permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

Contact: Margie Bushman
Coordinator SBCC Center for Sustainability
(805) 965-0581, ext 2177, email: msbushman@sbcc.edu

  SBCC Center for Sustainability "Cities As the Solution" Series:

Waste & Recycling for a Better World
March 25 & 26

Evening Talk, March 25, 7-9:30pm 2011
Keynote Speaker, Albe Zakes from TerraCycle, Inc.
SBCC Campus, Fe Bland Auditorium, West Campus
Admission $5
~
All Day Saturday Event, March 26, 9am - 4pm
Morning Plenary/Afternoon Break-Out Sessions with:
Albe Zakes of TerraCycle; Nikhil Arora from BTTR 
Ventures; & Author, Janet Unruh
Admission, $30 general/$20 Students
SBCC Campus, East Campus

        Meet the young eco-entrepreneurs who can 
change the way you think about trash.  And those 
who can help you understand recycling, why we 
must, and how we can.  Please join the Santa 
Barbara City College Center for Sustainability as 
it continues its "Cities As the Solution" series 
with "Waste & Recycling for a Better World" on 
March 25 & 26.

	The event starts on Friday evening with 
keynote speaker Albe Zakes, VP Marketing from 
TerraCycle, Inc., a company that makes useful 
products from garbage and is now at the forefront 
of the eco-capitalist movement.  Zakes will share 
the entrepreneurial adventure he and TerraCycle 
company founder Tom Szaky have experienced 
together as they created a company that's good 
for people, good for profits, and good for the 
environment.

A follow-up event takes place on Saturday March 
26 beginning with a morning plenary session, 
followed by afternoon break-outs that includes 3 
dynamic speakers in the world of Waste & 
Recycling:


Albe Zakes, 25 year-old Global VP/Media from 
TerraCycle, Inc., the world's leading 'upcycling' 
company, which converts waste materials into 
eco-friendly, affordable products available at 
major retailers worldwide.  TerraCycle upcycles 
traditionally non-recyclable waste, including 
drink pouches, chip bags, tooth brushes and many 
more. TerraCycles innovative "Brigades" programs 
encourage community organizations to participate 
in trash retrieval while earning cash.  Paying 
out more than a million dollars last year alone, 
the Brigade programs are partially funded by 
corporate sponsors like KRAFT, Starbucks, and 
Mars.


Nikhil Arora, 23, BTTR Ventures, a recent grad of 
UC Berkeley, who with business partner Alex 
Velez, gave up potential careers in investment 
banking to start an urban farm growing gourmet 
mushrooms from coffee waste, in a downtown 
warehouse.  Their most recent product, the 
Easy-to-Grow Mushroom Garden kit, is carried in 
Whole Foods Markets nationwide. Since starting 
BTTR Ventures they have diverted more than 10,000 
pounds of coffee grounds per week from the waste 
stream, being paid by coffee houses to do it. 
Trash to cash, they are proud of creating & 
providing jobs in their urban community.


Janet Unruh, Executive Director of the Institute 
for Material Sustainability, MA Engineering and 
Technology Management, and author of Recycle 
Everything, Why We Must, How We Can. We've all 
heard of peak oil, but what about peak hafnium, 
or peak terbium? Hafnium, which is important in 
computer chips, could be depleted by 2017, and 
terbium, used in florescent light bulbs, by 2012. 
Unruh believes that everything can be recycled 
100% - provided we learn how to design things 
properly and set up the right systems for 
materials recovery.


In nature, there is no such thing as ìwaste,î but 
as humans, we produce nearly 220 million tons per 
year.  Come learn a better way, to not only 
recycle, but upcycle, diverting billions of 
pieces of garbage from our landfills and 
incinerators, while generating income and 
creating jobs.

The evening talk takes place on Friday, March 25, 
7-9:30pm at the Fe Bland Forum on the SBCC West 
Campus.  The Saturday event, March 26, 9am - 4pm 
will be at the SBCC PS101 Building on the East 
Campus, 721 Cliff Drive.

Sponsored by the SBCC Center for Sustainability

Event Info: Margie (805) 965-0581, ext 2177, 
email msbushman@sbcc.edu; 
http://sustainability.sbcc.edu

Cosponsors: SB Independent, Santa Barbara 
Permaculture Network, Loa Tree, Hopedance Media, 
Nutiva, Teeccino, Island Seed & Feed, Sustainable 
Vocations, Surfers Without Borders,and more

More Info/YouTubes:


TerraCycle featured on Good Morning America:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaKoBuVZ_AI&feature=related
TerraCycle segment Discovery Channel: s
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fpTVF-3uFQ&feature=related
TerraCycle Plastics episode of Garbage Moguls on National Geographic:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meV-clgVnJ0&feature=player_embedded#at=16

BTTR Ventures on BBC World News:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rnmposUN4A

Janet Unruh:
Executive Director; Institute for Material Sustainability
Recycle the World: One Woman's Vision
 http://www.enzymepdx.com/2010/recycle-everything/
By Matthew Singer

RADIO INTERVIEW
 http://kboo.fm/node/25693

-end-



 http://sustainability.sbcc.edu/
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From: Davey <daveyisdavey@yahoo.com>
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Lawrence: good idea. i hadn't noticed it cost that.



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Subject: permaculture Digest, Vol 98, Issue 7

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Today's Topics:

  1. help HM157 win (Davey)
  2. Re: help HM157 win (Lawrence F. London, Jr.)
  3. A scientist dishes on the wild kingdom beneath our    feet |
     Grist (Lawrence F. London, Jr.)
  4. 44% off -till March 13 -Indigenous Eco-village Permaculture
     Course w/ 3 EcoTours Included (L. Santoyo)
  5. Re: was Ormus- now Toby's insulting rant (Kelly Simmons)
  6. March 25 & 26/Waste & Recycling for a Better World/SBCC
     Center for Sustainability
     (Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 16:39:41 -0800
From: Davey <daveyisdavey@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [permaculture] help HM157 win
Message-ID:
   <AANLkTimKo=y3J8U+aoBP7pOXgkGBvrg5=FX3o2_kQz48@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

hello y'all,

please help us rack up the votes for a contest HM157 is in the run for. we
are trying to win a table that will be a huge help in prep for the awesome
weekly dinners. these dinners are a huge success with all kinds of great
folks coming out to enjoy the tasty food. these dinners are open to the
community and vegan, locally sourced, organic, and foraged when possible. we
ask for a $5 donation to cover materials but generous donations are always
much appreciated and put to work.

here is the link: http://swapmeet.bludot.com/index.php#viewbid1032
*to vote: just click on the thumbs-up *

please cross-post, share and forward to friends.

thanks!


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:56:07 -0500
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] help HM157 win
Message-ID: <4D757EA7.7080309@bellsouth.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 3/7/2011 7:39 PM, Davey wrote:
> hello y'all,
>
> please help us rack up the votes for a contest HM157 is in the run for. we
> are trying to win a table that will be a huge help in prep for the awesome
> weekly dinners. these dinners are a huge success with all kinds of great
> folks coming out to enjoy the tasty food. these dinners are open to the
> community and vegan, locally sourced, organic, and foraged when possible. we
> ask for a $5 donation to cover materials but generous donations are always
> much appreciated and put to work.
>
> here is the link: http://swapmeet.bludot.com/index.php#viewbid1032
> *to vote: just click on the thumbs-up *

I gave it a thumbs-up then went to look at the Nick table:

Nick Dining Table
SKU# NK1-DNGTBL
$1,299.00

$1300 table for community potlucks? Sell the table and put the $$ in a
bank account for future use: help urban farmers, buy food, other vital
community needs...

seems so inconsistent to ask for such an expensive table for this kind
of cause and community project/event which is usually (since as far back
as I can remember) a very budget-minded kind of thing..




------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:46:43 -0500
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>,    Market Farming
   <marketfarming@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [permaculture] A scientist dishes on the wild kingdom beneath
   our    feet | Grist
Message-ID: <4D75C2C3.9040809@bellsouth.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-17-a-scientist-dishes-on-the-wild-kingdom-beneath-our-feet


A scientist dishes on the wild kingdom beneath our feet 4
Default badge avatar for Robert Lalasz

by Robert Lalasz

17 Feb 2011 5:18 PM

    *

    *
    *

    *
    *
    *
    *

More: biodiversity, Environmental Health, Food, scientific research,
scientists

Water bearCreature from the underworld: Scanning electron micrograph of
an adult water bear (tardigrade).Photo: Goldstein labCross-posted from
Cool Green Science.

Water bears? Fungi that strangle worms? Roots that send off
reconnaissance soldiers (that somehow report back)? There's a world of
bizarre organisms under our feet -- millions of species that are also
critical for life on Earth. Nature Conservancy scientist Sophie Parker
specializes in soil ecology, and has just published a paper called
"Buried Treasure: Soil Biodiversity and Conservation." I recently asked
her about her favorite soil critters and why we should care about what
lives in the dirt.

Q. What kind of organisms are we talking about here? Worms? Rats?
Microbes? Stuff that crawls away when you turn rocks over?

A. All those things and so much more. Soil organisms are very, very
diverse, in terms of their position on the tree of life and also in
terms of their body size. They can range in size from very large
burrowing organisms (such as ground squirrels and gophers) down to
actinomycete bacteria, which give soil its "earthy" smell.

Q. Is it peaceful down there, or is it Wild Kingdom underground?

A. It's pretty vicious down there. Life as a soil bacterium is not an
easy life. You are subject to drying out at any point in time. There's
patchiness in your food resources, so trying to get enough food is
difficult. You've got these protozoa that are scavenging, like big
grazers just waiting to suck you up and eat you. If you're a pathogenic
bacterium, you can try to attack a root, but there are all these things
that the roots can do to defend themselves from you. If all this were
blown up in size a million times, it would be very dramatic. It's just
that we humans can't easily experience it.

Q. Do you have favorites?

A. I love water bears. These are organisms that are about 200 microns
long, so about the size of a period at the end of a sentence in a book,
really tiny but not as tiny as bacteria. They can survive extreme
dessication, extreme heat, and extreme cold. They can even survive the
vacuum of outer space. They look like little eight-legged bears with
claws. They're an example of charismatic microfauna.

sophieSweating the small stuff: soil scientist Sophie Parker. Photo:
Andrea MartinQ. What else?

A. There are lots of examples. There are species of fungus that can trap
nematode worms, and the way they do it is by creating a nooselike
structure. The nematode worm digs its way through the soil, and when it
intersects, when it goes through the loop, the fungus can feel it. The
fungus then tightens the noose, strangles the worm, and eats it.

Q. Wow!

A. Here's another one, a kind of reconnaissance troop for plant roots.
As a root grows, it produces a layer of mucilage. It's a slippery
material that helps the root to glide through the soil, and as part of
that layer, there are these little cells that slough off called "border
cells." The cells have the same genetic material as the rest of the
plant, but they actually separate from the plant and move off into the
soil and are still alive. They have been found to survive in the soil
for long periods of time -- on the order of weeks. Here's the cool part:
As they move off into the soil, they send information back to the root
about the conditions in the soil.

Q. What are they saying?

A. Well, they could be telling the root which way to grow. We don't know
very well why roots grow the way they do. We know about the molecular
triggers that make a root turn to the left or turn to the right, but we
don't know how well roots can sense their environment. Can they sense
water from a distance away and grow towards it? These border cells are
part of the answer to that question -- they are kind of like foot
soldiers that go out and investigate the soil and send information back
about the condition to the root. But how those messages get back and
forth is a mystery.

Q. Why is there all this diversity in soil?

A. Because the niches underground are both very, very small and very,
very complex. You have huge gradients under the ground in temperature,
in moisture, and in the availability of air, carbon, and nutrients. In
everything that the organisms need to survive, there are huge gradients,
and it is a constantly changing environment as rock is eroding and dead
materials fall to earth and the microorganisms are decomposing it and
creating soil. It's the complexity that drives biodiversity --  there
are lots of different roles because there are so many things to do.
There are so many ways to survive.

Q. It sounds like an alien war movie. But here's the "So what?"
question: Why should we care?

A. Because soils and the organisms they contain can have a large effect
on biodiversity above ground. Let me give you an example. Mycorrhizal
fungi -- they are ubiquitous soil organisms found all over the world, on
the roots of most plants. We're just beginning to understand the
relationships between these fungi and their plants. One mycorrhizal
fungus species may cause one plant species to grow more, but it may
cause another plant species to grow less, and so depending on the mix
and match between fungi and plants, you get different outcomes for the
plant community above ground.

This can have big, very important outcomes for conservation. There are
some species of weedy plants, for example, that can take advantage of
relationships with mycorrhizal fungi and become more successful than
they would be otherwise.

nematodeMadonna and child: a soybean cyst nematode with egg, photo taken
with electron microscopy.Photo: Ethan Hein

Q. How did you get interested in this stuff?

A. I studied nitrogen cycling in soils in California grasslands for my
doctoral work. The first time I dug a soil pit was actually on Cape Cod
in a forest ecosystem there. The amazing thing about digging a soil pit
is each time you dig one, you don't really know what you're going to
see. Each time is a different layering of colors and textures, and soils
can be very beautiful, kind of like a layer cake as you're digging down.
You have no idea what it is going to look like until you begin to
recognize patterns between plants and soils, because there are strong
associations there. It's always kind of a mystery.

Plus, it's something that, in order to do it well, you have to be
willing to get dirty, and that's really appealing. It's a lot of fun.
It's like making mud pies when you were a kid, you know?

Robert Lalasz is the director of science communications at The Nature
Conservancy. A long-time editor and writer, he was previously the
Conservancy?s associate director of digital marketing and the editor of
Cool Green Science. He now blogs on Cool Green Science about the
Conservancy?s scientific research and on-the-ground work as well as
larger conservation science issues.


------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 07:19:31 -0800
From: "L. Santoyo" <santoyo@earthflow.com>
To: Permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>,    Los Angeles
   Permaculture Guild <lapg@arashi.com>,    South Coast Permaculture Guild
   <scpg@arashi.com>,    Central Coast Permaculture Guild <ccpg@arashi.com>,
   san diego permaculture guild <sdpg@arashi.com>
Subject: [permaculture] 44% off -till March 13 -Indigenous Eco-village
   Permaculture Course w/ 3 EcoTours Included
Message-ID:
   <AANLkTimx6CvawdtnAQWvxszsvVzfZSLuykTf1xSMi_aB@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

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------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 08:31:59 -0700
From: Kelly Simmons <kelly@bouldersustainability.org>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] was Ormus- now Toby's insulting rant
Message-ID:
   <F0B070D9-F188-41B1-BC08-5178CA814A81@bouldersustainability.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

I'm weighing in late here, but my sense is that Toby uses these words
out of enormous frustration.  As a fellow science educator, I share
his frustration.

Science education in the US more or less stinks and many, many folks
head off into life without a clear understanding that there are TWO
uses and meanings of the word "theory" in our language .

The scientific use of the word "theory" means the very best
explanation that fits all the observable and reproducible facts.
Gravity is a theory.  It is the very best explanation that explains
the observable facts.  Scientists check and recheck each other's work
and check the theory against the facts to make sure they agree it's
the best explanation.  Theories do change, because scientists often
come up with new observations from new instrumentation and those new
observations may not fit the theory.  So then there's a restructuring
that rarely, but sometimes, has huge impacts on our understanding of
the world.

But once a theory has been checked and rechecked over and over and no
new observable facts are coming, scientists and the general public
accept the "theory" as the real world truth of the matter.  Scientists
don't use the word fact in this case because fact is reserved for
observable data.  So evolution is a theory in science, and over time
and testing becomes real world truth (for most of us).  Scientific
theories are only "open to interpretation" based on the observable
facts and data.  Not our opinions of how things could be, or might be.

In contrast to this usage, in general conversation we use the word
"theory" to mean an idea, often unproven.  It's often tied to the
notion of opinion and can be considered open to question.  As in "I
have a theory about why Toby was using insults in his post."  or
"That's your theory but I disagree"

It's not the same.

And as citizen scientists (permaculture practitioners) and as
permaculture teachers, I would argue that it is VERY IMPORTANT that we
understand and be VERY CLEAR about the difference.  Toby brought up
creationism, because the creationists use this very misunderstanding
about the word "theory" among the general public to advance their
religious agenda in school science courses and textbooks by saying
that "evolution is just a theory".  Yes, evolution is a theory and it
is the best explanation of the observable facts.  Creationism does not
explain observable facts and is a religious belief.  Big difference.

That doesn't make science perfect or free of politics.  But we need to
be clear about our terms at the very least.

We are already assisting in the re-education of adults who learn earth
education, soils, climate, botany and many other science topics that
were probably poorly taught in school if at all.  Our clarity is
important.

And we need to be clear that there are many, many charlatans out in
the world who use the public's general lack of scientific knowledge
and understanding to sell worthless products to the unsuspecting.  In
my opinion, their sales pitches often come in the guise of science AND
spirituality wrapped up together.  Many folks don't really get the
science, but it sounds real and official and the spirituality piece
touches their hearts and longings and they buy.  I have no problem
with anyone's beliefs about energy, plant devas, spirits and the
like.  Science obviously does a poor job of  understanding or dealing
with these topics except for perhaps quantum physics.

And I'm not intending to cast aspersions on ORMES.  I know nothing of
it.  Just that those of us who are scientists and science educators
get very very frustrated at the outrageous ignorant crap that passes
for science in the effort to sell products, over and over and over.
It sounds to me from Toby's description of their website that it is
full of pseudoscience intended to help sell their product.

Hope this helps tame the flames.

Best wishes,

Kelly Simmons



On Mar 1, 2011, at 7:07 PM, wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

> Toby,
>
> If you disagree fine, but there is no need to insult your fellow
> listers with words like 'nonsense', 'loony-bird', 'idiocy' and
> 'numbskull.'
> Using these creationist type tactics to force your opinions down
> other peoples throats, is not the way to get you ideas across.  I
> hope that you do not try to spread your ideas about permaculture in
> the same way or you will be doing us all a dis-service.
>
> Chris
>
> --- On Tue, 3/1/11, Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
> > Subject: Re: [permaculture] Ormus- ORMES
> > To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 12:33 PM
> >
> > On Feb 28, 2011, at 7:41 PM, wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk
> > wrote:
> > > Toby,
> > > I do not mean to argue with you, especially when I
> > consider you to be one of the most valuable contributors to
> > this list, but I must point out that plate tectonics, just
> > like Darwin's evolution, the Big Bang etc are all just
> > theories.
> >
> > I used the phrase "plate tectonics" as shorthand for the
> > movement of continental plates and the consequent uplift,
> > which are observed facts, not a theory. The relevant
> > observed fact here is that large areas of the continents are
> > rising and have been for tens or hundreds of millions of
> > years, with no sign of slowing down. There is no evidence to
> > dispute it. None. There is not one shred of evidence to
> > suggest that the continents will disappear "in a few million
> > years." The people who wrote that remain inexcusable
> > ignoramuses who damage what might be useful work  by
> > bolstering their words with nonsensical pseudoscience.
> >
> > I don't think you understand what "theory" means to a
> > scientist or philosopher of science. You are using it in the
> > same way that the creationists do (I understand that you are
> > not a creationist), as in "evolution is just a theory," as
> > if there is some doubt about it. Theory does not mean in
> > doubt or tentative. To a scientist, a theory is a profoundly
> > powerful explanation that is consistent with, and accounts
> > for, observed facts. It it a very different use from the lay
> > person's, "well, here's my theory." Einstein's theory of
> > relativity, Newton's theory of gravity, Darwin's theory of
> > evolution by natural selection etc, are "just theories" but
> > they explain observed facts in such a coherent manner that
> > the likelihood of their being discarded is vanishingly
> > small. There is no more powerful word in science for an
> > explanation than "theory." We could call the above theories,
> > and plate tectonics, "facts," and I do hear scientists speak
> > of the fact of evolution because we have seen it
> > and measured it. But formally, they are explanations that
> > make facts coherent, and not facts themselves, so we don't
> > call them facts. Of course, some theories cover facts that
> > seem contradictory or don't explain every phenomenon, but
> > the overthrowing of a theory as established, and as
> > consistent with observation, as plate tectonics just isn't
> > going to happen. Geology makes no sense without it, just as
> > all of biology and medicine are made coherent only by
> > evolution. Those theories may get tweaked, but I am willing
> > to bet a large sum that they will never be discarded. (I am
> > a student of the philosophy of science, so I appreciate the
> > change to rant about this confusion a bit!.  It is a
> > confusion used as a smokescreen by numbskulls to ignore
> > facts that conflict with their religion's stories.)
> > > "Textbooks frequently extol plate tectonics theory
> > without questioning what might be wrong with the theory or
> > without discussing a competitive theory. How can students be
> > taught to challenge popular ideas when they are only
> > presented a one-sided view?"
> >
> >
> > Nonsense and untrue. We should teach that one plus one
> > might make three, just so we give other views? Gimme a
> > break. Science is not a democracy where every loony-bird
> > gets heard;  "God did it" is not science. Besides, all
> > the textbooks I've seen describe the steps we went through
> > to arrive at plate tectonics, and the flaws, just as every
> > evolution explanation I've seen mentions what it fails to
> > account for. The author of that quote is simply lying. Most
> > textbooks have been forced to include creationism and other
> > idiocy because that particular lobby is so powerful. It is
> > the facts that are in danger, not the religious myths.
> >
> > Toby
> > http://patternliteracy.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > permaculture mailing list
> > permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> > Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or
> > find out more about this list here:
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
> > permaculture forums http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums
> > List contacts: permacultureforum@gmail.com
> > and paul@richsoil.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 08:21:51 -0800
From: Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
   <lakinroe@silcom.com>
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [permaculture] March 25 & 26/Waste & Recycling for a Better
   World/SBCC Center for Sustainability
Message-ID: <p06240812c99c07b58db1@[10.0.0.104]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed"

Contact: Margie Bushman
Coordinator SBCC Center for Sustainability
(805) 965-0581, ext 2177, email: msbushman@sbcc.edu

  SBCC Center for Sustainability "Cities As the Solution" Series:

Waste & Recycling for a Better World
March 25 & 26

Evening Talk, March 25, 7-9:30pm 2011
Keynote Speaker, Albe Zakes from TerraCycle, Inc.
SBCC Campus, Fe Bland Auditorium, West Campus
Admission $5
~
All Day Saturday Event, March 26, 9am - 4pm
Morning Plenary/Afternoon Break-Out Sessions with:
Albe Zakes of TerraCycle; Nikhil Arora from BTTR
Ventures; & Author, Janet Unruh
Admission, $30 general/$20 Students
SBCC Campus, East Campus

        Meet the young eco-entrepreneurs who can
change the way you think about trash.  And those
who can help you understand recycling, why we
must, and how we can.  Please join the Santa
Barbara City College Center for Sustainability as
it continues its "Cities As the Solution" series
with "Waste & Recycling for a Better World" on
March 25 & 26.

   The event starts on Friday evening with
keynote speaker Albe Zakes, VP Marketing from
TerraCycle, Inc., a company that makes useful
products from garbage and is now at the forefront
of the eco-capitalist movement.  Zakes will share
the entrepreneurial adventure he and TerraCycle
company founder Tom Szaky have experienced
together as they created a company that's good
for people, good for profits, and good for the
environment.

A follow-up event takes place on Saturday March
26 beginning with a morning plenary session,
followed by afternoon break-outs that includes 3
dynamic speakers in the world of Waste &
Recycling:


Albe Zakes, 25 year-old Global VP/Media from
TerraCycle, Inc., the world's leading 'upcycling'
company, which converts waste materials into
eco-friendly, affordable products available at
major retailers worldwide.  TerraCycle upcycles
traditionally non-recyclable waste, including
drink pouches, chip bags, tooth brushes and many
more. TerraCycles innovative "Brigades" programs
encourage community organizations to participate
in trash retrieval while earning cash.  Paying
out more than a million dollars last year alone,
the Brigade programs are partially funded by
corporate sponsors like KRAFT, Starbucks, and
Mars.


Nikhil Arora, 23, BTTR Ventures, a recent grad of
UC Berkeley, who with business partner Alex
Velez, gave up potential careers in investment
banking to start an urban farm growing gourmet
mushrooms from coffee waste, in a downtown
warehouse.  Their most recent product, the
Easy-to-Grow Mushroom Garden kit, is carried in
Whole Foods Markets nationwide. Since starting
BTTR Ventures they have diverted more than 10,000
pounds of coffee grounds per week from the waste
stream, being paid by coffee houses to do it.
Trash to cash, they are proud of creating &
providing jobs in their urban community.


Janet Unruh, Executive Director of the Institute
for Material Sustainability, MA Engineering and
Technology Management, and author of Recycle
Everything, Why We Must, How We Can. We've all
heard of peak oil, but what about peak hafnium,
or peak terbium? Hafnium, which is important in
computer chips, could be depleted by 2017, and
terbium, used in florescent light bulbs, by 2012.
Unruh believes that everything can be recycled
100% - provided we learn how to design things
properly and set up the right systems for
materials recovery.


In nature, there is no such thing as ?waste,? but
as humans, we produce nearly 220 million tons per
year.  Come learn a better way, to not only
recycle, but upcycle, diverting billions of
pieces of garbage from our landfills and
incinerators, while generating income and
creating jobs.

The evening talk takes place on Friday, March 25,
7-9:30pm at the Fe Bland Forum on the SBCC West
Campus.  The Saturday event, March 26, 9am - 4pm
will be at the SBCC PS101 Building on the East
Campus, 721 Cliff Drive.

Sponsored by the SBCC Center for Sustainability

Event Info: Margie (805) 965-0581, ext 2177,
email msbushman@sbcc.edu;
http://sustainability.sbcc.edu

Cosponsors: SB Independent, Santa Barbara
Permaculture Network, Loa Tree, Hopedance Media,
Nutiva, Teeccino, Island Seed & Feed, Sustainable
Vocations, Surfers Without Borders,and more

More Info/YouTubes:


TerraCycle featured on Good Morning America:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaKoBuVZ_AI&feature=related
TerraCycle segment Discovery Channel: s
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?vŸpTVF-3uFQ&feature=related
TerraCycle Plastics episode of Garbage Moguls on National Geographic:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meV-clgVnJ0&feature=player_embedded#at

BTTR Ventures on BBC World News:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rnmposUN4A

Janet Unruh:
Executive Director; Institute for Material Sustainability
Recycle the World: One Woman's Vision
 http://www.enzymepdx.com/2010/recycle-everything/
By Matthew Singer

RADIO INTERVIEW
 http://kboo.fm/node/25693

-end-



 http://sustainability.sbcc.edu/
P Please consider the environment before printing this email.

------------------------------

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Subscribe, unsubscribe, change your user configuration or find out more about
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End of permaculture Digest, Vol 98, Issue 7
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On 3/8/2011 10:31 AM, Kelly Simmons wrote:

> Scientific theories
> are only "open to interpretation" based on the observable facts and
> data. Not our opinions of how things could be, or might be.

> I have no problem with
> anyone's beliefs about energy, plant devas, spirits and the like.

> Science obviously does a poor job of understanding or dealing with these
> topics except for perhaps quantum physics.

Albert Einstein
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the
source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a
stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as
good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Allen Chadwick said, "We need to create the beauty and the quality
first. The quantity will follow."

Someone else said that there is nothing stranger than reality itself.

Divas, spirits are handy words to describe the undescribable; one's
spontaneous, not on demand, experiences of the mysteries of the
universe, of existence, a path for personal development, "spirituual",
if you like.

I see this as a form of enlightenment, as stimulating,
offering possibilities leading to new areas of scientific enquiry.
For me, sometimes, contemplating the concept of the infinite
provides a source of energy both physical and mental.

I visualize the universe in terms of a spectrum, with no limits of
breadth, only temporary ones defining or attempting to describe the
known at one end and the unknown at the other. We have quantum physics
revealing events and phenomena and suggestions of possibilities of more
at some position within the spectrum. You're standing at the end amongst
known facts, observable phenomena, reality as we know, see, hear, smell,
taste and feel it. We look in the direction of the other end,
encountering unfolding, intertwining realms of mystery along the way.
Somewhere in all this is feedback within the process involving
observation, discovery, acquisition of knowledge and experience,
analysis, documentation, dissemination and use of the fruits of this
process. This is why I think permaculture systems design is so
interesting; it is pure science and is at the same time completely
mysterious.

Just words. Maybe this is too laid back an approach to learning and
practicing science, too much poetic license, too much improvisation.
Still an approach embracing diversity with no preconceived notions
would be advisable. Maybe the creationists could become more interested
in permaculture; maybe this would suggest taking a new and interesting
tack. Rudolph Steiner has much to offer in his writings that could be
useful in this discussion.