ALTER Project Formation

“A vision without a task is but a dream, a task without a vision is drudgery,

The Alternative Living Technology and Energy Research (ALTER) Project was conceived by the late Dr. Robert A. Macoskey, SRU professorof philosophy, as a means to educate students and the public about ways in which they can make contributions to improving the condition ofthe environment through changes in their own lifestyles. Alter is a community-based organization of SRU which promotes the transition tosustainable systems through education, research and demonstration; its efforts have been focused on Harmony Homestead since its inception in1985.The ALTER Project provides historic continuity, a vehicle for MS3 alumni and community members to be involved with Harmony Homesteadactivities, and an outreach mechanism by which SRU can communicate the unique work underway at Harmony Homestead.MS3 graduates as well as community members, are involved in the quarterly publication of The ALTERNATOR, in addition to workshops inall phases of sustainable/environmental lifestyles. Assistance to students can be provided in integration into the bioregional community upongraduation or for internships. The ALTER Project also has limited financial resources available for MS3 student projects upon written requestand approval.In the future ALTER seeks to expand its interests beyond Harmony Homestead through networking in the bioregion, focusing on usingecological principles to create new systems and pathways leading to a more sustainable society. This sustainable society will be facilitated byway of a bioregional community-based service supported by the sponsorship of public forums and cultural and environmental events.

It was with the hope of doing something significant to brighten his own corner, but at the same time have fun and learn something, that Robert A. Macoskey began to create the ALTER Project. (Kris Macoskey 1992)

…from roughly 1972 to 1982 he was involved in an intense process of interdisciplinary interaction with with numerous people here on campus, in the community and across the planet – economists, sociologists, political scientists, biologists, chemists, geologists, educationalists, psychologists, and social scientists from academia; architects, engineers, gardeners, farmers, builders, welders, electricians, computer experts, and many others working outside in the ‘real world’. Though they differed in background and occupation, there were to things that bound them together. One was their interest in what Macoskey had to say and proposed to do; the other, their agreement that something had to be done urgently by humans to avoid catastrophe. Over a period of a decade, particularly in the dynamic exchange between experts and the eager minds and hearts of the students, there was born a rather remarkable project: Alternative Living Technologies and Energy Research of the ALTER project.

…Macoskey’s vision included two sides. The first mentioned was an energy-efficient building complex to be constructed on approximately 100 acres of marginal farmland on the eastern side of SRU’s campus. In that physical site was to be carried out research in earth-sheltered and passive solar technologies, as well as non-polluting coal systems, bio-mass technology and photovoltaics. Also, agricultural experimentation on a large scale organic gardening, greenhousing, hydroponics, aquaculture and combinations of these.

But this physical plant was not primary in Macoskey’s and the ALTER Project’s perspective. Much more important was the second mentioned need of a community of human beings. For he saw quite well that the key to this new way of living was in the communal relationships of those working together to make all these details a reality. (Theodore Kneupper 2002)

After determining the direction he wanted to go with the project, he and his wife embarked on a nationwide tour to see what was happening elsewhere. They covered 9,000 miles by plane, car and van between August and November 1982. They focused on facilities located above the 41^st parallel and at high elevations where temperature was similar to western Pennsylvania. (Kris Macoskey 1992)

Lunch with Stuart Hill, world authority in ecological agriculture: natural pest controls, green houses, soil evaluation, planting crops (apples) at alternate times to avoid pests, the complexity of kinds of crops and repeating procedures to ensure benefits.

Common Ground Fair - Windsor, Maine – display of energy conservation techniques, low flow toilet and showers, instant hot water heaters, “free flow” stove.

Made contact with the Nearings. Met them at their house Oct. 3^rd. Had a tour of the house – clivus multrum, green houses and gardens. They eat mostly raw foods – vegetarian – no bread – wooden bowls and spoons. We had a meal of soup with onions, broccoli and tomato. There were fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, celery and carrots from the garden. Dessert was peanut butter and honey in the bowel mixed with wheat berries, soaked overnight and cooked slowly in the morning. Then apples added – very filling. Learned of Scott’s trial – lovely visit.

Coolidge Institute – Top Field, Mass – River Hill farm tour. Showed stressed soils and advantages of black plastic. Good hand tools made in England.

Hendersonville, North Carolina – Mother Earth Eco Village- cold frost – log cabin demo – solar and earth shelter house and greenhouses – yurts and permaculture – alcohol fuel and wood fuel or gasefecation to run sawmill or engine

The earliest plan for the ALTER project was a comprehensive proposal for a $30 million megastructure,or as one local newspaper reported, the “Disneyland of agriculture.” The structure included residential space for 150 permanent staff and researchers, a conference center, classroom areas, a cafeteria, a pool, a gymnasium, and an experimental greenhouse, all based on and designed for energy efficiency and low environmental impact. Incorporation of composting toilets, graywater treatment systems, and photovoltaic arrays were just the tip of the iceberg. Macoskey’s idea was truly all encompassing. (Claire Anderson)

It must have been around this time that Robert A. Macoskey heeded the sage advice of Scott Nearing who, although impressed with Robert A. Macoskey’s imagination for the megastructure, had remarked that it’s best to “pay as you go.” Maybe that’s why he focused his attention on the little, abandoned farmhouse behind the football stadium.

Instead of a huge $30,000,000 complex, his group concluded that it would be much more feasible to focus on the renovation and retrofitting of the Patterson house, an old farmhouse located on university property. By March, 1989, a grant of $55,000 was obtained along with other money from SRU, which led to the work of transforming the Patterson house into what was first called “Harmony Homestead.”

By the time he had developed plans for the Homestead, Macoskey had come to recognize that the most satisfying integrating principle at its foundation was that of Permaculture. Permaculture is a term coined by Australian sustainabilists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren for the concept of Permanent Agriculture. Indeed, by 1988 Mollison had given two workshops on the principals at SRU to many of the ALTER participants.

The central idea was that of “a new way of arranging structures, trees, gardens, croplands, and animals for maximum production, less labor and the conservation of natural resources. In essence, a permaculture design mimics natural ecosystems, using ecological principles consciously in the design of self-sustaining, food, fiber, and energy producing systems, weaving together the elements of microclimate, annual and perennial species, water and soil management, and human needs into a harmonious, interdependent, and sustainable system.” (Proposal for Harmony Homestead, Nov. 8, 1988, p. 3-4.) (Theodore Kneupper, 2003)


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