Skip to content
  • About:
    • Two Organizations in One:
      • Wild Willpower PAC – America’s first “Civil PAC”
      • The Peaceable Assembly
    • Prime Directive
    • Our Code of Ethics
    • Endorsement Letters:
      • Co-Founder & Former President of the California Lichen Society, Bill Hill
      • Richard Lonewolf, Ethnobotany and Wilderness Survival Expert
    • Special Thanks:
      • Kevin Ray Byrd
      • Jason Baker, Tech Support
      • Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo, M.M.L. (1939-2010)
      • Bill Hill & The California Lichen Society
      • Ashawna Hailey (1949-2011)
      • Samaritans of the USA
      • To All the Tech Nerds
  • Articles:
    • Sondra Wilson files ~$10M claim against the State of Iowa, calls for Class Action Lawsuit on behalf of Transgender Iowans
    • Story County GOP bars public from attending meetings following Civil Rights Complaint
      • Letter to Story County GOP – 8/23/2023
      • Federal Civil Rights Complaint filed against Republican Candidates in Iowa
    • California Cases:
      • Robbed by Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies
    • Standing Rock Class Action
  • National Plan:
    • Right to Homestead Act:
      • “Who Owns Ames, Iowa?” – upcoming documentary
    • Civilian Restoration Corps:
      • Ecological Restoration:
      • Sustainable Cities
      • ** History & Purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps
    • Justice Accessibility Act:
      • Teach Jurisprudence in High Schools
      • Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Color of Law Crimes
      • Government Officials Must Provide Email Addresses
      • Additional Justice Reform Solutions
    • Weaning off fossil fuels
    • Education Reform:
      • Offer Local Native Language Courses in All U.S. School Systems
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Train Wildharvesting Cooperatives
      • Teach Accurate, Non-Bias History in Schools
      • Teach Sustainable Gardening in Schools, Use Produce in Lunch Meals
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Teach via The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • Swords to Plowshares Act (international policy)
  • Candidates:
    • Sondra Wilson for Iowa Governor
    • Join Wild Willpower – run for something
  • Service Projects:
    • “Civil Rights Self-Defense” legal self-help website
      • Stop Courtroom Abuse!
    • “Gardens Across Iowa!”; an Urban Gardening Movement
      • Ecological Restoration:
      • Homesteading Starter Kits:
      • Highly-Efficient Gardening Techniques:
      • Clean Energy Inventions:
      • “Simple-Tech” DIY Home Improvement Techniques:
    • Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
      • Donate a Book – Help Build The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
  • Publications:
    • “More Valuable Than Gold” Ethnobotany textbook
    • “The Hidden History of Law” textbook series
    • “How to Legally Claim Abandoned Real Estate”
  • Donate
Wild Willpower PAC
  • About:
    • Two Organizations in One:
      • Wild Willpower PAC – America’s first “Civil PAC”
        • Sondra Wilson, Founder and Executive Director
          • 7-7-03: The Journey Begins
      • The Peaceable Assembly
    • Prime Directive
    • Our Code of Ethics
    • Endorsement Letters:
      • Co-Founder & Former President of the California Lichen Society, Bill Hill
      • Richard Lonewolf, Ethnobotany and Wilderness Survival Expert
    • Special Thanks:
      • Kevin Ray Byrd
      • Jason Baker, Tech Support
      • Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo, M.M.L. (1939-2010)
      • Bill Hill & The California Lichen Society
      • Ashawna Hailey (1949-2011)
      • Samaritans of the USA
      • To All the Tech Nerds
  • Articles:
    • Sondra Wilson files ~$10M claim against the State of Iowa, calls for Class Action Lawsuit on behalf of Transgender Iowans
    • Story County GOP bars public from attending meetings following Civil Rights Complaint
      • Letter to Story County GOP – 8/23/2023
      • Federal Civil Rights Complaint filed against Republican Candidates in Iowa
    • California Cases:
      • Robbed by Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies
        • California Man faces Fabricated Charges used to Further County Fraud
        • If an Officer violated your rights – who would you report the incident to?
        • Kern Cty. Sheriff’s Deputies Disregard Couple’s Adverse Possession Claim, Arrest on False Pretenses, and Dispossess Them of Property
        • Involved Parties
          • Record Owners – John and Cheryl Ross
          • Kern Cty. Sheriff’s Deputies – trespassing, forcible entry and detainer, constructive fraud
          • Neighbors who Robbed Us following the Ouster
        • Our Redress of Grievances
    • Standing Rock Class Action
  • National Plan:
    • Right to Homestead Act:
      • “Who Owns Ames, Iowa?” – upcoming documentary
    • Civilian Restoration Corps:
      • Ecological Restoration:
        • Native Animal Cooperatives
        • Oceti Sakowin Heritage Trail
        • Wildharvesting Cooperatives
          • Kern River Wildharvesting Cooperative
            • Bulk Native Foods and Herbs, and Backpacking Mixes
            • Our Commitments:
              • Coordinate Respectfully with Forest Officials
              • Uphold The Zero Trash Commitment
              • Use Positive-Impact Harvesting Techniques
              • Wildfire Prevention
        • Paid for by gradually transferring livestock subsidies
          • The Devastating Ecological Impacts of Non-Native Animal Industries
          • Animal Abuse & Subjugation in the Current U.S. Economy
      • Sustainable Cities
      • ** History & Purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps
    • Justice Accessibility Act:
      • Teach Jurisprudence in High Schools
      • Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Color of Law Crimes
      • Government Officials Must Provide Email Addresses
      • Additional Justice Reform Solutions
    • Weaning off fossil fuels
    • Education Reform:
      • Offer Local Native Language Courses in All U.S. School Systems
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Train Wildharvesting Cooperatives
      • Teach Accurate, Non-Bias History in Schools
      • Teach Sustainable Gardening in Schools, Use Produce in Lunch Meals
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Teach via The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • Swords to Plowshares Act (international policy)
  • Candidates:
    • Sondra Wilson for Iowa Governor
    • Join Wild Willpower – run for something
  • Service Projects:
    • “Civil Rights Self-Defense” legal self-help website
      • Stop Courtroom Abuse!
    • “Gardens Across Iowa!”; an Urban Gardening Movement
      • Ecological Restoration:
        • Native Animals, & Organizations Involved in Their Restoration:
          • Plains Bison & Wood Bison Restoration – Get Involved
          • Elk Restoration – Get Involved
          • Pronghorn (Antelope) Restoration – Get Involved
          • Woodland Caribou Restoration – Get Involved
          • Bighorn Sheep Restoration – Get Involved
          • Mountain Goat Restoration – Get Involved
          • Porcupine Restoration – Get Involved
          • Prairie Dog Restoration – Get Involved
        • Native Prairie History, Ecology, & Restoration – Organizations (& Processes) Involved
      • Homesteading Starter Kits:
        • “Cold Frame Plants”: Broccoli, Cabbage, & Cauliflower
        • “Full Sunlight, Low Water”: Eggplants, Okra, Sunflowers
        • “Ideal For Raised Beds”: Asparagus, Carrots
        • “Leafy Greens” (& Spices of similar care)
        • “The 3 Sisters”: Corn, Beans, & Squash
      • Highly-Efficient Gardening Techniques:
        • How To Propagate Fruit & Nut Trees From Cuttings
        • Yard & Soil Preparation
        • *Wise* No-Chem Pest Control
        • Glass Jar Seed Starters
      • Clean Energy Inventions:
        • Ingenius Wind Energy Inventions
        • Innovative Solar Solutions
        • Water-Powered Energy Inventions & Purification Systems
        • Charge Your Electronics Using The Heat of A Campfire
        • Inventions That Clean Up &/or Process Trash
      • “Simple-Tech” DIY Home Improvement Techniques:
        • 7 Ingenius Uses for Salt
        • Vegetable Storage- for Best Results
        • Cob Housing- mixing mud to work like clay for walls, etc
        • Join ‘The Zero Trash Commitment’
        • Build Your Own Low-Cost Swimming Pool
    • Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
      • Donate a Book – Help Build The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
  • Publications:
    • “More Valuable Than Gold” Ethnobotany textbook
    • “The Hidden History of Law” textbook series
    • “How to Legally Claim Abandoned Real Estate”
  • Donate

Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo, M.M.L. (1939-2010)

    Wild Willpower would not have been designed nearly as efficiently or ecologically-considerate without many insights learned from San Jose State University‘s Professor Frank Schiavo (1939-2010).  

    “Frank” (as he preferred to be called) helped change & evolve Silicon Valley’s environmental standards after living an inspiring & dedicated life- the Environmental Studies professor was known for “walking the walk” for several reasons:

  •  He & Sigmund Beck  built California’s first passive solar design home, & after being challenged by The City of San Jose because they believed “it did not meet Fire Code”, he met with City Council & was able to overturn their decision- thus legalizing Passive Solar Design Homes for us all.
  • When The City of San Jose said that Frank could not “paint his roof white” (which he was doing to conserve energy) because roofs had to be “earth tones” as they called them- black, brown, dark blue, dark green, etc.  He challenged this ruling, calling it “Arbitrary & Capricious” in court, & won- thus legalizing the “cool roof“).  He then measured the temperature of his loft space with his neighbor’s identical loft space under a dark roof, & he found his house stayed eleven degrees cooler during the summer, with no change in winter!
  • After maintaining a “zero trash home” for over 20 years, The City of San Jose passed a new ordinance which required residents to pay the same amount “whether they filled “one trash bag or nine”.  He refused to pay his $15/month garbage bill because he wasn’t producing garbage.!  Frank argued “because the people did not vote on it, the garbage service cannot be considered a tax- its not a user service I require.
  • He educated students for over 30 years, & gave tours of his “nearly off the grid house” to around 90 students per week from various schools & organizations for many years before his passing on January 26th, 2010.

    When Frank & Distance (Wild Willpower’s founder) first met, both had been upholding a “Zero-Trash Commitment” for several years – one of the many ecological commitments they would share in common.  He invited her to teach alongside him as a guest speaker at both San Jose State University & De Anza College, & for the last 4 years of his life, the two of them would give tours to about 90 students/week of his revolutionary home at 1186 Bayard Drive.  Here’s a video of him giving a tour of his amazing environmentally friendly home:

Touring an eco friendly home with Frank Schiavo by smtvfreevideos

The Story of “The Zero Trash Commitment”:

    For more than twenty years, Professor “Frank” Schiavo maintained and campaigned “The Zero-Trash Commitment”.   Frank is San Jose, California’s  renown trailblazer of the Earth Conscious- or “Environmental” movement.  

    Frank would purchase fresh organic produce as well as reuse bags for the bulk section over and over again (including twist ties) for over 30 years in the middle of one of the United States’ largest cities,

   Besides adamantly reusing bags, he also composted & recycled everything!  After about a week, he would have about a handful of garbage, which he would crumple up & put into the city garbage can.  “I pay taxes too!” he would say.    Here’s an old yearbook picture of Frank teaching about recycling “before it was cool”:

Frank on World News Tonight:

Frank on CNN:


      Eventually after he gained more public exposure, & stayed his ground, the City of San Jose realized he was correct, and Frank won!  Because he was recycling, re-using bags at the bulk section, purchasing fresh organic produce, gardening, AND composting, he freed himself from ever having to pay for his garbage bill again!  Frank truly had

One of Frank’s Favorite Songs, very fitting:

Some things Frank taught:

    The definition of an “extractive industry” is any industry which requires perpetual extractions of resources in order to operate (ie gas, coal, natural gas, nuclear).

    The opposite of “extractive industries” are “single extraction energy generators” , which require only one single extraction from the Earth, such as solar panels, wind turbines, tidal turbines, & so on.

      Weak, frail bags, styrofoam, & plasticware all all examples of “extractive industry packaging”.

   REMEMBER – don’t come down on yourself for not doing good enough, but just do the very best you can considering your circumstances.

    Rather than selling everything wrapped in garbage, companies are now switching to bulk sections in order to eliminate waste on the consumer level!  Here’s a photo from the beautiful, clean bulk sections @ Casa de Fruta; just west from I-5 on the 152 toward San Jose about 10 miles on the left.

    By re-using durable bags in bulk sections, one can eliminate waste on the consumer level!

    If your company is seeking bulk suppliers or if you are a bulk supplier who would like to promote via our online store, please contact [email protected].

    If you are looking @ 2 products, & one has plastic, styrofoam, or metal packaging, & the other packaging is made from paper; go with paper whenever possible!  Paper scraps can be burned, which means using less trash bags.

HELPFUL GREEN TIP!  

    Sometimes there ISN’T a water button at the soft drink dispenser in the gas station for fast food restaurant, etc.; IN THAT CASE, fill your container with ice & then use the hot water button on the coffee dispenser to get cold water.   

     Please consider purchasing a reusable canteen:

   “Package management jobs” (i.e. creation of packaging, mining of products to create packaging, garbage services, etc.) create a negative-value on our economy, as they cause more work for less product.  They are like resistors in electronics, & de-value our currency, creating a negative-value on every product by paying the “resistor job” of package creation & removal.

“Odin'” by Distance Everheart  recorded by James Heyser @ Lighthouse Recording Studio (listen close to verse 2)- Frank is the “rock”:

http://ourlandstoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Odin-for-website.mp3

 

     Want more help?  Here’s  a great video from one of our favorite stores, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative in San Francisco:

Articles about Frank:

Thorough article on SanJoseGreenHome.com by Tadas

Article about his passing by Lisa Fernandez

Thorough article with words from students by Isaiah Gunzman in The Spartan Daily

Really nice memoire in the Contra Costa Times by Lisa Fernandez

Sierra Club article by Glen Martin highlighting the passive solar design structure of Frank’s home

“San Jose Loses 2 Heroes”; Honourable Mention of Frank by The San Jose Peace & Justice Center 

Notice Regarding all Campaign Contributions

Wild Willpower PAC is a nonpartisan “nonconnected PAC”, registered with the IRS as a 527 tax exempt political organization. Contributions will be used to directly and/or indirectly influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of individual(s) to federal, state, and local public offices, and to offices in political organizations. Wild Willpower only promotes candidates who align themselves with our National Plan. Due to FEC restrictions we may not accept contributions from foreign nationals.

Notice regarding all political Campaign contributions made through this site:

Wild Willpower PAC is a nonpartisan, “nonconnected PAC”, registered with the IRS as a 527 tax exempt political organization; the first registered "Civil PAC" in the nation. While many PACs primarily focus on getting candidates elected (or not elected), Wild Willpower PAC utilizes campaign contributions toward Service Projects to help the general public. We are non-partisan because politics ought be about good ideas and benefiting society as a whole rather than "turning one group against another group". Politics today have become too "sports team mentality" - people support their side for better and for worse even when it is unjust to do so - and that's where Wild Willpower draws the line. We seek credible information, and to evaluate nuance prior to planning our trajectory, and we sincerely invite you to join us. If you see anything within our National Plan, Service Projects, or case work which could be improved, email [email protected]. "We the People" can co-create the best national plan possible. Notice that although campaign contributions ("donations", "contributions", "profit from sales") will be used to directly and/or indirectly influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of individual(s) to federal, state, and local public offices, and to offices in political organizations,we primarily uses funds to finance Service Projects to benefit the general public. Wild Willpower PAC only promotes candidates who openly align themselves with our National Plan and Service Projects. We believe that "We the People" need to coordinate more directly with candidates instead of simply voting for whatever they're trying to sell us - and that is why we registered the first Civil PAC in the nation. Due to FEC restrictions we are required to inform you that we may not accept contributions from foreign nationals.

Paid for by Wild Willpower PAC. 4733 Toronto St. Unit 112. Ames, IA 50014. Treasurer: Sondra Wilson. @ 2011 Sondra Wilson