Nov 30: Climate change lecture at Pitt

From Climate Change to Political and Personal Change: Building a Prosperous, Sustainable World

How can we protect the historic Paris climate accord that was brought into force on November 4? The hard work begins now. The Paris accord is a giant step forward, but at the same time more ambitious actions such as earlier and deeper emissions cuts are needed to create a world in which all can thrive. So, does the agreement deliver us from climate catastrophe, or is it another diplomatic disappointment? Can we build an economy powered by clean, renewable energy in time?

John Sterman, Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management and the director of the MIT System Dynamics Group, will explore these questions with interactive simulations of the climate and economy developed by MIT and climateinteractive.org. Sterman will discuss how these tools are used by policymakers and negotiators around the world, and will report on both the UN Paris climate summit last year and the just-concluded summit in Marrakech. Yet, as important as that work is, broad public support for action around the world is essential. For complex, contentious issues such as climate change, simply showing research isn't enough; progress only occurs when people learn for themselves. Sterman will demonstrate how interactive tools are being used by political leaders, policymakers, and members of the public around the world to build shared understanding of climate change and the task before us. Finally, we’ll discuss what each of us can do, professionally and personally, to build a safer, sustainable world in which all can thrive.

4 p.m. at the University Club (Ballroom B), 123 University Place, 15213. This talk is free and open to the public but space is limited -- please register online!

Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Honors College and Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business in cooperation with The Graduate School of Public Health, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the The National Aviary.

Nov 15: Solidarity with Standing Rock

After the election of Donald Trump on Tuesday it is more important than ever that we fight injustice wherever it takes place and in whatever form it may occur.  That is why we urge you to join us for a family-friendly Mindfulness Walk in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, gathering first outside Trinity Episcopal Cathedral downtown.

The 1,1720-mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is being constructed to carry crude oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota to a refinery near Chicago. For months the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota has opposed the pipeline, which would run close to sacred native lands and could contaminate their water supply from the nearby Missouri river.  The tribe’s protest has grown into a national call for respect of Native American rights, the entitlement to peaceful protest,  religious freedom, and the reduction of our reliance on fossil fuels.

The Mindfulness Walk will include a ceremonial Water Blessing as well as brief speeches.  Taking part will be Pittsburghers who have recently spent time in the camps at Cannon Ball near the tribe’s reservation.

Among several sponsors of this event are 350 Pittsburgh, Allegheny Clean Air Now, the Thomas Merton Center's Environmental Justice Committee, GreenFaith, Greenpeace, Marcellus Protest, Three Rivers Rising Tide, and the Sierra Club.

If you are unable to attend the Mindfulness Walk, you may send a message to President Obama (thanks to the Sierra Club for this avenue) and/or donate to the upkeep of the tribe’s protest camps.

11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (328 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15222).  For more information contact Wanda Guthrie at (412) 661-1529.  Here's the Facebook event to share your plans!

Nov 12: Sustainability Salon on the Just Transition

Workers in a longwall coal mine in Greene County, now closed.

Following last month's session on Environmental Justice, the 58th Sustainability Salon will narrow our focus to the Just Transition:  making sure that, as society shifts from a fossil-based economy to a renewable energy economy, the workers aren't left out in the cold.  

We know from the REMI Report that there are a lot more jobs in a renewables-based economy than the fossil economy we have now, but they aren't doing the same things (so retraining will be necessary) and they aren't in the same places (so for instance, governments can offer incentives to locate manufacturing facilities for solar panels, wind turbines, and green building materials in the heart of coal country.  
Speakers will include author, scholar, and energy policy expert Patricia DeMarco (who hosts a radio show on this very topic) and labor historian Charles McCollester, author of The Point of Pittsburgh.  

Linking the energy transition, environmental justice, climate, and labor we'll also talk briefly about the recent trip out to Standing Rock organized by the healthcare workers' union last week, and the solidarity event taking place next week downtown (Tuesday, starting at 11 -- more details on MarensList, of course).  Local Peaceburgher Vikki Hanchin and Dakota elder Johnny Coe will be here to lead the discussion.

And, as always, mark your calendar:  the 59th salon on Visualizing Air Quality will take place on December 3rd.

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 -- but this time there is no program, so come hang out!.   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!).  

July's salon with Bill Peduto

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 environmental justice, the City of Pittsburgh's sustainability initiatives, fossil energy infrastructure, getting money out of politics, community solar power and the Solarize Allegheny program, the Paris climate negotiations (before, during, and after), 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, pollution and climate, environmental art, environmental education (Part I & Part II), community mapping projects, environmental journalism, grassroots action, 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, 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. 

Nov 6: LowCarbon Crossings bike tour comes to Pittsburgh

LowCarbon Crossings

After riding 3764 miles across the United States, Mindy Ahler and Ryan Hall, known as the “LowCarbon Crossing Team”, will arrive in Pittsburgh on Sunday, November 6, 2016, as part of a bicycle journey to engage with communities along a 14-state route.  Through conversations on climate change, the Team aims to heighten the American public's understanding of climate issues and to inspire action towards climate solutions.  

The Team is expected to arrive at Bicycle Heaven, 1800 Preble & Columbus Ave. on the North Side, for a media stop at 1:30 pm and a Solidarity Ride at 2:30 pm.  After the ride, a presentation is scheduled for 6:30 - 8:30 pm at St. Andrews Church, 5801 Hampton in Highland Park.  The team will leave for Washington, D.C. on Monday at 9:00 am from 412 South 27th St in the South Side Works (the location of REI Pittsburgh) and would love an enthusiastic biker send-off!

Nov 1: Death By Design film screening

Didn't experience enough scary stuff on Hallowe'en? Extend the holiday with this new film about the electronics industry. Many people love – and live on – their smartphones, tablets and laptops.  I'm posting this MarensList entry from a laptop.  A cascade of new devices pours endlessly into the market, promising even better communication, non-stop entertainment and instant information. The numbers are staggering. By 2020, four billion people will have a personal computer. Five billion will own a mobile phone.

But this revolution has a dark side, hidden from most consumers. In an investigation that spans the globe, filmmaker Sue Williams investigates the underbelly of the electronics industry and reveals how even the smallest devices have deadly environmental and health costs. From the intensely secretive factories in China, to a ravaged New York community and the high tech corridors of Silicon Valley, the film tells a story of environmental degradation, of health tragedies, and the fast approaching tipping point between consumerism and sustainability.

5-7 p.m. (film is about 90 minutes) in Porter Hall 100 at Carnegie Mellon University.  Free and open to the public; no registration is needed but you can respond or discuss on Facebook.

A few reviews:

You won’t look at your iPhone in quite the same way again after viewing Sue Williams’ thoughtful documentary -- Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times

Vital. Provocative in its focus on giant American corporations. -- John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

Both jaw-dropping and heartbreaking, Death by Design forces the viewer to reconsider their whole approach to technology -- Hannah Clugston, Aesthetica Magazine

Everyone should see this film -- Sydney Brownstone, The Stranger

Oct 22: Bike Tour of Green Infrastructure Sites

Mayor Peduto has unveiled the city’s new Clean and Green plan to prevent flooding and solve our region’s sewer overflow problems. The Sierra Club and the Clean Rivers Campaign have organized a bike tour of some of the sites identified in the city’s plan as well as existing green installations.

This leisurely, five-mile group bike ride will stop at various sites, including Bakery Square 2.0, the EECO Center, Negley Run, and Heth’s Run.

1:30pm to 3:30 pm, starting at Bakery Square 2.0  (6425 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206).   Space is limited;  please register online!  For more information contact Tom Torres, Conservation Program Coordinator.

Oct 16: Sunday Supper community dinner

The love of good food is universal and has the power to bring people together. 

A healthy democracy requires diverse leadership and many voices – it is inclusive and prioritizes access and opportunities for historically marginalized communities to be heard.

This year the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council will connect eating with civic engagement during the Sunday Supper event, a community dinner to celebrate our region's work towards a more just and sustainable food system.

Last year's 500 plates event in Akron last year is the inspiration for this concept. 

Join us for a free, family-friendly community meal for 500 people crafted from local ingredients, as well as entertainment from local artists and a community-driven discussion on food-related issues with neighborhood leaders and policy makers. 

Volunteers Needed

We are seeking volunteers for our  Sunday Supper event on October 16, 2016. If you are interested, please select the volunteer ticket type.

Volunteers will assist in set-up of the event, check-in, and tear-down activities. Your volunteer pass includes your meal and participation in the conversation. 

1:15-5:00 p.m. on Grant Street, downtown.

Check-in starting at 1:15 p.m., local entertainment from 2 p.m., supper served at 3 p.m.,  followed by discussion.  For more information go to PittsburghFoodDay.org

Sunday Supper, a Pittsburgh Food Day Celebration is hosted by the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council.

Oct 16: Orienteering in Boyce Park

Want to get out and about on one of our beautiful fall days?  There's an orienteering event coming up at Boyce Park (west side, Patrol I shelter), hosted by the Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club.  Orienteering is an outdoor activity in which participants locate flags in the woods (and generally outdoors), using a specially-designed topographic map and compass.  It can be competitive, in which participants try to find the sequence of flags as quickly as possible, or it can be non-competitive, in a leisurely hiking mode.  The event is open to registration and starts anytime between 10:45 AM and 2:00 PM, during which any participant can start at any time (there is no mass-start time).  The event will close at 3:30 PM, at which time no one should be still on the course (everyone should have returned to the finish).

This will be a sprint event; that is, all of the courses will be short. "Sprint" does not mean you have to run.  The course director has designed four sprint courses, two are at the beginner/novice level and are about 2 to 2.5 km in length and two are at the advanced level and are 3 to 3.5 km in length. Registration and start are from 11 am to 2 pm and the map fee is $6 (Group or family doing event together with one purchased map, total cost for the entire group is still just $6). Because the courses are short, ONE MAP FEE will give you entry to TWO SPRINTS; you may choose which two. It is a good idea to come early so you can rest a little between the two sprint courses. Sprints provide a good opportunity for less experienced orienteers to try an advanced course that is not very long or for orienteers who normally walk a course to try running without becoming too exhausted because of the length.

Don't forget, if you are bringing a minor who is not your son or daughter, you need to bring a waiver signed by the minor's parent (obtainable under Club Documents at www.wpoc.org ). 

Beginners welcome;  free instruction on site given by volunteers.  Driving directions to the park are here, along with a map.

Oct 12: Cracker plant site tour

The ethane cracker plant that Shell is proposing to build in Beaver County, Pennsylvania will lead to a significant amount of new air pollution that could cause health impacts on area residents. Clean Air Council and other advocates will tour the area near the proposed Cracker facility to learn about the scale and impact of the plant. The tour will provide a view of the incredible size of the Cracker Plant site, the associated dock and rail yard they Shell is building for transporting materials. Riders will hear commentary about the site from a local resident who tracks the project.

What started as a tour just for environmental group staff is now being opened to organizations’ members, so please join us on October 12^th for this important site tour by registering online while tickets last.

Immediately following the cracker plant site tour, participants will also attend the Potter Township Supervisors Meeting at 6PM to see how the cracker plant plan is unfolding to date. It is critical for township officials to see that the public is engaged in this process and that they hear from area residents about concerns related to air pollution, public health, and worker safety.

When: October 12th from 3:30PM to approximately 8:30PM (from and to location #1)

Pickup locations and times:

Pickup location #1: 200 First Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Please plan to be boarded by 3:15PM so the bus can leave promptly at 3:30PM. There is parking at the corner of Wood and First Avenue and four other lots surrounding the pickup site.

Pickup location #2: Anchor and Anvil Coffee Shop, 7221 Church Avenue, Ben Avon, 15202. Please plan to be at the pickup location early so the bus can leave at the estimated departure time of 3:40 p.m.  

Pickup location #3: Beaver Memorial Library, 100 College Avenue, Beaver 15009. Please plan to be at the pickup location early so the bus can leave at the estimated departure time of 4:15.

Ticket cost and registration: Please register online to reserve your seat. The cost for riders from Allegheny County is $17.00 plus a tip for the driver. Residents from townships/boroughs surrounding the proposed cracker plant (Potter, Industry, Center, Beaver, Vanport, Monaca, Rochester) will pay $5. If you can't go, but can assist with paying for someone else’s ticket, please let contact us at dsmith@cleanair.org.

What to bring: Please bring a bag dinner. Drinks will be provided. 

If you have any questions, please contact Dave Smith at 412-954-8494 or dsmith@cleanair.org.  

Oct 11: Cooperatives resource fair

How do co-ops work -- and could this be the right model for your business?  Attend this resource fair and walk away with new connections and resources. 

4:30-7:30 p.m., with a brief presentation at 5:30 p.m., at 1910 Broadway Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216.  Light refreshments will be served.  Free, but please register online.  For additional info and discussion, visit the Facebook event or contact Josette Fitzgibbons at 412-255-6686 or jfitzgibbons@ura.org. 

Part of an ongoing series held by the Mayor's Office and the URA. Learn about available assistance with your building, your business plan, financing, mentorship, and other great opportunities for new and established small businesses. Exhibitors include local non-profits, financial institutions, and business consultants.

Co-Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Mayor's Office, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, and the Mansmann Foundation.

Sep 9 to Oct 9: Re:New Festival

A month-long celebration of creative reuse, transformation, and sustainability featuring workshops, talks, tours, performances, film screenings, and exhibits at venues around Pittsburgh!

More information at http://renewfestival.com

Oct 8: Creatives for Climate workshop

This workshop is different than you think.

Yes, we will be talking about climate change and climate science - but without getting depressed.  Prepare to be inspired and empowered. Come network with experts and peers alike. Explore and create new ways to deal with climate change. Come create climate art - and be part of something huge.

Thanks to a grant from Climate & Urban Systems Partnership CUSP and support from The Heinz Endowments, this event is free.   Details and registration information below.

9:00 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. at Repair the World, Pittsburgh
6022 Broad St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (East Liberty);  lunch and snacks provided.  Reserve your spot by registering  here on EventBrite 

Featured Speakers

Neil Donahue,  Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Mandi Lyon, Program Development Coordinator, Education & Visitor Experience, Carnegie Museum of Natural History and  Climate & Urban Systems Partnership, CUSP Pittsburgh

Baruch Fischhoff, Howard Heinz University Professor, Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy, CMU

MORE INFORMATION:

https://creatives4climate.wordpress.com

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-creatives-for-climate-workshop-tickets-27128588338

https://www.facebook.com/events/321416614872511/