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“The Art of Dirt” Exhibition Features IDE Water Technology

grmeyers — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:03:40 +0000

IDE's water technologies have had an important impact on poor rural farmers in developing countries. Photo: IDE

In Denver, an important art exhibition from developing countries opens in Denver, along with another feature concerning sustainability and affordable water technologies. The exhibition, titled, The Art of Dirt, has been organized by Denver-based IDE The exhibition takes place at the EventGallery 910 Arts and will run through September 25.

According to IDE, The Art of Dirt allows visitors to learn how simple, affordable technology design has improved the incomes and lives of the millions of people at the base of the economic pyramid. The exhibition includes photographs, videos and a tomato garden growing in the gallery that has been irrigated using IDE water technology.

IDE drip irrigation system in use. Photo: IDE

IDE, founded in 1982, strives to create income opportunities for poor, rural households in the developing world. This exhibition showcases some simple, pattern-changing technologies, such as IDE’s foot-powered treadle pump, and low-pressure micro-sprinkler and affordable drip irrigation that IDE has made available in developing countries. This technologies have helped poor, rural families gain control over their water supply and opening up a new world of income-generating possibilities.

Dealing with water technologies like these started when IDE worked in Bangladesh in the 1980s, where the lack of access to water in rural villages was a widespread problem. IDE personnel believed that manually powered irrigation pumps could solve some of the water problem and allow farmers to increase productivity. As a result, IDE increased annual sales of manual irrigation pumps from 14,000 to 75,000 in a five-year period. After that initial success, IDE found a better solution in the treadle pump, which is more efficient and easier to operate than manual pumps. To date, more than 1.5 million treadle pumps have been sold in Bangladesh, creating 1.4 billion dollars in net additional income per year.

Today, IDE uses a market oriented development model to increase the income of the rural poor by improving market access, increasing agricultural production, and creating sustainable local businesses. IDE’s projects are country specific, aimed at increasing income for those living on less than a dollar a day in the most efficient and viable manner possible according to each region’s unique opportunities.

Over the last 28 years we have worked with more than 3.8 million families, increasing their aggregate income by over one billion dollars. Kudos!

Nature Communications launches

grmeyers — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:00:43 +0000

Nature Communications, the seventeenth publication from Nature Publishing Group was launched this month.. This publication will be different, says the publisher.

“Nature Communications differs in being multidisciplinary,” reports the Nature announcement. “It aims not to compete with the established Nature journals, but to publish rigorous and comprehensive papers that represent advances of significance to specialists within each field. In addition, it welcomes submissions in fields that are not represented by a dedicated Nature research journal — for example, developmental biology, plant science, microbiology, ecology and evolution, palaeontology, astronomy and high-energy physics. ”

Using nanotube wires for hybrid fuel cells has renewed promise Source: Nature Communications

One current article discusses hybrid nanotubes as a part of miniaturizing fuel cells for biological applications.

“Now Gao and coworkers show that electrodes made with porous microfibers composed of oriented carbon nanotubes are capable of delivering fast mass transport of the reagents and greatly enhanced currents,” the magazine reports.

Many readers may find much of these works from Nature to be highly academic in nature — even heady sometimes — but such information provides a solid barometer for scientific research and development trends.

MOA launches recycled materials internships & Element House exhibit

grmeyers — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:12:21 +0000

My friend, architect and sculptor, Doug Eichelberger, spoke to me about an upcoming Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) program paid internship he will oversee as artist/architect in residence called Design and Build. This is a public art paid internship program involving interns (high school seniors and college undergraduates) who commit a minimum of 15 hours a week for the duration of the six-week program.

According to the MOA, it sought “…nine interns for Design and Build: Spring 2010 for the “Recycled Dwellings Project”. Interns will collaborate on a design proposal while working with our professional artist/architect in residence. After the proposal process, interns will build their dwelling in a public space to be on temporary display through fall of 2010.”

Each intern will be awarded a $1,000 stipend. Engineering, architecture, design, art and carpentry were among skill sets that were sought from interns.

Eichelberger builds a barn with baled scrap plastic

“The goal is that the kids will learn about recycling collection and construction,” says Eichelberger, adding that the exhibit might serve as a springboard for other innovative projects that employ sustainable solutions. Eichelberger has used recycled materials in building project before, constructing numerous buildings on his ranch using various trash materials.

Concurrent with the launch of the internship program, this April 10, the museum will open Element House.

Source: Museum of Outdoor Art

Element House: Architecture for a New Ecology:

Element House architecture for a new ecology

Sat Apr 10, 2010 Sat Aug 14, 2010
Location: Indoor Gallery
Opening Reception: April 10, 2010 5-9pm Lecture at 4:30

A discussion with the architects, Principals Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample of MOS Architects will be held on Saturday, April 10th beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Exhibition continues through August 14th, 2010.

“This exhibition will showcase the revolutionary design of a multi-component, modular green home prototype. MOS Architects have an extensive international portfolio including institutional buildings, urban strategies, research, books, installations including MoMA’s PS1 and other projects that have been included in national and international publications such as DWELL.

“The modular homes will be “off the grid”, or capable of operating independent of all traditional public utility services, and will be designed for pre-fabrication, utilizing strict LEED™ design criteria and limited to 1500 square feet or less. The “Element House” is derived from the Fibonacci sequence, which in itself is a describer of developmental patters in living organisms. This mathematical series was applied in order to explore the idea of recombinatory growth in building forms and the economics of spatial compartmentalization.

“The Museum of Outdoor Arts is located at 1000 Englewood Parkway (at Hampden and Santa Fe – only a few minutes from downtown Denver) and is accessible from the Englewood light rail stations.

“The Museum of Outdoor Arts is Free and Open to the Public Monday – Thursday 9 – 5 p.m. and Fridays from 9 – 4 p.m.”

Safeway joins sustainability consortium

grmeyers — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:59:40 +0000

News from Environmental Leader:

Safeway has become a founding member of the Sustainability Consortium, the group launched in support of Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Index.

The goal of the consortium is to develop guidelines and promote innovations as the supply chain seeks to reduce its energy use, emissions and packaging. The consortium made headlines in January when Wal-Mart and Best Buy, together with electronics suppliers Dell, HP, Intel and Toshiba, officially launched the effort.

The consortium is administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas, with financial support from Wal-Mart.

The consortium has courted Safeway, in hopes that it would become involved in what could be an industry wide sustainability metric system.

Safeway made its involvement in the initiative public March 1, reports Supermarket News. Safeway is the first grocer to join the group, according to a press release.

The retailer will use life cycle assessment data to create a company-wide supply chain policy encouraging sustainable purchasing and manufacturing practices throughout the organization’s direct and indirect buying.

Advisory committee meeting set for CO Carbon Fund

grmeyers — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:24:47 +0000

From the Governor’s Energy Office:

Colorado Carbon Fund Advisory Committee Meeting

The Colorado Carbon Fund’s Advisory Committee meets Monday, March 1 from 2-4 pm at the GEO office.

The Agenda includes:

An update on Colorado Carbon Fund marketing and plans for 2010.
An introduction to Ben Vitale, the new president of The Climate Trust, our partners in managing the Fund and finding high quality projects.
An Executive Session review of proposals received during the RFP for solar hot water systems. This portion of the meeting will be closed to the public.

If you’d like to listen in by webinar, please register online.

To attend in person, please contact
Susan Innis

American Wind Energy workshop scheduled March 27

grmeyers — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:06:40 +0000

On March 17 in Greensboro, NC, the American Wind Energy Association is bringing representatives from a diverse range of industries, international and U.S.-based wind turbine manufacturers, component suppliers, service providers to the wind energy industry, and hear first hand the wind energy industry’s needs, challenges, and opportunities for growth.

Don’t miss this opportunity to network and share resources and best practices with industry leaders and experts, and your peers.
For more information visit:
www.awea.org/events/supplychain4

Paul Hawken, Arianna Huffington featured at Sustainable Industries Economic Forum

grmeyers — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:40:28 +0000

Paul Hawken, keynote speaker Source: http://paulhawken.com

Santa Monica, CA – The Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, scheduled Jan. 14, will feature environmental economist, Paul Hawken, and The Huffington Post co-founder, Arianna Huffington.

Paul Hawken, CEO of Pax Engineering Group and author of “Ecology of Commerce” and “Natural Capitalism,” will address the opportunities created by a triple-bottom-line approach (people, planet, profit) in the midst of the current business climate.

Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post , will give a presentation and serve as moderator for a question-and-answer session with Hawken.

The event will also feature an informational panel of local business leaders which will be moderated by Lewis Perkins, Sustainable Strategist at New House, LLC.

Business leaders across the country recognize that being committed to sustainability and corporate responsibility is not a passing trend, but rather a fundamental component of successful business. A 2008 survey by The Economist

found that “most executives (57 percent) say the benefits of pursuing sustainable practices outweigh the costs…Specifically, sustainable practices can help reduce costs (particularly energy expenditure), open up new markets and improve the company’s reputation.”

“In a down economy it is easy to ask the question ‘is sustainability still relevant’?” said Brian Back, Founding Editor & Publisher of Sustainable Industries. “Many people think it’s the first thing that goes, but in reality most cutting-edge companies see it as their way out of the downturn.”

Sustainable Industries is an independent business magazine, Web site, event and media company serving sustainable business leaders on the West Coast, with offices in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

For further information, contact Laura Christiansen, Sustainable Industries, laura@sustainableindustries.com (970) 471-6587, or Kathleen Warren, Parsons Public Relations, kathleen@parsonspr.com O: (206) 789-5668 / M: (206) 778-6695

Aquaponics author to address trends on Green Streets

grmeyers — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:31:58 +0000

Bevan Suits,Sustainable Design Group

Bevan Suits, head of Sustainable Design Group and recently featured on Green Streets in a review of his Aquaponics Guidebook, penned this analysis: “Hydroponics is an industry. Aquaculture is an industry. Aquaponics is not an industry…yet. What current trends will guide its growth?”

As author of The Aquaponics Guidebook, Access to Personal Agriculture, Suits has a pretty good notion about how such questions might be answered, especially by today’s college students.

To make a point, he refers to compelling book on food by Michael Pollan, “In Defense of Food.”

If you have not read the book, this quote tells a lot about his concerns. “Food. There’s plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it?

“Because most of what we’re consuming today is not food, and how we’re consuming it — in the car, in front of the TV, and increasingly alone — is not really eating. Instead of food, we’re consuming “edible foodlike substances” — no longer the products of nature but of food science.”

Suits believes Pollan’s work appears to be taken as a call to action by many university students attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Incoming freshmen were given copies of the book for free and seemed happy to think of it as a guidebook.

While what happened with Wisconsin’s students had no direct relationship to aquaponics, Suits, reports there is great potential on the horizon, based on the idea of locally grown fresh food. “We are clearly on the verge of something with the potential to go mainstream,” says Suits. “I would add that the the volume of students and their level of enthusiasm is striking.”

Green Streets has asked Suits to provide occasional perspectives on the subjects of food and aquaponics. He has consented.

“There is some crossover,” he writes, ” with the worlds of hydroponics, aquaculture and ponds, but as a functioning economic platform, it’s still in prototype form. in other words, this baby is not yet born.

“If aquaponics were to take off, there would need to be a thousand times more experts at it than there are now. This is why education and promotion is the most valuable aspect to pursue. The students of Michael Pollan may be the future leaders for producing food in America with aquaponics.

“Some hydroponics vendors are moving ahead with installations, but for consumers who might like to learn about it and try it out, there is no single resource. There are plenty of websites by people who are aquaponics contractors, with expertise ranging from top-notch to eh. But these are not designed for teaching.”

Stay tuned. More is to come come on the teaching end of the food spectrum.

Behind the Repower America wall

grmeyers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:01:59 +0000

A note from Peter Olins, co-founder of the Northern Colorado Entrepreneurs Network, my emphasis provided:

Glenn:

“Almost certain you’re on Al’s list, but just in case.
It’s almost worth a blog article about the next generation of nonpartisan “political” speech and action.
It also helps to be Nobel laureate :~)

Regards,

P.”

REPOWER AMERICA

When a clean energy economy finally becomes a reality in America, people will look back to the day that together, you and I launched The Repower America Wall.

The Wall is a place where literally thousands and thousands of people committed to a revolutionary new energy future for our nation and the world are coming together — to express our hopes, share our resolve, and step up to a leadership role in building a grassroots movement for change like nothing America has ever seen. It’s an opportunity for you to be part of the climate movement in a new way, in a way that takes us beyond ourselves.

By asking people from all over the country to share their thoughts and images on the Wall, we are fueling a campaign that brings together the power of national media with the strength and connection of on-the-ground organizing in a way that no one has ever done before. Your voice, and the voices of your friends, neighbors and colleagues, will become the language of our campaign on TV, in print, on billboards, online, and in brand new ways that you will help us invent as we create the Wall.

We know that the political will to transition America to a clean energy economy already exists. You are part of it. But now we must make sure our leaders know it too. The Wall will become our collective voice and thus transform the debate into action.

It’s an ambitious strategy — and it has to be.

Nothing short of every one of us joined together is needed to overcome the resistance of the powerful special interests blocking our path to a clean energy future, settling for the dangerous status quo.

But the time for politics is over. We have the power to force change in America.

Together, you and I will use the Wall as the foundation for all of our activism in the days and weeks ahead.

But first, I need you to meet me at the Wall.

Share your voice on The Repower America Wall right now.

The Wall is a revolutionary approach to standing up for what we believe in — for what our country needs. It combines the power of your voice with the force of a multi-media campaign, to build a collective call for change so loud it’s undeniable.

The messages you and many thousands of others leave at the Wall are the tidal wave that will break on Washington, and put us on the path to victory.

Our grassroots organizers in the states will use the Wall — your Wall — as proof that all of our friends and neighbors are as committed to clean energy as we are — that we are joined together in this commitment.

Content shared on the Wall will be used to create ads and other forms of communication that will go directly to your elected officials so that everywhere they look they will see the very people they represent, their constituents, calling for action now on clean energy — in the local newspaper, on television, on billboards, on the radio, and on important local and national websites. There will be no place to hide. The Wall will be everywhere.

When our opponents throw roadblocks in our way, we’ll gather at the Wall to fight back.

And when key decisions are at hand, we’ll light up the Wall to let politicians who side with powerful interests against clean energy do so at their own peril.

The time to demand a clean energy future for America is now. But we must stand together. Unless we do everything in our power to make our voices heard, the change we seek will not happen.

Stand up and be a part of the generation that makes future generations proud — join the movement and share your voice on The Repower America Wall today.

This is just the beginning. Next week we will take this campaign to the airwaves with new Repower America national television ads featuring real messages from the Wall. By acting now to share your own personal message on the Repower America Wall, you can insure that you were there at the start.

What you and I do today will determine everything about our country’s future and the world our children will inherit. The time for action is right now and the cause deserves your best efforts.

If you want to win and insure our clean energy future, I’ll see you at the Wall.

Together we can make this happen.

Thank you,

Al Gore

Thank you, Mr. Gore!

Two Earthship webinars scheduled

grmeyers — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:45:55 +0000

For those who do not know Earthship, one of these scheduled webinars might be a great time to visit. And the price is exceptionally good, as is the subject matter! GRM

Earthship logo

“Long Way Home and Architects for Humanity will present world-renowned founder of Earthship Biotecture, Michael Reynolds (http://www.earthship.net/home/begin-here.html) as part of BuildBoston 2009 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston on Nov. 18, 2009 from 7 until 8 pm.

“Reynolds is best known for starting Eathship.net, a socially conscious construction venture that builds homes out of garbage with yearly utility bills under $100.”

Nov 16 and Dec 15 events:Nov 18 Webinar with Michael Reynolds
(venue in Boston, MA) Followed by Q/A, approximately 2 hours. Anyone in the world with an internet connection can virtually attend. You can also have people physically gather together and have a laptop with projector on site so everyone can see. $10 per person (per connection).

Dec 15 Webinar With Michael Reynolds
(venue in Melbourne, Australia) Followed by Q/A, approximately 2 hours. Anyone in the world with an internet connection can virtually attend. You can also have people physically gather together and have a laptop with projector on site so everyone can see. $10 per person (per connection).