Anti-Incineration, Pro-Recycling Action - THURSDAY!

"What you burn you cannot earn” -- This was one of Mayor Bing’s campaign slogans and many people voted for him because he said this, let’s hold him to it!

What: The GDRRA* meeting
When: Thursday, June 18, 2:30pm
Where: Finance Department Conference Room, COLEMAN A YOUNG MUNICIPAL CENTER

*Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority - Board of directors that oversees the incinerator and are appointed by Mayor Bing

The Anti-incineration/pro-recycling rally Tuesday was a huge success with many people attending, and major media and press picking up the story. The next call to action is Thurs, June 18, 2:30pm at the GDRRA meeting. At this meeting GDRRA (the Mayor) will release the new plan for waste disposal in the city of Detroit, incineration or recycling. We will have the answer on Thursday.

Please come and show your support and keep the phone calls and emails going to the Mayor’s office with your concerns.

Mayor’s office phone: (313) 224-3400
Mayor’s office fax: (313)224-4433
Mayor’s office email: dave.bing@detroitmi.gov iojeda@detroitmi.gov

In 2008 City Council adopted the New Business Model for Detroit Solid Waste to:

* Stop burning over 2,000 tons of trash each day by July l, 2009
* Begin citywide curbside recycling & recovering materials for reuse
* Create new jobs & opportunities to attract green industries— a number of companies are interested in doing business here using Detroit’s captured waste

Urge Mayor Bing to take these steps by July 1, 2009:

* End burning Detroit trash; no agreements for incineration after June 30, 2009
* Create more jobs and make Detroit a healthier city
* Full transparency of all waste contracts

Call or write:
Mayor Dave Bing 313-224-3400
Dave.Bing@detroitmi.gov
Charles Beckham: cbeckham@detroitmi.gov

Evolve Detroit - Anti Incineration, Pro Recycling Action TODAY!

Good Day Detroit and all those who grace us here,
Welcome to a short "Anti Incineration, Pro Recycling" Evolve Detroit. I'm putting together a full Evolve Detroit as we speak, but we needed to get this important information out this morning.

Before we get into the details, I want to thank all of our new subscribers for joining us and have to express our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support we've received in the past two weeks. Though our decision to "decentralize" the Lab was difficult, we all feel as though a great weight has been lifted. Taking the Lab on the road has already provided us a great many opportunities to establish new partnerships and to look at our purpose and mission from a different position. We're excited about this transitional phase and look forward to sharing our work throughout the city and region. Thank you all so much for joining us here! It means the world to us.

In Health, Joy and Liberation,
Gregg

Take one step today to make Detroit a cleaner, healthier, safer city.
Help the children of Detroit breathe free.

Anti Incineration, Pro Recycling Action - Call TODAY and join us at the rally!
If you live, work or play in or around the city of Detroit please use the info below to contact Mayor Bing's office TODAY. You can also join Angela, Aya and I at noon in front of the Spirit of Detroit for an important rally that we hope will inspire Mayor Bing to shut down the incinerator.

Anti Incineration, Pro Recycling Rally
When: TODAY, Tuesday June 16th 11am-1pm
Where: Spirit of Detroit Statue on the corner of Woodward and Jefferson

Mayor Bing, through the Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority (GDRRA) will release his decision on the future of our trash on June 17th. Since his election, he has withheld his position on use of the incinerator for Detroit's solid waste. This is cause of great concern as the decision can impact the City for up to 20 years.

This is a critical moment for any concerned citizen of the Detroit area to speak out against incineration and show support for recycling. This moment gives Mayor Bing a wonderful opportunity to move Detroit forward: to improve air quality, Create jobs with the materials recovered in recycling and to reduce costs of solid waste management for now and the years ahead. As he said during the mayoral campaign, "what you burn cannot earn." LETS HOLD HIM TO IT!

The Mayor’s position will be evident on June 17th. Join others to speak up for a cleaner, healthier, greener Detroit.

Please email, call and fax your opinions and concerns TODAY!
Mayor’s office phone: (313) 224-3400
Mayor’s office fax: (313)224-4433
Mayor’s office email: iojeda@detroitmi.gov and ojedai@detroitmi.gov

Yoga Today, BBQ & Bonfire Send-Off Tonight!

Greetings Detroit and all who grace us here!
It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day here in Detroit.

I want to thank everyone for their outpourings of support over the past few days. We are so blessed by the wonderful and diverse community that has come together around the Lab. We are excited to leverage this transition to grow our community and expand our work throughout the city and region. All of the letters of encouragement have assisted us to realize many potentials and have already opened a few doors. Again, we are so grateful for you all!

Today is our last day of classes at the Lab's space in Eastern Market. I want to invite you all to join us for these special classes and for a barbecue and bonfire in the evening.

At 10 am Shelley Smith will lead class and I'll send off the Lab with the class at noon.

At 5pm we'll gather behind the Lab for a celebratory vegan barbecue & potluck that will eventually turn into a bonfire. If you'd like to join the potluck, just bring a dish to pass. We'll have a "veggie only" grill available if you'd like to bring something to throw on.

At sunset, we'll light the bonfire behind the Lab. We've heard rumor that some of the Sun Ships crew will be bringing out instruments. We encourage you to bring your bells, voices, gongs, flutes, hand drums, etc to raise a lovely noise and launch the Lab into its next phase.

Please be mindful of traffic as the Wings game is this evening. It starts at 8pm.

I also want to share that we'll be sharing our story and our new plans for the Lab on WDET's Detroit Today on Monday. I believe we'll be on air around 2:30. If you'd like to hear more about our transition please tune in.

We thank you all again for your support and look forward to seeing many of you around the city!

In Health, Joy and Liberation!
Gregg

Lab Press Release, Please Forward

June 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Media Contact:
Gregg Newsom
(313) 316-1411
gregg@detroitevolution.com

DETROIT EVOLUTION LABORATORY MOVES TO EXPAND
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, SERVICES

DETROIT, Mich., June 4 — The Detroit Evolution Laboratory is positioning itself to expand its community partnerships and services with its announced move from its space on Gratiot Avenue in Eastern Market.

Gregg and Angela Newsom started the Lab two years ago as a community space intended to foster awareness of the connections between health and sustainable "green" lifestyles. The Lab, known for its diverse holistic services including vegan and raw food kitchen classes and catering, yoga, and health and sustainability workshops, has also become a major hub for community discussion and activism around mind-body health and sustainable models of development.

“Moving from the space on Gratiot Avenue was a difficult decision,” said Lab co-owner Gregg Newsom. “But this provides us the opportunity to grow relationships and continue our work in new and exciting ways. We see this as the beginning of new growth for the Lab, and Detroit.”

The Lab will continue to present a diverse array of services, including Leslie Blackburn's Sacred Geometry classes at the Detroit Flyhouse in the FD lofts June 9, 16, & 23 and the popular Detroit Abides free film series with the screening of “The Greening of Southie” on June 17 in Eastern Market’s Shed 5. Additional upcoming events include a vegan “Backyard BBQ” class and Angela and Gregg's new workshop on greening relationships called "Sustainable Love"

“But this is just the beginning,” said co-owner Angela Newsom. “Another reason for the move was to realize our vision of creating a space to showcase sustainable living. We are working towards that goal, and several others.”

New projects underway include a revamped Web site, new kitchen classes, workshops and events throughout the city and region. The new website - Evolve Detroit, an Urban Transition Fieldbook - will document the Lab's work in the greater context of Detroit community development, Permaculture and the Transition Movement. Detroit Evolution Laboratory will continue to work with partners Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit and Eastern Market Corporation and will soon announce new partnerships, events and services for the metro area.

“We invite everyone to get involved as we move into this next chapter of our growth,” Gregg said. “There’s tremendous possibility to create change in Detroit; and we hope to work with as many people as possible to make that change happen in a constructive, sustainable and healthy way.”

For more information about the Detroit Evolution Laboratory, please visit detroitevolution.com, follow @evolvedetroit on Twitter, join the Lab's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=8279450767 or call 313.316.1411

About Detroit Evolution Laboratory: Detroit Evolution Laboratory facilitates and promotes the exploration of healthy & sustainable tools, techniques and concepts that empower individuals and communities. Informed and inspired by Permaculture, the Transition Movement and Eastern, Western, and Indigenous explorations of Consciousness Expansion, we actively promote that an Urban-Agrarian, Sustainable, and Soulful lifestyle will facilitate Detroit’s survival and its future success as a relocalized city. Detroit Evolution Laboratory’s focus is wide and favors radical creativity, exploring and sharing diverse aspects of culture from food & art to yoga & music. The Lab promotes other individuals, organizations, and businesses with complementary missions and goals for Detroit through active participation in projects and events throughout the city.

The Lab Closes a Door...

take it easy on your eyes and see Evolve Detroit as it was intended to be seen.

June 2nd, 2009 (The Moon Waxes Gibbous) I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation. - Dr. Albert Hofmann "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." -Max Planck When an old culture is dying, the new is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure. - Rudolf Bahro

Evolve Detroit is a weekly, or as needed, publication produced by the Detroit Evolution Laboratory and dedicated to Health, Joy and Liberation. Subscribers this week: 922! Please share Evolve Detroit and encourage your friends and family to subscribe. Detroit Evolution Laboratory Angela Newsom Gregg Newsom Alan Scheurman 313.316.1411

Greetings Detroit and all who grace us here,
Welcome to another Evolve Detroit. Due to the importance of the information we must share today I encourage you to take a break and lend your attention. Though I'm facebook and twitter addled, this special Evolve Detroit requests a heartfelt exposition and engagement that are part and parcel of the Sustainable lifestyle we're exploring at the Lab. Slowing down so that we can truly engage the multitude of information being collected by our senses promotes the awareness of the vital role we play in the world around us. As stated, there is a great deal to share, so I'll sincerely thank you for slowing down to take this in and get on with it.

The Transit of Detroit Evolution Laboratory
In June of 2007, when Angela and I opened Detroit Evolution Laboratory we had no idea that it would blossom forth in this manner. From the start we decided to dedicate ourselves completely to the Lab's development and it became an expression of our talents and vision. With diverse offerings, a strange name and a sincerely expressed dedication to health, joy and liberation for the people of Detroit, Angela and I ventured into unknown territory. We fully integrated work and life by living in the Lab and utilizing it as a showcase for our lifestyle. We shared our personal stories of transformation and continued to change and evolve in front of everyone visiting our unique space in Eastern Market and reading Evolve Detroit.

We've shared many milestones with our community. Many of you have witnessed our transformation into activists and vegans, our marriage, pregnancy and the birth of our son Aya. The past two years have been a whirlwind, but throughout we've been graced by support from an incredibly diverse and dedicated community. We decided early on that as a socially conscious business we would encourage our community to take ownership in the Lab. We are grateful that so many incredible people stepped up to meet that call. For the past two years, Angela and I have constantly been amazed by the wonderful people that have come into our lives through the Lab. We wouldn't be here today if it were not for the staunch dedication of our supporters.

With all that stated, it pains me to share that last Friday, Angela, Alan and I made the tough decision to free Detroit Evolution Laboratory from the space that we all know and love. Though the Lab is truly turning into a dynamic entity and will continue to evolve, we're not bringing in enough business to continue to support the physical space. As we gladly share, the Lab is a labor of love that has been kept afloat over the past two years by generous assistance from others, long hours and intense work and continual selling off of personal belongings. Though we've had many struggles upon this path, we've also experienced a heartfelt joy that is hard to properly express. We've appreciated every minute of it.

We've also been aware of the discrepancies between our current location and the Lab's mission for quite sometime. As we deepen our understanding of sustainability and our awareness of the infinite cycles of life we've naturally been drawn towards projects and technologies that aren't feasible (or easily funded) in a leased space. We've known that this shift would come for quite some time and making this announcement and letting go of the space will lift some our burdens and inspire us to take action and move forward.

Though we are saddened, this gives us the opportunity to recreate the Lab and truly process and integrate many of the lessons we've learned along the way. We've been moving at such a breakneck speed to try to keep the doors open that we've been too busy to enjoy the blessings that are our labor. By letting go of the doors all together and decentralizing Detroit Evolution Laboratory we will continue to share our offerings at locations and events across the city and region. As we lay the foundations for a long term sustainable home for the Lab, we intend to grow awareness of our mission through funded outreach and by doubling our efforts in viral culture-jamming.

The Lab Moves Forward
We want to invite you all, new and veteran Lab supporters alike, to visit the Lab this week. This transition comes at a time when we are celebrating the Lab's second anniversary by rolling out our new web site, Evolve Detroit, An Urban Transition Fieldbook. We're also announcing new kitchen classes, workshops and events throughout the city and region.

We'll continue with yoga at the Service Street space through the rest of the week. Saturday, Shelley will teach at 10 am and I'll teach our final yoga class at noon. We invite you to celebrate with us Saturday evening with an informal gathering on Service Street. I'll post with details as we put them together.

I also want to mention that Detroit Evolution Laboratory will be presenting Leslie Blackburn's Sacred Geometry Classes at the Detroit Flyhouse in the FD Lofts. The 2 part Introduction to Sacred Geometry will be held on Tuesday June 9th & 16th from 7:30-9:30pm. The cost for both dates is $35, or $28 if you went to the Lab's Sacred Geometry Dinner and Discuss. Leslie's Sri Yantra class will be at 7:30pm on Tuesday the 23rd and is $20 or $16 if you attended the Dinner and Discuss. Pre-registration is required. Please sign up by emailing Leslie or calling 313.269.6719. Space is limited in these classes and they will sell out so sign up today!

This month's Detroit Abides will screen The Greening of Southie on June 17th at 7pm in Eastern Market's Shed 5. Save the date, it's FREE!

We're So Thankful for all of you! On behalf of Angela, Aya, Alan and the entire Lab crew, I want to sincerely thank you for your support, near or far. We have been so blessed by the attention you have paid our work and we look forward to growing and evolving with you in this new phase. We look forward to seeing many of you this week and, as always, we send our blessings to you and yours. In Health, Joy and Liberation Gregg Newsom

Gregg & Angela's son Aya Eden, 3 Months