Tour de Fat recap

As promised, we spent the day of the Tour de Fat staffing the "Compost Offices" for New Belgium. It was a fun day, and a chance to learn a lot about how waste reduction works on the ground, and a bit about the company (check out their sustainability page - it's impressively comprehensive).

Lessons learned:

• An event like this can be run with minimal environmental impact: for example we managed a 95% waste diversion rate. I lost track of the exact amounts, but most of that was compost, with a small proportion of recycling, and only the remnant 5% going to landfill.
• Doing this takes a lot more work on the day than just dumping everything, and a lot of planning; one thing I was impressed with, for example, was that the food vendors had been pre-vetted for their ability to provide all compostable packaging.
• Staffing the waste stations makes a huge difference—we found a lot of inappropriately sorted garbage on the morning, from having left the bins out in the park overnight, but everyone is co-operative when pointed to the right bin.
• It didn't matter that the beer cups said COMPOST in big black letters on one side, or that there were signs up listing what went into which bin - people are creatures of habit enough that most automatically took those towards the recycling bin.
• But there are visual cues we can give people which help; a sort of Design With Intent for waste sorting. Here are two examples:
  • If you look at the picture below, the tiny office trashcan is for landfill waste, while the other two were recycling and compost - that made everyone who wanted to landfill stop and think. It was an accident originally—I hadn't realised we'd be handling landfill waste too, until it was too late to get official-looking bins for it so I improvised and raided our office—but it worked so well that I'll definitely repeat this next year and get intermediate-sized bins for recycling.
  • After this picture was taken, one of our volunteers (Tysan) hit on the idea of closing the lid on the recycling bins, to make people pause before dropping compostable cups in.
• And finally, one that I was taught repeatedly as a computer science student: document everything. Sustainable Seattle has done this job at the Tour de Fat before, but the people who did it in previous years have moved on and I had to rediscover a lot of things. I'm writing it all down, so even if it's not me next year they can do a better job of co-ordinating and spend half as much time on it.

A huge thank you goes out to:

• Everyone who volunteered on the day, especially the couple of people who stayed for much longer than you had signed up for.
• New Belgium Brewing for taking the sustainability of the event so seriously, and Brian Bogan there for being patient when I had to ask all these things he expected me to already know from last year.
• Cedar Grove Composting for collecting the material and turning it into lovely compost that will be used in Seattle parks, among other places.

We're making the Tour de Fat a zero-waste event, with your help

This Saturday, New Belgium Brewing is bringing their Tour de Fat to Seattle. It's a bike carnival in Gas Works Park, with a parade around Fremont, costumes, "insane bicycle contraptions", music, and of course beer. As well as being a fun event, we love it because it promotes cycling, the day will raise money for two wonderful local nonprofits—the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Bikeworks—and the organisers are partnering with Sustainable Seattle to make it a zero waste event. Making it zero waste involves not giving out any material that can't be reused, recycled or composted, and having volunteers at every set of bins to make sure people do recycle and compost everything they should. We need your help with that last part.

We'll have 5 compost stations, and we'd like to get two volunteers staffing each one from 11am to 5pm, ideally for two hour shifts. We'll give you a cheat sheet listing everything that goes into each bin, so you'll just have to talk to people and show them what to dispose of where. It's a great opportunity to help reduce the environmental impact of a public event and educate people about waste reduction, and you'll still have plenty of time to enjoy the event yourself.

If you are interested, please email Eldan Goldenberg with a preferred time (preferably a 2-hour block, but we're flexible), and a second choice in case everyone picks the same time. If you represent another non-profit, please let us know, and we'll be happy to give you some space to hand out flyers at the event.

UPDATE: there will be t-shirts and free beer tokens for volunteers!

Urban Agriculture, lessons and hard work

On Saturday March 20th I showed up with a friend in tow to the Yeslar Terrace community center to help out with the p-patch restoration and expansion project. The day was shining, the neighborhood was still sleeping and the bus got us there right on time.

I saw a few colleagues of mine already there, Owen our videographer, and Corey the Community Development Co Lead. I greeted them and then ducked out of the way of the camera trying to hide my face and likeness. I don't want another screen cap of my grill being the face of our next video like the staff video up on our website...scary.

There were about thirty people in attendance with most of them youth from various community groups like Ground Up Yeslar, Seattle Tilth, a few local High Schools like Franklin and of course the agriculture professionals, one of them a fifteen year veteran at this particular growing site.

The students were dressed sensibly and were excited about the prospect with roughly half of them female and the other half...male. I spoke with Karen from Ground Up as we had previously met at the Journalism that Matters conference and it was great catching up. She then convened the volunteers and we had a brief, but effective safety meeting.

The students were fired up and the atmosphere was friendly, dedicated, with banter that was surprisingly appropriate. I'm always surprised how much people expect teens to be rude, obnoxious, cursing troublemakers, when the majority of them that I've interacted with over my many years has been exactly the opposite.

I decided to go do some composting and after an hour of wheel barrow shifting, shoveling, sorting, digging and listening to an adult give the teens a true history of African American heritage, I was tired and feeling great.

The p-patch itself is very large and spread out amongst the apartments in Yeslar Terrace. The patches are mostly overrun with native plant weed, but they are fertile and with the right stewardship would be a reliable source of food for the community.

Corey was chosen to be a lead in one of the projects and he cheerfully responded. He is doing so much work in this community and his heart is definitely feeling the unique, diverse vibe that Yeslar Terrace exudes. I look forward to coming back and seeing where this partnership leads.

Did I fail to mention the home cooked lunch provided to us after we were done? It was an exploration of East African cuisine provided by neighbors and participants. I loved the greens and actually ate more than my fair share. I kept sneaking more fork fulls onto my plate after distracting other hungry volunteers with questions and conversation. Best lesson learned is to always give participants a way to participate. The neighbors who cooked the food did what they do best and everyone benefited.

Sustainable Agriculture Events

A training event on agriculture and personal changes one can make around food in general. These events take place in Tacoma.

Tacoma's First Permaculture Design Course

Free Introductory Event:

“What on Earth is Permaculture? An introduction to sustainable human habitats in Tacoma”

When: January 28th 2010. 6:30-9pm
Where: First Methodist Church of Tacoma, 621 Tacoma Ave S.
It will be in lower level of the church. Enter through Court E (Alley between 6th and 7th)
Cost: Free! Donations accepted

Permaculture Design Course Details:

Dates: 2/20-21, 3/13-14, 4/17-18, 5/8-9, 6/19-20, 7/17-18, 8/21-22, 9/11-12

Cost: $800-$650 sliding scale

Details: http://www.divinearthgp.com/?page_id=360

Friday Evening Lectures, Open to the Public

Dates: 2/19, 3/12, 4/16, 5/7, 6/18, 7/16, 8/20, 9/10

Cost: each talk is $10-$5 sliding scale

Topics Description

Permaculture Ethics & Principles are the basis of the design system.
You'll learn what this foundation is, how these principles are observed in
nature, and how they apply to our lives and designs.

Reading the Landscape, Mapmaking are first steps in understanding the
earth we live on and finding clues to how to best interact with it. We'll
be teaching a plethora of observation techniques that open the senses to
important details and show you how to read a landscape's history. You'll
learn how to visually portray nature's patterns by learning map-making
skills and doing base maps of different areas.

Permaculture Design organizes information into different methodologies
that help you plan, place, and prioritize elements into most efficient
uses. Many playful games teach how to connect resources and expand
creative possibilities within our designs and our lives.

Soils, Compost, Nutrients, Mycology. Broken, contaminated soils are all
around us and affect the food we eat and the abundance of our ecosystems.
You'll learn soil analysis and many soil-building and remediation
strategies that are the first step in building your permaculture
ecosystem. There'll be a strong focus on mycoremediation and in
cultivating mushrooms, as fungi do incredible work in the soil.

Who's Who | Chaco Canyon Cafe

Chaco Canyon Café has gone above and beyond to run their business sustainably, support the community, and to offer animal-friendly products. They compost and recycle over 80% of their waste. The quality of their nutrient rich, vegan, certified organic food waste allowed them to switch from using Cleanscapes compost pick up to donating it to a local farmer who picks it up and uses it to feed his chickens. They save about 1200 dollars a year doing this! One really unique thing I was able to learn about them through contacting the owner is that they use recycled denim instead of insulation in their walls. The list of sustainable business practices they exercise is so long my blog would turn into an essay so here is a link to more information on them, and I highly recommend taking a look at it.

They donate generously to local community organizations and a percentage of credit card sales goes towards Wind Energy. They support a number of local businesses, the ingredients they buy are about 75% local in the summer and 50% in the winter. Charlie’s Produce, Glory Bee, and UNFI are the three venders they primarily go through. They also have teamed up with quite a few local companies such as Green for their wheatgrass, Holmquist Farms for hazelnuts, and Earth Conscious Organics, Full Circle Farms, and Cascadian Farms for some of their produce.

With the exception of offering organic milk for coffee drinks and using honey in their spelt bread they are an all vegan café and the only one in Seattle that features a daily Raw Foods menu.

One last thing I must not forget… the food is great! Take a look at the menu and support this great restaurant!

Chaco Canyon Cafe
4757 12th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 522-6966

post by angela herr

Clear Alleys Program and Composting

On top of the planned benefits of the Clear Alleys Program, it has prompted several businesses to take their waste management one step further and include the available composting pick up service. The Clear Alleys Program, which affects Downtown, Pioneer Square, and Belltown, has effectively gotten rid of dumpsters creating a cleaner, safer environment. What has replaced them is painted squares that businesses place bags in to be picked up several times a day. Different colored bags are available for garbage, recycling, and compost pick up.
With businesses already having to adapt to the change in waste collection, several have begun taking advantage of the compost pick up. Participating restaurants have benefited the most from composting. Von's Grand City Cafe has reported that the effects on their business are just as great as those on the environment. The most significant change they have seen is an economical one. Compost pick up costs roughly 30% less than garbage and compost bags are cheaper than garbage bags. They estimated savings of around $1000 each month. Morale has also increased since they began composting. Employees find composting easy and feel good that they are having a more positive impact on the environment. If your business is interested in participating in compost pick up contact your garbage service provider or visit the Seattle Public Utilities website for more information.

Posted by: Angela Herr