Sustainable Season's Greetings

Join us here at the store, F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, for a discussion with Shari Burke titled "Sustainable Season's Greetings," on Thursday, December 9, from 7 to 8:30 pm. The talk is free and open to the public.

Shari is a sociocultural anthropologist and self-professed Christmas junkie with an interest in the intersection between cultural and personal stories. With her husband Bill Burke, she founded the Center for Cultural Preservation to help people record their own life stories and to create space where community members can come together to share and listen to the stories of others. Through years of listening and helping people tell their stories, she has learned how to cut through cultural noise to discover what better ways are possible to experience the holidays.

"I learned a long time ago, through unhappy experience, that cultural ideas about what Christmas should be do not work for me," says Shari. "So I threw out what didn't work and came up with my own ideas about what does work. Everyone tells me how peaceful Christmas is at my house. I like that because it shows that the possibility for a better way is there for all of us -- we just have to find it."

Sustaining our own personal peace of mind, sense of well-being, feelings of joy, and personal connections with others can be challenging during the frenzy of activity that is culturally and often personally expected of us in December. According to Shari, we can meet this challenge to create a different kind of holiday experience -- one that is more meaningful and joyful for us and better for the planet.

Shari will discuss some of the larger issues surrounding Christmas in the United States, including the increase in waste production and personal stress, and offer practical solutions that will allow us to lighten our environmental impact while simultaneously brightening our own holiday celebrations. She welcomes your personal stories as well. Attendees are encouraged to share their own ideas about creating a meaningful holiday if they so wish.

"We have much to learn from each other," notes Shari. "We'll provide a calm space for listening to one another and for exchanging ideas."

More information about the Burkes and the Center for Cultural Preservation is available online at www.CenterForCulturalPreservation.com.

This talk is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held on the second Thursday of the month at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Space is limited, so if you are interested in attending please call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.