The last five years have been the hottest ever recorded. Sea levels are at the highest in human history . . . the point of no return is no longer over the horizon. It is in sight and is hurtling towards us.
The United Nations’ Secretary General, António Guterres, stated this at a press conference in Spain on Sunday, ahead of the COP25 Climate Change meeting. He continued, saying that the digging and drilling of fossil fuels must stop and we must use renewable and nature-based solutions. We couldn’t agree more.
The Low Technology Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and education organization. Our goal is to develop strategies to house, clothe, and feed ourselves when fossil fuels are a thing of the past.
Over just a few years, with a limited budget, we’ve carried out research on solar hot water heating systems, effective potato-growing methods, bee breeding, and more. In the coming year, we’ll be launching a polycrop study as well as what we’re calling “Foodmageddon.”
This year we hosted the first Sustainability Skill Share, bringing together dozens of teachers and students to learn about topics from rocket mass stoves to mushroom growing.
Giving Tuesday: Help Us Move Forward
Last year, approximately $400 million was raised on Giving Tuesday, and it is a big day for our fundraising efforts here at the institute. While some of our funding comes from grants, these funds are earmarked for committed costs: supplies and staff time. But we incur many other types of costs in order to bring free, open-source resources and offer low-priced, high-quality workshops to you.
While other sustainability and environmental nonprofits are doing important work to address today’s crises, we’re looking at the problems of tomorrow, when we no longer use fossil fuels.
Donations to the Low Technology Institute go a long way because we’re small. As a small nonprofit, we manage every penny carefully. It is easy to donate. Just click the link below to be brought to our online store’s donation option.
Target Your Donation
We’ve got a few projects coming up that could use some extra help.
Next year’s Foodmageddon project will not only simulate the loss of fossil fuels in our food system, we’ll be putting out a weekly webisode covering what we’ve been doing as well as podcast episodes to review the related research. This incurs significant staff and equipment costs. We’re also looking for partners to underwrite this research (please contact me directly if you or your organization is interested in this).
Our bee research is taking off next year as we expand our breeding project. While we’re seeking grant funds, any donations take pressure off of our staff, freeing them up to work on research, not grant writing.
We are also excited to get donations to our general operating fund, which is the most flexible account, letting us move money to where it is most needed. If you prefer to purchase items for us, you can see what we’re in need of at our Amazon wishlist.
Thanks for considering supporting the institute and its work.