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Earth Day: Slow Money
Apr. 20th, 2013 06:12 pmEven though I don't like crowds, I decided to check out today's Earth Day celebration, my excuse being that I've been wanting to walk the trails over at the old airport anyway now that it's spring time.
The flowers on the trail along I-35 did not disappoint: Indian blanket, black-eyed susans, several other yellow flowers including a lemon yellow one, blue bonnets, pink evening primroses, and something purple. The carefully manicured portion was nice, too, though the purple watering pipes were exposed. I especially liked the mounds of pink scullcap.
The trail bordering the Cherrywood neighborhood, however, was shocking. There was a little bit of pink evening primrose, but otherwise it was covered in nothing but beggar's lice. (This is a pretty white flowering plant that produces millions of tiny burrs and, even worse, apparently takes over the planet.)
The one thing I found interesting at Earth Day was Slow Money, which I'd never heard of. Their booth had stacks of copies of the book Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered. And they were handing out bookmark information sheets with a list of six local entrepreneurs we could meet who were seeking investments. They were going to show videos they had made in a conference room in the building next door.
The conference room did not have seating--it had tables lining the walls, one table per company. I felt like Darryl Zero in "The Zero Effect": "Talk? To people?" Fortunately, they have an online presence, so I watched all the videos there. Fascinating. Watching these is so much more fun than reading about too-big-to-fail companies and other evil politician-buying companies.
Note: there are several local branches of the Slow Money organization. Most of my readers would be most interested in Slow Money Austin; some in Slow Money Boston. (I don't see any in Canada.)
East Side Compost Pedallers - For $4/week, these guys will set you up to collect your kitchen scraps and other compostables and then pick it up weekly--on their bicycles--to make compost to distribute to local growers. Their bicycles are pretty cool--I got to see one at the festival. But I wish I could deliver my own compostables to a central location on my own bike for free.
South Austin Mushroom - They use sawdust and coffee grounds to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms, then provide compost to local farmers. They sell their mushrooms to local restaurants, one of which I have been to (Olivia).
Great Bean Chocolate - A lover of raw vegan food started making her own chocolate. I tasted the vanilla one, so I guess I'm super happy now. She was selling bars for $6 at her table--I'd rather get an herb-free version for a lower price. Tasty, though, if you like dark chocolate.
Ten Acre Organics - This is a hippie/geek's dream company, if it works. It starts with aquaponics - raising vegetables and fish together. It's like how Ben and Jerry's cows are fertilizing their own hay. But that's just part of it; the full plan for the ten acres seems quite ambitious. And/or hilarious.
Bona Dea - This company makes gluten-free grain blends which they then sell as mixes at Whole Foods but also for restaurants. I now want to try Hopdoddy's just to taste their hamburger buns. At the festival, I got to taste a cookie--it was ugly but tasty. But basically, anybody who encourages restaurants to use whole-grain hamburger buns is a friend of mine.
Coyote Creek Feed Mill - My favorite thing about this video is the Texas twang of the first speaker. Also, you get to see a herd of chickens.
Those were the winners of the video competition. I'm not sure you should judge local food companies by how good they are at making videos, but hey. Actually, I'm guessing the business plans of the losers seemed less organized or fleshed out, but their videos were no lest interesting:
Eco Chic Floral - A florist wants to start a distribution center for locally and sustainably grown flowers. The video is informative and I like her little dance at the end.
Hortaqua Agrihomes - Another one for the sci fi writers out there. "What if people could own a home that produces enough food and energy organically to insulate them from toxic GMOs, global warming, recessions, and depressions and frees them from debt slavery? That home is buildable today." The first half of this video is just words on a screen, though the speaker's accent is not as strong as Coyote Creek's speaker's. The second half is just pictures of plants.
East Side EcoHomes - can't see the video.
Util LLC (pronounced You-TEEL LLC) - They promote energy conservation and clean technology. This one is my favorite video because it is so out there. One product showcased is airborne wind energy via kite arrays. Another is mooonboxes(?), kits made from recycled corrugated plastic such as from old election signs, to make bike panniers (with shoulder straps) to help you do bike shopping. Also, learn what a shuckle is.
Thunderheard Bison - This video just says that when you are eating meat, you can taste what the animal has consumed. Some people can even tell what kind of grass the animal has been eating.
**
Unfortunately, it's not easy at all to figure out how to invest. The Austin branch has an investment club which will help you form your own investment club. There is other information on the national website--nothing looks particularly exciting (for example, you can earn 0.4% on one three-year investment).
The flowers on the trail along I-35 did not disappoint: Indian blanket, black-eyed susans, several other yellow flowers including a lemon yellow one, blue bonnets, pink evening primroses, and something purple. The carefully manicured portion was nice, too, though the purple watering pipes were exposed. I especially liked the mounds of pink scullcap.
The trail bordering the Cherrywood neighborhood, however, was shocking. There was a little bit of pink evening primrose, but otherwise it was covered in nothing but beggar's lice. (This is a pretty white flowering plant that produces millions of tiny burrs and, even worse, apparently takes over the planet.)
The one thing I found interesting at Earth Day was Slow Money, which I'd never heard of. Their booth had stacks of copies of the book Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered. And they were handing out bookmark information sheets with a list of six local entrepreneurs we could meet who were seeking investments. They were going to show videos they had made in a conference room in the building next door.
The conference room did not have seating--it had tables lining the walls, one table per company. I felt like Darryl Zero in "The Zero Effect": "Talk? To people?" Fortunately, they have an online presence, so I watched all the videos there. Fascinating. Watching these is so much more fun than reading about too-big-to-fail companies and other evil politician-buying companies.
Note: there are several local branches of the Slow Money organization. Most of my readers would be most interested in Slow Money Austin; some in Slow Money Boston. (I don't see any in Canada.)
East Side Compost Pedallers - For $4/week, these guys will set you up to collect your kitchen scraps and other compostables and then pick it up weekly--on their bicycles--to make compost to distribute to local growers. Their bicycles are pretty cool--I got to see one at the festival. But I wish I could deliver my own compostables to a central location on my own bike for free.
South Austin Mushroom - They use sawdust and coffee grounds to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms, then provide compost to local farmers. They sell their mushrooms to local restaurants, one of which I have been to (Olivia).
Great Bean Chocolate - A lover of raw vegan food started making her own chocolate. I tasted the vanilla one, so I guess I'm super happy now. She was selling bars for $6 at her table--I'd rather get an herb-free version for a lower price. Tasty, though, if you like dark chocolate.
Ten Acre Organics - This is a hippie/geek's dream company, if it works. It starts with aquaponics - raising vegetables and fish together. It's like how Ben and Jerry's cows are fertilizing their own hay. But that's just part of it; the full plan for the ten acres seems quite ambitious. And/or hilarious.
Bona Dea - This company makes gluten-free grain blends which they then sell as mixes at Whole Foods but also for restaurants. I now want to try Hopdoddy's just to taste their hamburger buns. At the festival, I got to taste a cookie--it was ugly but tasty. But basically, anybody who encourages restaurants to use whole-grain hamburger buns is a friend of mine.
Coyote Creek Feed Mill - My favorite thing about this video is the Texas twang of the first speaker. Also, you get to see a herd of chickens.
Those were the winners of the video competition. I'm not sure you should judge local food companies by how good they are at making videos, but hey. Actually, I'm guessing the business plans of the losers seemed less organized or fleshed out, but their videos were no lest interesting:
Eco Chic Floral - A florist wants to start a distribution center for locally and sustainably grown flowers. The video is informative and I like her little dance at the end.
Hortaqua Agrihomes - Another one for the sci fi writers out there. "What if people could own a home that produces enough food and energy organically to insulate them from toxic GMOs, global warming, recessions, and depressions and frees them from debt slavery? That home is buildable today." The first half of this video is just words on a screen, though the speaker's accent is not as strong as Coyote Creek's speaker's. The second half is just pictures of plants.
East Side EcoHomes - can't see the video.
Util LLC (pronounced You-TEEL LLC) - They promote energy conservation and clean technology. This one is my favorite video because it is so out there. One product showcased is airborne wind energy via kite arrays. Another is mooonboxes(?), kits made from recycled corrugated plastic such as from old election signs, to make bike panniers (with shoulder straps) to help you do bike shopping. Also, learn what a shuckle is.
Thunderheard Bison - This video just says that when you are eating meat, you can taste what the animal has consumed. Some people can even tell what kind of grass the animal has been eating.
**
Unfortunately, it's not easy at all to figure out how to invest. The Austin branch has an investment club which will help you form your own investment club. There is other information on the national website--nothing looks particularly exciting (for example, you can earn 0.4% on one three-year investment).