Happy New Year!

Beautiful winter sky in Pittsburgh, PA, 2012

Mark your calendars for Sustainable Monroeville meetings in 2012: January 9, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, Sept. 10, Oct. 1, Nov.5 and December3, 2012. Most meetings will be at 7:00 PM. 

The monthly meeting on January 9, 2012 in the downstairs program room at 7:00 PM will feature the documentary Bag It: Is your life too plastic? The film is both lighthearted, and heavy, and a must see! 

The February meeting will be at 6:00 PM and will be our annual local foods pot luck dinner. Bring a covered dish that has at least one ingredient that is locally sourced. That gets all of us thinking! Remember to bring along utensils and a plate and cup too. We'll be packing it in and out. 

This year, the February, 2012 meeting will be the third anniversary of the founding of Sustainable Monroeville! A local girl scout troop will be joining us too! Come prepared to let us know at least three things you've done in the last three years that have led to a more sustainable home or community or earth!

PolarTrec at Sustainable Monroeville in collaboration with the Monroeville Public Library

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which K-12 teachers spend several weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. In May 2011, Gateway High School teacher Jim Pottinger went on expedition to Greenland to join a team studying solar radiation on the Greenland ice sheet. The team traversed the ice sheet several times and then lived and worked at Summit Station, located at the peak of the Greenland ice cap atop 3,200 meters of ice. The goal of the project was to gain a better understanding of the Earth's heat balance -- the solar radiation reflected back into space and absorbed by our planet. Join us at Monroeville Public Library on Monday, December 12, 7:00-8:30 p.m. as Jim shares stories and photos from the expedition.

Vandana Shiva in Pitttsburgh. Pure Joy and Inspiration!

Last night, I went to Point Park University to hear Vandana Shiva, "world- renowned environmental leader and thinker...She is the founder of Navdanya ("nine seeds"), a movement promoting diversity and use of native seeds. ..(she) set up the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology in her mother's cowshed in 1997. (Her organization)..has done studies that have validated the ecological value of traditional farming and have been instrumental in fighting destructive development projects in India." She also written many wonderful books including Soil, Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, 2008, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development, 2010, Earth Democracy, Justice, Sustainability and Peace, 2005, Water Wars: Pollution, Profits and Privatization, 2001, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, 1997, (all South End Press) Monocultures of the Mind (Zed, 1993) and The Violence of the Green Revolution (Zed, 1992)

A few of my friends, Steffi S. Eric V. a student from Point Park University, Vandana Shiva and me!

The talk was one of the most upbeat and inspiring talks I have ever heard. Shiva is grass roots and talked about the improtance of doing anything, any small thing, to work towards the world we want to see. She explained how turning land and soil to the organic way by enriching the soil, the earth will heal itself in a very short time, in two years.

After the talk, there was time for Q& A. I told Dr. Shiva that I usually ask questions. Following her talk though, I expressed my admiration that she spoke so well and summarized the healing plan for all of us people, plants, and all organisms through re-establishing the biodiverse earth, that I did not have any questions. Instead I told her what we are doing in our community of Monroeville to work with these issues. I told her about how we are linking the Food Not Lawns campaign with the urban core through the Schwartz Market project on Pittsburgh's Historic South Side.

So the newly established garden behind the Monroeville Public Library in cooperation with the library and the municipality is the first huge step in an outstanding direction. This winter, I will be thinking about, planning,  and designing a food garden for our front lawn, out here in this suburb called Monroeville. Our January meeting will be dedicated to the idea of Food Not Lawns. Join Us!

So what does this have to do with the urban core? Well, the urban folks do not have much space to grow food. Let's provide our suburban food for sale in the city and help the city folks establish their own rooftop gardens and urban farms....We are working step by step by step to establish a vibrant Schwartz Market on the South Side on Historic East Carson Street, main street USA! See http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com. for more on this urban project. The market is available for vendors to sell food and some art, or have their goods sold. Please contact me if you are interested in being involved on any level out here in the suburbs or in the South Side.

I can be reached by e-mail at elisabeck@aol.com which I check almost daily, or sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com which I check infrequently!

So why am I so excited? Because when a person like Vandana Shiva says, oh, yes, that she did not talk about that last night, but that connecting the rural farmers with the urban core is so important and telling me that what we are doing is exactly what needs to happen, I get even more inspired! Perhaps she'll mention some of our after talking in her talk today at Carnegie Mellon University between 12:30 and 1:30 or tonight when she receives the Thomas Merton Award at the Sheraton in Station Squrare.

Join Us in this magnificent journey of vibrant life!  Elisa Beck :)

Elisa Beck

The Pittsburgh Public Market at Sustainable Monroeville

On Monday, November 14, 2011, at 7:00 PM, Rachel Kudrick of the Pittsburgh Public Market will be our speaker. Rachel will be talking about some of their specific plans for how to help communities become healthier, more sustainable, greener and friendlier, including future planning for educational classes, demos and partnerships.

She'll be bringing some maps of the Strip and a few other give-aways. Rachel, center, came to our meeting in September, 2011, and is pictured below with the two speakers from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Food Security Partnership:

Pittsburgh Public Market is a year-round public market hall located in the heart of the Strip District, Pittsburgh’s historic market district. The market offers a variety of locally grown and produced goods to support local business, industry and agriculture.

They are a non-profit entity under the auspices of Neighbors in the Strip and provide a place for local small businesses to open, learn, grow and thrive without the high cost of overhead that a traditional storefront would entail.

Their mission is to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood, provide healthy food and nutrition education to the neighborhood and surrounding region, provide jobs for low-income individuals with an emphasis on women and minorities, and create a public space that celebrates Pittsburgh’s diverse ethnic and food traditions.

Prior to the meeting NOTE CHANGE! At Monroeville # 4 Firehall, 4370 Northern Pike, in Monroeville, PA, on Monday evening, November 14, 2011, at 5:30 PM there will be a public meeting sponsored by Alcosan to update the community on fulfilling the consent decree to fix the sewage system in Allegheny County.  Sustainable Monroeville will not have a pot luck dinner that evening so we can attend this meeting and then follow it with our meeting at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library.

Background: Alcosan is planning to spend billions of dollars to expand their facilities and put in a new system to handle stormwater.

Another meeting will take place on Wednesday evening, November 9 from 5:30 to 7:30at the IBEW at 5 Hot Metal Street on the South Side. Alcosan has scheduled other meetings too. Go to their website for details.

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank's, Kerri LaCharite and James Harrell, Jr., speak!

Hunger and food access affects one in every seven people in the United States, a total of 14.5% of households.  Fresh produce is often the hardest item for families to obtain and purchase.  At the same time 12% of produce goes unharvested due to the cost of labor, market price of produce and other factors.  Kerri LaCharite, Produce Specialist at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will speak about local and urban agriculture initiatives and volunteer opportunities in South Western Pennsylvania and James Harrell, Jr., Regional Coordinator of the SW PA Food Security Partnership, will speak about the Southwestern Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership at the October 3, 2011 meeting of Sustainable Monroeville between 7:00 and 8:30 PM in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Free and open to the public. Join Us!

http://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Food Security Partnership was formed with the understanding that a unified approach is the way to make substantial progress toward eradicating hunger in our region.  Strengthening communications, sharing resources, identifying gaps and forging new collaborations throughout the Partnership’s network is their methodology.  It is an approach one set of authors recently described as a “collective impact” rather than an “isolated impact” strategy.

 Below is a more detailed link to the Pittsburgh food bank website which shows the types of work that the Partners have been doing in Allegheny County as well as the entire region.

http://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/programs/partnership.aspx

Melons surrounded by Marigolds to stave off extraneous large critters in the Monroeville USDA People's Garden, September, 2011

Stormwater Management and a USDA People's Garden!

At the first meeting of Sustainable Monroeville in February of 2009, we worked to start two committees, one to begin a rain barrel revolution in Monroeville, and the other to learn how to design and implement 10' x 10' biointensive gardens in our suburban yards. Those specific projects have not happened yet, but we did spark a permaculture-style vegetable garden project at the Monroeville Public Library that is planting the seeds for helping us understand how bioswales are important in stormwater management and much more. The garden is now a People's Garden. The People's Garden is an initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture "that encourages government and other organizations to create gardens to benefit the community." (People's Garden takes root beside library, Pittsburgh Post Gazette 9-15-11, EZ-2 byAnne Tubbs,)  The Crossraods Food Pantry and the Pitcairn Food Pantry are receiving the bounty of the Monroeville People's Garden. Here's today's article in its entirety by Annie Tubbs of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Lois Drumheller examines the garden behind the Monroeville library, recently certified by the USDA as a People's Garden.

Between the library and the senior citizens center in Monroeville lies a two-row garden of flowers, vegetables and herbs.
It's the brainchild of Monroeville Councilwoman Lois Drumheller, who wanted to establish a People's Garden -- a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative that encourages government and other organizations to create gardens to benefit the community.
She'd hoped to secure thousands of dollars in grants, but when it became clear that wasn't going to happen, she started planning the garden with just $450 in donations.
"This is the first year, and it's all experimental and done on a shoestring budget," she said. The garden is the only USDA-certified People's Garden in Allegheny County.
So far, the 240-square-foot garden has produced about 250 pounds of vegetables, fruits and herbs for two local food pantries -- the Cross Roads Presbyterian Church and the Pitcairn Food Bank.
Early in the year, Sustainable Monroeville, a group that promotes sustainable gardening, helped design a "permaculture" garden -- the plants have a symbiotic relationship to help each other grow.
Then, Ms. Drumheller had the soil tested in March by scientists at the Penn State Cooperative Extension. The test results weren't promising.
"We didn't have very nutritious soil," she said.
So she spent $225 of her budget on a "soil amendment" done by Steel City Soil. After public works employees dug two rows for the garden with a depression in the middle for a bioswale to catch water runoff, topsoil donated and delivered by a local landscaping company was laid down, followed by a nutritious compost mixture from Steel City Soil. On May 31, seeds and seedlings were planted, all of which were either donated or sold at a deep discount by two local garden centers -- June Rose Garden Center in Plum and Mosside Greenhouse in Wall.
Amid the zucchini, tomatoes and cantaloupe, the garden is dotted with marigolds and Irish Spring bar soap because a public works employee told Ms. Drumheller that the smells are offensive to deer.
"Municipal employees are an encyclopedia of knowledge," Ms. Drumheller said.
She also put fences around the tomatoes to further deter four-legged thieves.
She has seen rabbits, deer, turkeys and groundhogs nearby, but they're not really bothering the garden. Only one plant has been gnawed on -- a Jerusalem artichoke
"I don't really see a lot of animals getting into this," she said.
The staff at Monroeville Public Library helps Ms. Drumheller harvest produce from the garden during work breaks.
"It's been exciting to watch it grow and harvest the fruits of Lois' labor," said Christy Fusco, library director.
The small bioswale in the garden catches water on the sloping hill toward the library, preventing some of it from getting into the building.
Ms. Fusco said she hopes to include more environmentally friendly permaculture landscaping on the library grounds to mitigate flooding.
"We're just keeping our eyes open and sort of including that in our plans ... as we address facility issues," she said.
Ms. Drumheller hopes that sustainable gardens expand across the library grounds and onto the nearby Gateway School District campus. School board members took a tour of the garden last week.
Ms. Fusco said the garden is a great start, and she also hopes to "take those ideas and apply them to the whole campus."

Annie Tubbs: atubbs@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1613.

First published on September 15, 2011 at 12:00 am

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11258/1174606-56-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml#ixzz1Y1yVwl88

Check out the link to a wonderful editorial about stormwater management by Brenda Smith, Executive Director of the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, and one of 15 women being honored for making the region more green by the Boys and Girls Club on November 19, 2011, at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in downtown Pittsburgh: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11243/1170941-110.stm

Exploring the Ingredients for Transition with Rob Hopkins

Check out the MP3 link of Rob Hopkins of "Exploring the Ingredients For Transition." Go to www.transitionus.org to find the link.

Need some inspiration? Anyone interested in starting a Transition group, let me know, and i will mentor. Contact me through the Sustainable Monroeville facebook page or by commenting on this blog entry. I was one of the founders of the Transition Pittsburgh group and will be excited to see more Transition groups pop up in this region and everywhere! Elisa Beck

Credit: Maria Vons-Gupta

Join our Gift Circle!

For our meeting on Monday evening, September 12, 2011 we will have a pot luck dinner starting at 6:00 PM and Gift Circle beginning at 7:00 PM! Consider bringing some locally harvested and/or produced fare for everyone to share! Also your plate, cup and utensils. This will be a zero waste event and you can be sure we'll compost any food we do not eat! We'll be sure to peak at the garden too!


Chad Mosseso, the facilitator says: "Come join us build friendships, community resilience, and economic self-sufficiency at the Gift Circle. As we share our needs and gifts with each other we are able to discover and utilize untapped resources within our community, effectively turning one person's unused asset into another person's treasure.  This creates more abundance for everyone in the community to enjoy while also cutting waste and unnecessary consumption."


See you at the Monroeville Public Library in the downstairs program room at 6:00 PM on Monday evening, September 12, 2011! Elisa Beck

Your Environmental Road Trip Premier in Pittsburgh, PA September 20, 2011

Join this amazing adventure that starts and ends in the 'burgh! This will be an excellent event and I hope to see you there! Sustainable Monroeville is one of the sponsors so come on out and show your support. Elisa Beck

50 States. 1 Year. Zero Garbage? Called to action by a planet in peril, three friends hit the road - traveling America with hope, humor…and all of their garbage - to explore the good, the bad, and the weird across every state in search of the extraordinary innovators and courageous citizens who are tackling humanity's greatest environmental crises. As the YERT team layers outlandish eco-challenges onto their year-long quest, an unexpected turn of events throws the project for a loop in this award-winning docu-comedy. Featuring Bill McKibben, Wes Jackson, Will Allen, Janine Benyus, Joel Salatin, David Orr, and music by Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore, Mark Geary and more.

Please join us for the Pittsburgh Premiere of the feature documentary "YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip" on Sept. 20th. Doors open and light refreshments begin at 6:30pm, with screening at 7pm at Chatham University's Eddy Theater, hosted by the Rachel Carson Institute in the School of Sustainability and the Environment at Chatham University. The screening will be followed by Q&A with filmmakers Ben Evans and Mark Dixon. This event is generously hosted by the Rachel Carson Institute in the School of Sustainability and the Environment at Chatham University. This event is sponsored in part by Parkhurst Dining and also by Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and their Black and Gold City Goes Green, Three Rivers Solar Source, andBreathe Easy, Stay Healthy campaigns. Additional sponsors include the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club, Tree Pittsburgh, the Green Building Alliance, Venture Outdoors, Grow Pittsburgh, 3RiversBioneers, Transition Pittsburgh, Sust-Enable, Pittsburgh Student Environmental Coalition (PSEC), Peaceful Gathering of Hands (P.G.H.), Sustainable Monroeville, 1317 East Carson/Schwartz Market, and Evolver Pittsburgh. Ticket reservations are essential-- get yours at http://yertreservation.questionpro.com. Learn more at YERT.com.

Visualizing Biodiversity in the Suburbs

I've been thinking about the potential. The potential of all of the lawn care companies that work on my block transforming the block into 25 homes of front yard food gardens. Imagine that! Imagine the companies that spray noxious and now some eco-friendly lawn and home chemicals morphing into creating and spraying compost teas to enrich the soils, planting fruit and nut trees and perennial food crops like asparagus and herbs, and re-creating biodiversity from the now mostly sprayed monoculture green grass lawns.
What am I also sensing? That our block can transform the western medicalized culture through our example of shifting our lawns to supplying food to our communities and ourselves. After all, there are a lot of medical professionals that reside here. Consistent with our legal drug based culture are the folks on my block that hire companies to spray their lawns. It is a certain aesthetic. The French court aesthetic carried over from the European settler days. Perhaps our permaculture landscape reflects my peasant utilitarian background...

Chemically treated lawn next to Permaculture landscape

The noxious chemicals that maintain the golf course monoculture look wipe out the biodiversity of soil systems. And why does that matter? It matters for the same reason that overuse of antibiotics is wiping out the ecosystem in our guts. And without the ingestion of probiotics and cultured vegetables to re-establish the bacterial flora in our internal ecosystems, we become ill. Digestion in our stomachs and intestines and the proper functioning of our immune systems and the immune systems of our soils are analagous. Let's take steps to heal ourselves, our internal and external ecosystems. Join us at our Sustainable Monroeville meetings and learn how!

Troy educating the Permaculture Design Class in his yard at the backyard pond, part of the home Permaculture landscape. Check out Pittsburgh Permaculture, Octopus Organics and Steel City Soils!

Peaceful Gathering of Hands in Pittsburgh, PA

The 2nd Peaceful Gathering of Hands - Global Peace DayAugust 14, 2011 from 2pm - 7pm
Schenley Oval Meadow, next to the Skating Rink
1 Overlook Drive (best to approach from Blvd of the Allies, exit beside Schenley Swimming Pool)

• The Peaceful Gathering of Hands is a free and collaborative event to unite diverse groups and individuals who are working for a peaceful and healthy Pittsburgh and Planet.

• A giant circle of holding hands every-hour-on-the-hour

• Bring instruments, outdoor games, food to share, items to share, a blanket or tent, eating implements, plus your talents and your visions for Peace (open mic!)

• Groups encouraged to bring their information for networking

• At least 500+ at the last event. Come join us!
• Pictured below is a partial green roof in Pittburgh's South Side

Sustainable Monroeville will have a tent along with many other individuals and groups. Three Rivers Permaculture will have an interesting composting demonstration. Come learn about the Integrative Design Process through the Schwartz Market project. See http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com Join Us!

Invite friends to the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=141362629280192

Feel free to post the Youtube movie trailer on Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsDBby2QOFI

The Allegheny Front Rewind: Buildings Go Green

The Allegheny Front Rewind: Buildings Go Green