It’s SUMMER – aka internship season for on-the-ball students like The Ecology Center’s own Gabriel Forthal! We’re feeling pretty lucky to have Gabriel on board for the next few months. Here’s your chance to get to know a little more about him.

Gabriel! We’re so happy to have you here. Why don’t you tell everyone what brings you to The Ecology Center for the summer?

I was given some options for nonprofits to intern at, but I chose The Ecology Center because I think that the environment is a very pressing issue. The problems with the environment have been going on for a very long time, and since we have just started to address then, we need to give as much help as possible.

What sort of projects will you be working on?

We are working on making a virtual tour of The Ecology Center for the website. We are also editing footage from the speaker series, also for the website. Finally, we help around with whatever we can.

We know you’ll be editing footage from our Basic Needs summer speaker series. What would you say are your basic needs in life?

Food, water, shelter and the pursuit of happiness.

If you could have one environmental wish granted by tomorrow, what would it be?

That unnatural global warming would stop forever. Obviously, the natural cycles of global warming would still continue, but the unhealthy global warming we create with green house gases must stop.

And, now, the Rapid Fire Favorites Round:

What’s your favorite food? Sushi

Music? Experimental/drone music like Bull fo Heaven and Keiji Haino

Book? Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maughn

Alright, Gabriel. We ask everybody this one, please fill in the blank.

I am part of the solution because…nature is beautiful!

As if we hadn’t pried enough, we presented Gabriel with a few Design Challenge questions. He chose to work on finding an answer to the following question over the next few months: How many ways are there to store and transport water?

The Summer of The Ecology Center and Element’s Backyard Skills collaboration continues with WIND: Kitemaking on Saturday, May 29th from 1-3pm. Join us as we enjoy the power of the wind in this Japanese Kitemaking session. All students leave with their own handmade, personalized kite! $25 + $5 materials fee. Sign up here.

Do you get your electricity from Southern California Edison (or know people who do)? Do you care about saving energy for environmental and/or economic reasons?

SCE is rolling out what we call “smart meters” which will help you do all this and more! As far as technological advancement goes, if your old meter is the Walkie Talkie, the “smart meter” is the iPhone…so imagine the possibilities.  You may even have the upgraded one at your house or apartment now. Here is a short YouTube vignette to tell you about what’s going on in your area and what you can do to take advantage of this cool new technology.

Watch it here.

“After I drop out from school, I went to library…and I get information about windmill…and I try, and I made it.” – The response from William Kamkwamba, a 19 year-old Malawian who winds up on stage at the 2007 TED Conference in Arusha, Tanzania, when asked to explain how, without formal education, he built a power-generating windmill on his family’s land. If you’re looking for an uplifting read, try the The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I’ve gathered some of my favorite excerpts here, for your perusing pleasure:

As a young boy, William’s became concerned about his fate – was it in the hands of the wizards as some Malawians held true or God? He approached his father:

He turned to face me, making his point.

“Respect the wizards, my son, but always remember, with God on your side, they have no power.”

I trusted my father, but wondered how his explanation accounted for Rambo and Chuck Norris…

Aside from the trading center “video show” – a thatch hut with wooden benches and a small TV and VCR where Rambo and Chuck Norris punched and kicked their way into the hearts of William and his friends, the radio was the only real connection his village had to the outside world. Accordingly, radios were treated like family members and it was with broken radios that William and his pal Geoffrey first dabbled in power. His curiosity didn’t end there:

…I’d also become fascinated by how cars worked, especially how petrol operated an engine. How does this happen? I thought. Well, that’s easy to find out – just ask someone with a car. I stopped the truckers in the trading center and asked them,

“What makes this truck move? How does your engine work?” But no one could tell me. They’d just smile and shake their heads. Really, how can you drive a truck and not know how it works?

Like no other child in his village, William seem to understand the real significance of power and electricity:

Few people realize this, but cutting down the trees is one of the things that keeps us Malawians poor. Without trees, the rains turn to floods and wash away soil.. the soil runs into the river, clogging the dams… and shutting down the turbine. Then the [plant] has to stop all operations and dredge… because this process is expensive, the power company has to charge extra, making it even more difficult to afford… with no crops to sell because of drought and floods, and with no electricity because of clogged rivers and high prices, many people feed their families by cutting down trees for firewood or selling it as charcoal. It’s like that.

William attended school when his parents could afford it. As dreadful as the conditions as Wimbe Primary were, being in school was his happiest time:

The Standard Three classroom was missing an entire wall, and the latrines were not only disgusting but dangerous. Termites had eaten away the floor planks, and one afternoon, one of my classmates named Angela actually fell through. It took hours before any heard her screams from the slimy bottom.

When not in school, William was at the library, which is where he found the most important book he’d ever read, Using Energy.

Standing there, looking at this book, I decided I would build my own windmill. I’d never built anything before, but I knew if windmills existed on the cover of that book, it meant another person had built them. After looking at it that way, I felt confident I could build one, too.

*SPOILER ALERT*

With little more than PVC pipe, a drill made of a corn cob, bicycle spokes, bamboo and a 12V bicycle dynamo, William built a windmill that did, indeed, generate electricity. You’ve got hear him speak for yourself. Check out his visit to TED.

Originally posted at grounded blog.

No plans this Saturday, January 9th? Great!

Come down to The Ecology Center and get your hands dirty as you learn to create an entirely self-sufficient ecosystem that fits inside a one-gallon glass jar. That’s right, we’re talking terrariums this weekend as we kick off the first workshop in our Backyard Skills series and we want you here!

The cost of the workshop is $25, plus a $15 material fee and, yes, you will be designing and taking home your own terrarium. (Remember, if you’re an Advocate-level member, you receive a 10% discount on all classes. ) Sign-up now by sending an email to morgan@theecologycenter.org or by phone at (949)443-4223.

Here are the details…

Where: The Ecology Center. 32701 Alipaz St., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

When: Saturday, January 9th at 1:00pm

What to Bring: Just your class “tuition”and materials fee – a total of $40

See you Saturday!

Trees. You can climb them, swing from them and read beneath them. They provide food, shade, habitat and shelter from the wind. Today, they’re also considered key components of a bonafide strategy for combating climate change. Seriously. According to Dr. Greg McPherson of the Center for Urban Forest Research (who is helping the Climate Action Reserve draft their Urban Forestry Protocol), over a 15-year time span, 50 million trees can save:

• 6400 GWh of electricity per year
• $485 million dollars per year
• 1.8 metric tons of CO2 per year through reduced electricity use
• 4.5 metric tons of CO2 per year through carbon sequestration

Did we mention they make for some beautiful scenery?

Thank you to OC Live for The Ecology Center coverage!

Green Scene: Eco Heroes (p. 28)

Evan Marks The Ecology Center

The Ecology Center, located at South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano, is an exciting new educational center whose purpose is to engage the entire family in fun, hands-on activities that teach practical, environmental solutions at the household and community level.

The Ecology Center seeks to bring all members of the community together in a solutions-based educational setting to create a healthy and abundant future for San Juan Capistrano and all of Orange County. The Center will highlight empowering and cutting-edge environmental perspectives that can be applied to the way we live our lives, making it possible for us to coexist with a thriving environment.

Evan Marks- The Ecology Center – Interview What inspired you to study sustainable agriculture and help to explain what sustainable agriculture is?

In the simplest terms, I was drawn to the field of sustainable agriculture for two reasons.

First, globally among the greatest contributions to ocean contamination is agriculture. As a surfer, I couldn’t stand for that. I knew that there must be a harmonious balance between the environment and the production of our basic needs. Secondly, I was introduced to Gardening as a youth, thanks to my Mom. When it came down to choosing a career path, outdoor and hands-on with a cause was the easy answer.

After working extensively in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Peru, Nigeria, and Mexico to develop ecological design and sustainable agriculture, what brought you back home?

My working internationally always focused on how people connected to their environment. In each country where I worked or traveled, people and communities interacted with their environments in unique ways. Most importantly, what hit me was the power of community. Where I’d seen the healthiest community environment, people actively worked together to create it.

This inspired me to the vision of promoting community and environmental health back in Southern California. I realized that this IS my community, and OUR community needs more attention than most.

Enter The Ecology Center.

In building The Ecology Center this last year, there have been a lot of sacrifices to see your vision come to life. What would you say has been one of your favorite moments when you knew the dream was becoming a reality?

My favorite piece of both the vision and reality of The Ecology Center is the team or community we’re actively creating. One year ago I was inspired by the vision, and since then dozens of very dedicated individuals have signed on, committing countless hours to creating this vision- a healthy community and environment. The team we’ve assembled is exceptional!

If people could help The Ecology Center grow, what are your top three needs or wish list?

1. Become a Member! – Our membership program both supports education and programming at The Ecology Center, but also shows the power of community to other shareholders within our community.

In our first year, we’ve signed up 225 new members. Our goal in 2010 is 600.

2. Sponsor a garden! – This upcoming year we’ll be installing the Eco Heroes Second Phase of our garden and facilities. The focus includes the design and construction of 6 Eco-Labs providing hands-on interdisciplinary education on the topics of food, water, shelter, energy, waste, native plants and people.

3. Attend a workshop- “Backyard Skills” is our monthly D.I.Y. workshop series, delivered in conjunction with The Ecology Center’s demonstrations in Green Living. Workshops highlight creative strategies and solutions that foster sustainability in our everyday lives. All events are held at The Ecology Center, on the fi rst Saturday of each month, staring in December.

www.TheEcologyCenter.org for more info on membership, sponsorship and workshops.

If The Ecology Center did one thing to impact change, what would mean the most to you?

If The Ecology Center can inspire and empower individuals to work together, as a community, then anything is possible.

If through our programs and events, individuals gain greater understanding of how to apply everyday solutions to our lives, then together we will create a healthy environment.

Really, it goes down to individuals, businesses, homeowners and the youth, all working together. As a community, our everyday actions and conscious design will ensure clean water, air, soil and power for current and future generations.