"Bio Gas Session at ECHO Global Farm" - Waste Not, Want Not: Relational Summary 3

Yesterday I got to see Jerry Comellas (a USF Global Sustainability graduate who works with https://www.facebook.com/rosebudcontinuumand https://www.facebook.com/SolarCITIES/) talk about biogas digesters in MY town, FORT MYERS!! Woohoo!!! He spoke at ECHO Global Farm's 25th Annual International Conference (which is an amazing event every year). Is anyone else attempting to build one of these beasts for the first time? Im totally intimidated, but Im thinking of giving it a try this coming year.

What struck me about the November 6th lecture was the relaxed conversation at the end of class between Dr. Culhane and the presenters from Haiti.  I always enjoy the excitement and passion of the Haitian culture--two things that Dr. Culhane has no shortage of either!  The conversation had such a beautiful, lively tone as it touched on the spirituality of "residuals" (notice I dare not use the word "waste"!).  Someone asked if a God who created such a wonderful, complex world, would also create "waste" defined as a bi-product with no further use?  Dr. Culhane's answer reminded me of the law of conservation of matter, only one step further.  Everything re-evolves into other forms while maintaining the same amount of matter, but what if it were all useful?  What if waste were not a thing? What if we just need to form it into a useful state and pair it with the specific environment that it will improve upon, rather than degrade?   What a revolutionary idea! 

I believe the problem is not the residual products themselves, but rather how we, as humans, handle them.  We can do "our part" and recycle and shop responsibly, but this is the tip of the iceberg.  I am interested in how we get to where there is no "cradle-to-grave" product lifeline because everything is used in constant circles.  Isn't this the way nature intended?  Nature functions, it thrives, on circles of life.  Nothing is wasted in the natural world.  Nothing.  Therefore, we humans are failing because we have created a system that does not work.  It is a system where we only see a small part of the life of our stuff and we turn a blind eye to the rest of it.  

Watching the session on bio gas digesters yesterday was thought-provoking.  We can take the nastiest of waste (old food, animal manure, even human feces) and turn it into useful fertilizer AND methane gas for cooking.  It sounds crazy, looks weird, but kind of feels right. I watched Jerry Comellas light a blue flame on an open grill and place a pot on top as he casually answered questions.  The bio gas digester had been rigged with a tube to run the grill--no propane tank or electricity needed. Im not sure which I enjoyed more: the presentation or the looks of wonder (tinged with disbelief) on the people's faces.  Once again I am inspired.  We can do better.