Tag: permaculture

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Permaculture: What I’ve Seen and Learned: LA to Guatemala – Friday, May 31, 2019 from 6pm to 8pm at Debs Park Picnic Area

Timebanker Brenda Yancor will present “Permaculture: What I’ve Seen and Learned” on Friday, May 31, 6-8PM, at the Debs Park Picnic Area. Meet in the parking lot at 4235 Monterey Rd, L.A. She will recount “my journey with Permaculture: the sites I visited in Mexico and Guatemala during my 2012-2013 bike trip, the designs they had, as well as my most recent experience in completing the Permaculture Design Certificate Course in Los Angeles.” This event is free and open to the public. There will be light refreshments available. ZERO WASTE: Please bring your reusable plates/water bottles/utensils. More info here

More about Brenda Yancor

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Global Ecovillage Conference (GEN) Europe Conference – July 10 – 14, 2018 – Lilleoru, Estonia

Conference theme:  The Wisdom of Conscious Communities”

Including July 10, 2018: Co-Creation Day: How can we make Estonia the first organic country in the world.

The conference will bring together 500 sustainable experts, practitioners and visionaries from all over the world.

Go here for conference details:
http://gen2018.ee/?lang=en&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=genestonia100

For more information on the Global Ecovillage Network, go here

If you live in the Los Angeles area and are planning to go to this conference, please let me know:
Lois – 213/738-1254

 

 

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Mushrooms and Oil Contamination Introductory Workshop: Saturday, January 13, 2018 from 10:30am to noon at Songs in L.A. Eco-Village

First of an on-going series of events In Celebration of the
25th Anniversary of L.A. Eco-Village:

WHEN:
Saturday, January 13, 2018 from 10:30am to noon.

This workshop is full!  Please let us know if you want to be notified for the next workshop.

Where: 
Songs at Los Angeles Eco-Village, 3554 West First St.
Enter thru chain link gate on Bimini Place just so. of W. First St.

Fee:
Free

Reservations please:
crsp@igc.org   or 213/738-1254

More info: 
crsp@igc.org or 213-738-1254

Mycelium,  mushrooms, mycological remediation, fungi: it comes with many names, but what seems certain is that fungi of various varieties can go a long way toward cleaning up the industrial messes that have been contaminating our places and spaces since the beginnings of the industrial revolution, and even the mess that some of the ancients created, though not nearly as extensively as we have in these more contemporary times.

So, what to do, besides just dig the soil up and cart it away!  Here in the Los Angeles Eco-Village, we’ve just said No! to that!  Away?? Where’s “Away” anyway?  A “hazardous waste facility?”  A conventional landfill?  Someone else’s backyard?

Some of us here think, no matter who made the mess, it’s our place now, and we should learn to clean it up here where we’re at, because our sense of “away” for bad stuff, is that there is no “away!”

Public agencies have been helping to make that happen in a variety of ways with, for example, the US-Environmental Protection Agency’s Super-Fund sites, and to a lesser extent with a wide variety of Brownfields** throughout the country.  Cities, Counties and States, too, have been helping fund many of these clean-ups  that dig and haul soil “away.”  It’s expensive but it’s quick!  And with most developers, time is money, and everyone wants stuff to happen quickly.

But in the times we are living in, those monies are getting scarce, and we can only see them getting scarcer in the future, as we continue to accelerate our penchant for making our cities and rural lands more and more contaminated, not only with the devastating toxics of hydrocarbon derivatives, and toxic heavy metals in our soils, but with the poisons fostered upon our food supply, even as GMO seeds and toxic pesticides and herbicides drift onto organic farms and sometimes contaminated waters are used to irrigate the land.

We have decided to take matters into our own hands: to learn as much as we can about phyto-technologies  or bio-remediation.  These are technologies that use plants, trees, micro-organisms, fungi, air, and water to break down or take up both organic and inorganic toxins to render them harmless.  Granted the inorganic contaminants’ for example lead, copper, cadmium, etc.; take longer, but we can learn patience and how to respect these biological resources as they make their magic happen.

Our long time friend, Jim Bledsoe–artist, self-taught fungi activist, bicycle activist, inventor, carpenter, fixer–will lead us in a micro demonstration for remediating an oil soaked corner of Songs garage.

We invite you to come learn with us.

———————————-

CRSP will be sponsoring a variety of phyto-technology workshops on the new property in the north corner of the Los Angeles Eco-Village demonstration neighborhood, known as Songs, in the coming years.  We will be promoting these workshops to community groups throughout the Los Angeles area that are dealing with contaminated soils in their neighborhoods.

**A Brownfield is any site that is actually contaminated or perceived to be contaminated.  The property that CRSP purchased a little over a year ago is a brownfield with a variety of toxins in the soils and inside the buildings.

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Public Meeting Sat., Nov 11, 2017 from 10am to noon at 117 Bimini Pl, LA 90004

This Public Meeting is Regarding Contaminants and Proposed Remediation

Concerning the property at:

 3554 and 3560 West First Street – Los Angeles 90004

Previously known as Song’s Auto Shop
and the Teriyaki House

This meeting is a component of a proposal being prepared by the nonprofit property owner, CRSP, in the Los Angeles Eco-Village, for a US-Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Brownfields Clean-Up grant.  A draft copy of the CRSP proposal will be available as noted below by November 10, 2017.  Your comments will be incorporated into the final grant proposal to the US-EPA and should be received by CRSP no later than November 14, 2017

A summary of the US-EPA’s “Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA)” and the alternatives for remediation of contaminants can be viewed on-line below.  The complete 43 page ABCA report can be viewed in hard copy at 117 Bimini Place, Lobby, Los Angeles 90004 or you can access it here.

Public comments can be mailed to:
CRSP
117 Bimini Pl, #221
Los Angeles CA 90004
Or sent via email to:     crsp@igc.org
Or submitted in person at the November 11th meeting.

A Plan for redeveloping the property includes car-free co-op oriented mixed uses, including an environmentally sensitive hostel, small green businesses  operated by neighbors within the Los Angeles Eco-Village on Bimini and White House Place or within easy walking distance. CRSP will also be continuing its co-op training and education programs on the site, including workshops on phytotechnologies for remediating brownfields.

See additional information or keep updated at http://laecovillage.org/home/news/
or contact: crsp@igc.org    213-738-1254

Executive Summary for Analysis of
Brownfield Remediation Alternatives  (ABCA) at
3554 and 3560 West First Street
Los Angeles 90004

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2017, Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON®), performed a Phase II Targeted Brownfields Assessment (Phase II TBA) at 3554 and 3560 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California (the Site). The TBA was requested by the property owner (applicant), CRSP, and performed under contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of the TBA was to characterize conditions at the Site, because it is being considered for redevelopment.

Contaminants, including toxic heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, were detected in surface soils and or soil gas
analyzed as part of the TBA work. This Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA) report identifies and compares different cleanup scenarios for the Site based on results obtained from the Phase II TBA (WESTON 2017). These scenarios are ranked on effectiveness, implementability, and cost.

The proposed redevelopment of this site will include an ecologically sensitive hostel with environmentally and co-op oriented mixed retail uses or services. Based on that proposed use, cleanup of the Site to standards suitable for a commercial-industrial use exposure scenario is recommended before planned re-use/redevelopment can begin.

The Site is composed of an approximately 0.25 acre parcel located in a mixed commercial-residential-institutional neighborhood approximately 3 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The western portion of the Site contains a single-story approximately 600 square foot commercial building formerly used as a restaurant. The eastern portion contains a  one-story commercial structure, with a small second floor loft, approximately 2,600 square feet, formerly used as an automotive repair shop.

The following concerns were identified during the Phase II TBA:

Cadmium was present at concentrations that exceed the specified human health screening levels for a commercial use exposure scenario in two surface soil samples collected from the southern portion of the Site.

Four semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) were present at concentrations that exceed the human health screening levels in a surface soil sample collected from the southwest portion of the Site.

Total petroleum hydrocarbons as diesel (TPH-d) were present at concentrations that exceed the residential human health screening levels, but are below the commercial/industrial screening levels in southwestern portion of the Site, in the same surface soil sample as the SVOCs.

The building materials and some appurtenances (i.e., fluorescent lights and possibly other electrical equipment) in both buildings contain non-friable asbestos-containing material (ACM), lead based paint (LBP), and/or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Ethylbenzene and chloroform are present in sub-slab soil gas above the human health screening levels for a residential exposure scenario in the former auto repair shop.

To continue reading the US-EPA ABCA, go here.

NOTE FROM CRSP REGARDING PHYTOREMEDIATION:  Although the US-EPA did not include any alternatives on  phytoremediation or phytotechnology for rendering soil contaminants harmless to human health in the ABCA, there is additional information on the successful use of various plants, trees, and microorganisms for brownfield soil remediation.  Please learn about them on line at the Center for Creative Land Recycling: http://mailchi.mp/cclr/webinars-07-31-17
or at this website for the International Journal on Phytoremediation“.   It is CRSP’s intent to apply the current US-EPA grant application for the remediation of hazardous materials within the buildings, and to develop a future remediation plan for the soils beneath the currently paved surfaces outside the buildings.

 

 

 

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PERMACULTURE CERTIFICATION COMBINED TRAINING at Cal-Earth in Hesperia, October 16-28, 2017

For the past 6 years Cal-Earth Institute and Midwest Permaculture have combined our recognized and established certificate trainings for a rare and powerful learning opportunity. 
 
This program includes the full Core Curriculum as well as a full PDC curriculum delivered by Midwest Permaculture. 
 
This year the registration is unexpectedly low and we want to make our best effort to get more participants since our Permaculture instructors Bill and Becky Wilson are traveling from Illinois for the training. See below for some additional options we are providing this year, and please spread the word. We need to get at least 5-8 more participants to make this amazing workshop happen.
 

Cal-Earth Institute and Midwest Permaculture are combining their recognized and established certificate trainings for a rare and powerful learning opportunity. Having delivered over 60 PDC courses, Midwest Permaculture is an internationally recognized provider of quality permaculture trainings. Their full PDC curriculum will be delivered to students at this combined training so that all will earn their Permaculture Design Certificate. Check out a detailed picture summary of one of our previous combined trainings

TOPICS COVERED

  • The workshop will include the full Core Curriculum taught at Cal Earth Institute during the first five days followed by a full PDC taught by Midwest Permaculture

Topics Covered by Midwest Permaculture:

  • Observations and Patterns
  • Principles and Ethics of Permaculture
  • Designing for Different Climatic Zones
  • Soils, Plants, and Trees
  • Guilds and Polycultures
  • Water and Earthworks
  • Utilizing Micro-climates
  • Designing with Succession in Mind
  • Eco-Building
  • Zone and Sector Analysis
  • Aquaculture
  • Planning the Homestead
  • Bio-Fuels
  • Economics
  • Niche Marketing
  • Urban and Suburban Permaculture
  • Garden Management
  • Small-Farm Strategies
  • Large-Farm Possibilities
  • International Implications
  • Starting your own Permaculture Business
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for a sustainable water future

Hands-On Greywater Workshops/Conference: Simi Valley, Oakland – 10/21/17; Yosemite – 11/1-3/17

Please share with interested people and organizations.

Hands-on greywater workshop in Simi Valley 10/21/17.  Learn more here.

AND:

What: Localizing California Waters Conference

When:  Nov. 1-3, 2017

Where:  Rush Creek/Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite, CA

Details here:  http://californiawaterreuse.org/

Summary:

Join us to convene on-site water organizations under one voice: California Onsite Water Association. At this intimate water reuse conference (focusing on rainwater, blackwater, greywater, and stormwater) professionals, designers, and policy advisers will work together to advance onsite water’s technical and policy future.

Audience:

Stakeholders working in or on the integration and collaboration of onsite, distributed, and centralized systems.  Policy advisors, designers, professionals looking to create innovative BMPs, code adoption, policy advisement and evaluation feedback through collaboration.  Funding organizations interested in looking for input or participants in scalable resiliency water management projects/collaborations for California and the Western United States.  Watershed based management groups looking to collaborate with Water Management advisers to create resilient ecosystem services.

Key Invites:

Pisces Foundation, Water Foundation, California Governor’s Office of Planning Research, Wildlife Conservation Board, State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Water Resources, Department of Public Health, SFPUC, EBMUD, LADWP, Alliance for Water Efficiency, Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, Trout Unlimited, Cal Trout, SRF, The Water Institute, Occidental Arts and Ecology, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Trust for Public Lands, Sustainable Silicon Valley, Imperial Water District, Pasadena Water and Power, Recode Oregon, Water Reuse, Utah Onsite Water Association, IAPMO, UC Irvine Pire Group, California Department of General Services (Architect), California Directors of Environmental Health, Imagine H20, ACWA, Water Reuse, The Walton Family Foundation, Dean Witter Foundation, California Resource Conservation District Association (Director), CASQA, ARCSA, QWELL, WERS, Santa Rosa Alternative Working Group

Diana Leafe Christian workshops in San Diego: Keynoter at West Coast Communities Conference 9/29-10/1; Starting an Ecovillage 10/7-9; Sociocracy 10/14-16

Dear friends and colleagues in Southern California,
 
This Save-the-Dates notice is about three events in the San Diego area. See below.
 
If you or people you know are interested in starting an intentional community, I’m doing a workshop on starting successful new communities on Oct. 7-9. 
 
(1)  “Starting a Successful Ecovillage or Intentional Community” 
 
        Sat-Sun-Mon, October 7-8-9 in the San Diego Area. 
        Early Bird Discount price is $250 until Oct 1st; it’s $350, the regular price, after that. 
 
        Held at Terra Corazon (11945 Mesa Verde Drive, Valley Center, CA). Sponsored by San Diego Sustainable Living Institute.       More information on the Starting an Ecovillage workshop.    Register here. 

—————————————-
 
     On Oct. 14-16 I’m also doing a workshop on Sociocracy, an especially effective governance and decision-making method I now highly recommend for intentional communities. 
 
(2) “Sociocracy for Intentional Communities and Member-Led Groups” 
 
      Sat-Sun-Mon, October 14-15-16 also at Terra Corazon in San Diego County. 
      Early Bird Discount price is  $250 until Oct 1st;  $350, the regular price, after that.          
 
      Held at Terra Corazon (11945 Mesa Verde Drive, Valley Center, CA). Sponsored by San Diego Sustainable Living Institute.     More information on the Sociocracy workshop.     Register here.
    
 ————————————–  
Saturday, Sept 30, I’m also doing the keynote talk at the West Coast Communities Conference. 9:00 am – 10:30 am, talk and Q&A with attendees.
 
(3) Keynote talk:  “Recipe for a Thriving Community: Establishing an Internal Economy with Social Enterprises, Community Labor Systems, and More”     
 
The West Coast Communities Conference, Friday, Sept 29 – Sunday, Oct. 1 Conference will be held at Terra Madre Gardens, an ecologically sustainable event center (9928 Protea Gardens Rd, Escondido, CA).
                           Register for West Coast Communities Conference.

Diana Leafe Christian

About Diana
Diana Leafe Christian is an author, former editor of Communities magazine, and an international  speaker and workshop presenter on starting new ecovillages, on building communities,  on sustainability and Sociocracy. She lives in an off-grid homestead at Earthaven Ecovillage in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, USA.  Her popular books include “Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools for Forming Ecovillages and Intentional Communities” and “Finding Community: How to Join and Ecovillage or Intentional Community.”


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Third Annual West Coast Communities Conference – September 29 – October 1, 2017 in Escondido CA

Conference Theme:  Thriving, Not Just Surviving – Fiscal Health in Community

Featuring Keynote Speaker: Diana Leafe Christian, author of Creating a Life Together

Taking off from last year’s theme of economic justice, we are organizing this year’s topics around the subject of equitable and sustainable income and affordability.  We have workshops…

Workshop topics and speakers include:
– Financially feasible ways to start Community and ongoing affordability
– Organizing for affordability in less able neighborhoods
– Intentional Business (IB): Kinds of businesses that may be suitable with Intentional Community
– A look at Worker Cooperatives (Collectives)
– Fairness of equitable effort: Everyone pulling their own weight while respecting those less able
– Balancing Intra (local) Economy and Extra (global) Economy
– Alternative Trade Systems: LETS, TimeBank, HourWorld, etc.
– Sources of Funding

The event will be held near Escondido, CA, off Highway 15 between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Click here for Reservations

Community founders and other experts in cohousing and other kinds of intentional communities in California will share what works well, especially in community financial and economic health.

Diana Leafe Christian’s keynote address will be on “Recipe for a Thriving Community: Establishing an Internal Economy with Social Enterprises, Community Labor Systems, and More.”

 

Workshop presenters include Lois Arkin, founder of Los Angeles Eco-Village and longtime ecovillage activist; FIC Executive Director and longtime Twin Oaks Community member Sky Blue; cohousing activists Raines Cohen and Betsy Morris; and Jonah Mesritz, superstar expert on finding and financing community property and cofounder of Emerald Village Ecovillage.

Panel discussions of experts on healthy communities, and  on community financing, and Diana Leafe Christian’s breakout workshop on Sociocracy for cohousing and other kinds of intentional communities.

Call for Volunteers:  Help make this year’s event even better.  There are several roles we can use help with.  People are needed for registration, volunteer coordination, website administration, among others.  Those who would like to get involved or for more information, please contact:

Contact Us: Conference Email; Conference FaceBook Page; South-West Intentional Community Alliance (SWICA) website; SWICA Email

Organized by SWICA – South West IC Alliance,
Co-sponsors:
Fellowship for Intentional Community
 Cohousing California
Terra Madre Gardens
Sustainable Living Institute

Event organizers:
Werner Kontara  (949) 551-2800
Steve Fuji, SWICA Committee Head – (505) 715-1418

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Place It: Community Visioning Workshop with James Rojas – Thursday July 27 2017 from 7 to 10pm at L.A. Eco-Village

Re-envision your neighborhood through storytelling, objects, art-making and play.  Investigate your attachment to place and shelter by thinking beyond words by building models to express your ideas about  cohousing, intentional community, micro-apartments and tiny homes.

EVENT DETAILS
Date & Time:
Thursday, July 27, 2017
from 7pm to 10pm

Place:
3554 West First Street at Bimini Place
enter on Bimini Place
Los Angeles Eco-Village
Los Angeles 90004

Reservations recommended*: 213-738-1254 or crsp@igc.org

Fee:
$5 to $20 sliding scale: pay at the door with cash or check (or 3 time dollars)
*or  go here to pay electronically

About James Rojas
James is an urban planner, community activist, and artist.  He developed this method to make planning visual, tactile and meaningful. Through this method, he has engaged thousands of people by facilitating over five hundred workshops and building over fifty interactive models around the world.   More about James and the Place It workshops can be found at :
http://www.placeit.org/bio_james_rojas.html
and
http://www.placeit.org/policy_design.html

Feel free to bring light veggie snacks.

This event sponsored by CRSP in association with the LATCH Collective and the You Are Here: Los Angeles Intentional Community Meet-Up

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