IT 1^1 Cut Housing Costs 90% M J^^j Avoiding the GRUCC March/April 1984 Prairie Perspective Volume X, Number 3 $2.50
Page 2 RAIN March/April 1984 RAIN Volume X, Number 3 March/April 1984 Editor Tanya Kucak Staff Rob Baird Than James Steve Johnson Sara LaBorde Alan Locklear Kris Nelson Jeff Strang Contributors Kristine Altucher Scott Androes Jeff Ball Dick Barney Tom Bender Carlotta Collette John Ferrell Collette Gardiner Gail Katz Meg Roland Graphic Design Linnea Gilson Comptroller Lee Lancaster Printing: Argus Printing Typesetting: Irish Setter Cover: Ancil Nance RAIN magazine publishes information that can help people lead simple and satisfying lives, make their communities and regions economically self-reliant, and build a society that is durable, just, and ecologically sound. RAIN is published six times a year by the RainUmbrella, Inc., a nonprofit corporation located at 2270 NW Irving, Portland, OR 97210; 503/227-5110. Subscriptions are $25/ year for institutions, $15/year for individuals ($9.50 for persons with incomes under $6000 a year). RAIN is indexed in the Alternative Press Index and New Periodicals Index. Copyright © 1984 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. ISSN 0739-621x 4 "Better than Cereal Boxes": Readers Reflect on RAIN—by Than James 10 Avoiding the GRUCC: Creating a Community Currency—excerpt from The Handbook of Tools for Community Economic Change 12 Hidden Costs of Housing—by Tom Bender 20 Burden of Dreams: Building Community with A.T.—by Meg Roland ACCESS 7 Waste—Future Water □ Workfrom Waste □ Dead Tech □ Hazardous Waste in America 8 The Living Earth—The Global Brain □ Well Body, Well Earth □ Prejudice against Nature 17 Housing—Community Self-Help Housing Manual □ The Owner-Builder's Code Reform Handbook 18 Farms and Gardens—Ten Acres Enough □ The American Cropland Crisis □ A Gardener's Guide to Propagating Food Plants □ The Seed Finder 19 Deserts—Tracks □ Spectacular Vernacular 25 Integral House Projects in the U.S. and Canada 26 Community Uses of Computers ^ BIOREGIONS i I 28 Voices of Reinhabitation; The Prairie Bioregion , 30 North American Bioregional Congress 31 Pacific Northwest Bioregion Report Self-Reliance Contest We know there must be more than 2,000 people in the world who would subscribe to RAIN—if they knew about us. We have a few ideas about where to find these people and how to reach them, but we need more ideas. Send us your ideas, plans, and suggestions for making RAIN economically self-reliant and known to its potential readership. The person who sends in the best and most useful plan (what to do and how to do it) will receive: (1) a complete set of back issues, including out-of-print issues; (2) one hour on-line with Steve Johnson (phone or computer); and (3) a Peace Poster autographed by Diane and Joel Schatz or a RAIN T-shirt autographed by the RAIN staff. Second prize is an autographed T-shirt or Peace Poster and a one-year subscription. Third prize is a one-year subscription. The person who submits the best local entry gets lunch with the RAIN staff and a tour of the Rainhouse (tell us if you consider yourself "local"). WeTl accept entries until June 1,1984, and weTl publish the results in the September/October 1984 issue. Send to: Self-Reliance Contest, RAIN, 2270 NW Irving, Portland, OR 97210. □ □
March/April 1984 RAIN Page 3 r. ■ . . : ■ ■ . ■ • '« ■ LETTERS Dear Rain, Choose your own title: the message reads the same. Life is a gift, and only the power of love allows us to linger a little longer on this jewel of a planet. But there are those who persist in promoting lawpassing as a shield against tyranny, violence, and hate. In his article “Creating Nuclear Free Communities" (RAIN X:2), Don Skinner outlines the experience of Ashland residents in effectively passing a nonnuclear ordinance. The federal government, of course, is not bound by such a puny ordinance, as Skinner admits. So what is the point? "The process of becoming an NFZ brought with it a satisfying sense that we live in a community that was willing to say 'NO' to the nuclear industry and was ready to begin an examination of constructive alternatives." Sounds convincing, until one considers that a sense of community must be based on love and cannot be legislated. Law makes a weak crutch for moral disability, and so the NFZ movement becomes at best a harmless diversion, at worst institutionalized hypocrisy. Playing the devil's game on his home court does not seem a very insightful means of "examining constructive alternatives." Don't be confused by the clamor for new laws to protect us. We must see clearly that moral choice, not trivial legislation, is the issue. We need to declare daily a demilitarized zone in our hearts and in our lives. A zone of peace within ourselves, in our relations with others, and with the earth where love is in control, where hate and violence find no quarter. I appreciate the range of views presented in RAIN. Keep up the good work. I'd like to see more articles about people living peacefully. Larry and Marge Warning Oysterville, Washington Dear Folks, I recently obtained a copy of your tenth-year anniversary issue (RAIN IX:6) and have enjoyed reading through it very much. Paul Cameron Durham, North Carolina Dear RAIN, I've really enjoyed your anniversary issue; found it very inspirational. Marc Kolmon Chapel Hill, North Carolina RAINDROPS It hasn't rained much since I recycled myself back to RAIN, but it has been cold. For a few golden afternoons I basked in the warm sunshine streaming through the windows, though. Ah, renewable energy! Speaking of recycling people and renewing energy, we want your contributions. We're developing a couple of networks; One, a network of knowledgeable people around the country who can recommend and review books and other materials of interest to RAIN readers; the other, a network of people around the country who are information brokers in their communities and can send us periodic reports on what's going on in the provinces (see also the introduction to the Northwest Bioregion Report). Write me a letter or postcard if you're interested. If you send us material to publish, make sure it fits the general style and format of RAIN. Avoid the passive voice (say "The authors describe . . ." rather than "It is described ..."). Type it doublespaced with wide margins and, if you want us to return it, be sure to include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage. For reviews, include the title, author, year published, number of pages, price, and name and address of the publisher. Tell us what the book is about and why it's special. The shorter, the better. Also, tell us what you do and why you're special. If we print what you've written, we'll send you goodies in the mail: six months of RAIN for a review or short piece; for an article, five copies of the issue it appears in, a one-year subscription to RAIN, a copy of Knowing Home, and either a one- eighth-page display ad or a 100-word classified ad. The deadline for submissions is the first day of every odd month (March 1 for the May/June issue). If you know about cataloging or organizing books and periodicals, and you want to do that sort of thing in Portland for at least three months, we'd love to hear from you. We're bursting at the seams with information. We also need business students who are interested in promotion and advertising and are willing to work for $40 a week for at least three months. (Contact Rob Baird at Rain.) Some of you will receive two copies of RAIN this month. It's intentional: We learned from our readers' survey that people learn about RAIN from friends, so we'd like you to pass on that extra copy to a friend. Also, tell all your friends how much you love RAIN, give RAIN subscriptions and posters as gifts, and send us names of people we can send sample copies to (for every list of at least 10 names and for every friend you recommend who subscribes, we'll extend your subscription by two issues). We're also interested in donations of services or supplies. Recently, one kind person donated a pickup truck to the resource center! We'd like to have a couple of correcting electric typewriters. Right now, all we have left are borrowed machines: our last IBM had a nervous breakdown—electrical problems—in the middle of copy deadline for this issue. We could also use a photocopying machine— it would save us innumerable trips downtown and elsewhere, in our drive to reproduce whatever we write. By the way, don't miss our contest announcement on page 2. —TK
Page 4 RAIN March/April 1984 ■f1 !;■■■ '■.: /ji'fi.? !'i}. ■ rimni.O'; It Beats Reading Cereal Boxes': by Than James The readers' survey, which went out with our August 1983 Sprinkle newsletter, brought enthusiasm for RAIN. We were pleased to receive better than a 10% return. Most surveys were filled with many well thought-out comments, criticisms, and suggestions. We learned a great deal from your thoughts, and we appreciate the time you spent. Even with this high return rate, however, we are reluctant to come to absolute conclusions about our readers. At best, we can assume that we heard from those of you who enjoy filling out questionnaires that come in the mail—a slightly suspect group to begin with. With that said, here is what we learned. RAIN readers are diverse, but you still present some clear demographic trends. Seventy-five percent of you are male. Hmmm. We also learned that 90% have college degrees, and 50% of these have post-graduate degrees. The average age is in the mid-thirties, and almost half of you have an annual income of $20,000 or more. Your occupations Why do you read RAIN? I read RAIN to learn about interesting developments in their infancy. RAIN puts me in contact with other like-minded individuals and organizations. RAIN stimulates thought in areas that tend to get neglected. It beats reading cereal boxes. I think I have grown, become more aivare and productive, since I started reading RAIN. I appreciate your honesty in admitting mistakes. What is RAIN to you? RAIN is a great magazine, perhaps because of its unpretentious, authoritative air. You tie together, better than any other source I know of, the various threads of what is really important. RAIN is an important part of the history and success of theA.T. movement. RAIN seems to begetting a bit impersonal and dry. A concerned and caring outlook. seem to cover the entire spectrum; however, most of you are involved in education, planning, and management, or design (artists, architects, and so on). The lifestyle question brought various responses regarding housing, religious perspective, outlook on life, community involvement, and political attitudes. It is difficult to summarize such varied responses, but it's fair to say that most of you live in traditional family units or shared housing situations. You reside in urban settings or rural communities. Community involvement is a priority for you, and your lifestyle is outdoors- oriented and health-conscious. rain's readership is small but dedicated. You feel involved in what we are doing, and you are anxious to see that RAIN stays in print, despite hard economic times (for us all). You praise the layout, editorial style, design, and perspective. A majority of you feel that we should not significantly alter RAIN's format and editorial policy. We asked you if you would like to see changes in the use of graphics in RAIN. You overwhelmingly rejected the idea of color graphics and expressed a preference for
Readers Reflect on RAIN rain's simple graphic design:"Black and white is unique, and it speaks to what RAIN and its readers are all about," according to one reader. Others simply stated that color was unnecessary and expensive. Several of you expressed your dislike for the newsprint paper that we currently use inside the magazine. Since many of you collect back issues for future reference, you'd prefer that we use more durable paper stock. We agree, and we're looking into the cost of better paper. We asked you about your reactions to changing What do you want from RAIN? I like longer articles, feiver book reviews. I prefer access information rather than so many long articles. Don't change your name. Change the magazine to match the subtitle. Quality advertising is extremely useful to your readers. Expand your geographic range. Keep the main focus of each issue on the Northwest region. I admire your work and appreciate your sacrifices. Please: more punch, less herbal tea journalism. I don't like to see you in poverty. Market yourself. I'll be willing to pay $25 for RAIN. RAIN is suffering from a softening ofperspective. There seems to be less critical thinking on the conceptual level about A.T. We like RAIN so much that we are no longer objective. RAIN'S subtitle. Some of you thought RAIN needs no subtitle—that such an identifier would act as a limiting factor. Others suggested subtitles containing the words sustainable, community, bioregion, and self-reliance. By far the largest group, however, advised us to retain Journal of Appropriate Technology. In fact. Journal of Appropriate Technology hasn't appeared on our cover for several years now. We have always been a resource guide to A.T., but we have focused on the use, effects, and potential of technology (which is what A.T. has come to connote to long-time RAIN devotees) rather than the nuts and bolts. (Frankly, our staff is divided on the subtitle issue. Some of us feel we need a more descriptive title on the cover to reach out to potential subscribers who don't understand the term appropriate technology. Other staff members feel that a subtitle would clutter our simple cover and that our statement on page 2 describes what we do better than any subtitle could. For now, we've dropped the subtitle [it last appeared inside the June/ July 1983 issue].) The topics and concerns we have emphasized in RAIN over the years, and for which our readers have shown continued enthusiasm, still lack the broad-based support that we sought nine years ago when RAIN began. Although we usually don't follow the same course as mainstream culture, we must continue to evolve in these rapidly changing times. We conducted this survey to learn who you are and what you expect from us. What we learned is that many of you were once involved in the network that RAIN represents, but now find yourselves in the mainstream—losing touch with an alternative network that is still important to you. Reading RAIN is a practical way for you to remain informed of and affiliated with the people and ideas that Cont-
Page 6 RAIN March/April 1984 are now less central to your lives. RAIN remains a primary introduction to many of the resources and discussions at the forefront of renewable energy, perma- culture, community self-reliance, small-scale economics, and community uses of computers. RAIN readers want the stimulation that comes with well thought-out analysis from the concerned and dedicated individuals who are involved in these areas. You want to see continued attention given to topics that RAIN has always emphasized. It is evident from this survey that RAIN's readers find the magazine a valuable and necessary resource and want to ensure its continued existence. Comments such as "I find RAIN worthwhile at any cost" and "I'd be willing to pay extra for RAIN" made us realize that our readers care about RAIN and are willing and able to help keep the magazine in print. Some of you suggested that we make a greater effort to explain our financial situation through an annual report and periodic updates in the magazine. (We have prepared a financial report for this issue.) These are difficult times for small publications and for many of their readers. We want to make sure that RAIN stays affordable for those on lower incomes, but many What other magazines do you read? (top eight) Mother Jones CoEvolution Quarterly Organic Gardening Solar Age New Shelter In These Times National Geographic Sierra of you have expressed a willingness to give additional financial support to RAIN. You may have noticed that we have begun offering extended subscriptions for readers who help us find new subscribers. The results from this survey show us that you—our current readers—are our best potential source of advertising. We have also begun offering Sustaining and Contributing subscriptions. We have received many wonderful comments and suggestions from this survey. We look forward to hearing more from you. □□ RAIN Fiscal Statement September 1982 through August 1983 Income New subscriptions $ 6,767 Renewal subscriptions 11,551 Bookstores 1,844 Advertising 1,393 Other publications 5,078 Total income $26,633 Expenses Printing $ 5,967 Typesetting 1,267 Mailing 2,367 Promotion 1,911 Publication purchases 1,291 Refunds 372 Graphics supplies' , ■ . • , Overhead ‘' »i. 198 Rent' - 1 ,.4 ^ 0 Phone < 283 Copying ■ , 226 Postage 'T . 1,030 Salaries^ 12,747 Total expenses k-T ■ $27,659 Deficit jvv-f * - ($1,026) In the August/September 1978 issue, RAIN published a financial statement with a headline of HELPI, and the budget was $15,000 larger than it is now (that's a 56% difference!). As in 1978, the first place to turn for assistance is our current subscribers. The recent readers' survey indicates that we have many loyal readers who are willing to help. The following is a list of ways you can help (see also Raindrops): 1. Renew as a Contributing or Sustaining Subscriber, make a tax-deductible contribution to RAIN, or become a Patron (lifetime subscription and set of back issues in return for $500). 2. Take RAIN brochures to events you attend, and distribute brochures to community centers, libraries, and other places. We will send 40 free brochures to anyone who requests them; for more than 40, we request a donation to cover postage. 3. Send us a list of at least 10 potential subscribers, and we'll extend your subscription by two issues.— RB 'Rain Community Resource Center pays the cost of rent and some other overhead expenses. In exchange, the magazine contributes review books to the resource center. ^Includes graphic artist, intern ($160/month) and IVi editorial staff members ($750/month total). Salaries have recently been raised to $600/month—approximately minimum wage. The magazine relies on a large amount of volunteer time and the time of resource- center staff.
March/April 1984 RAIN Page 7 ACCESS: Waste Future Water, by John Sheaffer and Leonard Stevens, 1983,269 pp., $14.95 hardcover from: William Morrow & Company 105 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Like a massive ice block ready to calve off a glacier and crash into a calm fjord, America's water crisis looms over us. As both urban and rural aquifers are increasingly depleted and contaminated by toxic wastes, our sewage treatment plants pump away resources: food-growing resources, energy resources, economic resources. In fact, the evidence that Future Water presents for whole-system use of "wastewater" makes conversion of almost any municipal treatment plant a cost-effective must. The public's and engineers' arguments for the linear-dilution solution to the sewage question have been, the authors claim, largely unsubstantiated fears and unknowns. In fact, vigorously aerating sewage in lagoons, storing it in settling ponds, and then irrigating crops with the resulting nutrient-rich water eliminates undesirable odors and health dangers. Since 1974, Muskegon County, Michigan, has fertilized over 5300 acres of corn -with partially purified effluent at a yield of 30 bushels per acre above that of the rest of the county. The corn is sold as feed and generates over $1 million for the county annually. Moreover, the living soil filter effectively removes over 125 chemicals from the county's industries with "no contamination detected in the corn crop," a study concludes. After irrigation, an underground drainage system collects the purified water—ready to drink. The hot news is that a "biomass utility" is being planned for the Chicago Center for Industry. Based on a study by Chicago's Center for Neighborhood Technology, the circular sewage conversion system will make $4.1 million yearly from sales of electricity and steam from methane, ethyl alcohol, greenhouse vegetables and ornamentals, potting soil, and compost. Before long, local public servants as well as informed taxpayers will be arguing that, as the authors concede, "wastewater disposal is detrimental to economic growth." By the way, where does your community's "wastewater" go? —KN Work from Waste; Recycling Wastes to Create Employment, by Jon Vogler, 1981, 396 pp., inquire for price from: ITDG/NA Publications Office PO Box 337 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 This is a how-to book for people in developing countries on starting a wasterecycling business. The first part of the book describes the different types of waste material, who discards it, who buys it, what can be sold, and the relative value of different types of waste within a given category. Each chapter also includes descriptions of required storage, safe handling procedures, waste sorting, and low-tech, hand-operated processing equipment. In the second section, Vogler outlines general procedures and analysis for arranging to pick up waste, hiring collectors, the relative merits of different types of transportation, marketing strategies, options on sorting, and bargaining. This book contains a wealth of knowledge on waste collecting and handling, with good and easy-to-follow guidelines on making business decisions. The only problem I found with the book is that it was sometimes hard to determine who the intended audience is. For example, at one point, Vogler suggests that you should find someone who can read and write to help you start your business. — Gail Katz Gail Katz works as a mechanical and electrical engineer in Portland. Dead Tech: A Guide to the Archeology of Tomorrow, photos by Manfred Hamm, text by Rolf Steinberg, 1983,132 pp., $14.95 from: Sierra Club Books 2034 Fillmore Street San. Francisco, CA 94115 There are tons of steel and miles of concrete illustrated in the pages of this book. The ruins of wars and simple recreation lie still beside the remnants of dated industrialism. Old gas works and collieries and derelict nuclear power ContThe Components of a Modem Land Treatment System \ SewCT Main from l\ r*rktnmiinifu Biological Treatment Cell Station j. Nutrients returr»ed to food Chain Storage Lagoon to stream or for Reuse Purified Water Collected below soil surface From: Future Water
plants are all as equal as kings and poor people in their graves. No one planned that these things should rot somewhere in a desert or on a beach. They were all built with progress, with successful ventures, in mind. And yet, there they are—billions of dollars and years of effort rendered meaningless by the next step that technology or common interest took. For some of them, like the acres and acres of B52 bombers ordered readied for World War II and Vietnam, the best hope we can have is that they be allowed to rust quietly or be recycled into soup cans. It was impossible for me to read this book without thinking of our latest "ruins complex" in the making: the MX missile scheme. Like the B52s, the very best that can happen to our enormous investment in this thing is that we never be compelled to lise it. What can be the lesson learned from this artful rendering of decaying ambitions? That we benefit from the lessons of history? That we mark our own progress by its consequences? Page 8 RAIN March/April 1984 The futurist Robert Jungk in his memorable introduction to this book explains how desperate the stakes have become. "Never before in history have the effects of war or of catastrophes been irreversible. Each blunder was something one could learn from, every error one could afterward try to repair." The lesson, it seems, is that from now on, the repair must come before the deed. —Carlotta Collette Carlotta Collette, a former editor of RAIN, is a Portland-based free-lance writer. Hazardous Waste in America, by Samuel S. Epstein, Lester O. Brown, and Carl Pope, 1983, 593 pp., $12.95 from: Sierra Club Books 2034 Fillmore Street San Francisco, CA 94115 Here is a book that could serve as a model for anyone attempting to present complex environmental information in a clear. well-organized, highly readable fashion. The authors characterize hazardous waste as "the environmental problem of the century" and back up that dramatic assertion with a convincing, no-nonsense description of faulty disposal methods and the heavy risks they pose to people in many parts of the U.S. They also detail the political battles that have broken out in recent years over efforts to regulate the hazardous-waste flow. Hazardous Waste in America not only advances the cause of citizen awareness and makes evident the need for citizen action, it can also serve as a field manual for the activist. It lists the locations of thousands of hazardous-waste dumps around the country, describes how to organize community "hunt the dump" campaigns, and explains how dumpers can be fought in the courts. All in all, this is a fine book that conveys not only a sense of urgency about hazardous-waste problems, but also a sense of the power that we have to address those problems directly. —John Ferrell ACCESS: The Living Earth Lately, a spate of books has been published thatfocus on the perception of the earth as a living being. Perhaps the idea is beginning to gain wider acceptance in mainstream western culture. Great news, for such a wonderful perception isn't vital unless it's shared. The following three books, all related to the theme of the living earth, recently arrived at RAIN. They seemed to "want" to be reviewed together. I obliged and was rewarded-these books used the theme to highlight different, but interconnected, vieivs: global consciousness as a step on the path of universal evolution, the identity ofglobal and personal health, and the value of a feelingful relationship with nature. —}S The Global Brain, by Peter Russell, 1983, 251 pp., $8.95 from: J.P. Tarcher 9110 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90069 What can I say—this book says it all. It's a highly readable recapitulation of past evolution and a vision of future evolution from a human, global, and universal point of view. Russell shows how we— humans, the earth—are at the threshold of an evolutionary leap as profound as the origin of life or the development of human consciousness. The impetus for this leap comes not only from outside our skins, but also from within, and in fact, the two are indivisible. Individual evolution or enlightenment is thus equated with global evolution or enlightenment, and we can visualize human "cells" experiencing a change of perspective such that they join to form a global mind/ body. The Global Brain is the ultimate synthesis. It encompasses both logical and mystical, past and future, particular and universal. Reading it brings the joy of escaping ourselves, of seeing the world and the human purpose from a universal perspective. Well Body, Well Earth, by Mike Samuels and Hal Zina Bennett, 1983, 275 pp., $12.95 from: Sierra Club Books 530 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94108 Well Body, Well Earth, subtitled "The Sierra Club Environmental Health Sourcebook," is a well-organized presentation of the state of the world's health. The skeleton of the book is "The Source- book," a 94-page section detailing the effects on humans and the prevalence in the environment of radiation, chemicals, air pollution, and water pollution. The subject is complex because of the many types of radiation and chemicals, and the statistical treatment is necessarily exhaustive. The statistics would have been more understandable if the authors had converted some of them into common units. For example, the book gives no explanation of how the radiation units "rad," "rem," and "^Ci," listed in different tables, relate to each other. The flesh and blood of this book consists of sections on the evolution of a balanced system for maintaining the
March/April 1984 RAIN Page 9 Toxic chemicals that are dumped are dissolved by rains andpercolate into the ground. Plumes are thenformed in ground water that bring these chemicals up in wells that tap the water sources. Septic tanks, sewers, toxic waste dumps, waste pits, and disposal wells all send toxic chemicals into the streams and fresh water welts. From: Well Body, Well Earth living earth, the identity of the earth's health and human health, and actions we can take to improve our personal and our planet's well-being. Samuels and Bennett bring out many perceptive insights in these parts of the book. Some excerpts: The solution [to the problem of creating a healthy world] lies not in denying our power, but, on the contrary, embracing it. Only by embracing it can we hope to learn it fully, and learn to use it to benefit the greatest number of people. It is not, after all, power itself that creates problems; it is the way we have chosen to use that power. Until recently, invention [including thoughts and ideas] has been staked out as a persorial possession, an extension of the ego, which is that aspect ofevery system which strives to maintain its separateness and individual integrity. Although ego is essential, it is also transitory.. . . Higher, more complex structures become possible only if less complex structures are able to relinquish some of their interest in maintaining their separateness. There seems to be a time in the life of every separate entity, from elementary particles to humans, when ego is translated into an interest in oneselfas an integral part of a larger system. Taken as a whole. Well Body, Well Earth makes an excellent current reference and also dishes up plenty of food for thought. Samuels and Bennett, authors of the successful Well Body Book, have once again furthered our understanding of the world around and within us. Prejudice against Nature, by Michael J. Cohen, 1983, 279 pp., inquire for price from: Cobblesmith Box 191, RFD 1 Freeport, ME 04032 I like the title. In our culture, the word prejudice is so value-laden that it can't help but arouse interest. And the accusation fits. In his book, Cohen argues convincingly that our western culture has a long history of prejudice against nature, and he contrasts this with the attitudes of other cultures in the U.S., most notably those of Native Americans. Cohen is the founder and director of the 15-year-old National Audubon Society Expedition Institute. The institute conducts experiential learning courses on environmental education in a unique way: High-school, college, and graduate students spend a year at a time traveling throughout the U.S. in a school bus. They sleep in tents or under the stars during their treks to Amish farms in Pennsylvania, the Okeefenokee Swamp, the Hopi mesas, the Olympic Peninsula, Downeast Maine, and many points between—all in pursuit of knowing and feeling the natural world and humans' relationships with it. Prejudice against Nature is mainly a distillation of Cohen's experiences, thoughts, and feelings from those 15 years with the institute. As a former participant in a similar eye- and mind-opening environmental- education experiment in the Grand Canyon area, I greatly appreciate Cohen's work with the institute. Experiential environmental education is undoubtedly the best way to guard against prejudice against nature; its value is priceless. Cohen's experiences in this regard are fascinating and well worth reading. Be prepared to sift these out, though—the book is about twice as long as it needs to be and is loosely organized (in a few places, I felt that my time could have been better spent backpacking). Distractions such as Cohen's dialogues with Mother Nature detract from the flow and force of the book. These may emphasize the fact that nature is alive, but only in an anthropocentric way. I had an uncomfortable feeling while reading that Cohen was biased against science, technology, and the western way of thinking, that he was "denying our power," when, in fact, these things are also a part of the natural world—they come from human nature. On the plus side, the afterword, "Sharing the Good News," by Jim Swan, is an excellent essay. Also, Cohen's discussion of the world as a tension- release system is clear and thought- provoking. The Expedition Institute is an important model to keep in mind in our search for educational excellence. fresh water table
Page 10 RAIN March/April 1984 Avoiding the GRUCO: Creating a Community Currency “^GRoss Universal Cash Collapse (with apologies to Bucky Fuller) Believing that the world's economy is somewhat unstable these days is no far-fetched notion; it's becoming household gab. A few economists, though—who see a new set of assumptions cropping up-are citing startling signs of larger, more dismantling waves, not just ripples, in money flow. Bucky Fuller, in his last book. The CRUNCH* of Giants (*Gross Universal Cash Heist) [see RAIN 1X:5], warns that "the financial market world is now assuming that the U.S. government will soon reach a crisis point beyond which it will no longer be able to pay off either its short- or long-term obligations.. .. [When] they see the moment offormally acknowledged bankruptcy of the nation to be less than a year away, someone is going to announce the emperor has no clothes [and] they'll try 'Title 13' to terminate all risks of private enterprise." The chairman of the Intermediate Technology Development Group ofNorth America (ITDGINA),Ward Morehouse,writes in the introduction to The Handbook of Tools for Community Economic Change that "so serious has the situation become that it has been argued that the Third World should wipe the slate clean by collectively repudiating its external debt and starting all over again." And Shann Turnball, a Handbook contributor and Harvard Business School alumnus consulting in Australia, observes, "There is no longer any commitment by the banking system to convert paper money into any unit of production, be it a commodity or service.. . . While this innovation [central banking with paper money] has increased the stability of individual banks, it has done so at the cost of decreasing the stability of the currency and indeed the whole financial system. . .. Most bankers can observe the lumps in their system but do not wish to believe it is cancer. Those who do see it as a cancer believe that their government has remedy ready to hand out if the patient shows signs of dying. But here is the sting. They do not. In fact, it is governments [that] have created the cancer by mutating the concept of money and credit to suit their own self-interest." Whether the economic cancer spreads throughout every nation's monetary system or subsides into remission, we can't expect government to institute systematic changes, preventative or otherwise, for a more democratic, decentralized economy. But we can experiment with opportunities rising out of the crises. Quietly and slowly, new models are appearing in discrete communities. Eight successful experiments appear in the Handbook, which is based on three E. F. Schumacher Society seminars on community economic transformation (see RAINX:2). Belowisa Handbook excerpt from "Buildinga Community Banking System" by Robert Swann, a former cohort of E. F. Schumacher and president of the Schumacher Society (Box 76A, RD3, Great Barrington, MA 01230). The Handbook's conceptual tools include the community land trust, the cooperative land bank, community self-management, and community currency and banking. It's availablefor $20 (plus $1.50 postage and handling) from ITDG, Publications Office, PO Box 337, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520. -KN The so-called energy crisis has made it clear to almost everyone that energy is the key factor in all forms of production and in meeting the needs of society as a whole. In this respect, gold, as the traditional form of reserve currency, is being replaced by commodities or sources [that] provide essential energy. Thus, oil is referred to as "black gold." . .. Almost every community has renewable resources for producing energy. Such resources could be wood, wind, hydro, or waste material [that] can be burned in a modern furnace such as a pyrolytic burner, which converts wood waste or other wastes into gas, oil, or charcoal. [For other alternatives, see Future Water, page 7.] All such energy sources can be converted into electricity or measured in kilowatt-hours. [The first step] would be the creation of a community- based organization, possibly set up as a cooperative, as a worker-owned business, or owned by a community development corporation, to produce energy from any or all of the locally available sources. This organization would offer for sale notes, called energy notes, at the going rate of electricity. For example, if local utility rates are presently 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, then $1 would buy 10 kilowatt-hours for future delivery. Owners of the notes sold in lots of 10, 50, and 100 units (comparable to current values of $1, $5, and $10) would hold these notes for future redemption in kilowatts—no matter what the future dollar rate of kilowatts. In effect, these owners would have a guarantee against future inflation of electric rates. This would be the attraction for purchase of notes. The community organization or corpora-
tion would issue the notes only in amounts equal to [its] projected output of electricity, thus avoiding inflation of the currency. The organization [or] corporation would then invest the dollars received in exchange for the energy notes for equipment to produce energy locally. This equipment could be pyrolytic converters for wood waste, wind generators or a “wind park," or generators for hydroelectric, depending upon the most abundant source of renewable energy available in any particular location. Up-to-date cost analysis demonstrates that such intermediate technology can compete favorably with oil, coal, and nuclear technology in today's markets— assuming proper conditions (such as tested wind sites) exist. .. . The electricity generated would be fed directly onto the existing grids of utility companies under laws enacted under the PURPA legislation. The utility company would either pay cash for the electricity so generated or, ideally, would agree to accept the energy notes issued by the company, in payment for bills of its customers—kilowatt-hour for kilowatt-hour. Such a system would constitute the best way of redeeming the energy notes. For instance, assume Mary Smith has bought 5,000 kilowatt-hours for $500; that would mean that at any time in the future, Mary could pay an electric bill of 500 kilowatt-hours with five of her fifty 100-kilowatt- hour notes. The utility company would have to agree to accept such payments in advance of selling energy notes. Some utilities may be willing to do so and others not. However, if there were a broad base of public support for the concept, including environmental groups and anti-nuclear groups, it would be difficult for utilities, many of whom are in financial trouble today, to refuse a reasonable proposal. PURPA legislation requires utilities to accept or buy such energy, but does not specify the terms of the sale.. . . The validity of the energy notes does not, however, rest on the agreement of the utility companies to redeem the notes. The community corporation that originally issued the notes might ultimately be the redeemer based on its cash income, which would increase as electric rates increase. The investor in energy notes could still receive 10 kilowatt-hours of value in the future for a 10- kilowatt-hour note purchase today. Redemption is one concern for the creation of an appropriate currency, liquidity is another. Assume that Stanley Graves purchased energy notes equal to 10,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Knowing that as a single man he only consumes about 3,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, he has made an investment in his future as well as an investment in his community's self- reliance. But unexpectedly, Stanley finds he needs cash today. He might sell the energy notes to a friend, or barter them for services he needs. However, if a bank would accept the notes, it would provide Stanley with a broader base for the sale of his energy futures. It is the appropriate function of banks to be the managers of money—to deal with the question of liquidity. A local bank has an important function in the creation of a community-based currency. A local bank could buy and trade in energy notes [as] it might foreign currency or securities. The dollar value of the energy notes would fluctuate as the price of electricity increased. Another institution might be set up to provide the same function, but a bank already has the staff and processing equipment to handle the management of money. Such equipment and staff would be costly to duplicate. In order for a local bank to agree to accept energy notes, it would have to have confidence in the capability of the community corporation initiating the project. But again, broad-based public support would make it hard for the bank to resist handling the new currency. Soon other companies besides the utility might accept energy notes in payment for bills. Mary Smith might open a savings account with her extra energy notes. Before long there could be a broad local market and trade in energy notes. All [would be] traded with the confidence that ultimately this currency, at least, is redeemable for something of real value—energy that can heat the home or warm the meal or produce the light to read by. And, with the satisfaction that this energy was produced locally from renewable resources.... Still the question remains of how to capture the value gained in this trade of energy notes back within the community. It is a question of community reinvestment. Although banks are the proper managers of money— essentially dealing with accounting questions—they are not necessarily the most competent to make decisions about the lending of money. In the question of lending community capital, an ethical dimension should be at work. Social and ecological considerations should come into play as well as purely short-term financial considerations. But how is this not-for-profit dimension brought into banking? . .. Working with a local bank,... a community group could open a separate account, designating that deposits would be loaned only for specific purposes—such as providing increased community self- reliance in the areas of food, energy, housing, and essential services. [See "Investing in the Community," RAIN IX:3.] The depositors would assume all the risk. However, with demonstrated community support for the businesses receiving the loans, the chances for the success of those businesses would be very good. Although the interest rate to the depositor might initially be lower than available from money markets, in the long run the return would be higher in terms of local availability of basic items. Such a fund could begin with U.S. dollars, then gradually accept deposits of energy notes. A percentage of each loan could be made in the new currency—facilitating and expanding its circulation. .. . Of related character are plans in the Mid-Hudson Valley in New York State for a wind park [that] would sell energy notes as a means of self-financing. Sites for such a wind park have been tested over a two-year period and can be demonstrated to compare favorably with other sources of energy production available to utility companies. (This initiative, involving Mountain Power, is also further described in Section II of the Handbook.) □ □ For another example of a community currency, see "Restaurant Pioneers Means to Dreams," RAIN 1X:4, page33. March/April 1984 RAIN Page 11
Page 12 RAIN March/April 1984 Hidden Costs of Housing Bergen, Norway by Tom Bender Tom Bender's offhand mention in our OctoberINovember 1983 issue that we could reduce housing costs by 90% raised many eyebrows. Possible? A pipe dream ? We asked for more details, which follow. We learned also that these ideas had already won a $15,000 top award in California's Affordable Housing Competition two years ago. Let's get some action on this, and more of this kind of rethinking of hoxv we do things! — TK Most home purchases are financed. Yet few buyers could tell you what their total purchase cost will be by the time their house is paid for. They don't know because they don't want to face the fact that they may have to spend all their next 10 years' income/wsf to pay the finance charges. What makes up our housing expenditures? Let's look first at the financial costs that add up over a person's 50- year "housing lifetime" with our present patterns (see Figure 1). These costs add up to quite a bundle out of our pockets, and the labor and materials cost of constructing the house is only a small piece of the overall cost. As we look at the separate categories of expenditures, we need to make a distinction between economic and financial costs, realize the pivotal role that durability plays in housing "costs," and see how housing scarcity masks a basic cost difference between new and used housing. Economic vs. Monetary Costs Making a distinction between the economic and monetary dimensions of housing is essential to seeing how decisions affecting the flow of work and money have interacted to build up today's excessive costs. The economic cost of a house consists of the work, materials, energy, and land employed in its construction. Once the house is built, that economic cost has been fully paid. If built correctly, the house has no further economic cost to its next several centuries of users, except for maintenance and operation. The economic costs deal with all the real, objective, and physical costs of a project—no matter who incurs them. By contrast, monetary costs stem from the rules a society sets up for distributing the benefits of economic work. Interest rates, tax laws, loan maturities, government subsidies, and the prices that Housing that lasts 400 years costs only a fraction more to build. In addition to dramatically lowering economic costs, its long life makes feasible the generosity of design that separates our shabby "low-cost" housing from ample, comfortable, and livable homes. different trades and professions can convince others their time is worth all alter monetary costs. As a result, they alter the final price that must be paid for economic work, who has to pay it, and who profits from it. Monetary structures often obscure the real economic work and come to seem like some immutable natural law. In reality, they are constantly changing public policies that help shape the nature of a society—the equality or inequality of wealth, the concentration of economic and political power, and the ends to which
society puts its efforts. They can, and frequently do, add a great burden on top of economic costs. Only by separating out the underlying real economics can we see the true effect of each policy affecting housing and understand how to alter such effects. Durability Once we can penetrate the barrier that financial thinking has put between us and understanding economic costs, we can examine the actual productivity of our various housing expenditures. Construction costs, for example, are largely unavoidable economic costs, and they appear irreducible. But what is important is not just the cost, but the number of years of housing we get from that cost. The longer a building lasts, the smaller are the economic costs per year or per generation. Durability of construction is the key to economic productivity of housing. Houses built to last 400 or 500 years can shelter 15 or more generations under their roofs before needing replacement. Each generation then has to replace only one-fifteenth of its housing, and expenditures on housing are 90% less than what they would be if new homes had to be built for each generation. Housing that lasts 400 years costs only a fraction more to build. In addition to dramatically lowering economic costs, its long life makes feasible the generosity of design that separates our shabby “low-cost" housing from ample, comfortable, and livable homes. During the "Dark Ages" in Europe, people built solid and comfortable houses, which are still in use today. Not having to replace their homes freed the labor and materials to build their soaring and beautiful cathedrals. Those Gothic cathedrals have already served more than 24 generations in their 800 years of use. Although the initial effort of their construction was great, their cost per generation has been far less than our shabbiest construction today, and they stand as a powerful challenge to our tradition of "economic" thinking. Although durable construction costs somewhat more initially, it costs much less in the long run. Clay tile, slate, lead, and a few other roofing materials, for example, have a several-hundred year life, compared to 20 years for standard asphalt shingles. The initial cost of a tile roof is about two and one-half times that of asphalt shingles. But the repeated replacement necessary for the shingle roof boosts its economic Cost over 200 years to four times that of clay tile. Over 300 years, shingles would cost six times as much as tile, and over 400 years, eight times as much as the lifetime roof! Actually increasing our economic expenditures on construction is to our advantage where it increases the durability and therefore the long-term economic benefit of the building. The value of housing durability means more than just "build to last." It shows the importance of looking at how we lose as well as how we build housing. War, fires, changes in land-use patterns, tax policies that result in neglect and abandonment of housing are as important "loss-makers" as is poor construction. And the savings involved in reuse of housing underscores the high economic burden of additional housing required by population growth and relocation. March/April 1984 RAIN Page 13 Scarcity From an economic viewpoint, there is a fundamental difference between the cost of new and older housing. For an older house, the economic cost has been largely paid, and what remains is only the cost of operation and maintenance needed to keep it habitable and comfortable. For a new house the economic cost is the full cost of construction. The price of used houses should therefore be far less than for new ones, and this has been true when there has been a surplus rather than a scarcity of housing available. Today, however, the opposite is true, with the monetary price of used houses paralleling that of new ones because of a combination of real and artificial scarcity. Real scarcity arises from a growing population and 4 ----------- — —-I J iMt=e<k«.-rEoc.Tuefc I * \O,0CO. r_FUEMl*)+l^S -4 7,see. '70,006. 4^Hc,eoo. REACTOR ^=VfSS> PiacB. Fig.l MA4NT. pract dO flO , ■■ \ Jr.-t ,1 tireriKAE oruou^iM^ Tom Bender
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