Breaking
New Ground at the Omega Center for Sustainable Living
by
Lauren Yankseter
Aaron
Humankind
has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound
together. All things connect. —Chief Seattle, 1855
On
October 11th at 3:30 in the afternoon, the Omega Institute for Holistic
Studies in Rhinebeck hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new
project — The Omega Center for Sustainable Living. Some of
the speakers included New York’s First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer,
legendary folk musician and activist Pete Seeger, and Ned Sullivan,
President of Scenic Hudson. The opening was a celebration of innovation
and creativity in solving our current environmental challenges.
“I
think we all understand the magnitude of the problems we face globally,”
said Skip Backus, Omega’s Executive Director. “It is
no longer a matter of whether global warming will happen, but rather
how we best deal with the consequences of the damage.”
Omega’s
Center for Sustainable Living will serve as the heart of Omega’s
environmental initiatives and will include a greenhouse, a laboratory,
a classroom, a water garden and a constructed wetland. Founded in
1977, Omega is a nonprofit organization offering a variety of holistic
programs. Located on 195 acres in Rhinebeck, more than 20,000 people
attend its conferences, workshops and retreats each year. In just
the past seven months, they’ve hosted such renowned speakers
as Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jean Houston and Eckhart
Tolle.
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