Environmental Groups seem to waste enthusiasm

[Ian Gordon]

You know things are not going well for a sector when they're turning down volunteer help.

There's a whole bunch of groups who've not even bothered responding to e-mails offering my services for free. A representative sample includes...

Zeri Japan
ZWIA Japan
Kobunaki Ecovillage
Biomimicry Institute (they got back to me once then ignored me)

I imagine if I was to reach for my credit card it would be a different story.

It's a real pity. Business start up guru Guy Kawasaki says people like me are a godsend for any new business or enterprise, we're the zealots.

It just makes you wonder about the future when these organizations are supposed to be out fighting a war for hearts and minds but when you offer them both they don't bother pursuing the matter.

It brings to mind that old adage "if you want it done right you have to do it yourself".

[CRTreeDude]

Unless a group is setup for it, they really can't accept volunteers readily. Volunteers have to be "handled" and taken care of. Especially in an environment that isn't what they are used to.

We have had volunteers once, it was much more work for us than it was worth in regards to their production.

In our environment, we have a lot of jungle. Jungle is very tempting (I should know!) but it is also dangerous when it comes to your health. This means, if someone wants to visit the jungle, someone knowledgable has to go with them.

I am sure there are some situations where volunteers fit, but there are some places that just are setup for it. And, if someone gets hurt, it is a bad situation for everyone.

[Ian Gordon]

I can appreciate that. I was volunteering mostly as an online editor and researcher, working mainly from home. I attend all sorts of seminars and environmental groups here in Tokyo so I'm amazed and disappointed at the response thus far.

I have access to resources and people that few people in Europe do. I have access to Asian Productivity Organization personnel (they just put on an International Eco Products Fair in Hanoi that attracted 100,000 visitors). It woke the Vietnamese government up to the potential of environmental products and services, so much that they've devoted additional resources to environmental projects and are considering having a national fair to follow up on the project's success.

I personally have one of the new APO Eco Product directories. The G8 delegations arriving in Japan in the near future are getting them, but really no-one outside of Japan has one. I may be one of the few westerner at present who does. It's packed with Japanese environmental products in very bad English. However I am an English teacher with lots of experience in deciphering precisely that.

I am personal friends with Dr. Cho of the Korean Natural Farming Association (also one of the few Westerner to have his manuals). I have contacts in UNIDO Japan, and the APO. I'm a long time correspondent with Gerry Gillespie, Australian president of President of ZWIA and a senior official in the New South Wales state administration. I'm also a long time correspondent with Karlson Hargroves, whose environmental advocacy group wrote the Natural Advantage of Nations. I know a whole bunch of ZERI folk and have exchanged letters with Gunther Pauli, the ZERI head and founder of Ecover. I have mentors galore, though my favorite is Dr. Bruno Ganz, one of the world's foremost experts on Terra Preta.

I'm disappointed that all this didn't elicit just a tad more enthusiasm.

[stevenchen18]

Hi Ian,

I think they are just too busy to notice your value.

You really have an impressive resume. I do hope that the green community will make good use of you someday. Or, you may start something of your own.

I plan to start a non-profit org for Sustainable Society club. We might be able to work together someday.

[Ian Gordon]

I figure if they were able to delegate to volunteers they would be less busy..

[stevenchen18]

I feel that the people in the "green" community lack the personal touch. For example, I don't see many personal relationship among active menbers of treehugger. Each person is fighting his/her own battle.

I want to change that and have made some good friends already here.

[Ian Gordon]

I know what you mean, but then again it's a network. You're not going to be connected to everyone on the network in a direct communication to communication relationship.

I exchange a lot of emails with Mike Beavis, which means for me he is a major node in the network. I've exchanged a few with you Steven, which means your another node.

On the other hand my network is also here in Japan, and in universities and think tanks across Australia (because that's where I'm headed).

I think the only way to bring people together in the manner you suggest, and which I find laudable, is to have it project based. We on this forum can greet each other, shout at each other, but until we get involved in actual project work it really will be just a step up from hi, how are you doing today?

My projects are...

Finding a steam engine that can be married to a boiler extracting waste heat from gasifier furnace which is producing a combustible gas, biochar (so that the carbon does not enter the atmosphere), burying that biochar in soils to increase water and nutrient retention, developing this within a market of carbon sequestration so that good works can be funded. I'm still trying to find Steam Engine experts to help with that (the ones in Australia are lukewarm at best).

Examining the different building techniques to decide which combination offers lasting low maintenance structural integrity, passive thermal, heating and cooling, is fire resistant etc etc. In short how to build a low maintenance environmentally friendly shelter which can't burn and won't fly away in a typhoon.

Looking at the different organic agricultural systems to see where the overlap is, and whether synergies can be created that also benefit soil, flora and fauna.

[stevenchen18]

I think the only way to bring people together in the manner you suggest, and which I find laudable, is to have it project based.

You have a great idea, I think. I would suggest that Treehugger creat a new forum called "Green Projects". If a member has a green project in mind and have found several likeminded people, he/she can start a "Project" in that forum.

Talking is good. However, it would be even better if the Treehugger can actually produce some successful green projects.

[greengirl0801]

I think that having a "Green Projects" section would be an absolutely wonderful addition for the treehugger community. It could be a great resource for people who are starting new things as well as for those who are looking for some help with projects they already have in place. And for those people who are looking to donate their time, it would also be a great place to find organizations/groups that need (and are actively looking for) volunteers.
By the way, I completely understand your sentiments, Ian Gordon, and find it frustrating that the organizations you have approached are not responding or utilizing your value. However, I cannot imagine how many people some of the larger organizations get contacted by every day, and knowing how difficult and time-consuming it can be to sort through people's varying levels of interest and then train them for the projects for which you need volunteers, I can sympathize with their lack of response to most people who contact them. They probably only respond when they need people right then for a project.

[inkabinkaboo182]

I love the Green Projects idea. It would probably make Treehugger much more effective at converting people to the green lifestyle than it already is, just because a lot of useful, DIY information would be readily available. Plus, it would probably focus more on shifting away from consumerism and more toward DIY projects, whereas Treehugger is focused on how to buy greener things and green news mostly (not saying there's anything wrong with that).

[agraham999]

Love the projects idea...we'll look into it...

But on another note, I wonder something else about volunteers and organizations. I'll bet more prominent organizations, mid to large, have too many offers for services, while the smaller organizations have difficulty getting help because they don't have the dollars or meme to capture attention. It may be that some things you want to volunteer for are inundated with offers...

Perhaps a better solution might be looking for smaller groups who have limited funds and people.

Just a thought.

[Ian Gordon]

Thanks agraham, I'm looking into that at the moment. There's a group near where I live called Green Drinks Tokyo. It's basically a monthly get together of treehugger friendly folk.

I'm trying to get a multidisciplinary group together but it's hard going. I get the distinct impression that a lot of the small Japanese groups are afraid of me, which is one reason I plan to relocate to Australia. Aussies are afraid of no-one, and have little respect for authority.

I laughed when I read that an Aussie politician got riled when a security guard at the parliament said "G'day mate" to him. He complained about it and the Aussie electorate had a good laugh at his expense. It seems to me that's the kind of attitude you need in the populace to get ideas on the margin to fly.

[agraham999]

Ian,

I actually lived in Melbourne for awhile in the mid 90's. Oz is a great place and I love Australian's. My wife and I also had two great friends who lived here in the states a few years and recently went back and we miss them to death.

I highly recommend the move and you'll find them very receptive to green since they are experiencing a draught at the moment...yet their eco sensibilities have always been ahead of our own.

Soon there might be a shortage of VB...or Tim Tams. God help us all then.

If you want to read a great history of the country I recommend Fatal Shore, give you a perspective of why they aren't afraid of anything...you think it was hard founding the US...Oz was not entirely the most hospitable of environments.

[Ian Gordon]

That's the reason I am heading there.

Land is relatively cheap, also relatively poor in nutrients and the like and they have water problems.

Industrial agricultural systems break down in these conditions, which of course allows permaculturists like myself an opportunity to get land at bargain basement prices and repair it.

I see myself as a kind of environmentalist Fremen (the desert people from Herbert's dune novels) and you never know if I visualise that long enough I might actually lose weight.

I've got a small bunch of people advising me on how to do terraforming. Most people think of this on Mars, but I don't see any reason why climate modification couldn't be done on earth with regards to micro-climates. In Australia the important thing will be water, which is why I'm heading north to wet and dry season Darwin.

My brother is in Melbourne and the distance is a another plus, given that he has a veritable tribe of young savages.

My one big concern is that Australia is one of the countries that has legalized GMO crops. On the other hand I sense an opportunity to make a living from organic food production, natural services provision and remote energy generation.

[Beaver]

I'm sure all of you are familiar with sourceforge and Google Code and sites like Make and Instructables.

http://sourceforge.net/
http://code.google.com/
http://blog.makezine.com/
http://www.instructables.com/

I think it would be pretty bad *** to set up a something that combines the versioning/techside/database -ish parts of google code and sourceforge with the community/information sharing of the Make and instructables community.

A lot of people are out there making things and informally posting about them. There are tons of solar charger DIYs for example. Tons. All of them have varying levels of information and mistakes. Which is great. Essentially though its the same project over and over again, which is great. What would be cool would be to start a "solar charger" project in the same way someone would at Google code or sourceforge.

When someone starts writing a program(on sourceforge or google code) they can get help and feedback from anyone who wants to offer it. They just version up and improve. There is a single goal with variations and improvements.

A Green Projects page/database/whatever would be an awesome way for people to contribute with varying degrees of commitment. Someone just browsing the plans for a "portable Solar Charger" might realize that the resistors in the plans are wrong and offer that up. Someone with some CAD/Design experience might offer up plans for a case. This is a small example of a pretty easy physical object.

Another project might be code based, maybe an app to calculate blade size for wind turbine blades.

Another could be a community based organization or event. The resources people could offer up could range from physical labor to designing a flyer template for a battery recycling collection where the names/times/locations are editable.

There are some bike places around here in LA where people give a donation (nightly/monthly/yearly) and have access to a space with tools and volunteers that know about bikes. That same thing could happen for Green Projects. Although I am starting to hate the word Green.

I'm rambling now but I think it would be great to have a scalable project management site/database that combines the practical tracking parts of sourceforge with the community/ingenuity of Make and the goals of Treehugger. It would make volunteering less like surrendering and allow people with specific skills and goals to really help where they maybe couldn't elsewhere.


End Ramble.