October: Evan Endres

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY FELLOW
Penn Future

October was another busy month for the Black and Gold City Goes Green campaign. We had our first opportunity to run our pilot, Neighborhood Blitz program. We also had a Community Partner meeting and got moving on a new youth component.

The Bloomfield Neighborhood Blitz-

The Black and Gold City Goes Green had been working on developing a new model for outreach and recording carbon reductions in Pittsburgh Neighborhoods. This planning culminated with our, first ever Neighborhood Blitz that took place on Saturday October 2, in the Bloomfield Neighborhood, known as Pittsburgh’s Little Italy.

The plan was to rally volunteers from the community, 18 people came out including other SCA Green Cities Fellows, and have them go door to door. They would distribute some CFL light bulbs, remind their neighbors of how recycling works in the city and give them a free blue recycling bag. They also had the tools to offer residents the opportunity to cancel junk mail, and let them know about some other programs in the city. This was all done with the goal of recording carbon reduction.

The result was over 120 homes received kits including free light bulbs and other great freebies and we were able to record an estimated 133,000 lbs. of C02 reductions in a three-hour event.

Check out the YouTube video from the Bloomfield Neighborhood Blitz-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZJoPKUPKS0

The next step is to refine the offerings and work with other organizations within the city so that these door to door interactions can result in even greater carbon savings.

Fall Community Partner Luncheon-

The Black and Gold City Goes Green had a great opportunity to meet some its new Community Partners and say hello to our partners that have been with us since day one. 35 representatives from various Community Partner organizations came out to learn more about what the campaign is doing, offer insight into how its working for them and offer suggestions as we plan the next year.

Youth Community Partner Initiative-

After confirming our funding for the a new Youth Community Partner initiative the Black and Gold City Goes Green, along with coordinator that will work specifically on the youth project, started laying the groundwork to build Youth Community Partner groups. The Goal is to have at least three groups up and running by February.

These High-School aged young people will be learning about climate change issues and begin to formulate climate action plan for their community. Each group also has a budget for a carbon reduction service project. We are really looking forward to seeing what kind of plans these young people come up with. Stay tuned on the Black and Gold website, as we look forward to posting updates and comments from these youth.

www.TheBlackandGoldCityGoesGreen.com

Our action theme in October revolved around transportation issues. Generally it was about getting people to choose alternative methods or walk or bike. With that in mind we partnered with Bike Pittsburgh and their Car Free Fridays campaign to offer a complimentary event. We called it The Black and Gold City Goes Green- Walking Bus. We hosted a breakfast and give away for those who would meet up with us in the Lawrenceville Neighborhood and walk downtown to work. Unfortunately we had very little attendance. This is an event will consider doing again with more publicity and when the weather is better.

I also learned, this month, that after the Green Cities Fellowship has concluded, I will be able to stay on at PennFuture as a full time member of the staff. The Green Cities Fellowship has given me the opportunity to build my skills and prove myself to the host organization.