Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LEED. Show all posts

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Sprouting with Sustainable Monroeville on March 4, 2013 at 7:00 PM!


Our dog, Mango with wheat grass
Learn about indoor sprouting and growing techniques from Stan Beck who has his very own indoor sprout farm for himself, family and friends! Join us on Monday evening, March 4, 2013, at 7:00 PM in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Stan will be demonstrating how to sprout wheat, pea and sunflower seeds and how to grow them too. He'll talk about what is involved in  the middle of winter and all year round.

We'll sample some wheat grass juice and the Hippocrates Health Institute recipe green juice made of cucumbers, celery, pea sprouts and sunflower sprouts and have some sprouts to eat too! 

Janet McKee, producer of the newly released documentary Bethany's Story about the power of food to heal at the Q&A at the February meeting of Sustainable Monroeville.

Close to thirty people joined us for the screening of Bethany's Story!

Angella and Don Jackson at the raw pot luck dinner prior to the movie screening of Bethany's Story at last month's meeting!

Mmmm, raw foods and raw foodies are fun! Wonderfully delicious and healthful mostly raw vegan food. We must admit the vegan, cooked cup cakes were on the next table and they went fast!



Saturday, April 21, 2012

Schwartz Living Market Call for Vendors!




Schwartz Living Market at 1317 East Carson Street in the heart of Pittsburgh’s historic South Side will be opening this summer, 2012, on Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM. We are looking for vendors that are interested in selling delicious healthy foods and drinks, beautiful art and more! There will be 16 vendor booths and a kitchen with a  cafe. The fees for booth rental are $50.00 to $60.00/ day and between $200.00 and $240.00/month at first with three month leases for food vendors, and six month leases for artists and others. Contact Pam Barroso at 412-315-9319, pjs787@gmail.com for a vendor application. We are working towards forming a cooperative/collaborative among the vendors and plan to expand to six days/week. Join us in the adventure of a life time!

Inside the building we will be showcasing local environmental and other non-profits and educating and engaging the local community about what sustainability and regenerative design and living is all about. If you are involved in a non- profit that would like to display inside the market, please contact us!

If you are interested in speaking to the crowds of folks that will be shopping at the market, feel free to contact us, and let us know which Saturday you'd like, and we will find an available time slot for you! On opening day this summer, and every Saturday, we will have a lot of folks there talking and demonstrating a variety of topics related to how to eat well, get healthy and stay healthy at this most interesting moment in history.

This building project inside and out is one of creating sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of life. Join Us!

Our long term project of transforming the building into a Living Building of an Existing Historic Structure that is zero net energy and zero net water is in the works. As you may know, our project has been registered with the International Living Futures Institute for over a year! Pretty cool for the ‘ Burgh and Main Street USA, eh?

A Living Market. What does that mean? Well, how about a market where you can get food that is as close to having its life force as possible. Food that is as close to being picked as possible? Or maybe you can pick the food on-site. Gee whiz, that might be too lofty a goal for the short term project we are working on, but we shall see! What else could a Living Market have inside of it? Perhaps plants that are alive, fresh air to breathe, fresh water and green juice to drink, and fresh, bright walls to look at so you feel good when you walk inside? What does Living Market mean to you?

I often refer people to the Sustainable Monroeville web/blog as the "back story" of the Schwartz Market project. You see, I live in the Municipality of Monroeville and founded Sustainable Monroeville in February, 2009, before I had ever heard of the Transition Town work of Rob Hopkins or had even thought about working with our family building at 1317 East Carson Street in Pittsburgh's historic South Side. The Schwartz Living Market project is physically located in the South Side, but the project's reach goes far beyond. After all, connecting the idea of Food, Not Lawns and us suburbanites selling the food we grow on our front and back yards with the urban core through the Schwartz Market project is a dream I've been thinking about for quite a long time now. And it is happening! Think about who you know who is ready to have a business in the South Side flats of Pittsburgh, the historic district, one of the few long historic main streets in the USA. And send them our way! My husband Stan's grandfather, Morris Schwartz, who founded Schwartz Market in the early part of the century would be proud! Elisa Beck

Thursday, August 20, 2009

LEED in Monroeville

John Silvestri is on the board of The Cedars, a local assisted living and skilled nursing facility in Monroeville. John spoke previously at our July meeting about his experiences with the current "green" addition that is being built right now. The plan is to construct the first LEED building in Monroeville, and it is scheduled to be completed before the UPMC structure.


This could develop into something wonderful for the entire Municipality of Monroeville. John is incredibly engaged with the project and pushing the limits of what what initially proposed. It is all fabulous! I'm not sure if John is aware of how much stormwater management is on the minds of the municipal officials at this moment; however, in cooperation with Sustainable Monroeville, we will be able to educate council and the community about sustainable building practices.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Welcome and Connect


Welcome to the blog of Sustainable Monroeville. This blog will provide information about future meetings and projects including articles, links, stories and pictures. The first Sustainable Monroeville meeting was on July 6th.

Although the group just started earlier this year, a lot of the people are really involved in various projects. Elisa Beck moderated the discussions, and several people spoke on different topics. Carrie Gallagher talked about beekeeping and how regular people can keep hives in their yards. We hope more people will try it in the future, since the bee population is declining at an alarming rate, and we'll all starve if we lose our pollinators. John Silvestri talked about the new LEED certified building at The Cedars, an assisted living community. He also spoke about white roofs and LED lights (which can last 23 years and use a fraction of the electricity of fluorescent bulbs). Other topics included soil tests and rain barrels.