Big Fall for Foundation and Friends
2008 was a tough year for The Forest Foundation, Forests of the World, Carolina Biodiesel and Greenway Transit. Forests of the World sales dropped dramatically in 2008 and we decided to back out of Fall tradeshows because of the rising costs, slowing economy and inability to gain enough value in the products to cover our carbon footprint, much less our salaries and overhead. The other tough news is that the Green Oil Campus has been slower to evolve that we expected, primarily due to a lack of financing from investment or lending. Though we had several volunteers and interns, the amount of energy and focus seemed too diffuse and too little for the tall tasks at hand.
The Cavitator reactor construction went smoothly and we spent a lot less than expected. However, the efficiencies were not gained in its operation, in fact, we lost efficiency, expending more methoxide and creating more glycerin that expected. As well, site costs for repair and maintenance started increasing, and with no development partners our cash flow dried up. The Phase II Assessment was completed and some issues were found with the site, particularly heavy metal and herbicide contamination. Our effort to purchase it has floundered as we have failed to find financing up to this date. Positive financials have remained elusive, particularly as feedstock prices climbed along with petroleum, and then prices collapsed making our hand-crafted fuel expensive. Diesel prices retreated 5 fold after the highs near $150 per barrel in August, right as we completed the reactor build and began to ramp up.
Bright spots were The Foundation received two grants this year, one from Frank Phoenix to help pay for our work with neighborhood kids (expenditures near $15K) and another from The Body Shop for our craft work internationally. We have received small donations, but the Foundation’s primary revenue stream has been the BCBC pump and fair trade handicraft sales, both which have slowed. We attended the Resourceful Communities workshop and retreat of The Conservation Fund and enjoyed the energy of the participants and all their cool projects in Nov. However, the triple bottom line mantra was hard to swallow, given the fact that our economy is a subset of our planet’s ecology. If folks don’t understand that, we are creating false models.
TFF exhibited in Oct. at the State Fair for the 15th year. Shifting gears to try to generate more income, we sublet space to green businesses both sign and marketing space, and created a Green Guide to the State Fair, which also launched a greening initiative, GreenNC. TFF met with Fair officials last year about doing more green things and it looks like years of preaching may have shifted them. TFF received support from Common Ground Builders, a green building supply company, and Stop Painting, a recycled plastics lumber company. Thanks goes out to all the volunteers, including Shane Maene, who helped run the booth, and of course MK, who, for yet another year, spent way too much time in the “sea of deep fried conservatism.” Marc did get to meet Kay Hagen, who unseated Dole, the do-nothing Republican Senator. Carolina Biodiesel picked up the contract to convert the State Fair’s waste oil into biodiesel and delivered the fuel to Department of Agriculture research sites in Butner and Goldsboro.
TFF exhibited, again, at both the holiday fairs, at the Judea Reform Temple and at the Resurrection United Methodist Church, and participated in a micro-lending fair at the Bryan Center at Duke. Sales were down across the board. Sadly, the Foundation was unable to attend its usual EENC and Green Festival Conferences, running out of money and energy this year. Marc rotated off the EENC Board to focus on trying to make a living and get the biodiesel plant built.
Greenway Transit by far had the best year, doubling its sales and acquiring a new Bus and luxury Mercedes, while paying down some of its debt. Greenway ran the transportation for a number of events, including the AASHE Conference in Raleigh, which had MK and Marc pulling 5 days of 18 hour shifts moving people from the airport to hotels to the new Convention Center and back. Thanks go to Dora and Ben who helped pitch in with running bus tours to Duke, UNC and NC State’s campuses. The crowd of teachers, students and administrators were awesome and we received accolades for our service and work as an organization. During the Conference, MK and Marc were recognized as NC Sustainability Champions by Sustainable NC.
Goals for 2009, survival.