Contact: Taylor Livingston, telivingston@gmail.com.
BELLINGHAM - Recent Western Washington University graduate Taylor Livingston is about to begin a bicycle odyssey from Blaine to Baja California to raise funds and awareness for a project at Western that is near to his heart.
Livingston, a native of Spokane, who received his bachelor's degree in Planning and Environmental Policy/Hazard Mitigation from WWU's Huxley College of the Environment June 13, will leave for Baja at the end of June in an effort to raise funds that will help allow Huxley to continue its collaboration with OxFam Great Britain in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The project involves reducing the threat of environmental vulnerability and landslides in the densely populated, hilly sections of the city, where drainage ditches, clogged with plastic garbage, force runoff to flow down the face of the hills, often through homes themselves, quickly eroding the topsoil, bringing down walls and destabilizing homes. During heavy summer rains, poorly built communities perched on the city's steep hillsides are also at risk of regular landslides.
"Living on those slopes can be deadly," said Livingston. "We want to empower the citizens to remedy their problems, along with assistance from OxFam and Huxley students, by promoting sustainable personal practices such as reducing plastic consumption, ensuring proper waste disposal, and utilizing better slope-stabilization techniques."
Livingston said he hopes to raise $10,000 through pledges for the Huxley project in Guatemala City that will allow further study of the landslide problems there and elsewhere as well as a continuing effort to involve Huxley students in the research process.
"This is something that I'm really passionate about, because I know it can affect many lives," he said.
Interested supporters can track Livingston's progress on his blog, http://telivingston.blogspot.com/, and contribute to his fund-raising campaign by donating directly to it through the WWU Foundation at www.wwu.edu/give, then typing "Taylor's Ride ~ Guatemala" in the program memo box.
For more information, contact Livingston at telivingston@gmail.com.
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