Sustainable 19125

The Sustainable 19125 Steering Committee met for the first time last week, reviewing outreach strategies for the Green Blocks program and weighing in on ideas for future projects in the initiative.  Here’s a list of who’s on the committee -

Amanda Benner – Pennsylvania Horticultural Society – abenner@pennhort.org
Katie Edwards – Clean Air Council – kedwards@cleanair.org
Robin Geller - City Commercial Recycling / Green Guide - robin.geller@phila.gov
Holly Logan – Green Guide – hollylogan@gmail.com
Christine Marsal – Green Guide – cmarsal@gmail.com
Anders Morholt – Green Guide – drumrhythm@gmail.com
Kevin Musselman – New Kensington CDC – kmusselman@nkcdc.org
Kerry Nelson – NKCDC Board Member / Green Guide – kerry@fivestarphilly.com
Nykia Perez – Philly Tree People / Green Guide – nykia.perez@gmail.com
Shanta Schachter – New Kensington CDC – sschachter@nkcdc.org
Tamara Leone – New Kensington CDC – tleone@nkcdc.org

These committee members will help disseminiate information to the community as a whole, as well as gather feedback from neighbors.  Please let the group know your thoughts and ideas for Sustainable 19125 by emailing the group at sustainable19125sc@googlegroups.com.

Here are some books for ages 4-8 about the environment! Many more children’s environmental books can be found at: http://www.childsake.com

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak 

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss

Diary of a Spider, by Doreen Cronin

In the Tall Tall Grass, by Denise Fleming

In the Small Small Pond, by Denise Fleming

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein

The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, by George Levenson

Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert

The Three R’s: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle by Nuria Roca

Where Does the Garbage Go? By Paul Showers

Easy to be Green: Simple Activities You Can Do to Save the Earth by Ellie O’Ryan

The Earth and I by Frank Asch

A Walk in the Woods by Christian Couture

The Boy Who Didn’t Believe in Spring by Lucille Clifton

Here are some links for kids with fun interactive games and quizzes!

• EPA’s Environmental Kids Club (for Elementary school students)- Contains information, games, and links concerning air, water, garbage and recycling, and plants and animals-  http://www.epa.gov/kids/
• EPA’s High School Environmental Center- portal for environmental resources including detailed information on environmental topics, a blog, and student employment opportunities-  http://www.epa.gov/highschool/
• EPA’s Student Environmental Center- provides information, games, and quizzes regarding environmental topics for middle school aged students.
• EEK Environmental Education for Kids- provides information about earth, animals, and people who work in environmental jobs- http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/ 
• Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Kids’ Page- offers information on insects, state parks, waste, and much more! http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/education/kids.aspx
• Scholastic Act Green!- Has tools for kids to act green and gain green points doing so, as well as games, videos, blogs, and links- http://www.scholastic.com/actgreen/

All About Trees!

• Real Trees 4 Kids – has information on trees, project ideas, and fun arts and crafts catered for different age groups http://www.realtrees4kids.org/
• Life of a Tree- interactive website for older kids on the life and parts of a tree – http://www.arborday.org/kids/carly/lifeofatree/
• Trees are Terrific! – an animated story all about trees – http://urbanext.illinois.edu/trees1/flash/index.html

Want to learn about trees? 

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Philly Tree People are hosting a Tree Tenders workshop at the Coral Street Arts House!

Wednesday, October 28th
6 – 8 PM
Coral Street Arts House
2446 Coral Street

Learn how to plant a tree, and how to get trees for your block! Please RSVP to Alice Edgerton at aedgerton@nkcdc.org to let us know you’re coming!

Thanks for coming to the meeting last Thursday! Your Green Guide kits are now ready!

For those of you who couldn’t make it, don’t worry…we still have kits for you! Please let us know (if you haven’t already) how many houses are on your block so we know how much stuff to give you!

Please write to sustainable19125@gmail.com to let us know when you can come pick up your kit at NKCDC’s office (2515 Frankford Avenue). Or, you can take advantage of our one-time special offer to have your kit
HAND-DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME!

A special kickoff meeting was held on the evening of September 10th, where over 100 neighbors came out to learn what they could do to make 19125 the most sustainable zip code in the city.  Sustainable 19125 is a broad and innovative partnership among community residents, businesses, and numerous government, nonprofit, and for profit partners to green the Fishtown, Olde Richmond, and East Kensington neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Led by NKCDC with support from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS),  Sustainable 19125 will launch three programs in the next year: The Green Blocks Program, The Big Green Block, and Walk, Bike, and Ride.

The Green Blocks program allows blocks to compete with each other to improve their community. This initiative utilizes six sustainability themes (greening, recycling, energy, water conservation, transportation, and buy local, grow local) as well as a network of Green Guides to organize and track resident actions. Green Guides will play a key role in the implementation of this program, as they will be the ambassadors between NKCDC and their block. Through the leadership of these Green Guides, neighbors will organize to sign the Green Home Pledge and achieve green goals. Green Guides will receive a tool kit for each theme to help them get started. These kits will contain items such as recycling stickers, tree planting applications and CFL light bulbs. So far over 40 Green Guides have begun mobilizing on their individual blocks!

The Big Green Block, an initiative already well under way, focuses on green infrastructure projects in the block bounded by Front Street to Frankford Avenue from Norris Street south to Palmer.  Dozens of neighbors came out on the evening of September 29th to learn more about the program which is being led by PHS with the support of NKCDC, the School District of Philadelphia, the Water Department, Mural Arts Program, and the Dept. of Parks and Recreation. Projects include the LEED-certified Creative and Performing Arts High School currently under construction on Front Street as well as rain gardens and greenways connecting the school to Shissler Rec Center and Palmer Park.

19125 resident and long-time sustainability advocate, Loretta Wallace, just compiled a ton of great information and posted it to the wiki page! In it, she adds favorite links addressing sustainable green living in addition to links to 3 of her own eco-friendly web pages. Learn how to recycle better locally, stretch a dollar further, and live more sustainably!

And remember, you to can add a few of your favorite things! Just join the wiki and type away!

From Our Friends at the Next Great City:

On May 1, the City Council Committee on the Environment voted the Advanced Recovery Fee (Green Fee) for Disposable Shopping Bags legislation! The bill now goes to the full Council for a vote, and we need your help to make sure it gets passed!

Bill # 090075 would require grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores to collect a 25-cent fee for disposable plastic shopping bags used by customers. This fee will encourage customers to forego unnecessary bags, or bring reusable bags and reduce the number of plastic bags littering our streets, clogging our storm drains and costing the city money to clean up and dispose of in landfills.

We need you to contact City Council to urge them to vote for this bill. The plastic bag industry is lobbying Council members and urging them to maintain the status quo, so your voice is needed! Send an email now!
Thanks for your support,

Christine Knapp