OUR VISION
What we eat, how our food is grown, and how we take care of the land can have a positive or negative impact on ourselves, our community, and our world. Our vision is to work collaboratively with others to find ways to reduce these negative impacts by making better sustainable* choices.

OUR MISSION
Novato Live Well aims to work with and educate families, schools, and our community about the positive benefits of choosing sustainable ways of eating, gardening and living. We want to bring people to the table to: Share what we have learned. Have an open dialog regarding the issues. Collaborate to find creative solutions. Advocate where change is necessary. And provide educational opportunities.

NOVATO COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE:

JUNE 26, 2009: Community Garden Project Takes Root in Novato!: The Novato Community Garden Committee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Novato to prepare to lease city property at O'Hair Park off of Novato Boulevard. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT CLICK HERE

LUNCHROOM WASTE: THE WORM STORY: It's been one year since Lu Sutton Elementary School in Novato had a Waste Audit. And, 6 months since the hungry worms came to the school. Read about one mom's effort to save the world one-bite-at-a-time: The revealing story with pictures!

2009 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1. WASTE AUDIT: Played critical role in bringing the Conservation Corps North Bay "School Lunch Waste Audit" program to the Novato Unified School District.

2. THE SCHOOL LUNCHROOM: Sat on the Novato Unified School District "Sustainablity Committee" and provided invaluable information, resources and support to the district and local schools around issues of School Lunch Waste, Recycling, School Lunch Composting, and improving the Lunchroom environment to improve the eating habits of the students, while reducing lunch room waste.

3. SCHOOL GARDEN SUPPORT: Provided consultation, support and resource information to local schools on building, growing and maintaining school gardens.

4. COMPOST CLUB WORKSHOP: Hosting the second "Compost Club Workshop" in collaboration with the Conservation Corps Northbay with a grant from Northbay Corporation.

2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1. NOVATO UNIFED SCHOOL DISTRICT (NUSD) SUSTAINABLITY COMMITTEE:
In the Fall of 2008 the trustees of the NUSD created a Sustainability Committee to discuss challenges and seek solutions for implementing sustainable principles in the schools. In addition to having a representative from each school at the table, Novato Live Well Network and Sustainable Novato both have a representative on this committee. Recycling, school lunchroom waste, composting, school gardens, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are some of the areas we are addressing. To learn more about "greening" schools, visit THE GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE at www.greenschools.net

2. GARDENS IN THE SCHOOL: In 2007 Novato Live Well Network was instrumental in assisting all schools in the Novato Unified School District in applying for the California Instructional School Garden Grant. All the NUSD schools were awarded a grant. Our two high schools each received $5,000 and all other schools received $2,500. Novato Live Well Network continues to provides school garden support through email notifications of grant opportunities and workshops; by posting resources, workshops, how-to's and school garden links on our website; by providing email & phone consultation; and by sponsoring the Compost Club Workshop. See our gardens page for more info.

3. A COMMUNITY GARDEN IN NOVATO?: When Novato Live Well Network formed in June 2006, one of our initiatives has been to acquire a site to build a community garden in Novato. It has been a bigger challenge than we anticipated. After 2-1/2 years of hard work, we are close to acquiring a site. Visit our Community Garden webpage to learn more.

4. LUNCH BUDDIES, CONTINUED: We continue to work with NUSD School Food Services Director, Miguel Villarreal and school principals and parents to find ways to create a healthier eating environment during lunch time. Visit our School Kitchens webpage to learn more.

5. COMPOST CLUB WORKSHOP: On Saturday, May 17, 2008 a group of dedicated teachers, parents and students attended the "Compost Club Workshop". We learned all about school lunchroom garbage: the plastics, papers, leftovers, and uneaten food that ends up in the trash. Did you know food scraps and other organic material take up about half of all landfill space?! They produce methane gas, 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfills are considered the lead human source of methane emission, according to the US EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program. To learn more about the solutions in the school lunchroom, see our "Gardens Page".

6. LU SUTTON ELEMENTARY SUCCESSFUL MCC WASTE AUDIT: After months of planning, on February 28, 2008, Novato Live Well Network rolled out the School Waste Audit project in collaboration with Marin Conservation Corps (MCC) and the Novato Unified School District (NUSD). Lu Sutton Elementary (1800 Center Road, Novato) was the first of several schools to participate in MCC's School Waste Audit program. “As part of our 'Caught Being Green' environmental program, the waste audit will help conservation 'come alive' for our students!" said Suzanne Thompson, Principal at Lu Sutton. Thompson added, "We hope to empower our students to take action when there is a problem, and to understand that their collaborative efforts with our community can have significant impact beyond right here, right now.” The Waste Audit event involves the school staff, teachers and students. A date is picked and all garbage for that day is collected, sorted, weighed and documented. This will provide a benchmark for schools and departments to improve on. Read our press release and watch a video clip of the event (scroll down) and see the results: Lu Sutton Waste-in-one-day.

If you'd like to bring this Waste Audit program to your school, please contact Jennie Pardi, Community Recycling Program Coordinator for Conservation Corps North Bay (formally: Marin Conservation Corps) at (415) 454-4554 ext 282.

7. "APPLE MARKET/HARVEST MARKET" HAS GONE LOCAVORE!
On Thursday, January 31, 2008 Harvest Market, located at 155 San Marin Drive (415-898-1925), began selling produce from Marin County Farmers Market. We want to thank Heidi Kertel our "Locavores of Novato" Chair, for her instrumental role in bring this about. See our letters to the editors we sent to the Marin Independent Journal and to the Novato Advance. When you go to Harvest Market, please let them know how much you appreciate this. Also, let them know what products from local farms and agricultural businesses you'd like them to carry.

8. GREEN SCHOOLS: Novato Live Well Network continues to be an active voice in greening our schools: From addressing school lunchroom waste & recycling to being advocates of school gardens and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. We participated in Sustainable Novato's Green Schools Coalition of Novato formed the Fall of 2007 and we continue to advocate for a healthier and safer environment for our children. We tabled at Sustainable Novato's Green Schools forum held January 30, 2008 and at San Marin High Schools Earth Day event on April 25, 2008

Statistics show that green schools create a healthier learning environment, raise test scores, increase attendance, save school districts money in the long run and reduce global warming impact. With climate change and environmental toxins threaten our children’s health and future well being, schools can take a leadership role in both education and practice in greening our schools. Fortunately, proven and effective Green Schools programs already exist. For more info: visit THE GREEN SCHOOLS INITIATIVE at www.greenschools.net

9. RETHINKING PLASTICS FORUM UPDATE: DVD's NOW AVAILABLE
We sponsored Green Sangha's (www.greensangha.org) presentation of their "Rethinking Plastics, Rethinking Our Lives" forum. The event was held on January 12, 2008. It was rebroadcast throughout the Spring of 2008 on Novato Public Access Television (NPAT) -- Novato Comcast Channel 26 ( www.npat.org.) Why do we need to care about plastics? A lot of our food is wrapped in plastic products and many of us put our local organic produce in plastic bags. But plastic is not only bad for the environment, now scientific evidence shows that toxins found in plastics are also leaching from the plastics into our food and into our bodies. We learned about doable life-style changes that we could make to protect ourselves, our family, and the environment. For those who missed the event or broadcasts: DVDs are now available of the event , cost $10. Contact Veronica Valero for more info: 415-897-2302 or NovatoLiveWell@comcast.net.

To learn what you can do regarding this plastic dilemma, visit Green Sangha, our presenter's web page on plastics: www.greensangha.org/Plastics-Campaign. There are many handouts that you can download to learn what you can do to reduce your plastic consumption. In the next few weeks we hope to provide additional information and resources.

You can also purchase organic cotton canvas produce bags, stainless steel water bottles and other non-plastic items from EcoExpress. Another informative web site on living beyond plastics is: www.nonurdles.com/.

DECEMBER 10, 2007 NLWN UPDATE, see PDF document for details:
1. The New Word is "Locavore"
2. Your Support, Shopping Power, & The Story of Stuff
3. Rethinking Plastics Forum: Save this date: Saturday, January 12, 2008, 7-9PM
4. This Fall in the Schools
5. Novato Community Garden

JULY 07 UPDATE: see PDF document for details:
1. Health Forum July 21, 2:00-4:00 PM: Health in A Balance: The Effects of Toxins…
2. $45,000 Grant for Novato School Gardens
3. A Year of Success in the Schools: NLWN Accomplishments 2006/2007

OUR VALUES
Novato Live Well values open dialog and the sharing of ideas. We respect differences and the different choices people make around food issues. We encourage learning all sides of an issue, collaborating to find solutions, and the sharing of resources. To learn more about our Vision, Mission, and who we are see our "About Us" web page.

NON-PROFIT STATUS
The Novato Live Well Network is a sponsored project of Marin Link, a California nonprofit corporation, exempt from federal tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

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