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Events

Resources

Walls are Bad Headline News!

Outdoor Recreation Resource Directory now available for SWPA

As part of an effort to raise awareness of outdoor recreation opportunities here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Sustainable Pittsburgh, through the help of its outdoor recreation partners, has produced a directory featuring over 170 outdoor recreation outfitters, clubs, and organizations in this region that provide resources, camaraderie, and expertise on getting outside.

Recognizing the directory could list an infinite number of groups, SP attempted to maintain a narrow focus and included those groups whose primary function is to organize non-motorized outdoor activities or to provide resources/expertise for participation in these activities. Primary categories include biking, hiking, paddling, and climbing. Following this thought process, conservation and environmental education groups are not listed although some do host birding hikes, nature walks, and the like. Many of these organizations can be found by visiting wallsarebad.com.

Printed copies of the directory will be available soon. Click here to see the electronic version (pdf).

Walls are Bad website has a new look

If you haven’t been to wallsarebad.com recently, you’re in for a treat. Beautiful, sharp images of paddling, biking, fishing and more, grace the header of the homepage, with interesting facts along the way. The interactive “world” that originally served as the header is still a prime feature on the site, but now serves as an optional perk for visitors. Feel free to sign up on the site and start uploading photos, posting comments, and writing your own blog about the outdoors!

Resources Continued

Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT.com)

Saturday, August 9
3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Rachel Carson Homestead 613 Marion Ave., Springdale, PA 15144
Free
Contact Mark Dixon at mark@yert.com or 415-672-5537 for more details.

YERT is headed into Pittsburgh for the finale event of their national road-trip adventure, and they'd love to see you there! Ben, Mark, Julie, and Erika spent the last year traveling to all 50-states, interviewing over 800 citizens and leaders about environmentally pressing issues, then turning the footage into quick, fun environmental videos at YouTube and other sites online. The team brings with them news of the "YERTy-est Awards," some green tunes, and the fastest comprehensive rundown of the entire trip that you may ever see. The infamous "Bag Monster" will make an appearance for the kids. Everybody who attends the event will receive a free YERT ChicoBag! (While supplies last). Learn more and watch over 40 videos at www.yert.com.

Shaping A Sustainable Pennsylvania – DCNR’s Blueprint for Action

Interaction Session
Tuesday, August 26
2:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Four Seasons Ski Lodge, Boyce Park, Monroeville
Please RSVP to jdupes@state.pa.us, or call 717-705-0031, at least two weeks prior to the meeting you plan to attend.

This is one of six sessions happening across the state this summer and fall to allow the public to provide input on how well the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is carrying out the goals and actions contained in its strategic plan, Shaping A Sustainable Pennsylvania – DCNR’s Blueprint for Action, and what the agency’s priorities should be for the future. The sessions will also provide a forum to collect citizen and stakeholder input on recreation as DCNR develops Pennsylvania’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan this year. Prior to attending, please re-familiarize yourself with the Blueprint for Action. If you are unable to attend, but are interested in submitting comments, please submit them by November 5 to the e-mail above.

2008 Rachel Carson Legacy Conference

Green Chemistry: Solutions for a Healthy Economy
Saturday, September 20
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA
More information

The Rachel Carson Legacy Conference series is a project initiated by the Rachel Carson Homestead Association. Topics featured at this conference include:
- Environment and Health Connections - The Green Chemistry Solution
- Innovations in Products and Processes
- Design for Non-toxic Results
- Business Strategies - Risk, Investment and Insurance

Women’s Health & the Environment Conference

Thursday, September 25
8:00 am – 4:30 pm
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown
Free
Questions: 412-641-4059 or sue@mcmahon-cardillo.com

Join women – and men who care about the women in their lives – from around the region and beyond for the second conference on Women’s Health & the Environment: New Science, New Solutions. The conference will feature nationally renowned environmental scientists, writers and activists who will share the newest science in three areas essential to health in our everyday lives: air, water, and food. Experts also will address the health affects of personal care products that are supposed to enhance the quality of our lives. In addition to explaining scientific data that show how toxins in our environment negatively affect our health, presenters will share solutions that can create a healthier environment for you and your family. For more information visit www.womenshealthpittsburgh.org .

Resources

Green Allure for College Grads

A new poll suggests that today's college students are hoping for a job after school with a green-minded company. . . Another recent survey from Alloy Media + Marketing found that a growing number of college students in the 2012 class prefer socially responsible brands

Building CSR into the Supply Chain

Concerns about corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues involving the supply chain prompt many companies to devote their energies to monitoring factory conditions. A series of pilot projects shows, however, that efforts are better spent in partnering with factory leaders to provide suppliers with skills, knowledge and systems that enable them to cope with CSR issues as they emerge, BSR said in releasing its report.

More

Water’s odyssey from sewer to cup

Orange County’s water utility has been drawing the gaze of engineers, scientists, and policymakers since it opened the world’s largest water recycling facility of its kind in January to scrub clean treated wastewater and turn it into drinking water. . . It’s not necessarily the technology that has garnered Orange County such attention from water utilities around the globe. Recycling wastewater has been going on to lesser degrees elsewhere for some time. What has intrigued many is that the system met almost no public resistance when it came online in January.

Unity among officials is key to a city, county merger

Court Gould, executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, said the Nordenberg commission's report needs more support and scrutiny. "There needs to be a followup commission or report to iron out the excruciating details," Gould said. "That is a civic responsibility to do it in a transparent and civically involved manner as opposed to jumping right into a sales campaign." What's most important to Gould is ensuring equal access to government services such as home ownership assistance, education and employment. "That, in the long run, will have the biggest impact on economic development," Gould said. "When your ZIP code doesn't so starkly determine the quality of life you enjoy."

The Woonerf Deficit: What might more pedestrian-friendly streets mean for New Yorkers?

The Dutch call it a woonerf-—a “livable street” resplendent with wide sidewalks, ample retail, greenery and minimal automobile traffic. It’s designed to boost quality of life for citizenry, the till for retailers and property values for landowners. Perhaps you’ve noticed that New York City doesn’t have many woonerfs amid its warren of streets, which make up one-fourth of the city’s land area. But what if it did?

From Homestead to Charleroi, Mon Valley neighborhoods beginning extensive revitalization efforts

"We don't want the blight to spread. Many times, we see neighborhoods which have pretty nice houses, but then a few abandoned properties in the same area have the capacity to create other abandoned properties and absentee landlords," he said. To that end, the Mon Valley Initiative is always looking for properties to buy: the former Slovak Social Club of East Pittsburgh, a former church in Swissvale to be converted into condos, and an automotive garage on Library Street in Braddock, which will be converted into a loft.

Breaking our oil addiction

The only good thing to come from soaring oil prices is that they have spurred innovator/investors, successful in other fields, to move into clean energy with a mad-as-hell, can-do ambition to replace oil with renewable power. Two of the most interesting of these new clean electron wildcatters are Boone and Shai. . .Mr. Pickens is motivated by American nationalism. Because of all the money we are shipping abroad to pay for our oil addiction, he says, "we are on the verge of losing our superpower status." His vision is summed up on his Web site: "We import 70 percent of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year. . .I have been an oil man all my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. If we create a renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil."

A Mass Transit Mess

For the first time in 28 years, Americans are driving less, a happy development for proponents of public transportation. But as people shift to buses and subways, they are encountering transit systems that are crowded and outdated. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters has put forth a plan that would make those problems worse. Ms. Peters has proposed borrowing money from the Highway Trust Fund's mass transit account to cover a projected $3.1 billion shortfall in highway maintenance and construction. It is unclear, though, whether Ms. Peters could borrow the money without harming mass transit capital projects such as the purchase of subway cars and construction of bus garages.

Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans’ Decline

Blue patrol boats crisscross the swimming areas of beaches here with their huge nets skimming the water’s surface. The yellow flags that urge caution and the red flags that prohibit swimming because of risky currents are sometimes topped now with blue ones warning of a new danger: swarms of jellyfish.

Patterns: In Older Neighborhoods, Less Weight Gain

With each extra decade of a neighborhood’s age, the researchers said, the risk of obesity was 13 percent lower for men and 8 percent lower for women. . .“You always want to have something to walk to,” Dr. Smith said. And unlike many modern residential areas, older communities may have stores and other businesses near houses.

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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 in 2008 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
University of Pittsburgh



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