RAIN Appropriate Technology· Recycling· Video •CommWlity ·Energy· Wind • Solar• Land Use • Energy Conserving Lifestyles . . ·1NSIDE: P. 4 Eating High and Lightly P. 11 Mega-Paper Tigers P. 12 The Great Recycling Race
Page 2 RAIN RAIN is supported by your subscriptions and a grant from the N.W. Area Foundation, administered through the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. For subscription prices, see subscription blank on next-to-last page. This blank can also be used to send us change of address messages. RA/N's office is at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, OR 97210. Phone 503227-5110. RAIN I Full Circle Staff Nancy Lee Tom Bender Lane de Moll Lee Johnson Steve Johnson Anne McLaughlin Mary Wells Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover Photo: Ancil Nance Graphics on pages 4, 7, 11 & 16 by Meg de Moll The deadline for material is approximately the 28th of each month. We are selling RAIN through retail outlets. If you have some suggestions, please send them along. Maybe you could distribute in your area? WHAT ABOUT BACK ISSUES? For you who are wondering what past issues exist and how to get them, RA/N's first volume consisted of Issues 1-9, plus a four-page flyer. We are out of issues 1-6, except for a couple of precious copies. We use these copies as masters when someone wants an excerpt badly enough to pay 25¢/page for us to copy and mail it. Issues 7, 8 and 9 are available at 75¢ apiece. The yellow flyer is just about gone. (It was a reminder to subscribe and noted our change of address to Irving Street from PSU. It didn't really include any of RA/N's usual meaty stuff.) Last year's RA/Ns between February and June were wrapped around some essay-suggestionhow-to sheets called Roughdrafts. These were 4-6 pages, each on a particular topic. Here are what they were about and what they would cost you (again at 25¢/page) if you'd like some. No. 1, Brainstorming ($1) No. 2, Funding ($1.25) No. 3, Centers ($1.25) No. 4, Networking ($1) No. 5, Creative Instability ($1.50) We're now into Volume II, consisting of No. 1 in October, 2 in November, and so on. They're also available at 75 ¢ each. THE SECOND It's time to give you a financial report, even past time maybe. I remember promising you one last fall. Seems to me that the dollars and cents part should fit into a picture of RA/N's people-parts. There are six of us who work daily in our office/ home here on Irving Street, and one who's here during part of the month. Lane, Tom, Lee and Steve write many of RAIN's articles and entries. (By the way, Lane is a woman and Lee a man-some readers have wondered and/or guessed wrong). They also ~onduct solar workshops and other projects, clean house and keep on top of more information than will ever fit into this magazine. Nancy is setting up RAIN's local distribution and working on several other things, including helping Portland's food co-ops fit into a NW food network. She wears a bright green slicker. Mary Wells is our part-timer, doing our layout one week a month. She's responsible for our striking good looks. In our June 197 5 issue she wrote a valuable article on layout for small publications. It seems to have inspired a remodeling spurt among those we exchange with. I take care of RAIN's mailing list and spend hours writing down numbers and amounts of money in a large green ledger and other places, all while listening to the radio. So there are seven of us to be supported in some way, plus we have to pay the printer and rent and etcetera. Lane, Tom and Nancy don't show up in the budget you see here. Lane and Tom get income from doing outside consulting on energyrelated things. Nancy is paid through CETA, a federal employment program, and will be till the end of June. Mary is called "layout" on the budget. She also has another job doing production for Willamette Week, a Portland newspaper. Steve, Lee and I each now receive $400/month from RAIN itself. Here's a listing of average monthly expenses for the months in which we print a regular RAIN. During two summer months the expenses are reduced by approximately the $750 publishing expenses. Personnel: Salaries and fringes $1239 Publishing: Printing $400 Postage 50 Typesetting 170 Layout 100 Miscellaneous 30 TOTAL 750 Office: Rent $150 Utilities 80 Repair & Maintenance 60 Phone 90 Postage 140 Printing & Xeroxing 30 Miscellaneous Supplies 50 TOTAL Travel & Consultants: TOTAL €GRICULTURE • FOO~ The Commercial Fish Farmer & Aquaculture News, $8/yr., bi-monthly, from: The Commercial Fish Farmer P.O. Box 2451 Little Rock, AR 72203 501-376-1921 A consolidation of The Catfish Farmer, Fish Farming Industries and The American Fish Farmer & World Aquaculture News, this publication would be invaluable to those working on integrated agriculture-aquaculture in solar and wind-powered greenhouses (see Jim 620 20 $2609 DeKorne's book, The Survival Greenhouse, RAIN, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 8, and Bill Vanda's Solar Sustenance Project, RAIN, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 7). Dec. '75 issue contains an aquaculture industry 1976 buyers' guide, a complete directory of production, processing and marketing equipment, supplies and services. CFF also is making great efforts to solicit readers' comments on what they would like to see covered ... reader participation seems very important in this rapidly changing field. Acquisition and Culture of Research Fish: Rainbow Trout, Fathead Minnows, Channel Catfish and Bluegills, by Brauhn and Schoettger, EPA-660/3-7 5-011, May
LAW OF MONEY Some comments on these expens.es. We don't have the equipment to typeset our copy, so we send it to a local duo who call themselves Irish Setter. Nice people who do great work. Lane and Tom contribute about $160 toward our $620 in office-related e~penses. Our rent will go up to $225 in September, we anticipate. The one expense that always seems to me to be outrageous but inevitable is the $140 in office ,postage. That's for anything other than our monthly bulk mailings of fresh RAIN (i.e., urgent reques_ts for a RAIN, back issues, anytime we send five or more copies to one place, and lots of letters). . Where do we get this $i 609? Right now, we're working with three main sources: a grant from the NW Area Foundation,·subscriptions, and Lane and Tom's.contribution toward office/house expenses. We've been receiving about $520 per month.in income from subscriptions and other sales (back issues, the index to RAIN's Vol. I, Issues 1-8, etc.). With the $160 from Tom and Lane we have less than $700 coming in monthly. We now have about $6000 still coming on the foundation grant, maybe more, but there's no guarantee. Working with only these sources, we would obviously not have enough to carry on indefinitely. We're now looking at our options in working toward greater self-sufficiency: raising subscription prices, carrying advertising, lowering expenses, and others. We welcome ideas. We also know that money is starting to c·ome in from sales in-stores, which we began only recently. We don't yet know what it will amount to, though. If we wanted to be supported only by subscriptions, each of our ~urrent 725 subscribers would pay about $40 for a year's subscription. At 2000 subscribers, it •would be $15 each.- That's not what we're completely aiming toward, but it's one way to get a different perspective on magazine financing. We do want you to know that s4bscriptions are important tb us financially. There are probably more than 10,000 readers, we know. Besides to subscribers, we send RAIN to about 300 periodicals and contributors and lots of sample copies·. More than 10% of our subscriptions go to schools and libraries, and each of the rest is read by 4-5 people. . Where are our rea9ers, geographically? 60% of our December mailing went to the Pacific NW, 8% to California, 15% to.the East Coast, 4% to the Midwest aF1d 13% . to other places. If you know someone who'd be interested in RAIN, send us up to five names, and we'll send them a couple of introductory issues for free. Or, if you'd like a few extras to give away, let us know. We're a secr~t from too many people; whisper or shout us to s·omeone. (Steve and Lee are not brothers.) 1975, single copies free from: Technical Publications Office-EPA National Environmental Research Center 200 S.W. 35th Street Corvallis, OR 97330 For.fish-farmers (i.e. aquaculture), this covers fish-holding facilities, acquisition, acclimation, maintenance, specific care and problems, and references. Small Farm Project George D. Kemper Produce Development Section State.Dept. of Agriculture Charleston, WV In cooperation with the extension service bf West Virginia University, the ANNE eight-acre farm is operated to research and,demonstrate methods of farming on limited land resources. To/al sales from the 8-acre fa1rm last year were $1100 per acre. ·Sugar Energy Farms E.S. Lipinsky Battelle Institute 505 King Ave. Columbus, OH 43201 614-424-6424 Write, enclosing stamped, self-addressed . envelope. The concept of developing energy farms of sugar-producing crops to be converted into synthetic fuel on a "mass scale" is being studied. RAIN Page 3 Energy, Agricuiture and Waste Materials, by William J. Jewell, 540 pp., $22.50 from: • Ann Arbor Science Publishers P.O. Box 1425 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Details, from the viewpoint of the agricultural engineer, of energy consumed in food production, technology and energy' costs of pollution control and potential for producing energy from agricultural wastes. Recommended by Ken Smith, director, Ecotope Group methane proje . . • ' 11 I ' :- I I I ,:: f l ·1 . I i,-t ' • i , I ~ , I I :r J l i', 9 .. , .• ·~ .. · !~ '- . • I I 'I ·,' I ~\.; \1.1 ··, \I, I, • '1 , . ., . :. }.:.::.,;\ .t>~ ).'. '>• : •..: Rural Resources & Inform~tion Rt. 2, Box 142B Colville, WA 99114 RR&I is a loose collection, a rural network, sometimes just Skeeter (trying to - be both farmer and communicator), a communication center for intentional communities (especially central/eastern Washington), helping people locate, find others. Send description of you and your· situation, and stamp. RR&I spol)sors the Harvest Festival and Barter Days. Over 1,000 people at- ' tended, and according to various. reports it was a good event. Exchange of music for food; selling and bartering harvest crops. Skeeter will send you a leaflet . that would be of help to someone wanting to organize a barter festival (send stamp, envelope). RR&I also sponsored a healer's gathering and is working on a rural apprenticeship program; also compiling information for another issue of Rural Resources and Information. Plants, Shade & Sh.elter, by Paul E. Waggoner, Bulletin 656, Feb. 1962, free from: The Connecticut Agricultural . Experiment Station New Haven, CT AI)alyzes the differences in 7 microclimates (clearing, field, beach, etc.) as relates .to the human body's ability to maintain a comfortable internal temperature. Charts the relationship of wind, radiation wavelength, insulation, humidity, temperature and heat energy loss. . • . Continued on page 7
Page 4 RAIN Eating High I think the-~eason I like to cook is that it brings me closer to other people-whether food .with or for others, there is a cer- . r tain camaraderie and cooperative spirit involved that is very· special. Some of my favorite memories center on fixing food with friends. The ice was quickly broken at my"_sister's wedding where neither of the families had met before. We all pitched in for two days and cut and chopped and mixed the ,food for the wedding supper as well as the meals we ate during that time.:....suddenly it became everybody's party! Many people at Farallones Institute this summer said that the best learning experience of all came from working in the kitchen-5 or 6 people (rotated daily) planning and preparing the mountains of zucchini hot dish, French onion soup and cream puffs, or grilled cheese sandwiches that were eaten out on the hillside. At the Community Design Center in Minnesota a couple of years ago we had homemade soup ev,ery day for lunch. It was a time for staff and visitors (often as many as 20 folks) to sit together around the big table without any other agenda than enjoying each other and the creations of our chef. I'm convinced that the ritual provided a large part of the warmth of the place. • Consideration of food-preparation and·eating-is definitely a part of living lightly. In a general sense, it doesn't really Energy & Food, Fritsch, Dujack & Jimerson, 1975, $4 from: • and Lightly matter whether one eats no meat at all, enjoys only o'rganically grown foods, or simply stays away from the sinful yummies like sugar,' bacon and white flour. I pever have been much of a purist and find I can't draw any strict lines around my dietit wouldn't be Christmas without my great-grandmother's sand tarts, and I can't resist a little nitrate-loaded bacon now and then. It's all part of the weaning process~starting easy, little by little, figuring out what you can do without or do for yourself. Getting the breadmaking down and then-beginning to grind your own flour. Making choices-white flour only on special occasions or fried chicken as a treat. (Like the two friends who met each other in a Kentucky Fried Chickenboth-~greed they were still vegetarian in principle!) The main,poiJ?-t is to be aware of what you eat-what it is doing to you, the land and our natural resources. The folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C. are doing·;ome of the best work on the hidden costs and problems of food. They sponsored Food Day last year to make·the public-aware of problems such as nitrate in bacon, sugar in baby food and preservatives and coloring in general. Their.book, Energy and Food, gives figures for energy costs-ice cream and frozen orange juice head the list of "gas guzzlers." • • The Vegetarian Epicure, Anna Thomas, Center for Science in the Public Interest 1779 Church St:, N.W. . Washington, D.C. 20036 Regional Cooking of China, Margaret Gin and Alfred Castle, 101 Reproductions, San Francisco, 1975, $4.95. 1 Vintage Books, 1972, $3.95. The Tassajara Br~adbook, Edward Espe Brown, Shambala Bo.oks, 1970, $2.95. Diet for tl Small Planet, Frances Moore 4pp~, Ballantine, 1971, $1.25. The Complete Yogurt Cookbook, Karen Cross White, Ballantine Books, 1970, $1.25. Tassajara ·cooking, Edward Espe Brown, Shambala, 1973, $3.95.
Diet for a Small Pl~net is the classic that lays out the case against·a meat-centered diet for environmental reasons. Frances Moore Lappe talks about all the energy an·d valuable protein consumed by beef. More importantly, she provides alternatives for combining vegetable proteins into as good, if not more usable protein. There are fairly simple charts, as well as recipes and menu suggestions that make it aJl clear. I've never found the l"ecipes themselves that great, ·but they do give a clear idea of what different foods work together to give you what you need. Once you get the idea there are severi3-l books that can give you more exciting ideas for cooking. The Tassajara books are a good place to start. Ed Brown is the Zen monk who made the Tassajara retreat center in California famous for its fine vegetarian fare. Both the Breadbook ' and Tassajara Cooking give clear b~sic directions with lots of possible variation~. They're really good for freeing up the fledgling cook by noting such things as "you can skimp on the eggs or double the milk" and indicating what the probable results will be. A good friend of m'ine says that the challenge of cooking lies in mak}ng a good soup out of a seemingly empty refrigerator. In a very nice zen way these books make . the case for using every scrap possible and making feasts with what you:ve got.on hand .. . "If you don't have lentils, try black beans" or "Zucchini would be just as good as broccoli in this soup." The Vegetarian Epicure i~ one of my favorites-it's really a gourmet cookbook with everything from crepes with white wine sauce to on.ions monegasque. It includes French, Greek, Italian, Indian and German foods (there's an outstanding linzertorte) and lots of good idea~ for spices and sauces. Some recipes are fairly complicated, using lots-of pans (the opposite of the zen bo_oks which emphasize one-pot meals); others, like the curries, are quite simple. The author talks about serving meals to people who say they can·'t stand vegetarian meals and then gustily consume what she puts in front of them. .The point is, very few people dislike good food ... and if you give them just that, chances are they won't even notice they. haven't consumed their usual portion of meat." RAIN Page S Speaking of curries, Indian food is a natural for good vegetarian cooking. I found out from.one cookbook that there is no such word as "curry" in the Indian languages, so it must have been thought up by the English to describe a certain kind of spicy food. In truth, there are many combinations of spices that make up what we think of as curry-including coriander, cumin~cayenne, turmeric, saffron, mustard, cinnall)on and ginger. I got a hint of the possibilities in th,e Vegetarian Epicure but am still looking for a good, simple book with lots of ideas and not too many exotic ingredients. .Fobd definitely doesn't have to be vegetarian to be appropriate to living lightly! Chinese cooking is a perfect ex~mple of energy-conserving food. Vegetables and meat are cut mto small pieces _arid cooked 9uickly over a high flame-generally in a •• wok, which makes 1t easy to toss food from the red hot bottom to the cooler sides. Meat is thus used almost as a flavoring, and a little can·go a long way:-I spent $1.49 last night" on 1/2 lb. of pork tenderloin which fed five-including Lee. The Re· gional Cooking of China is my latest find (actually it was given to me for Christmas). It's really excellent: easy-to-follow recipes with ; asy-to-find ingredients. They are basically stirfrys and. thus common Chinese food as opposed to the fancy I exotica in most books. I've long been looking for a book that gives an undeFstanding of the sauces and flavoring that you • get in a good Chinese restaurant. I've only tried two recipes so far, but I think this is it-all I need is a little practice in timing. . The Complete Yogurt Cookbook is a go9d book for getting out of any ruts you might be in. My copy is spattered with sauces, which is the mark of a well-loved source of good food. The recipes in this book include dressings and sauces, soups, vegetables, meat dishes and desserts. They range from Roast Lamb with Macedonia Sauce to Spin•ach Soup Tanya. Central to many dishes from Balkan countries and the Middle East, yogurt is definitely good for you. I find that it can often be substituted for sour.cream for a lighter (less fattening) dish. There ar~ several good kinds of yogurt-my favorite is Continental, but it'·s expensive, so I usually use Nancy's, which comes out of Ken Kesey's creamery in Springfield. It's also good to make your own, but·I don't know of any fo_olproof recipes. • • ~ - 1.. L.deM. ~ Leeks with Cheese Sauce 1 lb. leeks 1-1/2 cups yogurt 1 egg yolk 112 cup dry crumbs 1 T. minced onion 1/2 cup butter ... 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese 1 T. ler:non juice • cayenne and garlic salt Clean leeks and discard outer leaves. Cut into 2-inch-pieces and place in saucepan with small amount of water. Add salt and lemon juice; cook about 15 minutes. Rtmove from heat; drain. Melt butter in skillet; Saute leeks for 2_minutes, adding onion the last min:ute. Arrange leeks in a shallow baking dish/sprinkle with garlic salt and cayenne. Beat yogu~t and egg yolk; pour over leeks. Sprinkle with br~ad crumbs, then top with grated cheese. Cook under broiler until _cheese is evenly browned. Serves 4. From The Complete Yogurt Cookbook
- I Page 6 RAIN ·wooo ,·COOK STOVES SELECTIO,N AND REPAIR Quite possibly, in 1915, the first acquisition of a newlywed couple would have been a wood_-coal cookstove. Water heating, garbage dispdsal, food cooking and general house heating were_ a~complished with this one appliance. Recently the w,ater heating capabilities of the cook stove have been incorporated into solar home heating systems. In the last 100 years no major improvements hav<': been made in wood-coal co~k ranges, The general tendency has been gradually to decrease the quality of tht; newer stoves. : ' I Older stoves are still readily available'; however, most people no longer give them away. It should be remember~d that a good ' quality cooking range·sold for the same price as a Ford auto- _ mobile sixty years ago. If you're planning to acquire one, don't be dismayed at having to pay a few dollars for a product that . may last a good portion of your lifetime and, with good care, be passed on to your children. A good, serviceable, used cook stove is likely to set ypu back at least $100 and perhaps as much as $500 or $600. Generally, as you pass the $150 mark, the price is determined by the amount of ornamental t6m and ' the nostalgia value of the stove. I Go6d quality, new ·cook stoves are likely to cost $600 -ro $1400 and some waiting. time should be expected. Lesser quality new stoves will cost betwe~n $250 and $450 and usually can be obtained within 30 days. • • .,,~ ----- -~~-,- - I ,, Many 'of the quality--det~rmining f~atures elude the eye until you have spent some time examining cbok stoves: As ·a rule the best stoves have slightly larger fireboxes (16-inch grates), slightly larger surface plates (19-1/2 inches or longer), insulated exterior walls, larger ovens and smoother, more highly polished surface ·plates. These features add to the versatility of the stove in cooking a meal.'Ot~er features have some beari~g on the amount of maintenance and the expected life of your cook stove. Cast ovens (instead of sheet steel), heavier firebox linings (such as Monarch, Majesti-c and Home Comfort brand's) and heavier surface plates decrease the maintenance needs of the stove_. As most people are still buying, using and trading older units, here a~e a few areas to examine on the stove you are considering: 1. The Firebox. Quite ofteri older stoves were discarde-d or stored iii the barn \Yhen the linings or grates had disintegrated. Luckily, new replacemenrs for these parts are available most of the time. A few all castbody stoves such, as the old "Sexton and Giffon" required very unique ·parts which may not be available. Parts for a complete firebox will likely run $70 to $200 plus installation. - 2. ·Surface Plates. A~used or mistreated stoves may have • cracked or broken plates. If the cast iron is not warped or crystallized, an experienced welder can mend them. Rustpitted surfaces have no practical remedy. 3. Ovens. Neglected stoves may develop rust "cancer" in which the metal near the firet>ox or rear of the stove has disintegrated. Sometimes lack of a firebox lining will burn out the oven. Any hole in the oven allows soot and ashes to enter the oven and the food al'ld must be repaired. 4. Stove Body. The ext~rior body of the stove has the same "cancer" problems as the oyen. Repairs on small spots can .be accomplishe·d by making a "sandwich" of two pieces of sheet metal. filled with furnace cement and bolted together over the hole. Extensive "body cancer" may require the replacement of the entire sheet body of the stove. Unless the stove has a lot of nostalgia va!ue this is usually not a practicality. 5. Trim. Nickel ~rim can be replated by many plating works. ' Most of the work involves the time nece·ssary to disa~semble and reassemble the parts. The cost of plating the parts for a Monarch will vary from $100 to ·$150, depending on their condition. _Missing trim pieces are nearly impossible to obtain for older stoves. Possibly the most d,ifficult aspect of using a: wood cook _ stove is that of finding knowledgeable repair pe·ople. Here are a few places to check in the Pacific Northwest (let us know about others w~ere you've had good e;xperiences): Portland Stove Parts ,Company Rt. 1, Box 309 West Linn, Oregon 97068 503-638-;4719 Stovie's Stove Works 1922 Hewitt Everett, Washington 98201 206-252-9562 (Joan & Jack) Anchor Tools & Wood Stoves 618 N.W. Davis Portland, Oregon 97209 503-223-3452 . ' Here's a few don'ts in contacting wood-coal stove repair . people: _ • 1. Do~'t expect pick-up or delivery unles~ you plan to pay dearly. • • 2. Even doctors don't make house calls. 3. Stove parts can't be fitted over the phone. 4. Repairs may take ·some time ~o accomplish. 1 While waiting for an opportune time to get your stove in good condition you may need some sort of temporary repair. Asbestos furnace cement is a universal "fix-all". Furnace cement will fill cracks and holes in firebox liners. The joints between iron castings can be filled to eliminate air leak~ and hot' spots. Re111ember, though, furnace cement is a short-term expediency and will not last long. • (Special note ro readers: We would appreciate hearing about _ other·source~ of parts and repair shops throughout the nation. ._Please write us. We'll try to put together another article even more chock-fuJl of useful information and hints.) BILL DAY Bill, one of our subscribers, has been associated with a store in Portland, Oregon, which carries wood stoves, His parents' hardware store in The Dalles was·one of the last places in eastern Oregon to find repair parts for wood and coal stoves.
AGRICULTURE continued from page 3 Care and Maintenance of Common Household and Office Plants: A Home Gardener's Handbook, $1.20 from: Superintendent of Documents Government Printing Office ' Washington, DC 20402 Order No. 024-005-00536-6. From The Green Scene Prograi of the National Parks Service. Covers light water, soil and temperature requirements of 24 kinds of common indoor plants. Rotations, Organic Matter and Vege- ; tables, by Downs, Jacobson and Waggoner, Bulletin No. 220, free from: The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station N,ew Haven; CT Another of the long list of technical reports available from these folks. This one is an 8-year study comparing nutritional content and crop yield be- . tween commercially fertilized, continuously grown cabbage and spinach vs. vegetables grown in 5 rotations with green ·manure. Illustrated with tables. - ' ,Northwest F_ood Federation About a month ago people from around the Northwest involved in food cooperatives, truckers, producers and growers, got together at Ellensburg, Washington, and began the foundations for a communications network that will allow for a more unified distribution of food from small farmers to cooperatively-owned or small retaii'outlets. By the half dozen different reports, the meeting was a great success. Some of the Prout research group, out of Seattle, used a simulated map situation to allow people to see the special communication problems of different regions. The map was a room where people sat grouped into their appropriate geographic areas and distances away from one another. It became clear-at least by those represented, that (a) Portland was missing, and (b) most communication was going on in the Puget Sound area and east and west in Washington, with Eugene feeling very isolated. So, the next meeting, .to implement the economic; base for-a federation, will take place February 27-29 in Eugene, sponsored by the Hoedads and the Prout Collective. At that time, Mark Musick of Tilth and Brian Livingston of Communitype will put toge~her a dir<:ctory of co-ops, ·growers, truckers and wholesalers in the Northwest. RAIN, in collaboration with People's Food Warehouse in Portland, sent along the missing Portland informatipn. If you have ideas, names of people who should know about the federation, write to us (if you 're in this area) or Tilth (P.O. Box 2382, Olympia, WA 98507). Oregon Historical Society Two Community Gardening. .Workshops To those who hold our resources in • common: iTwo community gardening workshops are being planned this winter for all persons interested in the social, administrational, or op'erational aspects of Community Gardens. Subjects covered at the workshops will include: some of the backgrol..lnd behind the Community Gardening movement, the exp·eriences some of the local agencies have had, a.i:id tips on acquiring land, preparing the soil, fertilizer,.water systems and arrangements with agencies and organitations. Monday,.Feb. 2, 1976,·9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lane.County Extension Service Conf. Rm·. 950 West 13th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 Contact: Marshall Landman Eugene·Parks and Recreation 777 Pearl Street Eugene, OR 97401 503-687-5333 Friday, Feb. 6, -1976, 9: 30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Music Center 3350 S.E. Francis (1 bl. south of Powell) Portland, OR Contact: Leslie Pohl Bureau of Parks and Recreation 1107 S.W. 4th Avenue Portland, OR 9720~ 503-248-471.7 RAIN Page 7 Please help spread'the word around about these conferences through·your publications and by word of mouth. Thanks. Yours for a greener,· more self-sufficient world, Marshall Landman Eugene Comm. Gardens Parks & Recreatio~ Dept. Rm. 105, 777 Pearl St. Eugene, OR 97401 503-687-5 33 3 • ERCHITECTURE ) Creating Modern Furniture, Dona Z. Meilach, Crown Publishers, Inc., 197 5, $6.95. - An unusually fine combination of wellillustrated how-to information on innovative furniture making and an amazing photographic survey of outstanding examples of hand-crafted modern furniture. Fantasy furniture straight from M.C. Escher's etchings: beautifully jointed Japanese tables; hollowed-tree stump ·chairs; refined glass and fiberglass furniture; sofas shaped like Marilyn Monroe's lips; giant cabbages, sea anemo·- nes and catcher's mitts to sit in; handcar.:ved doors; pigeon-hole desks; and walnut rocking chairs. Shows how to make beautiful things you never thought . possible! Energy Conservation in Buildings, Report R40: 1975, 49 pp., from: Svensk Byggtjanst Box 1403 ' S-111 84 Stockholm Sweden A pamphlet in Swedish with an English summary, proposes an easy method of checking the profitability of measures . taken to c::onserve energy in ~xisting build\ngs. Energy Conservation Program ·Guide for Commercial Buildings, by Louis A. de Latour, P.E., Oct. 1975, NRE-PE75-2, single copies free from: • Project Engineering Section D e p t . . o f Conservation State Land & Natural Res. Bldg. P.O. Box 44156 i Baton Rouge, LA 70804 504-389-5161 One of.the nice things ·about this item is a comprehensive, annotated bibliography on energy conservation publications and computer programs focused on commercial buildings; another is the almost layman level of explanation which pervades, increasing its utility and, finally, separation of conservation measures into those needing little or no capital outlay and those which mean a major expenditure. Continued on page 10
Page 8 RAIN TOWARD-S A FEDERATION Rain that becomes trapped showers in the earth becoming springs becoming creeks becoming rivers that be.come canals that become wet fields. I picture people making lists like we do of who can you contact region-by-region who will "spread" the (some) word to the appropriate other persons who will spread it still further until and that's the way things happen and change. • This is not a directory; most of these periodicals we just found out about, so it seemed right to put them in one place and say something. Maybe it's map time-where are the wordof-mouth canals in your area? North County Anvil Box 37 Millville, MN. 55957 Articles, photos, poems, book reviews, with emphasis on the North Country-but much application elsewhere. More political and rural and funkier (on newsprint for example) than Earth Journal. Things like: alternative sources of energy persons: Don & Abby Marier; threshing in Wisconsin, survival program for unemployed; Wounded Knee, art and community. $4.50/yr., 6 issues. ' The Tex,as Observer, a journal of free voices 600 W. 7th St. Austin, TX 78701 A social issues, public interest news magazine that's been around for years. Recent issue reviewed Limits to Growth con,ference-the issue was sent to us by a staff member who attended the conference (we do somehow make contact with one another). Colorado Express . Box 18213, Capitol Hill Station Denver, CO 80218 Published semi-annually. $10 for 2 years. $3.00 each. A cataloging format with outdoor mountains and rivers emphasis. Most issues continuation of access to wilderness equipment. Guide to restaurants in Colorado, VII. Issue No. 1 was catalog of food, transportation, care and r~creation in the Denver/ Boulder _iirea. Earth Journal Minnesota Geographic Society' 1501 S. 4th St. Minneapolis, MN .55404 Mq_st recently a well-done issue on food; includes: neighborhood food systems by·Gil Friend and David Moris (Institute for Local Self Reli.ance); various living lightly menus and recipes; Japanese packaging; guide to groups in Minneapolisincluding the newly-developed self-reliance project; the food systems in Minnesota, and more. Single issue 75¢, $3/yr., quarterly. Eco Systems Oklahoma Environmental Information Center East Central Oklahoma State U. Ada, OK 74820 An environmental education and issues newsletter for central south area, covering local (and some national) developments in edJcation, energy, waste, wildlife, agriculture, etc. $2/yr., 8 times a year.- • Public Occurrence, a Vermont magazine 182 Main St. Burlington, VT 05401 , $5/yr. Vermont is one of those regions that collects mellow caring go_od eccentrics. Somehow I figure it would be easy to talk as an Oregonian to someone from Vermont. Public Occurrence-in that almost traditional new regionalism periodical standard: newsprint, orderly design, short to medium size articles-covers most areas that RAIN does for Vermont and New England, with more politics, poetry and consciousness. Santa Cruz Alternative Energy Coop P.O. Box 66959 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 A nicely done newsletter produced, on the side; by f'hese folks who are holding workshops in solar energy, researching solar greenhouses, starting a meteorological data collection program, helping the county with a winterizing program. Information •about middle California. Send self-addressed, stamped envelope and donation if possible. News Print Co-Op c/o Tl\eatre Project 45 West Preston St. Baltimore~ MD 21201 Not really a regional magazine but an interesting concept in print distribution. People pay very cheap amounts £or space (quarter of tabloid seems about average) wherei,,H·they can ad- -vertise, print their J?Oetry, their small magazines, flyers, etc. The co-op, a person at this point, does layout and design. Might be a model for times when paper and energy get short. Send $1 for sample. The Cultivator Federation of Cooperatives Box 107 15 Central St. Hallowell, ME 04347 As Lane said to me, it's not often that you find yourself reading an in-house newsletter cover to cover with interest. Much more than might initially meet the eye-not just food and co-ops; there are book reviews and recipes, "Indian Agriculture in Maine," recycling, fuel wo_od, etc. ' IO (and) North Atlantic Books RFD #2, Box 135 Creamery Road Plainfield, VT 05667 Several years ago I came upon an /0 by ::i,ccident while I was thinking about places (a sense of knowing around you like the back of your hand)-I was unsure what I meant; the /Os helped a lot. It is poetry of place; sometimes feels like it's off on a wing, but lots to get your started. Hist9ry and spirits. Many of the books and issues of IO (20, some are out of print) are by Richard Grnssinger; some other titles include: Here by Bobby Byrd; 20,000 A.D. by Ed Sanders; The Windy Passage from Nostalgia, A Book of Vermont-a catalog-size book, including geology, agriculture, photographs, settlement patterns, settlers' journals.
RAIN Page 9 OF ECOTOPIAN NATIONS Geo-cultural· Regions ' The political regions of .our country have developed with total disregard for the realities of our land and our regional cultures arising from that land. Our "melting pot" mythology has attempted to erase local and regional cultures-but it has yet to erase the landforms, climate, soils, vegetation and living creatures that constantly bring into ~eing regional personalities and cultures in response to the unique problems, potentials and rhythms of each place. Those regional lives and cultures are essential and will endure beyond any artificial political boundaries. A look at one of Erwin Raisz's intricately beaut~ful landform maps of the U.S. (No. 3-$1.00 from Erwin Raisz, 130 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114) gives real meaning to the regions shown above, which respond like a well-fitting shoe to the different landform regions. These regions have shared problems, potentials and lifestyles which sharing among the people of the regions can do much to improve. The life of rQ,lina ,r \f eorgia , • -f \ ~:~ \ {} · \j Tidewater, Virginia, is closer to that of New Orleans than to West Virginia. The myths of Planet Drum and Ecotopia are alive for the people of the Pacific Coast. The dryland farming of eastern Montana has more to share with that of the Texas Panhandle than with western Montana. Regional publications are arising to further the sharing of our lives and the meeting of our common needs. A sense of our regions and their cultures gives us a sense of place and of our roots as·well as of where we can find resources to answer our needs. Atlases such as the Climati·c Atlas of the U.S. by Stephen Visher can giv~ more detailed regional maps for topography, geology; climate, soils, flora and fauna-but they only bring into finer focus the general regional pattern. Different regions have distinctive features and resources, and much to share1 with each other, but our lives are nourished and formed dominantly by what is offered and required of us by the region in which we live. Know it well. • Some other regional publications we've mentioned before: AERO ·' Center for Rural Affairs Down to Earth 418 Stapleton Bldg. P.O. Box 405 Environmental Info Cent. Billings, MT 59101 Walthill, NE 68067 P.O. Box 12 B.C. Alternative RR2 Lumby, BC, Canada Bolinas Hearsay News Box 1, Elm Rd. B~linas, CA 94924 Briarpatch Review 330 Ellis St. San Francisco, CA 94102 Comm'(l.nity Environmental Ed. Notes - 109 E. de la Guerra Santa Barbara, CA 9J101 Contact Institute for Ecological Studies U of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND' 58202: Helena, MT 59601 Environmental News P.O. Box 11000 Montgomery, AL 36111 Living in the Ozarks Pettigrew, AK 72752 • 1''{orthern Light Alaska Cent. for Environ. 913 S. 6th St. Anchorage, AK 99501 Self-Reliance Newsletter Institute for Local Self Reliance 1717 18th St., N.W. , , Washington, DC 200_09 • Street Pratt Cent. for Coinm. Development 240 Hull St. Brooklyn, NY 11205
Page 10 RAIN I ARCHITECTURE· continued from page .7 Energy Conservation Design Guidelines for New·Office Buildings, 2nd Edition, $2 from: Regional GSA Business Serv. Centers or Business Service Center ( 3 F 1) General Services Administration 7th & D St., S-.W. Washington, DC 20407 This latest ed1tion features new sections on computer software programs useful for energy design and analysis, and the state-of-the-art in solar energy. ' @oMMUNITY • North Idaho Access, $1.94 - Box 8367 Moscow, ID 83843 ) There you go, proving that you don't ne~d cities to have need of a yellow pages; these people have created a lovely guide to services, goods, food, rivers, history, legal aid, libraries, art galleries, and on and on. If you have friends there, if you p_lan to visit, if you want tc>' •know what the beautiful boot filled with mountains is doing ... ~ Construction with Surface Bonding, B. Carl Haynes, Jr. and J..W. Simons, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Ag. info.rmation Bulletin No. 374. Contact: B. Carl Haynes i I ~ ' Environmental Engineering Lab • tl ~ · Richard B. Russel Agricultural . • J • ·L., , P.O~;;;:~~;;hter O . ~~ Athens, GA 30604 . , . , . . Use of fiberglass-reinforced cement plas- North American Student Cooperative ter on both sides of concrete block Organization walls built without mortar joints has P.O. Box 130l been shown to be easier to build and Ann Arbor, MI 4 8106 1 bl k d A campus-based consumer cooperative· stronger than conventiona oc an, , mortar construction. Such walls are federation devoted to the spread and effective use of cooperative ventures, strong enough for two story construction. They also are finding use in low especially in student housing. The New cost containers for solar heat storage Harbinger, quarterly, covers developand low cost, water-filled Trombe wall ments in co-ops internationally. A re- . h cent issue was devoted to international P assive solar he'ac storage systems sue scale; an issue in the near future will be as designed at Max's Pot (RAIN, Nov. '7 5) in Texas. This bulletin gives details on more small scale energy co-ops. Many for construction techniques, which dif- publications on various levels of generalfer somewhat from normal processes.· izations and subjects, including: What Is A Co-op (free);' Co-op Housing Informa~ Journal of the Society for the Creatiqn ofPrimitive Cultures, by Robert Kertell, $2 postpaid from: Robert Kertell 4630 S.W. Viewpoint Terrace Portland, ORV97201 Cut and fold on dotted line 1st edition 9f a colorful poster of environments for cosmic kids, sensitive grown-ups and landscape architects ... a museum for superfluous material goodies, a garden hideaway amid your standard slurbia,.a symbol house. Simple technology (solar water heaters, parabolic solar cookers, water pumping windmills), combined with a balanced ecology of water and green growth, the journal presents the supposed designs of a fictiti,ous (maybe) architect. Next edition: a serialized account of architect Berll's entry into the field, plus "The Palace of Simple Pleasures." Think I'll .go find the scissors. tion Kit (50¢); Accounting for the • Simpleton (75¢.); The Nanaimo Experience (Nanaimo, BC, direct charge co-op, 35¢.) ... Wind Bell Zen Center 300 Page Street San Francisco, CA 94102 $4/yr., '3 issues. Reports on activities of the San Francisc;o Zen Center. Recent issue contained a lecture by Baker-roshi and ariicles on community projects such as t,he Green Gulch Greengrocer- a neighborhood store set up to make available organic produce and oven-hot • Tassajara bread to the community surrounding the center. Also a neighbor:. hood park .and neighborhood foundation organized to help,residents rehabilitate the _area. The spirit with which all these things are done and its implications for everyday life 'are well worth becoming aware of. ,. Basement R9ots Library 314 Laurel St. Santa Cruz, CA The Hobbits s·ent us some material they have produced, including bibliographies on education and-California politics, as well as a People's Yellow Pages for the Santa Cruz area. • They act as a clearinghouse for information not available through normal libraries; wit~ some funding and assistance from the Sou~h Bay Social Responsibilities Round Table-of the Arrierican Library Association. They are especially interested in possibilities of the new time/space frame in education created by the availability of paperback books. An interesting book they sent along explains what's happened to publishing: "The Paper Book Goes to School," published by BIPAD, Bureau of Independent Publishers & Distributors. Guifie to Neighborhood Ecology Center for Visual Environment 1525 New Hampshire Ave., N!W.· Washington, DC 20036 $1.00. A clearly designed/organized intro,ductory information resource guide to city environment, historic preservation, parks, signs, pubJic art, urban conservation, community gardens, etc. Ask them about other services and publications. (EDUCATION ) Free Poster Charts and Maps, $2.95 Sources of Free Teaching Materials, $3.95 from: Mr. Dale E. Shaffer Library Consultant 437 Jennings Ave. Salem, OH 44460 20 years ago I received a book called 1001 Frer; Things', which started me on a life of mailing for things. It has its ups and downs. The free things are not always really free-it costs us via company expenditure for PR as passed through ret~il sales. And.the pamphlets, charts, poste,rs, would often sound like they would come with brass bands-and instead pieces of dull paper would arrive. Also there are many good free things, and these guides are obviously wellresearched. Good stuff for class supplements, visuals, attention getters, or for us mail freaks lots of things to send ourselves or friends. Most people, I think, would feel they could at least get their money back from buying Mr. Shaffer's guides. Continued on page 15
RAIN Page 11 ( APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY ) MEGA-PAPER TIGERS Individuals and communities attempting to change regulations hampering small local businesses, finance development of their own small business, or encourage public policy favoring such enterprises have to overcome the massive inertia of conventional wisdom that says that big business is more efficient, labor-intensive processes are uneconomical, and small-scale activities are less beneficial to our quality of life. The following books should be required reading for any city council that votes for a big motor inn rather than guest houses or for.bringing in outside industry rather than developing local industry; for any banker who redlines a neighborhood or loans to big industry rather than small businesses; and for anyone who needs solid documentation supporting small-scale, labor-intensive, local activities. • Size, Efficiency and Community Enterprise, Barry Stein, 1974, $5 (?) Center for Community Economic Development 1878 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 Extensive documentation of economies and diseconomies of scale in manufacturing industries showing large firms to be generally economically less efficient than small ones. It also shows how a large number of specialized small firms can enjoy more economies of scale than a large, integrated firm; documents greater inventiveness of individuals than corporations. A wealth of important data and insights into myths and realities of large and small scale business operation. As You Sow, Walter Goldschmidt, Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1947 (out of print). also "Small Business and the Community: A Study in the Central Valley of California on Effects of Scale of Farm Operations," Report of the Special Committee to Study Problems of American Small Business, U.S. Senate (79th Congress, 2nd Session), U.S. Government Printing Office, Dec. 23, 1946. The effects of small vs. large businesses go far beyond the mere question of costs of production. They influence the whole social structure of communities and nations. Goldschmidt's pioneering study of the social effects of large vs. small scale farming on towns in California showed this so clearly that the U.S. Department of Agriculture refused to publish it. Here's why: "The study showed the small-farm community had twice as many business establishments and did 61 % more retail business; the small farms supported 20%more people at a measurably higher standard of living; the small-farm community had more institutions for democratic decision-making and much broader citizen participation in such activities; it had far better physical facilities, such as sidewalks; paved streets, garbage and sewage disposal, schools, parks, neo/spapers, churches and civic organizations; aQl:i the majority of the small-farm community population were independent entrepreneurs, while 2/3 of the large-farm communities were agricultural wage laborers." Technology and Employment in Industry, A.S. Bhalla, Ed., International Labour Office, 1975, $14.95. International Labour Office Washington Branch 1750 New York Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. This collection of specific, detailed case studies of industries and industrial processes in many countries demonstrates that a considerable range of technological alternatives exist for industry- even in "core" processes. Such alternatives provide significant latitude for different mixes of employment, machinery, materials and energy within economically competitive costs. Options are thus available that can simultaneously reduce unemployment, respond to our increasing capital shortage, accommodate increasing energy and material prices and provide mechanisms for reducing externalized costs such as transportation and unemployment compensation. Lack of awareness of alternatives by business leaders is shown to be a dominant obstacle in businesses adapting cost-effective changes to more job-producing, energy-saving processes. Worker-Owned Plywood Companies: An Economic Ana~ysis, Katrina V. Bennan, Economic and Business Studies Bulletin No. 42, Washington State University Press, 1967. One of the major fears preventing businesses from encouraging labor-intensive processes is the fear of labor/management conflicts and problems of employee boredom and low productivity. One obvious answer is to eliminate the conflict of interests between workers and owners through worker-owned businesses. Bennan's case study shows that they have been and can be well-managed and economically viable, even under difficult conditions of using abandoned plants, obsolete equipment and difficult material supplies. The firms studied actually had worker productivity 30 to 50% greater than in non-worker owned firms, along with greater flexibility to adapt during difficult times.
Page 12 RAIN The Great Recycling Race Success of the Ore Plan Almost no one believed it when Portland recyclers claimed it would be possible and economical to get _householders to keep their trash separated, to pick it up with pushcarts and small vehicles and recycle it directly-thus eliminating the need for mammoth and expensive mechanical sorting systems, saving money and energy, and providing more jobs in the process. A big order! Yet it works, and works well enough that more than 30 ORE Plans are now starting around the country. Many cities, and even the EPA, are beginning to look seriously at this ridiculously simple mini-system that outperforms the biggest and best technology around. The following is an excerpt from Prof. Richard Duncan's upcoming Compost Science paper on the ORE Plan. See the Jan.-Feb. 1976 issue of C.S. ($6/yr. from Rodale Press, 33 E. Minor, Emmaus, PA 18049, single copies $1 postpaid). His earlier ORE Plan article can be found in the Jan.-Feb. 1975 C.S. (Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 24-32). Portland State University's Prof. Duncan has been shepherding these neighborhood recycling organizations through the city-county-state-federal political thickets, providing the researched, academic analysis and conceptual background that is needed to keep a working "small is beautiful" technology in front of waste-management decision-makers. We've listed over 30 local ORE Plan recyclers and resource people on page 14 in case you want a nearby contact person with whom to work on your own hometown ORE Plan. Figure 1: The Alsport UT-10 with trailer (10 hp., 1000 lb. total capacity, $2,300 from Alsport, Inc., 84 Whittlesey Ave., Norwalk, OH 44857) The Ore Plan in Portland The ORE Plan started in 1974 when Sunflower Recycling, Inc., extended their operations by using a small hand-pushed cart to pick up grouped recyclable wastes from homes in the community. Wastes collected included paper, bottles and cans, which were later sold to secondary materials markets. Later, a separate experiment added organic wastes, which were composted and used as a soil conditioner in local gardens. More than 50% of the households in the community participated in this 10-month experiment. In March 1975 Sunflower began using an Alsport UT-10 vehicle with a trailer for home collection, as shown in Figure 1. The positive results of this project led to the design of an alternative garbage collection system where the main financial base would come from collection fees. The ORE Plan is now a full-line garbage collection service where recyclable materials are kept separated by householders r:: c'd u r:: ::l a ...c:: u i and small-sized vehicles are used to pick up both recyclable wastes and mixed garbage at one visit. ORE Plan organizations are designed to be financially self-sufficient and pay fair wages to all workers. Collection fees, averaging 20 to 40 percent below fees for standard service, provide the main economic base and are supplemented by income from the sale of secondary materials. Figure 2: Pick-up of Home Separated Waste with "Satellite" Truck and Trailer In May 1975, Cloudburst Recycling, Inc. became the first new ORE Plan based business. Recycling collection fees averaged about $3 per home per month, compared to about $5 for standard collection service. Their strategy for obtaining an initial set of customers was to canvass households already known to be doing recycling. Over 80 percent of the first seventy households contacted signed up for the service. The community serviced by Cloudburst is a relatively flat area about 1-1/2 miles long by 1 mile wide, containing about 5,000 single-family residences. Cloudburst is now serving about 100 families in this area, representing a collection density of 1.5 percent. Waste materials are collected by two people using a small pick-up truck with trailer as shown in Figure 2. The truck acts as a "satellite vehicle" to a large van truck parked in the neighborhood where materials are temporarily stored, reducing collection costs by lowering gasoline consumption. A recent "net energy" analysis by David Beaton, former director of the Oregon Energy Study, indicated that the ORE Plan was first among the nine systems studied in terms of overall energy-efficiency. Basic collection fees range from $1.50 to $4 per month in January 1976, with over 50 percent of the subscribers preferring weekly collection of all their wastes. Collection times to serve about 80 customers have ranged from 3 to 5-1/2 hours. These hourly figures include backyard pick-up of wastes, breaking bottles into containers and personal attention to customers and potential customers, but exclude lunch and rest stops. Cloudburst estimates that two workers, using a pick-up truck and trailer, could collect from 150 households in 8 hours, including the time needed to transport wastes to markets or disposal sites. An estimated 2,800 pounds of wastes were collected from 80 households, of which more than 50 percent by weight were recycled. Income derived from the sale of recyclables is currently between $0.55 and $0.75 per household per month. The potential gross monthly income from a Cloudburst-type recycling operation is estimated at about $2,700 per month. r:: c'd u r:: ::l a ...c:: u -~
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