Energy workshop for Kids!

The energy workshop for kids was held at St Elmo Village in Los Angeles.  We learned how to make passive heating (rocket stove) and cooling (zeer pot)systems.  We learned about how combustion happens and why insulation is important to retain heat. My demonstration rocket stove had flaws because I am not the best at cutting metal so view the video with one in action!

Low Tech Refrigeration Solutions – The Coolgardie Safe & Zeer Pot

Low Tech Refrigeration Solutions – The Coolgardie Safe & Zeer Pot
We learned about the zeer pot and how various fruits and vegetables can be preserved without electricity.  We learned that refrigeration means actually removing the heat from an object to cool it. Here is a link to another passive cooling system called a Coolgardie Safe.  This was used in Australia in the harshest of climates.

In this workshop we will have hands on learning and build low tech projects, like a passive refrigeration system that stores foods, and learn how to build a rocket stove! These systems are instrumental in emergency preparedness and also saves energy!

In our last workshop we talked about the sustainable practice of storytelling.  We held this at the wonderful Village of St Elmo in mid-city Los Angeles. The workshop commenced with a storytelling by Haqqika Linda Bridges, a storyteller, about the late Kenyan Nobel Laureate Peace Prize Wangari Maathai .  She was instrumental in teaching her people about the importance of trees have in our society, the environment, and peace. 
In the hands on learning segment, we researched through various sources of media to find how many manufactured things in the world are made of trees.

We learned that trees can communicate with each other through extensive root structures in the earth called fungi (mycelium).  These mycelium act like our modern human version of the Internet or world wide web by transferring information form plant to plant.  
Some cultures have the creativity to work with tree roots to our benefit by constructing marvelous structures without killing trees. Check out this link about the people in the southern Khasi and Jaintia hills and living bridge . They use storytelling to transfer this knowledge from generation to generation.

Kids workshop in water conservation & rain water harvesting at St Elmo Village

We learned the definition of a Watershed and its boundaries (starting from the tops of mountains at the ridge, through hills and valleys, flatlands, then to the ocean).

We learned about earthworks and the different types (the muffin tin example)like concave earthworks(swales) and convex earthworks(berms) and where we can expect to find the best absorption of and retention of water. We learned about a typical urban lot and compared water catchment capacities of a rainbarrel (or cistern) versus soil.

We talked about how water flows through an urban site and identified sources for water and water catchment (roof, greywater, rainbarrels, artifacts in the garden, evaporator cooling drip, surface areas).

And finally we also learned through building and designing our sites, some of the ways to design for water catchment. We learned that our site can be a mini watershed. In the models, the kids used glue to adhere some of the elements that came off the models during the rain demontration. This can be represented as toxins mixing with water. Yuck!(The glue was non-toxic however, whew!)

This workshop was incollaboration with the Architecture + Design Museum which has a great example of a greywater system. http://aplusd.org/

A great resource for rainwater harvesting is Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster

Stay tuned for the next workshop in May centered around the importance of Trees & storytelling in our communities. Date will be announced sometime in April.

Human Habitats:Seed Bombs not War

Here in California water is very sacred and precious. In southern california we only get about 12 inches of rain a year. Trying to get newly planted seedlings to grow requires a great deal of water. Seed Bombs copy natures way of protecting a seed from harm from the elements of rain or wind or being eaten by a bird or other species. Ever look at a tree seed? Its always protected on the outside. As it lays in its environment thru the elements of rain/snow/wind etc. the outer shell eventually biodegrades... at this point the seed has been properly moistened to sprout when the light hits it. My seed bombs are made up of clay (from my garden) and seeds for a cover crop manure of oats, vetch, fava beans, and pea. The roots of this cover crop reach deep into the soil to bring up essential minerals like nitrogen. I grow this between seasonal food crop plantings then till it into the soil giving extra nitrogen for my next crop. Making the seed bombs are fun. Take some clay and make a small round pattie in your hand. Put some seeds (any kind you desire, they could be flowers as well) in the middle of the paddy then surround the paddy around the seeds to make a ball. Then throw them to your hearts content around your garden, that ugly abandoned lot, in parkways, anyplace you want beauty to shine! Then wait till some rainy days and voila! The sprouts emerge!

A Diary of HOME: Restoration

Abatron products were used for the window restoration. Since I am a green building consultant I did some research as to its possible emissions for indoor air quality. Two products were used from the line, WoodEpox, and Liquid Wood.  Both were listed as GreenGuard Certified Products. Abatron tested as very low levels in chemical emmissions and are solvent free.  This is important to us, because our daughter has many sensitivities to various chemicals.