! .! Page 2 RAIN May 1979 RAINaccess .~ ~t ;:1 - :~ HEALTH Diet al1d Nutrition: A Holistic Approach, Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., 1978,634 pp., $7.95 from: Himalayan Institute Publi.shers and Distributors RD 1, Box 88 Honesdale, PA 18431' 717/253-5551 This book provides a basic overview of the science of nutrition (both Eastern and Western philosophies) and how it relates to the whole person. Recommended for students and others who wish to learn more about this holistic approach. -YL Who[istic Dimemi01ls in Healing: A Resource Guide, Leslie J. Kaslof, 1978, 295 pp., $7.95 plus $1.50 for UPS shipping from: United Communications P.O. Box 320, 233 Mosher Ave. Woodmere, NY 11598 This book really warms a networker's heart. Leslie Kaslof has contacted over 50 "experts" (one of them happens to be my brother Phil) in the field of wholistic healing and asked them to write a brief explanation of their particular interest and then to provide an annotated listing of groups and associations ; schools, centers and clinics; journals and publications; and products and services which are working in their area. What results is 295 pages crammed with the most useful organizations, etc. related to wholistie healing. - YL Healthwise Handbook, Toni M. Roberts, Kathleen Mcintosh Tinker and Donald W. Kemper, 1979,250 pp., $6.95 from: Doubleday and Company, Inc. Garden City, NY 11530 Do you have a headache? Should you lie down and rest? take an aspirin? or should you call a health professional? The liealthwise Handbook provides the answers to these and many other ques tions you may have about common health problems. Although it is not holistic in its approach, the Handbook \~~~ . (? .5"" ?': .;; ". .... J OJ .(',~:: u :Z: .r.. .. ; == ... . 5 ~ ~ ' h ' Q :jp \"rt .~ t ff E r. "."0 , Q .1 ' ..... .~ j .~ ~ :! ~ :; I ~ /; J.~ E ';.' \'; Qt.l: \,*"(1'" and pcu.cnor vi.e.... of lhc shllUl.I preuun points. J provides useful how-to information on recognizing and treating common illnesses as well as offering suggestions on how to prevent them. Includes chapters on dental care, emotional problems and what to include in a "home health center." - YL OffDiabetes Pills: A Diabetic's Guide to Longer Life, Rebecca Warner, Sidney M. Wolfe and Rebecca Rich, 1978, 121 pp., $3.50 from: Public Citizen Health Research Group Dept. 209, 2000 PSt., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 2021872-0320 " Drug companies spend $5 ,000 per doctor per year . .." on promoting their various products. In the case of oral hypoglycemics (drugs to alleviate the symptoms of diabetes), this money is being used to promote drugs which are not only ineffective, but also "double the yearly death rate by heart and blood vessel disease in maturity-onset diabetics who use them." Off Diabetes Pills examines the problem of oral hypoglycemics, presents evidence which states that this medication is unnecessary, and outlines alternatives (by the use of diet) to control this disease. Appendices list diabetes centers across the country'which will treat diabetics through diet. - YL
-- ---- SMALL ' BUSINESS Why S.O.B.s Succeed alld Nice Guys Fail in a Sma/lBusiness, $20.65 from Financial Management Associates 3824 E. Indian School Road Phoenix, AZ 85018 Despite the title and style of th is book, it contains more usefuJ and detailed information for small businesses and selfemployed people than anything else I've ever seen! How to track down the kind of lawyer you really want or need without paying telephone roulette. All sorts of legal and otherwise tax scams and loopholes and how to use them. How to deal with buying or selling a business. Fending off bureaucrats, getting free advertisement, making banks believe you are a good credit risk. All sorts of fair and unfair things that make up the reality of today's business world that you wish you'd known long ago. An excellent resource. Have your library get it so you don't have to pay for it. - TB In Business, Jerry Goldstein, editor, bi-monthly, $14/yr. from: J . G. Press Box 323 Emmaus, PA 18049 The firsl issue of In Bu~ine$s is finally out, and looks off to a good start as an idea, support and networking resource for people in, or thinking of getting into, small business. Accounts of innovative and successful small businesses that give a sense of what qualities are necessary and how to proceed; regular departments on financing, accounling, taxes, mark'eting, etc.-a useful combinarion of the personal qualities in commercial efforts, realistic business operation, and an emerging new world of good products and services. In setting up III Business , Jerry came across and is now working closely with a group called Support Services Alliance, Inc. set up to help self-employed people and small organizations gain economical access to services such as health insurunce, retirement plans, legal inquiry and referral, and to work wgethcr for fairer regulations. An excellent concept (write to them at Two Times Square, New York, NY 10036, for more details), hut a word of caution also- their president is comptroller of the Rockefeller Foundation, and their board of trustees includes presidents of two insurance companies, one large bank, ele. -TB ENERGY People's Energy Plan Plans to compile a national non-nuclear People's Energy Plan were out before the accident at the Three-Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, but with the near meltdown (as I write this it hasn't happened yet, thank God) at that plant, the need for a People's Energy Plan is even greater. The Institute for Ecological Policies, directed by Jim Benson, who is best known for his work on the Long Island Alternative Energy Study and other conservation issues (see RAIN, IRAIN's office is.-t 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, OR 97210. Ph: (503) 227-5 110. I RAIN STAFF: Phil Conti Steven Ames Linda Sawaya Lane deMoll Yale Lansky Tom Bender Pauline Deppen Jeff Paine Copyright © 1979 RAIN Umbrella Inc. Layout Jill Stapleton Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing; Times Litho May ~ 979 RAIN Page 3 Vol. IV, No.3), is hard at work organizing what is truly a grassroots effort in compiling such a plan. People from local counties will examine prescnt local energy use; determine how much energy can be saved ; and estimate how much of the remainder can be replaced by county-wide renewable energy sources. Once these county plans are completed, delegates will gather at a national conference and put together 50 state "soft path" energy plans. These state plans will be combined into the National Plan to be presented to federal, state and local officials by the 1980 elections. The institute is preparing a guidebook for local counties who wish to participate in this vi tal and needed project. The guidebook is available for $5 from: Jim Benson, Institute for Ecological Policies, 9208 Christopher St. Fairfax, VA 22031, 703/273-9469 (include name of county and phone number when ordering). - YL NIRS, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, now has a toll-free phone service for safe energy activists. Interested parties can call 800/424-2477 Monday through Friday, between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (EST). -PC Biomass Believers 20-20-20 is the motto of the International Biomass Institute. Their goal is 20 quads of energy from biomass by the year 2020 (currently biomass contributes 1.3 quads to the U.S.'s annual energy consumption of 75 quads). Dick Munson, coordinator of the Center for Renewable Resources and the Solar Lobby, presides over this non-profit organization devoted to research, education and promotion of biomass application in energy, farming and other fields. A membership newsletter, Bio-Tim es, is published six times a year. For additional information write: International Biomass Institute 1522 K St. N.W. Suite 600 Washington, DC 20006 - PC
ee 'Q'o:J·o I) .' "'bf "=:Po • • ~ ,pD The Coming ofNorthern Technology Page 4 RAIN May 1979 by Birny Birnbaum and Steven Ames IfYOll were to superimpose Alaska onto a map of tbe lower 48 states, tbe lip oftbe Aleutians would be in Los Angeles, the Southwest 1vould be in Florida. and Barrow would be on the border of Nortb Dakota and Canada! It 's a country in itself-one whose unique resources and conditions make it ripe for self-reliance sttategies. Birny Birnbaum, an organizer and networker in appropriate techno'iogy, and Northwest field rep for NCA T, bas recen tly been exploring the Alaskan scene and brillgs back evidence of strong interest tbere in reshaping Alaska's winner·take·all eco71omy into a sustainable model for the nortbern ll.ltitudes. Togetber we've condensed here an overview of Alaskan possibilities and a field sampler of those wbo are working to make it all bappCll. - SA The economic history of Alaska has largely been one of uncontrolled exploitation carried out by absentee commercial interests. From its first colonization, through the early growth of unrestricted monopolies that extracted its natural wealthfurs, whaling and fishing, lumber, gold and other mineralsto its wartime domination by a defense establishment economy, Alaska's exploitation. as opposed to economic develop .ment, has proceeded without interruption. Even since statehood, Alaska has remained a colony of sorts, heavily tied into government subsidization. In 1969, federal expenditures i.O the state, dominated by military outlays, equaled three quarters of a billion dollars, or fully one-half of Alaska's total economic output. Hardly a diversified economy! Around that same time, oil was discovered along Alaska's North Slope, NATIVE ALASKANS AND THE BUSH In many ways, native people and rural villages are the bel/wetber of Alaska's future. The i1l1pact ofa more-of-tbesame e:)Ctractive economy bits tbem first and bardest;,tbe bope of localized renewable energy producti071 and appropriate tecfmologies may belp save tbeir cultures and tbe cooperative model tbey provide us all. Ultimately, tbeir Slirvival ;S Ollr survival. "Why Technology Has Fared Poorly in the Bush," Harold Sparck, article in four parts, April 5, 12, 19, 26, 1978, Tundra Times, $20 per year from: 639 "I" Street Anchorage, AK 99501 An excellent investigation into how Alaskan villages are the end-of-the-endof-the-line in a system on its way out, and why hi-tech won't work in rural settings, particularly in cold, northern climates. Very specific in detail-both of dismal failures and what advocacy planning around village micro-economies might look like. "Given the history of development in rural Alaska, more time is a good thing. " Rural Alaska Community Action Program Box 3-3908 Anchorage, AK 99501 9071279-2441 RurAL CAP serves all of rural Alaska. The area is mind-boggling. Needless to say, travel is a large part of their budget. Like most CAPs, their energy component deals with emergency relief and weatherization- as well as energy advocacy. There are only 6-10 weeks out of the year when weatherization can be done in most areas. Materials have to be barged in. Barry Harmon, weatherization foreman, explains that the emphasis is on doing the job right because they'll never get a chance to go back a second time. They use materials that will last and spend more money on them than authorized by supervisory agencies in order to do a tight job. They emphasize working closely with village councils and training local people to do the a.ctual work. RurAL CAP provides strong technical assistance in coordinating testimony on energy problems and advocating rural needs in state anJ federal agencies. Energy program director Sherry Valentine is a strong advocate for low-income rural Alaskans and more: "Many rural Alaskan communities'have not yet become dependent upon large faceless conglomerates for directly providing utility services. Instead, they run village generators and home heating systems on fuel for which they pay exorbitant prices and for delivery of which they are at the mercy of the seasonal and barge schedules. These isolated villages
initiating the newest and most intensive round of extractive pressure on the state, and forcing the resolution of conflicting land claims in order to allow the construction of the TransAlaskan pipeline. Increasingly, the feds ~ad to assume that position of defending the constitutional rights of native Alaskans and the natural environment, while at the same time encouraging the further exploitation of Alaskan resources. Today that oil-needed or not- is flowing. Royalties and land settlements aside, the historically exploitive patterns persist. Alaska, alas, doesn't have an economy to call its own. Economic development-as opposed to exploitation-has become the key Alaskan issue. It is one ripe with real possibilities and rotten apples. The pressures to develop are enormous; yet the way Alaska proceeds could have a profound impact on the use of rand and resources, on bush lifestyles, and the structure of the state's entire,economic future. Just as important, it will also determine whetheJ" Alaska succumbs to further rounds of economic exploitation in the guise of progress-or if Alaska can actually reclaim its long lost sense of identity and self-reliance, and perhaps push beyond into something totally new and exemplary. To date most of the development debate has centered around the issue of wilderness, and how much of federal lands secured under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 should be preserved as such. The battle between developers and environmentalists is clear cut, with preservationists scoring major victories of late. B\.lt anti-preservationists have frequently made half a good point: that Alaska, not outside interests, should be determining what happens to Alaska. Good for starte,s, but they've been swimming upstream in their own rhetoric. Former Governor Walter Hickel's appeals for economic freedom and Alaskan self-sufficiency, for instance, are nothing less than thinly disguised arguments for full-tilt development of coal, oil, minerals and what have you. Such development in Alaska's "self-interest" has very little to do with renewable resources, and nothing with economic self-reliance. The full-tilt scenario is a scam. Native Alaskans, the indigenous people who have long known about locally self-reliant economies, are, ironically, those who have suffered the most at the hands of such devel- May 1979 RAIN Page 5 opment. In addition to large-scale hind-intensive projects, their traditional lifestyles have been severely affected by both the federal \\\Clfare doles and technological colonizarion of the: bush that follows. The Nalive Alaskan village- typically a blend of public service expenditures in housing and related services along with traditional food subsistence activities-has been invaded by the "other village"-a capital- and encrgy-intensive form of urban reconstruction, artificially supported by eXlernal fu nds and know-how- wh ich undermines local cooperation and creates chronic dependencies where self-sufficicncy once exisred. Horror stories abound of inappropriatc housing developments, gadget-filled educational facilities and extensive waste water treatment planLS which have swollcn local energy consumption and created exchange economies that can't be sustained. The native experience, in short, points to the fact that full-tilt development, even in the name of Alaska, destroys p re~i sel y what Alaskans need most: sustainable economics that they can control. One wonders if the Alaskan state government, which under Governor Jay Hammond is trying to straddle the development v. preservl!tion schism, is listening. Hammond talks about moderate development- paying as you go. He's well aware that Alaska receives a windfall in oil and mineral development royalties-more tha.n 80 percent of state government expenditures are paid this way- but also interested in building up Alaska's development possibilitics through its indigenous, renewable resources. Of course, renewable sounds great, but it's not the whole picture. So while state policy seeks to develop resource for Alaskan self-sufficiency, many strategies involve export markets rather thlln building local economies. While attention is given to small-scale technologie.s and the auctioning off of state land for small-scale, diversified farming, the government goes courting foreign trade partners and sets aside 60,000 acres to grow barley for export. One good sign of some kind of commitment has been the creation of au Offi ce of Northern Technology, not unlike California's OAT, to promote through policy planning an obligation to consider regionally appropriate technologies in any venr:ure undertaken by any State agency. In an economy like Alaska's, that could be Significant. ONT is seen in its staff person, Bill Luria, as an advocate's office, catalyzing in other of 100-200 people then can provide a near-perfect milieu for communitybased energy systems which utilize local control. " Tribal Non-Profit Corporations There are 100 million acres of land deeded to Native Alaskans as a result of the settlement act of 1971. This land is divided into 12 geographic areas, each area corresponding to a 'for-profit tribal corporation, which in turn has one or more affiliate non-profit corporations. Tanana Chiefs is one of three non-profits associated with the Doyon Tribal Corporation. Morris Morgan works with 43 villages in the Tanana Chiefs area on home gardening, emphasizing education and community acceptance of growing food. Morris says there is too much done to and for native Alaskans, which has excluded them. In light of true selfdetermination, a garden is okay. He plans to work with those villages ready and eager to construct a village center for food preservation and a solar greenhouse. To Morris', the native village'S carrying capacity and indigenous resources are the most important design factor. Patience is a prime consideration. ENERGY Contrary to popular belief, the northern latitudes receive more possible hours of sunlight in a year than do the tropics. Yet as ofJanuary 1978, there were no solar structures located in Alaska. .. . Among the most pressillg reasons to push for solar and other forms of decentralized, renewable energy systems are the rapidly escalating costs of conventional fuels and Alaska's sparsely settled population. III some villages fuel oil costs $2.20 per gallon, and 20(/ per kilowatt-hour of electricity . Solar Energy Resource Potential in Alaska, Richard D. Seifert and John P. Zarling, 79 pp., from: Institute of Water Resources University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK 99701 Rich Seifert is one of the most active people in the state working to develop greater solar energy usage. This study oneentrates on the application of solar energy to domestic hot water heating needs in Alaska with an economic analysis using the f-chart computer program. Good insolation data and recommendations. "The economic appeal of solar energy becomes more apparent the farther north in thc state one travels. . .. In Barrow, a solar-heated hot water system, when compared with an e\cclric one. looks quite appealing." Rich also talks of modular design with c.limate specific options; he is involved in a solar design study and demonstration project for a rural school and performing energy cnd-use analyses of various energy flows.
Page 6 RAIN May 1979 Ed McGrath's short book notes insulation considerations peculiar to arctic climates, concentrating on framing, materials, "holes", mass and economics. Valuable to cold-climate builders and weatherizers. Geothermal Energy and Wind Potential BOLAR COLLECTOR INTEGRATED WITH in Alaska, by Tunis Wentink Jr. and BOUTH WALL Robert Forbes, April 1976, frorn: Geophysical Institute _. / ;' .., ::' :=, ;':, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK 99701 '*~, Surveys of geothermal resources and :;:' ::;:-\ applications and wind resources in Alaska. " ~~;:~:.:~ flGU~ ,. An Arctic passive solar prototype: hot air collectors are integrated in the south wall, utiliztng recycled beverage containers, gravel thermal storage, and operating by natural convection. This augments conventional fuel systems. Not the most efficient adaptation, but cheap and easy to build. From Solar Tempered Arctic Housing. "Solar Tempered Arctic Housing," by Hai-Toh Lim, pp. 17-26, in The Northern Engineer, Vol. 9, No.3, from : Geophysical Institute . University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK 99701 " A solar-tempered home that incorporates an inexpensive and simple solar system to carry part of the heating load is feasible, even in the arctic. With suffil'iendy low initial and operating costs, it homeowner could afford not to collect solar energy during the dark winter or on cloudy days." Intriguing schematics. How to Build a Super-Insulated House, by Project 20-20,1978, $3.00 frorn: Cold Weather Editions P.O. Box 81961 College, AK 99708 AGRICULTURE A Design for Agriculture in the Tanana Loop: Appropriate Technology and Small-Scale Farming, Sarnuel Skaggs and Wendy Warnick, September 1978, 61 pp., frorn: Office of Northern Technology/ State of Alaska Pouch AD Juneau, AK 99811 A solid contribution to local self-reliance in Alaska sponsored by the Office of Northern Technology. Tanana Loop is an aka near Fairbanks where 20-to-320 acre plots were auctioned off in April 1978 by the state for small-scale farming and where 81 percent of the purchasers have indicated that they would like to be involved in cooperative marketing and/or dIrect farmer to consumer markets. Tanana Loop discusses agricultural rights, renewable resource potential. specific case examples and related cottage industries, public policy choices and marketing alternatives which would benefit appropriate technology and agriculture throughout the state. Good directory of resource people throughout the state. ..Alaska can play 'catch up' and make efforts to legitimize itself by creating the same type of fossil fuel dependent agriculture which has evolved in the lower 48 in the past 30 years, or Alaska could be a leader in developing new technologies and energy substitutions. and new systems for land tenure, marketing and transportation." Consultants Skaggs and Warnick can be reached at Box 73431, Fairbanks, AK 99707. ~~~. ~o~vv~ agencies a commitment to development that is appropriate in scale. Two groups with which aNT hopes to work are Alaska's Council on Science and Technology, a committee of legislators, researchers and citizens set up to determine research needs for the state, and the Renewable Resources Development Corporation, a financing mechanism funded by oil and mineral royalties ($10 million this fiscal year) to promote a stable economic base through the use of renewable resources. Both groups are well est.ablished, have legislative mandates and no expressed commitment to the northern tcchnology concept. This is partially reflected in RRDC's sometimes hi-tech- albeit renewably-based- development proposals, such as the $2 billion Susinta Dam. But some speculate that with the right emphasis. these three groups could form a progressive triad capable of coordinating and capitalizing a totally new approach to regional development-one sensitive not only to a renewable resource base, but to scale and local self-reliance as well. There is potential in the air. That potential is supported by a surge of acknowledgement that Alaska is in a unique situation. The finite nature of this nation's fossil fuel reserves (Alaska Pipeli nes aside!) and Alaska's end-of-the-line position in most vital distribution systems make it especially vulnerable to changing times. Rural Alaska is already reeling from such pressure to the extent that it has become dependent on the outside world. There is little sense in becoming more interlocked in such an economy by selling raw materials anti commodities and buying back goods and services that fit local needs poorly and cost so much. The
opportunities to reshape Alaska's food and energy systems, encouraging the broad use of small-scale, regionally appropriate technologies, is looking better all the time. Besides encouragement from some state policy, there are not nearly as many institutional barriers so common to the lower 48 states. In the area of energy, for instance, Alaska's lack of electric grids and the exorbitant costs of bringing conventional fuels to both bush and cities make decentralized, renewable energy systems all the more attractive. Solar energy systems at $20 to $25 per square foot, total initial cost, are competitive with electricity for hot-water heating in nearly all areas of Alaska-in Alaskaf-even though they cannot provide 100 percent of all heating needs. The promise of developing its own northern technologies and local economies is a mobilizing factor of real strength for Alaskan activists. Food, energy, community action and environmental groups-along with back-up institutional supportMay 1979 RAIN Page 7 are cropping up in the major population centers, networking around research and demonstration projects that may change the conditions under which Alaska reaches for self-determination. Fairbanks, the second-largest city, is a center for grassroots innovators and inventors doing work with food and energy production. Anchorage, the state's center of business and finance, houses organizations working exclusively with rural Alaska and its issues. Juneau, Alaska's capital, may see important initiatives coming from the government that will make a difference. These outposts of activism in a state so vast and sparsely populated have much work ahead of them, yet their various efforts, if well-coordinated, could teach the rest of the country-and cold-climate peoples everywhere- a lot about the ways in which.we need to move. Below, we've collected in one place some of the good groups, projects, articles and resources from up there in the field that caught our attention: Office of Northern Technology (Division of Policy Development and Planning, Office of the Governor) Pouch AD Juneau, AK 99803 Northern Technology is Alaska's way of saying regionally appropriate technology. And among the other agencies that are encouraging such alternatives through small grants programs or revolving loan funds, the Office of Northern Technology (established in September, 1978) is specifically seen as the govern· ment's in-house advocate for "methods t of energy production, waste disposal, recycling, food production, transportation, building design, and industrial enterprise which are more efficient, less costly and less energy-intensive than those methods presently utilized, and which are appropriate to the Alaskan environment." Besides its involvement in the Tanana Loop area, ONT recently sponsored the design and construction of an energy-conservation home suited to northern owner-building by community college students, and is advising other schools and gov, ernment agencies on construction plans and alternative technology building workshops. Slide and video presentations on A House for Bethel are avail· able from ONT. Alaska Federation for Community Self-Reliance Box 73431 Fairbanks, AK 99701 Recently something of a political force, this group promotes energy conscrvation, appropriate technology and good building practices. One of their members, Brian Rogers, is a state legislator. Fairbanks Environmental Center 461 Steese Highway Fairbanks, AK 99701 Besides its environmental and conservationist work in and around Fairbanks, the Center is sponsoring a VISTA project as a follow-up to the Tanana Loop report on small-scale farming. Staffer Helen Ross is investigating the institutional barriers to such agriculture in great depth. This project is receiving assistance from VISTA in Alaska (contact: ACTION, Box 1957, Anchorage, AK 99501). APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY Alaska Center for the Environment 1069 West 6th Anchorage, AK 99501 907/274-3621 Apart from its extensive work in Alaskan wilderness preservation issues, ACE has done a lot in the area of appropriate technology and solar energy. Nancy Lee (a former RAIN staffer!) is the prime Alaskan networker in these areas. Nancy's the Alaska delegate to the Solar Congress, a SUN Day organizer and is working to develop an appropriate technology resource center atACE. ~01ll1TfT l ---..... L... j,: ; L.; ~ } E.. -s z J! ... e £ ~.---- ~'~..'~ .....~<:.;. n.us: l. PERSPECTIVE LOOKING S-E II .....1ll::.,-.·.~ ·::, ~ . """,} .,~"",. ~ -5
Page 8 RAIN May 1979 AGRICULTURE The Farmstead Book I, Paul Herman, editor, 1979, 258 pp., $8.95 from: Madrona Publishers, Inc. 2116 Western Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 Practical, ingenuous, simple-qualities I often associate with the successful small farmer, also describe the style of this book. The Farmstead, Vol. I, the first in a series of books drawing upon the wisdom accumulated in farm bulletins over the past 75 years, focuses on the soil, the farm workshop and the woods. Attractive layout and illustrations combined with such useful articles as "Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria and Legumes" encourage one to read on. A useful supplement to the small landholder's library. -Bill Triest fPC ~ o ~ Hedge laying SOLAR Build a Drain-Down Solar Water Heater, Christopher Fried, 1979,41 pp., $2.75 plus $1 shipping and handling from: Christopher Fried Energy Consultant R.D.3 Catawissa, PA 17820 Here's a solar water heater designed for below freezing temperatures, using electric valves, a heat exchanger and a pump. Last February this system was uscd for a hands-on workshop by the Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs and has successfully operated in -15 degree C. air temperatures. Cost estimates are $550 for materials and $50 $100 for installation. Drawings, materials list and step-by-step instructions are included. - PC TRANSPORT Bicycle Trailers Ca,sey Burns, a member of our local biycle collective is producing light-weight, heavy-duty bicycle trailers. The design onsists of canvas duck stretched over a conduit tubing frame and 27" wheels. Recommended loads are 150-175 lbs. Trailers are built by commission with a negotiable price ranging between $90 and $95. Casey has transported with ease such items as an 80-lb. table, a push lawn mower and a 40-lb. drill press. For more information contact him at: Bicycle Repair Collective 1912 S.E. Ankeny Portland, OR 97214 503/233 -0564 - P DIIAWIIYG .. 4rHE rANK (1_.... $.,.......... ~_~) .. ~ I'l ::.. ~ D~v_ _ _ tlUlVr.P ~.rr'NO~ CIS JAD&ooLD H ~.r,•.,#. :TVST V.,H7 l! ~ o rJl ~ : , C ~ ~ SIDE ,, 1:= VIl"kI _. 'f Q ... oj "t:l ~- :s c:Q e.. <I:l -_ r '~c~~... ~~ ~ ..I "" (l I I 1 I, .--. " , '. f)/~ T'v".:, r= --- .. r--Dll.V~ ' I W ....L... " " 'J ~'I.r... ~ )€ f. • . '_. .- Il~ ~~ .' b Of ~ ~ I) ... ~~ Ecology Action of the Midpeninsula 2225 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94306 415/328-6752 Biodynamic/French Intensive Method of small-scale farming; one and two year apprenticeship programs; three-month orientation course only (early June). Community Environmental Council Inc. 924 Anacapa St., Suite B4 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 805/962-2210 Five-month program (lectures/practical work, 20 hours/week) in bio-intensive agriculture. The Summer Program in Social Ecology Box SE-17 Goddard College Plainfield, VT 05667 Program stresses alternatives in health, technology and social strategies. A 40-acre farm is the site of workshops on architectural design and construction, aquaculture, French intensive gardening, acupuncture, yoga, massage and more. Tilth 13217 Mattson Road Arlington, WA 98223 206/435-4648 An educational and scientific organization devoted to biologically sound agriculture for the Pacific Northwest. Winter gardening workshops will be held May 19. UniversitY of New Mexico School of Architecture & Planning Albuquerque, NM 87131 505/277-3133 3-week summer programs at D. H. Lawrence Ranch, Taos, NM, includes theory, design, hands-on construction, energy conservation, solar application. Minimum Cost Housing Group School of Architecture McGill University 3480 University St. Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7 514/392-5408 Research unit (graduate students) working on technological problems of housing; have published Stop the Five-Gallon Flush, '73; Rooftop Wastelands, '76, and Water Conservation and the Mist Experience, '78. University for Man 1221 Thurs~on Manhattan, KS 66502 Appropriate Technology program combines courses and projects. Western Virginia University Technology Education Program Suite 609, Allen Hall Morgantown, WV 26506 M.S. in Appropriate Technology. Courses focus on the study of technical systems and their relationship to the civilization process. Independent study allows specialization in a vanety of a.t. fields. Antioch West Northwest Region 1729 17th Ave. Seattle, WA 98122 206/323-2270 M.A. in urban studies and planning with a specialization in appropriate technology and community self-reliance. Combination classroom and hands-on (organized by Ecotope). Shelter Institute 38 Centte St. Bath, ME 04530 207/443-9084 House design seminars, practical experience, cabinetry.
May 1979 RAI Page? Oftetl the greatest benefits derived from hands-on workshops ore the intangibles which aren't advertised in the brochurestbe sense ofcommunity, the shared values, the feeling of confidence. The following is a partial list of organizations wbich provide wurkshups and courses in approp/iate technology. Several organizational and business workshops are included because of tbeir value to a. t. groups. Any additions or feedback from our readers would be greatly appreciated. - PC 'Learning b ·~ ::r o 3 Dolng ~ 0' :l ~ Cornerstones Wing School of Shelter Technology 54 Cumberland St. Brunswick, ME 04011 2071729-0540 Workshops combining lectures and hands-on experience in passive solar house building, retrofitting existing structures, solar greenhouses, passive solar design. Total Environmental Action Church Hill Harrisville, NH 03450 603/827-3361 Workshops on solar energy retrofits, passive solar and greenhouse design plus alternative waste treatment methods, heating with wood, water power and more. Heartwood Owner-Builder School Johnson Road Washington, MA 01235 413/623-6677 3-week residential course-introduction to design and house construction. Areas covered include plumbing, electrical, foundation, passive solar design, site and structural considerations. The Lan-d Institute Rt.3 Salina, KS 67401 Special 3-week course on energy June 4June 29- c1assroom and hands-on projects in solar and wind electric. Regular semester program is devoted to a search for alternatives in agriculture, energy, shelter and waste. Solar Sustenance Team Rt. I, Box 107 AA Santa Fe, NM 87501 Workshops to train people to lead solar greenhouse workshops. The Farallones Rural Center 15290 Coleman Valley Road Occidental, CA 95465 707/874-3060 Offers a wide variety of educational programs ranging from one-and two-day practicums and discussions on technology and culture to residential skills training workshops in solar space and water heating, low-cost building techniques, intensive horticulture, as well as alternative water and waste systems. Water Pumping Windmills Box 3501 New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003 Two-week workshop includes maintenance. erection of tower, installation of new mills and more. Domestic Technology Institute Box 2043 . Evergreen, CO 80439 303/988-3054 Workshops include greenhouse design/con struction, community energy technoloIDr, small-scale food production, nutrition and food preservation, plus energy-integrated shelter. Portland Sun 3334 SoW. 1st Portland, OR 97201 503/241-0317 Attached solar greenhouse and solar water heating workshops. Ecotope 2332 Ea.~t Madison Seattle, WA 98112 206/322-3753 Workshops on solar greenhouses and solar water heaters. School of Living-Deep Run Farm RD 7, Box 388A York, PA 17402 7171755-1561 Modern homesteading weekend workshops. Country Workshops Route 3, Box 221 Marshall, NC 28753 Preservation of craft knowledge and techniques used by traditional rural people; seminars include rural woodworking, processing kudzu, logbuilding, chairmaking. July-Sept. Environmental Studies Homesteading Program Western Michigan University Kalamazl1o, MI 49008 616/383-3984 Participants live on the farm a~ part of the educational experience. Programs focus on small-scale farming based on organic methods of vegetable, field crop and livestock production. Readings compliment farm activities. Summer program June-Aug. New School for Democratic Management 589 Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94105 415/543-7973 One week courses and workshops in such courses as financial management, accounting, community economic development, democratic management and marketing. Ryegrass School P.O. Box 10 Uniontown, WA 99179 Education programs for groups in the North west include organization building, mainte nance, strategies and tactics.
Page lORAIN May 1979 Steady-State Economics, Herman Daly, 1977, $5.95 from: W. H. Freeman & Co. 660 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Don't, like me, confuse this with Daly's earlier Toward a Steady-State Economy. It's his secolld book, and a classic. It should' be required reading for anyolle wanting to understand the basic changes needed today in our economic thinking. Necessary institutional changes in their simplest, most direct form. How to include tbe free work lIature does for us into our economic accounting. How to replace GNP witb meaningful accounting indices. A/ld much more. Best economics stliff since Sm,tll Is Beautiful. Highly recommended. - TB · . . The implication is that man is no longer totally dependent upon his environment, or at least that he has become less dependent. Presumably, technology has made man increasingly independent of his environment. But in fact, technology has merely substituted nonrenewable resources for renewables, which is more an increase than a decrease in dependence. .. . · .. Growth in GNP should cease when decreasing marginal benefits become equal to increasing marginal costs.... But there is no statistical series that attempts to measure the cost of GNP. This is growthmania, literally not counting the costs of growth. But the situation is even worse. We take the real costs of increasing GNP as measured by the defensive expenditures incurred to protect ourselves from the unwanted side effects of production .and add these expenditures to GNP rather than subtract them. We count real costs as benefits. This is hypergrow~hmania.. .. · .. The other reason for [focus on income rather than wealth] is ideological. Concentrating on flows takes attention away from the very unequally distributed stock of wealth that i the real source of economic power. The income flow is unequally distributed also, but at least everyone gets some part of it. . .. · . . "Growth is a substitute for equality of income. So long as there is growth there is hope, and that makes large income differentials tolerable." We are addicted to growth because we are addicted to large inequalities in income and wealth. What about the poor? Let them eat growth! Better yet, let them feed on the hope of eating growth in the futu re! We have been growing for some time, and we still have poverty. It should be obvious that what grows is the reinvested surplus, and the benefits of growth go to the owners of the surplus, who are not poor. Some of the growth dividends trickle down, but not many.... Perhaps, as a minimum definition, the ultimate benefit could be considered as the survival and continuation of the evolving life process through which God has bestowed upon us the gift of conscious life. "Men nearly always speak and write as if riches were'absolute, and it were possible, by following certain scientific precepts, for everyone to be rich. Whereas, riches are a power like that of electricity, acting only through inequalities or negations of itsel f. The force of the guinea you have in your pocket depends wholly on the default of a guinea in your neighbor's pocket. If he did not want it, it would be of no usc to YOU; the degree of power it possesses depends accurately upon the need or desire he has for it, and the art of making yourself rich, in the ordinary mercantile economist's sense, is therefore equally and necessarily the art of keeping your neighbor poor." John Ruskin, 1860 Stearoring the State "Now it is true that the needs of human beings may seem to be insatiable. But they fall into two classes-those needs which are absolute in the sense that we feel them whatever the situation of our fellow human beings may be, and those which are relative in the sense that we feel them only if their satisfaction lifts us above, makes us feel superior to, our fellows. Needs of the second class, those which satisfy the desire for superiority, may be indeed insatiable: for the higher the general level, the higher still are they. But this is not so true of the absolute needs- a point may soon be reached, much sooner perhaps than we are all of us aware, when these need are satisfied in the sense that we prefer to devote our further energies to non-economic purposes." ]. M. Keynes, 1931.. The upshot is that in orthodox economics all scarcity is cc)nsidered merely relative, while the class of all wantSis accorded the insatiability of relative wants but is invested with the moral earnestness of absolute wants. Higher prices on basic resources are absolutely necessary. Any plan that refuses to face up to this necessity is WOrt hless. Back in 1925, economist John Ise made the point in these words: "Preposterous as it may seem at first blush, it is probably true that, even if all the timber in the United States, or all the oil or gas or anthracite, were owned by an absolute monopoly, entirely free of public control, prices to consumers would be fixed lower than the long-run interests of the public would justify. Pragmatically this means that all efforts on the part of the government to keep down the prices of lumber, oil, gas, or anthracite are contrary to the public interest; that the government should be trying to keep prices up rather than down." Ise went on to suggest a general principle of resource pricing: that nonrenewable resources be priced at the co'~t of the nearest renewable substitute. Therefore, virgin timber should cost at least as much per board foot as replanted timber; petroleum should be priced at its BTU equivalent of sugar or wood alcohol, assuming they arc the closest renewable alternatives. In the absence of any renewable substitutes, the price would merely reflect the purely ethical judgment of how fast the resources should be used up- that is, the importance of the wants of future people relative to the wants of present people. ... development historically is primarily the result of attempts to increase the output from the environmem rather than produce a given output m<)re efficiently. The price of growing· beyond our ecological niche is tha.t the workload incTe.ases. As the workload increases, the development of labor-saving techniques becomes necessary. These adaptations do not necessarily increase efficiency above what it was before the adaptation became necessary. ... A job that is not worth doing is not worth doing well. In economists' jargon the marginal benefit of an improvement in purpose is enormously greater than the marginal benefit of an improvement in technology. Ano the marginal costs are enormouslv lower.
May 1979 RAIN Page 11 .. . The alternative here recommended is the long-run view of stewardship for the indefinite future; that is, let us try to .. take good enough care of the ecosphere (keep our consumption demands well below the ecosphere's maximum capacity) so that it will last a long time.. . . A second ethical proposition is that there is or should be such a thing as enuugh. ... ~~ethical principle is that the claims on resources of those who are well above the minimum and certainly over thc claims of those who are above the maximum and whose tastes have become so jaded that they must be artfully cajoled into further consumption. ... A fourth ethical proposition is that the minimum requirements of people already born should take precedence over the population's reproductive desires in excess of replacement. . . . For the traditional religious atti tude, there is such a thing as material sufficiency, and beyond that admittedly vaguc and historically changing amount, the goal of life becomes wis dom, enjoyment, cultivation of the mind and soul, and com munity. It may even be that community requires a certain degree of scarcity, without which cooperation, sharing, and friendship would have no organic reason to be, and hence community would atrophy. Witness the isolated self-sufficien cy of households and the lack of community in affluent middle-class suburbs. The kinds of institutions required follow directly from the definition of a steady-state economy: constant stocks of people and artifacts maintained at some chosen, sufficient level by a low rate of throughput. We need (1) an institution for stabilizing population (transferable birth licenses); (2) an institu tion for stabilizing the stock of physical artifacts and keeping throughput below ecological limits (depletion quotas auctioned by the government) ; and (3) a distributist institution limiting the degree of inequality in the distribution of constant stocks among the constant population (maximum and minimum limits to personal income and a maximum limit to personal wealth). The idea that technology accounts for half or more of the observed increase in output in recent times is a finding about which econometricians themselves disagree. For exampic, . D. W. Jorgenson and Z. Grilliches found that "if real product and real factor input are accurately accounted for, the observed growth in total factor productivity is ncgligible." In other words, the increment in real output from 1945 to 1965 is almost totally explained (96.7 percent) by increments in real inputs, with very little residual (3.3 percent) left to impute to technical change.... Maddala found that for the bituminous coal industry "growth in labor productivity can be explained almost totally by a rise in the horsepower per worker. Thus what formerly was considered as technical change now appears as a process of factor substitutions." "By your works may you be known . Your triumphs in the mechanical arts are the obverse of your failure in all that calls for spiritual insight. Machines of every kind you can make and use to perfection; but you cannot build a house or writc a poem, or paint a picture; still less can you worship or aspire. . . . Your outer man as well as your inner is dead; you are blind and deaf. Ratiocination has taken the place of perception; and your whole life is an infinite syllogism from premises you have not examined to conclusions you have not anticipated or willed. Everywhere means, nowhere an end. Society is a huge engine and that engine itself out of gear. Such is the picture your civilization presents to my imagination ." from Dickinson's Letters ofJUhl1 Cbinaman Jill Stapleton
Page12 RAIN May 1979 by Lane de Moll It's been hard to find time or energy in the midst of my new duties as a mother, but this morning it feels important to leave the pile of diapers be and catch a few hours while Skye sleeps to write down some of my thoughts about our pregnancy and birth. It's tempting to write a blow-by-blow account of the ups and downs of the birth itself, but I've read so many such stories that I've become a bit jaded on them. There are as many variations on the theme as there are births, but many good collections of them exist (see below) and I'll not add mine to the pile. It seems more important to dig more deeply than the immediate experience into the learning that I did-and am doing-in the almost magical process of being with child Suffice it to say that we planned a homebirth with my brother and his family attending, assisted by a wonderful nurse-midwife we had been working with throughout the pregnancy. I went to a doctor twice-once in my third month and again in the last month . The rest of the time I had my prenatal check-ups with the midwife. The labor began at home and went well for several hours, but then with my cervix dilated 8 cm (the special time called transition), something stalled. After eight hours, at the same stage with multiple contractions and strong urges to push, we decided to go to the hospital. The combination of the bumpy 25-miJe drive and a catheterization did the trick, and Skye was born an hour after we arrived. We were home again-all three snuggling in bed-after another hour and a half. Our disappointment in not actually delivering at home was keen, but we felt right about the way we had all handled the decision to go in and, of course, thankful that all had ended well. It was a continuation of the learning we had done throughou t the pregnancy Giving birth has always been an awesome learning experIence. There is nO way one can feel the tiny life growing inside and then pushing its way forth through your body to be nurtured in your arms without coming in touch with a great deal of the universe and one's own soul. But in these days of choices to be made about where and how to have one's child -even if to have a child at all- the learning involved can have a particularly profound effect on one's life. It is still possible to hand your body over to a doctor's care-taking whatever vitamins he or she (but usually he) prescribes, and in the end being delivered at a convenient date and time. Yet increasing g..., c.." ::l rJl :~\j:~\l\\\\\\\\\\\l\l\:\\\:\!. numbers of us are now choosing to take more active roles In our pregnancies and deliveries and in the process learning what it really means to take responsibility for our own health care Like so many of the do-it-for-yourself choices, it's not as easy as it sounded at first. I found myself often wishing for the comfortable way out-not that I wanted drugs during my labor. Once I had made the commitment to natural childbirth, that part was relatively easy to stick to. But [ often thought longingly of the days when I trusted what a doctor told me without question. Having to make all the decisions myself took a lot of time-and a steadfastness I did not always feel There are no easy rules of thumb these days. For every person or book who said "limit your salt intake," there was someone admonishing me to be sure I was getting enoughdepending on whether they thought retained fluids a hazard or a need. I was cautioned about gaining weight as often as I was told to increase my protein intake to 80-100 grams a day and "get plenty of carbohydrates" (or "stay away from carbohydrates")-"don't worry about how much weight you gain" (or "try not to gain more than 30 pounds"). It was the first time in my life that it really mattered that 1 did the right thing. It was someone else's health I might be jeopardizing, not just my own. Yet it was totally up to me to decide-l had not entrusted myself to the hands of a doctor, and while my midwife offered suggestions and gave me things to read, she assumed I was responsible enough to make my own decisions
May 1979 RAI N Page 13 If I had read just one book I might have thought I was doing things the right way. By reading many, I only knew that it was up to me to choose among the many options offered in good faith. It became obvious that there are no right answers, just good ways of doing things. I was forced to listen to my insides. I had to do what felt okay, tasted good and resonated with my beliefs. My body became my teacher. It also became truly my own in a way it had never been before-paradoxically, at a time when it often felt it had been taken over by the little creature growing inside. I think I ended up better prepared to take on the responsibility for my child's care than I would have been otherwise, and I took a huge step forward in knowing the real meaning of self-help heal th care. The decision of where and how to give birth is another biggie these days that one can't escape. The options range from a traditional hospital delivery to an unattended homebirth, with family-centered hospital birth, birthing center, and midwife-or doctor-attended homebirth falling in between. There are advantages and disadvantages, dangers and delights attached to any of the options. Staph infections in hospitals may be more dangerous than quasi-sterile home condi tions, complicated monitoring and emergency equipment may be a blessing or an expensive curse. Being at home may be a joyful spiritual experience or a tragedy. You never know till it's over what you will need. All the willpower and courage in the world may not be able to prevent an emergency Caesarean operation. The decisions on where and how to give birth must rely on your own sense of the risks involved and the options you have available to you. While we were committed to homebirth as healthy and natural and had an excellent set-up (with the possible exception of our distance from the hospital), we ended up in a standard delivery room-though the lights were dim, Tom gave the Leboyer bath , the baby nursed while I was still on the table, and we went home as soon as we had done all the paperwork.... You have to be clear about what you want, but open to necessary changes in plan. In most communities, how and where is still something of a political decision if you want anything outside the traditional. While times are definitely changing and the medical profession is loosening up , it is still usually a fight to get what you want -whether in the hospital or outside of it. We thought we were incredibly lucky to have easily found a qualified and experienced nurse-midwife in our area-it was just what we wanted. But our timing was such that the hospital she worked with was getting jittery (and feeling the competition) and her own confidence about the importance of her mission was seriously being shaken. "Ve ended up becoming embroiled in the politics of bucking the established medical tradition. In the long run it was worth it because every doctor we talked to was made a little more aware of the positive side of having a baby at home and in the process of reassuring the hospital, our midwife discovered the depth of her support within the community and was thus strengthened herself. A community birth information network was also begun. But again, there were times when I wondered why I bothered to do things differently than the norm-l chuckled ironically at my vision of a blissful pregnancy knitting booties as I was thrust instead into an activist's role again in order to be able to have the kind of birthday we felt was important. Hopefully our part in the fight made it more possible for others to choose as we did-both in our community and beyond. It brought home to me once again the realization that taking responsibility for one's own actions involves commitment of time and energy-especially if one is trying to break the barriers into new ways of doing things. It's not the easy way of behaving-but it's worth it. 0 ~ , '? .... " ~ 0 , • a: >-. OJ .... .D ,.. - <I:" ~ OJ -/ " t 0 u .... 0 '" ""' " ~ c ..c: '" Resources In my usual way, I read a number ofbooks both before and during my pregnancy. A II were useful in helping me know what to expect, but all got in the way somewhat of my own experience. Some of the things I felt were never mentioned in any of tbe books I read. The heavy spiritual quality that is almost de rigueur these days was not particularly a part of our birthing. Of course it was a beautiful, awe-inspiring occasion, but it was also such damn hard work for all of us that the moment many wrote about when father and mother look into their newborn's eyes and see the cosmos just didn't happen. We were tired, he was tired, and it was several days before we made any real connection. Even the Leboyer bath wasn't all that big a deal (be belched once and twitched a lot). What I'm saying is, read as much as you want to., but take it all with a grain af salt-and knaw that yaur awn experiences will be as different as yau are fram everyane else. This is hardly an exhaustive list. I read samewhere that there are naw abaut JO birth-related baaks being published each month, so there's no. way to. keep up with them all. These are some that I enjoyed. The Birth Primer, Rebecca Row Parfitt, , 1977, $5.95 from: Running Press ,. 38 South 19th St. -. Philadelphia, PA 19103 This book is a good place to start if e you have no idea which of the many ,,~ tions you 'd like to choose for the birth ...,.,. of your baby-or would like to go over them in a clear and organized fash io n. It includes a good description of labor, covers the different types of natural childbirth methods as well as different drugs available, and discusses the wide variety of birthplaces possible. It also gives extensive, well-annotated referen ces so you can dig more deeply into areas that interest you. Immaculate Deception: A New Look at Women & Childbirth ill America, Suzanne Arms, 1975, $6.95 from: Bantam Books 666 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10019 This book still sums up the case against hospital and doctor-centered childbirth as well as any-and it was one of the first to do so. It is both passionate and
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