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10 The Julian News November 21, 2018
C O N T R A C T O R S
• C U S T O M H O M E S • D E C K I N G • D O O R S & W I N D O W S • E L E C T R I C A L S E R V I C E • H A R D W O O D F L O O R I N G •
• GRADING • PAINTING • REMODELING • SEPTIC SYSTEM S • TILE W OR K • WATER SYSTEM S • W ELL D R ILLIN G •
Excavation / Site Work
LARRY NOBLE CONSTRUCTION INC.
General Contractor
Lawrence Noble, Owner
Julian Resident for 27 years
State Lic.602654
New Construction
Room Additions
Decks
Remodels
760 • 765 • 2363
PO Box 1342
JULIAN, CA 92036
Over 35 Years Experience
General Contractor
GENERAL
CONTRACTORS
Office 760 788-7680
Cell 760 519-0618 • Mike DeWitt
Cell 760 522-0350 • Pat DeWitt
PO Box 518
Julian, CA 92036
License # 737182
Contractor
Carpet / Flooring / Window Treatment Heating / Air Conditioning Service
HomeandBusiness
ElectricalService
Gus Garcia’s
New Meters
New Panels
Fans & Lighting
Additional Circuits
Water Well Electrical
cell (760) 271 0166
License # 678670
HomeandBusiness
Water Well Electrical
Electric
®
3582 Highway 78 at Newman Way
765-2601
(760)
Fax (760)756-9020
Access 7 Days - 7a.m. to Dark • UNITS AVAILABLE NOW!
email = julianministorageteam@gmail.com
Outside Storage - Trailers, Boats, Cars, RV’s
Unit Sizes - 5x10, 10x10, 10x15, 10x20, 10x30
Julian Mini Storage
Serving the CoMMunity of Julian
GATED - SECURE STORAGE SITES
Water Treatment Services
Debbie
Fetterman
REALTOR®
CalBRE #01869678
debbiellama@live.com 760.522.4994
Specializing in Ranch & Equine Properties
and the Custom Showing of your Investment
Your Personal & Professional Real Estate Expert
Bull Dozer Services
Dozer Work
Clearing, Grading,
Roads, Pads
All General Engineering
$
99/hour
760.749.1782/760.390.0428
Larry Herman
Licence 938001-A
Your coffee habit is likely contributing to deforestation and the loss of
biodiversity in the tropics. Credit: Kris Krug, FlickrCC.
Dear EarthTalk: I drink a lot of
coffee and I'm wondering how
bad this is for the environment?
And how I can make sure I’m
feeding my 3-cup-a-day habit in
the greenest way possible?
– Denny Mahon,
Worcester, MA
About half of Americans over
age 18 (some 150 million of us)
drink coffee in some form—drip,
iced or in an espresso or latte—
every day, with three cups a
day a typical average. These
450 million daily cups represent
about one-fifth of the total daily
global coffee consumption of
2.25 billion cups a day.
Traditionally grown in shady
groves under the canopy of fruit
trees, coffee has been one of
the greenest crops there is. But
modern demand, coupled with
the so-called “Green Revolution”
to boost yields by any means
necessary, has dictated that
coffee production follow the
same monocultural path as other
key commodity crops. Indeed,
nowadays most of the coffee we
drink comes from plantations
whereitisgrowninfullsunwithout
competition from other crops
and with lots of chemical inputs.
The result has been widespread
deforestation across the tropics
(and a resulting devastation to
biodiversity) to make room for
more highly profitable coffee
plantations.
Another big environmental
problem with coffee production
is water waste. A landmark 2003
study by Dutch researchers found
that some 37 gallons of water are
used (and subsequently wasted)
to produce a single cup of coffee.
And yet another hurdle for the
coffee industry to overcome is
the exploitation of workers, which
in recent decades led to the birth
of a “fair trade” movement to try
to ensure economic justice in the
industry.
So how do we make sure our
coffee habit isn’t making these
situations worse? Look for one or
more certification labels on the
coffee you buy. The “Rainforest
Alliance Certified” frog logo
shows you that the coffee in
question comes from farms that
provide habitat for tropical birds
while paying workers fair wages.
Meanwhile, the “Fair Trade USA
Certified” globe with two baskets
symbol means that the coffee
you’re buying was produced
using sustainable methods by
workers and farmers who are not
only paid fair wages but also get
access to education, health care,
clean water and job training. Yet
another certification to look for is
the Smithsonian Migratory Bird
Center’s “Bird-Friendly” mark
which denotes that the coffee for
sale is 100 percent shade-grown,
fair trade and organic. UTZ
Certified and Counter Culture
Direct Trade Certified coffees are
also produced and distributed
without harming the environment
or exploiting workers.
How you make your coffee
also impacts the environment.
The good old “pour over” method
rivals the French press not only
in simplicity but also in eco-
friendliness given that neither
rely on electricity. At the other
end of the spectrum are the
Keurig-type coffee makers, each
cup of which yields not only your
coffee but also an empty wasted
plastic K-Cup pod to clog up
your local landfill. If you can’t
give up the convenience of your
Keurig coffee maker at home—
or you don’t have a choice at the
office—at least source coffee
that comes in compostable pods.
Woken Coffee, for instance,
comes in 100% compostable
pods that can be tossed into food
and yard waste bins after use to
become part of someone else’s
topsoil.
CONTACTS: Rainforest
Alliance Certified Coffee, www.
rainforest-alliance.org/articles/
rainforest-alliance-certified-coffee;
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s
“Bird-Friendly” Coffee, nationalzoo.
si.edu/migratory-birds/bird-friendly-
coffee; Fair Trade Certified, www.
fairtradecertified.org; UTZ Certified,
utz.org; Counter Culture Direct Trade
Certified, counterculturecoffee.com/
sustainability; Woken Coffee, https://
woken.coffee.
EarthTalk® is produced by
Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for
the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk.
To donate, visit www.earthtalk.
org. Send questions to: question@
earthtalk.org.
Hard Truths
When your family history includes tragedy or difficult, even unspeakable
hardship, sharing those moments with your child can connect them to their
own resilience.
by Dawn MacKeen
My mother was dicing the
carrots and peeling the potatoes
as she talked, her voice full of
excitement. I was about 6 years
old and already knew the story
well. “Your grandfather was a
hero,” she said. “He crossed
the desert as the Turks tried to
kill him. Every time they tried to
catch him, he outsmarted them.”
I nodded approvingly. Yes,
my own grandfather had
crossed barren tracts of land
and outwitted the bad guys, in a
plotline ripped straight from one
of my cartoons. I always felt a
sense of pride during the telling
of this tale until she added this
last bit: “He was so thirsty, he
drank his own urine.”
Why would anyone do that? I
wondered. At that age, I couldn’t
fathom circumstances that would
drive someone to such extremes.
It just seemed like a gross-out
story told on the schoolyard and
made me feel shame.
My mother was only repeating
whatherfather,Stepan,did—and
that was to tell this story. During
her own childhood, her father
would regularly take her back
to the last days of the Ottoman
Empire, when the government
deported the majority of the
2 million Armenians, driving
more than half of them to their
deaths. Sentence by sentence,
she’d memorized almost every
detail of his life’s upturn, as
he slid from a successful
entrepreneur to a beggar on a
death march, alongside other
ethnic Armenians. One of the few
people who survived the Ottoman
Empire government’s systematic
extermination of an estimated 1.5
million Armenians during World
War I, my grandfather never
stopped sharing his story: how
he had outmaneuvered police,
donned disguises, and when he
least expected it, experienced
the kindness of strangers, as his
community died around him.
His recently discovered
notebooks became the basis
for my book, The Hundred-Year
Walk: An Armenian Odyssey.
Using his words and additional
research to reconstruct his
experience, I retraced his death
march across present-day
Turkey and Syria. But the kernel
of the book began long ago, in
the kitchen, when my mother
told me about my grandfather’s
desperate struggle to survive.
Many parents face a similar
decision as my mother, only
with different narratives: Should
we pass down stories from our
families when those stories are
exceedingly painful? Or is it
better to shield children from such
horrific facts? Is there a right time
to broach conversations about
war, torture, violence, addiction?
Recent research shows that
educating children about their
family history can be beneficial
to their development. Knowing
one’s family history is associated
with a higher self-esteem and
resilience. But for families that
harbor dark chapters (And what
family doesn’t?), it’s not easy to
know when and how to share
these stories.
“In almost every family, there’s
a family secret,” said Marshall P.
Duke, professor of Psychology
at Emory University. “Those are
typically embarrassing. What we
found in the family histories of the
kids who seem more resilient,
they had knowledge of things
that were not so good.”
Though kids seem to benefit
from knowing even the darker
tales from their family history,
psychologists stress that parents
need to take care about how
they tell the story. Duke and
his colleagues found that the
most beneficial family histories
oscillate from good times to bad
times and back again. These
narratives are most reflective
of life, he said, unlike ones
scrubbed clean of adversities.
This way, children can grow up
learning that they can move past
the inevitable challenges that
arise. “When you’re informed that
your heritage was associated
with bravery, perseverance, or
overcoming adversity, it says,
‘Hey it’s in my blood.’” said
Charles R. Figley, distinguished
chair in mental health at Tulane
University. Understanding the
heroic actions of one’s family
members seems to help children
identify with resilience, which in
turn makes them more resilient.
So what’s the best way to tell
these stories? How does one
inform and empower, particularly
when it’s a painful history of
genocide, slavery, or war?
A lot has changed since the
early days of teaching children
about the Holocaust. In past
generations, fourth graders
watched graphic documentaries,
like the 1955 French Night and
Fog, with little explanation. It was
a viewing that scarred some into
adulthood. Grainy black-and-
white stills and video showed
terrified villagers in cattle cars,
camps full of the skeletal, and
the pyres of the dead. Research
shows that children do not learn
when stressed. “If you’re crying,
you’re not learning,” explained
Karen Shawn, visiting Associate
Professor at Yeshiva University
and editor of Prism, a journal for
Holocaust educators. “Because
your emotions are trying to
protect yourself.”
Parents should first ask
themselves what their motivation
is, particularly when the child is
very young. “If you’re living with
a Jewish grandmother, and she
screams at night, then there’s a
reason to tell because the child
needs to learn,” Shawn said.
“Outside of that, no one has yet
been able to express the need for
a child to know that horror exists
in the world. If there’s no need to
tell the child, why tell the child?
… Otherwise, it’s your need to
tell, not their need to learn.”
Many times, the story can
wait until the child is older. But
if there’s an excruciating story
that absolutely needs to be
shared with your child, then
begin by seeking the guidance
of a therapist or psychologist.
Plan the story so you can stop
if your child doesn’t seem to be
handling the information. And, as
always, monitor the situation as
you go. “The bigger the story, the
bigger the impact, [and] the more
planning should go into this,”
advised Figley. “Because if you
can pull it off, it’s a gift.”
Eugenie Mukeshimana, a
survivor of the 1994 Genocide
Against the Tutsi, never had
that sit-down conversation with
her daughter. She didn’t have
to. For the five years following
the slaughter’s end in Rwanda,
she and her daughter buried the
remains of friends and family
members once they were found.
Mukeshimana’s husband had
been killed without ever meeting
their baby girl, and Mukeshimana
barely survived the slaughter
herself. “Every weekend, I went
to those burials and I took her
with me. I didn’t think twice that
she shouldn’t be seeing this.
Her childhood memories are of
the genocide.” By the time her
daughter was 8, she knew more
than Mukeshimana anticipated.
When the U.S. was going to war
with Iraq, the then-8-year-old
penned a letter to then-President
George W. Bush. “In her broken
English, she sent a letter to
Washington to protest the war,”
recounted Mukeshimana who
is the founder of Genocide
Survivors Support Network, a
nonprofit dedicated to genocide
prevention and advocacy. “In
that letter, one of the lines was
‘war kills because the war killed
my dad, I don’t want you to go
to war.’” Now 22 years old, her
From old power tools to
cordless telephones, cameras,
e-readers, tablets and
cellphones, many people don’t
know what to do when batteries
no longer hold a charge. Indeed,
more than half of individuals
throwing away battery-operated
electronic devices leave the
battery attached. This is a
dangerous act, especially if the
batteries are Lithium-based.
When hauling your holiday
decorations out of storage, check
to make sure that there aren’t any
forgotten batteries hiding under
cherished mementos. To safely
and easily recycle the batteries
you find, Call2Recycle suggests
the following steps:
1. Tape: Protect the ends/
terminals with non-conductive
electrical, duct or clear packing
tape.
2. Bag: Store the taped
batteries in a clear plastic bag
that closes.
3. Drop: Recycle your
rechargeable batteries at a
convenient Call2Recycle drop-off
location including retail partners
Lowe’s, Home Depot or Staples.
It’s an easy errand to complete
while doing your holiday
shopping. Eighty-six percent of
the U.S. population lives within
10 miles of a Call2Recycle drop-
off location.
More information on battery
recycling and battery safety can
be found by visiting call2recycle.
org.
Recycle Your Batteries
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