r RAIN OCTOBER 1977 INSIDE: Homemade Woodstoves Grassroots Energy Planning Beyond the Myth of Scarcity ONE DOLLAR
Page 2 RAIN October 1977 'BUT I S..Yfl, S-.Y.~ r ,-T,t er~TWAY.;· T' -A\A?lD AR6'YM'E:NT IS' T'·i:it.AWT T~EY no.Ir T4KE'. S'O L<WG T'PLANT, A/ot '(v~ l<W 1-!A~T T~' CQQp A. DWtii :'PUtvk'INS- . • Sl&lff QUICK£~ f I c,.. 1 . •• l C\l ·•flwr;r .r~~lf~1~I ~- rtr ft1,ti;H~i• ~(;,/, l}\h~l~I I~: \, -~ ~-\. :.'.~ . • :\. -~ ~ ..... :.0 >, ~ < ~ ~ C: ~ ~ C) f' ~ :::! ., ., 0 .. ., . . v RAIN access RAIN is a monthly information access journal and reference service for people developing mor,e satisfying patterns that increase local self-reliance and press less heavily on our limited resources. We try to give access to: * Solid technical support for evaluating and implementing new ideas. * Ecological and philosophical perceptions that can help create more satisfying options for living, working and playing. -* Up-to-date information on people, events and publications. €GRICULTURE•FOO~ Community Gardening in California, R~semary Menninger, 1977, from: Office of Planning and Research &OAT State of California 1400 Tenth St. Sacramento, CA 95814 Starting a community garden involves much more than tilling the soil and sprinkling it with seeds. Now is the time to put your green thumbs to work farming the resources available to you in your community and state. There are over 160 community gardens in California now; Community Gardens in California outlines how they have been organized, what state, federal and local resources are available, and makes a number of suggestions for new garden projects. You can benefit from thejr experience and this report. Couldn't find a price (could it be free?). Write and see. -CM Small Farmer's Journal, from: P.O. Box 197 Junction City, OR 97448 I've seen a good number of publications slide through our mail slot this past summer, but this one is really something special. Small Farmer's Journal is more than just an urban dweller's dreamer, it offers "practical information for people who wish to become self-sufficient, diversified "farmers" in the true sense of the word. The journal places a strong emphasis on the use of horses and mules for motive power; the editor, a horseman himself, feels horsefarming is a serious consideration in the future of agriculture, but from bee-keepkeeping to ditch-digging, SF J offers indepth help for the farmer. What's more, it's beautiful! Congratulations to Lynn and Christene, and thanks to all those involved. Published quarterly, subscription cost $8.50/year in the U.S. and $9.00/year for foreign. Separate issues are $3. -CM "War on Pests Becomes More Sophisticated," Conservation Foundation Letter, July '77, $1 single copy from: CF Letter 1717 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Agricultural pests ruin an enormous share of the world's crops. Typically they are fought with lavish spraying of chemical pesticides, but these cause many undesirable side-effects and frequently backfire. Scientists have developed a varied assortment of biological pest control techniques which are now available to farmers. The time is ripe for the large-scale adoption of these more sophisticated and beneficial meth· ods of pest management, and this 8-page item will help: For all organic farmers, forest managers and ag. dept./extension services. -LJ G-AND ) Tax Foreclosure Notices, $5 for any 4 states from: R.F. Brauer 21607 Devonshire St. Box 882 Y Chatsworth, CA 91311 Brauer has put together listings of all the 3,141 tax collectors in the U.S.- listing county, county seat and zip code-as an aid for people interested in obtaining inexpensive tax delinquent property. Tax foreclosures often have weird karma-they have amounted to almost outright theft in Chicago and other areas, foreclosed owners can be real unhappy, and there are frequently problems with the property itself that have caused the foreclosure. But they're occasionally a real bargain. This is a brief buyer's guide, how to do it, and listings of any 4 states for $5, all states for $30. -TB
2nd lnternatio1al Symposium on Land Subsidence Program B.ooklet, Dec. 1976, $2 from: · Treasurer Int'l. Assn. of Hydrological Sciences 1909 K St., N.W., Lower Level Washington, DC 20006 • Contains brief summaries of 64 technical papers on theory, investigation, measurement, predication and control of subsidence, including land-surface sinking resulting from removal of water, oil or gas, de-watering of organic deposits, and extraction of solids by mining. Useful info on the hazards of energy production to land. - LJ "Developing a Small ·Collection of Idaho Maps," by Dennis Baird, in The Idaho Librarian, July 1976, and The Bulletin of the Geography & Map Division of the Special Libraries Asso,ciation, March 1977, copies 50¢ each from: Patricia Hart The Idaho Librarian Library-Humanities Univ. of Idaho Moscow, ID 83843 Because it clearly outlines the sources and methods 1of map librarianship, this is an item tha1t would be useful to all . states and' to anyone, including private citizen map fetishists, looking for moqels on how to prnceed, how to store and arrange maps. • If this is a continuing interest, the Bulletin, published quarterly at.,$12/yr., ($3.50 the single copy), is what you want. Write: Mrs. Kathleen I: Hickey, Bus. Mgr. Bulletin of the Geography & Map Division-SLA 9927 Edward Ave. Bethesda, MD 20014 - LJ ( HEALTH ) Is Your Drinking Water Safe?, 30minute film, ask for Film Digest No. 31486, free to gro~ps from: Modern Talking Picture Services 2323 New Hyde Park Rd. New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Produced under a federal grant,, covers how to find out if your water's fit to drink and what to do about it if it isn't. AIR POLLUTION: WHAT TO DO? If you've got bad air and want to learn what to do about it, write the American Lung Association. They've a newsletter called "Air Conservation," various publications ranging from layperson to semi-technical literature and can put you in touch with your local lung association. Write: American Lung Association, 1740 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Wellness, Chris Popenoe, 1977, $4.95 from:i 1· Yes! Books 1035 31st St., N.W. Washington, DC 20007 Well, someone finally did it just in the nick of time. Health care and natural cure books have been proliferating at an amazing rate, and it's hard for the novice to tell the wheat from the chaff. This book is thorough, fat (442 pages), well indexed and cross-referenced, and easy to use, with the favorites don.e in bold-faced type, so they jump out at you. Do you want to know the history of ginseng, the best herbal books (most of her favorites seem to jive with mine), all about iridology, body work or oriental medicine? This book will sanely lead you through all the sources, pointing qut the strengths and weaknesses of each. A must for anyone interested in this exciting field. - LdeM ( LEARNING ) Practical Puffins: Bottles and Cans and Out in the Wilds, by McPhee Gribble, Publishers, and Kites by Jack Newnham, $1.50 each.frpm: Penguin Books 625 Madison Ave: New York, NY 1<;)022 Penguin B?oks are off and flying again October 1977 RAIN Page 3 with three new Practical Puffins. Full of good advice and fun projects for 7-12 year olds and anyone else who isn't too grown up,, they are fun to read and easy to understand. Make a spooky mask or musical instrument with the help of Bottle.sand Cans. Or hide under a shelter of leafy branches with instructions from Out in the Wilds and learn how to enjoy th~ outdoors safely and· gently. Then, go fly the kite or four you can make after reading the last Puffin by the same name. They sure beat mud pies and after school TV. -CM • Growing Without Schools, $10/6 issues,·- with reductions for multiple subscriptions. Sample copies 50¢ from: Holt Assoc. • 308 Boylston Inc. Boston, MA 02116 Learning is too often associated solely with schools and formal education. Growing Without Schools is ·a new newsletter by John Holt about how you can learn and acquire skills without going to school. He wants your inputon ways people can get credit, your experiences, the art of teaching, and personal concerns, in hopes of setting up a network of mutual help and supporr. There are alternatives; there is a choice. -CM The Tadpole Kite ----------- - - ----- ------ CROSSED SrtCK. - FRAME-~ PAPER -COVFk -- TAIL---- _ ·y ss 1N~AGG . ----·
Page 4 RAIN October _1977 Your TV and newspapers tell you all the wonderful things the Feds are doing to resolve our energy problems, but they probably haven't Mld you about these things- they 're wher'e the action really is. These excerpts are from Grassroots Energy Planning by Ken Boss'ong- a 20-page compilation that gives a • sense of the rapid local progress in energy occurring around the country. The picture is encouraging and gives enough ideas to keep any community busy for quite a while. Tl.1e whole paper is available for 60r/ from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 17 57 S Street N. W., Wasbin~ton, DC 20009. It grew out of their Local Energy Action Project (LEAP), which is working to encourage, publicize and assist local energy programs. - TB -IT'S HAPPENING all over! Across the nation, grass roots energy plans-ways for states and local communities to encourage better home and office insulation, to provide alternative renewable energy resources through solar, wind, water and wood power generation- have been building rapidly. Yet, local efforts so far have just begun to scratch the,surface of what's possible in energy saving. The Nixon and Ford Administrations, preoccupied with developing expensive and centralized new oil and nuclear power source·s, paid them scant attention. The Carter Administration, while verbally more sympathetic to conservation and alternative energy options, has committed few resources to local approaches to energy problems. Nonetheless, hundreds of the nation's cities and most of the state governments are develop- , ing programs to lead themselves out of their own energy problems. And, in the process, they are assuming the lead in resolving the nation's energy crisis. By ea;ly April 1977, all 50, tates and the various U.S. territories had prepared state energy conservation p,lans. The 5% conservation goal required under the 197 5 Energy Policy & Conservation Act was apparently considered achievable by all the jurisdictions, and many indicated projected savings 25_-50% above this figure. In large measure, the states are relying on optional,measures s-uited to their particular needs and resources-to supplement the mandatory measures to meet the 5% energy reduction. For example, Colorado is planning to develop a statewide bikeway construction program as well as to institute staggered work hours and possibly four-day work weeks in metropolit~n areas. Maine's EPCA plan includes public education programs, energy audits for buildings, workshops for business and industry, revision of the state's motor vehicle inspection provisions to include an exhaust gas analysis program to identify improperly-tuned automobile engines, a local energy management program, and a proposal to institute a load management study with the state's public utility company. In New York, Governor Cary has called for a ban on pilot lights in gas furnaces and stoves and for a requirement that a seller furnish a home-buyer with both a copy of the previous year's fuel bills and an ·assessf}1ent of the building's energy efficiency. California contemplates a study of waste-heat recovery in industry with an emphasis on preheating and superheating of boilers. California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and most other states are planning major expansions of energy audit services; in some states these services are administered by the local electric and gas utilities; in others they are sponsored by Project Conserve programs administered directly by the states' energy offices. Other states such as North Carolina are also proposing prohibitions on the use of master meters for electricity and natural gas usage in new multi-unit residential buildings. In addition to curbing fossil fuel consumption, many state plans envision utilizing indigenous energy resources. West Virginia's Fuel & Energy Office, for example, is sponsoring a program in which methane gas from gassy coal mines is tapped for home heating use in ,nearby communities. New Jersey is coordinating research efforts with Princeton University to assess the potential for heat co-generation in the state. Vermont has prepared a series of studies to evaluate the potential of its wood resources to meet energy needs; its wood-energy program has already prompted an increase in reliance on this resource: between 1970 and 1976, wood use for home heating has jumped from 1% to 6.7%. Idaho is on the verge of what its energy office describes as a program that "may become the largest geothermal spa.ce and water heating project in the Western Hemisphere." The city of Boise already serves some 200 customers with geothermal hot water, but a recent study concludes that 38 large buildings or die equivalent of 4,000 ail/erage homes could be heated from a·nearby geothermal field for a cost of $5 million. While solar legislation languishes in the Congress, the states are moving rapidly to implement measures that encour-
I age rapid comm"ercialization. To date, more than 23 states have enacted statutes which offer such incentives as tax credits and deductions, exemptions from property and sales taxes for solar units, and low-interest loans. North Dakota's legislature this year passed a law that provides procedures for the creation of voluntary solar easements similar to Colorado legislation put into effect two years ago. Public buildings powered by solar ·energy are in the works· all over New Mexico. And one of the major builders-is state government-mandated by the 1975 legislature to consider alternative energy systems for all state construction. The· state al.ready has financed two solar buildings Tecently opened at New Mexico State University a,nd expects shortly to solarize several other major complexes now under construction. In California, the state Office of Appropriate Technology is providing bicycles to state workers in Sacramento as an alternative to automobiles, training unemployed persons to design, build and install solar hot water systems in state-owned houses and apartment buildings, and assisting in the design of new state buildings that use only one-fourth the energy of conventional buildings. • . . The long-range goals of these and other state energy planning programs are often quite ambitious. The New York State Assembly, for example, has endorsed an energy policy goal of meeting SO% of its energy needs from solar energy, wind power and solid wastes from within the state; presently New York must import 90% of its energy. South Dakota is planning to reduce its historic per capita energy growth rnte of 3.85% to at least .68% by 1980 and to 0% by 1985. A study has been completed in Montana on how to make the state energy self-sufficient. That report follows the thinking of Amory Lovins (i.e.-reliance on conservation and decentralized·, alternative energy technologies) and is probably the first serious effort by any state to explore energy independence through "soft technolo.gies." A spate of bills to implement the report's anticipated recomme'ndations is now being readied for the Montana legislature. In King County (Washington), as part of an energy conservation program first proposed in October 1976, a few hundred low-income residents received·warmer homes and lower heating bills this past winter; there a $40,000 "winterization" program was designed to reduce energy consumption and the heating costs of low-income elderly; the savings were estimated to be 30%. The Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development's Energy Crisis Program encompasses 27 predominantly Appalachian counties in southeastern Ohio and is operated by 16 Community Action Agencies. The program, which began operating in February 1975, has accomplished partial or compk~te weatherization services on approximately 2,500 homes and has granted crisis intervention assistance to 1,500 households (that entails giving one-time-only cash grants or fuel supplies to individuals who are having difficulty paying - their utility bills). • Ocean Cou~nty (NJ) is the first locality to form a Youth Energy Conservation Corps. Under the program being coordinated by the Ocean County Energy Council, local teachers are being trained in energy conservation strategies. ~ne,.-gy conservation clubs, in addition, are being f.ormed for grammar school students; student coordinators are being appointed in high schools to monitor such areas as lighting, air conditioning usage. There are also solar demonstration projects in shop classes and other conservation projects in , science classes. On January 31, 1977, a new planning and zoning code went i o effect in Los Alamos County (NM), which includes a solar ~ights ordinance. The homeowner's right to solar October 1977 RAIN. Page 5 energy is clearly specified and protected; the location of vegetation or accessory structures on a lot is prohibited if· these additions will block the access of an already-instq,lled solar collection system to the sun. The Small Farm Project of Cedar County (NE) is currently planning various energy-saving programs for the Project's 25 cooperating farms. Design and costing of specific energy innovations are now in process with assistance from several consultants,; they include solar heating of homes and farm buildings, wind generation of electricity, wind-water pumping, improved insulation, and use of methane fuels. Actual construction is slated to begin in fall 1977. Many of the nation's regio!.1 councils have designed pro- . grams to addre~s their own local energy' needs. For example, the Comprehensive Planning Organization of San Diego began work in November 1976'on a regional energy plan that will promote energy conservation measures and the development of alternative energy sources fe;tsible in the San Diego region. The Organization already publishes a monthly "shopping list" outlining steps local residents and businesses can take to get more efficient use from home appliances, cooling systems, etc. The Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments disseminates tips on weatherization of homes and offices.to both elected officials and the public. T-he San Luis Vall€:y Council -of Governments (Alamosa, CO) is conducting workshops emphasizing techniques for utilizing solar energy, energy conservation and natural building design. The Southwest Georgia Area Planning and Development Commission is condutting energy audits of office buildings and schools and recommending steps that might be taken to.eliminate problem· areas. e Hundreds of towns and cities'have undertaken energy planning efforts to promote energy conservation and to tap locally-available, renewable energy resources. These efforts have oeen very diverse, ranging from broad comprehensive programs to small tentative ones. One of the best comprehensive energy.conserva.tion pr,o100 80 E 60 .::L. 40 - E 20 01 - 10· ro u 8 t 6 Q_ 4 (/) C 2 ~ I- 1.0 ....... 0 0.8 ...... 0 0.6 . U 0.4 o.i 0.1 TABLE I ENERGY US!= FOR TRAVEL BY ANIMALS AND MACHINES Mice : ·• • Bee Dog • • Cars Man• • Horses .-: • Jet Salmon • • Man on Bike 10-6 10"6 10-2 1 10 102 104 106 1 Body Weight (kilograms) Man on a bicycle ranks first•in efficiency among traveling animals and machines. _..;
Page 6 RAIN October 1977 grams is being run by Davis, California, a _small city 12 miles. o.utside of Sacramepto. Almost"four years ago, Davis' City Council convened a committee'of architects, meteorologists, planners and citizens to survey energy use in the city and to make recommendations for reducing fuel consumed in space heating and cool_1ng by 50%. The group drafted a new ordinance controlling building design elements such as window area and orientation (it requires that houses have limited window area on the north, west and east exposures), amount of insulation, building heat storage capacity, and building orientation so as to take maximum: advan,tage of natural heating and cooling. The final ordinance was accepted by the city planning commission and ultimately approved by the City Council. The changes have already reduced the city's electrical· consumption by 10%, and conforming households are netting monthly savings of $10-$15 on utility bills. Springfield (VT), a small city of 10,000 people, is developing a local hydroelectric site to supply the bulk of its electricity, .and several other Vermont towns will likely follow suit. Likewise, the city of Idaho Falls, in cooperation with the federal Energy Research & Development Administration, is jointly funding a "low-dam" hydroelectric study aimed at upgrading the city's hydroelectric SY,stem: the community owns three low-dam hydro plants on the Snake River which ~ere once capable of generating up to 6,000 kilowatts. In Ithaca (NY), Cor;nell University i's considering reactivating a power plant on Fall Creek Gorge that may eventually supply 500 kilowatts or 3% of the university·'s total electrical needs. There are over 3,000 such little used rnill-town dams scattered throughout the country which could provide the energy n~eds of 40 million people at costs lower than other electricity generating sources. In some communities, the impetus for local energy programs has come from private citizens. One of the most successful waste oil recycling programs in the nation was started by Sunnyvale-Cupertino's (CA) chapter of the American ·Association of University Women. The four women convinced the City Council to designate 14 service stations, four fire stations, and the Sunnyvale Recycling Center as collection points. They also arranged for a nearby re-refinery to pick lip the used oil from the collection poin.ts. A~ a result of their efforts, numerous other communities have been awakened to the conservation potential of ~ecycling the 1.1 billion gallons of used oil generated annually in the U.S.; similar waste oil recovery projects have been launched in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth (MN), Cincinatti (OH), and Chittenden County (VA). ' Other local energy projects have been instigated by the nation's Community Action Programs (CAP). About 700 CAPs across the country participate in some form of weatherization program, repairing and insulating the homes of lowincome families. In Cranston (RI), the local CAP created a small business to construct and install solar water heating units in the homes of poor people. The SKV Community Action Program in Augusta (ME) scavenges SO-gallon oil drums <1;nd converts them into wood-burning stoves. Community Action of Laramie County (WY) is building solar greenhouses. Many of rhese small projects are being expanded and inco·rporated into more comprehensive local energy plans. Other cities are also.actively pursuing energy conservation projects. At the time of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, Los. Angeles enacted an emergency epergy curtailment ordinance; it achieved a 17% re'duction in electricity within a few weeks without major adverse impacts upon employment or the economy. The town of Worchester (MA) launched a community- .wide insulation co-op in which 25 families joined together and purchased 24,039 square feet of insulation at a discount of 25% - a savings of approximately $52 per family. Minneapolis, Sioux City, Cleveland and Springfield (IL) are only a few of the communities which have used overhead thermographs; householders, businessmen and others thus have been able to view these special aerial pictures of their homes, schools, stores and factories to find out whether poor insulation is wasting energy and costing them money. The city of Hartford (CT) is establishing a program to winterize both public buildings and private homes through a non-profit city corporation using an assortment of federal funding programs. Property owners will be billed through the municipal water utility ; the city's pension funds have been suggested as a funding source ro provide the initial starting capital for the project. With 1 CETA funds, poor people will be trained, first on the municipal buildings which do not require competitive bidding and then on the homes of the poor themselves. -~ . This kind of intense city effort to deal with local energy problems is becoming the pattern and no,t the exception. Recognizing that trend, the Vermont legislature last year passed a law (Act 226) enabling towns to appoint town _ energy·coordinators who "shall coordinate existing energy resources in the town and cooperate with the municipal planning commission and with those federal, state and regional agencies of goverrlment which are responsible for energy matters." More than 40 town·s have appointed energy coordinators so far, with many of the coordinators being assisted by energy committees composed of a cross-section of the town's residents. The coordinators and committees are examining insulation·standards, exploring ways to exploit.wood, water, wind, solar and organic energy sources; advising homeowners on purchasing solar units, wood stoves and windmills; and investigating whether local sanitary landfills are suitable for methane production. ~or example, Burlington is conducting a feasibility study on a new electric generating plant to be power~d by wood, wood waste, and muni~ipal refuse. Elsewhere, new towns and communities within existing cities are being planned on the basis of conservation and renewable energy resources. Sixty solar energy homes are planned for a ne·w subdivision-Sunglade- in Raleigh, NC. The . homes will use roof~mounted collectors to heat water for heating and domestic use. The builder has applied to Carolina Power & Light Company to have the homes participate in the peak-load pricing experiment in which electricity will be expensive in periods of high demand and cheap in periods of low demand. To hold down the electric bills, the homes will have automatic clocks to control devices such as hot water heaters so they will only come on during the low-cost periods. The solar collectors will supply 7 5% of the hot water needs. In Grassy Brook Village, a subdivision of Brookline (VT), 216 solar panels have been in.stalled to provide the first tenunit development in this new community with about 4,500 square feet of coll'ector s:urface. This marks the first' time in
.A October 1977 RAIN Page ' ,.,_. __________________________________ ....., ___________ the U.S. that_an independent sola.r heating system will be used for cluster housing. In spite of the breadth and variety of local and srate energy activities, major impediments to such planning efforts remain -primari:ly lack of information and a lack of money. Only a small number of cities are aware of the wide range of activities that can be conducted on the local leveL .Although some literature exists on local conservation programs, there is an acute shortage of information on the possibilitie's of local alternative energy development. Ultimately, thd success of national efforts to pull the U.S. out of its energy crisis will be determined within the communities across the country and not in Washington, D.C. Community energy programs could provide the-vital service of not only making the technological information available but also of assisting in its implementation. Each community has the potential for developing energy resources and/or conservation measures that are uniquely suited·tq that area. No federal energy plan could ever be·comprehensive enough to allow for the differing energy needs of ea_ch regio~ ·of the country. - Ken Bossong GOOD THING$ Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay, William W. Warner, 1976, $2.95 from: Penguin Books 625 Madisori Ave. New York, NY 10022 Every once in awhile I stumble on a book that is really special and I can't even remember now how it came to us or why I picked it up. Somehow it just felt good even though I didn't know myself to be interested in the Ches,apeake or tne seafood industry there. But this very gentle and readable book is about people-the skilled watermen who work amazi,ng hours and whose knowledge about the w_ays of the Bay and its inhabitants far exceeds that of the scientist "experts." It's about the blue crabs-their habits, growth stages' and personalities. And it's about a place -it's history, economy and a way of life far from the tour,ists and passen,l:>y. . It is written by an outsider with a patience, love and respect that come through beautifuliy. Now if I could just find such a book about the Oregon coast. - LdeM The Warehouse Catalog, $2 from: Sailing Equipment Warehouse P.O. Box 2575 Olympia, WA,98507 The nearest I've been to sailing is bouncing around with a friend named Do-It who races sailboats on the Minne- . sota puddles, s~ I can't tell you if this is a "best deal" ·for boaters. (Is it?) I do know that boating equipment is one of the best places to check out when looking for a piece of hardware you can't ·find anywhere else to do something special. A good handy reference and dream piece .. . what could I do with that thing? . . . for boaters and nonboaters alike. A nice, small-scale operation. -TB In the People's Republic, Orville Schell, • 1977, $8.95 from: Random House 201 East 50th . New York, NY 10022 There have been many, many books written as a result of visits to the People's Republic, but this is the first one I've ever seen that really talks about the people and how things felt. Orville was lucky-he went over for three months as part of a special group who spent •time working in a Shanghai factory and on Tachai, a farm commune in Northern China. He was in these places long enough to get past the statistics and model projects. He also spoke Chinese, so he could really tall to people, not just to interpreters. What comes through is somewhat,depressing for those of us • who hoped for a while ·that <;:hina might be a model for our dreams._Orville was reprimanded for taking pictures of composting toilets (they'-re "backward") and was shocked to realize that many of the people in the prison he visited were there· for thinking individualistic thoughts that he was thinking. But it's a wonderful book due to Orville'_s very fine ability to capture the spirit of the people he got to know. The little boys in the field, the doctor and his family, the factory workers all come through alive arid clear-a side of China we're not often able to catch a glimpse of. Highly recommended. -LdeM Woodland Park Zoo, Jones and Jones, 197.6, $25 from: 105 So. Main Street . Seattle, WA 98104 What do you think about zoos? Somethi_ng bugs me about them, but I can't pin it down. Are National Parks zoos? Is New York a zoo? Are we all behind invisible bars? There's sometl)ing wrong all along the line, but what? Assuming we have/are in/wish for zoos, this book is an elegant attempt to create a range of realistic habitats that can expose us to some aspects of other inhabitants of our global zoo. -TB
Page 8 RAIN October 1977 The sun and ·wind and garbage are resources we've ignored Cheap, renewable and clean! Who could ask for more? What a joy it was to watch a group of people teaching about • energy alternatives with something other than slides and charts and polemics. Thq.ter! That's what this movement has been needing. Telling it like it is (even slipping in a few facts and figures) but with grins, costumes, songs and dances, and some very fine juggling. The New Western Energy Show is a troupe of 14 actors, dancers, "chanteusies," and handy energy-types who have been traveling around towns in Montana for the past two summers. They do two shows a day on their fold-down stage that doubles as a semi-trailer for hauling props and displays. One is a children's matinee complete with a dinosa·ur who explains about fossil fuels, a windmill named Louise, and ·old Mother Hubbard, who learns that saving energy means saving money. In the evenin$ they do a Medicine Show that includes. a chorus line of insulation bags, a wonderful ventriloquist and dummy act, and a skit about a town who learned the hard way what being energy wastrels does. All the skits and songs are ;well-written and marvelously acted. I sat in Billings for five days and watched people absolutely entranced by the message- and the medium. The audience was filled with little kids, families, old geezers in overalls, a sprinkliri.g of longhairs and members of the high school track team that had been practicing nearby. Often 60-100 people showed up for a show. Mouths hung open, eyes twinkled and everyone had lots of fun. • The great thing about it,· though, is that it isn't all theater. Encircling the area sit solar hot water heaters, water wheels, solar ovens (where cookies were baked each afternoon and given away to children during the matinee), woodstoves, windmills and a whole series of display panels explaining the whys and wherefores of energy conservation and the various ~ different alternative means of generating energy. There was also a library table and books to buy (best seller was, I think, Bruce Anderson's Solar Home Book). There were always members of the troupe standing by ready to answer questions or give tours of the exhibits. Slide shows and "town forums" were going on, too. Sometimes they were by the group and sometimes by folks like myself, Jay Baldwin, Jack Park, Howdy Reichmuth and Jeff Barnes, who were brought in to be part of the troupe for a week. Alongside all this was the blue school bus that served as transportation, dining hall, closet and infirmary for the troupe. It was always colorfolly bedecked with sleeping bags, bicycles and boxes of vegetables donated by local people. (We ate very well.) It even had a breadbox solar water heater on the roof. So not only was there entertainment and education to be found, but the people ·n the group were an example for all to see of the living lightly ethic they were espousing. In some ways, that and their infectious enthusiasm were the most important messages of all. One, I might add, that was often commented on by visitors- many of whom came to gawk and went away inspired. The show is the brainchild of Kye Cochran and AERO (Alternative Energy Resources Organization). The first year it cost $30,001.12, which they borrowed from friends until a grant finally came through in December, long after everything was packed away. This summer they had a $45,000 Renewable Energy Resources grant from the State of Montana. What happens next year is still uncertain. Some of the group, many of them native Montanans, want to stay together to do ·theater in schools and for other public occasions all year round. A small contingent that hails from Seattle are thinking about getting another troupe going there.
' October 1977 RAIN STEP RIGHT UP, FOLKS! The more, the merrier. It really is time that the a.t. movement got some fun and games into its repertoire. The enthusiasm and excitement it engenders is much more hopeful than Carter's doomsday energy speeches. It's neat for the theater people and musicial)s too, many of whom have been longing for a way to ply their craft to move things along. All of them •emphasized to me how much·greater their energy awarc;ness is now after their activist summer. A.T. ENTERTAINMENT OF THE MONTH (if you can't see AERO's New Western Energy Show) Cultural shifts and turning points are often heralded by_seemingly insignificant events. The most important omen to me this past month has been hearing my first anti-nuclear 45 rpm record. I played it over and over, getting so mad at what they are doing to us I cried at first. Then I got this new sense of resolve to do what I can to end that tul-de-sac, that dinosaur, the peaceful atom that Mr. Wizard forgot(?) to warn me about in the 1950s. Who needs it? There really is a world of safer, solar options out there, even if it's not so visible to the mercenary bureaucrats at ERDA/DOE. The societal mythos is moving away fro·m the stupidity they're pushing, and w_e can kick the habit, and them with it. This will help. . Anyway, it's got "No Nukes" on one side and "Karen Silkwood" on the other. Proceeds go to,the Clamshell Alliance. It's $2.30 per copy frop,: No Nukes Record (make check out to that), 94 No. Leverett Rd., Leverett, MA 01054. Now all we need is some good rock-country solar, wind and biomass songs. Who's got 'em? - LJ The AERO people will be working this fall on keeping the New Western Energy Show on the road. In the meantime (and . for those who can't get up to Montana for the show), they are putting together a video tape and a film of the show that should be almost as good as the real thing. For further information about their availability and prices, write in November or so to AERO, 435 Stapleton Building, Billings, MT 59101 (406/25~-1958). - LdeM RAIN is interested in knowing about other groups who are using theater to get across the same messages we are saying in print. We know about the Family Circus (221 S.E. 11th, Portland, OR 97214), who do a fine anti-nuclear show as well as several other things. We've hear<;l of the Caravan Stage Company, which travels in horse-drawn gypsy caravans through B.C., the Two,Penny Circus that does anti-nuclear stuff in Vermont, and two groups d.oing theater with kids- the Narnia Messengers in Seattle and Friends Mime iri Milwaukee. Does anybody have addresses for these groups? Do you know of any others? Let us know and we'll run the information in an upcoming issue.
Page 10 , RAIN October 1977 We were going to just review the new book by Frances Moore Lappe and ]ose_ph Collins and Food Monitor, the new magazine they are involved with. Then we read this article from the magazine, and it summed everything up so nicely that .we asked if we could reprint it. Frances is the author of Diet for a Small Planet (I'm sure you've read that book- $1.25 from Ballantine - reviewed in Rain book, p. 173). Joe helped in the research and writing of Global Reach: The Power ofthe Multinational Corporations (Rainbook, p. 32- $4.95 from Simon & Schuster). Their new b'ook, Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity, expands on the theme here. It is available for $7.95 from their organization, the Institute for Food Developmevt Policy, 2588 Mission, San Francisco, CA 94110. The new magazine they are doing jointly with Harry Chapin and World Hunger Year is called Food Monitor. It will keep you well-informed. It's available for $15/year for 11 issues ($25 for institutions,. single copies for $1.50) from Food Monitor, P. 0. Box 1975, (larden City, NY 11530. ---,LdeM · Beyond the Myth As we have described our work to others during the intervening years, we have discovered a common reaction. Writing a positive book about world hunger sounds to most people like trying to make a joke about death-it just isn't in the material! The typical response is a s\gh of sympathy or a look of bewilderment. Sometimes we sense we evoke latent feelings of guilt because we appear as individuals who are "making a sacrifice." But how can we explain that we are not dwelling on the tragedy of hunger and deprivation? Instead, we are learning for the first time where our own self-interests lie. Rather than a depressing subject to be avoided, the world food problem has become for us a useful tool in making sense out of o~r complex world. But to discover the positive message hidden·in the appar~nt hopelessness of the world food problem, we must first face the force,s now paralyzing Americans with feelings of guilt, fear and, ultimately, despair. Everywhere, newspaper headlines carry a clear message: we are all in a life-and-death contest between growing numbers of people and limited amounts of food. We are in a race, we are told, and some must inevitably lose. The implicit message is that not everyone can have enough to eat. And what about us, we wonder? According to C.W. Cook, retired chairperson of General Foods, if we have "to compete with . . . an increasingly crowded and hungry world, providing adequate nutrition to millions of lower income Americans could become an impossible dream." Population growth was pronounced a "bo~b" in the 1960s and a "human ddal wave" in the 1970s. But it is not mere numbers that we are made to fear by these frightening images; the real issue is whose numbers are increasing. While describing the "race against hunger," then- • President Nixon told us that, "the frightening fact is that the poor are multiplying twic~ as fast as the rich." To this compound threat, our new ecological awareness presents its own version of the apocalypse. Warnings about over-reaching the "finite limits of our ecosystem" lead us to believe that increases in food prod.uction will inevitably damage the environment. Thus, there appears to be no way out of scarcity without making our children pay the p·rice. ln addition, as North Americans, we are told that we have a special role to play in staving.off the apocalypse. Again and of Scarcity by Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins again we r·ead that the United States is the world's only remaining buffer against starvation. We see world food security defined strictly in terms of how much grain the United States can produce or hold in reserve. And; understandably, the North American consumer then believes that food exports to the hungry are to blame for our rising food prices. One intuitive response ~o such a burden on our national shoulders is to toughen up, to feel we are being unfairly put upon, and to . \ resist. At the same time, well-intentioned attempts to stir public· action have shifted the world food crisis away from the politi~al-economic arena and have made it an issue of individual morality. Our consumption is endlessly contrasted with deprivation elsewhere. With no understanding of how hunger is actually created, we are defenseless against a diffuse but powerful sense.of guilt-guilt for just be_ing American. Thus, the hungry are made to represent a powerful threat, and, at the same time, a burdensome responsibility. We are torn. To ease the pain of our: conflicting feelings, theories such as "life boat" ethics emerge. We are told that compassion is a luxury we can no longer aff?rd. We are told we .must.learn a new ethic of detached reason: we must learn to let people die now for the ultimate survival of the human race. Such a resolution of our conflicting feelings is, in the words of writer Peter Collier, a form of "Novocain for the uµeasy soul." . But, must we deaden our sensibilities in order to find some surcease for our anxieties? Or, can we transform what appears to be the most impossible problem of our generation- the world food crisis-into a most useful and constructive tool for understanding the complex forces that limit our own lives? Can we, moreover, ©n the strength of our new insight, gain a sense of personal power over forces that increasingly diminish our own freedom of choice and our own well-being? In researching our book, Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity (Houghton Mifflin, July 1977), we have discovered that the answer is "yes!" To begin with, we have lear~ed that food must come first. Until all peopl~ 9f this earth are able to eat adequately, all other problems pale in significance. No country can afford to think of its food resources as a means toward some other end, such as income from exports, until
its people first are feeding themselves. This applies to the United States as much as to any other country. As we studied, read and interviewed, we found that the media-repeated themes of scarcity, guilt and fear are all based on myths. In fact, we had to learn that: 1. Every country in the world has the capacity to feed itself. 2. The hungry are not our enemies nor our competitors. 3. The malnourished abroad are not hungry because of individual greed of the average American. Rather, the hungry are victims of a scarcity-creating system. Hunger, in fact, is not the "problem" at all. Hunger is the symptom of a disease, and we are its victims in much the same way as are the nomads in Mali or peasants in India. We have come to see that no society setting out to put food first can maintain the concentration of wealth and power that characterizes most nations today. The heaviest constraint on people-oriented food production and distribution turns out to be the inequality generated by our type of economic systemironically, the very system now being exported to underdeveloped countries as the "answer" to their food problem. We are not saying that the solution to hunger lies in better distribution of food while keeping intact the present distribution of power. We are saying something else: that hunger will only be addressed when we confront the more fundamental issue of who controls and who participates in the production process. Thus, to accept the challenge of Food First is to confront the basic assumptions of our present economic system. The greatest reward for our work has been the discovery of realistic and liberating answers to a most urgent question: What can Americans do? Although the answers are not simple, we know at least that Americans alone can't solve the world food problem. Hungry people do, can, and will feed themselves if they are allowed to. ff people are not feeding themselves you can be sure there are powerful obstacles in·the way. Now, instead of asking, "How can we feed the world?" we ask an entirely different question: "What are we doing-and what is being done in our name and with our tax money-to erect those obstacles? And how should we work to remove them?" The task of Americans now becomes clear. More important October 1977 RAIN Page 11 than sending food aid or designing rural development projects for the Third World is building a movement in this countrya movement that lays bare the truth that it is a single system, supported by governments, corporations and landed elites, that is undermining food security both here and abroad. We are discovering that in underdeveloped countries, the forces cutting people out of the production process, and, therefore, out of consumption, are the same forces that have turned our food system into one of the most tightly controlled sectors of our own economy. Fewer and fewer farms account for a larger and larger portion of our food. We get increased and needless processing and less nutrition for higher prices.·· Thus, as we fight to democratize our food economy in this country, we are fighting directly against the very forces that promote hunger in other countries. There is no other road to food security-for others or for us. We have been misled to believe that, if justice becomes a priority, production will be sacrificed. We have found the opposite to be true. It is the land monopolizers, both traditional landed elites and corporate agribusiness, who have proven themselves to be the most inefficient, unreliable and destructive users of food resources. The only guarantee of long-term productivity and food security is for people to have control over their own food resources here and in other countries as well. The first step, however, is to demystify the problem of hunger. This is where we would like to help. We did not start out as experts. We began just as you might. We became interested. Food loomed as the greatest problem of our lifetime. What could be more compelling? As we learned more, read what the "experts" were reading, traveled through our own country and abroad, we learned that the solution to world hunger is no mystery. It is not locked inside the germ plasm of a seed, waiting for a brilliant young agricultural scientist to discover it. It is not spelled out in econometric studies of development planners. No, the only block to a solution to world hunger is the sense of powerlessness we are made to feel; that the enormity of the problem puts the solution outside our control; that it should be entrusted to others. The solution to world hunger is firmly in our hands.
Page 12 RAIN October 1977 Every now and then we come across something really special- an idea, a project, or perhaps a person who seems to represent "appropriate technology" in every sense of the word. Keith Jellum and Gary Morris are in the business of creating useful art, art for energy's sake, and one look at their woodstoves tells you they're something special. From the salvage yard to the fuel source, these fireburning masterpieces not only provide alternative space heat from a renewable resource, they are assembled almost entirely from recycled remnants of thrown-away treasures and are created by hand. Reminiscent of the days when craft guilds flourished and art was everything (or should I say everything was art), each stove has a personality and identity all its own. Keith had been sculpting and casting other people's work for quite some time and, feeling that all things should be beautiful, he fashioned his own sculptures into useful things. "Giving art a From the Fire purpose brings it to life, makes it tactual." Keith's philosophy on art had influenced his preferences toward making towel racks, candle holders, lamps and various other things that people could use and enjoy. He started in the woodstove business out of pure necessity. He couldn't support his gas furnace "habit" and needed a woodstove. His first attempt resembled an old toeless boot with a mysterious looking funguslike a growth around its ankle. It to the S worked so well it hobbled its way right into a friend's living room. Shortly thereafter, ten car bumpers followed him home one night and were soon part of his second stove, which he later entered in Oregon Artists' Annual and sold to Portland Art Musel,lm as a part of their permanent collection. He now averages 3-4 wood stoves a year, with various other functional and non-functional sculptures in between. His latest work, a magnificent wind vane, is flying Do It Yourself A stove is essentially a device to separate the smoke from the heat. The more heat-radiating surface you can run the heat/smoke through before it gets out of the room, the better. There is a point of diminishing returns where there is not enough heat to carry out the smoke. The following is a design for a simple, efficient, cheap, woodburning stove. It can be the end-product itself; it is almost simple enough and clean of line to be aesthetically pleasing. However, the almost is not quite enough for me personally, and I suggest you see it as a principle in an early evolutionary stage or as a skeleton upon which to hang your own personal fantasies. The extent of your own imagination defines both your freedom and your prison.
:h Pile 1tovepipe I I in the breeze perched atop a home in S.W. Portland. Gary Morris seems to be of a similar persuasion. Heavily influenced by today's recycling sentiment and too many leaky houses, his art naturally found its way from the firch pile to the stove pipe. The one-time jeweler started in the heating business repairing old stoves on the Oregon coast. Since then he has moved to the Columbia Gorge with torch and "trash" in hand to create stoves, some of which not only heat an entire cabin but can cook meals and heat your bath water as well. Between the two of them they've used everything from farm equipment to old cannons in their practical sculptures. Each stove is fit to your heating needs and designed to your artistic tastes. For people who are more interested in efficiency than art, Keith and Gary are well experienced in design, construction and materials. In fact, Keith has discovered that one of the most efficient models is simple enough for the average do-ityourselfer to make without many fancy tools. Except for the refractory clay, they can be built completely recycled materials, Materials: 2-25 to 30 gal. drums (preferably old ones, because they're thicker and easier to weld to) 1 piece 16 ga. steel about 10"x24" 1 piece 1/4" steel plate, at least 19" diam. 2 heavy hinges (door or gate) 6" of 5/8" round steel stock 22" of 3/8" round steel stock 1-1/2" of 3/16" or l/4" gas welding rod 5 lengths 1/8" gas welding rod something for legs (use your imagination: I came across a bunch of curved 3" diam. pneumatic tubing and have been using it because it is strong and lightweight enough to October 1977 RAIN Page 13 E 2 Qi -, .s::. +,, 'Qi --------------,;,;,;,;;. .......... ____ ..;., _________________ .,,.,,.,~ While commercial manufacturers try to sway you with some consumer mumbo jumbo as to why theirs is "the only one to buy," these handsome heaters will add much more than a few extra degrees to your home. As Keith last remarked, "if you are what you eat, you are what you see too," and these wood stoves are something else; they'll warm you from the outside in weld easily to the barrel) (All of the above can be second-hand material, except for the weld rod.) 100 lb. box of plastic refractory (about $14). This is the key to the life and efficiency of the whole stove; I would not recommend building one of these without it. I have been using an A.P. Green product called "Super G" (look in the Yellow Pages under refractories). Plastic refers to the fact that it comes in a moist, malleable state. It is designed to be rammed in place and is good up to about 3000° (which you'll never reach in your woodstove unless mebbe you're burning ironwood). and the inside out. Keith and Gary can be reached at: Keith J ellum 911 N. 13th Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 Gary Morris MPMP 0.32 R Thuja Narrow Washougal, WA 98671 - Cathy Macdonald Step 1: Cut the 16 ga. sheet into two pieces, 6"x24' and 4"x24". Form with hammer into cylinders 6" and 4" long and 6" diam. and weld. The 6" long one goes between the barrels and the 4" long one should be fitted to the inside of the large end of a 6" stove pipe before welding. Place the cylinders against the barrels and mark them to fit the contour of barrel and cut to that mark. Step 2: Be sure barrels are empty of whatever they contained, then fill them with water before cutting them with torch. This prevents them from exploding and killing you in case there are flammable fumes. (A childhood mentor of mine died that way.) Cut end out of continued next page
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