Stuart, Dean and Bryan at the Trees Water and People/Aprovecho Booth
Several ETHOS and Stoves members participated in the Sustainable Resources 2003 "Resources for the Developing World" conference September 29 - October 4 in Boulder, Colorado
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Stuart, Dean and Bryan at the Trees Water and People/Aprovecho Booth
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Trees Water People had a booth at the Boulder conference with an EcoStove (the metal version of the Justa stove) and a Rocket on display, along with posters of TWP stove and reforestation projects. Legacy Fouondation also had a booth displaying briquettes and teir use in stoves.
Dear Friends,
This is a personal experience of the week long Sustainability conference in Boulder. There were 750 attendees and a lot going on. I missed some interesting talks because so much was scheduled that it was necessary to pick out of equally desirable options. My highlights and realizations were:
Becoming better friends with the ETHOS members there. Makes us more effective to know and trust eachother. It was really nice of Bryan Willson to show us the fabled mall in Boulder and to show us his huge lab...
Seeing Ron Larson's new house, winner of a national competition. Has 7Kw of photovoltaics, all the bells and whistles and is beautiful to boot. The house was right next to the field house, ready to be moved again to Ron's site. Congratulations Ron!
Meeting the solar cooking community and starting to heal divisions that have kept both biomass and solar folks from working together as effectively as possible.
Meeting the ceramics folks like Manny Hernandez who uses clay/sawdust mixes to make kilns and water filters! Amazing...
Finally meeting Agua Das and seeing his gasified smelter turn thick almost green smoke into flame. I also had a ball watching Paul Anderson and Tom Reed, demonstrating their stoves to an amazed crowd.
Great to meet individuals who give 110% making solar cookers in Africa, educational equipment in Uganda, stoves, water systems, lighting in Nepal, etc. I felt like I was watching humanity at it's best, sometimes.
Sneaking out of a talk with Don O'Neal and Mark Bryden before Hunter Lovins began speaking. Turns out she was right behind us and said, "Have a beer on me, boys!"
Yes, there was a lot of baloney, too. Most reports were self serving advertisements looking for funding. Under reporting of failures was all too evident. There was a pervasive ethnocentrism at the conference as well. Most of the folks hadn't gotten to work in the field and the paradigm that their great ideas could change the world was unchallenged. Ideas are great, in my opinion, but the work of doing something puts abstract thinking in a better perspective. There was a "first world education will solve the problems of the poor" attitude that I found very unfortunate. Putting solutions to work in a context is the hard work. Ideas out of a context of actual work are floating in the air detached from reality.
That said, I found the conference to be immensely valuable. Reminded me of going to town after a month on the ranch. I came back full of energy knowing that many good souls are pushing together trying be helpful. And I'm very glad to know some of those good souls...
All Best,
Dean
For any further inquiries please contact:
| Dean Still, Director Advanced Studies in Appropriate Technology Aprovecho Research Center www.efn.org/~apro email: dstill@epud.net |
Stuart Conway
Trees Water and People |
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