 |
 |
Live With Nature Oregon Permaculture and Green Building ExpeditionIf you've always wanted to build a better, greener world, this sustainable cycling adventure will put you on the right path. It's a golden opportunity to contribute your skills and learn some new ones at some of Oregon's best known eco-villages.
This trip is sure to be an experiential learning intensive for all those who participate. It's where theory steps aside and actuality begins. It's where the doing is the learning and the learning is in the doing. During this tour you'll see what happens when true community takes over and individual lot fences come down and combine to create a true intentional community. You'll have a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Harry MacCormack the legendary framer of the USDA organic standards, founder of the Oregon Tilth organic certificate organization and renowned educator. You'll be elbow to elbow with the man who helped make organic what it is today and even help him harvest and take his spectacular crops to a local farmers market.
You'll learn the practical how's and why's of a rainwater catching system, organic gardening, permaculture landscaping, a photovoltaic electric system, a passive solar hot water system, constructed wetlands, composting, fluorescent lighting, and natural building practices like straw bale walls, earthen plaster, passive solar design, and use of recycled and sustainably harvested lumber. You'll be building your knowledge as well with this up-close, hands-on living workshop so when you leave you'll be equipped to build a better world for yourself and your family.
Then we'll MOOOve on to meet with a dairy farmer at the well known Organic Valley Co-Op, maybe even pull up a stool and milk some cows! It's a taste of a sustainable alternative to an otherwise ecologically destructive industry. In our homogenized modern world it's a side trip to a time gone by and a delicious one at that.
For all of you who want to see and experience a simpler, greener way to live, our live with nature sustainability tour is a once in a lifetime expedition with knowledge that will last a lifetime. Don't miss it Click here for links to further information on our hosts.
Please note: The reality of host logistics makes it impossible to absolutely confirm an itinerary. The above are planned events but are subject to change as necessary. The one-week tour starts in Portland, and ends in Eugene. We recommend taking Amtrak from Eugene back to Portland -- bikes are allowed on the train, but advance reservations for Amtrak are needed as space is limited. Your tour package includes:
|
QUICK FACTS
|
We'll have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of educational hands-on activities. We'll work side by side with some of the region's best natural building communities and their creators. You'll pick up valuable first hand knowledge and time honored techniques, master skills no book or film could ever teach you and become part of building of a better, greener, more sustainable world
Along the way we'll be part of the permaculture transformation, helping to create a sustainable living system in an urban environment. 
We'll enjoy the natural beauty of ancient forest stands and learn about forest health and politics from an environmental watchdog group as we hike through an awe inspiring landscape 
For even more inspiration we'll learn about and work with natural building and green LEED techniques and structures from earthen buildings to cardboard geo domes to high-end LEED platinum and "net-zero" homes. You'll see that you can live beautifully and still treat the earth beautifully when you work with and not against nature. 