C.A.T. - by Laurie

NOTE: Since I often leave a post in draft form for several days (like this one), it can come in below the latest post and thereby be overlooked. You may want to occasionally scroll down and see what you've missed.

My top priority for Wales was to visit the Centre for Alternative Technology (C.A.T.). The purpose of the center is to demonstrate and teach sustainable techniques but I didn't know much more about it than that. I was visualizing someplace like Real Goods in Hopland, which showed a major lack of imagination on my part. CAT was so impressive that the visit there alone made our entire trip worthwhile.

The first job was to get there, which proved to be a bit of a challenge. CAT is located in Machynlleth (pronounced ma-HUN-khleth)--trains went there every two hours plus an hourly bus to the Centre, which is 3 miles away. We wisely chose not to go on Sunday when there are only four buses per day. Even so, the connections aren't synchronized so it was 1.5 hours by train and about an hour's wait for the bus to get there, then almost a two hour wait for the train on the way back. But besides the fact that this small effort was totally worth it, we got 50% off the cost of admission for traveling by public transportation.

To get to the Centre you start by going up on the carbon neutral Water-balanced Cliff Railroad, which uses updated 150-year-old technology to drive a special tram almost vertically uphill. Every last bit of energy is wrung out of the water that does the work. The system is more complex than I could follow (so follow the link above for more info), but the friendly man who worked the train assured me that there were several levels of braking built in to make the railway fail safe.

There is no way that I could capture the thrill of this water-balance railway, the steepest in the world. It was almost vertical.

The 7 acres of grounds are absolutely beautiful--plants and flowers everywhere, as well as fascinating structures and other features: energy-efficient buildings, a restaurant, playground, greenhouse and vegetable gardens, pond, biomass facility, solar and wind power, hydroelectric and water purifying facilities, even a giant mole tunnel. This was all developed in the 35 years that the Centre has been at this abandoned slate quarry; old photographs show a barren landscape where this paradise is now.

Dale in the mole tunnel, a fun illustration of the importance of the small things under the ground.

We didn't have much time to explore because of the long journey back so I took photos of everything, especially the signage that involved the public in the discussion of sustainable solutions. I'll study them in more depth later. We also joined CAT, which made us feel good plus gives us access to their expertise. I came away highly inspired and motivated to spread the word about what CAT is doing and to step up my own local efforts to find solutions to the climate crises.

A few more points. The creativity shown here by a small group of people could certainly be replicated all over the world to find local-based solutions to our sustainability challenges. One of CAT's most important projects is "Zero Carbon Britain 2030" which uses the practical information collected from the Centre to demonstrate that Britain can achieve a zero-carbon society in a relatively short time. Closer to home, 350 Sacramento is currently developing plans for a Town Hall meeting in March 2014 to explore how Sacramento can become carbon neutral. If you would like to help us with the town meeting please contact 350 Sacramento.

Beautiful beyond description.

"There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience." --Archibald MacLeish