When the BioMass Hits the Wind Turbine

Many of us dream of carving out a little homestead in the country – living off the land. But actually making a living this way can be quite difficult. Fortunately there are a lot of funding sources out there designed to help small farmers and homesteaders. But how can you tap into these funds?

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of what funds are out there and how best to successfully compete for this money.

Nearly 30 years ago Annie and Jay Warmke quit their high-paying corporate jobs, sold their suburban home, and moved to the hills of Appalachia to build a home out of tires and mud. The goal was to live a carbon neutral – or even a negative carbon lifestyle.

Many of the over 35,000 people who have visited Blue Rock Station over the years have asked - “What made you do such a crazy thing? And how did you manage it?”

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of their experience moving towards a sustainable lifestyle and the lessons learned over 30 years of living in a house made of trash.

Agriculture is rediscovering the ancient practice of managing forests as a source of food and other revenue crops (other than just harvesting trees for lumber). But there are a dizzying number of terms thrown about that each mean something to someone – each a bit different in process and intent. Terms such as food forests, forest farming, agroforestry, alley cropping, and more.

Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Katherine Favor, a sustainable agriculture specialist, based in the National Center for Appropriate Technology’s Western Regional Office to try to make sense of it all.

Electric vehicles are changing the way we fuel our transportation system. They are cleaner, faster, more efficient and cheaper than the internal combustion engine. Every major car company (and many you have never heard of) are planning to convert their fleet of vehicles to all electric by 2040.

But there are a number of fundamental changes that will be required to how we wire our homes, how we manage the grid, and pricing policies used by utilities that must change if we are going to make this happen. Can your home handle the requirements of an EV... can your city... can your state? Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion of many of the challenges we face as we electrify the transportation industry.

We are used to energy becoming more and more expensive over time.  The cost of electricity has increased 7 fold since 1970.  That same year a gallon of gasoline cost 36 cents.

But solar energy has changed that assumption.  The cost of a solar panel has dropped from over $100 per watt in 1975 to only around 25 cents today.  If these trends continue - energy will soon be free.

But that doesn't mean you won't pay for it.  Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station to discuss how energy will change over the coming decades and what that means to you and me.

Every dollar you spend is a vote.  And you should only vote for those companies that support a world vision that you support.  But how can you know what their world vision might be?  And when you vote - how can you tell those companies you did not buy from that you voted for someone else.  In other words - how can you become an annoying consumer.

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for an optimistic discussion of sustainable living and living your values.

For the past decade or so, Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station have observed a three month period of non consumption - their Thanks for Nothing season.  It is a break from our consumer society, where they do not buy anything - and even turn off the electricity.

Find out what motivated this bizarre behavior and what lessons are learned - and how it has enriched their lives.

The concept of a food forests, integrating marketable crops into a woodland environment, managing not just the turf for planting – but every vertical layer of space – is catching on in the world of agriculture innovations.

But can this concept be successful in an urban environment as we seek to provide local and sustainable food sources where we live? Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station for a discussion about the promise and perils of urban food forests.

How do you create or recreate a vital and vibrant downtown district? As so many cities and small towns have seen their commercial districts fall into disuse and disrepair, there is a movement to recapture the days of locally-owned, walkable business districts.

Marietta, Ohio is a small town located at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. They have actually been fairly successful in achieving this goal. Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Luke Sulfridge as he talks about his experience in renovating commercial properties in downtown Marietta.

Ohio is dealing with legacy fallout from a nuclear waste facility that has resulted in widespread contamination and soaring cancer rates. Two nuclear facilities are literally crumbling in Lake Erie and are at the center of a scandal involving bribery and the Speaker of the House and other state officials facing prison time. And power from nuclear energy simply cannot compete with wind and solar without massive infusions of public funds.

So of course the Ohio legislature has decided that now is the time to create an oversight process that is not subject to public scrutiny – designed to manage and promote nuclear energy in the state behind closed doors. Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Pat Marida, anti-nuclear activist for a discussion on just what is going on with nukes in Ohio.