Category Archives: Groups/Events

January Activities for Longfellow Sustainability Group

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January marks 1 year of sustainability for Peter and I. In January, we met with Sage and MarAnn to brainstorm the creation of the Longfellow sustainability group, which is now called Transition Longfellow. To celebrate a year of activities and fellowship, the group is planning a special event. EVERYONE is invited, but we’d particularly like to see you if you’ve been following us on Facebook, or if you attended a Saturday morning meeting or came to a movie night.

JANUARY 7 – Pancake Breakfast Celebration
9 to 11 am
Bethany Lutheran Church, 3900 36th Avenue S.
We’ll share what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve learned. We’ll talk about our plans for activities in 2012. And we’ll have a silent auction of hand-mad items. If you want to donate something, let me know. I’m handling the auction.

ALSO this month

January 20 Movie Night
6:30 pm potluck, 7:15 movie
Bethany Lutheran Church, 3900 36th Avenue S.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a poignant and often hilarious look at an honest farmer’s struggle to keep his farm from foreclosure, and to save his family name. This movie is FREE and open to the public.

Speak Up! How To Talk About Climate Change

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Is there someone you’ve been wanting to talk to about climate change but you’re worried that you don’t have all the facts or won’t be able to answer their questions? Cool Planet is having a speaker training on Sunday, November 20, from 3 to 6 PM at  Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave, St. Paul. Fee of $10-25  but no one will be turned away if they can’t pay. Register online or call 952-920-1547.

Dr. John Abraham from St. Thomas University will be talking about the science of climate change and then Dr. Christie Manning (Handbook of Sustainable Behavior) and Craig and Patricia Neal (Art of Convening) will talk about HOW TO TALK.  I haven’t met the Neals but I’ve heard Christie speak and what she’s got to say is very interesting.

I can’t make it on the 20th but if you go, I’d love to hear from you.

 

September Sustainability Events

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As summer winds down and Minnesotans try to fit EVERYTHING into our last month of warm days, September weekends get booked up fast. Here’s some events that should get on your calendar.

THIS Saturday, September 10 — Parade of Chicken Coops: 10:00AM  to  4:00PM. This is a self-guided tour of volunteers eager to show you how chickens fit with urban agriculture. Thinking of getting chickens? Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply is a one-stop shop for urban chicken-keeping.   

NEXT Friday, September 16 — The Longfellow Sustainability Group Movie Night & Potluck: We’ll be showing “Power of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.” The U.S. embargo of Cuba and the downfall of the Soviet Union disrupted oil supplies to Cuba, causing massive disruption in systems of transportation, work and food production. People were going hungry. But this island nation showed tremendous character and caring in how it tackled the problem of forced “peak oil” and took care of its people. This is a really uplifting movie. Hope we see you there!

Moving Planet - Moving Beyond Fossil FuelsSaturday, September 24 – MN350 Rally: People around the globe are gathering on September 24 for Moving Planet – a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis. In Minnesota, we’ll be meeting at the State Capital to tell our legislators it’s time to move beyond fossil fuels. Minnesotans are particularly vulnerable to the coming climate crisis because of our temperature extremes — more snow means more floods, more days over 100 degrees with high humidity could mean deaths from heat. We need action! (350 is the parts per million of carbon that scientists say is safe for our atmosphere. We’re at 394 – and going up.)

Sunday, September 25 — Tour of Minnesota’s first eco-friendly cemetery, Prairie Oaks: The tour begins at 3. Address is 8225 Argenta Train, Inver Grove Heights, MN. Call 612-250-2655 to learn more.

Saturday, October 1 — Solar Tour: It’s called a solar tour, but it includes other forms of renewable energy as well. This is a self-guided Tour of 50+ homes, businesses, and institutions that have incorporated renewable energy, from geothermal heat pumps to wind turbines to the many incarnations of solar energy.

Mark Your Calendar – Move the Planet – September 24

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Moving Planet: a day to move beyond fossil fuels

On September 24, thousands (we hope) of Minnesotans will gather at the State Capitol to MOVE THE PLANET toward 350 parts per million (carbon, that is).Sept 24 for Moving the Planet

  • Learn about the urgent need to move beyond fossil fuels
  • Inspire each other, our elected officials and the public about the positive steps we can take to transition to a renewable future

2pm – State Capital Lawn
Resource tables to educate and inspire, music, art projects, kites and frisbees and general fun until folks arrive.

3pm – Mass Ride and Interfaith Procession (Moving Planet – Moving Faith)
at the Capitol lawn.  Bikes will stream in from one direction, the interfaith march from the other.

3:15 to 4:45 Program examining climate change from moral, scientific, local and global perspectives. Inspiration to action with music, dance, and spoken word)

After the program, join the party with The New Primitives, Alicia Wiley and others.

Events this week

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Brought to you by Transition Longfellow member Rebecca Cramer

Forum on Clean Air and Your Health: The Power of EPA Actions and Federal Legislation

Wednesday, Aug 10, 7 to 8:30 pm
Edina Public Works Building, 7450 Metro Blvd (just west of 76th & Hwy 100)
FYI: 612-871-2786 or dawnerlandson@gmail.com

Although 800,000 Americans urged the EPA to regulate mercury emissions from power plants yet attempts are  underway to block final implementation. Learn about recent and pending actions to strengthen the Clean Air Act, about attempts by some members of Congress to block action and enforcement. as well as ways to let their voices be heard by the EPA and Congress. Attendees will also learn about activities in Edina related to clean air, energy and the environment.

SPEAKERS: Will Steger, Edina Mayor James Hovland, Julie Risser of the Edina Energy and Environment Commission Gary Botzek, Executive Director of Minnesota Conservation Federation, and J. Drake Hamilton, Scientist, Fresh Energy.

Public Forum: “Sense of Place in a Changing Climate”

Thursday, August 11, at 7:30 pm
Town and Country Club in St. Paul (on the east end of the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge).

The purpose of the event is to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change on our state’s natural resources and what we as citizens can do through the personal stories and “testimony” of prominent Minnesotans. This event is part of the Will Steger Foundation’s Summer Institute on Climate Change Education, which focuses specifically on Minnesota’s changing climate. Speakers will share their connection to Minnesota, how climate change is impacting their sense of place, and why they are concerned about the issue.

Speakers include Don Shelby, J. Drake Hamilton and Will Steger with moderating by MPR Mid-morning host, Kerri Miller.

The Steger Foundation website says this even has reached RSVP capacity and that while you are welcome to come, a spot is not guaranteed.

Longfellow Sustainability Group – I’m Loving the Support

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The Longfellow Sustainability Group meets on the first Saturday of every month at 10:30 am at Peace Coffee on Minnehaha and 33rd. We get to meet new neighbors almost every month. We discuss our experience with the prior month’s mini challenge, share tips and  resources, and have a great conversation.

Next group meeting is July 2. We’ll be reporting in on our local food efforts.

The group has been a wonderful addition to our family’s greening lifestyle. We really enjoy hearing what other people have done. We learn a lot and every single time we come away with new ideas. I’m really grateful for the people who have come, whether once or several times. Because of you, we’ve:

  • Signed up for the Shop the Coop class (and the home pickling class while I was at it)
  • Gotten involved in the Southside Food Hub
  • Met the wonderful owner of Gandhi Mahal restaurant
  • Fearlessly moved forward in a lifestyle with less toilet paper (Who knew that this was such a hot topic! But I guess we’re a pretty cosmopolitan bunch here in Longfellow and once you’ve traveled the world a bit, you have a better understanding of what is and is not a necessity.)
  • Begun worm composting
  • Diligently kept moving forward on reducing our energy use because we want to report back that we’ve made progress

Thanks, everyone, for making this community a better place to be.

What’s Up This Week

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Community Warming at Glaciers

June 8th , 6-8pm, with LOLA artists, music and food. Celebrate the summer with LCC with a lovely night on the patio in front of the beautiful mosaic.

The North Coast Nosh

June 10, 6:30–9:00 p.m, Peace Coffee Shop: Join The Heavy Table and Peace Coffee for a night of sipping and sampling the wares of local brewers, bakers, cheesemakers, honey producers and more. Attendees must be 21 or over. Proceeds from the evening will be split between The Heavy Table and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, earmarked for work on food justice.

What’s Up This Week!

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The Longfellow Sustainability Group meets this Saturday, June 4, at 10:30 am at Peace Coffee. Last month’s mini-challenge was reducing garbage so we’ll hear from attenders about what they tried. As always, we’ll share resources and info on events.

Northern Spark: The Twin Cities’ first-ever Northern Spark festival is an all-night party at which about 200 artists will roll out 100 projects along the Mississippi River. Art projects include multi-story projections, floating works on barges, headphone concerts, bioluminescent algae, sewer pipes for organs, banjos and puppets. Festivities start at sundown Saturday (8:55 p.m.) and end at sunrise Sunday (5:28 a.m.).

If you go, check out Mobile Hotspot, an exploration of alternative energy, sustainability, and human powered solutions to rising fuel costs. “These explorations are founded on the concept of freedom, from reliance on unsustainable consumption of energy firstly, but more broadly by the social freedoms demanded in the recent uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and even Wisconsin. The Mobile Hotspot will be tracking thoughts on freedom across the world by projecting live feeds of tweets containing #freedom and #energy paired with imagery related to power use, development, and innovation.”

“A Chemical Reaction” – coming to the Riverview June 2

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Thursday, June 2 · 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN

The award-winning documentary film. ‘A Chemical Reaction’ about a doctor and community that come together to ban the use of chemical lawn pesticides and herbicides.

Info on biodiverse landscaping, natural lawn care, and much more in the lobby starting at 5pm.

Film begins at 5:30pm (70 minute length)
Admission by Donation

May 21 Events: Book Group, Boat Race, Dome Tour

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It’s 50 and raining today but let’s hope next weekend is GREAT because there are a lot of interesting things happening – all on Saturday the 21st!

First the plug – the Longfellow Sustainability Book Group meets next Saturday from 10:30 to noon at Peace Coffee. We’re reading section 2 of the Transition Handbook – the part on The Heart. Don’t worry if you haven’t read it yet, just show up to listen and discuss.

Plant stuff: If you joined the Southside Food Hub, there is another plant pickup starting at 10 am at Powderhorn Park. If you signed up for trees at the city sale, you can pick up your tree between 7 am and 3 pm at the Minneapolis Impound Lot. And the Longfellow Garden Group plant swap from 11 am to 1:30 pm at Sanford Junior High, west parking lot.

Suffering a solar let-down now that the Living Green Expo is done? Check out the Solar Boat Regatta at Lake Phalen in St. Paul. Sponsored by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society, the boat builders include middle school and high school students, as well as individual inventors. Races start at 10 am and continue into the afternoon.

If you’re up for a road trip and have always wondered what goes on inside a dome home, there is a tour of dome homes, new and old, ranging from 1 & 2 bedrooms to large 4 & 5 bedroom homes. The tour is free but you do need to pre-register at Natural Spaces Domes.

Did I miss something? Add it in the comments below.