10/10/10

Follow Tom and Family as they build the AltShift Home in New Zealand

Clear the Air Challenge

Utah's Governor has challenged us to eliminate 300,000 single-occupant vehicle trips, averting 2 million miles and reducing 3.4 million lbs of emissions.

You in?

Click here to take the challenge

Antelope Island Clean-up

SERVICE AT ANTELOPE ISLAND ON SATURDAY, APRIL 24TH 9:00 AM
Come and join the Antelope Island Trail Patrol as they work on Mountain View Trail.
Volunteers will meet at the Lower Frary Parking area.
This event will start at 9:00 am until 12:00.
Please bring a hat, shovel, and plenty of water.
This event is open to the public and volunteers are needed so invite anyone you'd like.
PLEASE LET KATIE KNOW IF YOU WILL BE PARTICIPATING.

Doing Our Part to Assist Refugee Families

Assisting Refugee Children - A new semester at The Open Door

Being part of Atmosphere Altshift means that we do more that just self-manage an business focused on ecologically friendly operations, we also volunteer our time for various charities. For the last several weeks, a friend (Brandon Anderson) and I have been working with The Open Door assisting refugee children. The Open Door is a charity group put together by members of K2 the church. I must admit that I don't usually prefer to work with charity groups that focus on their faith. I mean no offense by this, but most refugee families that I have worked with have several other things to worry about when they first come to America. I would rather educate them on the various faiths and allow them to choose how they wish to be spiritual...after we've assisted them in being able to take care of themselves and their family members in America. These families are trying to figure out the basics of life; shelter, food, work, American culture, Enlish language, transportation, etc. and the one thing I believe they shouldn't stress about is what diety(ies) they should be worshiping. With that said, even though much of the educational material for this program is Christian based, this group of peple has been extremely good to work with and their program has a greater purpose of assisting the children with their English comprehension, reading, and social skills.

Along with reading with the children, I took on the roll of bike repair person...this was one way I was able to motivate some of the children to read. I would offer bike repair services which would motivate the children to show up every week to either pick up their bike, replacement tubes, or repair parts. The local area must be loaded with tumble weeds, it is nearly impossible to remove all thorns from the tires...even after a day or two of riding. I just got into the habit of removing the tire, inspecting it for thorns, removing all thorn stubs, and replacing the tube. I literally picked out 39 thorns from Esperance's (below having fun with the crafts portion of class) tire and she had only been riding on it for a week. As I mentioned, new tubes are a necessity or we could ideally change the wheels out for tubeless sets.


Below is an example of one of the reading groups, we tried to put children together with similar comprehension/reading skills or similar age groups. As one group of children sits together to read, the other is either in crafts or playing games with other volunteers.


I love getting blown away, one of the refugee children, Rerah (first picture in this blog post)...from what I could assess, is def and mute which made reading with him very difficult. Even basic communications were not easy. Although, he immediately began mimicing me as I repaired various bikes. He would watch me remove a tire and pull a tube then he would do the same to his or another kid's bike in need of repair. His level of intelligence is beyond comprehension and he is thoroughly enjoyable to work with. As soon as I get some free time, I am going to get him his own tool set so he can complete some basic repairs on his own. Having to deal with any sensory limitations has made him extraordinary is several other aspects.

Even if it is a few weeks into the semester, it is never too late to spend a few hours helping those less fortunate. If this is of interest to you, please contact The Open Door using the below e-mail address.

What do we do: Assist refugee children by assessing their reading and comprehension skills so you can get them into groups of children with similar skills. Reading to refugee children, help them with art activities, having fun with them, escorting them home after or with dinner.

How long does it take: 2-5 hours a week. It all depends on how much you want do to assist these children.

Where does the assistance take place: The Dream Center Super good place that has many other opportunities for volunteering.

When do we volunteer: Usually Monday nights from 5:30-6pm until 8-9pm. The time is usually flexible and can vary based on the agenda for the day.

Whom to contact if you want to help: Susanna Metzger at opendoork2@gmail.com

That is it for this week. I will update you all with the Bhutanese refugee family that we are fortunate enough to work with. I am taking them to a Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, UT...should be a fun experience for all.

Volunteer Projects

Alt Shift had two projects at Outdoor Retailer that were donated to non-profit organizations:

Josh Smario and Katie Hansen (Employee Owners), so happy to be at the install

Splore: A 5x10 booth space was donated by VNU, that manages Outdoor Retailer and the partners at AltShift donated the time for install and dismantle.

Jen Murphy (Atmosphere Employee & Volunteer)

Medicines Global: A 10x20 booth space was donated by VNU, Keen donated the money for show services in addition to their ongoing corporate sponsorship for the organization and AltShift donated the transportation, install and dismantle labor as well as some additional assistance with graphics and merchandising.

Please visit the web sites of these two great organizations and take part in the great programs they offer.

Katie and Josh: Working hard to look like we are working hard....

Outdoor Retailer News

Here is what has been happening:

-The new AltShift web site was launched. Haven't visited? You should, we think it is fancy

-AltShift debuted their first 2 projects at Outdoor Retailer in January:

Prana:
Prana charged us with creating new retail display vignettes for the interior of their existing booth.




















Adopting the same design language used in the iconic hanging ropes, reclaimed wood fencing was attached to steel pallet racks and dressed with the highlighted product line hung on custom steel fixturing.



All graphics were printed on bio-board with water based inks, keeping with Prana's sustainability directive.


Prana's merchandising group came in behind us and did their magic to showcase the organic nature of their product line.












Keen:

Keen always does an amazing job communicating that you are not just buying a show, you are buying a lifestyle and their booth space and merchandising speaks to this mantra.

The marketing group at Keen renews their merchandising each show, and as leaders in the corporate sustainability movement, they enforce strict guidelines regarding material usage.
These two photo show wheat board and Dakota Burl shelving with re-bar or aluminum cabling as the support system.

Graphics were direct printed onto Tyvek, BioFoamboard, and OSB with water based inks.


Keen has been a great partner for us in terms of challenging our more playful creativity. We have recently been charged with creating 2 different versions of a prize wheel for them. How often do you get to build games? This was a fun project.




We also met the challenge of building stools from recycled bike parts and the feedback on these stools has been amazing!
We feel a little cooler knowing that Keen's CEO travels with one to his speaking engagements and those who visit his office will find their hind end in the hottest seat around.

International / R&D Committee Mission Statement

So this is available for all to review, I am posting the mission statement specific to the R&D Committee that was read at the last group meeting.

As a sub-committee of AltShift, International / R&D has a commitment to take environmental consciousness to the next level and to guide AltShift toward its mission in becoming the planet’s front-runner design/build group by promoting maximum consideration for our environment and reducing energy input to the least amount possible

It is our intent to promote an eco-design culture in the event, trade show and interior design spheres in which we are currently active, as well as facilitating expansion into other construction fields. We feel the first step in this process is to lead by example and begin to foster a newer business model that will investigate and promote low-impact design and construction.

Intention toward future action:

-Initiate an internal evaluation and make suggestions of ways the organization can function more sustainably on a daily basis.

-Research raw materials, production methods and transportation types that are nontoxic, natural, create minimal waste, and are sustainable. In doing so, we hope to attract likeminded clients

- Better utilize the resources of current clients that are making similar efforts and build alliances with vendors of green materials.

-Seek out trade shows and clients interested in reducing their carbon footprint.

-Recognizing that shelters for living are important and necessary design /build projects that can be created using the research and development lead by this committee

- Focus on regional materials, methods, and climactic conditions so all AltShift projects will be built with maximum consideration for our environment in reducing energy input to the least amount possible

Anyone need a CNG car

Hello everyone...I have 2 Bi-Fuel Chevy Cavaliers (CNG/Gasoline) if anyone is interested. they are '04 and '05 both with 15-20,000 miles @$8500.

A question filled with good humor :)

Thanks for the invite and ability to dialogue. Just wanted to post a Tree Utah volunteer campfire program tomorrow night with roasted pine cones on skewers. . . . seriously they are training tomorrow from 5:30 to 8:00 . . . contact jona@treeutah.org - to rsvp.

Does blogging count as community service?

The Community Service Committee met this morning and decided we needed a blog to keep track of our efforts going forward.

This will be our way of sharing our experiences, photos, feedback and tracking our ongoing service endeavors.

More to come...