Domestic Partners

One of the core values of the Ethos program is partnership.  We work with organizations across the country committed to the development of sustainable technologies, renewable energy, appropriate land-use, and community development. Our previous, recent, and current domestic partner organizations include the following:

APROVECHO - COTTAGE GROVE, OREGON

Aprovecho is a non-profit organization whose community of educators is a regional resource for researching, demonstrating, and educating the public on techniques and strategies of sustainable living.  Their mission is “Living, Learning, Organizing, and Educating to Inspire a Sustainable Culture.” Thirty years after its founding, the center serves as an inspiration for the hundreds of students, visitors, and volunteers who make use of its facilities.

BARUCH MARINE FIELD LABORATORY - GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA

Baruch Marine Field Laboratory (BMFL) supports research and education to improve the management of marine and coastal resources. BMFL is part of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, which is hosted by the University of South Carolina. Key projects that Ethos interns would be involved with are assisting local impoverished communities with green infrastructure engineering and construction, including rain gardens, outdoor classrooms, rainwater collection, and community gardens. Ethos interns will also be part of the Greening BMFL projects that involve decreasing the CO2 footprint of the seawater system, designing and implementing rainwater collection, composting, and raised bed gardening as a demonstration project. 

BETHLEHEM FARM - ALDERSON, WEST VIRGINIA

Bethlehem Farm is Catholic Community in Appalachia that transforms lives through service with the local community and the teaching of sustainable practices. Bethlehem Farm's focus is on social justice and the cornerstones of community, simplicity, prayer, and service. Students serve the surrounding community, learn about and from the people of Appalachia, and experience ways of practicing and living a sustainable life. Ethos students engage in projects that advance sustainability efforts and infrastructure (on the farm), and home repair infrastrucure (in the community) while engaging with groups of volunteers who visit for week-long service retreat experiences.

BLUE ROCK STATION – PHILO, OHIO

Blue Rock Station’s objective is to merge engineering, art, and re-use of existing materials. Blue Rock demonstrates a series of alternative building techniques and sustainable ways of living. Projects at the station include earthship buildings, straw bale structures, cord wood structures and much more. Blue Rock also has a series of garden projects.

BIG LAUREL LEARNING CENTER – KERMIT, WEST VIRGINIA

The Big Laurel Learning Center is a traditional mountain community that inspires celebration, education, and volunteerism as tools to promote healing and social change by providing education, outreach, and spiritual renewal, in solidarity with the people of southern West Virginia.

BURN DESIGN LAB – VASHON ISLAND, WASHINGTON

Burn Design Lab (BDL) is an improved cookstove research institution with experience in numerous types of home and institutional biomass-fueled cookstoves. BDL combines design, lab, and field testing in both local manufacturing, as well as in different countries to develop their products for a more sustainable tomorrow. Design and build efficient, durable, and culturally appropriate cookstoves through student projects focused on testing, CAD modeling, and prototyping. Engage virtually with manufacturers in low-resourced African communities.

HEART OF UNLIMITED BOUNDARIES (THE HUB) - WEST LIBERTY, OHIO

The HUB promotes meaningful relationships and a high quality of life for people of all abilities and from all backgrounds. The HUB empowers individuals with special needs through innovative and effective, person-centered, experiences that focus on go-karting and other driving experiences.

RICH EARTH INSTITUTE – BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT

Rich Earth Institute transforms the waste we all produce into a resource we all need. Through their Urine Nutrient Reclamation Project, they develop tools and technologies necessary for the collection, treatment, and agricultural reuse of urine to use as fertilizer for a more sustainable world. Ethos student projects focus on testing and improving urine collection/treatment systems and urine-based fertilizer research and development.