I don't know if I would call myself an environmental hero but long before Matt and the Bayshore house, Earth Dance and E-fest and even before Florida House and the tearing down of the John Ringling Towers, there existed people in this town who cared about the environment and set themselves up to spread the word and protect it. One might call them/us heroes. I think we just felt that this was the right and only thing to do.
Some of us are a little older now, and not so much in the limelight as before, but still working quietly behind the scenes. The names run randomly in my head, some you may know, or may still be familiar with. They are not only unsung heroes, but pioneers in their fields, here-to-fore in a time when awareness of environmental hazards was about to awaken.
John Lambie brought us "The Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development" on Proctor Rd. It is a non-profit organization, created to "facilitate change for a sustainable future by partnering with others to create a practice of sustainable community development and a learning network of organizations and communities similarly engaged." Their website is http://www.i4sd.org/. Ellen Mallof, started ReLeaf Sarasota. She is the tree lady who sat for countless hours under or on many a tree to protect it and who almost single-handedly and tirelessly worked to bring tree awareness and tree ordinances to Sarasota County. She repeatedly urged the county to conduct urban ecological analysis studies to determine the economical contribution of the urban forest.
Maynard Hiss, who now lives in Gainesville, has a Masters of Science in Wildlife Ecology, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation has left his influence all over Sarasota from the saving of habitats for the Florida panther, to tree canopy conservation, to pesticide free foods. In 1994, he challenged the county's comprehensive plan daring to suggest that rivers and estuaries are as vital to land as were homes and roads.
Helmet Ziehe in Clearwater brought us the IBE, Institute of Bau-biologieTM, a term coined in Germany to describe a movement promoting the use of healthy building principles as a means to improve living and work spaces and the health of people who occupy them. With him came Will Spates of Indoor Environmental Technologies. He tested many a home in Sarasota, testing Electromagnetic fields ,(EMFs), mold, bacteria, microwave towers, mites, paint and carpet gases and their effects on human health. Another little known environmental hero is Les Drunkenmiller who for year has taken it upon himself to pick up countless refuse from beaches, parks and roadsides.
In 1991, a fellow named Guy Alland started the Sarasota ECO Report which later became the SunCoast ECO Report, a local, national and global environmental newspaper published at first monthly, then bimonthly. Eco Report was the tell-all bible for many regarding environmental effects and destruction to our health and eco-system. It was indeed the only periodical at the time to take a strong stance on the environment. ECO would seek out the heart of the issues and cover it in its entirety. I went to work for Eco from 1991 until 1999 as Associate Editor, which means, I worked passionately and non-stop for the good earth mother. We dealt with local as well as global environmental issues and sought to promote those who were doing good works for environment, such as some of the folk I have mentioned. We did articles on everything from A to Z, from Fluoride, to pesticides, Aspertaine, Greehouse causes and effects, qualities of our soil, water, food, air and so on and so forth. The list goes on. We touched on everything. ECO folded after the Feb/Mar issue of 2004. Perhaps by that time the new environmentalists were already on the scene. Perhaps their precursors were tired of the struggle to have the "obvious" understood. Guy Alland is truly an unsung hero for all his work and service to this community and beyond.
Lastly let me mention another environmental hero, one who again feels sure that he is just doing what is necessary because he can. His name is Mark Elsis, and his intensive and thorough website is http://www.Loveearth.net whose mission statement reads, "To pass on an equitable, peaceful and sustainable earth for future generations." Mark, who lives on Siesta Key has everything on his website that you could imagine or would want information about. His knowledge and the information, numbers, facts and figures he puts out are daunting.
As for me, beyond ECO Report, I along with Julia Aires are responsible for starting the first Earth Day at Oscar Scherer State Park around 1989 or 1990. We worked with park ranger Bobbie Rogers to realize this dream of bringing together environmentalist with booths and educational programs on every thing from recycling, to wild life preservation, sustainability, concurrency and conservation to southwest Florida.
Julia Aires, another tireless hero who for years headed the Florida Center for Peace and Justice from a small office space where the Walgreen now sits on Bahia Vista and 41. For years she and I worked together mostly for Peace. We led gatherings for world peace day on Dec. 31, at Island Park, at South Lido Park etc... There are folk like Annabelle and Peter Duisberg, wonderful elders who still gather every Dec. 31 for Peace at the Presbyterian Church in Venice.
Since about 1990 I have been involved in Earth ways, native way spirituality and ceremony. I lead sacred circles, facilitate sweat lodges, camp outs, vision quests, and other Shamanic works in an effort to bring consciousness of, "Mitakuye Oyasin", the all is related and is relative understanding of those who may have forgotten their legacy of being HU-MAN. This is my work. My boss is always the Earth Mother for all we have and need for our survival comes from her.
There are many more names and heroes for the environment in the shadows of the history of Sarasota. One never knows when one throws a stone into a waterway, where the ripples will go, but there are things in existence today, that we could only dream about, once upon a time in Sarasota.