Supporting Sustainable Initiatives
Allow us to introduce our contributors who come to us from all walks of life but with a shared mission. Reach out to them with questions, thoughts or suggestions. Chermelle grew up in Los Angeles. Her earliest memories of going green were in the early 90’s when household chores included emptying soda cans and sorting bottles –glass and plastic - to take to the nearest recycling plant. While summer road trips in the family station wagon were bumpy and fun, they were also open fodder for her parents to point out the beauty of the environment around her. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. Sometime, while there, she fell in love with outdoor markets and organic produce often housed in quaint stores where alternative music played. It wasn’t until she moved to New York four years ago that she ditched plastic for good; pledged to carry out groceries in paper or her often overstuffed hobo bag and went organic – because buying for a vegetarian family of one was quite affordable. Her topics of interest include: people, outdoor markets, green living, eco-consciousness and environmentally friendly products. She has written for BET; BusinessWeek, Calabar Magazine, Odyssey Couleur, offManhattan.com and the Park Slope Courier. Although not a green guru she’d take a hit for the team anytime. Reach out Chermelle at: amor4libros@hotmail.com Born and raised in the shadows of the Hudson River, Kevin remembers the days when you couldn’t even think about swimming in it, let alone eating a fish pulled from its waters. Now a Cape Cod resident, he keeps a watchful eye on the sea. Kevin spent six years as a staff writer and photographer for a newspaper in New York, but has now turned to the online world. In addition to his day job for a major sports website, Kevin oversees the content on the Cape Cod Habitat for Humanity site. Kevin wandered aimlessly through the music world until someone put a cassette of Blonde on Blonde in his hand during his freshman year in college; his life has never been the same. Although he tends to favor acts twice his age like Dylan and Neil Young, he is currently obsessed with just about anything Warren Haynes does. Taking over the Green Music page has not only opened his eyes to new musicians, but has given him an entirely new respect for artists and their approach to environmentally-friendly initiatives. Originally from Westchester County, NY, Jamie is a graduate of The University of Colorado at Boulder, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation. In addition to writing about environmental issues, he consults frequently on forestry and water management projects in the western Connecticut area, where he now resides. Previously, Jamie coordinated programs with local utility companies, providing energy conservation improvements to low income homeowners. Among the many ecological issues that concern him, Jamie is especially wary of technology’s impact on the earth. As a computer consultant, he is always searching for energy and environmentally friendly solutions to recommend to his clients. He is currently working to create a non-profit computer recycling project in Danbury, CT. The project’s focus is on refurbishing older computer hardware from businesses, donating them to low-income kids whose families can’t afford them. In addition to his contributions to GreenCrier.Com, Jamie is an avid songwriter and blogger. His passion for the environment is the inspiration for many of his songs and blog posts. Reach out to Jamie: jamie.gray@greencrier.com Imershein as two graduate degrees, in urban policy analysis and management and social work, and has spent much of her adult life working in the arts, as a theatre producer/manager and then photographer and writer. For the past several years she has been working in the community and economic development field. She is currently writing and consulting for an assortment of clients and happily learning new things about sustainable living. Tod Faasse
Alana Cash
Alana Cash is an avid recycler to the point that she has only one small bag of trash each week (and that is partially filled with cat litter). She is a published author and award-winning filmmaker.
Reach out to Alana at: annieseggco@hotmail.com
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Chermelle D. Edwards
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Kevin Gorey
Reach out to Kevin at: kevin@greencrier.com
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Jamie Gray
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Lauren Glaser - pending.
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Betsy Imershein [photo pending]
More than 30 years ago, Betsy Imershein began to learn about pesticides and hormones and too much sugar in our food, prompting her to change her diet. She made the switch to organic and local foods long before it was fashionable … often to the consternation of family and friends, who thought what she ate and served was strange. Twelve years later, as a working writer/photographer, she published a photo essay for children, documenting an organic farm from seed in the Hudson Valley of New York to sale at a New York City farmer’s market. Issues of sustainability, being green and healing our earth have been at the core of her life’s work.
Reach out to Betsy at: bimershein@optonline.net
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Tod Faassé is a Michigan-based independent journalist and consumer health advocate with a mission to teach personal and self-health care to the planet. He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, newsletters, reports and consumer guides, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving quality of life across the globe.
Wise Scribe Publishing Inc.
www.wisescribe.com
Reach out to Tod at: creativesalescopy@gmail.com
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Lisette Johnson
Lisette grew up in the woods of southern Ohio, and made her way to New York for college in hopes of changing the world through poetry. She graduated from NYU with a BA in journalism and literature, and now freelances to pay her Brooklyn rent.
She's a senior contributor to New York Times research books, writes for various community newspapers in the city, and takes on odd jobs here and there. An avid road-tripper, backcountry camper, and dirt-collector, she's traveled the country several times and made her mark in Europe and Asia as well.
After spending several months volunteering through Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) on the west coast, she came back to the city and took a gig working for NYC Greenmarket, at one of the founding farmer's market stands selling vegetables and herbs. In hopes of making their apartment an urban oasis, she and her boyfriend clutter their fire escape with herb gardens and compost piles, which has proven to be a very effective way of cutting down on waste - and fodder for conversation.
Reach out to Lisette at: lisette.eileen@gmail.com
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J.D. King
J.D. holds a B.A. from the University of Scranton and is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health in New York City. He was the founder and proprietor of Sage Cafe, a natural food eatery located in Bethel CT, where he developed what has been called "The Worlds Greatest Veggie Burger." Building on his expertise in the field, he now offers his services as an independent marketing consultant specializing in the natural products industry and has worked with a variety of companies including Lightlife, Nature's Gate, Organic Valley, Luna and Mayorga Coffee. A long time proponent of the Green lifestyle, J.D. is thrilled to be a member of the Green Crier team.
J.D. currently resides in the majestic Catskill mountains of New York, the perfect setting for an avid hiker and nature lover. He is writing his first novel which has been an exhilarating (at times exasperating) and extremely fulfilling creative endeavor.
Reach out to J.D. at: jd@greencrier.com.
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Marc Latham
Marc Latham graduated from the University of Leeds in 2005 with a BA in History, and MA and PhD in Communications Studies. His final thesis focused on the relationship between journalists and the military during conflicts involving their country. Research methods included a comprehensive content analysis of British and American newspapers, and interviews with journalists.
After graduating he branched out into creative writing: writing a travel memoir, inventing the folding mirror poetry form, and launching www.greenygrey.co.uk
Before university Marc hitch-hiked and slept rough around Europe and the Middle East during 1987-88, working in Greece and Israel along the way.
He then spent three years in Australia and the Far East, working in Oz, Hong Kong and Taiwan, before travelling back to Eastern Europe on the trans-Siberian.
After two years working at home he then spent a year travelling in the Americas during 1993 and 1994, and in 1998 travelled to Kenya and Uganda.
After completing most of his big travels, a desire for new challenges led Marc to run marathons in Edinburgh (2004) and Tromso (2007), and several half-marathons and 10km races in Leeds.
Having seen how beautiful the world and its creatures can be, Marc is now committed to preserving it as much as possible; both for this generation of inhabitants and those in the future.
Reach out to Marc at: http://email.secureserver.net/addressBookQuickAdd.php?contact=Marc+Latham+%3Cmarclatham2003%40yahoo.co.uk%3E
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Viv Weinkauf
Viv Weinkauf is a construction project manager, currently working in the Pacific Northwest. During her thirty-plus years in the construction industry, she has become increasingly interested in the need for renewable building materials. Using her freelance writing, she continues to research the resources and companies that focus on maintaining a responsible philosophy.
Reach out to Viv at: vivweinkauf@netzero.net
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Victoria Witchey
Victoria is a freelance writer based in New York with a passion for the written word. She holds a BA in Sociology from Binghamton University and studied at Oxford University. Before launching her writing career, she worked on a cruise ship in Hawaii, in Finance and Investment Banking, as a teacher, in media and for non-profits. Seeking mischief and adventure, Victoria has traveled, volunteered, studied, and worked abroad, covering 23 countries on five continents. Her travel adventures include scaling the Great Wall of China, shark diving in South Africa, kissing the blarney stone in Ireland, standing in awe of wonders such as the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat and Ngororo Crater, singing karaoke in Tokyo and going on safari in Tanzania. With a passion for writing and an insatiable curiosity, she enjoys digging up the facts and reporting back with a clever spin.
Reach out to Victoria at: victoriawitchey@victoriawitchey.com