Category Archives: Groups/Events

Give Your Stuff Away Day – May 14

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Mike Morone is trying to start a trend — the giving stuff away trend. He explains global Give Your Stuff Away Day on his website:

“Because of all the shopping we’ve done, many of us now own lots of great stuff we never use anymore. And for some reason, we don’t sell or give it away. Lots of valuable suff – just wasting away. Let’s take all this stuff and over one weekend, make it available to others for free.

“On May 14th, bring your unwanted stuff to your curb. Some guidelines – no trash, recyclables, illegal or dangerous items. No food, drugs, chemicals, or weapons. Just safe, valuable items we would like to donate. Then watch the fun – or better yet, take a walk and find some free stuff you can use.”

I’m going to add: PUT A SIGN ON THE STUFF telling people it’s Give Stuff Away day and that these items are free to take.

Feel uncomfortable just putting stuff out? Try posting it on Freecycle. We’ve freecycled a LOT of stuff. It doesn’t necessarily have to be nice. You never know what people are looking for, or why they are looking for it. We had a lazy boy chair that the cat had scratched up the back fabric. Someone took it to stage an empty house. Put the back against the wall and who knew it was damaged? We freecycled some pretty ugly old paneling to someone building a basement sound studio. He was happy – we were happy – nothing went to the dump.

You can also try posting in the free area of Craigslist.

Sustainable Shelter and Food Activities Around Town

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There are oh so many activities coming up in the next few weeks for folks interested in sustainable, green living. Here are a few you might want to visit.

Bell Museum of Natural History (until July 17, 2011):  An exhibit on sustainable shelter “reveals innovative new building technologies and strategies that can help restore the health and viability of natural cycles.” It looks at energy systems, the life cycle of building materials, an inside view of wall systems, household water systems, and more.

Speaking of shelter, check out the Minneapolis/St. Paul Home Tour, this Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1. More than 50 “ordinary people” type homes will be on display. The online guide lets you find homes with solar or green features (the list is long).

Thinking of going solar at your home? Remember, there is a Community Solar Educational Workshop at Matthews Park on Monday, May 2, from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. Speakers will highlight a Solar Hot Water/Air Heat Bulk Purchase Program.

Can’t wait to get your hands dirty in the garden (hoping it won’t snow again)? There are opportunities for plant buying and plant exchange galore.

  • Consider a membership (only $10) in the Southside Local Food Resource Hub. Seeds and seedlings will be distributed this Saturday. You can join at the event.
  • Friends School Plant Sale is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 6, 7 and 8, at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. Nearly 2,300 varieties of plants will be available — at least for the first half hour :). Note that there will be a class on making cold frames for your garden.
  • Dowling Garden Plant Sale on May 14th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Dowling Community Garden at 39th Street and 46th Avenue South. This sale benefits the community garden.
  • Longfellow Garden Club Plant Swap on Saturday, May 21,  from 11 am  to 1:30 pm, at the Sanford Jr High west parking lot. Bring plants to swap. If you don’t have any, make a small donation to the Club’s Speaker Fund.

Counting My Blessings: Happy to Live in Longfellow

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Tonight I attended the annual meeting of the Longfellow Community Council, cleverly called “Pies, Not Pie Charts” and featuring a wide assortment of pies! (Special thanks to the person who brought my favorite, French Silk.)

It was wonderful to meet a new neighbor who works in sustainability, to elect a neighbor to the LCC board who does sustainability work, and to hear from Hennepin County officials who are working on a sustainable community project.

Last week, at the Sustainability Conference in Minneapolis, keynote speaker Don Shelby said that while it may seem like we are working on these issues alone, in fact, more than 100 million people across the globe are working on some aspect of the transition from fossil fuels. We are part of a tidal wave of change. That was very evident tonight.

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Eco Fashion Goes Solar RIGHT HERE in the Twin Cities

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April 23rd at The Depot, Sol Inspirations will host Minnesota’s first eco-fashion show. Eco-fashion includes choosing organic and locally made textiles, manufacturing clothes efficiently to use less energy, responsible labor practices, recycling clothes to make new fashion (upcycling), and commissioning demi-couture clothing over disposable fashion. Designers and eco-responsible businesses will showcase their products in an edgy fashion-forward event produced by the top production and event management companies in the Midwest, Ignite Models Inc. and LIMEgreen Inc

Project Runway’s Seventh Season Winner Seth Aaron Henderson will headline Sol Inspirations Eco-Fashion Gala & Benefit Event, showcasing his SolarWorld collection.

General tickets are $35 and proceeds benefit the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society and will also be used to help Haiti rebuild.

Free Solar Educational Workshop (and bulk buy opportunity)

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2010 was a banner year for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems installed in Minnesota. A record 225 new PV systems were installed last year, nearly tripling the previous record of 76 PV systems in 2009. This free workshop highlights the Solar Hot Water/Air Heat Bulk Purchase Program — Make Mine Solar. Sessions include:

  • Energy Efficiency Techniques by Todd Fink of Century
  • Solar Air Heat and Solar Hot Water Basics by Todd Fink of Century
  • Program Basics by Laura Cina of MRES

Participants will learn:

  • The basics about solar  hot water and solar air heat technology and how it works
  • How the bulk purchase program works,
  • Cost, rebates, tax credits and financing
  • How to choose an installers and next steps

Everyone will get a chance to talk to the installers one on one about a project. You can get a site assessment before the workshop so you can communicate information about your specific project and site better when talking to the solar installers.  Sign up for a low cost site assessment at MN Renewables (the link on their site is broken so you’ll have to email them to inquire: info@mnRenewables.org.

Community Solar Educational Workshop
Monday, May 2, 2011
6:30pm-8:30pm
Matthews Park, 2313 28th Avenue S., Minneapolis

Attendance is free but they ask for an RSVP here.

Midwest Renewable Energy Fair – June 18-20

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We hear from our friend in the know that this is a really big — and wonderful — event for anyone with a serious interest in energy and sustainability. Check it out at the Midwest Renewable Energy Assn website.

The MREA Energy Fair transforms rural Central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education. The Energy Fair brings over 20,000 people from nearly every state in the U.S. and several countries around the world to learn, connect with others and ready them for action at home. The Energy Fair is the nation’s longest running energy education event of its kind, featuring:

  • Inspirational keynotes, lively entertainment, great food, and local beer.
  • Over 275 exhibitors of sustainable living and energy products, including a clean energy car show with demonstration vehicles
  • Over 200 workshops
  • Sustainable food and chef demos

The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point. That’s 224 miles from Minneapolis, folks. If people are interested in attending, let’s talk about renting a passenger van or carpooling. There is camping on location.

Rappin’ on Climate Change and Other Interesting Ideas at Solutions Twin Cities

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We attended the 4th Solutions Twin Cities event yesterday night, “showcasing future-positive creativity in action.” It’s organized by Works Progress and was attended by 250 of the most interesting people you’re likely to meet in Minneapolis/St. Paul. What a great opportunity it was to hear from 11 local people/groups who are doing wonderful things, all in their own way.

A couple of speakers who might be of particular interest to those involved in sustainability are:

  • The young folks over at the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center. WOW! I wish I had some teens I could send on over there. They are doing great work educating young people about the science of climate change and other environmental issues, and then those young people are going out and educating others. Hey, they won a contest recently for a video they created. Watch it at Causecast.org: “Change is Needed.”
  • Daniel Klein, video blogger at The Perennial Plate, talked about his foray into local food, how his video blog challenged him to embrace not only a variety of foods, but also the wonderful people who grow our food, and where he’s taking the blog next — on the road! But you can still watch all 52 episodes of Minnesota-grown food at his website.
  • Speaking of gardens, how about the combination of community gardens and opera? We heard a preview of this summer’s picnic operetta from Mixed Precipitation.
  • Worried about water quality and the pollution in storm water runoff? Kurt McIntire of St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) talked about the SAFL Baffle — a mesh that fits into storm sewers. The baffle allows large amounts of water to flow through the sewer during a severe storm but prevents that flow from stirring up the polluted sludge that rests at the bottom of the sewer pipe. It keeps the toxins in the sewer and out of our rivers and lakes.

The next Solutions Twin Cities is slated for fall 2011. You will want to be there.

Get Together with Phillips Neighborhood This Saturday

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Community Gathering of the Phillips Transition Town Group
When: Saturday, February 26, 11-1pm
Where: St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 2742 15th Avenue South Minneapolis

*Tasty food
*A local energy presentation
*Opportunities to connect with neighbors on projects
*An INDOOR PLANT SWAP

The Phillips Group has sent this invitation:

“We would love to connect with you, our neighbors, and invite you to this gathering! Our goal is to work with other neighborhoods that want to start up a Transition Town or those who are already doing it! This way we can share ideas, resources, and passion!

This month is Energy Month. We are looking forward to talking with you about really energetic (sorry, bad pun) happenings in the community moving towards locally produced and owned energy. There will be a presentation by a few people working in this realm in the neighborhood, followed by a short group discussion. Then, we plan on breaking out into our working groups. To start those groups, namely FOOD, COMMUNITY ARTS, ENERGY, COMMUNITY BUILDING.

Please look at our group page for more information about Transition Towns Phillips (http://TransitionPhillips.groupsite.com/main/summary)

Sustainability Book Group

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Our next meeting is March 19, 10:30 to noon at Peace Coffee in the community room on the right side, in the front. We will be reading the first section of the Transition Handbook – the section called The Head. It used to be online on a WIKI but appears to be removed. However, there is a PDF of the Transition Handbook online.

There were 4 people at this meeting. I quite enjoyed it. The conversation was wide-ranging, from what to do if you lose your electricity for two weeks in a Minnesota winter (most people will lose their furnace or the blower to their furnace if their electricity goes out), to the opportunity to teach/learn about food storage methods for people who want to do more intensive home gardening but don’t know how to can or prep for freezing. A lot of the conversation was about local food, backyard gardening, where to share excess food, why CSAs sometimes don’t work so well.

So here’s a question that came to mind from our food discussion: if we have a large increase in backyard farming, what will the effect be on coops and on organic farms that do CSAs? It seems to me the urban farmers are the same people who would have supported organic farmers and that by doing it ourselves, we may be undermining the type of healthy farming systems that we actually want to promote.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?