Hola from Costa Rica! I am writing from EARTH University where I am spending a week living as a student with a group sent by Whole Foods. EARTH is a tropical paradise with a mission: to prepare leaders with ethical values to contribute to the sustainable development of the tropics and to construct a prosperous and just society. They are reaching these ambitious goals in surprising and inspiring ways which I have been lucky enough to witness during my stay.

If EARTH University sounds familiar to you, you may have seen it on a banana label on the shelf of your neighborhood Whole Foods Market. In addition to bananas, Whole Foods supports the universities commercial enterprise by sourcing pineapples, tropical flowers, and coffee. (If you haven’t tried Costa Rican coffee, run, don’t walk to whole foods to buy some. It’s amazing!)

Profits support EARTH’s scholarship program, which is important because half of all students receive a full scholarship and an additional 30% receive a partial scholarship. The students come mostly from Latin American countries and don’t have the economic means to afford a college education. The goal is that the students return home after graduation and improve their communities with the knowledge they have gained at EARTH. It’s working because each EARTH grad creates roughly four jobs.

The curriculum is a combination of hands on learning and traditional classroom style. Each student starts and runs a business beginning in their second year, making them effective agricultural entrepreneurs. My condensed experience here has had me spending time in the banana fields, the packing plant, multiple gardens (most of the food in the cafeteria is grown on campus), and classrooms, including the soil lab, which was a crash course in the chemistry of what makes good soil.

More than just an institution of higher education, EARTH is deeply committed to the improvement of local communities. La Florita is the first carbon neutral community in Costa Rica, and possibly Latin America, because the university has committed to sharing its agricultural and environmental knowledge. Earlier today EARTH students and I helped install a bio-digester in a small farm which will help the environment by keeping pig waste from contaminating the local eco system, and also provide methane gas for the family to cook with, so they don’t have to cut down trees to use for firewood. Earth is innovating and implementing many more similar solutions that benefit the environment and communities.

Everyone here at EARTH has been exceptionally warm and welcoming. Not just the professors, staff, and students, but also the local sloth and iguana seem to say hola in their own way. The pura vida attitude is contagious. I am looking forward to my “graduation” even though it will be sad to leave this amazing place. When I return home I hope to improve my community by sharing the knowledge I have gained this week, just like a real EARTH graduate.

Photos by April Gilbert

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About this time tomorrow, I’ll be in Detroit — getting off the plane before heading to Dearborn, Michigan, where I’ll learn about Ford’s new green initiatives at the “Forward with Ford” conference put together by the company. So it seemed only fitting that today I found about other green initiatives happening in Michigan — showcased in a new film called “Urban Roots.”

Produced by Leila Conners and Mathew Schmid, “Urban Roots” shows the growing urban farming movement in Detroit — where people are finding ways to feed themselves locally and sustainably during economically turbulent times. Watch the trailer for an inspiring preview.

A few screenings are in the works, but none are in L.A. You can, however, buy the 90-minute DVD for $19.95. Or if you think watching the film will inspire you to finally plant your own urban garden, spring for the $30 “Root Level” package that’ll get you the DVD, three packs of heirloom seeds, plus the happy knowledge your money went to fund farms in schools.

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Should you ever find yourself in Sedona, Arizona, treat yourself to ChocolaTree. This all-organic vegan oasis of a restaurant makes delicious and fresh dishes that’ll please cleansers and carnivores alike.

After accidentally discovering ChocolaTree during a visit to Sedona about a week ago, my boyfriend and I became temporary regulars, eating all our meals there during the rest of our stay! My favorite entree was the Falafel Plate — flavorful sprouted falafel balls and a fresh salad with veggie hummus, a creamy garlic dip, and raw flatbread.

That was a pretty filling dish. For a lighter meal that gives you a taste of the tasty veggie hummus, try the Hummus Sandwich — raw onion flatbread filled with onion sprouts, greens, and cucumber.

For a spicier entree, go for the raw Viva Burrito — a sundried tomato wrap filled with fresh veggies and dressed with all manner of decadent vegan deliciousness — from some of the best guacamole I’ve ever tasted to creamy “cheese.” (more…)

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Regular blogging will resume Wednesday.

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I’ve raved about New York City’s newish pedestrian plazas a few times this year, but the idea for these people-friendly urban features isn’t new at all. In fact, 40 years ago, social critic Paul Goodman and his brother Percival proposed doing away with cars in the Big Apple altogether — so that New Yorkers could enjoy cleaner air, safer streets, and “a more integrated community life.”

“Banning Cars from Manhattan” (PDF) was the title of Paul’s essay, published in 1961 in Dissent magazine. Paul and Percival proposed banning all cars “except buses, small taxis, vehicles, for essential services (doctor, police, sanitation, vans, etc.), and the trucking used in light industry” — leaving room for a possible lift on the ban on weekends “when the truck and bus traffic is much diminished.”

Though written long ago, Paul’s proposal’s still very much relevant — and applicable. I read it with great interest, nodding along in agreement until Paul stabbed me in the heart on the last page with this parenthetical: “In sprawling cities like Los Angeles or Cleveland, of course, one cannot get rid of the cars.”

We’ll see about that. I’d actually read this essay a long time ago, but had forgotten about it, coming across it this time around thanks to “Paul Goodman Changed My Life,” a documentary in the making about Paul. Think you’ve got some great, car-free ideas, a la Paul Goodman? JSL Films, the company behind the documentary, is actually running a contest for those who think outside the car — and are willing to write their local government about their innovative ideas.

Simply write your local government “with five ideas that could be implemented in your area to promote forms of transportation that reduce global warming” and enter the contest by Nov. 30. Two winners — one from North America and one from Europe — will each win a new bicycle from Breezer Bikes and Biomega, respectively. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments here too!

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