Green Cities Sustainability Corps 2010
Program Manger: Lori Gaido Project Dates: Feb 2010 - Dec 2010 Email Address: lgaido@thesca.org
July: Jake Baechle
SUSTAINABLE PITTSBURGH
Sustainable Business Fellow
On July 1st the PCI held a meeting to discuss applying for an EPA Grant related to CO2 reduction. Jake had prepared information about both the Green Office Challenge and the Transportation Transformation. At the completion of the meeting the Transportation Transformation was still up for consideration. Over the course of the next week Jake and Alissa Burger (a Sustainable Pittsburgh Intern) worked to iron out more of the details of the Transportation Transformation and compare it to the requirements of the grant. On July 8th the PCI held a phone conference to discuss how they would pursue the grant. Jake presented his work and it was well received by the partnership. Despite the majority’s support for the project it was decided that a water program would be suiting for this grant, and while the Transportation Transformation should be implemented it could find funding elsewhere.
The BCC had its third meeting of the year this month, and it covered a variety of subjects. Jake presented the group with information regarding the financial benefits of telecommuting along with a synopsis of the various energy related legislation that could be voted on in the senate. Next, Matt presented some of the initial findings from the Focus Group Study. The second half of the meeting Jake presented the BCC with the Green Office Challenge and Transportation Transformation and facilitated discussion around these programs. The group was very supportive of both programs and offered ideas of how to move forward with them and places to look for funding. Jake will be scheduling BCC subcommittee meetings to further discuss these programs.
Towards the end of the month Jake and Matt met with Commuteinfo.org to discuss the Transportation Transformation. The organization seems excited to see the program happen and will be facilitating more conversations and meetings on the subject in the near future. Jake also worked with Matt to promote and prepare for the Green Chemistry Roundtable.
Outside of Sustainable Pittsburgh Jake has continued to work with the Hazelwood Food Forest. Throughout the month of July he was able to help construct a bio-swale that will direct and control run off and rain water that comes through the site. He has also been preparing for the SCA Community Day through meetings and discussions with the Hazelwood Food Forest and the rest of the Green Cities Fellows.
July: Katrina Brink
PENN STATE EXTENSION, FOOD POLICY COUNCIL AND THE PITTSBURGH GARDEN EXPERIMENT
Sustainable Agriculture Fellow:
Summary: In July for Penn State Cooperative Extension I focused on agricultural marketing of local ag-related businesses by writing a blog to promote local farmers’ markets. I conducted a cooking demonstration and also helped organize our materials for the outreach event we participated in at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival. I also tended to our website, YUM Pittsburgh, wrote event reports and conducted some other office work. For the Pittsburgh Garden Experiment I coordinated and attended our PGE events, continued to plan for future events and brainstormed with Jeff Newman about our Urban Farm Aid event to take place this fall. I also helped with the first draft of a grant proposal for innovative ways to educate citizens about storm water management. For the Food Policy Council I sent out a meeting reminder, took notes at the monthly meeting and posted the notes to the Google group.
July: Loralyn Fabian
EAST LIBERTY DEVELOPMENT, INC.
Sustainable Community Fellow
Main Project Synopsizes:
ELDI / Rain Gardens: In the month of July, the rain garden projects continued. Before anything else, I had to write up the Sarah Heinz Youth Endowment grant report, finalize the budget, and send it off. It was time to start thinking about the last steps of the rain garden projects. My community contact, Gary Cirrincione, and I, consulted with the homeowners to finalize the downspout/gutter installations and to have them approve the swale construction designs. After recruiting volunteers to implement these last steps, purchasing the materials, and planning the volunteer day, we were able to finish the gardens!* We will continue to move forward with installing additional rain barrels with the rest of the grant money.
*All but one garden that was temporarily on hiatus.
ELDI / East Liberty Blvd. Planting: Although the rain gardens have been projects that have lasted for many months, I had the opportunity to complete another design project from start to finish all just in the month of July. Using Elm Street District grant funding, we were able to purchase materials to create a pilot shrub planting on East Liberty Blvd. I met with Matt Erb, from Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest, at the Blvd., to discuss and consult on where shrub plantings would be ideal. From there, I was able to draft up a conceptual plan as to where SCA Crews/FPUF should lay black sheeting – for where the future planting would go (to kill the grass). After purchasing those materials, and once the Crews laid out the sheeting, the budget was updated and FPUF purchased shrubs with the remaining funds. I was able to take the existing condition measurements on the site (essentially doing my own survey) in order to create the basemap and proposed planting plan (using AutoCAD). Not only did I have the opportunity to design the project and order the materials, but I was also able to be out there the day of implementation to help plant and mulch. We attempted to work alongside the community on this project (I contacted block group leaders) but they never did write back.
SCA: My main focus with the SCA for the month of July was on planning the Pittsburgh Blues Festival tabling/composting event. Many hours went into emailing/calling contacts to get them on board with tabling at the Festival, as well as to communicate logistics/answer their questions. I produced a type of press release to explain what the SCA’s event was all about, and in order to recruit volunteers. I sent this write-up out to numerous contacts, asking them if they’d be so kind as to send it out to their listservs, posts, etc. Other responsibilities were brainstorming raffle ideas, contacting the organizations to arrange for these raffles, figuring out CFL logistics for the Park, creating raffle signage, and managing the Facebook page. Closer to the event, I developed intensive to-do lists for our team, as well as work plans for the event weekend. The mornings of the events included lots of hauling and set-up, while the days and nights consisted of managing the raffle table and assisting in tear-down/litter pick-up. A success from this event was that almost all bags were sorted through and separated into compost, recycling, and landfill. Park workers normally haul out three dumpster trucks of garbage a night, while under our management, they hadn’t had to take even three dumpsters full by the end of the event!
July: Evan Endres
PENNFUTURE AND CONSERVATION CONSULTANTS, INC.
Sustainable Community Fellow:
July was a pretty busy month for the Black and Gold City Goes Green campaign. Early July also represented my last days at CCI and a switch to a full time post at PennFuture.
One in a Million Event and Partnership with Pittsburgh Parks:
The Black and Gold City started July by partnering with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy‘s One in a Million, Schenley Park Celebration. B&GCGG agreed to host a pledge page so PPC members could take a pledge to help save one million gallons of water through various home conservation measures. B&GCGG did a carbon calculation based on the potential water saved and will factor this into the overall carbon savings for the community portion of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative.
Doing this required meetings and coordination with our web development contractor to arrive at an acceptable product.
This partnership culminated in the One in Million Shenley parkcelebrations. This was a great recruitment and outreach event for our campaign. We also received limited media coverage. See media coverage here below:
http://www.postgazette.com/multimedia/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=defa...
We will have the impact results from this event in September.
PCI EPA Grant:
The Black and Gold City Goes Green also contributed to the construction and conceptualization of an Environmental Protection Agency Grant Proposal through the PCI. As the B&GCGG representative if fell on me to work out detailed calculations connecting water conservation with carbon footprint. I also contributed to a substantial report on B&GCGG capacity to facilitate measures outlined in the grant.
Hard to Recycle Event:
July’s focus was on recycling. In observance of this I partnered with the Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) to encourage B&GCGG partners and participants to bring items to hard to a hard to recycle event at the Pittsburgh Mills mall. We also recruited volunteers and were at the event giving CFL bulbs to B&GCGG members who attended and doing general campaign outreach.
We also attempted to offer our community partners recycling micro-grants in an attempt to offset some of the fees involved with recycling hard to recycle items. This was met with limited response. We will attempt this offer again later in the year.
Heinz, Youth in Sustainability Grant:
Another grant funding opportunity came across our table in July. The Youth in Sustainability Grant provides financial support for youth programs that engaged high school aged youth in sustainability. This was a perfect opportunity for B&GCGG as we have been looking for ways to engage youth in our campaign. I conceptualized and authored a grant for a program that establishes “youth community partner groups” in schools, churches and other organizations with youth components. We are awaiting word on the award.
Pittsburgh Blues Festival:
Tabling at this event resulted in 120 new B&GCGG participants and at least 6new community partners. For our campaign it was an opportunity to engage new demographics. The SCA provided the incentive of free reusable tote bags to all those who registered; this was a great help.
I coordinated our participation for this event .
CCI:
I completed my last responsibility for CCI. I had agreed to assist on a comprehensive BPI home energy audit. I was able to learn a lot and contribute to the success of this audit.
Misc.
• Produced a number of documents and research for our upcoming monthly actions
• Attended a number of meetings with community partners to nurture extension of these
partnerships and create opportunities that mutually benefit organizations.
• Continue to develop new strategies and troubleshoot campaign weakness
• Registered nearly 200 new participants and 8 new Community Partners.
July: Ray Whiteside
CONSERVATION CONSULTANTS, INC.
SUSTAINABLE FELLOW
In the month of July Ray transitioned from Action Housing and their energy outreach team to Conservation Consultant Inc as a part of CCI's educational outreach.
My main objective has been assisting in the renovation of CCI's 3rd floor roof.
In preparation for my near future objectives such as conducting the CCI building tours as well as other speaking engagements. I have been studying CCI's history and programs along with taking photographs and labeling specific items throughout CCI's building to be able to teach tour takers the significance of these conservation examples. Though seemingly relative to what I have already done with Action Housing. The dramatic difference is their is no outreach team of four individuals being overseen by a supervisor for CCI's education outreach as there was for Action Housing's energy outreach team. Therefore it only be my supervisor Indigo Raffel the Education Coordinator at Conservation Consultants Inc and myself. I will now be given the opportunity of speaking on behalf of an organization at conferences and other social functions outside of a group. A first for me.
Also in July I took part in volunteer outreach and logistical coordination of the Blues Festival’s Green Initiative. This three day event took place at Hartwood Acres and was sponsored by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. SCA partnered with the Food Bank to green the festival by collecting food waste and recyclables in addition to showcasing how Pittsburgh is working to be a more sustainable city and raise awareness of the importance of being environmentally continence in our everyday lives. My duties included site set up and break down, evening cleaning sweeps, signage for the recycling, composting, and landfill stations and also tabling for Conservation Consultants Inc.
July: Miriam Parsons
GREEN BUILDING ALLIANCE
CLIMATE FELLOW
Summary:
In July 2010 my main priority has been to organize a Campus Inventory & Climate Action Plan workshop for the Higher Education Climate Consortium followed by their quarterly meeting in which we developed recommendations for their chapter of the second Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan. The day was a success with over 20 attendees representing 11 schools in our region, including two newly recruited schools. My other top priorities have been facilitating PCI Funding Task Force meetings to develop a grant proposal for an EPA grant, continuing to research and develop recommendations for the climate action plan, begin a publicity plan for releasing Pittsburgh’s benchmark greenhouse gas emissions inventory report, and ongoing planning for our SCA service project in Hazelwood.
July: Sarah Palmisano
THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH
Sustainable City Fellow
Sarah’s work as an SCA Sustainability Fellow in the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency generally falls into four categories: education and outreach, continuing personal education, internal work, and volunteering.
Education and outreach work includes things like hosting or tabling at appropriate events, symposiums, or conferences as a representative of the Mayor’s Office or the SCA. Education and outreach for July: represented the office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival under the SCA Climate Tent.
Continuing personal education includes attending various conferences, symposiums, workshops, or classes to increase awareness and understanding of a wide variety of sustainability and environmentally-related topics.
Personal education for July: attended the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest master planning session to discuss the first step in increasing the number of trees in Pittsburgh.
Internal work describes work being done within the Mayor’s Office to incorporate sustainability into City operations and services.
Internal work for July: completed a walk-through of the City-County Building with the Recycling Manager to move forward with incorporating more recycling into the building; aided in preparing the EPA Climate Showcase Communities grant proposal for “H2O Connection;” met with the Housing Authority to discuss incorporating them into the second version of the Climate Action Plan; finished the streetlight inventory in all of Pittsburgh’s neighborhood’s business districts; attended a meeting to discuss street tree reuse in Pittsburgh with representatives from the City, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Urban Tree Forge.
Volunteering is anything that she finds fun and worthwhile to help a good cause or a good friend after hours!
Volunteering for June: 2010 Pittsburgh Blues Festival – volunteered in the SCA Climate Tent.
July: Jamie Eberl
COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY
SUSTAINABILITY FELLOW
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
- Began phase two of inventory count by beginning to evaluate and prioritize County Authorities for
additional inventories
- Discussed options with PEC and sought recommendations from ICLEI
Utility Manager
- Collected utility bills from County-owned buildings and properties not included in main database
- Communicated with Utility Manager representatives about obtaining the necessary information and
data for the creation and population of a utility manager software tool
- Inputted utility bills from entities not billed to main database into one spreadsheet
- Organized utility database for consistent naming conventions and account numbering for all
county utility information (2008 to present)
- Attempted to organize water bill data to correspond with electrical utility data
Recycling
- Began organizing and laying out information for County Intranet recycling resource directory
- Reviewed information from SWANA survey and previous reports
- Communicated with Human Services department about recycling in its facilities
Events
- Assisted other Green Cities’ fellows tabling at the Green Section of the Allegheny County Bluesfest
- Assisted as needed with planning for the Allegheny Green + Innovation Festival
July: Claire Miziolek
GTECH STRATEGIES
Sustainable Community Fellow
Summary: July was a busy month for me and for GTECH. I spent the first few days out of town in Alaska on a family vacation. After that it was back to the grindstone with meetings, educating, coordinating, and events. I also took a 4-day weekend to visit family and friends in Boston. With all of that travel behind me, I was ready to work hard to help fulfill the common missions of the SCA and GTECH Strategies.
Maintenance:
-Summertime is maintenance time at GTECH and I helped go to sites to assist with the weeding process. I went to Braddock on the 9th and 13th to work with 15 UPMC Summer Youth program teenagers.
-I also helped put up signs at many of out sites throughout Allegheny County. This way, on-lookers can see who we are, who our partners are, and be able to contact us for information.
Education/outreach
-I spoke with two groups of youth with the Braddock Youth Program about biofuels, environmental sustainability, and how to connect with the green economy.
-I also helped table for GTECH at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival on July 25th
Meetings
I helped coordinate and take notes for the following meetings:
-Board meeting on 7/15
-Green Jobs Advisory Board on 7/15
-Reclamation meetings on 7/6 and 7/26
-Weekly staff meetings
Newsletter
I have taken over GTECH Newsletter coordination duties. As such, to send out our August Newsletter on the 4th, I was responsible for:
-Soliciting and collecting submissions from staff about current initiatives
-Composing the articles and arranging the picture content.
-Soliciting edits and feedback from colleagues and implementing changes
-Sending out the final version to over 1000 people.
Community Day
--For the SCA community day, I have taken on the role of the logistical coordinator for the day.
--On 7/15, I sent out an email to all of the Green Cities fellows to check base and assign various responsibilities and followed up with them individually.
--On 7/28, the fellows all met and I helped facilitate a conversation to further ensure that each person knows what they’re doing and has the necessary resources to do it.
--I also helped coordinate the next 3 meetings of this group before the project is implemented on August 21st.
Green Jobs: Exploring the opportunities
--On July 28th, the Green Jobs Advisory Board, a group that GTECH convenes, hosted an event, Green Jobs: Exploring the Opportunities. This event brought a panel of 4 individuals working in green collar jobs to speak about their experiences and how they ended up where they are now. We also brought together 12 organizations that provider green job training or services to network.
--For this event, I was responsible for engaging and preparing both the speakers and the organizational representatives.
--I also was responsible for lining up the space and all the equipment.
--I was also responsible for publicizing the event and recruiting attendees.
--The event was really inspiring and enjoyable and we will hopefully be able to repeat a similar event in the future.
Heinz Youth Philanthropy Grants
--GTECH chose to apply for a grant with the Heinz Youth Philanthropy interns regarding storm water management as well as partner with a grant regarding reclaiming vacancy in Wilkinsburg.
--Once we as an organization brainstormed ideas that we would like to pursue I was responsible for setting up meetings with different partners as well as writing a large portion of the content with the help of my colleagues.
--I was also responsible for submitting the proposal. It was due August 2nd and it was sent in on time!
July: Adam Fedyski
PITTSBURGH PARKS CONSERVANCY
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY FELLOW
Even though the PPC does not host many volunteer events during the summer, I have not run into a shortage of exciting opportunities to keep me engaged in this fellowship. As always, July provided many learning opportunities. From developing my teaching skills to making countless mistakes on a volunteer day, each event helped me learn how to do my job better.
July 6: Carnegie Science Center Summer Camp walk with 18 campers, age 10-12. Marijke and I led this, focusing again on native plants and watersheds through scavenger hunts and journaling exercises. These kids are great. They all have more common sense in nature than the average adult. They give me hope and belief in the importance of environmental education.
July 9: City High School Urban EcoSteward picnic= best day of the month. On this day, each student in the program gave a presentation about the most important lessons they learned through the program and what they took away from it. From a tour of the site to photo collages to a three-part a cappella song, these presentations reinforced that the kids did much more than just show up once a month to work with us. I created certificates to verify their role as “Panther Hollow Watershed Heroes”.
July 12: Led a walk for students from the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Schenley Park. We focused on similar themes to the Science Center walks, but added a longer hike and looked at more native and invasive plants.
July 14: Co-led a Master Plan update edition of the Walks in the Woods program at Highland Park with a member of the landscape architecture firm who created the Regional Parks Master Plan. It was my duty to represent the PPC as we gather feedback on what changes people would like to see in the parks. This was the first time I led this walk in Highland Park, but my previous research on and familiarity with the park enabled me to provide useful info to all who attended.
July 22: Assisted Pat McShea from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History with a group from the Summer Dreamers Academy with which he was working. They visited Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park and I gave a brief presentation on the PPC and SCA, letting them know how they can get involved with each as they enter high school.
July 23-25: Pittsburgh Blues Festival- Prepared and presented outreach materials for the PPC all three days. It’s not every day that outreach involves awesome blues music in the background!
July 27: Last session with the Carnegie Science Center Summer Camp. There were 11 campers, age 8-10. I gave the introduction to the entire activity and led half the campers through the scavenger hunts and journaling activities.
July 29&30: Attended the Urban Ecology Collaborative Education working group meeting at Chatham University with Marijke and many regional educators from across PA, NY, CT, and MA. I met many great people and learned about programs that they use with different aged students to engage them in learning about nature in an urban environment.
July 31: Outreach at the Venture Outdoors Festival- I had a chance to debut a bean bag toss game that I worked on building by myself over the course of this week. It will forever revolutionize every outreach event that the PPC attends.
Partner Description - Allegheny County
In September 2008, Allegheny County, (http://www.alleghenycounty.us/), Executive Dan Onorato launched “Allegheny Green,” a comprehensive initiative to promote sustainable practices within County government and through countywide policies and programs. The Sustainability Manager, working with County department directors and the Green Action Team (a group of experts and stakeholders who will help the County to meet its green objectives and goals)are conducting a top-to-bottom analysis of government operations to identify ways to reduce the County’s ecological footprint, such as adopting environmentally preferable procurement policies, expanding recycling in County-owned facilities, providing sustainability training to employees, and expanding use of hybrid vehicles.
Allegheny County is partnering with the SCA to take on the Sustainable County Fellow.
The Sustainable County Fellow is responsible for:
- Representing the Office at public events
- Working with the Department of Personnel to continue outreach and education activities targeted at
employees, such as lunchtime lectures and volunteer events like litter pick-ups
- Producing outreach materials such as brochures, press releases, and other mediums containing
“green” information
- Helping to oversee the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing and Researching product alternatives
and options, the recycling across County facilities, Greenhouse gas inventory, Drafting a human
resources deployment plan, and LEED for Existing Buildings – Operations & Maintenance
- Scheduling meetings
- Fielding phone calls and emails from citizens
- Other duties as assigned
Partner Description - The City of Pittsburgh
(http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/) The Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency is a part of the Mayor’s Office. Created in October 2008, the office is staffed by the City’s Sustainability Coordinator and Energy and Utilities Manager. Although its role is always evolving, the Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency has three main areas of focus: 1) implementing new sustainability initiatives to green the City’s operations and facilities, including implementing the recommendations of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan; 2) collaborating with existing City environmental programs, such as tree-planting and recycling, to strengthen these programs; and 3) servings as the Mayor’s main point of contact for environmentally-related questions, concerns, and suggestions from community members, organizations, businesses, and institutions of higher education.
The City of Pittsburgh is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable City Fellow.
The Sustainable City Fellow is responsible for assisting with:
- The streetlight retrofit project
- The solar hot water system installations project
- The energy audit and retrofits of a designated building
- The improvement recycling in City buildings
- Tree plantings and maintenance, managed by the Urban Forester
- Deconstruction and recycling of demolition waste, managed by the Bureau of Building Inspection
- Sustainable transportation programs, managed by the Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator
- Scheduling meetings
- Fielding phone calls and emails from citizens
- Other duties as assigned
Partner Description - Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (http://www.pittsburghparks.org/) was founded in December 1996 by a group of citizens concerned with the deteriorating conditions of Pittsburgh's parks. In 1998, the Parks Conservancy signed an official public-private partnership agreement with the City of Pittsburgh to work together for the restoration of the city's four regional parks - Frick, Highland, Riverview, and Schenley. Since then, the Parks Conservancy has raised $40 million toward park improvements, and has recently expanded into other city parks as time and resources permit. We continue to work on improving quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh by restoring the park system to excellence in partnership with the City.
The PPC is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable Community Fellow.
The Sustainable Community Fellow with be responsible for:
- Environmental education for elementary, middle, and high school students that connects hands-on
parks restoration projects with regional and global environmental issues
- Program coordination, including trainings, field support, and data management, for the volunteer
Urban EcoStewards program for adults
- Volunteer coordination for a variety of ecological restoration projects
- Design and implementation of outdoor learning areas in Frick Park
- Job tasks will also include providing direct services to people from diverse backgrounds and ages,
project planning, volunteer coordination, partnership coordination, and budget management
Partner Description - Pittsburgh Garden Experiment
The Pittsburgh Garden Experiment (http://pittsburghgardenexperiment.org/) is a member-supported forum for sharing resources. They provide free workshops at community gardens and local hot-spots as well as access to information, tools, and advice. Pittsburgh Garden Experiment is managed by a collective of green businesses in Pittsburgh as an outreach tool for interfacing directly with community garden leaders, volunteers, and their individual projects.
The Pittsburgh Garden Experiment is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable Agriculture Fellow.
The Sustainable Agriculture Fellow will be responsible for:
- Helping to expand and create business opportunity with a 100% local garden supply catalog in 2010
- Helping to organize meetings, events and road trips
- Connecting and maintaining relationships with community garden leaders, venue managers, and
beginner gardeners
- Assisting in the creation of the new garden supply catalog. Will include design, sourcing supplies,
managing the street team and testing the garden products
- Cultivating and harvesting fruits and vegetables on the customers' city farms
- The planning, planting, and cultivation of farm projects
Partner Description - Penn State Cooperative Extension
Penn State Cooperative Extension (http://extension.psu.edu/) is an educational network that gives people in Pennsylvania's 67 counties access to Penn State's resources and expertise. Through this county-based partnership, Penn State extension agents, faculty, and local volunteers work together to share unbiased, research-based information with local residents. The extension network is one part of Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension.
PSCE helps individuals, families, businesses, and communities throughout Pennsylvania with information and a broad range of educational programs designed to:
• Support productive, profitable, and competitive businesses and a strong agriculture and food system
• Strengthen families, children and youth, and the elderly
• Build caring, safe, and healthy communities
• Ensure the long-term vitality of Pennsylvania's natural resources
• Enable people to better understand and deal with complex public issues
Penn State Cooperative Extension is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable Agriculture Fellow. This Green Cities Corps member will assist with (but not be limited to) projects that focus on food policy and strengthening the local food infrastructure in Western PA by connecting the supply and demand sides of our foodshed. These projects will highlight timely info for and about farmers, food, events and resources in our community.
The Sustainable Agriculture Fellow is responsible for:
- Yumpittsburgh.com – writing and researching for web posts
- Helping to coordinate “Farm Profiles”, a service where PSCE creates marketing materials for farm
businesses
- Assisting with preparations, promotions for “Local Food Showcase” to be held at Chatham University
March 11, 2010
- Assisting with preparations, promotions for educational programs offered to farmers
- Exploring the Small Farm Dream to be held March 2010.
- E-Marketing – How to use internet tools to market your agriculture business, March 2010
- Attending grower meetings – usually in the spring / summer, held on farm
- Attending conferences, man the vendor table
- “Farm to Table” conference in Pittsburgh is schedule for March 26-27
- Providing high level administrative support. Taking notes at monthly meetings, then preparing and
posting to the Google Group
- Benchmarking research on other Food Policy Councils from around the country
- Researching and identifying stakeholders that can help support the Statement of Purpose for the
Council
- Posting research to Google Group
- Creating promotional material and exhibit material, and representing the group at conferences
Partner Description - Conservation Consultants, Inc.
Conservation Consultants, Inc. (CCI) (http://www.ccicenter.org/), is a nonprofit organization that helps families and businesses make energy efficient changes in their homes, offices, or buildings. Last year, CCI worked with nearly 5,000 local low-income families to help them lower their utility bills by using energy smarter. CCI is also the organization that small businesses and middle class families turn to for advice on all things energy. CCI’s programs focus on energy conservation through education, utility programs and Esmart3 Energy Audits.
CCI is partnering with the SCA this year to take on a Sustainable Community Fellow. The role of this Green Cities Corps member is to support the mission of the organization and its operations. CCI’s mission is “To promote responsible energy use in homes and other buildings”.
The Sustainable Community Fellow is responsible for:
- Complete data entry and evaluation
- Go out with the energy managers on home visits so that they can have a basic understanding of what
CCI does
- Assist the education coordinator in energy education
- Deliver home energy conservation workshops for community groups—after training and as they arise
- Green Building tours/lessons @ CCI Center
- Help with the implementation of upcoming new grants
Partner Description - East Liberty Development, Inc.
East Liberty Development, Inc.(ELDI) (http://eastlibertypost.com/) is a non-profit community development corporation (CDC) whose mission is to foster the revitalization of East Liberty, a neighborhood located in the East End of Pittsburgh. ELDI works to increase business and residential development, promote public safety, improve public spaces and create a positive image for East Liberty.
East Liberty Development, Inc. is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable Community Fellow. This Green Cities Corps member will assist the Sustainable Policy Coordinator, Planning Coordinator, and Community Outreach Coordinator with sustainable projects in East Liberty.
The Sustainable Community Fellow will be responsible for:
- Volunteer driven tree plantings in strategic locations in East Liberty (intern will be project manager)
- Community garden planning and implementation
- Storm water initiatives
- Pedestrian safety design project
- Marketing green projects to various East Liberty stakeholders
- New technology research for heating and cooling new projects (solar and geothermal)
- Job tasks also include project planning, team coordination, assisting with fundraising applications
(through grant research), budget coordination, and managing design teams
Partner Description - PennFuture
PennFuture (http://www.pennfuture.org/) works to create a just future where nature, communities and the economy thrive. We enforce environmental laws and advocate for the transformation of public policy, public opinion and the marketplace to restore and protect the environment and safeguard public health. PennFuture advances effective solutions for the problems of pollution, sprawl and global warming; mobilizes citizens; crafts compelling communications; and provides excellent legal services and policy analysis.
The Pittsburgh Climate Initiative, a group of organizations in conjunction with the mayor’s office, has launched a new citywide campaign, “The Black and Gold City Goes Green,” where the goal of the campaign is to work together to reduce heat-trapping gases from global warming. The portion of the campaign that targets individuals across the city is being spearheaded by Pennfuture. It consists of a series of monthly actions, all with little or no cost that families and individuals can take that will make a measurable reduction in the heat-trapping gases they produce.
PennFuture is partnering with the SCA to take on a Sustainable Community Fellow. This Green Cities Corps member will be working to execute the community piece of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan.
The Sustainable Community Fellow will be responsible for:
- Basic administrative tasks, such as data management and fielding phone calls
- Contacting and signing up more community groups to be part of the campaign
- Helping to plan and provide logistical support for events associated with the campaign
- Helping to develop website content (such as fact sheets) around the carbon dioxide reduction actions
each month
Partner Description - Sustainable Pittsburgh
Sustainable Pittsburgh, (http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/)a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.
Sustainable Pittsburgh is partnering with the SCA to utilize an SCA Intern with Sustainable Pittsburgh to contribute to the ongoing development of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative’s Business Climate Coalition (BCC) and to support other SP Programs, such as the C4S Business Network, The Sustainable Community Development Network, and the Walls are Bad Campaign.
The Sustainable Business Fellow is responsible for:
Organizing and steering communication among businesses for the Business Climate Coalition (BCC) steering Committee.
Coordinate, identification and implementation of the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative business recommendations.
Researching best practices related to climate and business, developing case examples from best practices, and organizing a blog to share information about the Business Climate Coalition.
Coordinate events and meetings for the BCC and other Sustainable Pittsburgh events.
May: Jamie Eberl
COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY
SUSTAINABILITY FELLOW
Green House Gas Emissions Inventory
Made final edits and format changes to prepare for online publishing
Recycling
Followed up with PRC regarding recycling in County facilities
Inventoried downtown County facilities for newspaper recycling bin placement
Events
Grants
Heinz and RK Mellon Grants - assisted in applying for funding
Attended DEP meeting about upcoming grant opportunities
PEDA grants - researched required documentation, communicated with public works
department and County contractors regarding grant projects benefits/issues, determined
kWh savings/estimated cost savings associated with proposed grant projects
Conferences Attended
PennFuture Global Warming Conference
ALCOSAN Green Infrastructure Workshop
Green Pathways to Prosperity
Green Roof Breakfast
EO Wilson Conference on Biodiversity
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SCA on the Web
| Loralyn Fabian |
| Raymon Whiteside |
| Claire Miziolek |
| Miriam Parson |
| Jake Baechle |
| Katrina Brink |
| Evan Endres |
| Adam Fedyski |
| Sarah Palmisano |
| Jamie Eberl |
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