Oct 27: PASUP action meeting

Are you concerned about the negative effects of single-use plastics -- to birds, to ocean life, to our own health?  If so, please join us for a Take Action on Plastic Waste event convened by PASUP (Pittsburghers Against Single-Use Plastic).  We'll have a short film screening and a group meeting, then break into action groups around various solutions of interest.  

2-4:30 p.m. at Construction Junction (214 N. Lexington St. in Point Breeze).  Light Refreshments will be served.  To sign up in advance, email pasupgroup@gmail.com, or RSVP on Facebook.  You can also join our Facebook group!

Oct 26: Sustainability Salon on Air Quality and Technology

We are what we breathe (in part, anyway).  The 93rd Sustainability Salon will once again look at air quality (an autumn Salon tradition).

Carnegie Mellon's CREATE Lab (the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Laboratory) has been producing hardware and software to educate and support breathers for years, from the SPECK monitor and the Smell Pgh app to smoke plume characterization and visualization.  Computer scientist and architectural designer Yen-Chia Hsu will share the latest developments on CREATE Lab projects related to air and citizen science, and you'll have a chance to try out the smoke labeling tool on your own device.  Environmental filmmaker and air-quality activist Mark Dixon has helped create a regional network of PurpleAir monitors (map at left), and founded NoPetroPA.  He'll bring us up to date on the air impacts of the expanding petrochemical buildout, and will share footage from his upcoming film, Inversion:  The Unfinished Business of Pittsburgh's Air.
We'll also discuss the upcoming election, from individual candidates to the Parks referendum.  Check back here for updates!

The next salon will take place on November 23rd.  And as I noted at last month's salon on single-use plastics, the next action meeting of PASUP is on October 27th.  In the meantime, there are a number of important actions around the Shale Insight conference on Oct 23rd (where 45 is the keynote speaker, beating the drum for the fossil energy and plastics industry, and who knows what else).

Salons run 3-10 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.  Please don't arrive before 3 p.m.  We aim to start the program not long after 4, after folks have had a chance to meet, mingle, and tour around an interesting and productive urban permaculture site.  After the talks and discussi

on, we'll break for a potluck supper (and more conversation).  Please email me (at maren dot cooke at gmail dot com) with salon in the Subject line to RSVP (yes or maybe), or click on the link in your Eventbrite notice (if you're not already on my list, just email me with salon in the subject line to be added!).  

Please do RSVP each time -- it helps greatly in several ways.  Among other things, weather and such can be unpredictable and it's good to know who to contact if there's a change -- and I'll send directions and a trail map on Friday or Saturday.  Be sure to include salon in the Subject line, as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day.  And if you're new, please let me know how you heard about the Salons!

Bring food and/or drink to share if you can (see below), along with musical instruments if you play.  If you drive down our street, please park only on the uphill-facing side, and take care not to block driveways on either side of the street.  Check back on MarensList (where you can find information on all sorts of environmental and social justice events) for updates.  And if you aren't yet on my list, if you're interested in Sustainability Salons (and our occasional house concert, simply contact me and I'll put you on my email list.  

As always, I'll be sending out directions and such, and any late-breaking info, to all the RSVP'd folks by the morning of the salon if not before (usually Friday night).  So if you don't have it yet, please be patient!  One of these days I'll streamline this process a bit, but for now it takes a while to to dot all my i's and cross all my t's.  (All the extraneous requests for the address don't help;  I have lots of other stuff I send out with it, but don't like to let them go unanswered so it adds hours to my prep time.  If you RSVP properly (see above), you should get the info by the morning of the salon!)

For the uninitiated, a Sustainability Salon is an educational forum;  it's a mini-conference;  it's a venue for discussion and debate about important environmental issues;  fit's a house party with an environmental theme.  We usually have featured speakers on various aspects of a particular topic, interspersed with stimulating conversation, lively debate, delectable potluck food and drink, and music-making through the evening.

Past topics have included single-use plastics, election activism, election law, whether to preserve existing nuclear power plants, advanced nuclear technologies, passenger and freight trains, consumption, plastics, and pollution, air quality, solar power, youth activism, greening business, greenwashing, the petrochemical buildout in our region, climate/nature/people, fracking, health, & action, globalization, ecological ethics, community inclusion, air quality monitoring, informal gatherings that turn out to have lots of speakers, getting STEM into Congress, keeping Pittsburgh's water public, Shell's planned petrochemical plant, visualizing air quality, the City of Pittsburgh's sustainability initiatives, fossil energy infrastructure, getting money out of politics, community solar power and the Solarize Allegheny program, the Paris climate negotiations (before, during, and after), air quality (again, with news on the autism connection), reuse (of things and substances), neighborhood-scale food systems, other forms of green community revitalization, solar power, climate change, environmental art, environmental education (Part I & Part II), community mapping projects, environmental journalism, grassroots action, Marcellus shale development and community rights, green building, air quality, health care, more solar power, trees and park stewardship, alternative energy and climate policy, regional watershed issues, fantastic film screenings and discussions (often led by filmmakers) over the winter with films on Food Systems, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Plastic Paradise, Rachel Carson and the Power Of One Voice, Triple Divide on fracking, You've Been Trumped and A Dangerous Game, A Fierce Green Fire, Sustainability Pioneers, films on consumption, Living Downstream, Bidder 70, YERT, Gas Rush Stories, and food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, food, and more food (a recurrent theme;  with California running out of water, we'd better gear up to produce a lot more of our own!).

Quite a few people have asked me what sort of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you;  I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks.  Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages:  wine, hard or sweet cider (the latter we can mull if you like), juice, tea, whatever.  The more the merrier!  Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homemade or boughten.  Please try to minimize single-use plastic -- if you're thinking of a deli tray of vegetables, just get some whole veggies and we can cut 'em up here!  Dishes containing meat or dairy are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.  We refill a bunch of growlers at East End (again, no single-use packaging) and provide a big batch of homemade/homegrown pesto (cheesy and vegan), and other things as needed.  More details will come after you RSVP (hint, hint!). 

If you haven't been here before, you may enjoy checking out our roof garden and solar installation (and now apiary!) as well as the many other green and interesting things around our place.  

And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- we typically run the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs to the Beatles, and a fun time is had by all.  Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours.  Conversations will continue through the evening, as well. 

Oct 23: Defend the Water day of action

Native Water Ceremony – Noon
Join us at the Point State Park Fountain - at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. Stand in solidarity with members of the Seneca community and other Native and faith leaders to protect our rivers and waters.

March – 1 p.m.
We will march from Point State Park down Liberty Avenue past the EQT global headquarters to 10th Street where we will walk through the tunnel under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail along the Allegheny River.

Rally – 2 p.m.
Join us for a rally outside the Shale Insight Conference at the Convention Center where representatives from the oil & gas industry, government, academia and others are plotting a future for gas and petrochemicals in the Ohio River Valley and around the world. We will hear many speakers representing Native communities, youth leaders, public health experts and others. Enjoy music performances, drumming and dancing!

Decolonizing Green Power
Panel Discussion – 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Renewable energy is a new frontier for economic growth. Facing increased global pressure to curb emissions, the companies most responsible for planetary global warming are erecting wind farms, building solar panels, and expanding renewable energy infrastructure without reducing their investments in the extraction economy. These companies are not the only ones investing in the power of the sun. Building on centuries of Indigenous knowledge about the sun’s power to give life, Indigenous communities around the continent are modeling a solar energy future that breaks from the profit motive. This panel considers green energy as a site for decolonization, asking how Indigenous activists are advancing an alternative future for green energy by connecting green technology development to the grassroots movements resisting fossil fuel expansion.

Oct 17: Just Harvest fundraiser

What would a future without hunger look like?  And how do we get there?

Join Just Harvest for their new fall fundraiser:  A Future without Hunger

For the past 30 years Just Harvest has hosted an annual Harvest Celebration Dinner every fall to bring together members, supporters, and allies for an evening to support Just Harvest’s mission.

This year, they have revamped their annual fall fundraiser into an exciting new two-part format that sparks conversation about a better and brighter way forward.  Together we can build a future without hunger!  More details and online tickets for both events are here.  

Oct 12: GASP's 50th Anniversary Gala

GASP's work today is as important as when we first started. Remaining strong and relevant for 50 years is no small task. It’s time to celebrate our accomplishments and this momentous occasion.

GASP will be celebrating this special occasion at the historic Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland. Guests will enjoy live music, food and drinks, and a silent auction, followed by the Michelle Madoff Award of Environmental Excellence Ceremony recognizing five amazing women working to improve the environment.

GASP’s 50th Anniversary Celebration will serve as our annual fundraiser, with all proceeds helping to fund our education, advocacy, and legal work.

5-8:30 at Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Ave., 15213. Tickets $75-$125; please register here! (and you can let folks know you'll be coming on Facebook)

Oct 5: March for Peace

1. We demand an immediate end to all forms of war in which the United States is currently engaged. 

2. We demand an immediate reduction of the U.S. military budget by at least half, including nuclear weapon divestment, with reinvestment into social & infrastructure programs. 

3. We demand an end to the militarization of domestic law enforcement organizations. 

Gathering at 11 a.m. at Schenley Plaza.  Check for updates on Facebook.  For more information, email PghAntiWar@gmail.com .

Endorsers include the Anti-War Committee of Pittsburgh, Council on American Islamic Relations (Pittsburgh), Veterans for Peace Chapter 47, Extinction Rebellion (Pittsburgh), Black Political Empowerment Project, St. James Church Peace and Social Justice Committee, Coalition Against Violence, Green Party of Allegheny County, International Workers of the World (Pittsburgh), 350 Pittsburgh, and the Women’s International League for Peace Freedom 

Oct 4: Protect Black Women march and rally

In response to the recent attack on black women at an Exxon gas station on the North Side, and the release of a University of Pittsburgh study that confirmed that Pittsburgh is the worst place for Black women to live, we are asking the community and allies to come march, protest, make noise, and let the rest of the city know that the we will no longer stand for the injustices toward black women in this city, nation and world. Please come out, and help center black women, girls, trans women, and non-binary folks.

6-9 p.m., gathering at Penn Ave. and Main St. (Bloomfield/Lawrenceville).  Updates on Facebook.

Oct 3: The Island President film screening

The Wicked Problems Film Series at the CMU School of Design is a film series and discussion on the most complex issues of our day. The topic of this discussion is climate change.

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT: After bringing democracy to his country, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, takes up the fight to keep his homeland from disappearing under the sea.

5-7 p.m. in room A11 of Margaret Morrison Hall on the Carnegie Mellon campus.

Discussion Co-Facilitators:

Dr. Neil Donahue is University Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Professor Donahue has a PhD in meteorology and his current research focuses on atmospheric particles. He is also the director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research at CMU.

Hilary Schenker is an illustrator, animator, and owner of Green Comma Media, a design firm that works with solo entrepeneurs and nonprofit organizations. She is also a group leader of the Pittsburgh chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower individuals to push for political action on climate change.

Oct 2: Plastic Paradise screening

Have you seen the film Plastic Paradise yet?  (everyone should!)  If not, here's one more opportunity:  the Izaak Walton League of America (Allegheny County chapter) is hosting a free screening in Point Breeze.  We featured this amazing documentary at the 60th Sustainability Salon, along with a discussion about the plastics manufacturing hub planned for our region;  it bears watching and re-watching -- and we're now almost three years further along into the petrochemical buildout.

Thousands of miles away from civilization, Midway Atoll is in one of the most remote places on earth. And yet it’s become ground zero for The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, syphoning plastics from three distant continents. In this independent documentary film, journalist/filmmaker Angela Sun travels on a personal journey of discovery to uncover this mysterious phenomenon. Along the way she meets scientists, researchers, influencers, and volunteers who shed light on the effects of our rabid plastic consumption and learns the problem is more insidious than we could have ever imagined.

A brief discussion and presentation will follow the film showing, on how we as individuals, communities, and our local governments can refuse and reduce our single-use plastics footprint.  Please come join the conversation!

7-9 p.m. at Point Breezeway (7113 Reynolds St., 15206)

Our Allegheny County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) is in the midst of a campaign to restrict and ban single-use plastics.  Our campaign includes community educational forums, possible legislation and resolutions at the borough, city, county and state levels, as well as the potential for law suits. This whole issue has become particularly acute and will reach crisis levels concerning our health, with the building of a new petrochemical facility 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, and the plans for 4 more such facilities in the region – going exactly in the WRONG direction from where we need to be going on the issue of plastics and recycling.