Newsletter of the HSU Campus Center for Appropriate Technology Fall 2008

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 Our Mission...
The mission of CCAT is:

* to demonstrate appropriate technology in a residential setting

* to provide hands-on experiential learning opportunities to
Humboldt State University and the surrounding community.
* to collect and disseminate information about appropriate tech-
nology
* to examine the ethical and social consequences of technology
* and to dispel the myth that living lightly on the earth is diffi-
cult or burdensome.

CCAT is dedicated to sustainability and seeks to help others live

likewise.
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 Table of Contents
mission statement 2
Digging through History
digging through history 3
times are a changin’ 4
blast from the past 5
ccat’s 30th anniversary 8
developments at ccat 9
sustainability conference 10
book reviews 11
“The A.T. Transfer is the official
newsletter of the Campus Center
for Appropriate Technology, which
is funded by the Associated Stu-
dentsof Humboldt State University.
The views adn content of the A.T.
Transfer are not censored or re-
viewed by the Associated Students”
Co-Editors:
staff
Kristen Pope
Easton Connell
Cover Art: Annie Hehner
Thanks to our local printer,
Bug Press
Thank you so much for supporting CCAT. If you’d like to support us further with
a donation, here’s your chance! We’re raising funds to build a beautiful green-
house at the new CCAT site. To help, please include this slip with your donation
of:
1461 M Street, Arcata,
(707) 822-2001
print@bugpress.com
Three filing cabinets have long dominated a corner of CCAT’s
house- whether it was the upstairs of the former Buck House, the living room
of the Jenkins House, or the newly constructed downstairs CCAT facilities.
Packed tightly with documents, these filing cabinets contain everything
from ancient appropriate technologies to documents on aquaculture from
the 1980’s to sales records from the former Java Hut to co-directors’
applications to CCAT. As CCAT has transitioned over the last several years
from one house to the next, the filing system has become somewhat screwy.
There is relevant information everywhere- you just need to look on the
CCAT computer, in the many binders or in the filing cabinets, and then “A-
ha!” you’ll find what you are looking for after an hour of searching!
As we progress and advance, we current CCATer’s have decided
that while digging through tons of old files is always an exciting process,
we’d rather have our information at our fingertips (we are the Google and
Wikipedia generation) to make answering information requests and historical
questions easier. Thus, the sorting has begun. This summer, former Co-
Director Jeff Steuben, former co-director began the General Information
Filing Cabinets, sorting appropriate technology information ranging in
date from 1975 to 1998. Our new Information Request Coordinator Aaron
Parker has boldly picked up where Jeff left off and is diving into the third,
fourth, fifth, sixth drawers. The CCAT oriented filing cabinet, containing
everything from the original CCAT master plan to vegan donut recipes
was pilfered this October. After thorough readings and sorting, long-time
Librarian Rosie Records and current Co-Directors Andrea Lanctot and Jess
Huyghebaert have managed to shrink the files to a more manageable drawer
and a half of information. Have no fear- all historically relevant information
was saved, including CCAT’s original membership card to the North Coast
Co-op and first master plan! We had quite a good time looking through all
the files. Here’s some of our favorites:
-Bike safety tips from the 1980’s
-Sister CCAT documents from around the world
-Plans for CEET- The Center for Environmental Ethics and
-Technology, CCAT’s possible revision as a center with housing
for 20 interns and 3 co-directors!
-50 or 60 copies of a sketch of the Buck House
-The CCAT “conflict” folder!
Looking for AT information or some CCAT history? Stop by and check out
our library or the filing cabinets! Ask for help to figure out the system!
-Jess Huyghebaert, CCAT Co-Director
__ $10 Please send your donation to:
__ $20 Campus Center for
Appropriate Technology
__ $50
1 Harpst Street
__ $100 Arcata, CA 95521
_____ Other CCAT thanks you!
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Times Are A Changin’
A Word From Departing and Incoming Co-Directors
CCAT: Moving from one crisis to the next since 1978.
CCAT: Moving piles since 2004. CCAT:Transitioning
clay to dirt since 2007. CCAT: It’s all about the
sandwiches.
Those are only a few of the mantras that I can
remember from my time here at CCAT. It’s been a
year since I started as a co-director? Two years since I
began volunteering? Three since I first heard of CCAT?
You kidding me? This year alone feels like a lifetime.
I’m sure as I grow and move and learn, I’ll discover
CCAT is just one of many small pieces of fabric on
my old holey jeans I’m always patching up. At this
point though, CCAT is the biggest patch on my life
that I have, and it’s fixed a lot of things. It’s been an
incredible learning process. I’ve listened more, loved
more, grown more, despaired more, and laughed more
then anywhere else in my life. And maybe it wasn’t
always healthy or happy, but damn- I feel like a whole
new person.
Thank you CCAT- thank you all my friends who are
also employees and co-directors, thank you former co-
directors, employees and volunteers for your stories and
your work and your love, thank you HSU for allowing
CCAT to continue, even though we’re the dirty yard at
the corner of campus. You’ve given me memories and
experiences more dear then I ever imagined finding out
here in the far out West .
-Jess Huyghebaert
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I’m Kate Dondero and I will be CCAT’s newest Co-
Director in January. I am from a beautiful part of rural
northern Nevada called Elko.
CCAT was one among many of the reasons why I
was attracted to Humboldt State. I have always been
interested in alternative technology and CCAT gives
me the perfect opportunity to learn more and help out
the Arcata and HSU community by doing worthwhile
work. One of the main reasons why I wanted to be a
CCAT Co-Director was so I could take the knowledge
that I gain here and apply it to my community back in
Nevada. My hometown does not focus on alternative
or green technology and I would like to help change
that.
There are a few things I would like to bring to CCAT.
I enjoy working in the dirt and I love plants and I would
like to offer whatever small bit of expertise I can. I also
want to bring honey bee hives to CCAT. It’s hard to
say what I will bring to CCAT or what it will do for
me at this point. All I can say is that I’m eager to live
and work with the other Co-Directors and members of
the CCAT team, and that I hope to bring a warm smile,
curiosity and hard work to our favorite eco-house.
See you in January!
-Kate
A Blast From the Past: Old Co-Directors
Scott Terrell (1980-82) As Conservation Administrator
at the Truckee Donner Public Utility District, I’ve taken
a leadership role in helping Truckee become the Greenest
Small Town in America by 2010 and an Incandescent (light
bulb)-Free Community. I am a Certified Energy Manager
through the National Association of Energy Engineers
(AEE).  I received the Regional Sustainability Persons of
the Year Award through the Northern Nevada Architects
Institute of America and previously won an Energy
Manager of the Year Award through AEE.  I have over 30
years of personal and professional experience in applying
and educating people about energy and water efficiency
and conservation including auditing buildings, renewable
energy, green building and sustainability.  I received my
B.S. in Natural Resources Planning and M.A. in Energy
and Environmental Education from HSU and maintain
membership in several professional “green” organizations.
I also helped stop Truckee Donner PUD  from entering
into a 50 year coal contract in December of 2006. I teach
green courses for three colleges now, working on a fourth.
Nina Williams (1986-87) I live in rural southwestern
Colorado where the Colorado Plateau meets the San Juan
Mountains.  I keep busy raising two wonderful children
and working as co-Executive Director for the Montezuma
Land Conservancy, a local land trust based in Cortez that
partners with local landowners to conserve important
private lands.  I helped to build a successful non-profit
in a remote part of the state and delight in working with
pioneer families who choose to preserve their farms and
ranches as opposed to selling them for development.  My
children and I planted a big garden and fruit trees; they
love to fish, hunt, raft, hike, bike, ski and play soccer
in the extraordinary country that surrounds their home.
Paul Sitko (1994-95) Since leavingArcata (*sniff*),
I’ve lived on both the East and West coasts. I’ve
earned my Master’s Degree in Computer Science.
I’ve been married, divorced and am currently
engaged to a wonderful woman. I’ve survived
cancer. I’ve adopted my first dog, Agent Cooper.
I’m earning a second Master’s Degree on-line in
Library Science from San Jose State University.
I live in Los Angeles and work as a computer
programmer for the libraries at the University of
Southern California. I make the ten mile commute
to and from work via recumbent bicycle (thank
you Bart Orlando, for showing me the light). I keep
a car around for necessary escapes from the city.
Randy Brians (1996) Since being a co-director at
CCAT, I’ve spent my entire career in the nonprofit
sector.  In 2000,  I  received a Master’s degree in
Nonprofit Management and Public Policy from
the University of Washington in Seattle.  I stayed
in the Seattle area and worked for a number  of
issues, including  the environment, youth, elderly,
education and human rights.  I’m currently back in
school at UW, this time getting my Master’s degree
in Business Administration, focusing on marketing
and corporate responsibility.  I’m excited about
the trend towards environmentally and socially
responsible products/businesses and hope to help,
via marketing, to get more mainstream consumers
to support more of these types of businesses.  I
feel my time at CCAT was one of the best years
in my life and I would love to hear from anyone
that was associated with CCAT during my tenure.
Claire Murray (1997) and
Rob Fiegener (1996) were
married in 2001 and are
living in Corvallis, Oregon
with their two-year-old
twins Cole & Dylan.
Claire has been working
at the Greenbelt Land
Trust, helping protect open
spaces and enhancing their
natural resource values.
Rob has been working at
the Institute for Applied
Ecology, helping with
environmental restoration
efforts.
Rob and Claire’s two-year-old twins, Dylan (left) and
Cole (right).
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A Blast From the Past: Old Co-Directors
Ozzie Gonzalez (1997-98) I graduated from HSU in 2000 with Steve Sakala (1998) I can’t believe its been 10 years! It seems
a BS in Environmental Science. I got married in December of like I was just putting together the twenty year celebration
2000 and moved to Los Angeles where my wife had already with Claire and Ozzie.Now, ten years later the fire still burns
spent a year studying medicine at UCLA. We had our first child and is making a huge difference in the world. After leaving
in 2001 and I began a master’s degree program in architecture. Humboldt, I spent almost four years living in West Africa
By May of 2005, I had my M.Arch.I professional degree, my among the subsistence tribe of the Fulani, reaching out to
farmers about sustainable
wife had her MD, we had a cozy hillside home in the northeast
agriculture. I returned to the
hills of LA and two beautiful children to keep us busy. For
United States in 2002 and
three years I practiced architecture both as a solo designer of
during the next couple years
custom residences and for a commercial architecture firm. I
I spent the majority of my
provided consultation and design services for clients seeking
time as a political activist. In
a high standard of environmental performance and ecologic
January 2006, I was invited
effectiveness. In addition to advocating sustainability in my
to the Big Island of Hawaii to
workplace and through my practice, I participate in the effort to
start setting up a sustainable
move the marketplace towards sustainability. One of the ways I
community model. Now almost
participate is by delivering seminars on the topics of architecture
three years later I am part
and sustainability, urban planning, and the design of specific
of a collective that is hoping
technologies used for green design. For example, I am on the
to open an education center
speakers panel for the upcoming national AIA convention and I
that focuses on sustainability,
will be delivering a talk on the design applications of Photovoltaic
self-sufficiency, health and
arrays. Despite our short-term successes in LA, we have recently
wellness. This will be a unique
moved to the City of Roses and are down-shifting our lives for
model for the whole world to take lessons from, addressing
the sake of raising our children. My wife works less now than
the major political issues of food security and energy. One
she ever has, which is full time, and I am a stay-at-home dad.
of the major lessons I took from CCAT was the need for
I spend my days studying for my architecture licensing exams
models so that people could see the change in action. It
and searching for ways to make money doing what I love while
has been my journey to create models and live the change.
leaving me with the flexibility to be the best parent I could be.

Sean Armstrong (1999-

Brooke Radloff (1999-2000) CCAT and I were born the 2000) Since I co-directed,
same year, so I turned 30 this year too! Looking back, I can I went on to get teaching
see that my co-directorship at CCAT played a significant credentials in high school
role in gaining skills and experience to kick me off on science and English, taught
my career path. Since I left CCAT, I have acted as co- in a private junior high for a
director and director of other organizations and non-profits, year and started consulting
both in and out of the sustainability field.   Although my for a local developer on how
involvement in the sustainability field has continued to this to incorporate a CSA farm
day, my career path has most heavily been in the field of into a housing development.
communication and conflict resolution. I have served as I was hired by that developer,
a mediator, facilitator, and program director. Although it Danco, a year later and have
worked me to the bone, I am always grateful for the rich been working since then
experience and learning that I got from being a CCAT on green building, clean-
co-director. I am engaged to be married next June to a up of brownfields and
wonderful man whom I met while living in Boulder, CO. In affordable housing. In about
Boulder I was involved with the Integral Institute where I a year and a half I hope to
began applying Integral Theory to the field of Sustainability. have built the first zero
In January I moved back to the Bay Area to begin a Masters program in Integral Psychology energy apartment complex
at John F. Kennedy University (and because my heart is in Northern California).   I am in the United States—it’s
currently living in the East Bay and am working in San Francisco as the Communications already designed and
and Projects Manager for the Human Services Management Corporation, a management partially funded and I hope
company that manages non-profits and membership associations.  The most rewarding to receive the remainder
and exciting part of my job is that I am developing and managing an Environmental the financing this spring.
Responsibility Program to “Green” the company, which is fun and challenging. 

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A Blast From the Past: Old Co-Directors
Eddie Tanner (2003) I have been farming professionally
in this area for ten years now (before and after CCAT)
and I am now starting my own CSA farm: DeepSeeded
Community Farm in Arcata.  I have also recently
written and published a locally-oriented gardening
guide, “The Humboldt Kitchen Gardener”.  I was one
of the grand prize winners of the 2008 Economic Fuel
Competition and I will be teaching a course in organic
gardening through HSU Extended Ed this winter.
Garrett McSorley (2004) I was a Co-Director my senior year.
I got to live in the Buck House in all its glory, then proceeded
to disassemble and salvage in preparation for the relocation of
the house. What an incredible experience it was to be part of the
planning and design process! With fellow Co-D’s Krysal and
Kendra, and then Jeff and Elizabeth, we were part of a whirl
wind of action, knowing that the decisions we made would
significantly affect the future of CCAT. What I didn’t know
at the time was that this was only the beginning of my life in
design and architecture. Not long after graduating I was very
fortunate to get a job with K.Boodjeh Architect in Arcata. I did
drafting, technical coordination, and LEED management for the
new Arcata Community Recycling Center Processing Facility
in Samoa. I also crawled around the old Arcata Muffler shop,
taking measurements and drafting the remodel construction
plans for what would become Cafe Brio on the Plaza In May of
2006, my wife graduated from Nursing school. We got married
at Moonstone Beach, then moved to Oregon and I started a three
year Master of Architecture program at University of Oregon...
all within four weeks. Since then I have been studying, drawing,
and building models late into the night. I have also been
fortunate to earn a Graduate Research Fellowship working in the
Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory here on campus. I get
to interact with professional architects who bring their projects
to ESBL to improve their energy performance. Much of the
work involves daylighting, natural ventilation, climate analysis,
and energy modeling, really cool stuff. I am also involved with
University of Oregon’s own “CCAT.” It is called the Center for
the Advancement of Sustainable Living (CASL, pronounced
“castle,” I have had a hard time mixing up the names). Over
the last couple years we have had worked with university
administration to secure an old 1920’s house on campus. In need
of repair and remodel to accommodate the CASL program, we
have held design charrettes and formed a student design team.
The construction plans are nearly complete, and work should
begin in early 2009. The project includes new bedrooms to
accommodate three Co-Director residential interns, a living
roof, passive solar heating, super insulation, solar water heating
and electricity, rainwater catchment, greywater treatment,
extensive gardens, and everything else that an inspirational
center should have. I will be graduating in the Spring and can’t
wait to see what comes next. Thanks CCAT and keep having fun!
Jeffrey M. Adams(2004-05) Since being a Co-director
and graduating the following year, my path has held
uncountable adventures, with stories and insights
awaiting the next rendezvous around the fire. I am
currently self-employed doing whole-systems design,
implementation, and education in the Marin – Sonoma
region. Through the frame of business I am focusing my
efforts on strengthening the natural connection between
people and place while catalyzing the infrastructure and
capacities needed to make a local ecological economy
the viable option within modern society. From the
school of life I am continuing to build on a strong
foundation supported by my experiences with CCAT,
gleaning lessons and sharpening my awareness of the
mechanisms that make or break positive intentions.
Glenn Howe (2005) I am living in the Bay Area and writing
environmental curriculum for an educational organization
called Galileo Educational Services.  They reach
thousands of students each summer and so the curriculum
will have a far reaching effect in teaching elementary-
aged children about the importance of stewardship,
especially as related to water and energy conservation. I
will likely be working in one of the Camp Director roles
this coming camp season, and will also continue my
job search for a healthy 3/4 teaching position.  Wish me
luck there...it seems that most teaching jobs are time and
a half, at least.  I’ll find a place to fight the good fight.
Jeffrey Steuben (2007-08): Since completing my
term as Co-Director, I entered my final year at HSU
working to complete my Appropriate Technology
major and GIS minor. I have been working for HSU
Plant Operations as the “Energy Management Intern”
tracking and analyzing HSU’s energy use. I have
also taken on responsibility as the “Student HEIF
Manager”, helping facilitate the Humboldt Energy
Independence Fund in its second active year. After
graduating, I plan to get a job relating to sustainability
or energy, but don’t know exactly what that will be.
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Pictures from CCAT’s 30th Anniversary Celebration

Paper making?

The 30th Anniversary Celebration featured a rousing set from local

bluegrass group Compost Mountain Boys. Gary gets passionate about
compost.

Annie solar cooker stuff

Natural paint stuff?

Yet another great thing about pedal

power - no training wheels.
CCAT friends and family got together to celebrate with a birthday feast in
the _______ Forum.
People of all ages enjoyed playing with the
8 bubbles.
 Solar Thermal Grant Submitted to HEIF
By Laura Hughes
I n mid-November, CCAT submitted
a proposal to HEIF (HSU Energy
Independence Fund) to implement our
Solar Thermal Project. HEIF’s mission
is to reduce the environmental impact of
energy use at Humboldt State University
through student-driven projects. CCAT’s
proposed project involves the installation
of two evacuated tube panels on the roof
to showcase solar technologies while
providing heat and hot water to the CCAT
building and reducing energy usage. The
project will be used as an educational
opportunity for students and the community
through project implementation and
installation, data monitoring and analysis
and an educational interpretive display.
The solar energy captured by the panels
will be stored in the existing solar-specific
hot water heater system, the Phoenix,
which is co-fired by natural gas as a backup.
Although CCAT is equipped with radiant
floor heating and a specialized water heater,
the system lacks an essential component—
the solar panels that provide clean and
renewable thermal energy. Without them,
we are dependent on natural gas to heat
our water. We are applying for funds to
Help CCAT Increase On-Site Food Production
By Jess Huyghebaert
and Andrea Lanctot
D uring CCAT’s transition from our
old site to our new site, the orginal
greenhouse that made the Buck House
famous as a solar passively heated home
was dismantled. Our old greenhouse
supplied co-directors, CCAT employees,
and volunteers with an abundance of food
and a structure to test passive solar heating
technologies. Now that we are settling into
our new location, we are looking to rebuild
the greenhouse! The greenhouse will serve
as a heating source, a space for increased
food production, a learning center for
tours and workshops, and a place for new
innovative CCAT projects. A greenhouse
on the CCAT grounds will not only supply
CCAT with more resources but will supply
more resources to our students and our
complete the system, including including
the purchase of two evacuated tube panels,
a metering and data logging system, and a
permanent interpretive display.
The data logging system will record
the total energy captured by the panels
and allow for efficiency tracking. Student
involvement will be integral to the
monitoring portion, eventually making the
data publically available on the internet.
This will also integrate with University
curriculum, including ENGR 308
(Technology and the Environment), which
analyzes data sets to compare products or
effectiveness over time.
Other learning opportunities include
a free public workshop planned around
panel installation. Students and the wider
community will be invited to join CCAT
while the panels are put in place to engage
with the project, learn the benefits of solar
thermal heat generation, and how solar
thermal panels can be installed at home.
Additionally, Natural Resources Planning
and Interpretation students will be involved
in the development and creation of the
project’s interpretive display.
The solar thermal project furthers
CCAT’s mission to demonstrate these
technologies and share information with
community.
The design of the greenhouse has been
created by students in multiple classes and
continues to evolve as we come closer to
actual implementation. The greenhouse
project has already given students experience
with numerous hands-on elements of
design but the implemetation of the design
will open up so many oppurtunities to
students from across disciplines. Our
greenhouse will demonstrate appropriate
greenhouse design for our area and supply
our community with a model for building
their own.
Our current plan is for a 663-square-foot
greenhouse, built onto the bottom half of
the new CCAT house. From conversations
we’ve had with multiple professors, project
managers and folks in the construction
world, the estimated cost of the greenhouse
students and community members through
tours, workshops, classes and other
events. Further, our work promotes the
accessibility and applicability of appropriate
technologies for energy independence in
everyday living. CCAT is hopeful that the
Solar Thermal Project will be approved this
year, and if so, we may start the project as
early as Spring 2009. For more details or
information regarding this project, please
contact CCAT. To learn more about HEIF,
you can visit their website: http://www.
humboldt.edu/~heif/
Co-Directors Jess Huyghebaert, Andrea
Lanctot, and Robert Zandi are partnering to
complete this project under the advisory of
Lonny Grafman, ERE Department Lecturer.
We have also collaborated with graduate
student Peter Johnstone and Professor Arne
Jacobson on the system metering design.
Community partners and consultants
include Tim Moxon and others from Plant
Operations, the contractor responsible
for installing the panels and leading the
informational workshop, as well as a
Schatz Energy Research Center engineer
responsible for training the CCAT student
engineering technician and webmaster.
Former CCAT Co-Director Jeff Steuben
and CCAT Grantwriter Laura Hughes have
also helped.
is about $15,000. This is a rough estimate
of the cost, but fairly accurate as a total, as
materials may be donated, or material prices
may fluctuate. Currently, our fundraising
and saving efforts have created a fund of
almost $8,000 for the greenhouse but we
need your help to make our greenhouse
a reality. Any gift, no matter how small,
will help us achieve our dream of a new
greenhouse! The money that you gift to
CCAT for our greenhouse will create a
healthy, appropriate, accessible greenhouse,
useful for new learning opportunities, food
production, seed saving, workshops, and
tours.
Our funding goal is to reach $15,000 by
Spring 2009 so that we can start construction
during the summer. Help us reach our goal
and rebuild CCAT’s famous greenhouse!
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 CCAT Heads to Chico for Sustainability Conference
By: Jess Huyghebaert With so many activities going on,
there were many highlights, points

O n Nov. 6-9, CSU Chico hosted

their fourth annual This Way to
Sustainability Conference. CCAT was
in attendance, along with many other
groups from the HSU area, including the
Campus Recycling Program, Natural
Resources Club, Green Campus,
Associated Students, Power Vote,
the Coalition, HSU’s Sustainability
Coordinator, and the new Sustainable
Committee from the College of the
Redwoods.
Starting Thursday, the conference
stretched over the entire weekend,
filled with keynote speakers, over 100
workshops and tours, and ending with
a student convergence on Sunday.
Chico State worked hard to make the
conference “green”, with little paper
waste, serving local and organic
meals whenever possible, providing
recycling and compost throughout and
eliminating single use condiments and
dish ware.
HSU students were hosted by Chico
students and met a wide array of folks
involved in similar sustainability
actions. As Tall Chief Comet, HSU’s
Sustainability Coordinator, noted, it
was very validating to know others are
doing the same work we are, working
towards the same goals.
of interest and inspiration! One of
the most interesting observations
was Chico’s Zero-Waste Challenge-
students committed to carrying their
trash for two weeks, where any waste
they produced that could not be
composted or recycled was placed in
a bag.. Most participants wore their
trash bag at the hip, and certainly
attracted alot of attention to the
amount of trash we generate!
CCAT co-directors Andrea Lanctot
and Jess Huyghebaert presented
Saturday afternoon, moderated by
former co-director Jocelyn Orr,
discussing how to create your own
demonstration home or sustainable
movement on your campus. CCAT’s
history, structure, and technologies
were all covered before the co-
directors delved into lessons learned
from CCAT’s experience and the
problems CCAT still struggles with.
Several members of the audience
were from HSU and said they were Andy Keller, creator of the Chico
glad to have attended as they were Bag, created this display to demon-
surprised by how little they knew strate the need for reusable bags.
about CCAT! Other audience members The piece moved throughout the con-
fernce; this photo was taken Nov. 7
spoke of inspiration and wanting to
in front of “Green Business - Inside
go back to organizations they had left the Chico Bag Company” workshop.
to ensure continuance. (Photo: Andrea Lanctot)

“Cabin” Tool Shed Coming in Spring

By: Nate Chase
planning to building a tool shed this alternative wall cavities like stuffed

D uring the relocation of CCAT and

the Buck House, much of CCAT’s
physical infrastructure was lost. CCAT
has been working hard to re-establish
the gardens, grey water system,
compost system and many other
appropriate technologies. One such
element integral to the CCAT grounds
is a tool shed and workshop. Known as
the “Cabin”, CCAT is designing and
coming spring.
Timber Framing will be the backbone
of the cabin. Timber framing is centred
around a few large posts and beam
being the structure of the building.
Conventional framing carries loads
spread over many small 2×4 post and
beams. The open spaces between posts
will be a canvas for CCAT to show
alternative building techniques. Such
straw and wool, straw bale, earth ship,
and rammed earth will be demonstrated
in the Cabin. The cabin will be 12×18
feet and sit on the existing patio. On the
south-west side a large barn door will
provide the cabin with an open space
feeling so working in the cabin will be
like working outside. The cabin will be
wheelchair accessible from the CCAT
driveway.

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 Bibliophile Paradise
The CCAT Library has these (and hundreds of other) books you can check out!
Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken
Review by Matthew Peters
T his book is all about achieving a new
ecological economy through the process
of incorporating the perceived value of an
object, organism or natural service into the
capitalist business model. Accounting for
natural capital involves internalizing those
costs that nature pays or provides; and this
in turn, says the author, will bind human economic activity to the
natural world more completely.
The ideas of the book are predicated on the belief that the
commodification and valuation of nature are the best ways to
preserve the natural world. The author has literary style and lots
of background knowledge; the book is very well researched.
Farm Conveniences and How to Make Them: Classic
American Labor-Saving Devices
Review by Jess Huyghebaert
O ur world has evolved into technologies
and processes that leave us far removed
from what we can create and fix ourselves.
We’ve outsourced our food, clothing, homes,
furniture, education to other folks and lost
touch with our own ingenuity and creativity.
Farm Conveniences is a dictionary of fix-its
for your home and land, everything from building boats to how to
prevent cattle from throwing the fence, from dressing beef to crop
preparation
For those interested in homesteading, wishing to join the back-
to-the-land movement, or who are simply intrigued by building
things with their own hands, this is a great book to browse
through. Perhaps a better, simpler method of construction has
been developed since 1900, but sometimes it’s good to back up on
the technology highway, and remember where we came from and
what we started with.
Earthship: Volumes 1, 2, and 3, How to Build Your
Own by Michael Reynolds, Review by Azad Zandi
S ome people want to live in a castle, on
a boat, or in a trailer, but what about
living in the Earth? This is an exciting
and appropriate way of living lightly on
the earth! By using the natural earthen
materials from your area and diverted
materials from the waste stream, you can
build your own house, and cheap at that!
This series of how-to books focuses on natural building that
combines the recycling, reusing materials, and reducing the waste
stream. Some topics included are: location, solar gain, design,
structure, greenhouse incorporation, and finishes ... not to mention
awesome pictures, displaying projects, diagrams, and actual homes
that have been built. No doubt, you should check it out!
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
Review by Connie Wong
C adillac Desert is a history and
examination of the water needed to
sustain America’s West. It also begs the
question of water viability and sustainability
for the West in the future, and what this
means for the desert civilizations that have
been constructed out of water.
Marc Reisner begins with the notion of
manifest destiny and its important role in the first settlers’
ideological imaginations of the American West as a place of
fertility, devoid of natural obstacles. We read later in the book that
the manifest destiny is a beautiful Aphrodite-like dream fueled
by fierce corruption, exploitation, distortions, hydro-thievery and
political turmoil. This brawling of politicians, agro-business, US
Congress, and the Army Corps of Engineers has produced failed
water projects, such as the St. Francis Dam, which is considered
one of the worst civil disasters in American History.
Cadillac Desert is a reminder to the contemporary American
readers that desert society built out of scarce water resources is
like a house built out of sand: unsustainable.
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television
by Jerry Mander, Review by Nick Nelson
T he elimination of television: it’s difficult to imagine, so
pervasive has the technology become in our society. Jerry
Mander (yes, that is his real name) made that case in this work,
published over 30 years ago.
Mander draws on his 15 years in the advertising industry,
extensive interviews, and the surprisingly
minimal body of established work on
his chosen subject. From these sources
he makes four well-developed, thought-
provoking arguments, grounded in
common sense. Unencumbered by a mass
of technical jargon, readers can simply take
in one man’s thoughts and interpretations
and make of them what they will.
The four arguments themselves may
come as no great surprise to many readers.
It is the details that were sensational: the precise number of special
effects necessary to keep people from growing bored and walking
away, the lack of scientific research into the effects of exposure
to a narrow range of wavelengths for prolonged periods of time,
the simple fact that television can permanently implant images
into millions of minds simultaneously, just to name a few. I found
myself comparing Mander’s anecdotes to my own experience,
and discovering in many cases a feeling of disconcerting truth.
Relatively soon, there will no longer be a generation that
remembers a time when there was no such thing as a television.
This technology defines how we live today, and as such it is our
obligation to understand it and to judge it accordingly.
Throw away your television and read this book instead. 11
CCAT Spring 2009 Courses Course Descriptions for ENVS and ENGR
courses to be offered through CCAT
Not long ago, CCAT was small, hidden in a corner of campus. As CCAT grew, we started offering building technology classes
and spreading knowledge about appropriate technology and sustainable living. During our transition period in the Jenkins house,
we started to offer many more lecture and hands-on classes. Now on a permanent site, there is much to design and build! Next
semester we will bring back the CCAT tradition of small hands-on internships focusing on CCAT technologies, grounds, and
gardens. Student interns will work closely with CCAT Co-Directors and employees to implement exciting projects at CCAT.
ENVS 480 Organic Gardening ENGR 280 Lost Arts of Living
Starts in March (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 4 students Starts in March (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 12 students
This internship will involve learning hands-on the science of An eight week series of experiential and exploratory
small scale food production, without the use of chemicals. workshops covering skills, crafts, and natural patterns that
Facilitated by CCAT gardeners, interns will research, are no longer commonly practiced. Potential topics include
study work with soil preparation, plant propagation, shelter & fire building, natural paints, canning, and more.
garden planning, composting, crop rotations, and more.
ENGR 280 CCAT Green Design
ENVS 480 Herbalism Starts in January (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 8 students
Starts in March (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 4 students This eight-week course will cover the fundamentals of sustainable
This internship will study the use of herbs as medicine, systems design through reading and discussions of literature,
and explore the science of cultivating, drying and using focus projects, and surveys of technologies and systems. While
herbs as well as creating herbal remedies. Interns will apply the rain is still pouring, students will help research and design
knowledge while exploring CCATs herb gardens, propagating, projects that will be implemented during Spring semester.
identifying, and harvesting herbs on seasonal basis.
ENGR 280 CCAT Green Construction
ENGR 280 Sustainable Technologies Starts in March (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 4 students
Starts in March (8 weeks, 2 hours a week) Limit 15 students This class will provide students with hands-on experience,
This eight-week field site series will feature tours of a range of exploring the design and construction possibilities for the
technologies and their applications in the community. Potential new CCAT facility and grounds. Students will learn about
topics include green building, community agriculture, gray green and alternative building materials and methods.
water systems, alternative energy, biodiesel as a fuel, and more.

Nonprofit Org.
US Postage Paid
Permit No. 78
Arcata, CA 95521

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