Zoning Commission is key to a requested zoning change to Medium- and High-Density Residential, to accommodate the proposed development. The Katy Land Trust is leading opposition to this change. Public comments will be considered in person, and via email before 2-21-18. Burkhardt and his wife Connie farm their acreage near Marthasville, in a corridor of natural features, German cultural heritage, a thriving regional arts movement and public recreation that is anchored by Katy Trail State Park, with a link to St. Louis in process from Great Rivers Greenway. Tourism in this heart of Missouri's wine country increasingly returns investments in these resources to all Missourians - and our visitors. Opponents of an intensive luxury housing development here note that that investment will return to very few, and diminish public benefits. This is an important point for public input. As Dan Burkhardt says, Asphalt is the Last Crop. Music: Deep Gap, performed live at KDHX by Marisa Anderson THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms engineer EARTHWORMS is produced as a volunteer community service. Views expressed by volunteer host are her own, and not intended to represent KDHX St. Louis Independent Media or any other organization. Guest views, and the organizations they represent, are clearly presented in each interview, and in accompanying texts.

Plastic has overtaken our pantries, our shopping carts, our personal-care product cabinets - and our planet's waterways all the way to the oceans! Is there any hope for turning this plastic tide? Jay Sinha and Chantal Plamondon, Canadian sustainable product entrepreneurs, offer their own experience to encourage fellow humans to break free plastic's hold on our lives. Their new book is Life Without Plastic - the Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Avoiding Plastic to Keep your Family and the Planet Healthy (Page Street Publishing, 2017). Their book - and their online store, established in 2003 - packs facts about plastic pollution that Jay says is as pressing as Climate Change. But they are not polypropyl-whiners, by any stretch. Jay and Earthworms host Jean Ponzi pick through piles of plastic issues - with encouraging focus on options he and his family continue to test out, that can be useful to you. What are the problems plastic is causing, for us and around our environment? What are alternatives to some of plastic's most pernicious influences in our lives? Bring on the glass, wood, fabric and stainless steel! And PLEASE RECYCLE the plastics you do increasingly choose to use. Music: Infernal Piano Plot, performed live at KDHX by The Claudettes Thanks to Anna Holland, Earthworms Engineer

In the rural outskirts of St. Louis, in 1874, Greenwood Cemetery was formed to serve the African-American population growing here after the Civil War. This rolling, 32 acre site became this community's first non-sectarian commercial cemetery open to African Americans. Until Greenwood closed to burials in 1993, more than 50,000 people were laid to rest here: Buffalo Soldiers and domestic workers, musicians and civil rights leaders, whole families both named and undocumented. This history, still being researched and written, remembers the persistence, hardships and gifts of black individuals' human lives - a remembrance now being restored. Greenwood shares a fate with other cemeteries with no church or other stewarding relationships, that hold the folk of poor and marginalized people. Human neglect dumped trash on the property - and nature's forces took over. But friends arose to reclaim the history and natural grace of this place. Descendants of those interred and academic professionals formed Friends of Greenwood Cemetery in 1999. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. With much more work to do, this circle of support is growing. The Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association brings this story to Earthworms. Guests are Shelley Morris and Rafael Morris, Secretary and President of the GCPA board; Becky McMahon of DJM Ecological Services; and Ann Eftimoff of World Wide Technology. Music: Slide Blues, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran. THANKS to Anna Holland, audio engineering ace. Related Earthworms Conversations: Green Burial (January 2017)

The ancient flow of love between Homo sapiens and Apis mellifera keeps food in our bellies, flowers blooming around us, and repairs the whacks we continue to take at nature's balance. Maybe it's only a bit, one beekeeper, one hive at a time. Yet this relationship embodies the best of how our kind can interact with another species - in this case with a bug - to produce cascading benefits for whole biodiverse environments. Eastern Missouri Beekeepers spreads this love, in an annual intensive workshop and cooperative-learning events year-round. The all-day Beekeeping Workshop, coming up February 10, brings nationally respected beekeeping experts to St. Louis to teach beginning and experienced beekeeping, alongside local pollinator advocates. This Earthworms conversation draws on beekeeping savvy of Bob Sears, president of Eastern MO Beekeepers; Kate Smith, ardent beekeeper (3 years plus family heritage); and Becky Masterman, program manager for the University of Minnesota's acclaimed Bee Squad, who'll join EMBA members as workshop guest faculty. Earthworms loves to talk Bees! Music: Magic 9, performed live at KDHX by Infamous Stringdusters THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering Earthworms bee-youtifully Related Earthworms Conversations:Wild Bees and Native Plants with Heather Holm - March, 2017 Vanishing Bees: Science, Politics and Honeybee Health (Jan 2017) Honeybee Democracy - Dr. Tom Seely is WILD About Bees (Feb 2016)

Suzanne Kelly was deep into Ph.D. work in women's studies in 2000 when her father died. Her grief and that experience with conventional memorial processes moved her to explore a new movement (ironic, given our age-old traditions) to send our bodies back to Earth. Literally. Kelly's new book Greening Death - Reclaiming Burial Practices and Restoring Our Tie to Earth - is a scholarly treatment of natural burial. She covers the history of our resource-intensive, toxic and expensive funeral industry, and examines multi-cultural values about dealing with our dead bodies. From the Civil War era innovation of embalming to today's evolving partnership between land conservation and dust-to-dust advocates, her voice on this topic is factual and clear. She also speaks eloquently for our human needs to honor the passage out of life, and to reconnect with Earth. Whether you are simply curious about these options or actively seeking Green Burial resources for end-of-life planning, this Earthworms conversation can be useful to you. Listen in peace! THANKS to Anna Holland, engineering for Earthworms this week Music: Butter II, performed live at KDHX by Ian Ethan Case

To date, 24 U.S. cities are using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager - a sensible, user-friendly product of our federal taxes at work - to "benchmark" energy use as a first step to strategic investment in energy efficiency measures. St. Louis joined this progressive, prudent group in 2017 by passing an ordinance and signing on to the City Energy Project. Use a common tracker to inform improvements that can cut costs? Make existing buildings more comfortable and healthier? Protect the environment by reducing carbon emissions? Good work, partners in the City of St. Louis for answering all these questions YES! The significance of this work, even in its first months, was honored in November 2017 with an OLGA (Outstanding Local Government Award) for exemplary public-private collaboration, by the St. Louis region's East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The work is straightforward, explains Earthworms guest Rajiv Ravulapati, CEP Technical Advisor for the City of St. Louis. CEP helps cities tailor energy efficiency programs and policies to local needs. In St. Louis, the CEP team assists building owners in implementing the City's benchmarking ordinance, which requires that public and private buildings over 50,000 sq ft must be Benchmarked by April 1, 2018, with the data reported to the City's Building Division. This requirement applies to over 900 buildings located in the City of St. Louis, including 16 City-owned buildings. A Concierge service assists building owners with the process, using an efficient online portal. City Energy Project champions (shown above) accepting the OLGA award are Rajiv Ravulapati; City of St. Louis Sustainable Director Catherine Werner; US Green Building Council-Missouri Gateway Chapter Executive Director Emily Andrews; and St. Louis Alderman Jack Coatar, sponsor of the ordinance that passed with a unanimous vote! Utility incentive and financing packages can support energy efficiency upgrades, based on CEP data. Options to expand this effort to work with smaller buildings, and across the St. Louis region, offer more potential benefits for local businesses and building owners. THANKS to Anna Holland, energized engineer for Earthworms Music: Balkan Twirl, performed live at KDHX by Sandy Weltman and the Carolbeth trio Related Earthworms Conversations: PACE Energy Financing (January 2017) MO Energized Relationships Promote Energy Conservation (September 2016),

For a region of this planet blessed with so much WATER, you'd think we'd have darn diligent doggin' of water protection. And you would be RIGHT. Water quality advocates with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment are among our waters' ardent champions. This week Earthworms talks with Brad Walker, MCE's Rivers Director, and Alicia Lloyd, Water Policy Coordinator (looking handsomely Glad in Plaid) for an update on water advocacy issues, needs, and some victories during 2017. You'll hear about pro-Big Ag stacking of Missouri's Clean Water Commission (Bah!), collaborative strategies of the Lower Missouri River and Nicollet Island Coalitions (Yay!) - with more good river info on the MCE Blog. Listener Quiz: can you name three dumb river "management" outcomes of the Pick-Sloan Act? There are plenty to choose from. THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms ear-friendly engineer Music: Cadillac Desert, performed live at KDHX by William Tyler Related Earthworms Conversations: People's Pocket Guide to Environmental Action - July 2017 Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative Infrastructure Proposal - April 2017 Big Muddy MO with Greenway Network, MCE - February 2017