Take a course in sustainable living and learn to build a bread oven over a weekend.
Perhaps it’s because you never knew these educational opportunities existed in the 21st century. But some forward-thinking inviduals are offering courses in sustainable living that go far beyond tossing glass bottles into a recycling bin.
The rural, 40-acre campus of Aprovecho, a non-profit research and education center situated in Oregon’s Southern Willamette Valley near the town of Cottage Grove, is a place the sustainably minded can find both community and knowledge.
Aprovecho is Spanish for “to make the best use of,” a fitting title for a center that grows its own food, processes its own wood and generates its own energy–and teaches others how to do it, too.
The research center’s mission is to serve as a model of sustainability and does that through methods both new and old. For example, in their 5-week Permaculture Design course, students use modern day technologies when they learn how to build solar showers using photovoltaic panels or when they grasp the intricacies of installing greywater systems.
Sustainable House Design
But they also learn skills from days gone by, such as harvesting trees with hand tools or applying natural plasters and finishes on homes. The Permaculture course is part of the flagship Sustainable Living Skills Internship/Immersion program and is college-accredited through Northern California’s Humboldt State University as an extended education program.
Among its more curious courses are Human-Powered Machines, in which students construct an adaptable pedal-powered machine that can be used to run anything from a blender to an electric generator to a water pump. (FYI: These pedal-powered devices are actually used in some third-world countries to pump water from wells.) Then there is the Forest Gardening Workshop in which students can learn to create edible food forests. Medicinal herbs anyone?
The cost of each course varies according to its length and nature. The 5-week Permaculture course ranges from $1,750 to $2,850, while the 3-day course on building your own earthen bread oven is $400, which includes lodging, organic meals, instruction and course material. In addition, Aprovecho offers one-day courses, such as the forest garden workshop ($50), half day courses and field trips for school-age children.
So whether or not you’re really interested in building that earthen floor, taking a course on low-impact living might be a fun and educational way to spend a weekend.
