American River Rafters Support Solar Power

Archer School Students Write Letters to their Legislators

What better way to conclude your freshman year in high school than by rafting, hiking and camping on the historic and beautiful South Fork of the American River in Coloma, California? For five days this week, the Mother Lode River Center and Santa Barbara Adventure Company played host to seventy members of the freshman class of the Archer School for Girls. These intrepid adventurers tent camped on our beach, rafted two days, hiked another day and generally had the time of their lives! Spending an extended period outdoors helped them encounter the natural world while learning about themselves, bonding with their classmates, and expanding their ability to accomplish team challenges such as navigating a raft through Class III whitewater rapids.

Seamlessly integrated into these activities were challenge course group games that heightened their awareness of their surroundings and also promoted connection to each other and the natural world. Campfires, facilitated sing-alongs, quiet time by the ever changing river- all these elements combined to make the experience something the students will remember fondly and benefit from for the rest of their lives.

This season the students also had the advantage of encountering the new Sustainable Practices Program at the River Center. For instance, each time they left the river center in Mother Lode's new EcoBus, the fuel powering their journey was ecologically responsible 100% waste vegetable oil which reduced their carbon footprint by 80% when compared to the use of petrochemicals. The hot water they used in the kitchen was heated by our new solar panels. The Solar Energy Exploratorium was open for those interested and during their visit "PLUGRIN" the electric car made its debut demonstrating the potential for a true zero emissions vehicle.

On the their next to last day, blushing with the success of running "Troublemaker", the largest rapid on the exciting Chili Bar Run, they had the opportunity to exercise their environmental muscle as well. One of their guides explained the importance of supporting the investment tax credit for solar power by writing a letter to their legislator. They enthusiastically wrote eloquent and well informed letters that Mother Lode will forward to Governor Schwarzenneger, President Bush, Senators Reid, Boxer and Feinstein and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as well as the three candidates for President. By requesting a reply, these letters will allow each of them to discover where their political leaders stand and make each of them aware of their power to change the world in positive ways.

Experience, Connection, Observation, Stewardship- this is "ECOS" and for over thirty years this has been the Mother Lode Way. These Archer School students had a great opportunity to encounter and complete the full circle. We are pleased to have been a part of their world and we look forward to collaborating with the Santa Barbara Adventure Company to bring similar experiences to other students from the Los Angeles area in the future.

Solar Exploratorium Opens on the American River

As you can see, the Exploratorium benefited from the artistic talents of Allen Carrozza whose Earth portrait exceeded our expectations by several parsecs! The Moon portrait is even more remarkable and the "Earthrise" behind the Moon is truly outstanding. You must see it. It is rare to find someone who is an expert in solar installation, an artist, a sculptor and who knows what else? Stay tuned for more surprises.


The "timeline" is the final touch as yet to be completed but, as the picture illustrates, certainly is not needed to make this space both entertaining and educational. It will decorate the ceiling and stretch from 4.5 billion years ago and the beginning of our solar system to the present, a span of roughly 60 lineal feet. Our Sun, a medium sized star, is the hero of this saga as the source of energy that has made it all possible. Interestingly, had the Sun been a giant star, it would have burned out ages ago, a victim of its own gravity. Although there is controversy over the exact time of the beginning of the saga, the longest period it can continue is more clear. The Sun will inevitably heat up, become a "Red Dwarf" and ultimately burn out approximately 650 million years from now, a relatively short time on this timeline but a long time by human standards.

If I remember my college biology correctly, the origin of life on Earth is placed on this timeline at approximately one third of its length, making each living species a genetic message and evolutionary legacy 3 billion years old. It is humbling to recall that humans appear in the last millimeter of this timeline. In fact, if the timeline were Mt. Everest, all of human history would be the last few snowflakes.

It is the legacy of "species diversity" that is currently disappearing at a rate that exceeds any known to have occurred in the past. This is in what is now being termed the "Sixth Great Extinction." For comparison, it is useful to recall that the Fifth Great Extinction was the disappearance of the dinosaurs and approximately one third of all species then living on Earth that occurred over 65 million years ago. This extinction took over a million years. By contrast, the Sixth Extinction, if current trends continue, will account for the disappearance of 50% of the all species on Earth by the year 2050. This extinction would be the first massive extinction caused by a single species....us! The primary mechanism is not global warming. Rather, it is habitat destruction, the majority of which is concentrated in the tropics where the greatest number of species on the planet lives.

We hope the "timeline" and the other exhibits will provide food for thought. As has been the case before, the Sun holds the key to many of the potential answers to these challenges. We look forward to your visit and are excited to share these solutions with you.

SEE you soon,
Scott, Allen, Danielle and the MaLode Crew

Eco-Rafting on the South Fork of the American River

For the 2008 season we are pleased to announce dramatic progress toward meeting the goals of our Greenhouse Action Plan. Our "Eco-Bus" is the first 100% waste vegetable oil (WVO) powered bus on the South Fork of the American River, will reduce carbon emissions profoundly each and every time it carries passengers down the highway. On the Chili Bar Run we will achieve up to an 80% reduction from our baseline carbon emissions.

Over a year ago we announced a first for the rafting industry, Mother Lode's Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (GAP). In that plan we committed to reduce our overall carbon emissions 20% by 2012, 40% by 2040 and 80% by 2050 with 2006 serving as our baseline. It was then, and remains now, a tall order, our new Eco-Bus is a giant step towards reaching our goal.

How We Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Vegetable oil represents one example of renewable solar energy converted by plants through photosynthesis into liquid form. Although there is little or no carbon savings using virgin vegetable oil due to the petrochemicals used to till, harvest, manufacture and transport it to the point of use, "waste" vegetable oil (WVO) is a different matter. By reclaiming WVO from restaurant garbage we are recycling and reusing a resource. Additionally, its usual manner of disposal produces more carbon emissions than our using it as fuel. An added bonus is the fact that vegetable oil produces fewer air pollutants than either petroleum diesel or gasoline. Remarkably, using WVO reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously!

Step 1: Collecting Vegetable Oil
To maximize the environmental benefit we get our waste vegetable oil locally to reduce the cost in carbon and our time.

Step 2: Returning to the Farm: Making Bio-Diesel
Dr. Diesel's purpose in inventing the diesel engine in 1897 was to allow farmers to use 100% vegetable oil to run their farm machinery. Although we initially successfully made blended bio-diesel, we realized that to use vegetable oil to full advantage one needs to commit to using it 100% pure. Anything less dilutes its beneficial effects. Dr. Diesel, the "full veggie" please!

Step 3: Refining 100% WVO: Accept No Substitutes.
Our 100% WVO system includes two electrical heaters to thin the oil, three electrical pumps to move it, two steel barrels to contain it, an aluminum canister housing a bag style filter, and a centrifuge to extract the last bit of water. The system is permanently installed it in a retired bus, which also serves as our storage facility. We control the system through a breaker panel and 3 timers all connected to a RV style electrical hookup. This set-up is fully mobile and ready to visit the next World's Fair.

Step 4: The Right Bus.
An unmodified diesel bus will not run on 100% WVO. A conversion must be performed, the expense of which can easily exceed the cost of the bus. The right bus is therefore mandatory. We shopped for over eight months to find ours, a supercharged and turbocharged 1987 Gillig Phantom with only 106,000 miles, a perfect body, and a silky smooth "air ride" suspension. Jim Stepp, our head driver, and I went to Los Angeles and outbid several disappointed fellows whose vision was to turn our bus into a mobile condo in Mexico. We christened her "Eco-Bus" and drove 400 miles north to Coloma. Thanks Ron and Jim! This fall the bus got a paint makeover in MaLode earth-tone tan and forest green and she looks great.

Step #5 A 100% WVO Conversion - Not for Amateurs.
Unlike a Mercedes or Volkswagen, "big rigs" are not easy to convert yourself. Each system is customized to the vehicle that uses it. As it turned out the two major U.S. vendors are both located east of the Rocky Mountains.

Fortunately we found a kind of "alternative energy mad scientist" quietly inventing sophisticated counter-current exchange, continuously heated, precision welded aluminum, 100% WVO systems that are efficient, reliable and operate well at all temperatures. Based upon what I knew about other systems, I was amazed to learn our bus would transition to WVO within two minutes or less of engine start-up, thus keeping our use of "Dino-diesel" to an absolute minimum.

Step #6 Fast Forward to the Year 2050
With the Eco-Bus up and running, it was time to find the way to use it most efficiently to reduce carbon emissions for the introduction of "Eco-Rafting". The Chili Bar Run was the most energy efficient choice by far with an estimated carbon savings of 80% from our 2006 baseline! This means we can meet the 2050 goals of our GAP on the Chili Bar Run in 2008, approximately 42 years ahead of schedule!

Rest assured, the Eco-Bus project is only one aspect of Mother Lode's overall effort to complete our GAP. Nevertheless, it is a very encouraging start and if you take a shower at our camp this season the hot water will come from a solar "box" heater, photovoltaic power is on its way, and many other changes are anticipated as elements of our evolving Sustainable Practices Institute- but that's another story. To learn more about our Eco-Bus.

We cordially invite you to "Eco-Raft" this season and take this opportunity to reconnect with Nature, have fun, and enjoy an exciting whitewater adventure with your friends and family, all for $99! Click to find out more about these specially priced Eco-Rafting Trips on the South Fork American River.

We look forward to seeing you on the river.
Scott Underwood and the MaLode Extreme Green Team
Aaron, Allen, Ron, Jim, Richard, Greg, Rich, the Mystery Painters, and Charlie the River Dog

MaLode Shoots the Gap

It is difficult to watch the news without hearing about human induced climate change and global warming. Although I’ve been aware of this problem since college, I’m not any different than most folks, I could be doing a lot more about dealing with it! (See the entire GAP at www.malode.com/news/scott)

The Mother Lode Greenhouse Gas Action Plan (GAP) is our effort to get up to speed on this issue and we urge you to join us. The plan makes it clear that we don’t intend to neglect the other environmental priorities that confront humankind, nevertheless, we intend to meaningfully address the crisis of global warming. Our goal is to reduce our own carbon emissions by 20% by 2012; by 40% by 2020; and by 80% by 2050. Here are some high points: First, Conservation will be our centerpiece and we will reduce our carbon imprint by using less and operating more efficiently; Second, Technology: We will use energy efficient appliances, light bulbs, etc.; We will install enough solar panels to drive our meter backward and be a net producer of clean electricity; We will reuse cooking oil in biodiesel driven vehicles and “move down the stalk” to cellulose based ethanol as it becomes available; We will use a hybrid vehicle whenever possible and go to a plug-in hybrid as soon as they are available; Third, Education and Advocacy- We will be doing a variety of things you can check out on our website. We look forward to your suggestions as well and hearing about how you are addressing the GAP at home and at work.

Jump in the Pool!
There is one especially good way you can help us close the GAP: Carpool your group!
It helps to do the math: 4 people in a vehicle that gets 15 miles per gallon equals 60 person-miles per gallon. This is the same carbon efficiency as one person driving a Prius getting 60 miles per gallon! This season we will have VIP parking for carpoolers and be using the proceeds from the sale our new eco-t-shirts to add to our global warming effort. For example, one T-shirt reads: Carpoolers never fall out of the boat! Hybrid carpoolers walk on water! Check it out at the Camp Store and wear a shirt proudly.