based communities." The institute was a "fusion of technology and counterculture". Its members proposed to apply principles and design strategies from the biological sciences to technology in ways that would be economically and environmentally sustainable. Although the New Alchemy Institute dissolved in 1991, it has been described as "a catalyst of change promoting the development of new ecological design solutions, alternative technologies and methods of ecological food production and waste treatment." One of the approaches they developed was the concept of bioshelters, "greenhouse-like architectural structures containing ecosystems for various purposes: food for humans, waste purification systems, etc." Wendell Berry wrote admiringly: "The bioshelter idea, then, proposes to make a household on the pattern of an ecosystem, adapted to the local landscape and climate, using local materials... Its governing principle is symbiosis: the food production system heats the house; the fish tanks raise fish, heat the greenhouse, provide irrigation water and fertilizer for the plants." The idea that the wastes created in one part of a system provide valuable resources for another part of the system is fundamental to the design of such sustainable ecosystems. Ocean Arks International In 1981, Todd co-founded the non-profit Ocean Arks International (OAI). The original idea behind Ocean Arks was to build wind-powered vessels capable of carrying ecological materials and support technologies, for use in countries throughout the developing world. Such a vision was beyond the reach of the organization. Todd began to focus on other concerns relating to water, in particular the development of alternative approaches to conventional waste treatment. He applied ideas from aquaculture and organic agriculture to wastewater. His approach was to identify ecological pathways through which nutrients from waste could be recycled. Waste from one organism could become a food source for subsequent organisms, instead of being discarded as an unusable and toxic by-product. The first "Solar Aquatics System" (SAS) for wastewater treatment was an experimental pilot at the Sugarbush Ski resort near Warren, Vermont, around 1986. During the 1990s, Todd was involved in several attempts to start companies for the technologies he envisioned. The personnel, financing and technologies involved in these companies overlap in complicated and confusing ways, with each other and with Ocean Arks International. The term "Living Machines" was filed for registration as a wordmark in 1991, and was registered to Ocean Arks International in 1993 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Ecological Engineering Associates, Inc. Ecological