GER3 continues to support recovery efforts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in response to the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano last spring. After two months of on-the-ground work, the impacts of GER3’s recovery programs are visible throughout the Sandy Bay area.
Over 45 homes have been cleared of ash and debris, allowing residents to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. In the process, over 70 people from the Sandy Bay community have received temporary income for their work on cash-for-work teams, providing livelihood support to a local economy that was decimated by the eruption.
In addition, GER3’s home rehabilitation program is progressing though the final selection phase and will soon begin work on a number of homes.
GER3 has also launched programs targeting local farmers, whose livelihoods were severely disrupted. Though six months have passed since the eruptions subsided, farmers remain unable to sow their mountain-side plots due to unsafe access and inhospitable soil conditions, precluding even subsistence-level activities.
In response, GER3 – in partnership with Luke Punnet of Richmond Vale Academy in St. Vincent – launched an organic compositing program that will draw upon local knowledge as well as the latest scientific research to teach and to learn about organic composting methods using locally available resources like volcanic ash and sargassum. This program thus converts local resources of no or negative economic value (ash and sargassum) into fertile soil without the use of chemicals or fertilizers, while providing livelihood support to local farmers.
Luke Punnet of Richmond Vale Academy discussing organic composting techniques with farmers.
Notwithstanding the great progress of GER3 and its partners, much work remains and GER3 will continue to help Sandy Bay and St. Vincent build back better.
I LOVE SHARING GOOD NEWS, specially after months of nerve-wracking news [COVID19, Volcanic eruption, ash fall, torrential rains, floods, lahars, tens of thousands of refugees, a tropical storm...]
We have SECURED a generous GRANT from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy [CDP] towards our Community Recovery and Reconstruction project which includes community capacity building, implementation of new sustainable livelihoods, circular economy up-cycling of materials & resources [including volcanic ash] and finally building back better by designing resilient engineered solutions and training local teams within the most vulnerable communities.
Would you like to get additional details about this amazing project?
Would you like to support this holistic project by volunteering your time?
Please do not hesitate to contact me at karla.pazsans@ger3.org
For DONATIONS towards this project, please go to GER3 website. [www.ger3.org]
Be the Change in the Messed up World | Rob Greenfield | TEDxIHEParis
My 44 Possessions: Everything I Own Fits in My Backpack | Minimalism
30 Days of Wearing My Trash
Rob Greenfield on Money, Health Insurance, Age and Death
Rob Greenfield is an adventurer, environmental activist, humanitarian, and dude making a difference. He is dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable and just world.
Rob is the creator of The Food Waste Fiasco, a campaign that strives to end food waste and hunger in the U.S. He has dove into more than two thousand dumpsters across the United States to demonstrate how nearly half of all food in the U.S. is wasted while 50 million (1 in 7) Americans are food insecure.
Rob has cycled across the U.S. three times on a bamboo bicycle bringing his message of sustainability and earth-friendly living to the United States. His first bike ride across the U.S. is also a book, Dude Making a Difference.
In 2016 he landed in Rio, Brazil without a penny in his pocket. He was on a mission to travel to Panama, 7,000 miles and 7 countries away, while relying only on the goodness of humanity. This adventure is a six episode series called Free Ride on Discovery Channelplaying worldwide. His travels have taken him to 6 continents and 45 countries.
Rob donates 100% of his media income to grassroots nonprofit organizations and his financial net worth is kept to a bare minimum. His financial vows are more than a list of resolutions, they speak to his steadfast commitment to live simply and live free. By living in this manner he aims to show that true happiness, health, and freedom do not come from an accumulation of money and possessions but rather from a deep connection to our surroundings, the earth’s resources that are freely available to us all, relationships, and love.
All of Rob’s extreme adventures and activism campaigns are meant to bring attention to important environmental and social issues and to inspire positive change. They may appear unattainable to some people but within them are an abundance of simple lessons and tips that can be adapted into any life to live in a manner that is beneficial to the earth, community, and self. Through his life he inspires others to make simple, small changes that grow into great change within them and society.
The Early Years
Rob grew up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in the small town of Ashland and had a passion for the outdoors from a young age. He spent seven years in Boy Scouts and achieved the top rank of Eagle Scout. In 2005 he left his hometown to attend University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where he earned a Bachelors of Science with a major in Biology, minor in Chemistry, and a focus in Aquatic Science. During his summer breaks he worked 80+ hours per week selling educational books door-to-door and learned the skills of sales and marketing. In 2011 he moved to San Diego where he started his own marketing company, The Greenfield Group.
During much of Rob’s teens and early 20’s his life was focused on money, nice possessions, and the pursuit of women. He had the goal of being a millionaire by age 30. His life took a great turn when at the age of 24 he started to become aware of the environmental and social issues of his generation. He learned through books and documentaries that he was contributing to many of these problems through his daily actions including the food he was eating, the car he was driving, and the stuff he was buying and consuming. At that point he began his transformation from a Drunk Dude to Dude Making a Difference.
He started with small changes such as shopping local, reducing the amount of trash he created, eating a more whole food, local diet, removing chemical products from his life, and using reusable bags and water bottles. Building on the success of these small changes he took greater leaps of change such as getting rid of his car, pulling all his money out of investments and banks harmful to the environment, and decreasing his dependency on money all together. Since he began his transformation he has adapted hundreds of small changes into his life in an effort to live for the benefit of many and to not harm the lives of any. In 2014 he canceled his last bill and since then has been living completely bill, debt, and credit card free. Over time he dissolved his company and started a nonprofit, Happy Healthy and Free.
Rob lived off the grid in a 50 square foot tiny home in San Diego, California. He grew his own food, lived purely on rain water (approximately two gallons per day), harnessed energy from the sun using solar panels, created near zero waste, and composted humanure (it is what it sounds like). After living this Teeny Greeny lifestyle for one year, Rob auctioned off his tiny house and raised enough money ($10,000) to build 10 tiny houses for people without homes in San Diego.
After five years of downsizing and simplifying his life he was down to just 111 possessions, all that fit into his backpack. He then traveled for two years in the service of others.
Rob is known by many as “The Trash man” for his month long project wherein he consumed like the average American for one month and wore all the trash he created. The purpose of this project was to create a shocking visual of how much garbage just one person generates.
His third bike ride across the USA, Green Riders – Good Deeds on Bikes, was joined by over 30 others, planting gardens and doing good deeds across the USA.
In 2017 he moved to Orlando to embark on his current project to grow and forage 100% of his food for a year. He lives in a 100 square foot tiny house that he built with nearly exclusively second hand materials with friends. During this time, he illustrates alternatives to the wasteful globalized food system. He also explores whether it is possible to positively influence such a system while living outside it.
Rob’s adventures and his life have caught the attention of the world and he has been featured on thousands of media outlets including National Geographic, BBC, CBS This Morning, Discovery Channel, USA Today, LA Times, The Guardian, Huffington Post and many more.
