Motivation 2011

Hello and welcome to the Urban Environmental Institute blog.

Since the publishing of a story in the Toledo Blade dozens of people have contacted me and asked questions about the lifestyle at 2041 Parkwood.  Questions have ranged from the urban implications of living without electrical appliances to resource conservation to growing food intensively in limited space to canning and preserving to small livestock keeping to, yes, collecting maple sap and making syrup.  Folks have asked if we offer workshops, if we'll respond via email to questions, and if they can stop by when specific tasks are being completed so they can watch and learn.

There have been so many requests that we have decided to use the Urban Environmental Institute (UEI), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education in the urban setting, as a vehicle for disseminating information about urban sustainability.  UEI was established in 2000-2001 and has been recently revitalized through the hard work of my partner Catherine Hernandez and our daughter Ruth Steel, along with friends including Stacy Jurich, Gary Gianetto, Jason Finn and others.  There is a website, a Facebook individual (Uei Toledo), organization, and group page, and a gmail and organizational email address by which we can help communicate the stewardship lifestyle and other developments at 2041.

Please share this information with anyone who might be interested, friend and like us on Facebook, and watch these spaces for updates.  Thanks for your interest!

Yours for a sustainable Toledo,
Steve Steel