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Greywater Installer’s Course (6 day) November 9 – 14, 2015 at L.A. Eco-Village

Interested in learning all about greywater or becoming a greywater installer for your area? This course is designed for people with either basic plumbing, landscaping, or permaculture skills who want to learn how to design and build simple, economical residential greywater systems.

You will learn about the theory behind simple and high-end systems including the indoor use of greywater. We’ll cover basic plumbing and landscaping skills needed for the four types of common simple greywater systems. You will learn how to conduct a site assessment, determine which system to install and how to maintain existing systems. Additionally you’ll learn about what plants do best with greywater and the do’s and don’t of residential greywater reuse. By the end of the course you will know about proper installation of code compliant washing machine, and simple systems under the CA state code.

There will be an optional exam and installation for people wishing to be certified and listed on our website. The “installer’s page” contains contact info for graduates who wish to be listed, as well as an internal list serve for installers to share info, experiences, and get support.

Location: Los Angeles Eco-Village (117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles, 90004)

Cost: $750 with limited work-trade positions available (To apply for a work-trade position click here)

Learn more about the content and see the week’s schedule here.

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Global Ecovillage Network 20 Year Anniversary Summit Live Stream July 6 – 10, 2015

Participate in the GEN+20 Summit from anywhere in the world!
Sign up for Live Streaming to take part in the GEN+20 Summit from the comfort of your home and without the cost of travel
OR create a GEN+20 HUB
Stage an event in your local area where you gather and watch the summit together.
Read more about Live Streaming and register here.

We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future … To move forward we must recognise that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny….

Preamble, The Earth Charter

Organised by GEN in partnership with Gaia Education, the Findhorn Foundation
and New Findhorn Association, the GEN+20 Summit is an invitation
to celebrate 20 years of walking our talk.

Established in Findhorn in 1995, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) today connects more than 10,000 villages, urban neighbourhoods and intentional communities in more than 100 countries worldwide. Spanning all continents, GEN showcases high quality, low impact ways of living that have led to some of the lowest per capita footprints in the industrialised world, and a healthy integration of heritage and innovation in more traditional settings. GEN has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.

With its 20 years of experience, GEN has a wealth of inspiration to offer, emphasising local solutions to global challenges and demonstrating that the creation of a different world is possible!

We can live a new story

As human beings living in community, not only is there no need for us to further destroy our beautiful planet, we are actually able to regenerate the very fabric of life around and within us. We can heal ecosystems: the waters, the soils, the atmosphere, forests, oceans, and coastlines. We can create sanctuaries for biodiversity to flourish again. We can heal social isolation and historic wounds, communicate across all sectors and divides and celebrate the wealth and diversity of our cultural heritage. We can create cyclic economies that serve environmental and societal wellbeing instead of the maximisation of profit. When we pool the best of our intelligence and wisdom to these ends, we can shift from business as usual to an entirely new paradigm. We can live a new story.

At this conference, members from all regions – GEN-Africa, GENOA (Asia and Oceania), the South and North American networks CASA and ENA, GEN-Europe and NextGEN (the youth or next generation of GEN) – will present their work. GEN provides us with a direct link of friendship and understanding between people and projects from the North and South, East and West – a heart connection that enables us to feel that we are working towards solutions for one planet.

GEN today

Going beyond the ‘green islands’ or ‘life boats’ concept of its first decade, today the GEN is shifting into becoming a transformative knowledge network that works in close alliance with like-minded organisations and other sectors in order to optimise sustainable development strategies for whole societies. In conjunction with Gaia Education, GEN has developed a set of trainings to facilitate the transition to resilience – learning journeys for change makers and design processes for communities to chart their own pathways into the future. During the conference we will be celebrating Gaia Education’s 10th anniversary and the success of the Ecovillage Design Education course, now taught in over 35 countries.

You are warmly invited to join us in honouring some of the elders of the ecovillage movement, celebrating the present holders of energy from all corners of the world and continuing to look ahead with the next generation at where our learning edge for sustainable living is now. Together, we will share realistic glimpses of possibility and hope for a thriving future.

Download a draft of the conference programme here.

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One Day Permaculture Classes in July 2015 with Warren Bush at Casitas Farm

Couldn’t make the full 30-Day PDC and Farm Apprenticeship this year? Then join us for one or more of our specialized day courses!

Throughout the month of July, we are pleased to offer an array of specialized day courses taught by Warren Brush and guest Instructors working in fields such as Beekeeping, Indigenous Permaculture, and more.
The schedule includes:

Tuesday, 7/7- Introduction to Permaculture and Design Methodologies with Warren Brush

Wednesday 7/8- Indigenous Permaculture and Herbal Medicine with Jeanette Acosta

Friday, 7/10- Earthworks for Resiliency with Warren Brush and Jesse Smith

Saturday 7/11- Living Soils and Compost Teas with Connor Jones

Sunday 7/12- Compost Making and Soil Building with Peter Ash

Thursday, 7/16- Broad Acre Permaculture, Forest Regeneration, and Keyline Systems with Warren Brush and Loren Luyendyk

Friday, 7/17- Food Forests, Orchard Care, and Grafting and Pruning with Loren Luyendyk

Saturday 7/18- Bee Systems and Enterprises with Nick Wigle

Monday 7/20- Aquaponics Basics with Andrew Clinard

Saturday 7/25- Urban Permaculture and Bio Intensive Kitchen Gardens with Warren Brush

Sunday 7/26- Greywater Basics with Warren Brush and Jesse Smith

Monday 7/27- Horticulture and nursery development with Mike Gonella

Cost: 
1 Day- $125
3 Days or more- $100/day
Sign up for 10 Days and get one day free- $1,000 (for 11 days)
*includes instruction and catered, healthy lunch
Register today! HERE or at www.casitasvalley.com.
Please contact Ana at ana@regenerativeearth.com or at 805-649-8179 with questions and for payment information.
We still have a couple of spaces in our full month long course for those who are looking to deepen their knowledge and experience of Permaculture on a working farm! Sign up online HERE. For more information, email ana@regenerativeearth.com
 
It’s a summer of learning at Casitas Valley Farm and we look forward to seeing you there! 

 

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for a sustainable water future

Greywater Installers Five Day Workshop July 23, 25, 26,29, & Aug 1, 2015 at L.A. Eco-Village

Watch for more details or go to GreywaterAction.org

Interested in learning all about greywater, installing your own system, or becoming a greywater installer for your area? This course is designed for people with either basic plumbing, landscaping, or permaculture skills who want to learn how to design and build simple, economical residential greywater systems.

You will learn about the theory behind simple and high-end systems including the indoor use of greywater. We’ll cover basic plumbing and landscaping skills needed for the four types of common simple greywater systems. You will learn how to conduct a site assessment, determine which system to install and how to maintain existing systems. Additionally you’ll learn about what plants do best with greywater and the do’s and don’t of residential greywater reuse. By the end of the course you will know about proper installation of code compliant washing machine, and simple systems under the CA state code.

There will be an optional exam and installation for people wishing to be certified and listed on our website. The “installer’s page” contains contact info for graduates who wish to be listed, as well as an internal list serve for installers to share info, experiences, and get support.

Location: Los Angeles Eco-Village 117 Bimini Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90004

Cost: $650 limited work trade available (send requests to info@greywateraction.org)

These workshops typically fill up, and we have to turn people away. Because of this, we are first opening registration for the following people: anyone with an existing landscaping, plumbing, or construction business, anyone working in a water utility (e.g. water conservation department). Register here.

If your main purpose of the course is to install a system in your own home, or the homes of your friends and family, please sign up here and we’ll get back in touch when we open this registration.

Learn more about the content and see the week’s schedule here.

This workshop sponsored by Greywater Action in association with Urban Soil-Tierra Urbana Housing Co-op

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Greywater 101/ Introducción de aguas grises Wed., May 6, 2015 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Greywater 101/ Introducción de aguas grises

*This is a bilingual workshop (English/Spanish). *Este taller es bilingüe (Inglés/Español)

Learn how you can save water and keep your garden green with greywater. Aprenda como podemos conservar verdes nuestros jardines con agua gris. 

Greywater, water from sinks, showers, and washing machines, is a great source of irrigation and can greatly reduce your outdoor water use. Greywater systems are especially important in times of drought. Come learn about common and popular greywater systems, design considerations, water saving potential, costs, regulations, health and safety, soaps and products, and how to choose a system that is a good match for your home and landscape.

En vez de usar agua potable para regar, podemos conservar verdes nuestros jardines con agua gris, que es agua proveniente de las lavadoras, regaderas, tinas, y lavabos. En este taller aprenderá tipos de sistema populares, cuestiones básicas del agua gris, beneficios del agua gris, jabones y productos recomendados, costos, regulaciones para el agua gris y como escoger un sistema para su casa. 

Location / Lugar: 
Los Angeles EcoVillage, 117 Bimini Place, LA, 90004

Cost / Costo Sliding-scale $5- $15. Entrada de $5 a $15 (ponga el precio de acuerdo a su posibilidad)

No registration or RSVP required.
No es necesario confirmar su asistencia. 

Questions/ Preguntas:
email info@greywateraction.org 

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for a sustainable water future

Greywater workshop: How to install a washing machine system/ Taller de Aguas Grises, Sat., May 9, 2015 from 10am to 12:30pm at L.A. Eco-Village

*This is a bilingual workshop (English/Spanish). *Este taller es bilingüe (Inglés/Español)

Laundry to landscape greywater systems are simple, affordable, and easy to maintain. With your own L2L system you can irrigate your landscape each time you do laundry, saving you water, time, and resources. Experienced instructors will lead you step-by-step through the design process, tailoring a system to fit your home. This system is legal to install without a permit, just follow 12 basic guidelines you’ll learn about in class.

Aprende como instalar su propio sistema de aguas grises que utiliza el agua de su lavadora de ropa para regar su jardín. El sistema de agua gris De la lavadora al jardín es de bajo costo, fácil de instalar y fácil de modificar. Con este sistema se puede regar el paisaje cada vez que usa la lavadora, ahorrando agua, dinero, y recursos. En California se puede instalar este sistema legalmente, sin permiso, si sigue 12 lineamientos que aprenderá en el taller.  

Learn

  • How to design a system for your home and landscape
  • How to build a system- you’ll create a “mock-up” of a real system with real greywater parts
  • What parts you’ll need for your home
  • How much greywater you produce and how many plants you can water
  • What soaps and detergents are “greywater friendly”

En este taller aprenderá:

  • Como diseñar un sistema para su casa y jardín

  • Como instalar un sistema- va a hacer un modelo de un sistema usando partes reales

  • Que partes necesitará para su propio sistema

  • Cuantos galones de aguas grises se producen en su casa

  • Jabones y productos recomendados

Location / Lugar: 
Los Angeles EcoVillage, 117 Bimini Place, LA, 90004

Cost / Costo Sliding-scale $20 – $40. Please pay what you can on the sliding-scale.

Entrada de $20 a $40 (ponga el precio de acuerdo a su posibilidad). 

Register here/ Registrarse aquí

Bring: Photographs of your laundry room and landscape. Site plan of your yard.

For more information on an L2L system refer to the SF Graywater Guide for Outdoor Irrigation, downloadable here  or watch a video of an installation of this system on Ask This Old House.

Favor de traer lo siguiente al taller con usted:

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Open House at L.A. Eco-Village, Sunday, April 26, 2015 from 3pm to 8pm

Open House from 3 to 6pm:  Music, tours, workshops, kids’ activities, fun, free raffle with fun prizes.

AND

Veggie Potluck from 6 to 8pm:  Bring any veggie item to share, enough for about 4 to 8 people.  And please bring your own eating utensils.  Let’s keep this a zero waste event.

Please RSVP for veggie potluck to:   membership@urbansoil.net

No reservations required for Open House 3 to 6pm

FREE EVENT

Los Angeles Eco-Villagers will host you for these activities:

L.A. Eco-Village Orientation and MiniTour with Ana Paula and Zoe at 3:30pm, and with AnaPaula and Claire at 5pm

Gardening and greywater with Irma at 4pm and at 5pm

Consensus oriented decision making with Yuki at 4pm

White House Place Learning Garden with Lara at 3:30 and 4:30pm.

Children’s Art Table with Leslie, Daniel and Randy at 4pm and at 5pm

Timebank and Craft Club and Repair Cafe with Leslie and TimeBankers Katie and Ginko & Scoops at 3:30 and 4:30pm

Conflict Resolution with Aurisha at 4:30pm

Food Lobby Co-op with John at 4:30pm

Skill Sharing with Zoe at 4:30pm

Energy Workshop with Somer at 5pm

Closing and Raffle with Adewole and Bruce at 5:30pm

Veggie potluck in Courtyard from 6 to 8pm.  Please bring your own eating ware and a dish of veggie food for 4 to 6 people.  Let’s make this a zero waste event.

Much as we love dogs, please do not bring them to this event.

Please walk, bike or use public transit.  Parking is often very limited in our neighborhood.   More directions here:  http://laecovillage.org/home/directions/

 

 

WestCo | April 24-26, 2015 | Berkeley, CA

WestCo, an annual conference for members of cooperatives in the Western United States and Canada, will be held this year in Berkeley, CA from April 24th through 26th.

WestCo is a space for local cooperators to build community, attend educational workshops and social events, and celebrate their common interests and experiences. This year’s conference is organized by members of the Berkeley Student Cooperative.

More programming details will be released later in March. If you have any questions, please visit NASCO’s WestCo page or contact Zury Cendejas, Berkeley Student Cooperative VP of External Affairs, at vpea@bsc.coop.

More info:
Westco@nasco.coop
http://mail.nasco.coop/mailman/listinfo/westco_nasco.coop

Communify Un-Conference in San Diego, Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 9am to 6pm

Join us at COMMUNIFY San Diego:     Communify un-conference

A gathering of pioneers, seekers, neighbors, organizers, dreamers, trainers, leaders, and activists reclaiming a more sustainable world through intentional communities, cooperative culture, deep democracy, and participatory economics.  

Saturday, March 7, 2015 9am-6pm at San Diego Friends Center  

People in intentional and traditional communities around the world are already living more green, peaceful, and abundant ways of life.

Reclaiming the power of cooperative human connections, people everywhere have been asking questions that lead back to more satisfying lives. We’re busy reinventing what we own, how we spend time, grow food, earn a living, do business, invest money, and participate in our neighborhoods and governments.

Get the jump on Earth Day. Meet, learn, share, and break bread with old and new friends across community movements here in southern California. There’s plenty of time to network and strategize next steps forward.

Sustainable Community is Within Reach!  

Communify San Diego is an unconference.  Using “open space technology” we will convene a marketplace of ideas when everyone can propose sessions on the topics they are most interested in. Sessions can be skills-sharing, discussions, interviews, games, or presentations.  Opportunities to get to know each other will include “Speed Dating” and “Deepening Connection” sessions. Other sessions have been proposed and are invited include:

  • Dealing with Difference – Communication Games and Technologies of Participation
  • Conscious Elders & Aging in Community
  • Wisdom Circles and Restorative Justice
  • Post-Occupy Organizing of the Commons
  • Sacred Economics
  • Slow Money, Crowdfunding, & Participatory Budgeting

We’ll also share opening and closing circles, a panel of special speakers, info tables for partner groups, raffle prizes to benefit Fellowship for Intentional Community and our local host.  Morning coffee, healthy snacks and lunch are provided.

Special Guests & Presenters  

Lois Arkin, Founder of Los Angeles Eco-Village
CASA: Consejo de Asentamientos Sustentables de las Américas
Diana Leafe Christian, author of Creating a Life Together, and Finding Community
Raines Cohen certified Senior Advisor / Cohousing Coach
Betsy Morris, PhD, Cohousing Researchers Network, and author of “Making Cohousing Affordable,” and “Urban Redevelopment and the Emerging Community Sector.”
Plus YOU, bringing the topics you want to learn about or share.

EVENT DETAILS:
Time:
Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 9am to 6pm

Location:
San Diego Friends Center:
San Diego Friends Center
3850 Westgate Pl
San Diego, CA 92105
Google map and directions

Cost:
$65 in advance;  $75 at the door.
Partner discounts, work-trade/volunteer rebates are still available or call 619-457-6198 (voice/SMS) for more information.

Contact:
Betsy and Raines · info@communify.in · 619-457-6198

Will you come?
RSVP on Facebook
AND purchase a ticket here

More info here:
Communify unconference About San Diego

Add-on Events 

Weeknight showing of Within Reach, Friday evening at colab.

Sunday 1:30-6:30pm –  Tour and Half Day Intensive at Emerald Village in Rio Vista,  specifically on the nuts and bolts of developing cohousing and ecovillages — people, place, and process.

Communify San Diego is produced by Cohousing California partners, Cohousing Coaches Betsy Morris & Raines Cohen, of Planning for Sustainable Communities, in Berkeley, CA and the San Diego Local Hosts, Patti Shields, Jonah, Mesritz, Andrea Carter, and Mariah Gayler.

Cohousing California is pleased to promote the work of our organizational partners including the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), Cohousing Association of the US, and CASA, the South American regional association of the Global Ecovillages Network, and CRSP Institute for Urban Ecovillages.

Tax-exempt donations are welcome through our nonprofit sponsor, the Fellowship for Intentional Community (www.ic.org).

 

 

 

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Create Your Own Water-Wise Home & Landscape, Book talk, Friday, April 3, 2015 at 7:30pm at L.A. Eco-Village

With simple plumbing alterations and smart landscape changes, every home has the potential to create a sustainable water supply with an ecologically productive landscape. From reusing greywater, to collecting rainwater, to installing waterless composting toilets, our collective efforts can transform our home water systems.

 

This accessible guide–The Water-Wise Home: How to Conserve, Capture, and Reuse Water in Your Home and Landscape–by Laura Allen, founder of Greywater Action, explains how to use water smartly and efficiently, increasing supply, saving money, reducing wear on your septic system, and fulfilling your home and garden needs. She describes proven conservation techniques, explains how to create a water-wise landscape, and provides illustrated, step-by-step instructions for setting up a waterless composting toilet as well as systems to reuse greywater, harvest rainwater, and more.  The book also includes national trends, codes and regulations, costs, health and safety considerations, and system examples

 

From the Back Cover

Even as severe droughts become more common and the water crisis heats up worldwide, you can radically reduce water use in your own home. Laura Allen is your expert guide to building systems that conserve and reuse water while saving money and meeting the needs of your home and garden. These practical, low-tech solutions are an essential part of our new water future.

About L.A. Eco-Villager Laura Allen

Laura Allen 2015 for book promotionLaura Allen is cofounder of Greywater Action (http://greywateraction.org/) and has spent many years exploring low-tech, sustainable water solutions. She leads classes and workshops, including the first training program for professional greywater installers, and participates in writing state-level greywater and composting toilet codes. She lives in the Los Angeles Eco-Village and has facilitated the installation of many greywater systems in LAEV.

 

EVENT DETAILS

Date and Time:      
Friday, April 3, 2015 at 7:30pm

Location:
Los Angeles Eco-Village
117 Bimini Pl – Lobby
Los Angeles  90004
Directions

FREE EVENT

Book will be available for sale:  Story Press, 2015, $25

 

 

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