San Francisco Back in the Day

Just found this amazing website holding old news paper articles from San Francisco in its earliest days.  Enjoy!

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/index0.html

Van Jonesin’

Van Jones

The Green Collar Economy

The SF Chronicle is reporting today that the U.S. is indeed in a recession.  At the same time, the Big 3 Auto Makers are asking for a bailout only a month or so after the banking bailout.  It seems that throwing money at the problem will only keep the system afloat until the next big solution is found.

Luckily, it is.  Van Jones is the author of The Green Collar Economy.  He is a co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, CA; and he has a clear understanding of turning our failing economy into a comprehensive green economy that also offers opportunities for the disadvantaged.

The dude is genius.

Lately the EcoStudents at SF State have been talking about diversifying the club and doing some outreach projects to do some collaborations with other groups on campus.  A week before break we went next door to the Students of Color and met with their director.  This is where the idea of doing a book-signing came up.  And Van Jones is just the person we would both like to have to represent us.

Ecological Paper

Starting work on a project that will require paper.  The most important features of the paper will be durability and price, but also as ecologically friendly as possible.  Tree-free and non-chlorined bleached paper is preferred.  I’ve noticed that some paper-products are made from hemp and cotton, although I feel that using recycled materials uses less water in manufacturing than raw hemp or cotton.

There are some codes we need to know about in paper-labeling, they are:

PCF (Process Chlorine-Free) — fiber is recycled and unbleached, or bleached without the use of additional chlorine or chlorine additives

TCF (Totally Chlorine-Free) — indicates virgin fiber (including virgin tree-fiber) that is unbleached, or bleached without the use of additional chlorine or chlorine additives

* In both PCF and TCF, bleaching is done with benign elements.  It is important to note that the recycled material in PCF may have been bleached with chlorine or chlorine derivatives.

ECF (Elemental Chlorine-Free) — virgin or recycled fiber bleached with chlorine dioxide or other chlorine compounds.  Cleaner than gas bleaching, however still creates environmentall hazardous toxins.

PCW (Post-consumer Waste) — material collected from end-users and recycled.  Diverts solid waste from landfills.**

**Fibers can only be recycled about 7 times before needing to add virgin fibers, so look for high PCW proportions.

For the project, I think PCF or TCF will be fine, and of course, a high PCW level.

Source: Ecological Guide to Paper

Home-made Glue Recipe

Materials:

3/4 cup water

2 tbsp. corn syrup

1 tsp. white vinegar

small saucepan

small bowl

2 tbsp. corn starch

3/4 cup cold water

Directions:

Mix water, vinegar and corn syrup in saucepan, bring to a full rolling boil

In a bowl, mix cornstarch with cold water.  Add this mixture slowly to the hot mixture, stirring until mixture returns to a boil.

Boil for one minute, then remove from heat.

When cooled, pour into another container, then let stand overnight before using.

Is this product washable?  Does it dry clear?

Recipe taken from:  http://fun.familyeducation.com/crafts/toddler/37042.html

Voltaic Solar Bags

The Voltaic Solar Bag is a backpack designed to charge hand-held devices through solar power.  The panels are lightweight and waterproof! They produce 14.7 watts of energy and come with adapters that also work with car chargers and usb adapters.

Check it at http://www.voltaicsystems.com/

Smokin!

Epic Change

Last night I finished up two documentaries with seemingly different themes, but ended up being quite similar. They were “Born into Brothels” and “Hoop Dreams.” They’re both pretty classic in their premise, and both reminded me of some goodness going on in the world.

The last place I lived in in the city was a sublet from Mr. Sanjay Patel who was actually leaving to do work in Africa similar to the work done in the “Born into Brothels” story. He and a friend co-founded Epic Change, an organization designed to finance a school that he worked at some years ago. After the school lost money and was on the verge of disappearing, he and his friends got together to try and save it. So, to teach locals skills on becoming self-sustaining, he does what is done in the movie, and teaches the students how to use cameras to produce photos which are in turn sold for financing the school. It’s absolutely brilliant.

Please peep them at http://www.epicchange.org

USB cell

Yussef just showed me this neat invention: a rechargeable USB battery.

Read more at http://www.usbcell.com