Earth Day festivities

I went to the 10th annual West Contra Costa County Earth Day shindig on Saturday. It's at the recycling center, but I didn't get to go on that tour. I toured the Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was just a little ways down the road. I've posted some photos on facebook, so if you're on fb you can check them out there. The power at the plant comes from three sources: methane captured from the contents of the sewers, solar panels, and from our local gas company. The stink was pretty bad in certain areas, and if I were to take students there I would suggest bringing a bandana to cover over the nose and mouth. Overall, though, it was really interesting. A good thing to see. Everyone should know where stuff goes when you a toilet.

Back at the main Earth Day event, I volunteered at a booth where we let people make paper from paper scraps. Just put the tiny scraps in the blender with water, liquify, pour the pulp over a screen, roll out water, and let dry on newspaper. It was kind of crazy, as it was very popular and there were not always enough volunteers.

Today, Forest and I made a classic cardboard and aluminum foil solar box cooker. It took longer than expected as we didn't boxes of exactly the right size and spent some time re-sizing our boxes. Still, a worthwhile endeavor. Forest is going to try it out on his balcony, which gets hot western sun.

I hope you are enjoying this lovely time of year, where the plant world seems to be noticeably changing every day.