Apr 23-May 24: CSA Fairs & Resource Fair

Upcoming Regional CSA Fairs & Community Events Interested in subscribing to a CSA or farm share, but you're not sure how to get started? Come to a Farm to Table CSA Fair to meet local farms!  Look below for dates and locations.  Follow our page on Facebook for easy updates! Attendance is FREE.  Online registration is appreciated.

Participating Farms Announced: Read Now & Register

Upcoming Events Farm to Table CSA Fair at Uptown Mt. Lebanon Farmers Market  Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 9am-12pm Free for Attendees Farm to Table CSA Fair at Wigle's Barrelhouse & Whiskey Garden (Northside)!  Sunday, April 24, 2016 from 1-4pm Free for Attendees Farm to Table CSA Fair Happy Hour  Tuesday, May 3, 2016 from 4-7pm Chatham University - Eden Hall Campus Free for Attendees  CSA Fair at Venture Outdoors Festival  Saturday, May 21, 2016 from 12-6pm Free for Attendees; No Registration Needed Where to Turn Resource Fair  Tuesday, May 24, 2016 from 8am-12:30pm Free for Attendees This biannual event brings together over 75 organizations and hundreds of teachers, caretakers and social service professionals for a morning of education and networking. This year's theme: Food, Housing, & Transportation for Everyone! Visit American-HealthCare.net for details

Apr 23: Earth Fest at the Macoskey Center

It's a celebration for our one and only Earth! Stop by the Macoskey Center on April 23rd for a day full of earth-themed vendors, entertainment, food, games, crafts, prizes, and activities! Exchange ideas about sustainability and green practices with other environmentally-minded people. Children can learn about the Earth while having a great time doing so. Also, there are trails to be walked and chickens to be seen! Grab your favorite people and bring them over for a fun-filled day!

Special guest keynote speaker will be Penn State glaciologist and climate scientist (and really entertaining speaker) Richard Alley.   
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education & Research (247 Harmony Rd., Slippery Rock, PA 16057.  Please be aware: parking will take place across the road from the Macoskey Center in a university parking lot. It is a busy road, so be very careful when crossing.

Apr 23: Power Up with the SUN in Butler County

Power Up with the SUN in Butler County...

Join Marcellus Outreach Butler to hear a presentation on solar energy in Western Pennsylvania
You’ll hear from two regional solar experts as they review:

• How our electricity gets to our homes and businesses
• The fundamentals of solar energy
• The state of the solar energy industry in the U.S and Pennsylvania
• The many ways solar energy is being used in today’s market
• Solar plus battery storage
• Solar policies in Pennsylvania
• Why choose solar
• How to go solar
• What can we do to help promote the growth of solar energy in Western PA

Speakers:

Greg Winks of Clean Energy Resources, LLC – Mr. Winks’ background includes educational outreach, assisting homeowners going solar, and consulting with commercial, municipal and institutional organizations to incorporate solar energy in their long-term energy strategies. 

Eric Casteel of SolarCast, LLC – Mr. Casteel has an extensive background in solar and wind energy development, as well as custom manufacturing within the industry. His focus is with commercial, municipal and institutional solar development, and custom mobile solar power platforms. 

1 p.m. at the Vagabond Banquet Hall (138 Whitestown Rd., Lyndora 16045.  [MAP]  Free and open to the public.

Apr 22, 23, 24: Earth Day in Frick Park

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EARTH DAY IN FRICK PARK

In honor of international Earth Day, the Pittsburgh community gathers by the hundreds for the annual Earth Day in Frick Park, a free, three-day celebration.

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Earth Day in Frick Park 2016

DAY ONE: COMMUNITY CAMPFIRE*

Friday, April 22nd
This all-ages community campfire under the stars kicks off a fun weekend outdoors! We provide the fire and sticks, you bring your own hot dogs, veggie dogs, and s'more fixings.

DAY TWO: VOLUNTEER EVENT

Saturday, April 23rd
Get your hands dirty as a volunteer. Plant trees, remove invasive plants, pick up litter, and beautify the park during this event. Registration is required for this event. Click here to register.

DAY THREE: NATURE WALKS AND HIKES

Sunday, April 24th
Get outdoors to enjoy a series of hikes and activities throughout Frick Park with expert naturalists. Brush up on your tree and mushroom ID skills; learn about critters in the litter; spot salamanders; and much more!

This event is held in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh.

Apr 22: Sonic Sea film screening

Sonic Sea is a 60-minute documentary about the impact of industrial and military ocean noise on whales and other marine life. It tells the story of a former US Navy officer who solved a tragic mystery and changed forever the way we understand our impact on the ocean. The film is narrated by Rachel McAdams and features Sting, in addition to the renowned ocean experts Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Paul Spong, Dr. Christopher Clark and Jean-Michel Cousteau. Sonic Sea was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Imaginary Forces in association with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Diamond Docs.   You can see a trailer here.

5:20 p.m. in CMU's McConomy Auditorium (in the University Center, near the parking garage on Forbes Avenue).  After the film, join us in Lower Frick Park for a campfire under the stars hosted by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (7-9p).   The film screening is co-sponsored by the CMU Explorers' Club and Sustainable Earth.

Apr 22: Green Drinks at the EIC

For Earth Day, Jim Ferlo and Pittsburgh Green Innovators will host this month's Green Drinks at the new Energy Innovation Center.

5-8 p.m. at the Energy Innovation Center (1435 Bedford Ave, Floor 1).  Free & open to the public.

Apr 16: Sustainability Salon on Food

For our 51st Sustainability Salon, April showers will bring our annual springtime focus on Food (more below). 

Also, longtime salongoers will recall our January 2014 feature Bidder 70, and its subject Tim DeChristopher -- he'll be here along with Josh Fox for a free screening of Josh's new film How to Let Go of the World (and Love all the Things Climate Can't Change) on Wednesday, April 13th (7 p.m. at the Carnegie Lecture Hall;  more info and online registration here).

The speaker lineup for Saturday's salon has filled out nicely:   Jessy Swisher, Three Rivers Hub Program Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, will discuss PASA's programs, the role of the regional offices, and the shift to a Sustainability Hub model, and the new SOIL Institute.  Pittsburgh's Open Space Specialist Shelly Danko+Day will update us on the city's new Urban Agriculture zoning code and other food initiatives like the Adopt-A-Lot program.  Executive Director Ken Regal of Just Harvest will talk about their important word addressing hunger, poverty, and economic injustice in our region.  And AJ Bisesi, Grow Pittsburgh's Community Garden Coordinator, will give a glimpse into GP's programs and some upcoming opportunities (for garden support and for employment).  We'll also have a couple of activities along with the salon:  Carnegie Museum of Natural History educator Lindsey Scherloum will be here with an interactive activity relating food to climate, developed by the Pittsburgh node of the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP, which we featured in the December 2013 salon on Community Mapping), and Greg Schaffer, a Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer, will have info and signups for democratic Get Out The Vote efforts as the April 26th primary approaches. 

I'm still working on finalizing the speakers for the next salon, but it will take place on May 21st.  Stay tuned for more details! 

Salons run 3-10 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.  Please don't arrive before 3 p.m.  We usually aim to start the program sometime around 4, after folks have had a chance to meet, mingle, and tour around an interesting and productive urban permaculture site.   Please email me (at maren dot cooke at gmail dot com) with salon in the Subject line to RSVP (yes or maybe), or click on the link in your EventBrite invitation (if you're not already on my list, please email me to be added!).  Please RSVP each time -- it helps greatly in several ways.  Among other things, attendance varies widely, and these events have been so successful that we need to begin limiting attendance.  So RSVP early if you can, to ensure your participation!  The free virtual "tickets" on Eventbrite may run out (you don't need to print any tickets, by the way, just be on the list).  Also, weather and such can be unpredictable and it's good to know who to contact if there's a change -- and I'll send directions and/or a trail map if you need 'em on Friday or Saturday.  Be sure to include salon in the Subject line, as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day.  And if you're new, please let me know how you heard about the Salons!

Bring food and/or drink to share if you can, along with musical instruments if you play.  Check back on MarensList (where you can find information on all sorts of environmental and social justice events) for updates.  And if you aren't yet on my list, if you're interested in Sustainability Salons (and our occasional house concert, simply contact me and I'll put you on my email list.  

As always, I'll be sending out directions and such, and any late-breaking info, to all the RSVP'd folks by the morning of the salon if not before.  So if you don't have it yet, please be patient!  One of these days I'll streamline this process a bit, but for now it takes a while to to dot all my i's and cross all my t's.  (All the extraneous requests for the address don't help;  I have lots of other stuff I send out with it, but don't like to let them go unanswered so it adds hours to my prep time.  If you RSVP properly (see above), you should get the info by the morning of the salon!)

For the uninitiated, a Sustainability Salon is an educational forum;  a venue for discussion and debate about important environmental issues;  it's a house party with an environmental theme.  We usually have featured speakers on various aspects of a topic, interspersed with stimulating conversation, lively debate, delectable potluck food and drink, and music-making through the evening.

Past topics have included getting money out of politics, Solarize Allegheny, climate (again, this time focusing on the upcoming COP21 negotiations), air quality (again, with news on the autism connection), reuse (of things and substances), neighborhood-scale food systems, other forms of green community revitalization, solar power, climate change, environmental art, environmental education (Part I & Part II), community mapping projects, environmental journalism, grassroots action, community solar power, Marcellus shale development and community rights, green building, air quality, health care, more solar power, trees and park stewardship, alternative energy and climate policy, regional watershed issues, fantastic film screenings and discussions (often led by filmmakers) over the winter with Rachel Carson and the Power Of One Voice, Triple Divide on fracking, You've Been Trumped and A Dangerous Game, A Fierce Green Fire, Sustainability Pioneers, films on consumption, Living Downstream, Bidder 70, YERT, Gas Rush Stories, and food, food, food, food, food, food, and more food (a recurrent theme;  with California running out of water, we'd better gear up to produce a lot more of our own!).

Quite a few people have asked me what sorts of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you;  I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks.  Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages of any kind:  wine, beer, hard or sweet cider (the latter we can mull if you like), juice, tea, whatever.  The more the merrier!  Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homegrown or boughten.  Dishes containing meat or dairy are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.  


If you haven't been here before, you may enjoy checking out our roof garden and solar installation (and now apiary!) as well as the many other green and interesting things around our place.  

And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- we typically run the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs to the Beatles, and a fun time is had by all.  Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours.  Conversations will continue through the evening, as well. 

Apr 13: Josh Fox climate film screening

As part of his national tour, award-winning director Josh Fox (GASLAND) returns to Pittsburgh to present his new movie:

How to Let Go of the World 
...and Love all the Things Climate Can’t Change

Activist Tim DeChristopher (a.k.a. Bidder 70), who appears in the film, will also be with us for discussion.  

In the film, Josh Fox uses his deeply personal style to investigate the greatest threat our planet has ever known - climate change. After traveling to 12 countries on 6 continents, Fox asks, "What is it that climate change can't destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away?"

7 p.m at the Carnegie Lecture Hall (behind the main branch Carnegie Library in Oakland;  doors are around to the right of the main library entrance.  The film will be followed by a Q & A session with director Josh Fox.  You can view the trailer on Vimeo, and get your free tickets here.  Admittance is free, but donations will be appreciated (as will RSVPs).  The Lecture Hall is fully ADA compliant.

Co-sponsors include Pittsburgh 350, Allegheny County Clean Air Now, Clean Rivers Campaign, Clean Water Action, Divest Pittsburgh, Fight For $15, Fossil Free Pitt Coalition, GASP, Marcellus Outreach Butler,  MarcellusProtest, Mom's Clean Air Force, PennEnvironment,  Sierra Club-Allegheny Group, Three Rivers Rising Tide, Thomas Merton Center

Apr 9: Whole System Sustainability workshop

This PASA workshop takes a look at the sustainability of the farm system as a whole, through an exploration of renewable energy use and strategies to increase efficiency.  These strategies will help to improve business operations, reduce long-term costs, and reduce one’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Host Joe Bozzelli of Five Elements Farm will demonstrate his solar energy systems—both passive and active, as well as off-grid and grid-tied systems.  He’ll discuss the design of his straw-bale constructed home and the elements that makes it highly energy efficient.  And finally, he’ll discuss considerations of human energy, through development of the land, including placement of buildings and other elements in relation to each other.

Guest presenters will also be on-site to discuss and demonstrate water catchment and stormwater management options, considerations for solar energy installation, and ways that consumers can plug into renewable energy on the grid through their supplier.  Attendees will leave with connections to companies that may provide the “next steps” in the process for increasing the sustainability of one’s home, farm, or business.  Presenters include DECO Resources, Energy Independent Solutions, and our sponsor, Green Mountain Energy.  Equipment will also be available from Zero Fossil Energy Outfitters to demonstrate their “Bikerator,” a bike-powered generator used at this event to power an electric blender.  Come try your legs on the bike and enjoy a smoothie afterward!

1-4 p.m. at Five Elements Farm (405 Hogg Rd., Worthington, PA 16262).  $10 PASA members, $15 nonmembers.  Sponsored by PASA and Green Mountain Energy.  More information and online registration here.

Five Elements Farm is a family farm located in Worthington, PA.  Farmers Sara and Joe Bozzelli believe in growing simple, whole, healthy foods for their family and community, which is evidenced in their farm’s motto: “Family Food. Fresh & Simple.”  The land was a blank canvas when they began building their home in 2007, having previously been grazed for years by cattle, and then planted with corn and soybeans prior to their purchase.  Now, the farm is managed with as much reliance on the natural processes of the land and its inhabitants as possible.  All food produced at Five Elements Farm is Certified Naturally Grown, including vegetables and free-range eggs.  They operate a Market Style CSA, which allows them to meet the needs of their CSA members and their farm operation.  In addition to their growing practices, Five Elements Farm seeks to serve as a model of sustainability through their reliance on appropriate technologies to reduce their energy use and environmental impact.

Apr 9: Garden Resource Center grand re-opening

Come to the Grand Re-Opening of Grow Pittsburgh's Garden Resource Center to learn more about the GRC, sign up, and have fun!

A program of Grow Pittsburgh since 2013, the Garden Resource Center (GRC) reduces barriers to growing food while strengthening urban garden communities.  Users of the GRC can rent garden tools (e.g. shovels, tillers) like a library, and also get access to bulk garden materials like compost and straw.  


10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Garden Resource Center, 147 Putnam St. Pittsburgh PA 15206 (Larimer).  Free and open to the public.  Kids welcome!

Activites include a live broadcast by Andy Amrhein and Doug Oster of KDKA (10-11 a.m.) and a cooking demo by Chef Bill Fuller.

Spring Saver discount event (Grow Pittsburgh membership and Garden Resource Center registration all-in-one)

Sponsors: Brought to you by Grow Pittsburgh, Evey True Value Hardware, KDKA-TV | CBS Pittsburgh, and Barmy Soda

Apr 2- May 15: Permaculture Design course

Earn a Permaculture Design Certificate with Three Sisters and Phipps:

Permaculture is synonymous with ecological and regenerative design, and features holistic approaches that integrate natural environmental processes with human-made systems to enhance both human and environmental health. Permaculture design is rooted in agriculture and horticulture, yet is far-reaching and interdisciplinary in nature, connecting city planning, ecology, architecture and technology. During this 11-session course, students will visit Pittsburgh’s premier examples of permaculture in action to get a sense of what is possible in urban sustainability. Students then will put their new knowledge into action by co-designing a space at Phipps Garden Center.
The course will be led by Darrel Frey, Juliette Olshock and Liz Lynch, plus guest instructors.

9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. each day, based at Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park but with frequent field trips around the area.  Dates are Saturdays and Sundays during spring: April 2, 3, 9, 16, 17, 23 and 30;  May 1, 7, 14 and 15.  Tuition is $990 ($940 for Phipps members).  For more information and to register, please go here.

Apr 1: State of Sustainability talk by Mark Dixon

Kicking off CMU's Sustainability Weekend is a keynote address by Mark Dixon, back from the COP21 Climate Summit.

4:30 - 6 p.m. at CMU's Cohon University Center;  more details will appear here and on the Sustainability Weekend web site.