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At the turn of the last century I became concerned enough about the so-called impending "water wars" that I started to experiment with ways of recycling my shower water.

A number of years ago I implemented a refinement of the ideas I tried in Los Angeles California (where drought is an ever present threat)at the L.A. Ecovillage in 2000 through 2003, in Sonoma County in 2005 with Frank DiMassa Utility Consulting, and in my home in Germany from 2008 (where water costs about 3 Euros a cubic meter, one of the most expensive water costs in the developed world.)

“Voluntourism”, where travelers combine the sightseeing and relaxation of tourism with meaningful volunteer activity that benefits communities and promotes sustainable development, is all the rage these days (see for example, http://www.handsupholidays.com/read/voluntourism).

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You've heard Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner", paraphrased as "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink".  And you are probably aware that in most parts of the world the contamination of drinking water and other fresh water supplies has a lot to do with toilets.  Poorly designed toilets. Poorly discharged toilets. Poorly treated toilet wastes.

http://www.livescience.com/16713-7-billion-people-world-poop-problem.html

How Green Collar Jobs can reverse the Brain Drain and create a BRAIN GAIN.

By T.H. Culhane, Essen Germany February 15 2011

Background

What’s the best way to give Germans of all socioeconomic backgrounds a tangible stake in fighting for issues like global warming?

Easy: Make it their livelihood. Imagine what would happen if millions of everyday jobs—plus new ones created for people who are currently unemployed—were in fields like renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green building.

1.  Does biogas pose a climate change hazard? Isn't biogas methane, the same gas that is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide?

2.  Does biogas scale up? Can we use waste water treatment facilities to treat our food wastes?  If so, why wouldn't that be better than trying to do this at the home or community scale.

3. Could biogas be generated IN the kitchen, under the sink for example? Could it be incorporated into new kitchen designs?

(The following questions and answers come from our application to the Clinton Global Initiative and can serve other organization desiring to know more about our work and commitments).

Brief overview of the work of your organization: