Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:19

Thursday, 29 July 2010 00:00

Climbing the old Jeep to 4,000 feet we arrived in the morning to a beautiful spot for our first earthbag demonstration shelter on the Wynne Farm in Kenscoff.  Within the hour about 35 men, women and even children from neighboring villages arrived after hearing that today was the day we were building.

An incredible day the storm came after a hot lunch provided by the local women and left us to call it a day.  (Onight we'll sleep at the site and get up first thing in the AM to hopefully finish it by the late afternoon.  Till tomorrow, stay tuned!  Bon nwi!

Mike

Wednesday, 28 July 2010 15:17

A little afraid of a new experience, a little afraid of a new land, a little afraid for my life even, according to international reports on the scene in Haiti.  But alas, even though there was much chaos and destruction to be seen this morning when I arrived in Port Au Prince, the kindness of the people are as beautiful as the mountainous landscape I am settling into tonight here at Wynne Farms with our amazing host, Jane Wynne (www.wynnefarm.org).

Up at 5AM to catch my flight from Miami, I arrived in POP by 10.  Straight into the crazy traffic and hustle that is the way of life in the crumbled capitol, by 4 we had found all the supplies we needed to get started on the first Barrels Of Hope earthbag shelter in Haiti for tomorrow.  As "foreman" of the project it was a challenge to find the items we might take for granted in the US like barbed wire, 5 gallon buckets and some lumber.

Hoping to salvage most of the materials, we vetoed trying to rip rebar from crumbled buildings for the corner supports and lumber for the door and window frames  for the sake of expediency and bought them both at the local "corner" hardware shop.  Instead, we plan on using the plenty available bamboo for the bond beam and lots of rich soil for the bags.

Although the rain is starting tonight, I'm looking forward to sleeping in the tent tonight.  Hoping for good weather tomorrow and lots of happy hands to help, stay tuned for tomorrow's blog entry direct from Haiti.  Bon' nwi!

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 00:00

Mike Amish with Barrels of Hope and Jacob Cravey with Neutral Gator first day in POP

Touch Down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Amish and Jacob Cravey in POP

Tuesday, 20 July 2010 00:00

From WRI: 

Policymakers have many questions relating to the economic opportunities and costs of climate legislation like the American Power Act, proposed last month by Senators Kerry and Lieberman. What are the concrete economic benefits of a climate bill? Where would new “green” jobs be created? What would the bill mean for the competitiveness of U.S industry? How can domestic legislation contain “emissions leakage,” which could occur if industries relocate to countries with weaker greenhouse gas regulations and as a result, simply shift global emissions instead of reducing them?

Three years ago, WRI and the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) formed a research partnership to help answer these questions. To continue the discussion, they convened a roundtable of key players – including congressional staffers, administration officials, and representatives of industry, organized labor, think tanks and NGOs – on May 7th.

The takeaways from this event were clear: the United States is falling behind in the clean energy revolution. Workshop participants agreed that the country needs a price on greenhouse gas emissions and

Monday, 19 July 2010 15:42

Not sure exactly what to expect, I must say that it is an honor to go to Haiti on behalf of the Barrels of Hope (BOH) project.  The itenerary so far includes a visit to Petit Goave, Leogonne, Jacamel and the final destination, Kenscoff where we will build our first earth bag homes.  Thanks to Earth Givers here in Gainesville, we will be connecting with Jane Wynne of Wynne Farms in Kenscoff and building this first shelter as part relief, part hands-on education as how to build earth bag structures and learn from the local community.

The representatives of BOH will be myself Mike Amish, and Haitian-born, Gainesville Job-Corps graduate, Mathaus Charles.  Mathaus has not seen his mother since the earthquake and this will be his first time back so it will be an emotional homecoming to say the least.

What many relief agencies have experienced -even the big ones- is that it has been really difficult to get many supplies into Haiti.  Many agencies are reporting that their shipping containers are being held up at Port Au Prince's port and cannot get  their supplies into the country.  What that means for Barrels of Hope is that we will be bringing the bags to build the earthbag shelters with, into our checked luggage.  This may be a slower way to proceed, but it will at least get the first houses built, establish some relationships and help us plan for the next phase of actually getting the barrels and supplies in bulk to port in POP or perhaps Jacmel.

We will be leaving the 27th of this month and returning on the 3rd of August and plan to build the first structure within 3 days starting on the 28th.  We hope to connect with Hands On Disaster Relief in Leogonne, with Grace Lutheran and Aid For Haiti in Petit Goave, and then From Gainesville With Love and a unique clay pot water filtration operation in Jacmel.

Thank you to all of you who have helped, including the USGBC Heart of Florida local chapter,  we will definately be taking lots of pictures, video and blogging about this online.  We hope to have a slide-show event after we return to talk about all of this. 

Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:00

Do you always feel like somebody is watching you?   Look out, because you could be right.  The Department of Energy might be watching you shower.

The DOE just passed a ruling to save us more water and by doing so, have made it illegal to install the "multi-spray" (multiple showerheads) as well as the "waterfall" systems that can use up to 20 gallons per minute on just one bather.  The new rule states that all shower heads must comply with 2.5 gpm or less flow rate at 80psi which includes multiple shower heads at once.  In other words, your "multi-spray" if it is flowing all at once must cumulatively equal 2.5gpm.

Read the full story here.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:00

There could be.  Unelss you get Earth Shades.  Today we pay homage to them and their committment to sustainability.  They are as they say "the first and only green company to offer window fashions that are easy on our planet and delightful to the soul."

Check them out here.