NEW! Sustainable Practices Course Offerings at Mother Lode River Center

In keeping with the Mother Lode River Center’s commitment to environmental stewardship, we are proud to announce the most recent addition to our Outdoor Education curriculum: Sustainable Practices; Experiential Education for a Changing Planet.

Beginning in 2007 the Mother Lode River Center enacted a Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (GAP) as a means of reducing our carbon footprint. Since then we have “walked the talk” and reduced our overall carbon emissions by 30%. This puts us ahead of our 2012 goal of a 20% reduction, and well on our way to achieving our 2020 goal of a 40% reduction.

In the process folks have been noticing our rapidly multiplying fleet of 100% waste vegetable oil powered vehicles which began with Eco-Bus, but this year will add Eco-MiniBus, Eco-Truck and Eco-Passat. Solar hot water heaters of various design types, and photovoltaic panels applied in a variety of ways, have been installed to illustrate the full spectrum of solar power technology. This year our on-site organic garden adds a new solar powered root zone heating system and a high-tech greenhouse augmented by thermal mass. Our current goal is to achieve a 50% overall reduction of our carbon footprint by the end of the 2009 season and to ultimately create an “Eco-Village”. (Check out the ECOS blog for details.)

When many of our guests expressed interest in these different projects, the decision was made to share our experiences with you. Guided by our solar guru, Allen Carrozza, who is a true solar expert with over thirty years of experience in the field, we comparative rookies are acquiring lots of practical knowledge. We are enthusiastic about passing it on to others. The more we learn though, the more we realize that most of these ideas aren’t new. The ancient Greeks used solar hot water heating, organic gardening is how the ancients used to do it, and the first diesel engine was designed by Rudolf Diesel in 1897 to run on peanut oil.

The real challenge is to learn to live in ways that adapt to the needs of a changing planet. Our Manager, Greg Hawkins, put it well: “A revolution does not begin with the formation of a new idea, but with its implementation.”

How Sustainable Practices Works:
As with all our programs, Sustainable Practices is designed to be hands-on and can be tailored to meet the needs of youth and/or adults. You can combine it with one or more of our other programs to create fun and informative multi-day adventures. Or, spend the day at our camp on the American River and learn how a little creativity and initiative can result in dramatic changes in your use of energy, and the various ways we can all reduce our impact on the ecosystems that support us all.

Come Join Us at Mother Lode and Help Build Tomorrow, Today!
Sustainable Practices home page

MaLode Letter Writers Support Successful Federal and State Legislation

For those of us prone to nail-biting, it has been a rough few months, what with the impending election and the economic crisis. However, at Mother Lode, we’re feeling pretty optimistic and excited about the future. The River Center, as always, inspires us to stay positive and look for practical solutions, and we know that there is more exciting, important work to do than ever before! Let’s take a minute to enjoy the things that Mother Lode customers and staff achieved this summer.

First and foremost, we had a LOT of fun on the American River this summer—in an eco-friendly way unparalleled by any other company. Hundreds of people rode our waste-veggie oil bus and used our WVO truck for our whitewater rafting trips on the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork of the American River. We used hot water and energy powered by solar panels at camp, and we ate great organic veggies from the garden.

After reading the nationwide bestseller Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, with its premise that children today grow up suffering “nature-deficit disorder,” we at Mother Lode felt even more adamant about our mission of bringing children (and adults) into the outdoors. We just tallied it up and it turns out that 2056 children participated in our Outdoor Education Programs this year! We were thrilled when the No Child Left Inside Act was approved by the House Committee in June. We hope it reflects our nation’s growing awareness of the importance of outdoor education and will result in more opportunities for children to go outside to play and learn.

This summer, we also advocated for making California and the U.S.A. more earth-friendly and sustainable. At the Federal level, Mother Lode customers and staff wrote letters to President Bush, both candidates for President and our U.S. Senators and Representatives about the Federal Solar Energy Tax Credit. This tax credit was intended to provide the financial support and market forces to help foster the emergence and use of solar energy. It had worked in the last two years, creating almost 20,000 high quality new jobs, and if renewed, it was projected to create 20,000 more, and produce up to 3881 Megawatts of energy (one megawatt of electricity can power between 400 and 900 homes in a year).

The legislation to extend this tax incentive for eight years was in limbo for months, with the solar industry holding its breath to see whether it would get the financial support needed to proceed in future solar projects and investments with confidence. But finally, on October 3^rd, the most significant federal policy ever enacted for the solar industry was passed along with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The legislation ensures a 30% federal investment tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years. No matter how we feel about the bailout, this is a silver lining to celebrate in hard times, and Mother Lode customers had a part in supporting it.

We also wrote to the California Senate Education Committee regarding California State Senator Loni Hancock’s Bill 2855, which will make funds available for training high school students and other young people in emerging green technologies such as wind and solar power. This was recently signed into law by the Governor.

So, all in all, a satisfying summer! And as the famous physician and biologist Jonas Salk said, “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”