<![CDATA[GreenGurus - Blog]]>Thu, 14 Sep 2023 04:10:55 +0100Weebly<![CDATA[Litter Goes Literary]]>Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:33:22 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/litter-goes-literaryIntroduction:
This document outlines the development of a three year young people's project to tackle the litter problem. Conventional anti-litter methods are not working so creative and innovative ways of raising awareness and encouraging collective responsibility are necessary.
   Inspired by Griff Rhys Jones who adopted the moniker Griff the Garbage, to help Rob the Rubbish clear Snowdon of its trash, Ann Palmer, whose pen name is Gaia Dance, chose her own moniker – Gaia the Garbage. Ann found an abandoned toy telephone on the beach.  Her husband Peter took a picture of her with the telephone, and they captioned it Hotline to kids. This seeded the idea of a Children's Humorously Captioned Photography Competition, which is now, in 2017, in its third year.  
   Alongside being a writer and an eco-lyricist, Ann is a Creative Writing teacher. The third year of the Children's Humorously Captioned Photography Competition, entitled Litter-Goes-Literary, brings together two main projects;  tackling the litter problem and composing original eco-lyrics to well-known tunes.
Who we are:
Ecologisers are a non-profit organisation based in the Outer Hebrides.  Ecologisers are actively seeking partners for their 2017 international online Young People's Humorously Captioned Photography Competition 2017 entitled Litter-Goes-Literary.  2017 marks the third year of this special children's online photography competition that is part of Ecologisers' anti-litter campaign.
Achievements to date:
1 Two successful children's competitions run in 2015 and 2016, with entries from schools and individuals.
2 Both competitions strongly supported by Stornoway businesses, who donated 17 prizes in 2015 and 20 prizes in 2016.
3 Judging of 2016 competition by one partner, Keep Scotland Beautiful.
4 Funding received for the production of a 2018 Kind Kids Calendar, consisting of the best twelve of the winning entries from the combined 2015 and 2016 competitions. Donated by an organisation promoting and teaching sustainable business practice who will assist in the calendar's U.K. marketing and distribution. (A 2019 Kind Kids Calendar is planned as an outcome and extension of Litter Goes Literary.)
5 A 3,000 article 'Undercover Litter Picker' about this project in the Canadian magazine Green Teacher in Spring 2016.  URL:  http://greenteacher.com/green-teacher-109-spring-2016/   Password 109sped  A possibility of this article's reprint shortly in Eingana, an Australian environmental educational magazine.
6 Extensive local publicity in magazines and newspapers; articles in three global educational magazines. A special mention in the Orwell Prize 2016 for exposing Britain's social evils.
7 Coverage, information and updates, through an active local newspaper website.
Rationale for the overall project:
There are four major points.
1  It is generally acknowledged by those working in this field that current anti-litter methods are  not working.  This means creative and innovative ways are needed to promote litter-picking as a wanna-do rather than a yuk.
2  Litter, globally, is regarded as the pariah of the environmental educational movement. No-one wants to know. The litter-problem globally is growing and children are destined to inherit this attitudinal apathy unless it is tackled robustly. Currently one garbage patch in the Southern Ocean is 18 times the size of Scotland, and there are several others of similar size.
3  Against this background, Ecologisers decided to introduce humour as the leader in their Children's Photography Competition. Ecologisers, in costume, as jesters, went into Hebridean schools in 2016  to talk about litter in local and global contexts.
4  Entry is free. The remit for all entries is:  A photograph of a child and/or pet with a piece of litter found on a litter-pick, humorously captioned.
Rationale for Litter Goes Literary development:
Again, there are four markers.
1 Litter picking stands at one end, on the bottom rung, of a spectrum of activities within environmental education's embrace.
2  The top end might be considered as a spiritual approach. Latvians and Estonians attribute their success at gaining freedom from super power dominance to their communal singing. Singing kept their spirits high and empowered them through dark days.
3 One member of Ecologisers, Ann Palmer, has a personal mission to ecologise the world's song-base. She has already composed eco-lyrics to 15 Christmas carols, several hymns and well-known out-of-copyright tunes, including Auld Lang Syne. An article on how to compose eco-lyrics to existing tunes was published in Green Teacher in 2015. URL: http://greenteacher.com/green-teacher-105-winter-issue/  Password 105 wsbxp.
4  The additional requirement for the 2017 Children's and Young People's Humorously Captioned Photography Competition is the composition of eco-lyrics to one verse of the young person's favourite song.
Plus-points of Litter Goes Literary development:
1  An online international competition takes this project from local to global level.
2  The 2 year pilot project, in the Western Isles, was a success. 
3  Creativity, according to gurus like Sir Ken Robinson, who received his knighthood for services to U.K. education, is more important than literacy for the future.  Litter-goes-literary ticks the creativity and literacy boxes.
4  Litter Goes Literary is an image-changer in the public mind.
5  Encouraging children to sing beautiful well-known tunes newly eco-themed, touches both the heart and spirit. (A spin-off is that it generally promotes a mindset of reinvention, re-use, re-honouring of old tunes.)
6  Litter Goes Literary takes two bites simultaneously at the environmental cherry – practical, hands-on; and creative, spiritual. 
7  Educationally, Litter Goes Literary is a very attractive project.  Doing something really worthwhile and important as of now, married to a self-expression opportunity. Litter Goes Literary  draws on many of the requirements listed in a Curriculum for Excellence document.
Requirements to maximise the potential of Litter Goes Literary:
Partners in several capacities.
1  Promotion and support from the global educational community.
2  Seeking all publicity opportunities. Using contacts already established and researching new ones.
3  A strong online presence through the website – http://www.gaidancebooks.com  and social media.
4  Funding for prize money for the international online Litter Goes Literary Young People's Competition.  Generally, competitions tend to attract entries related to the amount of prize-money offered. We would like to be able to offer good prizes, £2,000 in all.  Winner - £1,000.  Second £500.  Third £250. 5 Runner-up prizes of £50 each.  For the best, most empowering eco-lyrics written to the tune of a favourite song.
At Ecologisers, we work consistently on the first three, forwarding both the Young People's anti-litter photography competition and the eco-lyrics aspects as appropriate.
Further Outcomes:
This is an integrated project, well-seeded, following the interests and skill-sets of  Ecologisers' organisers.
1 A professional recording of the 15 EcoCarols in 2017 will give Ecologisers the opportunity to disseminate the idea of writing eco-lyrics and talk about the Litter Goes Literary competition. 
2 New Zealand's enviroschools are already using EcoCarols. 
3 The gaelic version of EcoCarols are awaiting inclusion in the gaelic educational publishing programme.
4 An ultimate aim is for a big organisation to take over the running of this competition in future years, including the production of an annual Kind Kids Calendar.  As a marketing tool, the variety and attractiveness of photographic subjects – children and pets - humorously captioned makes for a very different focus to any other calendar.  To see a baby with a piece of litter seeds a subtle consciousness-change about shared responsibility.
5 As a future-oriented project, it opens up educational opportunities to increase awareness about the growing global litter problem. It offers young people an early focus in their lives on making a difference and the personal empowerment that brings with it. We will seek funding to record the best entries from the Litter Goes Literary Young People's Humorously Captioned Photography Competition 2017 as a future album.
Ecologisers:
Peter Lyons is an ex-paralegal, a professionally performed playwright, an animal lover, particularly of birds, and an eco-poet. He deals with administration, publicity and promotion. 
Ann Palmer is an ex-headteacher, a Creative Writing teacher, an eco-lyricist, eco-writer and award winning poet. She believes passionately in creativity's ability to turn problems into solutions.
]]><![CDATA[GODS OF THE MORNING]]>Tue, 27 Dec 2016 10:30:22 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/gods-of-the-morningMark Cocker and John Lister-Kaye have said it.  Referred to birds as Gods of the Morning.  Mark Cocker in Crow Country said it.  John Lister-Kaye made it the title of his most recent book, which I have now read twice.  Both men have given birds a status never accorded them before. They have elevated birds to the point where the reverential for nature not only comes on board, but leads the way.
  When two prominent modern naturalists change sides it makes us take notice.  Change sides in the sense of allowing their experiences, rather than science, to shine in the way they see nature. But there is a lot more to this changing sides than first meets the eye as I will shortly explain.
   Collectively, we've made a god of science, no doubt about that. So this is an act of deposing an old societal mind-king, not one to be passed over lightly!
   This is not a chicken-or-egg question. When we ask, which came first, nature or science, there's no doubt nature takes the helm. So where does that put science exactly?  In the role of interpreter, according to current knowledge, which is underpinned by the state of the technology we humans have access to.  This means that nature will always be ahead, particularly if, as entomologist  and t.v. presenter George McGavin says, at present we know less than 1% of what nature has to teach us.
   Let's be clear on this.  Nature came first.  All the closely reasoned arguments in the world are not going to shift that position. Our scientific approach to nature took hold in the nineteenth century, courtesy of a burgeoning anthropocentric take on life which, because it gives us humans a sense of control and power, has dominated ever since. In our data-collecting age, there is no limit to the amount of proof demanded by the scientific community. The only stand against this is the number of people who choose to follow the lead of Mark Cocker and John Lister-Kaye.
   We need a woman now.  Here's my contribution. It too comes from a reverential source, an EcoCarol to the tune of  The First Nowell. Please sing it, even if you are not a very good singer.  The first time I tried to, I welled up.
Birdsong
to the tune of 'The First Nowell'
English traditional carol
The first birdsong that ever I heard
filled me with more joy than I felt I deserved.
How could it be that, a creature so wee
could fly, sing and be so beautifully free?

Chorus:
Birdsong, birdsong, birdsong, birdsong.
It fills my heart my whole lifelong.
It was through the feelings birds inspired
that I found my way when I was a child.
So brave, so small, in song and in flight.
Their courage in life my own birthright.
Chorus:
And truth to tell, it seems to me
birds lead us to ways we too can be free.
In murmurations, that sky-dance sublime
when thousands of birds move together in time.
Chorus:
As a part of a whole, each tiny yet strong,
their great joy in life a palpable one.
Their chorus at dawn the wake-up to feel
flowing with ecstasy's power to heal.
Chorus:
    Now to the nitty gritty, and to explain science's exalted position for the last century. It's to do with how we use our brains. I am writing my second book on human brain-use. It focuses on the differences between right brain hemisphere perceptions and left hemisphere led ones. Broadly speaking, the left brain, currently dominant in western society, aligns with the scientific viewpoint whereas the right brain 'speaks the language of nature'. These two brain hemispheres operate very differently.  The whole human brain is a giant filter on reality. Well, two giant filters working together actually. How you see at any one moment depends on which hemisphere is leading.  So swapping sides is always a possibility!
    Science has a current theory concerning Sparrow Choirs.  It goes like this. A musician in New York believes sparrows no longer sing because of city noise-levels. The reason given is they can't hear each other over the traffic. In a Force 10 gale, quite as noisy as motorway traffic, I press my ear to the bedroom window and listen. From the intertwined huge hebe and rhododendron bush outside my window comes our Sparrow Choir in full song.  We check regularly, my husband and I. The Sparrow Choir sing all morning.  With a few natural breaks for the seed and bread we put out to keep them going.
    Now there's a trinity of people who state birds are gods of the morning. More are needed. If you would like to, please add your name and email address on my contact page.  

©Gaia Dance 2016

]]><![CDATA[Transocean Winner Rig moves on at last.]]>Sat, 15 Oct 2016 16:43:15 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/transocean-winner-rig-moves-on-at-lastA welcome sight in Broad Bay this morning - no rig in view.  A couple of photos, one by me, one by Peter.  You can guess which is which.   
Picture
Picture
]]><![CDATA[Western Isles Children's Humorous Photographic Competiton 2016 on an anti-litter theme.]]>Sat, 15 Oct 2016 16:38:46 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/western-isles-childrens-humorous-photographic-competiton-2016-on-an-anti-litter-theme
Picture
Our visit to Sir E. Scott School in Tarbert, Harris, to publicise the competition seems to have been a success. Not sure whether our jester costumes helped or not!
]]><![CDATA[                                             Mating Blackberries!]]>Sat, 24 Sep 2016 14:44:05 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/-mating-blackberries
Picture
]]><![CDATA[GREAT REVIEW ON AMAZON]]>Mon, 04 May 2015 13:53:04 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/great-review-on-amazonHave just discovered a great review on Amazon of my book 'Secrets of a Riding Teacher'.  Ought to check my book titles a bit more often - it's been on there since January!

'Bought this as a Christmas present for my niece who loves horseriding and is thinking of training as a riding teacher. She told me she loved the book and got lots of useful information from it. The stories are diverse and so genuine, I've read a couple of them myself and am quite impressed. Definitely buying Yvonne's other book for my niece's birthday!'


Wonder when the niece's birthday is?  Hope she enjoys that as much.]]><![CDATA[Time for EcoCarols]]>Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:16:07 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/time-for-ecocarolsI'm now writing EcoCarols.  That is, putting  ecological words to well-known Christmas carol tunes. Basically, they represent my way to try and raise ecological consciousness, which I believe has intrinsic worth.

EcoCarols are 'free-to-use' for a year.  I am keen to get them 'out there' and believe the season of goodwill is an appropriate time to do this. (The deeper rationale is included below.)

So I've posted a new page on this site, headed EcoCarols. There you'll find the five I've written to date there, along with a fuller rationale for their creation.  

The five carols are:-

TREES OF EARTH  (tune: We Three Kings of Orient are...)

I LOOK OUT MY WINDOW (tune: Away in a Manger)

IF THERE IS ONE GREAT THING (tune: In the Bleak Mid-Winter)

NORTHERN LIGHTS (tune: Silent Night)

PEOPLE OF PRE-HISTORY'S LINEAGE (tune: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
  
Feedback would be most welcome.  And if any EcoCarol reaches that stage, of anyone can provide a video-clip of of performance, that too would be welcome..

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the five EcoCarols!  

]]><![CDATA[A WORD OR TWO FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE]]>Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:13:20 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/a-word-or-two-from-william-shakespearePicture
'ONE TOUCH OF NATURE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD KIN'.
After my sea swim this morning I can only agree.
]]><![CDATA[All life on a morning sea swim]]>Wed, 06 Aug 2014 12:09:12 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/all-life-on-a-morning-sea-swimArctic terns fishing.  Arctic skuas attacking black headed gulls. Seals crooning on the rocks. All happening at sea this morning.  Oh, and the usual jellyfish.  ]]><![CDATA[In Praise of Morning Sea-Swims]]>Sun, 25 May 2014 11:48:26 GMThttp://www.gaiadancebooks.com/blog/in-praise-of-morning-sea-swimsConnection to the thrice re-born.

Once, from the amniotic fluid of foetal days.
Further back, from our deep ancestry - how we came out of the sea.
Thirdly, for the powerful affirmation of the day that wholeheartedly celebrates and greets sunrise.

The 'So-What?' response to this trio is the best evidence available for us having disconnected from our primal roots.  ]]>