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Events

Business Leaders take note

Regional Prosperity: How the Region's Plan Can Impact the Region's Bottom Line

Friday, June 10
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 31st Floor
No fee to attend
RSVP to info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
Bring a brownbag lunch. Dessert provided.

The region's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is now accepting public input on the draft 2040 Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. This plan helps to guide the region's growth and development patterns. At stake is channeling investments for infrastructure and economic development in ways that can improve quality of life, lessen the cost of doing business, increase long-term profitability, help reduce infrastructure costs, and contribute to recruitment and retention of employees.

Come learn more about how the region's draft 2040 Transportation and Development Plan is material to sustainable development. This session will equip you to provide formal comment to SPC by their 6/17 deadline.

Business leaders in America are increasingly focused on rationalizing regional patterns of development to more successfully spur economic prosperity and extend livability to more persons. The bottom line business case of smart growth is increasingly apparent.

Come be part of the conversation about how the region's plan and you can help to:
- channel the pattern and character of growth and development to hasten regional sustainability that protects and enhances investments
- ensure economic growth occurs without the impacts and inefficiencies of unchecked sprawl
- promote sustainable communities
- level the field for development and redevelopment to revitalize our older urban centers
- focus on the new economic nexus of land use, transportation, housing, and transit oriented development
- learn about new interactive tools to analyze the suitability of locations for transit oriented development

Presented by Sustainable Pittsburgh, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Urban Land Institute - Pittsburgh District Council

NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD AND PUBLIC MEETINGS: 2040 Long Range Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania http://www.spcregion.org/trans_ppp_sched.shtml

Resources

Regional Prosperity: How the Region's Plan Can Impact the Region's Bottom Line

Friday, June 10
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 31st Floor
No fee to attend
RSVP to info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
Bring a brownbag lunch. Dessert provided.

The region's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is now accepting public input on the draft 2040 Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. This plan helps to guide the region's growth and development patterns. At stake is channeling investments for infrastructure and economic development in ways that can improve quality of life, lessen the cost of doing business, increase long-term profitability, help reduce infrastructure costs, and contribute to recruitment and retention of employees.

Come learn more about how the region's draft 2040 Transportation and Development Plan is material to sustainable development. This session will equip you to provide formal comment to SPC by their 6/17 deadline.

Business leaders in America are increasingly focused on rationalizing regional patterns of development to more successfully spur economic prosperity and extend livability to more persons. The bottom line business case of smart growth is increasingly apparent.

Come be part of the conversation about how the region's plan and you can help to:
- channel the pattern and character of growth and development to hasten regional sustainability that protects and enhances investments
- ensure economic growth occurs without the impacts and inefficiencies of unchecked sprawl
- promote sustainable communities
- level the field for development and redevelopment to revitalize our older urban centers
- focus on the new economic nexus of land use, transportation, housing, and transit oriented development
- learn about new interactive tools to analyze the suitability of locations for transit oriented development

Presented by Sustainable Pittsburgh, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Urban Land Institute - Pittsburgh District Council

NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD AND PUBLIC MEETINGS: 2040 Long Range Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania http://www.spcregion.org/trans_ppp_sched.shtml

Save the Date: Sustainability and Healthcare Session #2: Strategic Environmental Solutions

Thursday, July 21
7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Fairmont Pittsburgh
More information to come.

This second of five workshops in the healthcare series will feature interactive work sessions with healthcare experts in energy, waste, green cleaning, and green building operational areas.

Invited Workshop Experts:
Noedahn Copley-Woods, University of Pittsburgh
Marc Mondor, evolveEA
Russell Olmstead, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System
Shanti Pless, US DOE
Janet Stout, Specialty Pathogens
And others

Bike sharing demo in Market Square

Thursday, June 9
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Market Square, during the Farmers' Market
Free and open to the public!
More information

The B-cycle demo team is coming to Pittsburgh! BikePGH, as your local bike advocate, is exploring public bike-sharing as a means of alternative transportation, and you’re invited. In the past few years, cities like Denver, Minneapolis, and Washington DC have launched public access bike-sharing systems. People can check a bike out from a network of automated bike stations, ride to their destination, and return the bike to a different station. And now you get to try it out in Pittsburgh!

At this event in Market Square, you can:
- Check a bike in and out just like you were a member of a B-cycle network in Pittsburgh
- Test-ride a B-cycle (if space permits during the crowded Farmer’s Market)
- Support cycling and alternative transportation efforts in Pittsburgh
- Respond to a city survey and let your voice be heard

For more information on B-cycle, please visit www.bcycle.com.

cityLIVE! 37 - Moving People, Not Cars

Monday, June 13
6:30 pm
New Hazlett Theater
More information and to RSVP

Have you ever thought you’d like to ride your bike to work, but it seems too dangerous? Do you wonder what life would be like if your children could walk to school, and you wouldn’t have to drive them? Do you admire cities like New York, with its miles of city bike lanes, or Paris, with its 20,000 bikes to rent? Do you hate the fact that you need to drive your bike to a good trail? Would you like to live in a city that is built for people, not cars?

On June 13, Gil Peñalosa will show us how! Mr. Peñalosa is the executive director of 8-80 Cities, and a founder of the famous Bogotá, Colombia Ciclovia event. He is an internationally renowned livable city expert dedicated to the transformation of cities into places where people can walk, bike, access public transit and visit vibrant parks and public places. What does 8-80 Cities stand for? Cities which are accessible to everyone, from 8 to 80 years old.

Local experts will be on hand to answer any questions you have that are particular to Pittsburgh. They include Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh; Lynn Heckman, assistant director of Transportation Initiatives, Allegheny County Economic Development; Patrick Roberts, principal transportation planner for the City of Pittsburgh, and Darija Wiswell with Allegheny County’s Health Department.

Be there or be square.

Healthy Body, Healthy Home, Healthy Planet Workshop

Tuesday, June 14
6:30 pm - 8 pm
Whole Foods Market, 5880 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh 15206
Cost: $20 per person/$25 per couple (All participants/couple receive a comprehensive green cleaning kit for attending)
Contact: Sarah Alessio Shea at saraha@ccicenter.org or (412) 488-7490 ext. 236
More information available at www.prc.org.

In 1962 Rachel Carson stated that for the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death. This statement was true then and continues to be true today.

We all are exposed to a number of different chemicals, carcinogens, and toxins in our environment on a daily basis, but while we may have no control over some exposures, there are many that we do. These exposures can come from our cell phones, parabens in our personal care products, or BPA in our plastics – so how can we seek these out and avoid them?

This workshop is designed to heighten awareness and encourage action around the issue of carcinogens and toxins that we come into contact with daily in our environment through the products we use and the food we eat. The workshop also focuses on the consequences of these toxins on our health and how we can avoid exposure. The program provides the public with practical solutions such as safe alternatives and healthy lifestyle choices.

In an effort to reduce one’s exposure to toxins and to reduce the amount of toxins in our environment, all workshop participants will receive a non-toxic green cleaning kit.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design within a Constrained Right-of-Way

Wednesday, June 15
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
$75 for non members of the Association for Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. Must log in for member pricing.
Registration and more information

This 90-minute webinar will offer case studies of real projects that have improved bicycle and pedestrian conditions within an existing urban right of way. Three examples of retrofitting a constrained right of way are drawn from New York City, San Francisco and Tampa.

Presenters:
Ronald Chin, District Seven Design Engineer, Florida Department of Transportation
Chester Fung, Senior Transportation Planner, San Francisco County Transportation Authority
David Parisi, Principal, Parisi Associates Transportation Consulting
Sean Quinn, Planning Coordinator, NYCDOT Pedestrian Projects Group
Randy Wade, Group Director, NYCDOT Pedestrian Projects

Power Breakfast Meeting: Stephen Bland, CEO, Port Authority

Friday, June 17
7:30 am
Rivers Club, One Oxford Center, Downtown Pittsburgh
Cost: $20 Members, $30 Non-members
RSVP by June 15, 2011: (412) 392-0610 or information@aaccwp.com.
(Confirmation guarantees payment)
More information

Join the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western PA in welcoming Associate Member, Stephen Bland, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Mr. Bland will discuss the agency's changes and future plans for public transportation and the impact on you and your workforce.

Safely dispose of common household chemicals

Saturday, June 18
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Walmart (Hilltop Plaza), Kitanning, Armstrong County
Fee: $2/gallon - Cash Only
More information: www.zerowastepgh.org or (724) 548-3223

Pennsylvania residents are invited to drop off common household chemicals for recycling and proper disposal on June 18. This event is hosted by Zero Waste Pittsburgh, a project of the PA Resources Council, UPMC, and Armstrong County.

ACCEPTABLE ITEMS INCLUDE:
• aerosol cans
• automotive fluids (motor oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, brake fluid)
• batteries
• chemistry sets
• compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)
• gasoline and kerosene
• household cleaners (ammonia, drain openers, acid cleaners, oven cleaners)
• mercury
• paint products (latex, oil based, alkyd based, arts/crafts chemicals, rust preservatives, creosote, water sealers, paint thinners, furniture strippers)
• pesticides /herbicides (rodent killers, insecticides, weed killers, mothballs, fertilizer)
• photo chemicals
• pool chemicals

THEY DO NOT ACCEPT:
• ammunition • appliances • bulk waste • commercial and industrial waste • compressed gas cylinders (including propane tanks) • drugs • explosives • flares • fluorescent tubes • leaking containers • medical waste (including needles) • PCBs and dioxin • radioactive materials (including smoke detectors) • tires

Environmental Toxicity and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Friday, June 24
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Power Center Ballroom, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh
Call (412) 833-4360 or visit www.envirotoxicityandkids.com for more information.

This conference will address the science surrounding environmental toxins and their harmful effects on the neurodevelopmental system as well as offer potential strategies to create positive changes in the environment and health practices and policies. Speakers include Pediatric Neurologist Dr. Martha Herbert of Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Isaac Pessah, professor of toxicology at the University of California’s Davis School of Medicine. Co-hosted by Duquesne University and The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh.

SWPA Air Quality Partnership Spring Meeting

Tuesday, June 28
8:30 am (breakfast)
9:00 am – 11:30 am (meeting)
At the Waterfront Rooms A&B, Pennsylvania DEP, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh 15222-4745
Washington’s Landing, off the 31st street bridge
PLEASE NOTE; The entrance from route 28 to the 31st street bridge is temporarily closed. PA DEP can be reached from Penn Avenue to the 31st street bridge or by River Avenue.
Please RSVP to Marlene Walsh at (412) 431-4449 x202, marlenew@ccicenter.org if you wish to attend.

Please join the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership for breakfast, and to hear about:
- “Black and Gold Goes Green” – an initiative for Pittsburgh businesses in sustainability
- Work by EQT to increase natural gas use in transportation in PA
- Solar and renewable energy in PA

At the membership meeting the group will be electing officers for the next two years and giving the end of fiscal year report. The SPAQP operates on a July to June calendar. Come and help us thank Harilal Patel for his years as Chair, and recognize the outgoing Board:
Treasurer: Tom Lattner, ACHD
Director Al Depaoli, AES
Director Andrea Davison, NOVA Chemicals
Director Greg Chambers, Oberg industries
Past Chair: Ann Gerace, Conservation Consultants, Inc.,
Communications Committee Chair Betsy Mallison, Public Relations Professional
Technical Committee Chair: Jayme Graham, ACHD
Finance Committee Chair: Rachel Hoza, CPA

DIABETES: The Silent Killer
Self Management of a Chronic Disease

Wednesday, June 29
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Allegheny General Hospital, Magovern Conference Center, 320 East North Avenue, Northside
Free to attend; free parking
For more information, call: (412) 392-0610

A service of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania, this workshop features guest speaker, Dr. Lenore Coleman. Dr. Coleman is the African American Co-Author of the Book, Healing Our Village: A Self Guide to Diabetes Control.

Free diabetes testing and blood pressure screening available prior to the workshop. Call (412) 330-2535 by June 24th to schedule your testing (confidential).

Resources

Request for proposals: Building Change – A Convergence for Social Justice
Conference

Three Rivers Community Foundation (TRCF) is pleased to announce the Call for Workshop and Arts Proposals for the first-ever Building Change: a Convergence for Social Justice, to be held October 13-15, 2011 in Pittsburgh. TRCF has been joined by a diverse group of organizations and advocates working for social change and justice in Southwestern Pennsylvania to sponsor and carry out this movement-building gathering. TRCF is looking for workshops, speakers, and artists/filmmakers that are from and/or about the 10-county region of Southwestern Pennsylvania (SW PA).

Grassroots organizations are encouraged to work in concert to create an interactive skill-building workshop or workshops focused on social justice incorporating key issues such as Disability rights, Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, LGBTQ Rights, Peace/Human Rights, Racial Justice, and Women, Youth and Families Issues. The main goal of the convergence is to unite organizations that challenge attitudes, policies, or institutions for the purpose of promoting social, economic, and racial justice in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Please email trcf@trcfwpa.org for more information or check out www.trcfwpa.org.

Next Generation Recycling and Waste Reduction:
Building on the Success of Pennsylvania's 1988 Legislation

This [White] Paper recommends that Pennsylvania set new and more ambitious recycling and waste reduction goals, use accurate and accessible data to measure progress, and once again give priority to public education on recycling and waste reduction. This Paper also contains many specific recommendations for reducing the amount of waste that is disposed of, and for increasing the amount of material that is recycled. These include expansion of the municipalities required to recycle as well as the materials to be included in recycling, greater emphasis on commercial and institutional recycling, requiring the use of “pay-as-you-throw” systems, use of the grant program to support innovations in recycling and waste reduction, and creation of an honor roll to recognize companies for their contributions to recycling and waste reduction. Finally, it recommends stable and permanent financial support for the program.

More

GenOn to pay $5 million Conemaugh pollution settlement

The $5 million penalty is the largest penalty ever paid in Pennsylvania to settle litigation based on federal "citizens suit" provisions. Such provisions are included in most federal environmental law and allow citizens or groups representing them to file lawsuits to compel compliance with the regulations.

The environmental groups filed the lawsuit because the state Department of Environmental Protection had agreed, in an undisclosed 2004 "side deal," to delay enforcement of power plant's discharge limits it set in 2001 until 2012.

Infrastructure rating system coming soon

The rating system the new group is working on is founded on the concept of the “triple bottom line,” which includes environmental, economic and social considerations. The hope is that the system will help owners, regulators and practitioners to identify the benefits of sustainable practice.

It will be a voluntary, web-based system, but, unlike other tools, this one will include an option for third-party verification. It will be designed for use on a wide range of infrastructure projects, from roads and bridges, to water systems, to energy installations.

Why Cities' Climate Change Strategies are Good for Businesses

Cities' climate change-related projects often have a ripple effect on businesses, whether towns are putting more renewable energy in the electrical grid, expanding recycling systems or adding bicycle lanes. For those wanting to know how the biggest cities in the world are tackling climate change, a report from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group looks at 4,700-plus actions being taken by 40 cities from New York to Moscow, Toronto to Johannesburg, Hong Kong to Amsterdam, and elsewhere in between.

Great places: smart density as part of economic flourishing

Here's the basic idea: When smart, skilled people start to gather in a place, the process becomes self-perpetuating. More smart, skilled people show up to be near the others. And the more smart, skilled people you get close together, the more you reduce transaction costs and increase "knowledge spillover," which leads to commerce and innovation. That's true not only for individuals but for industries and research institutions (universities, labs, etc.). In economic nerdspeak, this phenomenon is known as the "economies of agglomeration." It concrete terms, it means, as Ed Glaeser put it recently, that "wages and productivity rise with density."

Strategic Planning for Stagnating Strips

Deteriorating commercial strips are commonplace in today's auto-oriented suburbs. Errin Welty outlines her strategy for turning stagnating strips into vibrant shopping districts.

"It isn't so much that hard times are coming; the change observed is mostly soft times going." -Groucho Marx

This Place Matters: Vote for the Rachel Carson Homestead

Between June 1 and June 30, individuals can vote for the Rachel Carson Homestead in the "This Place Matters" competition. The participating organization that obtains the most number of votes will win $25,000. All voters must register in order to support an organization. Registration occurs with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Carson's legacy and the activism it inspires is best summed up by former Vice President Al Gore, who visited the Homestead in 2000: "she brought us back to a fundamental idea lost to an amazing degree in modern civilization - the interconnection of human beings and the natural environment."

. . . As we approach the 50th anniversary of Silent Spring, our greatest environmental challenges lie ahead. While Carson's legacy endures, much work remains. Protecting and restoring this special place will ensure that it will not only matter to the citizens of Pittsburgh but to us all.

Climate and the World's Cities: A Week to Remember

"City governments," noted Paul Dickinson of CDP, "sit at a critical climate change nexus. They are responsible for large amounts of greenhouse infrastructure. They're immensely vulnerable to the damaging effects of warming temperatures, sea level rise, and increased occurrences of catastrophic storm events." . . . The clear intent of C40's expanded operations and professionalism is to carry the word of climate innovations to cities worldwide -- to learn how the new efforts are functioning, the actual results of new investments, and then keep careful score to inform the "state of the art."

Move It: How the U.S. Can Improve Transportation Policy

The United States must align its transportation policy with its economic goals to build long-term prosperity, writes Robert Puentes. Prioritizing investments, increasing exports, and producing low-carbon transportation alternatives are just a few of the ways the country can begin a shift toward the next American economy.

The world gets back to burning

Not since 1973 has world energy use increased by as much, in percentage terms, as it did in 2010…2010’s energy consumption was up by 5.6% on the year before. In part this is thanks to recovery from the economic crisis; in part it is down to the longer-term shift in economic activity towards emerging economies, which are less efficient in their energy use. Robust growth was seen in all regions and in almost all types of energy use: the world consumed more of every main fuel bar one than it had in any previous year. Consumption of oil, which accounts for 34% of the world’s primary energy by BP’s calculations, rose by 3.1%. Coal, at 30% the number two fuel, was up by 7.6%, growing faster than at any time since 2003. Consumption of gas, which contributes 24%, was up by 7.4%, the biggest annual growth since 1984.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

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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
Bayer Corporation
Bayer USA Foundation
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
E-mail SP