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The first salon, on home solar |
Weather permitting (and it looks good, with rain winding down by midday), for the 149th Sustainability Salon we'll rove around our site together making discoveries and fielding questions, and will bring remote attendees (and those who remain on the porch due to limited mobility) along via Zoom. Quite a departure from our usual format, this will also be very interactive -- lots of folks have their own experiences and expertise to share! Since we won't see all there is to see year 'round in this one afternoon, we'll have a slide presentation with more flora and fauna, as well. In either case, you'll wind up with a few new tools with which to learn about your own space.
There are also a whole lot of other important events happening in our region; please check out the list below for a few of 'em.
• ASAP! There's a time-sensitive opportunity to further community solar as part of the final state budget this year! We are looking for a resident of PA senate district 41 (Armstrong, Indiana, and part of Jefferson and Westmoreland Counties) to help write and submit a letter to the editor of the Indiana Gazette to pressure State Senator Joe Pittman, urging him to support the Senate version of HB1842. Please give me a call or text (four one two - 418 - 49 four three) if you live in the district and would like to help with this!
• June 27: The Shell petrochemical facility in Beaver County has been chalking up violation after violation ever since it began operations in 2022. Food & Water Watch and partners are hosting a meeting to discuss those violations and learn how to identify the power players via the practice of Power Mapping. In-person (5-8 p.m.) and via Zoom (6-8 p.m.). More information and registration here.
• June 27: Join Penn State Extension for a webinar on edible and medicinal mushrooms in Pennsylvania. 6 p.m. via Zoom; more information and registration here.
• June 28: Conservation efforts benefit from Indigenous knowledge and participation in land and water management. Looking across the country, Indigenizing Coastal Conservation will bring together Native and non-Native scholars, organizers, and conservation professionals for a free virtual roundtable about California coastal ecosystems (6 p.m. EDT; more information and registration here).
• June 29: SolarPunk Future -- an afternoon of food, fun, and hopeful visions of our future (also featured in last August's salon). Thought-provoking performances, interactive art, talks and panel discussions, exhibitors, and a sustainability-focused job fair! 1-5 p.m. at Velum Fermentation on the South Side; lots more info here.
• July 2: Allegheny County Council meeting that will include an amendment to the Climate Action Plan legislation -- come pack the room to support an inclusive and transparent public process, and a focus on environmental justice for the CAP. (5 p.m. in the Gold Room (4th Floor of the County Courthouse, 436 Grant St.).
• July 10: Allegheny Land Trust presents Nature Nearby: Birding in Your Backyard. 6 p.m. at Carnegie Library (Squirrel Hill branch).
• July 12: Whirlwinds of Danger -- ever see the folks at protests sporting dayglo green caps? They are volunteer observers for the National Lawyer's Guild, which also provides phone support in case things go awry. Consider attending this fundraiser for the Pittsburgh chapter of NLG! (7 p.m. at Spirit, in Lawrenceville)
• July 14: For the 150th Sustainability Salon, we're gonna have a party! The pandemic did me out of the 100th-salon party, and the ten-year party, but 150 is also a pretty round number!
• Aug 10: East Side Environmental Justice Resource Fair will grow community capacity and provide community members with resources to educate and equip those most impacted with solutions to environmental injustice, often due to race and/or socioeconomic status. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Homewood Brushton YMCA (7140 Bennett St.). Food, fun, and childcare provided!
• 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.
• 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.
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1 comment:
Fabulous, thank you! So much to learn and think about.
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