Week before Earth Day 2010
Environmental Club members & supporters,
Earth Day is next Thursday! PSU Earth Week kicks off Saturday, April 17, and includes a ton of fun activities, from garden planting to cob oven cooking to green cleaning DIY. The highlight of the week will be the Earth Day festival on Thursday, April 22 from 10 am to 6 pm in the PSU Park Blocks. There will be several local bands, tons of artists, vendors, non-profits, activities, and campus groups. Visit psuearthweek.org for a schedule of events.
P.S. There will be no Environmental Club meeting next week because we'll all be at the Earth Day festival!
Environmental Club events:
Environmental Club events:
PSU Earth Week and Earth Day 2010
http://psuearthweek.org
Earth Day Festival
April 22 event features bands, vendors, demonstrations and keynote by Sightline Institute’s Alan Durning
WHAT: Portland State University students will host an all-day Earth Day festival, featuring outdoor performances by bands, a noon address by Sightline Institute Founder Alan Durning, food, community groups, vendors, sustainable technology demonstrations, and more.
Performers include The Soul Mechanics (with members of Hot Buttered Rum and Fruition), Morning Teleportation, Everyday Prophets, Luck One, Sudden Anthem and Off the Grid.
WHEN: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010
WHERE: South Park Blocks at Portland State University
COST: The event is free and open to the public.
CONTACT: PJ Houser, PSU Earth Week Coalition, psuearthweek@pdx.edu. For more information and a complete list of Earth Week activities (April 17 – 24), visit www.psuearthweek.org. Find us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/bJNtZh
BACKGROUND: PSU Earth Day 2010 is the culmination of a full week (April 17-24) of “Sustainability in Action”: student-led sustainability projects across the city. Activities range from planting gardens at Portland Public Schools and an eco-documentary marathon to cooking in a cob oven and mixing green cleaning products.
SPONSORS: PSU Earth Week is sponsored by Students for Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning; the PSU Environmental Club; and the Sustainability Leadership Center.
Additional support comes from community sponsors, including Dave's Killer Bread, Columbia Gorge Organic, Portland Farmer's Market, Andie Petkus Photography, Renewable Project Northwest, Natracare, and others. The Bonneville Environmental Foundation will provide carbon offsets for the entire event.
psuearthweek@pdx.edu
http://psuearthweek.org
Volunteer opportunities - we need your help!
Before Earth Day:
Promotional team: Pass out fliers in Park Blocks, table, visit classrooms, or put up posters on campus and around the city.
At the Earth Day festival...
Green Team: Help PSU Recycles monitor recycle & compost bins and prevent contamination.
Set up: Help set up tables, chairs, tents, etc. Shift is from 8 am - 10 am.
Take down: Help take down the event. Shift is from 6 pm - 8 pm.
Info booth: Provide guidance to visitors, vendors, etc. 2 hour shifts from 10 am to 6 pm.
Activities leader or assistant: We need people to lead the activities and assist. Multiple activities will be occurring throughout the day at the festival, such as face painting, yoga, green cleaning products, etc. The activities aren't finalized. If you have any ideas, please submit them to psuearthweek@pdx.edu or ecpsu@pdx.edu. If you would like to lead any of the activities or know someone who could, please email us.
To volunteer, contact psuearthweek@pdx.edu or reply to ecpsu@pdx.edu
Campus events:
PSU participates in AASHE's Sustainability Tracking and Rating System
...& PJ is famous
For the second consecutive year, Portland State is participating in the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System, a comprehensive program that collects data from campuses nationwide to determine how universities stack up in terms of sustainability.
The program, commonly known as STARS, considers everything from classes at a university to its waste management and recycling programs. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education oversees the collection of data from 130 colleges and universities across the nation to offer a comprehensive look at how sustainable a campus is, according to the program’s Web site....
PJ Houser, assistant in the Campus Sustainability Office, said that PSU participated in the pilot year to gather data and look at which areas of sustainability the campus is strong in and where it needs improvement.
http://www.dailyvanguard.com/reaching-for-stars-at-psu-1.2213683
PGE and PSU partner for sustainable projects
Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon
Nathalie Weinstein
March 31, 2010
Portland State University and Portland General Electric on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term partnership to make Portland a more sustainable city.
The partnership came from a task force appointed by PGE president Jim Piro and PSU president Wim Wiewel to see how the groups could work together on urban sustainability projects.
Now, the university and the utility will work together on research, economic development, community and professional training projects, including a project to get Portland wired for the roll out of electric vehicles later this year.
The MOU also included a $50,000 commitment over two years to create a PGE Foundation Renewable Energy Research lab. The lab will be managed by chemistry faculty Erik Johansson and will look at how semiconductor photovoltaic and photo-electrochemical devices can be made more efficient.
http://www.pdx.edu/news/daily-journal-of-commerce-oregon-pge-psu-partner-for-sustainable-projects
Community events:
Hands On Greater Portland Cares Day
Saturday, April 24th
Times & locations vary
April 5, 2010 - On Saturday, April 24th, Comcast and Hands On Greater Portland will mobilize over 1800 volunteers who will donate 3 hours of their time revitalizing parks, painting schools and sprucing up local non-profits to spark change in our community. You can find a project in your neighborhood by visiting http://www.handsonportland.org/HomePage/index.php/home.html. But sign up fast! Slots are already beginning to fill up for our most popular projects! If you have any questions, please feel free to email James Crews at james@handsonportland.org
Hands On Greater Portland
503.200.3371
james@handsonportland.org
http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=29385&a=294651
MHS Green Team hosts 2nd annual Greenstock Earth Day Concert
Saturday, April 24th 2010
12 pm - 9 pm
Molalla, Oregon
The 2nd annual Greenstock Earth Day Concert will take place in the verdant Clark Park near downtown Molalla. The MHS Green Team has organized the event in order to spread environmental awareness and promote a greener way of thinking.
The program will include numerous bands - such as The Hugs, Boy Eats Drum Machine, A Blinding Silence, and Midnight Callers - as well as provide information about recycling, composting, alternative energy and other ‘green’ topics.
Tickets are $2 at the gate, opening at 11am. Music starts at noon and runs until 9pm. Food concessions will be available. The concert will offer patrons a family friendly opportunity to enjoy a day of eclectic regional music, food, and information on how to live more in harmony with the earth.
“We wanted to find a way to reach the community that is not only educational, but also incorporates fun and entertainment.” Kyle Lindsey, Green Team President.
As a club dedicated to environmental consciousness and resource conservation, the purpose of the Green Team is to educate people on the ways we can all work together to make our community and ultimately our planet a better place. Greenstock is one way to expand the community’s environmental IQ through a leisurely day of great entertainment.
For more information contact:
Molalla High School Environmental Club (The Green Team):
Kelila Eichstadt, Communications Officer
503-313-8864
kelilaeichstadt@hotmail.com
TapIt lists Portland cafes that will provide tap water to the public, no complaining!
April 5, 2010 - TapIt is new to Portland and will make it easier for Portlanders to find tap water while on the go. TapIt is happy to be officially launching our program in Portland this week.
We have signed up over 50 local Portland food service businesses to be official 'TapIt Partners' who will always offer free tap water to the public. When on-the-go, Portlanders or visitors can use the TapIt iPhone app, mobile website or look for a TapIt sticker on the windows of cafes to find where they can easily refill their personal water bottles, no questions asked.
TapIt was inspired by the idea that we should all have easy access to a great public resource like water. Even if you are away from your home or your office, you should not feel forced to buy water in a plastic bottle. You should have a clean place to get a water refill, for free. Our partner businesses believe in this idea and want to support the community by offering this service.
We think that using the TapIt network can be fun and helpful. We also hope TapIt will encourage people to think about water, how important it is to us and how we need to work together to keep it clean and plentiful.
Media Inquiries? pr@tapitwater.com
Own a business and want to become our partner? Visit us on the Web!
Find out more about us on Facebook and Twitter (@tapitwater).
William Schwartz
TapIt Water
Community Coordinator
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?c=39678&a=294731
Portland BPS chooses recipients for the 2010 Portland Recycles! Small Grants Program
Portland, Ore – The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Portland Recycles! Small Grants Program.
BPS received a total of 30 applications and 18 groups were funded through the program. The organizations ranged from schools to neighborhood groups to grassroots organizations.
The grant’s goal is to offer neighborhood, community and nonprofit organizations money for projects or items that will help them overcome barriers to waste prevention and increase recycling while educating the community.
Program funding is part of an initiative of the Portland Recycles! Plan for outreach and education around increased waste prevention and recycling in the Portland community.
Some projects include Friends of Trees and Junk to Funk. For more 2010 funded organizations and projects, see
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?&c=44851&a=294642
Other:
President Obama Challenges Americans to Take Action to Improve the Environment in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
April 13, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC - President Obama today challenged Americans to take action in their homes, communities, schools, or businesses to improve the environment in honor of the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010. In conjunction with the video message of President Obama, the White House unveiled WhiteHouse.gov/earthday as a resource guide for all those interested in learning how they can help make a difference in their community.
The full text of the video is below:
"Forty one years ago, in the city of Cleveland, people watched in horror as the Cuyahoga River - choked with debris and covered in oil - caught on fire.
Images of the burning Cuyahoga shocked a nation, and it led one Wisconsin Senator the following year to organize the first Earth Day to call attention to the dangers of ignoring our environment.
In the four decades since, we have made remarkable progress. Today, our air and water are cleaner, pollution has been greatly reduced, and Americans everywhere are living in a healthier environment. We've passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and founded the Environmental Protection Agency. And in Cleveland, the Cuyahoga River is cleaner than it's been in 100 years.
But the true story of the environmental movement is not about the laws that have been passed. It's about the citizens who have come together time and time again to demand cleaner air, healthier drinking water and safer food - and who have demanded that their representatives in government hold polluters accountable.
That progress continues today, as individuals and entrepreneurs across the country help lay the foundation for a Clean Energy Economy - one solar panel, smart meter and energy efficient home at a time.
Since taking office, my Administration has been a partner in the fight for a healthier environment. Through the Recovery Act, we've invested in clean energy and clean water infrastructure across the country. We're taking the necessary steps to keep our children safe and hold polluters accountable. And we have rejected the notion that we have to choose between creating jobs and a healthy environment - because we know that the economy of the 21st century will be built on infrastructure powered by clean energy.
But even though we've made significant progress, there is much more to do. And as we continue to tackle our environmental challenges, it's clear that change won't come from Washington alone. It will come from Americans across the country who take steps in their own homes and their own communities to make that change happen.
That's why, as we get ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I want to leave you with a challenge.
I want you to take action - in your home or your community; at your school or your business - to improve our environment. It can be as simple as riding the bus or the subway to work, making your home more energy efficient, or organizing your neighbors to clean up a nearby park.
Just go to whitehouse.gov/earthday to learn how you can help. And then tell us your story about what you're doing to make a difference.
In the end, it's people like you - the small business owners and community leaders; the teachers and the students; the young people and the grandparents - who have made Earth Day so successful. And it's going to be up to you to make an even bigger difference over the next 40 years.
So let's get to work. Together, we can continue to make progress towards a cleaner environment and a healthier planet."
Define Our Decade Summer
Over the last several weeks young people across the country met with their elected officials to declare our vision of an America powered by 100% clean electricity in the next the 10 years.
But it's not just talk! That's why this summer Energy Action Coalition is partnering with 10 local projects across the country to Define Our Decade with community-based clean energy solutions. Being a part of one of these projects will give you a chance to actually build the world you want to see. These programs will give you the training, tangible first hand-experience, allow you to build lasting friendships, and deepen the movement for change.
Apply today to be a part of the Define Our Decade Summer.
Choose from one of these 10 exciting projects:
* Cleveland, Ohio: Green a city block through home weatherization and urban gardening
* Corvallis, Oregon: Organizing to adapt clean energy solutions to community needs
* Detroit, Michigan: Create a model clean energy community through home weatherization and local food production
* Fredricksburg, Virginia: Prevent the construction of a dirty coal plant
* New England, (multiple sites): Bike across the region to connect local solutions and leaders
* Salt Lake City, Utah: Move beyond dirty coal facilities and tar sands oil development
* San Antonio, Texas: Environmental justice focus through energy efficiency and urban gardening
* Twin Cities, Minnesota: Organizing for community-based geo-thermal energy and other local solutions
* Washington, DC: Create jobs through community driven home weatherization programs
* West Virginia, (multiple sites): Create community clean energy solutions in the coal fields
These projects exemplify the healthy and just future our generation believes in. Learn more about each project here. to the climate challenge in our own communities so let's get to work! Are you ready?
Apply today to be a part of the Define Our Decade Summer.
Programs have a limited space so apply TODAY before the priority deadline: Next Tuesday, April 20th.
In Solidarity,
Ethan Nuss
Co-Field Director
Energy Action Coalition
Colorful Energy Awareness Widgets
Power Aware Cord
http://gizmodo.com/210972/power-aware-cord-glowing-guilt
Maybe if you could actually see how much energy you're using, you wouldn't leave that PC running all night. That's the idea behind the Static Energy+Design Network's Power Aware Cord, a power strip whose connecting cable glows and pulses. Its electroluminescent wires embedded inside get brighter when more power flows through, pulsing and scintillating with various patterns that are difficult to ignore.
Energy Joule
http://www.ambientdevices.com/products/energyjoule.html
Use the Energy Joule in your home and know immediately when energy prices are rising or falling. Adjust your discretionary energy use in response to the changing color of the Joule, you can save hundreds, even thousands per year while reducing load on the grid. Display shows weather forecast, high temperatures, current cost of electricity and your current energy usage.
For sustainability outreach fans: Applying the Transtheoretical Model to Energy Feedback Technology Design
How can energy feedback technologies leverage existing techniques and theories within motivational psychology to more effectively motivate sustainable energy consumption behaviors? In approaching this question, we argue that designers of such technology need to consider two important points:
A Tucson school and its No-Oreo zone: Kids at school can't bring processed food
Arizona Daily Star
Stephanie Innes - Apr. 14, 2010
TUCSON - As her second-grade students take out their lunches, teacher Leticia Moreno quickly spots two with forbidden food - a burrito and quesadilla made with white flour tortillas.
"I will get them peanut butter and honey on whole wheat," Moreno says, taking away the offending meals.
Moreno is a teacher at the Children's Success Academy, a 10-year-old school on Tucson's south side for children in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The school is unique for its food rules - it bans not only white flour, but refined sugar and anything it defines as processed food.
See the rest of the article at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/14/20100414arizona-school-bans-processed-food-for-kids.html
Innovative architecture and design for sustainability
http://www.inhabitat.com/ is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
Internet collaboration at its best - Indoor Hydroponic Window Farms
http://www.windowfarms.org/ Window Farms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.
Goal 1: to start a Windowfarming craze in New York City and other dense urban areas, helping people grow some of their food year-round in their apartment windows.
Goal 2: give ordinary folks a means to collaborate on research and development of these vertical hydroponic food-growing curtains through the community site at our.windowfarms.org
The Windowfarms Project operates in what seems a small niche, but we hope it might be what Buckminster Fuller would call a "trim tab," a small part that turns giant ships by being particularly well placed. Growing some of our own food is a simple pleasure that can make a big difference in our relationship with nature. As we choose nutrients to feed plants we hope to eat in turn, we gain experience with a nearly-lost fundamental human art, get a microcosmic view of the food system, develop a stake in the conversation, and come up with new ideas for how to take care of ourselves and our planet in troubled times. Let's make this experience possible for anyone!
Each participant in the project makes it easier for the next windowfarmer to grow some of his/her own food. The system design and instruction sets evolve as each person comes up with ideas for improvements or points out problems and we collectively test solutions proposed by the group.
20 billion ways to save water
Some interesting ones:
#10 For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.
#13 Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
#94 Wash your pets outdoors in an area of your lawn [or garden] that needs water.
#106 For hanging baskets, planters and pots, place ice cubes under the moss or dirt to give your plants a cool drink of water and help eliminate water overflow.
#110 Keep a bucket in the shower to catch water as it warms up or runs. Use this water to flush toilets or water plants.
For the other 106 tips, see http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php
April showers bring May flowers... more flowers?!
PJ Houser
Portland State University
Environmental Club coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office Assistant
Check out our updated website at http://eclub.groups.pdx.edu
Also, check out the EcoWiki at http://www.ecowiki.pdx.edu/
-- PJ Houser Portland State University Sustainability Office Assistant Environmental Club Coordinator
Earth Day is next Thursday! PSU Earth Week kicks off Saturday, April 17, and includes a ton of fun activities, from garden planting to cob oven cooking to green cleaning DIY. The highlight of the week will be the Earth Day festival on Thursday, April 22 from 10 am to 6 pm in the PSU Park Blocks. There will be several local bands, tons of artists, vendors, non-profits, activities, and campus groups. Visit psuearthweek.org for a schedule of events.
P.S. There will be no Environmental Club meeting next week because we'll all be at the Earth Day festival!
Environmental Club events:
- PSU Earth Week and Earth Day 2010
- PSU participates in AASHE's Sustainability Tracking and Rating System
- PGE and PSU partner for sustainable projects
- Hands On Greater Portland Cares Day
- MHS Green Team hosts 2nd annual Greenstock Earth Day Concert
- TapIt lists Portland cafes that will provide tap water to the public, no complaining!
- Portland BPS chooses recipients for the 2010 Portland Recycles! Small Grants Program
- President Obama Challenges Americans to Take Action to Improve the Environment in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
- Define Our Decade Summer
- Colorful Energy Awareness Widgets
- For sustainability outreach fans: Applying the Transtheoretical Model to Energy Feedback Technology Design
- A Tucson school and its No-Oreo zone: Kids at school can't bring processed food
- Innovative architecture and design for sustainability
- Internet collaboration at its best - Indoor Hydroponic Window Farms
- 20 billion ways to save water
Environmental Club events:
PSU Earth Week and Earth Day 2010
http://psuearthweek.org
Earth Day Festival
April 22 event features bands, vendors, demonstrations and keynote by Sightline Institute’s Alan Durning
WHAT: Portland State University students will host an all-day Earth Day festival, featuring outdoor performances by bands, a noon address by Sightline Institute Founder Alan Durning, food, community groups, vendors, sustainable technology demonstrations, and more.
Performers include The Soul Mechanics (with members of Hot Buttered Rum and Fruition), Morning Teleportation, Everyday Prophets, Luck One, Sudden Anthem and Off the Grid.
WHEN: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010
WHERE: South Park Blocks at Portland State University
COST: The event is free and open to the public.
CONTACT: PJ Houser, PSU Earth Week Coalition, psuearthweek@pdx.edu. For more information and a complete list of Earth Week activities (April 17 – 24), visit www.psuearthweek.org. Find us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/bJNtZh
BACKGROUND: PSU Earth Day 2010 is the culmination of a full week (April 17-24) of “Sustainability in Action”: student-led sustainability projects across the city. Activities range from planting gardens at Portland Public Schools and an eco-documentary marathon to cooking in a cob oven and mixing green cleaning products.
SPONSORS: PSU Earth Week is sponsored by Students for Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning; the PSU Environmental Club; and the Sustainability Leadership Center.
Additional support comes from community sponsors, including Dave's Killer Bread, Columbia Gorge Organic, Portland Farmer's Market, Andie Petkus Photography, Renewable Project Northwest, Natracare, and others. The Bonneville Environmental Foundation will provide carbon offsets for the entire event.
psuearthweek@pdx.edu
http://psuearthweek.org
Volunteer opportunities - we need your help!
Before Earth Day:
Promotional team: Pass out fliers in Park Blocks, table, visit classrooms, or put up posters on campus and around the city.
At the Earth Day festival...
Green Team: Help PSU Recycles monitor recycle & compost bins and prevent contamination.
Set up: Help set up tables, chairs, tents, etc. Shift is from 8 am - 10 am.
Take down: Help take down the event. Shift is from 6 pm - 8 pm.
Info booth: Provide guidance to visitors, vendors, etc. 2 hour shifts from 10 am to 6 pm.
Activities leader or assistant: We need people to lead the activities and assist. Multiple activities will be occurring throughout the day at the festival, such as face painting, yoga, green cleaning products, etc. The activities aren't finalized. If you have any ideas, please submit them to psuearthweek@pdx.edu or ecpsu@pdx.edu. If you would like to lead any of the activities or know someone who could, please email us.
To volunteer, contact psuearthweek@pdx.edu or reply to ecpsu@pdx.edu
Campus events:
PSU participates in AASHE's Sustainability Tracking and Rating System
...& PJ is famous
For the second consecutive year, Portland State is participating in the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System, a comprehensive program that collects data from campuses nationwide to determine how universities stack up in terms of sustainability.
The program, commonly known as STARS, considers everything from classes at a university to its waste management and recycling programs. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education oversees the collection of data from 130 colleges and universities across the nation to offer a comprehensive look at how sustainable a campus is, according to the program’s Web site....
PJ Houser, assistant in the Campus Sustainability Office, said that PSU participated in the pilot year to gather data and look at which areas of sustainability the campus is strong in and where it needs improvement.
http://www.dailyvanguard.com/reaching-for-stars-at-psu-1.2213683
PGE and PSU partner for sustainable projects
Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon
Nathalie Weinstein
March 31, 2010
Portland State University and Portland General Electric on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term partnership to make Portland a more sustainable city.
The partnership came from a task force appointed by PGE president Jim Piro and PSU president Wim Wiewel to see how the groups could work together on urban sustainability projects.
Now, the university and the utility will work together on research, economic development, community and professional training projects, including a project to get Portland wired for the roll out of electric vehicles later this year.
The MOU also included a $50,000 commitment over two years to create a PGE Foundation Renewable Energy Research lab. The lab will be managed by chemistry faculty Erik Johansson and will look at how semiconductor photovoltaic and photo-electrochemical devices can be made more efficient.
http://www.pdx.edu/news/daily-journal-of-commerce-oregon-pge-psu-partner-for-sustainable-projects
Community events:
Hands On Greater Portland Cares Day
Saturday, April 24th
Times & locations vary
April 5, 2010 - On Saturday, April 24th, Comcast and Hands On Greater Portland will mobilize over 1800 volunteers who will donate 3 hours of their time revitalizing parks, painting schools and sprucing up local non-profits to spark change in our community. You can find a project in your neighborhood by visiting http://www.handsonportland.org/HomePage/index.php/home.html. But sign up fast! Slots are already beginning to fill up for our most popular projects! If you have any questions, please feel free to email James Crews at james@handsonportland.org
Hands On Greater Portland
503.200.3371
james@handsonportland.org
http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=29385&a=294651
MHS Green Team hosts 2nd annual Greenstock Earth Day Concert
Saturday, April 24th 2010
12 pm - 9 pm
Molalla, Oregon
The 2nd annual Greenstock Earth Day Concert will take place in the verdant Clark Park near downtown Molalla. The MHS Green Team has organized the event in order to spread environmental awareness and promote a greener way of thinking.
The program will include numerous bands - such as The Hugs, Boy Eats Drum Machine, A Blinding Silence, and Midnight Callers - as well as provide information about recycling, composting, alternative energy and other ‘green’ topics.
Tickets are $2 at the gate, opening at 11am. Music starts at noon and runs until 9pm. Food concessions will be available. The concert will offer patrons a family friendly opportunity to enjoy a day of eclectic regional music, food, and information on how to live more in harmony with the earth.
“We wanted to find a way to reach the community that is not only educational, but also incorporates fun and entertainment.” Kyle Lindsey, Green Team President.
As a club dedicated to environmental consciousness and resource conservation, the purpose of the Green Team is to educate people on the ways we can all work together to make our community and ultimately our planet a better place. Greenstock is one way to expand the community’s environmental IQ through a leisurely day of great entertainment.
For more information contact:
Molalla High School Environmental Club (The Green Team):
Kelila Eichstadt, Communications Officer
503-313-8864
kelilaeichstadt@hotmail.com
TapIt lists Portland cafes that will provide tap water to the public, no complaining!
April 5, 2010 - TapIt is new to Portland and will make it easier for Portlanders to find tap water while on the go. TapIt is happy to be officially launching our program in Portland this week.
We have signed up over 50 local Portland food service businesses to be official 'TapIt Partners' who will always offer free tap water to the public. When on-the-go, Portlanders or visitors can use the TapIt iPhone app, mobile website or look for a TapIt sticker on the windows of cafes to find where they can easily refill their personal water bottles, no questions asked.
TapIt was inspired by the idea that we should all have easy access to a great public resource like water. Even if you are away from your home or your office, you should not feel forced to buy water in a plastic bottle. You should have a clean place to get a water refill, for free. Our partner businesses believe in this idea and want to support the community by offering this service.
We think that using the TapIt network can be fun and helpful. We also hope TapIt will encourage people to think about water, how important it is to us and how we need to work together to keep it clean and plentiful.
Media Inquiries? pr@tapitwater.com
Own a business and want to become our partner? Visit us on the Web!
Find out more about us on Facebook and Twitter (@tapitwater).
William Schwartz
TapIt Water
Community Coordinator
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?c=39678&a=294731
Portland BPS chooses recipients for the 2010 Portland Recycles! Small Grants Program
Portland, Ore – The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Portland Recycles! Small Grants Program.
BPS received a total of 30 applications and 18 groups were funded through the program. The organizations ranged from schools to neighborhood groups to grassroots organizations.
The grant’s goal is to offer neighborhood, community and nonprofit organizations money for projects or items that will help them overcome barriers to waste prevention and increase recycling while educating the community.
Program funding is part of an initiative of the Portland Recycles! Plan for outreach and education around increased waste prevention and recycling in the Portland community.
Some projects include Friends of Trees and Junk to Funk. For more 2010 funded organizations and projects, see
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?&c=44851&a=294642
Other:
President Obama Challenges Americans to Take Action to Improve the Environment in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
April 13, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC - President Obama today challenged Americans to take action in their homes, communities, schools, or businesses to improve the environment in honor of the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010. In conjunction with the video message of President Obama, the White House unveiled WhiteHouse.gov/earthday as a resource guide for all those interested in learning how they can help make a difference in their community.
The full text of the video is below:
"Forty one years ago, in the city of Cleveland, people watched in horror as the Cuyahoga River - choked with debris and covered in oil - caught on fire.
Images of the burning Cuyahoga shocked a nation, and it led one Wisconsin Senator the following year to organize the first Earth Day to call attention to the dangers of ignoring our environment.
In the four decades since, we have made remarkable progress. Today, our air and water are cleaner, pollution has been greatly reduced, and Americans everywhere are living in a healthier environment. We've passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and founded the Environmental Protection Agency. And in Cleveland, the Cuyahoga River is cleaner than it's been in 100 years.
But the true story of the environmental movement is not about the laws that have been passed. It's about the citizens who have come together time and time again to demand cleaner air, healthier drinking water and safer food - and who have demanded that their representatives in government hold polluters accountable.
That progress continues today, as individuals and entrepreneurs across the country help lay the foundation for a Clean Energy Economy - one solar panel, smart meter and energy efficient home at a time.
Since taking office, my Administration has been a partner in the fight for a healthier environment. Through the Recovery Act, we've invested in clean energy and clean water infrastructure across the country. We're taking the necessary steps to keep our children safe and hold polluters accountable. And we have rejected the notion that we have to choose between creating jobs and a healthy environment - because we know that the economy of the 21st century will be built on infrastructure powered by clean energy.
But even though we've made significant progress, there is much more to do. And as we continue to tackle our environmental challenges, it's clear that change won't come from Washington alone. It will come from Americans across the country who take steps in their own homes and their own communities to make that change happen.
That's why, as we get ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I want to leave you with a challenge.
I want you to take action - in your home or your community; at your school or your business - to improve our environment. It can be as simple as riding the bus or the subway to work, making your home more energy efficient, or organizing your neighbors to clean up a nearby park.
Just go to whitehouse.gov/earthday to learn how you can help. And then tell us your story about what you're doing to make a difference.
In the end, it's people like you - the small business owners and community leaders; the teachers and the students; the young people and the grandparents - who have made Earth Day so successful. And it's going to be up to you to make an even bigger difference over the next 40 years.
So let's get to work. Together, we can continue to make progress towards a cleaner environment and a healthier planet."
Define Our Decade Summer
Over the last several weeks young people across the country met with their elected officials to declare our vision of an America powered by 100% clean electricity in the next the 10 years.
But it's not just talk! That's why this summer Energy Action Coalition is partnering with 10 local projects across the country to Define Our Decade with community-based clean energy solutions. Being a part of one of these projects will give you a chance to actually build the world you want to see. These programs will give you the training, tangible first hand-experience, allow you to build lasting friendships, and deepen the movement for change.
Apply today to be a part of the Define Our Decade Summer.
Choose from one of these 10 exciting projects:
* Cleveland, Ohio: Green a city block through home weatherization and urban gardening
* Corvallis, Oregon: Organizing to adapt clean energy solutions to community needs
* Detroit, Michigan: Create a model clean energy community through home weatherization and local food production
* Fredricksburg, Virginia: Prevent the construction of a dirty coal plant
* New England, (multiple sites): Bike across the region to connect local solutions and leaders
* Salt Lake City, Utah: Move beyond dirty coal facilities and tar sands oil development
* San Antonio, Texas: Environmental justice focus through energy efficiency and urban gardening
* Twin Cities, Minnesota: Organizing for community-based geo-thermal energy and other local solutions
* Washington, DC: Create jobs through community driven home weatherization programs
* West Virginia, (multiple sites): Create community clean energy solutions in the coal fields
These projects exemplify the healthy and just future our generation believes in. Learn more about each project here. to the climate challenge in our own communities so let's get to work! Are you ready?
Apply today to be a part of the Define Our Decade Summer.
Programs have a limited space so apply TODAY before the priority deadline: Next Tuesday, April 20th.
In Solidarity,
Ethan Nuss
Co-Field Director
Energy Action Coalition
Colorful Energy Awareness Widgets
Power Aware Cord
http://gizmodo.com/210972/power-aware-cord-glowing-guilt
Maybe if you could actually see how much energy you're using, you wouldn't leave that PC running all night. That's the idea behind the Static Energy+Design Network's Power Aware Cord, a power strip whose connecting cable glows and pulses. Its electroluminescent wires embedded inside get brighter when more power flows through, pulsing and scintillating with various patterns that are difficult to ignore.
Energy Joule
http://www.ambientdevices.com/products/energyjoule.html
Use the Energy Joule in your home and know immediately when energy prices are rising or falling. Adjust your discretionary energy use in response to the changing color of the Joule, you can save hundreds, even thousands per year while reducing load on the grid. Display shows weather forecast, high temperatures, current cost of electricity and your current energy usage.
For sustainability outreach fans: Applying the Transtheoretical Model to Energy Feedback Technology Design
How can energy feedback technologies leverage existing techniques and theories within motivational psychology to more effectively motivate sustainable energy consumption behaviors? In approaching this question, we argue that designers of such technology need to consider two important points:
- Different people hold different attitudes, beliefs and values [5], and are motivated by different things. As such, designers need to develop a range of strategies in order to account for the complexity of human behavior.
- Intentional behavior change does not occur as an event, but rather, as a process in a series of stages as defined by the Transtheoretical Model [38]. Individuals move from being unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the problem, to considering the possibility of change, then preparing to make the change, then taking action, and finally, to maintaining the desired behavior over time [38].
A Tucson school and its No-Oreo zone: Kids at school can't bring processed food
Arizona Daily Star
Stephanie Innes - Apr. 14, 2010
TUCSON - As her second-grade students take out their lunches, teacher Leticia Moreno quickly spots two with forbidden food - a burrito and quesadilla made with white flour tortillas.
"I will get them peanut butter and honey on whole wheat," Moreno says, taking away the offending meals.
Moreno is a teacher at the Children's Success Academy, a 10-year-old school on Tucson's south side for children in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The school is unique for its food rules - it bans not only white flour, but refined sugar and anything it defines as processed food.
See the rest of the article at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/14/20100414arizona-school-bans-processed-food-for-kids.html
Innovative architecture and design for sustainability
http://www.inhabitat.com/ is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
Internet collaboration at its best - Indoor Hydroponic Window Farms
http://www.windowfarms.org/ Window Farms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.
Goal 1: to start a Windowfarming craze in New York City and other dense urban areas, helping people grow some of their food year-round in their apartment windows.
Goal 2: give ordinary folks a means to collaborate on research and development of these vertical hydroponic food-growing curtains through the community site at our.windowfarms.org
The Windowfarms Project operates in what seems a small niche, but we hope it might be what Buckminster Fuller would call a "trim tab," a small part that turns giant ships by being particularly well placed. Growing some of our own food is a simple pleasure that can make a big difference in our relationship with nature. As we choose nutrients to feed plants we hope to eat in turn, we gain experience with a nearly-lost fundamental human art, get a microcosmic view of the food system, develop a stake in the conversation, and come up with new ideas for how to take care of ourselves and our planet in troubled times. Let's make this experience possible for anyone!
Each participant in the project makes it easier for the next windowfarmer to grow some of his/her own food. The system design and instruction sets evolve as each person comes up with ideas for improvements or points out problems and we collectively test solutions proposed by the group.
20 billion ways to save water
Some interesting ones:
#10 For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.
#13 Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
#94 Wash your pets outdoors in an area of your lawn [or garden] that needs water.
#106 For hanging baskets, planters and pots, place ice cubes under the moss or dirt to give your plants a cool drink of water and help eliminate water overflow.
#110 Keep a bucket in the shower to catch water as it warms up or runs. Use this water to flush toilets or water plants.
For the other 106 tips, see http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php
April showers bring May flowers... more flowers?!
PJ Houser
Portland State University
Environmental Club coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office Assistant
Check out our updated website at http://eclub.groups.pdx.edu
Also, check out the EcoWiki at http://www.ecowiki.pdx.edu/
-- PJ Houser Portland State University Sustainability Office Assistant Environmental Club Coordinator
posted by PJ at
4:43 AM
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