Alden Gray, an environmental studies major, at the University of Oregon campus.
Dec. 5, 2009
By Chris Parker
Alden Gray stands in the crisp autumn air with his hands up to his elbows in an aluminum trashcan. A cloud of white flecks float around him, potentially hazardous material that was removed from the gutted 90-year-old home he’s working on.
He wrestles a thick plastic tarp, separating paint chips and wood splinters that are possibly contaminated with asbestos. Lead-based paint has yellowed the tarp’s opaque white color, and the 26-year-old University of Oregon senior wears a gray respirator mask for protection. Two canisters on each side filter air, preventing him from breathing toxic dust.
Separating the hazardous material is just one more task on a long list for the renovation. Gray volunteers every Saturday to accomplish one goal: renovate the dilapidated home at 1801 Moss Street to create a low-impact house for the university’s Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living (CASL).
The concept was the 2003 brainchild of Jo Rodgers, a University of Oregon graduate from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. The student group works to create a resource center and eventual residence where the three
co-directors can live using sustainable systems such as gray water irrigation and rainwater collection.
Gray’s devotion to sustainability has not been a direct path, but his involvement at CASL has given him a leadership opportunity to demonstrate his skills and move forward with his ambitions to promote something he believes strongly in.
After graduating from high school, Gray took time to travel, driving across the United States and touring the Americas. He returned to his hometown, Corvallis, to attend Oregon State University, but found higher education frustrating.
The CASL house on Moss Street undergoing renovations.
“They wouldn’t let me study what I wanted to study. They made me study the [bull] they wanted me to study. I turned 21 my freshmen year of college and dropped out,” Gray said.
Gray then bought a plane ticket and flew to El Salvador for another international tour. While traveling between Panama and Columbia, he nearly died.
Under a full moon, Gray left from Panama City for Columbia at 1:20 in the morning while sleeping on the bow of a shipping boat illegally carrying passengers. He awoke with people crowding at the front of boat and putting life vests on. The boat was sinking. Worse yet, Gray had a burning 106-degree fever.
“The women were crying. The children were crying. We’re going down. Time to die.” He told the story with a humorous tone, his friendly blue eyes revealing an internal humor.
After recuperating for three weeks and finishing his travels, Gray returned to the United States and began working at Mt. Baker ski area in Washington.
While mopping floors, a friend asked him what he wanted to study when he returned to school. He told his friend he wanted to study cultural anthropology and use ancient cultural wisdom to enlighten modern society to live harmoniously with the environment.
Gray’s friend suggested that he should instead attend school for environmental studies.
“I said, ‘You know what? You are so right.’ So, I changed my major to environmental studies, and I applied to the U of O,” Gray said.
University of Oregon student Chris Pollard helps at the CASL house on Moss Street.
Gray enrolled at the University of Oregon, but despite his motivation, he was without direction. He described himself as just wading through general education classes.
During one class a friend invited him to a CASL meeting, giving him an opportunity to actively promote sustainability. Gray involved himself with CASL, and eventually he was elected a co-director.
With two senior co-directors above him, Gray could slough of his responsibilities, but he was forced to work more hours and assume his position as experienced members graduated.
“When they left, I had to step it up. I had to really start being the role model in the group, organizing it, setting agendas, facilitating meetings, corresponding with faculty and administration, sending out emails to our core. It became a full time job,” Gray said.
Now also CASL’s construction manager, Gray attends the general meetings with a pair of hiking boots, baggy jeans with frayed cuffs, and a brown hoody, emblazoned with a green recycling logo. His scruffy facial hair grows into a ragged beard through which a warm smile and a chuckle often breaks through.
The most recent issue afflicting CASL has forced the renovation of the house to a halt. The contractor who was advising the students on construction was removed from the project after his contract, submitted to Associated Students of the University of Oregon, was rejected.
The contract remains in bureaucratic limbo, but Gray approaches frustrating situations with diplomacy and calm; he has a passionate energy that fuels a strong charisma and ability to motivate.
At the university, student organizations try to gather support for their causes by speaking at the beginning of classes, but Gray does more. He bursts into full rhyme, rapping to inform students on CASL and sustainable living.
University of Oregon architecture major Chris Biwer volunteers at the CASL house.
“I think he has a really positive approach to living lightly, and attracting other people to living lightly on the earth. I think in general he puts of a real good vibe,” said Bob Jones, the faculty adviser of CASL, who has been involved since the groups beginnings.
Gray spreads sustainable practices without aggression, instead relying on communication.
“We’re really just trying to raise awareness to create a more aware consumer sense. To consume is to live. We can’t just be anti-consumers. We just have to be conscious consumers,” said Gray.
At fall term’s end, Gray will graduate, leaving behind CASL. But he hopes to use his experience to install sustainable systems in other homes, making it easy for the average person to live a sustainable lifestyle.
“We need to make it easy for people to make the right choice,” he said.
