Sharing Earth’s Wisdom
Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center

Ellen Waara

Each day my deepest gratitude is for the times in nature that I’ve played.  Tasks can steal away moments as the sun slips from dawn’s horizon to dusk.  Step by step, I strive to accomplish my purpose while honoring my surroundings.  We all want to do the right thing, but how?

Deep in the heart of Oakland county’s largest undeveloped parcel of land, lives the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center.  There, for over thirty years, visionaries have taught purposeful living in harmony with renewable energy and green design.

Creating a healthy and sustainable world drives UHEAC’s mission and fuels their commitment.  They quench curiosity and educate through in-house tours and seminars, offering ways to conserve energy.

The center leads by example, harnessing non-fossil fuels, the sun and wind.  Their renewable energy system is grid-tied with a battery back-up.  They do have a small electric bill.

Their workshops, tours, seminars, conferences, Earth Day Expo and home and business energy audits inspire environmentally responsible choices.  They interactively teach our children to steward the Earth they will inherit; inspiring us all to become the leaders we seek.

This modern-day council shares how to shave 30% or more off of heating and cooling costs through alternative power sources, insulating our four-walled homes, or using other technology while honoring Earth with better choices.

Three decades before I discovered this Oxford, MI treasure, dignified teachers like Bucky Fuller shared magical, practical gifts like the geodesic dome.  Today, John Batdorf, Chris Tarr and their team promotes joining vision with practicality.  They empower people’s desire to live abundantly and wisely.

UHEAC Executive Director Batdorf, believes, “Together we can all be a part of the local solution to serious environmental problems, providing win-win practical solutions that are earth friendly.”

Their Earth Day Energy Expo at Oakland University features green vendors, leading edge transportation and housing options, and other events. All year they educate in public schools and on-site tours, teaching energy efficiency tips. Like the Native Americans who taught Pilgrims corn planting skills to survive winter starvation, we are learning to use what we need with minimum waste.

UHEAC’s roots reach deep into Earth’s wisdom.  Monthly sweat lodge retreats from hectic daily activities tap into the heart of this community.  Indigenous knowing joins with space age technology, monitoring and increasing voltage efficiency.  Like the bridge from neighboring Upland Hills Schools, the center bridges a gap, integrating the ancient and modern to steward Earth’s resources.

Find their workshops on the web, and enjoy ongoing peace of mind by joining UHEAC as a member for $35 annual tax-deductible contribution that supports sustainability during precarious times.  UHEAC offers a plan that guides us step-by-step, choice-by-choice, in our quest to become better stewards of the land.

Choose today to lead by example:  visit www.uheac.org for donation, membership and event information.

Ellen Waara is author, and producer of EarthTalk, sharing local stories of stewarding the earth.  You can email her at ellenwaara@comcast.net