Sweet Gum Liquidambar styraciflua Trees Medicinal Uses

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 248-365

Have you planted a tree today?
What about this year?
What about last 10 years.
What about in your life?

Here is an ideea. Plant Liquidambar styraciflua.

 Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree intemperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits.

This plant's genus name Liquidambar was first given by Linnaeus in 1753 from [the Latin] liquidus, fluid, and the Arabic ambar, amber, in allusion to the fragrant terebinthine juice or gum which exudes from the tree. Its specific epithet styraciflua is an old generic name meaning flowing with styrax (a plant resin)

The earliest known published record of Liquidambar styraciflua is in a work by Spanish naturalist Francisco Hernández published posthumously in 1651, in which he describes the species as a large tree producing a fragrant gum resembling liquid amber, whence the genus name Liquidambar. In Ray's Historia Plantarum (1686) it is called Styrax liquida.

Medicinal Uses

The common name for the sweetgum tree's medicinal product is liquid-amber.

When made into a balsam or salve, it is used for 

• skin conditions, 
• hemorroids, 
• ringworm scabies and 
• frostbite. 
• Sweetgum salves have a minor antiseptic value, 
• but work well as an anti-inflammatory. 
• Taken internally, liquid-amber has stimulant and expectorant effects. 
• It is also used internally for sore throats, 
• coughs, 
• colds, 
• asthma, 
• bronchitis, 
• cystitis, 
• vaginal discharge,
• strokes, and is it indicated to 
• have an effect on some cancers.

Right of Nature Bolivia Ecuador and Turkey

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 247-365

Rights of Nature - nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.  

Ecuador

“Ecuador is the first country to recognize Rights of Nature in its Constitution.  A great first step for humanity towards a change of paradigm! Ecuador is home to the Galapagos Islands, Andean Mountains and Amazon rainforest as it is a geologically, ecologically and ethnically diverse country.

Ecuador rewrote its Constitution in 2007-2008 and it was ratified by referendum by the people of Ecuador in September 2008.

The new Ecuadorian Constitution includes a Chapter:  Rights for Nature. Rather than treating nature as property under the law, Rights for Nature articles acknowledge that nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.  And we – the people –  have the legal authority to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems.  The ecosystem itself can be named as the defendant.”

Bolivia

The Law of Mother Earth - this bill was passed on the 22nd April 2011 which was Earth Day

The law give nature legal rights, specifically the rights to life and regeneration, biodiversity, water, clean air, balance, and restoration. 

Bolivia’s law mandates a fundamental ecological reorientation of Bolivia’s economy and society, requiring all existing and future laws to adapt to the Mother Earth law and accept the ecological limits set by nature. It calls for public policy to be guided by Sumaj Kawsay or Vivir Bien (an indigenous concept meaning “living well,” or living in harmony with nature and people), rather than the current focus on producing more goods and stimulating consumption”

The Law of Mother Earth includes the following;

• the right to maintain the integrity of life and natural processes
• the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered
• the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration
• the right to pure water
• the right to clean air
• the right to balance, to be at equilibrium
• the right to be free of toxic and radioactive pollution
• the right to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities

In practical terms, the law requires the government 

• to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy; 
• to develop new economic indicators that will assess the ecological impact of all economic activity;
•  to carry out ecological audits of all private and state companies; 
• to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 
• to develop policies of food and renewable energy sovereignty; 
• to research and invest resources in energy efficiency, ecological practices, and organic agriculture; and 
• to require all companies and individuals to be accountable for environmental contamination with a duty to restore damaged environments.

Turkey Is Now Debating An Ecological Change To Their Constitution.

As Turkey has been talking about making a new constitution, which is supposed to value the individual, then we should be talking about an ecological approach to it,

Guerilla Gardening

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 246-365

Regardless of whether you are an urban, suburban, or rural dweller, there is inevitably a patch of neglected turf in your neighborhood that might need a bit of TLC to green it up. 

If you see hidden gardening potential between sidewalk cracks when others see decay and abandon, well then, you might be a budding guerrilla gardener and not even know it! The guerrila gardening phenomenon is sweeping the globe as folks are finding innovative ways to come together for the optimization of neglected land and paved surface area. It’s a turf war for some, a poetic gesture for others, but either way, citizens are rolling up their sleeves to create gardens in the most unlikely spaces.

History 

Liz Christy and the Green Guerrillas transformed an abandoned lot in NYC’s Bowery during the 1970′s, and the movement has gained momentum in recent years. Many “resistance gardeners” consider themselves to be vandals of sorts, but with plants or seeds as weapons; often operating covertly at night in empty lots or on public property that would otherwise remain barren.

Guerrilla gardening is simply defined by Richard Reynolds  as “the illicit cultivation of someone else’s land.” It is the practice of growing flowers or vegetables on what is usually public land. 

And here are some of the places Guerrilla Gardening is coming into its own across the world:  

Vancouver Canada

On a non descript spot of land between a warehouse and a busy street, young people are taking direct action to reclaim the earth for local food production. 

Until recently, the little strip of land in front of the Purple Thistle was unused grass surrounded by industrial landscape and heavy traffic. Now it’s a community garden, tended by young people who are in and out of the Thistle, a youth run centre.   

Sustainability is a key purpose for this garden.  In the limited amount of space given, it has an herb spiral, berry bushes, fruit trees, grains, greens and multiple other vegetables growing in it. There are also bees on the rooftop. 

The lighter side of the guerilla gardening campaign would probably be community gardens or grassroots gardening, which also brings folks together (during daylight hours) for neighborhood improvement and local food security. Whether as collective green graffiti or as an attempt to reclaim the neighborhood and make improvements for all, guerrilla gardening is a form of eco-activism that is catching on despite its controversial methods.

London England

“Holes Of Happiness some pothole gardens that have been popping up around East London.”

Guerilla Gardening: Strategies for Greening Up the Neighborhood

• Bring in colour and fun 

• Sow some sunflowers 

• Plant food plants in random places 

• Make it fun 

Some parts of London have a life-long waiting list for allotments. Little looked around and saw dust-blown pointless patches. “What is the point of this bit of grass?” Bingo. It was turned into their first allotments. It is about listening, working together, co-operation. 

Like all the sites on Reynolds’ "front line of guerrilla gardening", this roundabout is within a half-mile radius of his Elephant and Castle home. Known for its disastrous, large-scale town planning, this part of London is a fitting hub for small, human-scale and largely unplanned initiatives for shared public spaces, such as guerrilla gardening. This is anti-town planning in action, in the armpit of town planning.

Planting is the result of a hotchpotch of donated plants and cuttings.

New York USA

Not only do many of New York’s gardens provide fresh produce for lower income neighborhoods, but they also implement sustainable practices like composting and rainwater harvesting. Of the composting gardens, 13 percent accept organic materials from the general public, a service not provided by New York City’s sanitation department. Plus, it benefits the community by eliminating the need to purchase soil and chemical fertilizers.

A third of the gardens employ rainwater catchment systems that capture rain from rooftops and garden structures to water plants and prevent stormwater runoff. About 8 percent of gardens have greenhouses to grow produce year round, and a handful even have composting toilets. Others give back to the community by partnering with local schools or neighborhood groups — nearly half of the gardens work with schools to give kids a hands-on opportunity to learn about food and nature.

There were at least 490 community gardens throughout the city in 2009

Guerilla Gardening focuses on reclamation, beautification, and even growing food in public spaces (a political act in and of itself as we re-educate ourselves about viable land use, especially with the very real possibility of worldwide food shortages).

Los Angeles USA

In 2009 in Los Angeles and Long Beach, three guerrilla gardening groups have sprouted: Los Angeles Guerrilla Gardening (LAGG), South Central Resistance (SRC) and SoCal Guerrilla Gardening. 

Scott Bunnell, 49, creator of SoCal Guerrilla Gardening in Long Beach, is a 20-year experienced gardener. He remembers how his passion for guerrilla gardening started after he would see ideal vacant plots of land on his drive to work each morning. 

SoCal Guerrilla Gardening has planted new gardens in the Wrigley area of Long Beach and parts of Hollywood. Most of these plants used in these gardens have come from Bunnell’s own personal nursery. Once he weeds out his older and well-established gardens, little baby seedlings can be pulled out and potted up for another garden.

 His biggest garden located on Loynes Drive has gotten much neighborhood and media attention. Talks have begun with the Long Beach supervisor of City Maintenance about the installation of a sprinkler system. 

Links

• http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2012/02/guerilla-activities-of-the-pothole-gardener/
• http://inhabitat.com/guerilla-gardening-strategies-for-greening-up-your-neighborhood/
• http://www.daily49er.com/news/2009/05/25/guerrilla-gardeners-plant-public-soils-with-controversy/