Living Lightly

Playing a branch flute can be a wonderful way to awaken our connection with all Life and like the birds, share our song with the World. As we remember that all Life is interwoven and interdependent, our environmental consciousness grows in understanding and compassion, motivating a desire to live and work in greater balance with the natural community and bioregion of which we are part. Here are a few ways we have found at Dryad Flutes to conduct our business so that it treads as lightly as possible on this beautiful Earth.

Pictured above is the studio at the Nottingham Center for the Arts, where Dryad Flutes are made with the help of solar powered tools. Inside the green trailer to the right are 8 deep cycle batteries that store the electricity generated by the photovoltaic panels in a 12 volt system. Connected to the batteries is a 120 volt inverter that provides power for the flute making tools and desktop CD publishing.

Here Jon Sherman's CDs are duplicated and printed using the clean, renewable power of the sun. They are then packaged using RePlay Eco Friendly Cases with 100% Post Consumer Waste recycled labels and Biodegradable Clear Bags, free from the toxic PVC of standard CD jewel cases and shrink wrap. We use high quality, reliable, Taiyo Yuden Silver Inkjet Printable CD-R media, allowing full color graphics to be printed directly on the disk face, without an attached label, making it CD player safe. For our shipping needs, when we send out a purchased flute, we use Bio-Bubble, a 100% biodegradable bubble wrap and/or a 100% biodegradable loose fill packaging material from Milex inside of USPS Cradle to Cradle Certified cardboard triangle tubes. Even the hosting of this website is done in an earth friendly way, powered by the wind!

Performing through a solar powered sound system since 1989, Jon was interviewed by Toni Guinyard in this July, 2003 segment of KCET's "Life & Times". Note: the solar generator demonstrated in this video was built for concert size, staged events, to power more than a single, busking musician, much more power than needed for simply playing at a farmers market. But it was brought out for several weeks onto the streets of Glendale, CA to help raise environmental awareness, to protest the Gulf War, fought for the control of oil, and to proclaim "Energy Independence" .

The solar generator shown in the Life and Times segment above is currently not available for rental, as it has been in the past, having been converted for use in the making of Dryad Flutes. (see picture at top of page) Jon has since built a scaled down version for use in his Dryad Flutes booth (shown to the right) and for his live, outdoor performances as well as continuing to use it for solar powered flute circles. (see below)

Jon's solar powered sound system at the San Diego County Flute Circle at Mission Trails Regional Park, May 2010.

More on solar powered flute circles and gatherings around southern California since 1993.

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