Sustainable Vocations

Melanie shares the highlight of her day, the engaging conversations sparked by guest presenters:

"The general banter quickly turned to ... dialogue about what a viable community includes and what is required to maintain a healthy system that meets the basic needs of air, food, water, and shelter and also has a social system that is inherently safe in its structure so as to maintain natural checks and balances. For this, we agreed that there was an inherent need for generational diversity. ... There was a general consensus that the group of people present shaped our words and actions and that this became a form of social regulation that occurred naturally without the need for outside controls. This self-regulating system is necessary for social stability, which in turn becomes the foundation for structures that contribute to food and water security." -Melanie

August 15-16, 2009 Brady “SUNFIVE5”

Lets talk building, from the quaint straw bale and cob houses of the country to the biggest LEED certified university size green buildings of the city and everything in between. On Saturday morning we started with an early fire by friction demonstration and ceremony marking the second half of the course and the start of our group design projects, We divided into our clans and gathered maps, notes and brainstormed ideas about for our new clients Paul, Kolmi and their three year old daughter Gita. We made lists of their needs, wishes and vision, the key elements and questions, then made cut outs of all the key elements and laid them out on our makeshift overlay map. We made a second quick site visit, resized some systems hustled back for a slide show with Justin and Lynn on natural building.

          We viewed many structures that used natural and local materials to build hundreds and thousands of years ago that are still strong and standing, comparing them to many conventional buildings built today that may last one hundred years or less before needing serious renovation. After lunch, we got to tour a local cob house of Quail Springs residents Jan and Brenton, made of clay, sand, and straw, gradually built up overtime curing as it goes. The end result is an aesthetically pleasing well insulated and self-regulating earthen building that is a pleasure to hang out in during the hottest days and coldest nights. During the hands on process we helped construct a cob and adobe bench and then switched with the other group getting to form adobe bricks with our own hands, very fun! At the end of the day we visited the Living Craft Project, a 422 sq. ft load baring straw bale structure, Future home of Justin and Lynn, the instructors of a three-month natural building apprenticeship. The house is extremely well insulated and a great demonstration piece to bridge natural and conventional residential building quality, style and techniques. All in all it was a fulfilling and inspiring day.

            On Sunday guest green builder Mike Lillis and his wife Julie shared with us their story of how they found the green building movement from different aspects and were able to start a business together consulting on a variety of green building projects all around southern California. We watched a great informative film, “ Building Codes for a Small Planet” with David Eisenberg. After lunch we had some storytelling about arid land design and had more clan time to develop our design concepts further.

Melanie- Aug. 12^th, 2009

The day was filled with guest presentations (a film about air quality and lecture on global climate change) a walk around the food forest and pond, a lecture on Patterns in Design, which began by listening to the song “If a Tree Falls” as an example of channeling potentially negative emotions into positive creativity, and many more activities. Extensive information was conveyed during each segment, but a personal highlight of the day was the discussion that started over lunch and continued on through siesta until the surprising arrival of the 3:30 bell.  A few Sustainable Vocations participants were sitting on the platform under the elm tree, enjoying the shade and the shared meal. The general banter quickly turned to a conversation about the guest presentations we had just seen which led to a further talk about the strength of community and the need for a cohesive, self-regulating social system as a means of stability and sustainability.

One of the points debated was the role of government regulations versus personal choice in creating change. It was generally agreed that widespread community will was needed to shift into a new paradigm regarding our relationship with our home. However, was this “community” global or just including the neighbors living next door? Is it the responsibility of individual citizens to implement appropriate technology on a small, local scale or are government regulations the only vehicle by which nationwide shift can occur? Are government mandates going to be effective enough to change the long-entrenched values of consumer culture? What will be required for positive global change to occur?

These questions kept us sufficiently occupied and led to further dialogue about what a viable community includes and what is required to maintain a healthy system that meets the basic needs of air, food, water, and shelter and also has a social system that is inherently safe in its structure so as to maintain natural checks and balances. For this, we agreed that there was an inherent need for generational diversity. How would the current discussion have changed in the presence of a younger cousin? Would it be further altered had a respected grandmother been sitting alongside us? There was a general consensus that the group of people present shaped our words and actions and that this became a form of social regulation that occurred naturally without the need for outside controls. This self-regulating system is necessary for social stability, which in turn becomes the foundation for structures that contribute to food and water security.

As you go about your day, please accept this invitation to walk lightly and make connections you may have never believed possible. Learn something from a child, an elder, yourself.  Find a negative that can be turned positive and these steps will support us all on the journey to sustainability.