Putting Down Roots: Maren's List
Information bringing people together...
Maren's list of environmental, cultural, and
social justice events in and around Pittsburgh.
MarensList is Experiencing Technical Difficulties
Due to a change in how this platform works, it has become very difficult to make new postings for future events. I hope to find a solution soon, but in the meantime my apologies for a rather thin slate of events! I do consolidate a wide variety of events in each Sustainability Salon listing, so look there for "Other Items of Interest". There really is a lot going on... note that I also share events on Facebook, so look me up there if you're at loose ends.
Campfire Dispatch -- current and past issues
Local food resources
April 28: Sustainability Salon on Food
Tree Pittsburgh's Giving Grove program is part of a national initiative, offering fruit and nut trees (and berries!) to public spaces throughout Allegheny County. Kimberly Bracken, who manages our local Giving Grove program, earned her Permaculture Design Certificate through Phipps Conservatory. She always strives to incorporate permaculture design into the new and existing orchards she works with. She is passionate about finding ways of growing food that also increase biodiversity, support pollinators and birds, and create beautiful gathering spaces for communities.
The Ross Farm has been producing quality wool and lamb for six generations. They focus on heritage and rare breeds, with methods elevating the best interests of the livestock and the land -- humane, and environmentally responsible. Drew Ross and Riley Carter will talk about what they do on the farm around direct-to-consumer markets (Maren met them at the local farmers' market), and how they are combining traditional agricultural practices with new concepts and more sustainable ideas as the world changes -- in terms of climate, economy, and societal norms.
Do you love homemade bread, but can't get it together for the whole sequence of mixing and rising and punchdown and kneading and rising again? Linsdsey Disler, in the Food Studies program at Chatham, will share fascinating lore and practical tips on quick breads, with all sorts of connections to history, forests, and women's well-being.
Molly Draper, also in Chatham Food Studies, has been exploring the landscape of indigenous foodways and land care.
Check back here for updates! The next Sustainability Salon (probably on May 19th) will continue our regular spring series on Food.
• April 18: The Black Appalachian Coalition and the Ohio River Valley Institute are partnering with Patricia DeMarco, PhD for a Petrochemical Lunch & Learn series, delving deep into the connection between environmental pollution and our health. April's theme is Water. Register here.
• Apr 20: Learn about sustainable food recycling practices, and discover how you can participate in InvolveMint's innovative Community Exchange Network at an Earth Day Food Recycling Event at the Hazelwood Food Recycling Site.
• Apr 25: If you operate a local business, and would like to explore this month's salon topic further, check out this all-day event by Humane Action Pittsburgh: Serving Up Sustainability. More information and registration here.
• Apr 27 & 28: Penn Garvin, who framed our recent four-part series on Movement-Building, will be in Pittsburgh for a two-day workshop on Strategic Organizing and Nonviolent Direct Action. More details here!
• May 24-27: Heartwood Forest Council is coming to southeastern Ohio. You can hear organizer Matt Peters talk about the organization and the gathering on this interview/podcast-style video (he starts talking about Heartwood a little after 12 minutes in -- more local stuff before that).
• ReImagine Food Systems, which we've talked about at past salons, is raising funds for this year's operations (food gardens and hands-on education offered at no cost to residents in environmental justice communities, by volunteers). If you have something to spare, you can contribute via GoFundMe. And we're always looking for more volunteers, too! Email reimaginefoodsystems@gmail.com.
• Concerned Health Professionals of NY recently released the 9th Edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas & Oil Infrastructure. Check it out!
• PA is considering legislation to (a) greatly increase the renewables portion of our electricity generation, and (b) enable community solar!! The Pennsylvania Solar Center has made it easy to speak out to support this action!
• We know that only a tiny fraction of plastic has ever been recycled. And yet, NPR has been airing sponsorship messages for the American Recycling Council, which is continuing to perpetrate the "recycling" hoax. Does that make your blood boil? The national group Beyond Plastics has a petition/sign-on letter to get them to stop -- please sign, for yourself or for an organization you represent!
• It's been more than a year now! You can support striking Post-Gazette workers here (and consider signing up for the alternative online publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress -- and maybe even cancel your P-G subscription until they start treating workers fairly!). This strike has garnered national attention; one recent picket even made it into Teen Vogue.
• And speaking of solidarity, the Cop City controversy is still raging in Atlanta. More information and a support fund are here. There's also talk of a similar facility in the works for Pittsburgh.
• Another forest that needs protecting is Sherwood Forest, in Mason Co., WA -- at risk of clear-cutting by a company headquartered here in Pittsburgh. You can learn more (and donate to the legal fund if you can) here.
• PRC continues to hold online workshops about composting, rainwater harvesting, and waste reduction. They have several Hard-to-Recycle events each year; 2024's are listed here. For household chemicals, here's the link.
Apr 27 and 28: Strategic Organizing and NVDA workshops
Do the news and talk of today make you afraid, angry, bitter, or completely exhausted? Does it seem like not much gets done, even though people want to see changes for the better? Please join activists and other folks eager for social and environmental justice from across Allegheny County and the region for a set of workshops led by longtime activist and organizing leader Penn Garvin.
Many of you participated in a recent four-month series of Sustainability Salons on Movement Building and Effective Campaigns, led by Penn. She'll be coming to Pittsburgh to lead in-person workshops on strategic organizing, power mapping, and non-violent direct action! This is an excellent opportunity to learn and practice the skills you and your organization need to work strategically, peacefully, and effectively for social and environmental justice.
All sessions are free, and will be held in the downstairs Fellowship Hall at Community of Reconciliation Church, 100 North Bellefield Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Snacks and Refreshments will be provided.
Here's the program:
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
9 a.m. Registration and light snacks
10 a.m. to Noon - Power Mapping Workshop
Understand where the power centers that can bring about the changes you hope to achieve in your community or region are located -- and how to engage and influence them.
12-1:30 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:30-3:30 p.m. “Talking Productively with People Who Are Difficult to Talk To” Workshop
Often the people who are hardest to engage in conversation are the ones you really need to reach. Learn how to begin and succeed in conversations with those who are on the fence about an issue of importance to you, those who are disinclined to agree with your work, and those who are dead-set against it.
SUNDAY, APRIL 28
11 a.m, to noon - Sunday worship service in the Church’s first-floor sanctuary
COR is a multi-denominational, multi-racial, open and affirming Christian church founded 56 years ago.
All are welcome to attend the service.
1-3 p.m. - Nonviolent Direct Action (NVDA) Training Workshop
NVDA is a proven way to bring about social change -- not by seeking to defeat an opponent, but by seeking to defeat oppressive policies and unjust acts. Being successful at NVDA requires a personal commitment; skill in gathering information, educating others, and negotiating; and a solid knowledge of direct actions such as boycotts, marches, rallies, letter-writing campaigns, petitions, political actions, and many more. In this workshop you will develop your skills at being part of an NVDA and have an opportunity to enjoy role-playing what you have learned.
Penn Garvin has been active since 1968 in political issues including peace and social justice, anti-nuclear initiatives, women’s health care, homelessness, and human rights in Central America. She has led scores of workshops on how to organize, plan demonstrations, communicate for change, and practice nonviolent civil disobedience.
REGISTRATION
Please email Jim Highland, editor@sgpublishingteam.com, to register by April 24. Early registration by
April 18 is appreciated. Include your name, phone, email, which workshop(s) you plan to attend, and whether you have experience with organizing and/or NVDA.
Recommended Reading (not required):
How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning by George Lakey
Mar 24: Sustainability Salon on Reducing Plastics (on Zoom)
PASUP's 'Becca Stallings is also the author of The Earthling's Handbook, an insightful blog which explores many different aspects of life through a lens of sustainability. Earthling's entries range from book reviews to healthy recipes to reviews of plastic-free products. 'Becca will further explore the realm of food-container reuse.
PASUP's Dianne Peterson will share what she's been doing to enable individuals and families to eschew plastics, and especially single-use plastics, in their daily lives. From wooden toys and games to food storage containers made of silicone and stainless steel, her home-based business Our Children Our Earth enables Pittsburghers and others to live life a little more sustainably. And Dianne's Dishware has provided bamboo-based tableware to dozens (or hundreds?) of events in and around the 'Burgh (that otherwise would've used disposables).
Ed Wrenn co-founded our regional chapter of Wild Ones, an organization that promotes native plants and more-sustainable land care, but he also thinks a great deal about plastics -- including those used in landscaping and food gardening -- and how they can be reduced.
• Mar 18: Seminar on the History of Deep Reform in the US and Its Lessons for Today's Social Movements -- 4:30-7 in 3702 Posvar Hall (230 S Bouquet St., at Pitt).
• Mar 21: The Black Appalachian Coalition and the Ohio River Valley Institute are partnering with Patricia DeMarco, PhD for a Petrochemical Lunch & Learn series, delving deep into the connection between environmental pollution and our health. This month's session focuses on air pollution. Register here.
• Mar 23: Rally and conference in East Palestine: Among the consequences of plastic production are events like last year's train derailment and chemical explosion, which released huge amounts of toxic substances -- and in the process burned several cars' worth of vinyl chloride, leaving homes and communities contaminated, and damaging residents' health both there and downwind (largely Beaver County, just north of Pittsburgh). Join community members, labor allies, and Food & Water Watch for a rally and conference. More info and registration here. And there will be a bus from Pittsburgh!
• Apr 3-7: Concerned about soil contamination? (Here's some information on lead in soils.) The Allegheny County Conservation District is holding a free Soil Lead Screening, with five different dropoff sites around town. You need to register here, and detailed instructions will be sent to you!
• Apr 4: Pittsburgh Green New Deal holds another community strategy session to help make sure that the new Climate Action Plan being developed by Allegheny County Council is inclusive and addresses environmental justice issues adequately. Here's the Zoom registration link.
• Apr 11 or 15: Again apropos of our plastics theme... the film Blue Vinyl, a terrific and very personal documentary about the toxic impacts at all stages of the PVC lifespan, will be screened in Ambridge and Sewickley (with a panel discussion).
• April 18: The Black Appalachian Coalition and the Ohio River Valley Institute are partnering with Patricia DeMarco, PhD for a Petrochemical Lunch & Learn series, delving deep into the connection between environmental pollution and our health. April's theme is Water. Register here.
• Apr 25: If you operate a local business, and would like to explore this month's salon topic further, check out this all-day event by Humane Action Pittsburgh: Serving Up Sustainability. More information and registration here.
• Apr 27 & 28: Penn Garvin, who framed our recent four-part series on Movement-Building, will be in Pittsburgh for a two-day workshop on Strategic Organizing and Nonviolent Direct Action. More details here!
• May 24-27: Heartwood Forest Council is coming to southeastern Ohio. You can hear organizer Matt Peters talk about the organization and the gathering on this interview/podcast-style video (he starts talking about Heartwood a little after 12 minutes in -- more local stuff before that).
• ReImagine Food Systems, which we've talked about at past salons, is raising funds for this year's operations (food gardens and hands-on education offered at no cost to residents in environmental justice communities, by volunteers). If you have something to spare, you can contribute via GoFundMe. And we're always looking for more volunteers, too! Email reimaginefoodsystems@gmail.com.
• Concerned Health Professionals of NY recently released the 9th Edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas & Oil Infrastructure. Check it out!
• PA is considering legislation to (a) greatly increase the renewables portion of our electricity generation, and (b) enable community solar!! The Pennsylvania Solar Center has made it easy to speak out to support this action!
• We know that only a tiny fraction of plastic has ever been recycled. And yet, NPR has been airing sponsorship messages for the American Recycling Council, which is continuing to perpetrate the "recycling" hoax. Does that make your blood boil? The national group Beyond Plastics has a petition/sign-on letter to get them to stop -- please sign, for yourself or for an organization you represent!
• It's been more than a year now! You can support striking Post-Gazette workers here (and consider signing up for the alternative online publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress -- and maybe even cancel your P-G subscription until they start treating workers fairly!). This strike has garnered national attention; one recent picket even made it into Teen Vogue.
• And speaking of solidarity, the Cop City controversy is still raging in Atlanta. More information and a support fund are here. There's also talk of a similar facility in the works for Pittsburgh.
• Another forest that needs protecting is Sherwood Forest, in Mason Co., WA -- at risk of clear-cutting by a company headquartered here in Pittsburgh. You can learn more (and donate to the legal fund if you can) here.
• PRC continues to hold online workshops about composting, rainwater harvesting, and waste reduction. And they have several Hard-to-Recycle events each year; 2024's are listed here.