Meeting at Warung Bambu on May 15, 2010

The Meeting was held at Warung Bambu from 3pm to 6pm. Burkhard, Johann, Beate and partially her husband Nana, my friend Teres from Portugal and myself shared the following topics and experiences:

Evelyn about Mind and Life Conference in Zurich, Switzerland, about Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems:
I was very excited to be at the same time in Zurich as the Dalai Lama and having the opportunity to participate in the above Conference which was accompanied by him. The Conference was held as a dialogue in 5 parts on 3 days between leading women and men from the fields of Economics, Neuroscience and Contemplative Sciences such as Philosophy and Buddhism. On the detailed proceedings of the conference please read this blog and find information about the Mind and Life Institute here.
picture
My highlights from the conference:
When I studied economics in the eighties, emotions and compassion were explicitly excluded from economic laws and the whole science was based on a egocentric view of the human being which only wants to maximize his own benefit. This view is changing. Finally altruism and compassion start to be included into economic science.
It is not only talking. There exist already many projects which are based on ethics, compassion and generosity like

• the barefoot college in India, which trains grandmothers from Africa and India as solar engineers within 6 months
• the Forma Futura Invest company which invests and manages funds based on 180 criterias including ethical and ecological ones
• big banks who suddenly invest in microfinance projects. ok, they do it because they realize that these projects are successful.

The conclusion that we are all connected and therefore everyone counts and is important. Start with yourself and be the change you want to see in the world.

Evelyn about her visit of Tamera Healing Biotope in Portugal:
Tamera is an experimental and educating site for the building of peace villages worldwide. It is located in the Alentejo, a very dry region in southwest Portugal, on 134ha of land. Currently more than 200 people live and study there. A part of the project is the permaculture design for a village with 300 people. The main issue in this region is the water supply. With 600mm/year there is enough rainfall, but due to mismanagement like overgrazing and roads built in the valleys the water runs away too quickly leaving the soil dry and causing erosion. Tamera asked Sepp Holzer, a permaculturist from Austria, for help and he immediately envisioned a landscape with connected lakes where the water can slowly sip into the earth. 2 years ago they started with building dams, moving the road and terracing the land around the lakes. Thanks to heavy rainfalls in the winter the lakes are already filled, the terraces are planted with various fruit trees and guilds of veggies. It looks like a miracle. Many wild animals are already attracted to the lakes. The river which usually went dry in summer runs now all year round. Yes, it can be done! Please find more information about Tamera on their website.

Beate told us that for a Visa to Germany you have to apply now at the embassy in Jakarta instead of Kuta. She went there and had a great time shopping.

Beate told us about her experiences from the participation at the Earth Day in Ubud. The theme was "what are you doing to make the world a little better". Many locals took part and were very motivated. Beate made valuable contacts. Her highlight was riding an electro bike through Ubud. She suggests that we take part next year with our group.

Beate has contacts to a group who wants to find and build trecking paths in Bali. How exciting to walk around Bali by foot. In the Algarve in Portugal they just finished the Via Algarviana, a walking path through the countryside to promote a sustainable development of the region.

BIWA wants to sponsor a digital mammogram machine at the cost of US$ 69000 for breast cancer diagnosing. Teres mentioned articles and studies that this does not prevent breast cancer. The only way to prevent breast cancer is a healthy lifestyle. So instead of investing money in an expensive machine it is probably better invested in promoting and educating women in a healthy lifestyle.

Burkhart informed us that in Lovina from now on only cow shit is allowed as fertilizer for rice.

We talked about how the meetings could be improved so that more people get interested and take part. The next meeting will be an excursion to the Temesi waste recycling project on Friday, June 18.

A visit in Sambirenteng. Minutes of the meeting on 15 April 2010

Last week a small group of us (Annett, Nyoman, Beate, Johann, Pak Suwenten and me Burgel) went to visit the building site of Holiway in Sambirenteng, north east coast Bali. Thank you Maria and Stefan for inviting us!
It's a large plot of land, a part will be built up with villas and the other part with bungalows. The concept is to create a place for "holidays with sense" in an environment friendly surrounding. Therefor buildings like seminar rooms for different kind of seminar and body work, swimming-pool and installations for waste water treatment and alternative energy are planned.
First we inspected the land protecting wall towards the sea. "Geotextil", a 100 year lasting material, is put in layers in that way, that soil is not washed away (and it even catches sand towards the land). To hold everything large volcanic stones are put to a wall with a slope. It is important to arrange the stones in the right way, then it will last a long long time. No concrete at all is added. For better protection vetiver grass with its very long roots is planted in a long line the whole length of the retaining wall. Hopefully the place is not too salty for this excellent land protecting plant.
Besides "geotextil" another interesting materiel is used there: a kind of styrofoam with both sides covered with thin aluminum. This is used as roof isolation to keep the coolness inside the rooms and to reflect the heat from the sun. Air conditioning is planned for the rooms, so with this isolation for sure energy will be saved.
Electricity from solar energy is planned for machines and devices which are used during day time, such as washing machines and pool pump. So, no need for batteries.
Johann recommended "Solahart" to make hot water with their solar water heater. The cheaper product line from Solahart is called "Handal".
For the waste water treatment they use the system from "IndoBio". 5 houses are joined together for one 3-chamber-system. One chamber has aerob bacteria, the other one anerob bacteria and the last one is with ozone. In the end the water is 95% cleansed and it will be used to water the garden. Too much toilet paper causes problems to this system. Unbleached toilet paper can't be found in Bali.(Does someone know where? Please tell us!) Therefor toilets with integrated hygiene "wiping" with water in stead of dry cleaning with paper are already ordered. Hopefully the future guests and owners will understand.
A nice lunch filled our hungry bellies before we were leaving this interesting site.

Bali, Greece, Africa, trees everywhere!

Remember the beautiful story by Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees, which Norm gave to us to read during or Permaculture seminar last year? Well, there are people who turn fiction to reality.
Please watch the following inspiring video about a man who planted one million trees in his homeland Ethiopia.
I started also, here in Paros, Greece :)
My warmest wishes to all of you

Permaculture-Excursion to the Bukit on 23rd of March 2010

On the 23rd of March a few of our club joined an excursion to the South of Bali to learn more about Solar-Energy.
Thanks to the kind invitation of Florian Nitsch from Contained Energy to meet in the R.O.L.E Foundation we all visited for the first time this place with great Education, Awareness & Assistance Programs. We were specially interested in the Eco Construction and Organic Agriculture.

At first we got information about solar energy, solar dryer, biogas and how to produce small torches from Jatropha oil. Sitting in the shadow on the top of the site in the nice ROLE café (with amazing view!)we enjoyed to discuss in detail all our ideas and question we had concerning solar energy. Thank you Florian for all the useful information and your time.
solar dryer

 

 

 

torches made of jatropha oil and kapok
 

We finsihed our visit in the R.O.L.E foundation after we got a guided tour through other parts of the area where we could visit the Spa and got explanation about Aloe vera, also very interesting the weaving program and the Organic Agriculture Site.
For sure it was not the last time we have been there.

Afterwards we visited the office of Solar Power Indonesia. Without having an appointment we were very lucky to meet the Engineering Manager who gave us also valuable information.

Battery Recycling

Waste Collecting Station in a Supermarket in Switzerland

Hello from Zürich in Switzerland where it is still quite cold and spring is only slowly taking command. I want to let you know about the souvenirs I carried with me on my trip from Bali to Switzerland. Because there is no battery recycling plant in Indonesia as far as I know I took the used batteries I had collected with me. It was about 2kg. Quite heavy but they didn't need a lot of space in my baggage.
In Switzerland exist 12000 battery collecting stations in various shops and supermarkets. There is a law which obliges the shops which sell batteries to take them back for free. The recycling costs are included in the price of the batteries. More than 60% of the sold batteries are returned for recycling with increasing tendency. Source of these facts: http://www.littering.ch/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=318
So I took the batteries to the nearest collecting station and deposited them there. Now wondering where they will go next. As I had heard of waste transports from industrialized countries to development countries I wanted to be sure that my batteries were not shipped back to Indonesia or another country or dumped somewhere into the ocean. I was very happy when my research led me to Batrec Industrie AG, a company situated in Switzerland specializing in recycling. All collected batteries in Switzerland go there and are recycled according to the highest quality standards.
For your used batteries I suggest, as long as there is no recycling plant in Bali or Indonesia, to collect them in our group and whenever I travel to Switzerland I will carry them there.

The Meeting in Pictures

opening the grease trap at Gaia Oasis

listening to Beate

wastewater garden at Gaia Oasis hillside

markisa or passionfruit at Gaia Oasis hillside

Aloe Vera growing at Gaia Oasis hillside

Beate and Mank, old team mates

Swimming Pool at Gaia Oasis hillside

Burgel really wants to know how this Pool Chemistry works

herbgarden at Gaia Oasis

view from Gaia Oasis hillside

Burgel, Markus and Burkhard discussing

wastewater garden at the home of Markus and Mank

finally...Rambutan-break

Minutes of the 13th Meeting on Feb 17, 2010

Beate organised again a day fully packed with exciting events:
- at Gaia Oasis, Tejakula and Abasan: waste water garden and organic vegetable gardens
- at the home of Markus and Mank: waste water garden and solar energy system
- at Renate's place: Aqua Fitness

When I arrived at Warung Bambu 15 minutes too early I met her munching homemade bread and cake and joined for a kopi Bali. Soon after Burgel und Burkhard arrived and the cake had to be saved for Beate's kids. At 8.30am the expected transport had not arrived so we mounted our motor bikes and headed eastward along the coast to Gaia Oasis where our host Sabine welcomed us with drinks, lots of fruits and these yummy belinjo chips. As there were some new faces around the table we started with an introductory round: Burgel, Carlos, Jenny, Markus, Beate, Mank, Burkhard, Sabine, Renate, Violetta and me. Welcome everybody! Great to see so many people interested in Permaculture.
For those not so familiar with Permaculture, find a definition here.

1. Soap nuts or krerek in bahasa
Beate told us about her first experiments in using them for washing, as dishwashing liquid and hair shampoo against dandruff. Better don't try to mix them in a blender as you can get explosive results with soap nut liquid splattered all over the kitchen!
Burgel gave us her recipe for using the soap nuts in the washing machine: soak about 12 nuts in water, open them, wrap them in a textile bag and put them into the washing machine. It is not recommended to reuse the nuts because most of the saponine will be rinsed off during the washing cycle. But they still can go to the compost heap.
Here you can find more information about soap nuts or just google soap nuts.


2. Waste water garden
Beate showed and explained us the waste water system at Gaia Oasis with the grease trap and the cleaning plant.
Most of the waste water of restaurants and hotels in Bali still go untreated to rivers and to the sea. Reasons for this might be ignorance and giving low priority to the issue by owners when investing. We all can help to build awareness of the issue by getting interested and curious and asking questions in the hotels and restaurants where we are guests.


3. Garden tour at Gaia Oasis Abasan
Sabine and her gardeners took us on a tour through the vast property. The Lontar palm indicates that the climate here is more dry than around Singaraja. We discussed the local way of composting: just digging a hole and filling it with organic matter and then covering it with earth. Very energy saving, but during the rainy season probably too moist and no oxigen. We opened a hole and found some sticky earth with rotted leaves, not bad smelling, but not as good as this crumbly, black, earthy smelling stuff from a compost heap. We still wonder how anaerobic composting works and why it is less recommended than aerobic composting. This is some homework, guys!
Another subject was the water treatment in swimming pools. How does a chlorinator work? What chemical processes and elements are involved? Some more homework! But even without understanding the pool chemistry the water in the swimming pools of Gaia Oasis looked very clean and refreshing and there was no chlorine to smell.
The garden beds were not mulched. Sabine explained that it is difficult to motivate the gardeners for mulching. They usually just put the cow shit on top of the earth. Does that hurt the plants or can this cause diseases in humans when they eat the plants?
During the tour the gardeners kept feeding us with freshly picked rambutans. The markisas were thriving and we passed beds of beans, corn, basil, aloe vera, salads and other greens and medicinal plants.
The first rain drops and a rolling thunder reminded us to head back to the restaurant. But not before we got that lemon basil plant that Sabine offered us for taking home.
Time to say Good-bye to Sabine and her gardeners, to Jenny, Carlos, Renate and Violetta who had other duties.


4. Visit at the home of Markus and Mank
After a stopover at a Warung down by the beach we went on to the home of Markus and Mank to see their newly installed solar energy system.
There are 2 providers for solar panels in Bali: Contained energy and Solar Power Indonesia. Markus brought some of his equipment like the inverter from germany. He explained us the main elements of his solar energy system: solar panels, car batteries, inverter and control unit. Well done! We all except Burkhard envy Mank for such a technically talented husband.

As it was already 4pm and the clouds looked heavy with rain I passed on Renate's invitation to water therapy.

Thanks a lot to Beate for organizing the day and to Sabine, Markus, Mank and Renate for hosting us.
Next meeting: Beate plans a trip to South Bali to visit the show room of Solar Power Indonesia. She will email the details.