29 November 2007

Ordering Holiday Cards? Wait! Check This Out!

In this ASL vlog, EcoDeaf contributor Adele Ann discusses the devastating nature of mailing out holiday cards to family and friends. The amount of virgin paper used towards producing the card and the envelope is staggering when you think about how many people all over the country are doing the same thing. But Adele Ann loves keeping in touch the old fashioned way, instead of electronically like some people suggest. Adele Ann found a suitable compromise: Instead of putting your card inside an envelope (more paper!), Greener Printer prints your photo on recycled paper, and presto - it's an eco-holiday postcard! www.greenerprinter.com

Arielle McCarthy

Bay Area, California

California School for the Deaf,
4th grade student, Fremont

ecoskills/interests semi-vegetarian since birth, truly an animal lover, eating organic food 95%, love raw food, help mom with raw food prep, anti-animal products garment and footwear, love writing, photography, video-producing, art, nature and wildlife insects, ASL storytelling, observing details i.e. animals, people and insects behaviors, science-fiction books, some sports, vlogs, and organic gardening.

www.ariellesvlog.wordpress.com

27 November 2007

Improve Your Vocabulary and Help End World Hunger at the Same Time!

Did you know that by the age of 3 years old, children who come from high socioeconomic families with parents who are professionals or professors accumulate nearly 50 million words...

Children from working class or middle class families accumulate a little less than 30 million words by the age of three, and...

children from welfare families accumulate just barely over 10 million words by three years old.

All by the age of 3. And your vocabulary rate at age of three significantly predicts your academic achievement at 9-10 years old-- even better than IQ tests (Hart & Risley, 1995)

So what happens to deaf children who have parents who don't sign to them during that first three years of their lives? Think about it. See a young Deaf child? Go ASL with them as much as you can! :)

But what do we do as Deaf adults to improve our vocabulary skills?

We go and play www.freerice.com!

This is an online game where your vocabulary is tested. For every correct answer you give, 10 grains of rice is donated through the United Nations to end world hunger!


Nature & Deaf: Many Parallels

In this ASL vlog by Heidi Zimmer, she proposes some parallels between eco-crusaders and the struggles of the deaf community. Cities are a blur of people and cars - nature brings serenity and calmness, and the same goes for ASL to the Deaf community. Heidi loves being in nature, but more Deaf people are in cities. Let's push cities to be more eco-friendly, and the same for spreading ASL awareness! Greedy companies that don't care for the environment are the same as cochlear corporations who don't care for the Deaf community. Our biggest challenge is empowering ourselves and educating them! (2 minutes 32 seconds)

21 November 2007

Plunging in the Freezing Water - all in the Name of our Ailing Environment


Tired of the storms, the global warming, and of peole doing nothing?! Come plunge with us in the frigid water of Chesapeake on December 8th in Annapolis, MD. A bunch of us are doing it to help CCAN continue its battle against global warming.

If you want to register or simply to donate, check out www.keepwintercold.org. If you wonder where to plunge, whether in Maryland or outside of the dear state, that website has all the information, for plunges are happening everywhere, whether in Oregon, Colorado, New York, or Massachusetts. If you registered, Ecodeaf would love to know who is going! Share your name and plunging location in the comments section below.

If you want to learn more about CCAN, check out www.chesapeakeclimate.org. If there are any who are willing to interpret at the event in Annapolis voluntarily, please let me know at dinaraevsky at comcast dot net, so the event organizer can contact you. It will be great if we had two interpreters at the event.

Happy Plunging,

Dina

20 November 2007

Summer 2008: Outward Bound

From Outward Bound Wilderness:



The Open Enrollment deaf course for the summer of 08 will be a
7-day alpine backpacking course in
Colorado. It is open to students aged 18 and above and will be taught in ASL. At least one of the Instructors will probably be deaf or HOH as well. The dates are July 20-26.

Kendra Kurihara
Group Programs Director
Outward Bound Wilderness
kkurihara@outwardbound.org
Phone: 719-486-2052 ext. 104
FAX: 719-486-2513
P. O. Box 1789
Leadville, CO 80461

18 November 2007

Deaf Hygienist Presents Shocking Teeth Information

In this ASL vlog, Karen Schettle, a Deaf dental hygienist shares many shocking facts about teeth and our health. Why are your teeth important? Hint, it has something to do with your heart! Which is better for your teeth, water irrigation (Water Pik) or plain old flossing? Flossing, hands down!! Which toothpaste should you use? Water. Water?! Just water?! Watch and find out about her fascinating explanations for those answers... and a surprise guest at the end! (8 minutes)

17 November 2007

Deaf Mountaineer Shares her Goals

In this ASL vlog, Heidi Zimmer, a Deaf mountaineer shares her life goals:

1) summit the highest peak on each continent,
2) summit the highest point of each US state, and
3) summit each of Colorado's 54 peaks over 14,000 feet.

Heidi has the honor of being the first deaf person to summit Mt. Elbrus in Europe, and she is also the first woman to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa! Come join her on her travels... visit www.heidizimmer.com ! (1 minute, 59 seconds)



Heidi has provided scanned copies of Maryland's highest point (due to a request via comments below).


16 November 2007

Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival: November 16-18


contributed by Cassandra Perez

http://www.recyclesantafe.org

http://www.recyclerunway.org

WHEN: November 16-18 2007

Friday 11/16: 5:00 - 9:00PM

*Trash Fashion and Costume Contest [FASHION SHOW] at 7:00 PM
(*the highlight of the weekend)

Saturday 11/17: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sunday 11/18: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

WHERE: (see below for google map)
El Museo Cultural De Santa Fe (Only 5 minutes away from NMSD)
1615 Paseo De Peralta #B
Santa Fe, NM
505-992-0591

ADMISSION:
$5 for Art Show
$10 for Art Show and Trash Fashion & Costume Contest Show
Kids under 12 free (Children must pay the $5 entrance fee for a seat at the fashion show, unless they are in a parent or guardian's lap)

DIRECTIONS:

View Larger Map







Heidi Zimmer

Location: Colorado
Occupation: Motivational speaker, nonprofit organization and part time odd jobs
Eco-interests: World eco-travel and adventure, green environment, architecture, organic food, alternative energy, recycling everything as I can
Eco-skills: Mountaineering, adventure (including biking, sailing, cross country-skiing), nature outdoor activities
Contact information: heidi at heidizimmer dot com
Website: www.heidizimmer.com

15 November 2007

Alynn Davis


Being vigorous in the state of Big Apple (Newburgh, NY)!
Raw Chef, Raw Nutritionist, Raw Personal Trainer, Raw Lifestyle Coach



ecoskills
Outdoor activities such as camping/backpacking, hiking, rockclimbing, yoga, composting, preserving our Mother Gaia, recycling, supporting local (organic) farms, living naturally & simply as much as possible, being conscious.

ecointerests
In any way that I can connect with our precious Mother, living life and in the present moment, appreciating what our earth has to offer us, honoring our souls, gardening, breathing... Life is GRAND, so LIVE it!

contact alynnraw at gmail dot com

14 November 2007

Reusing Envelopes

If you'd like to practice the lost art of writing letters, you can also practice the 3Rs.

Save envelopes you get in the mail or happen to have around you, and use them again for mailing things out.


This is the photo at the Post Office of the reused envelope I used to send a gift to a friend. After it left the Post Office, the friend on the other end got it with no trouble. And it makes the mail all the more interesting!

-shira.

Karen Schettle


location: Silver Spring, MD
occupation: Dental Hygienist/ Deaf - Blind Interpreter/ ASL instructor




eco-skills: recycling as much as possible, organic foods, raw food/ vegan diet, educating the public about improving their oral hygiene
eco-interests: back country hiking-backpacking-camping, biking, snow shoeing, canoeing, white water rafting, snorkeling, traveling, organic gardening, animal lover (rescue any animal if possible), volunteering at the animal shelter, national parks
contact information: karenspager at tmail dot com

05 November 2007

Pizza Goes on Pans, not in Boxes!

In this brief vlog, Raychelles walks her talk and demonstrates a phone call to a local pizza place, bringing a pan over and having them place her pizza on it. This was in no way rehearsed, and it was pretty simple, wasn't it?