Welcome !
Aprovecho is a non-profit research and education center located outside of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our 40 acre rural campus is the classroom for our ongoing educational programs. At Aprovecho you will experience live working examples of Appropriate Technology, Sustainable Forestry, Organic Agriculture, Permaculture, and the interconnectedness that is shared by these systems and with the land.
We offer many different opportunities for learning through our Internship program, Permaculture courses, Americorps program, special workshops, apprenticeships, and volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in any of these programs, or would like to set up a private workshop for your school or group feel free to contact us
Aprovecho means “to make best use of” in Spanish. On our forty acres of south-facing slope, we are making best use of our resources by growing our food, processing our wood, and generating our energy. 
Aprovecho’s mission is to serve as a model of sustainability. Our model of sustainability relies on Permacultural design, appropriate technologies, and connecting with the greater Cottage Grove community. While our garden, orchard, livestock, and surrounding community provides us with fresh produce, we continue to seek ways to localize our food security . We cut, yard, peel, dry, and chop wood from our forest, and depend on a local sawyers and horseloggers to assist us in our processing of dimensional lumber. We harness energy with appropriate technologies via bicycle grinders, vegetable oil fuels, passive solar housing and heating, photovoltaic electricity, and efficient wood-combustion. Additionally through natural building techniques such as strawbale insulation, flat-sided small diameter poles for studs, and earthen plaster, we make best use of low-cost, locally available materials.
Appropriate Technology,
Sustainable Solutions
Appropriate technology (AT) can be defined as Technology that can be made at an affordable price by ordinary people using local materials to do useful work. At its core AT is designed for the people and by the people who will be the end users. Aprovecho has been developing and implementing AT both here on the Cottage Grove campus, and in more than 30 countries worldwide since 1979.
Aprovecho Campus - AT in our community
Here on the campus, Appropriate Technology brings us closer to a truly sustainable way of life. Our wood fired outdoor kitchen is stocked with many different types of fuel efficient cook stoves and ovens that are used day to day to prepare meals. The hot water for our outdoor showers, kitchen, and bath house is generated by low cost, easy to build passive solar panels. A 2.2 Kw photovoltaic array provides us with free electricity while the sun is shining. A bicycle powered flour grinder, a solar wood drying kiln, and a bio diesel lab are some of the other ways that we put Appropriate technology to use at Aprovecho.
Aprovecho Research Center- AT around the world
Aprovecho Research Center (ARC) is now based in a state of the art Laboratory facility up the road from the campus. ARC continues to build on 30+ years of experience in the design, construction, and dissemination of low-cost cooking and heating technology for use around the world. ARC offers consultations, emissions testing and evaluation, educational publications, instructional videos, and more. More info can be found on the ARC website www.aprovecho.org