Calendar: Events http://www.theecologycenter.org/ en theecologycenter@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-24T01:27:+00:00 Household Water Retrofitting http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/household_water_retrofitting/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/household_water_retrofitting/ Tools of the Trade: Household Water Retrofitting

In celebration of World Water Day (March 22), we're hosting a FREE Tools of the Trade on how to design simple water re-use strategies for the home. Specifically, we learn how to install both a rainwater catchment system and a greywater system with The Ecology Center’s Evan Marks.

About Tools of the Trade
In collaboration with our new exhibition Tools for Change, Tools of the Trade is a FREE roundtable series in which local experts in a variety of fields will share useful skills and unique insights related to sustainable living.
Join us one Saturday a month to learn about topics such as beekeeping, backyard chickens, greywater systems, sustainable chocolate and more.

]]> 2012-01-24T01:27+00:00 Fruit Tree Pruning & Grafting http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/fruit_tree_pruning_grafting/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/fruit_tree_pruning_grafting/ Winter is the time of the year for fruit tree, both for pruning and planting new trees. This year we've teamed up both activities in a general fruit tree care 101. In this February's Backyard Skills, you'll learn the basic principles of fruit tree grafting, pruning, and care with our local fruit tree expert Doug Hibbard.

All participants will take home their very own grafted apple tree!

]]> 2012-01-23T22:05+00:00 Chocolate Talk and Tasting http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/organic_chocolate_talk_and_tasting/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/organic_chocolate_talk_and_tasting/ Tools of the Trade: Sustainable Chocolate Talk and Tasting

For February's Tools of the Trade, learn about the sustainable methods of growing, processing and preparing chocolate, from seed to mouth, with Chocolatl’s creator Deanna Moore.

About Tools of the Trade
In collaboration with our new exhibition Tools for Change, Tools of the Trade is a FREE roundtable series in which local experts in a variety of fields will share useful skills and unique insights related to sustainable living.
Join us one Saturday a month to learn about topics such as beekeeping, backyard chickens, greywater systems, sustainable chocolate and more.


Be sure to sign up for your FREE ticket!
 

]]> 2012-01-23T22:00+00:00 Farm to Fork http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/farm_to_fork2/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/farm_to_fork2/ Beginning with an exploration of The Ecology Center’s veggie garden and ending with the preparation of small-plate meals alongside professional local chefs, this children’s program emphasizes the journey real food takes from “Farm to Fork”. Parents may choose to stay through the duration of class or drop students off. Recommended for children ages 6 to 12.

In this month's Farm to Fork, pastry chef Elyssa Fournier, of Andrei's Conscious Cuisine, will be teaching the kids how to make scones and fresh jam. Space is limited, please sign up in advance - $15 members, $20 non-members.

]]> 2012-01-18T18:00+00:00 New Exhibition Open Now! http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/tools_for_change_coming_soon/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/tools_for_change_coming_soon/ The Ecology Center’s new interactive exhibition that explores the myriad instruments—literal and figurative—that can be used to achieve positive ecological change and a culture of sustainability at the household and community level.

Healthy Home, Sustainable Community.

Tools For Change promotes healthy homes and a sustainable community by connecting people, products, ideas, and resources in five areas:
1.     Connect the Drops: How water conservation and water recycling at home helps protect our local watersheds and ensures an abundant future supply.
2.     Grow Your Own: Whether you grow your own food or shop from local farmers, there are many ways to feed your family in a way that’s healthy for them, good for the environment, and economical.
3.     Waste Free: Reduce waste, recycle, and repurpose to achieve a household that is truly modeled after nature.
4.     Good Energy: Consider simple retrofits to harness renewable energy and efficient technologies.
5.     Healthy Home: Ways to create a haven that’s safe and clean for the people who live in it, furnished by sustainably made goods and products, and maintained with practices that are ecologically sound.

Tools For Kids

The Kids’ Zone is a play area and learning space for young people that encourages creativity, curiosity and ecological awareness.  The space features a robust library of children’s books, videos, and other educational resources that celebrate sustainability and impart simple things kids can do to make a difference.

Pledge. Do. Share.

Tools For Change is a highly interactive experience that offers opportunities for anyone to make a difference, big or small.  The exhibition challenges visitors to:


·       pledge to make simple, positive changes in daily tasks and choices,

·       do what they promise by implementing or adopting their pledge, and

·       share their new skills and knowledge with friends and neighbors.

 

In addition to being interactive and educational, Tools For Change is a self-sustaining social enterprise venture.  The sales of featured household tools, products, and books will directly benefit The Center’s expansive portfolio of unique eco-educational programming.

Tools For Change is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 AM – 5 PM, and by reservation for school groups Monday through Friday.

]]> 2011-11-21T19:01+00:00 Food Preservation 101 http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/backyard_skills_preserving_101/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/backyard_skills_preserving_101/ Preserving the bounty of fall.

Join us for our November Backyard Skills workshop and learn the skills to preserve your garden’s bounty for months to come. Cathy McKnight, from What a Dish Cafe and Catering, will be here to show us the ropes of food preservation. Each participant will leave with the skills to preserve at home as well as a sample from the workshop.

Saturday, November 5th, from 1pm to 3pm.

$20 Members
$25 Non-Members

Call 949.443.4223 to sign up or for more information.

]]> 2011-10-25T18:39+00:00 Eco-Labs http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/eco-labs/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/eco-labs/ The Eco-Labs are a series of outdoor learning stations that collectively demonstrate the cyclical nature of humans’ impact on the environment in five focus areas: water, food, waste, energy, and shelter. Designed to be experienced sequentially, each Eco-Lab station promotes participatory learning, systems thinking, experimentation, and observation. The lab activities and curriculum are intended to offer enough flexibility so that The Ecology Center docents and/or teachers themselves can tailor the Eco-Lab experience to age groups ranging from 5 to 18 years old, making our message of environmental stewardship relevant to visitors of all ages.

The Eco-Labs consist of five learning stations:                                                           

The Water Lab demonstrates the hydrologic cycle, including a greywater system, rainwater harvesting catchment and a bioswale as opportunities to complete the cycle at home. The Water Shed serves as our mobile, interactive, water education piece that compliments the outdoor lab.   

The Food Lab features a greenhouse, raised vegetable beds and an outdoor classroom, where participants learn about seed germination, soil quality, the life cycle of plants, and food harvesting and preparation.          

The Waste Lab, which includes a chicken coop, orchard, vermicomposting bins, and a recycling demonstration—shows participants how waste is an important part of natural cycles.  Students feed worms and scraps to the chickens, and then collect manure to fertilize the trees in the orchard.

The Energy Lab encourages participants to explore the different energy sources and needs of The Ecology Center’s home, the historic Congdon House. Participants learn about passive solar orientation, energy efficiency and alternative technologies, such as our solar panel system.

The Shelter Lab is the final station of the Eco-Labs series, and includes native plants and a traditional kiiche shelter. Here, participants learn about the historical relationship between people and plants and how those living in the area before us relied on their knowledge of native landscape and environmental cycles for survival.              

The Eco-Labs serve as the focus of our school field trips, for general visitors during public open hours, and for other special events throughout the year.

]]> 2011-10-14T17:53+00:00 Splash! How Good Water Works wins Golds http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/splash_how_good_water_works_wins_golds/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/splash_how_good_water_works_wins_golds/ Known for its innovative approach to environmental education, The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano collaborated with the design firm Zago and surf apparal brand Hurley to create the Splash! How Good Water Works water conservation exhibit located at the Center through August 2011.  The Splash! exhibit has now received a Gold Award in the category of Environments for the 2011 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), showing how good design can do more than look good; it can drive positive changes in the world.

The Splash! exhibit originated when Evan Marks, the director of The Ecology Center, saw a provocative exhibit on climate change at the United Nations that ZAGO had created in New York.  The exhibit featured bean bags representing the greenhouse gas emissions of different countries, challenging visitors to get involved in solutions for climate change.

The Zago climate change exhibit at the UN represented for Marks the power of good design to drive positive social change.  “It was amazing,” said Marks.  After talking, Marks and the Zago team developed a plan to work together informing people about solutions for another important problem. “A year and a half later, we said we should do something on water.”

To make the water exhibit a reality they teamed up with surf brand Hurley and their recently launched H20 initiative as the beginning of a partnership to inspire water literacy and access.

Throughout 2009 Zago and The Ecology Center collaborated closely on the development of the Splash! exhibit, finding captivating ways to show visitors the large impact of everyday choices on water conservation.  There were many challenges along the way, with different priorities challenging all involved at the center and their community, but in the end the resulting exhibit encourages visitors to rethink how they live.
    
Open on weekends for visits, the Splash! exhibit features a self guided walk through the solutions we can use to slash our water use.  As you walk through the exhibit you find that the typical Southern Californian uses 1800 gallons of water a day, often in surprising ways.  Electronics that we buy require enormous quantities of water to produce, and eating less meat can save 2000 gallons of water a week as well as saving money and boosting our health.  

"We rarely have the opportunity to work on projects that have both a local focus and a global reach,” said Manuel Toscano, principal at Zago.  “With the exhibition "Splash! how good water works" under the creative and content partnership we forged with Evan Marks and his organization The Ecology Center, we successfully created an exhibition that covers the challenges and opportunities associated with water quality and conservation in the Orange County, while still putting these challenges in a global context. We are very proud and exited to have been recognized by the IDSA with a gold award for one of our favorite and most enjoyable projects of 2010."

The unique design of the Splash exhibit that earned it the Gold IDEA award helps its message to connect with people.  Although water is a pressing challenge around the globe, the exhibit and everything else at The Ecology Center are optimistic.  Rather than lecturing, the exhibit draws us in, welcoming us as guests into the 1878 farmhouse that has become a center of 21st century environmental solutions.  

The IDEA award ceremony for the Splash! exhibit took place at the 2011 IDSA International Conference September 14 to 17 in New Orleans. 

Check out the video recap of Splash! How Good Water Works and pledge to make a difference!

]]> 2011-10-13T15:57+00:00 Brew Your Own http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/brew_your_own/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/brew_your_own/ If you’ve always wanted to learn the age-old process of making one of the earth’s tastiest beverages, then this is the workshop for you. Join us for a Backyard Skills all about brewing beer at home.
Jeff Williams of O’Shea Brewing Company will be here to teach us the ins and outs of becoming the brewmaster of your own home. Home brew kits will be available to purchase at the workshop.

Cost: $25 non-members, $20 members

Please note: You must be 21 to attend this workshop. Pre-registration is required.

]]> 2011-10-04T20:50+00:00 Farm to Fork http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/farm_to_fork1/ http://www.theecologycenter.org/blog/post/farm_to_fork1/ Beginning with an exploration of The Ecology Center’s veggie garden and ending with the preparation of small-plate meals alongside professional local chefs, this children’s program emphasizes the journey real food takes from “Farm to Fork”.
Parents may choose to stay through the duration of class or drop students off. Recommended for children ages 6 to 12.

In this month's Farm to Fork backyard baker, Chris Blank, will be teaching the kids how to make puff pastry meals, both savory and sweet.

Cost: $25 per child. $20 for members. 

Call 949.443.4223 for more information.

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