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Events

Two upcoming events!

10th annual Great Outdoors Week and Sustainability and Healthcare: Making the Business Case

10th annual Great Outdoors Week
May 13-22, 2011
Various times and locations throughout Southwestern PA

Warm weather is finally here! Beginning Friday, May 13, the 10th annual Great Outdoors Week (GOW) celebrates the outdoors in southwestern Pennsylvania. GOW is the perfect opportunity to try a variety of outdoor-related activities utilizing this region's many parks, trails, waterways, etc. Outdoors groups throughout the region are planning numerous activities that feature bike rides, paddling, hiking, orienteering, running, sailing, and much more. More than 60 events are planned, many of which are family friendly. No matter your age or ability, there is something available for you. Come outside and enjoy the fresh air. Visit www.wallsarebad.com for more information.

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Series Kickoff Event: "Sustainability and Healthcare: Making the Business Case"
Thursday, June 2
7:30 am – 11:30 am
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Cost: $45 for Sustainable Pittsburgh/C4S Members
$65 Nonmembers
Students: Special Rate
Breakfast Provided

Designed for executive leadership in mind, this June 2 event will showcase how healthcare organizations can tap into opportunities for producing better health outcomes, reducing costs and finding new sources of revenue by pursuing a sustainable approach to healthcare operations. Participants will have a chance to interact with a range of internationally-recognized practitioners who have implemented sustainable solutions in the healthcare industry to a variety of challenges. Those who stand to particularly benefit from participating in this program include hospital directors; hospital and healthcare chief executives; operations directors; corporate management; doctors and nurses; and members of the region’s business and nonprofit leadership in healthcare. Click here for registration and more information.

Resources

Sustainable Pittsburgh and Regional Healthcare Partners Launch New Series on Sustainability and Healthcare

Kickoff Event: "Sustainability and Healthcare: Making the Business Case"
Thursday, June 2
7:30 am – 11:30 am
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Cost: $45 for Sustainable Pittsburgh/C4S Members
$65 Nonmembers
Students: Special Rate
Breakfast Provided
Registration and more information

Designed for executive leadership in mind, this June 2 event will showcase how healthcare organizations can tap into opportunities for producing better health outcomes, reducing costs and finding new sources of revenue by pursuing a sustainable approach to healthcare operations.

Participants will have a chance to interact with a range of internationally-recognized practitioners who have implemented sustainable solutions in the healthcare industry to a variety of challenges.

Featuring Kickoff Speaker:
Dr. Eli Avila, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Health

Keynote:
David Hearn, VP IT and NFS Procurement, Procurement & Supply, Kaiser Permanente

Panelists:
Anna Gilmore Hall, RN, MS, CAE, Executive Director, Practice Greenhealth
Christina Vernon Ayers, Cleveland Clinic (Invited)
Cindy Kilgore, Inova Fairfax Hospital (Invited)
Seema Wadhwa, LEED AP, Sustainability Engineer, Inova Health System (Invited)

Those who stand to particularly benefit from participating in this program include hospital directors; hospital and healthcare chief executives; operations directors; corporate management; doctors and nurses; and members of the region’s business and nonprofit leadership in healthcare.

Celebrate the 10th Annual Great Outdoors Week

May 13-22, 2011
Various times and locations throughout Southwestern PA
More information available at www.wallsarebad.com
Volunteers are needed for Walls are Bad/Great Outdoors Week Fluid Station at the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 15. See below for details.

Warm weather is finally here! Beginning Friday, May 13, the 10th annual Great Outdoors Week (GOW) celebrates the outdoors in southwestern Pennsylvania. During GOW the public is encouraged to participate in a variety of outdoor-related activities utilizing this region's parks, trails, waterways, etc. Outdoors groups throughout the region are planning numerous activities that feature bike rides, paddling, hiking, orienteering, running, sailing, and much more.

Five signature events are part of GOW this year, beginning with the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday, May 15. Rounding out the rest of the week are the following signature events:
• Friday, May 20 - National Bike to Work Day/Car Free Fridays
• Friday, May 20 - Learn to Row and Paddle
• Saturday, May 21 - Venture Outdoors Festival
• Sunday, May 22 - Pedal Pittsburgh
GOW is a perfect time to discover a new trail with a loved one, try kayaking with the kids, or explore birding in your own backyard! Over 60 GOW activities for all ages and skill levels are scheduled!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Please join the Walls are Bad/Great Outdoors Week team in volunteering at a fluid station during the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday, May 15, 2011. Free t-shirts, thank you party, ticket to a Pirates game and more are all included to show our appreciation! Contact Ted King-Smith by Close of Business Friday at info@wallsarebad.com or (412) 258-6646/6647.

Drop off "hard to recycle" materials for recycling

Saturday, May 14
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Steel City Harley Davidson, 1375 Washington Rd. (Rt 19 and Race Track Road) Washington 15301
More information including fees

The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) in partnership with the Allegheny County Health Department and Colcom Foundation is providing opportunities for area residents to properly dispose of a wide variety of materials at “hard to recycle” collection events scheduled in 2011. On May 14, individuals can drop off televisions, e-waste, cell phones, printer/toner cartridges, compact fluorescent bulbs, alkaline batteries and tires without rims for recycling. Some items may have a cost associated with drop-off.

PRC is partnering once again with Global Links which will enable area residents to drop off medical equipment and supplies – such as crutches, canes, and walkers – at PRC collection events at no cost and Construction Junction will be present at every event collecting usable building material (for more details visit www.constructionjunction.org for reuse. For more complete details, click here.

1st Allegheny Mountain Green Fest

Saturday, May 14
10:00 am to 6:00 pm
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown's Living Learning Center
Tickets: Range from $0-$15
Purchase advanced tickets by Friday, May 6th to receive $5 off the gate ticket price.
Discounts are also available to Natural Biodiversity members, kids under 5, students of all ages, AmeriCorps members, senior citizens and veterans.
To order advanced tickets, lodging or lunch, and for more information, visit http://www.ohmonth.com/greenfest.shtml or contact the Natural Biodiversity office at (814) 534-0204.
Free on-site parking is available.

Want to Green Your Routine? Wish to learn more about local food, energy conservation, backyard wildlife habitat, gardening and other ways to live green? Then come to the Allegheny Mountain Green Fest for a fun, affordable, all-day event! Keynote speaker Mike McGrath, host of National Public Radio show You Bet Your Garden, will present The Seven Secrets of Successful Organic Gardeners and a workshop on growing tomatoes. The Eco Expo will feature businesses offering products and services that will help you green your routine, and in many cases, save you some green! You can purchase products such as rain barrels, local foods, natural health supplements, solar & other green building supplies, and native landscape plants. Green Fest will also include hands-on workshops, engaging speakers, and Kids' Patch activities. Workshops will incorporate helpful how-to’s on subjects such as canning, home energy audits, kitchen remedies, wine making, composting, and much more.

Natural Biodiversity is devising a contest to reward those who refer the most attendees, so let your friends know about the event. Green prizes will be awarded to contest winners.

CommuteInfo Open House

Wednesday, May 18
7:30 am – 2:00 pm
Xplorion (the lobby of the Regional Enterprise Tower – corner of Sixth Avenue and William Penn Way in downtown Pittsburgh).
More information

Commuters have been calling the CommuteInfo toll-free line, reporting that the cost of commuting (particularly the rising price of gas) has people cutting back on other activities and dipping into their savings. The May 18th Open House will provide individuals the opportunity to learn more about their commuting options, ask questions, and get answers. What makes the Open House unique is that people will be able to stop by, register and walk away with a match report.

The first 20 people to stop by the Open House who register with CommuteInfo and request a match report will receive a limited edition CommuteInfo piggy bank (where commuters can put all the money they save by sharing a ride).

May is designated as CommuteInfo Commute Options Awareness Month to focus extra attention on the promotion of commuting options available to commuters and employers in southwestern Pennsylvania. The overall goal for the month is to encourage people regionally to use an alternative commute (transit, vanpools, carpools, biking, and/or walking) to get to work or school. May was chosen as this special month since it includes National Transportation Week, National Bike to Work Day, National Employee Health and Fitness Day, and National Clean Air Week. CommuteInfo Commute Options Awareness Month has been celebrated annually since 2004.

Building One Pennsylvania
Organizational and Leadership Training

Saturday, May 21
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Hebron Church, 10460 Frankstown Road, Penn Hills (Directions)
Cost: $25/person (group discounts are available). Make checks payable to GoodSchoolsPA
For further information or to register please contact Mary_Jo@goodschoolspa.org

Building One Pennsylvania will hold a half-day training to prepare leaders in how to conduct a one-to-one outreach campaign to build community and identify concerns, interests and issues that may become priorities for collective action.

The training will be conducted by Paul Scully, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Regional Coalition and the National Organizing Director for Building One America, a national network for organizing, training and leadership development. Mr. Scully has over 20 years experience organizing with labor unions, community organizations and religious institutions. He spent four years with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and two years organizing in Washington, DC with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He spent ten years as the director and founder of a regional community organization in Northwest Indiana affiliated with the Gamaliel Foundation of Chicago. Mr. Scully was a member of the senior staff of the Gamaliel Foundation from 1996 through 2001 where he directed organizing activities in Indiana and later throughout the Northeast. In 2001 he returned to SEIU where he was the organizing director for SEIU Local 36 in Philadelphia.

The attendees of this training will be invited to participate in Building One Pennsylvania’s Issues Forum (August 5, 2011) where common concerns and issues will be prioritized and then addressed through collective action in Fall 2011.

Building One Pennsylvania is an emerging coalition of municipal, school, faith, civic and other institutions that are mobilizing to advance an agenda of social inclusion, sustainability and economic growth.

CityLIVE! Equity in Urban Education

Wednesday, May 25
6:30 pm
New Hazlett Theater, North Side
Click to RSVP

Pittsburgh’s public school system is changing rapidly. Over the past few years the system has downsized and collaborations have emerged. Reform efforts are underway that focus on the challenges in providing an equitable education for all students. Discussions are heated and sometimes polarized and problems persist. Do all students have equal access to educational opportunities? Is the Pittsburgh Promise reaching the students who need it most? Are efforts to reduce the achievement gap working?

At the May 25 cityLIVE!, panelists will address these issues and other goals for equitable education in the Pittsburgh Public School system. Panelists will include Robert Parris Moses who founded the Algebra Project, which uses mathematics as an organizing tool to guarantee quality public school education for all students, and Carey Harris who is the Executive Director of A+ Schools, an independent advocate for improvement in public education. The event will be moderated by Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the POISE Foundation, which funds organizations that provide services to Pittsburgh’s African American community. Additional panelists TBD.

PCRG Community Development Summit

Wednesday, May 25
8:00 am - 8:00 pm
Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh 15219
Agenda

The Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) hosts an Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony to celebrate the hard work of its membership and to thank its partners for their continued commitment to neighborhoods. PCRG's May 2010 reception at the August Wilson Center attracted more than 270 community leaders and raised substantial funds for neighborhood initiatives. Building on the Annual Meeting, this year, PCRG has partnered with the Urban Land Institute to host the First Annual Community Development Summit on May 25, 2011 at the Omni William Penn Hotel.

The Community Development Summit will feature:

- Nationally renowned, dynamic keynote speakers at both breakfast and lunch
- Workshops and panels on such topics as organizational development, community planning, real estate development, regulatory reform, fundraising, and more
- Built-in networking time with more than 300 community development professionals, lenders, public officials, developers, architects, planners, and researchers from more than 5 states
- A closing reception in the newly renovated Grand Ballroom of the historic Omni William Penn Hotel featuring hors d'oeuvres, drinks, musical entertainment, and an awards ceremony honoring neighborhood leaders.

Who Should Attend? Community groups, financial institutions, nonprofits, and government agencies, investors, development professionals, lenders, public officials, developers, architects, planners, researchers with an interest in revitalizing communities throughout the United States.

Moving Southwest PA

Thursday June 2
4:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Engineers' Society of Western PA, 337 4th Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh
Register

Buses, subways, cars, trucks, freight and passenger rail. Local, Federal and state taxes, fees, finances. Transportation infrastructure. Livability. Sustainability.

How to sort out what's best for Pittsburgh and the region? Put your head together with some leading stakeholders and help think through the challenges and solutions for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Panelists include:

Lucinda Beattie
VP Transportation, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership

Steve Bland
CEO Port Authority of Allegheny County

Dan Cessna
PennDOT District 11 Executive

Art Guzzetti
APTA VP Policy

Resources

Candidates for Allegheny County Chief Executive answer QuestionnAIRe

GASP and Sustainable Pittsburgh asked candidates for County Executive to answer a few questions on how they will work to improve the County's air quality. Only Rich Fitzgerald and Mark Patrick Flaherty responded. Check out their responses:

Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America

. . . With governments at all levels considering deep budget cuts, it is increasingly important to understand not just the location and frequency of transit service, but ultimately how well transit aligns with where people work and live. To better understand these issues, the Metropolitan Policy Program developed a comprehensive database that provides the first comparable, detailed look at transit coverage and connectivity across and within the nation’s major metro areas. An analysis of data from 371 transit providers in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas reveals that: . . .

Report Links Fracking To Tainted Drinking Water

Methane concentrations were detected in 51 of 60 drinking-water wells across the region, regardless of gas industry operations, but concentrations were much higher closer to natural-gas wells, the report said. Levels were 17-times higher on average in shallow wells from active drilling areas than in wells from nonactive areas, the report said. The report concluded that "greater stewardship, data, and possibly regulation are needed to ensure the sustainable future of shale-gas extraction and to improve public confidence in its use."

Shale gas can contaminate well-water
It's a problem, but the bigger problem is that the U.S. lags in clean technology

We rank 17th worldwide in the clean-tech sector. Our green energy industries have been expanding at a rate of 28 percent a year since 2008, according to a new report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. China's green technologies, by comparison, have grown 77 percent a year. To be sure, renewables have their warts, too. Concentrated solar power takes land and lots of water, typically in places where water is scarce. Windmills kill birds and bats. Yet problems like these are far more manageable than what current energy choices are doing to our water, air and national security.

More

Renewables Could Be 80 Percent Of Energy By 2050: U.N.

Environmental groups hailed the report as a guide to the shift from fossil fuels to combat climate change, a process set to cost trillions of dollars. But they said some draft findings were watered down, partly due to opposition by oil exporters. "Close to 80 percent of the world energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies," the IPCC said.

Keep Pittsburgh Moving!

Do you have a Facebook page and an interest in keeping current on transportation funding issues? “Friend” keepPGHmoving.com on Facebook and let this campaign help you. KeepPGHmoving.com is the local campaign to inform the public on transportation funding issues that relate to roads, bridges and public transportation. You can also find the campaign on YouTube. Check out the latest video here.

Complete Streets bill introduced in House, policies gaining in popularity across the country

H.R. 1780, sponsored by Democratic Representative Doris Matsui of California and Republican Representative Steve LaTourette of Ohio, would require state transportation officials to consider the needs of all transportation users — pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and people with disabilities, as well as motorists — in every phase of planning and development. . . It shouldn’t be a surprise to see complete streets policies sprouting up in places both urban and rural, red and blue. The Rockefeller Foundation Transportation Survey, conducted at the beginning of 2011, found that “safer streets for our communities and children” was voters’ top infrastructure investment priority. A commanding 40 percent listed safe streets as their first priority, and 57 percent listed it in their top two. . . The Act is a “marker” bill to be folded into what becomes the comprehensive reauthorization of the nation’s transportation law. But to get that policy folded into the bigger transportation bill, we’ll need to let Congress know that their constituents support it in our cities and communities.

Effort to "Green" the Empire State Building Paying Off

A $550 million plan to retrofit the Empire State Building pays off by attracting a new high-profile tenant, the social networking giant LinkedIn.com.

From post on Sustainable Cities Collective:

"What's most interesting to us about this particular lease, though, is that LinkedIn's executives were impressed with efforts by the property's management to make the building more environmentally friendly."

"We are thrilled to have a leading social media network company at the Empire State Building ... I'm pinching myself. Five years ago, I never would have believed we would have had a tenant like this."

The retrofit should ultimately result in a Gold LEED for Existing Buildings Rating.

Andres Power Helps Lead a Streets Renaissance One Parklet at a Time

Along with some of his colleagues at the Planning Department, Power is working from within to change the dysfunctional and old-school culture of city government with an eye to then transform our streets. The Pavement to Parks program is now catching the attention of cities all over the U.S. Last week, San Francisco issued a new request for parklet proposals, which means they’ll be spreading to even more neighborhoods.

Be part of the Home Energy Score pilot project - Deadline to Apply: May 25

EfficiencyPA is looking for 12 homeowners who have completed or are in the energy efficiency process and would like to share their story. If selected, you will receive a free Home Energy Score label as part of an exciting pilot program, compliments of the U.S. Department of Energy! Plus, your house may be chosen as one of the “Green Home Heros” at the 2011 Allegheny County Green Innovation festival in September.

Deadline: 5/25/2011
Apply online: http://efficiencypa.com/housetour
Questions? Contact: efficiencypa.com or (412) 428-9533 x1

Prizes include:
12 Home Depot Gift Cards ($100 each)
100 Home Energy Saver Kits by Duquesne Light ($25 value)

Provided by: Duquesne Light and Peoples Natural Gas

Allegheny Front: Keeping Shale Salts Out of Taps; How PA's Biggest Water Users Save Water

This week on The Allegheny Front, we continue our look at how Pennsylvania's water plan will manage this precious resource in the years to come. We look at how the state's biggest water users are saving water and talk with a researcher on how wastewater could replace fresh water in power production. Our award-winning coverage of Marcellus Shale continues with a look at the risk of bromides from shale wastewater ending up in tap water. We also have a round-up of the latest Marcellus news. The Allegheny Front Rewind looks at what's been done to keep sewage out of Pittsburgh's rivers in the last decade.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh 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 benefits from support ($1,000 and up) in 2011 from:

Allegheny County - Dan Onorato, County Executive
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
Dollar Bank
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates LTD
Pittsburgh Quarterly
PNC Financial Services Group
Port Authority of Allegheny County
UPMC


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
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