Let's put a Seismic Survey Ordinance in place in Monroeville, PA right away!

Share widely with all of your friends and neighbors!

In case you did not hear the front page Times Express News a few weeks ago, Seismic Testing is planned for Monroeville Pennsylvania. Tim Little, Municipal Manager, met with the gas company Huntley and Huntley to approve this Seismic Testing. Mr. Little was able to approve the Seismic Testing in our Municipality without putting the information in front of the citizens of this municipality because the Municipality of Monroeville does not yet have a law, in our case called an ordinance, on the books yet, to limit these activities.

Individual citizens are being, and have been approached in Monroeville, PA, since April, 2017 by Huntley and Huntley to ask if it is fine to map through seismic testing, for both Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale under their private properties. Please know that you, as a private land owner in Monroeville, or anywhere, can deny the testing.

Grandmother Earth is calling us!

Some breaking fabulous news!

1) On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court affirmed by majority, the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to assure Clean Water and Clean Air for all Pennsylvania citizens.

2) On Monday, July 3, 2017, the borough of Oakmont, PA, held a special meeting and enacted by unanimous vote, a very limiting Seismic Testing ordinance.

3) On July 14, 2017, the Huntley and Huntley and Oil and Gas company with offices in Monroeville, PA "dropped plans to conduct a Seismic survey in Oakmont, PA. Huntley and Huntley had planned to include the borough of Oakmont in the geological seismic testing survey meant to identify potential drilling sites in parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. Huntley and Huntley has made the decision to forgo any seismic survey work altogether, company spokesman Benjamin Komlos said in an email this week." from article in Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 14, 2017. by Jake Flannick titled: Gas drilling company plans for seismic testing in borough

Please join us at 7:00 PM for the Thursday, August 3, 2017 Citizen's Night and the Tuesday, August 8, 2017 Council Meeting, to hear about the proposal for a seismic testing ordinance similar to Oakmont's ordinance to limit seismic testing in Monroeville, PA.
If you'd like to see a similar ordinance, google South Fayette Seismic ordinance to read the ordinance that Oakmont based its seismic testing ordinance on.

If you care about limiting or eliminating chemicals in our water causing hormone disruption, limiting, or eliminating both air and water pollution from the Marcellus Shale industry, please join either or both of these meetings as a supportive observer, or to share your opinion.

Monroeville in its ordinances regulates circuses & peddlers and almost all activities that occur in our municipality. For example, yard sales must be 10 feet from the road. Grass cannot be more than a certain height before our yards are cited.....We must put a seismic ordinance in place, as our municipality does not yet have one!

The following essay was written by an intentionally unnamed individual about the Fracking process:
"This is what has happening in Pennsylvania and all over the world.
The Fracking process:
1. A gas company identifies an area with underground gas.
2. The company leases the right to extract gas from many sites in the area without revealing the risks.
3. The company uses seismic tests to map the locations of underground shale and natural fractures.
4. The company applies for permits to drill and extract gas. Companies will subvert any local zoning laws made by communities to keep fracking out, appeal straight to the federal government and bankrupt municipalities in court. See Grant Twp, PA.
5. The gas company removes all the trees from a 5-10 acre swath to build the "well pad".
6. Initially one or two wells are drilled for every square mile. Eventually there can be 10-12 wells per square mile.
7. First, a vertical well is drilled in the bare ground, cutting through different rock layers and pushing toxic drilling muds into aquifers.
8. A cement casing is poured to protect the groundwater, but casings are fragile and can crack under the extreme pressure of hydraulic fracturing or earthquakes. Eventually the casing will fail, allowing chemicals and gas to leak through the cracks. 6% fail the day they are put in.
9. The horizontal well is then drilled, cutting across natural faults and fractures in the rock. These wells can be up to two miles long.
10. Each Frack= 5 million gallons of water, 1,000 truck trips, 100 tons of toxic chemicals X up to 10 fracks for each well X 4 to 12 wells per pad. This mixture of water, chemicals, and sand are forced into the well under extreme pressure to shatter the shale rock and release the gas.
11. 60-80% of this fluid remains underground contaminating groundwater. The radioactive wastewater and drill cuttings that return to surface are stored in tanks or open pits. Later it will be buried on site, dumped in landfills, injected back underground or into aquifers and they have even illegally dumped at sewage treatment plants.
12. Processing facilities, compressors, and pipelines are built to separate and transport the gas. Pipelines fail, explode, and leak methane into the atmosphere which is 80 times more potent than Co2 as a greenhouse gas.
13. A chemical dryer removes moisture and light oils from the extracted gas using the hazardous chemical 2-butoxyethanol.
14. The gas is compressed before being put into pipelines.
15. Gas is vented out along the pipeline to relieve pressure in the system.
16. Gas is then liquified for export overseas or odorized and delivered to your home.
Some of the most important laws that protect the public don't apply to oil & gas companies due to loopholes put into the Safe Drinking Water Act including community right-to-know laws. We must end this invasive, destructive, and devastating process now! Ban fracking worldwide!!"

Please join us at Citizen's Night at 7:00 PM on Thursday, August 3, 2017 and also at the Monroeville Council meeting at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 to show your support for this ordinance on Seismic Testing.

Also, if you live in Monroeville, PA, please call and e-mail your councilperson to ask them if they've read the South Fayette and Oakmont ordinances and ask them what their opinion is on adopting this ordinance in Monroeville, PA for the health and wellness of our citizens.
Ward 1: Councilwoman Linda Gaydos, 412-973-1194, gaydos@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 2: Councilman Nick Gresock, 412-215-0524, greson@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 3: Councilman Ron Harvey, 412-856-7978, harver@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 4: Councilman Jim Johns, 412-856-0556, johnsj@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 5: Councilman Paul Caliari, 412-657-9476, caliap@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 6: Councilman Steve Duncan, 412-823-1314, duncas@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 7: Councilman Tom Wilson, 412-491-0455, wilsot@monroeville.pa.us

Below is the information posted on the Municipality of Monroeville's web site regarding Seismic testing: 

"Seismic Survey in Monroeville...Residents may experience a Monroeville company, Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration, LLC, conducting what is called a Seismic Survey in their area. A Seismic Survey is not a drilling operation, but it is a process of exploring for natural gas using sound waves to “map” the geological structure of Monroeville at different depths. 

This does not necessarily mean there will be drilling, or the process known as “fracking,” in Monroeville. There are many steps that have to be strongly considered before that is to occur in Monroeville, if indeed it does happen. Please read the linked brochure from Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration, LLC which concisely explains the Seismic Survey process.

**Please note the brochure states that the Seismic Survey will begin in June 2017. That period has been delayed to the latter part of 2017.

Additional info:

Map of entire 202 square mile area included in project

Map showing the areas of Monroeville that MAY have seismic testing

List of local roads that MAY be included

*Note - This does not necessarily mean that every street on the map and the list will have seismic testing. The areas of Monroeville that may have seismic testing are primarily the south and north areas of Monroeville. "

Thanks,
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!

Solarize Allegheny and Conservation Consultants, Inc. on Solar Installation for your home!

Join us for our May gathering in conjunction with the Monroeville Public Library!

WHAT: Shining Light on Solar Energy in Monroeville
WHEN: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Solar energy is the fastest growing energy source in the world. While the Pittsburgh region has a reputation as a cloudy place, we receive much more sun than Germany – a leading solar nation. There are already more than 12,000 solar installations in Pennsylvania. Solar electricity is now as affordable as your electric bill and can save you thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the system, creating a sound investment for your home. Join Solarize Allegheny for a presentation on solar energy, meet pre-qualified solar installers and solar owners, and get information you need to consider going solar. Pittsburgh non-profit Conservations Consultants, Inc. will also be on hand to provide information about the Sound Home Plan, a one-stop-shop to help Pittsburgh-area homeowners identify and help make their homes more healthy, safe, and energy efficient (www.getenergysmarter.org). Solarize Allegheny is a project funded by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny County Health Department to inspire the use of solar energy in Allegheny County. More information about Solarize Allegheny can be found at www.SolarizeAllegheny.org. Light refreshments provided. RSVPs appreciated, but not required at: www.monroevillesolar.eventbrite.com.

-- 
Mark Hudson, MA, MLIS, Head of Adult Services
WHERE: Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146
412-372-0500x113

Our rooftop and The Search for Sustainability Documentary Series produced by Nathan Crane

Hello and Happy February!

Join us to view the entire Search for Sustainability Series produced by Filmmaker Nathan Crane for the rest of the monthly Sustainable Monroeville meetings in 2016. The movies will be followed by discussion. The next Sustainable Monroeville meeting is on Monday, March 7, 2016 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Episode # 2 of the series to be shared at the March meeting is titled Sustainable Food, Water, and Soil. 
Sustainable Monroeville meetings are free and open to the public and take place in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library on the first Monday evening of each month. Please note: * July date will be posted soon....  See you at the movies!

Check out the link below to see the first in the series for free:

http://theselfreliancesummit.com/the-search-for-sustainability-home/

My personal Sustainability Lesson for 2015:

My big lesson in sustainability for 2015 was when we needed to put a new roof on our suburban Monroeville home. I wanted to put the greenest, most sustainable rooftop on the face of the planet on our home, but things did not end up that way.
What am I talking about? Well, a metal roof with solar panels, the more sustainable choice in my view would have cost about three times as much as the asphalt rooftop I eventually settled for. The best we could do was put an Energy Star rated rooftop, light in color on our roof. The shingles were made in a relatively local factory somewhere in Ohio....Why is it that the metal roof would be so much more expensive? My understanding is that the oil industry is so heavily subsidized that asphalt shingles which are oil based cost way less than other alternatives including composite materials and natural materials such as slate or ceramic roof tops....

The other rooftop revelation was that at this moment in time,  there is not one place in Western PA or Eastern Ohio that will recycle asphalt shingle. A prominent roofing company in Western PA misled me initially saying that they would take the old shingle and have it recycled with an UPCHARGE. When I checked into this through the PA Resources Council and by following through myself, I found out that indeed this was NOT true. This roofing company was appalled when I told them the truth and they made sure they will not spread untruths any more. They also made sure the company that said they were recycling asphalt shingles, but were not, took that fictitious service off of their web site!

Elisa Beck :)
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Like Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!

The Search For Sustainability

Happy 2016! What an amazing time to be alive! 

Join us on Monday evening, January 4, 2016 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM for the January meeting of Sustainable Monroeville.  Searching For Solutions, the first part of a 12 part Searching For Sustainability documentary will be shown. Join us in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Free and open to the public!

Please watch the film series trailer here  www.TheSearchForSustainability.com       After interviewing 49 leading visionaries in the sustainability movement, we've edited the content into 12 different facets of sustainability and look at everything from land, soil, water, and education - to politics, business, agriculture, self-reliance, and economics - all from the viewfinder of sustainability and regenerative living.    Every interview has something incredibly valuable to share, and every person we interviewed appears in one or more episodes.    Filming and editing this series has changed my life, my family's life, and inspired and educated us to live at such a higher level of connection and meaning and sustainability - giving us deeper tools and resources to continue advancing to more sustainable living - and I can't wait for you to experience the value and benefit we all have.    To a sustainable future,    Nathan     Nathan Crane is an award winning author, inspirational speaker, conscious filmmaker, and highly sought after publisher and promoter of personal growth teachings, books, events and training courses.  Nathan is the founder of the Panacea Companies including The Panacea Community, Panacea Publishing, Inc., Panacea Life School, and Panacea Hope.  He is the President and CEO of Integrated Health International, and produces highly transformational events that positively impact and transform hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.  Nathan's full venture, product, and resource list can be found at www.nathancrane.com

December 2015, Sustainable Monroeville, and COP 21 in Paris

Hello and Happy December!

In honor of the COP 21 conference in Paris, we will not have a Sustainable Monroeville meeting in December, 2015. Why no meeting this month? No free movie? No talking about how to create and document a more Sustainable Monroeville and a more Sustainable Metro Pittsburgh and more Sustainable Western PA? Hey, we will save some greenhouse gases! There's never been a person in all the years we've been having these meetings at the Monroeville Public Library that has biked or walked to a meeting in these suburbs. Prove me wrong! Yes, there have been carpools....
How are we individually and collectively going to reduce our carbon footprints?

Take time to catch up with filmmaker Mark Dixon on his journey. Learn from him and all the others who have put amazing time and energy into creating our new reality!

Follow these links for day by day COP 21 updates:
on Facebook: Mark's Climate Journey to COP 21
on the Blog: https://markatcop21.wordpress.com

Here's the link to the climate lecture Mark presented at a recent meeting of Sustainable Monroeville and has presented all over the Pittsburgh region: https://plus.google.com/115412509729507569276/posts/QC5Jpj4jjtZ

Mark is THE representative lay person who has traveled to Paris from Pittsburgh. Follow Pittsburgh's amazing Mayor, Bill Peduto, to see what is going on during the talks and figure out how you can shift your awareness and consciousness and wrap your heart and spirit around the changes you can make as an individual. Think of how you can be involved in your community to shift awareness and make positive changes towards carbon neutrality!

And get ready for an amazing 2016 life changing time! Happy Holidays and Happy end of 2015 and 2016 and Way Way beyond!!

Blessings,

Elisa Beck:)

FREE Virtual Sustainability Summit and Wanda Guthrie of the The Thomas Merton Center speaks her truth at the November 2, 2015 meeting of Sustainable Monroeville!

Hello there, and Happy November! 

Join us on Monday November 2, 2015, at 7:00 PM to hear Wanda Guthrie, one of the original regional sustainability activists and pioneers talk at the Monroeville Public Library for the November meeting of Sustainable Monroeville.

From Wanda Guthrie:

"There is much movement in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area as people all over the world anticipate the decisions of the UN Paris Summit on Climate Change known as COP 21.

The Thomas Merton Center has a number of projects dedicated to environmental justice and climate justice. Our newest project is Pittsburgh 350 and we have been working together with other local groups to build momentum for local climate change actions and information. 

We are working with 350.org to create momentum for local, national and international actions addressing fossil fuels and climate change.

Please come and hear about our OFF + ON CAMPAIGN, POWER THROUGH PARIS, and our very important DIVEST PITTSBURGH: Asking the City of Pittsburgh to Divest from all fossil fuels."

On another note check out this virtual Sustainability Summit starting tonight for 12 consecutive days, absolutely FREE!!! Here's the link: http://theselfreliancesummit.com/the-search-for-sustainability-home/

See y'all tomorrow evening in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. This meeting is free and open to the public. Feel free to invite others and share widely!

Elisa :)

Thank you,
Elisa Beck
(e): sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
www.sustainablemonroeville.com

The Opportunity in Climate Change: Seeing and Seeding Joy, Love and Peace! Pot Luck Dinner Thursday, October 16, 6:00 to 8:00 PM in Monroeville, PA!

The Opportunity in Climate Change has arrived in Monroeville, PA!

• Turning the negative into the positive
• Letting go of pre-conceived notions and political boundaries 
• Blessing everyone and everything!

My life is full of fun and adventure these days. I ponder how boring life would be without the adventure of figuring out what programs and wonderful individuals to bring to Sustainable Monroeville's mostly monthly meetings; Meeting the Living Building Challenge of an Existing Historic Structure at the project I work on at 1317 East Carson Street, http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com, the home of Schwartz Living Market; and as a developmental optometrist, meeting the wonderful challenges, trials and tribulations of playing and working with children and adults with vision related learning disabilities, post traumatic brain injured folks, post concussion and post stroke, with multiple visual issues including double vision, difficulty tracking across the printed page and trouble perceiving three dimensionality.

Three dimensionality? How many dimensions are we really able to perceive? What of the paradigm shift that is happening right now, right here in Monroeville, PA, in Pittsburgh, PA, in the USA, and all around the globe? Participate, Dance, Live Life Fully, Dance, Sing, look your family, friends and neighbors in the eye and celebrate that we have all been chosen to celebrate life with one another at this moment in time, at this moment in he(i)rstory! Or is that heresy?!

We are so excited to be co-hosting the Great Climate Marchers right here in Monroeville, PA, on Thursday, October 16, 2014, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the Monroeville Church of the Brethren. Thanks so much Pastor Schultz for opening your facility to the community! Thanks so much Carol Cutler for all of your efforts related to planning the hosting of 50 Climate Marchers and for organizing the pot luck dinner!

The pot luck dinner this coming Thursday evening is FREE and open to the public! Please come and bring along a friend or two or three that would like to learn about the opportunities in Climate Change!

Blessings and more blessings!

Elisa Beck :)
Founder, Sustainable Monroeville
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!

http://1317eastcarson .blogspot.com
LIKE Schwartz Living Market on Facebook!

   

Thanks Sandy for your amazing work in the Monroeville Food Garden behind the Monroeville Public Library! The library produce over 600 pounds of fresh produce for four local food banks this season with the help of many volunteers!

Explore the LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE for your apartment, your home, your building! 

Go to ILFI.org or Living-Futures.org for details!

Beekeeping with John Yakim on October 6 and The Climate Marchers in Monroeville, PA on October 16, 2014!

The Monroeville Food Garden....

 Thanks so much to Laura and Sandy and all of the amazing volunteers!

 Thanks so much to Lois Drumheller!

Join us on Monday evening, October 6, 2014, at the Monroeville Public Library to hear John Yakim talk about his beehives in Monroeville. Lois Drumheller will show us how the Monroeville Food Garden behind the Monroeville Public Library is being "put to sleep"!

Join us also on Thursday, October 16, 2014, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM for a pot luck dinner with about 50 Climate Marchers at the Monroeville Church of the Brethren on Center Road! The Climate Marchers started their journey in California in March, 2014, and we are honored to host them on Thursday, October 16!

Information about the Great March For Climate Action can be found here: http://www.icontact-archive.com/GvQYexmXvqPhARbh3npQzEgWEeiGdtLk?w=3

If you'd like to offer your home to host a few folks, let us know. E-mail to sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com, or contact us through the Sustainable Monroeville Facebook page!

See you soon!

Elisa Beck :)

Honoring Bill Mckibben in Pittsburgh at the Sheraton Station Square on November 4, 2013 at 6:00 PM. Join us!

On November 4, 2013 Bill Mckibben, environmentalist, journalist, and founder of 350.org is being honored by the Thomas Merton Center so let's go support the center and their amazing cause and hear Bill Mckibben's words of wisdom!

There will not be a meeting of Sustainable Monroeville in November. On November 4, 2013 some of us will be going to Pittsburgh to hear Bill Mckibben and participate in the fundraiser for the Thomas Merton Center. If you'd like to carpool, let us know through the Sustainable Monroeville Facebook page!

We will see you on Monday evening, December 2, 2013, at the Monroeville Public Library for the December meeting. If you have an idea for a program or would like to offer a program, let us know!

Ingredients: The Local Food Movement Takes Root at the October meeting of Sustainable Monroeville; 6:00 PM Plant based pot luck; 7:00 PM documentary screening

Monday evening, October 7, 2013, Sustainable Monroeville will show the documentary: Ingredients: The local food movement takes root

6:00 PM Pot Luck with locally sourced plant based food; Pack in and out so bring cutlery and plates!

7:00 PM Film~Screen time is 67 minutes with discussion following

Thanks to Amy Baer for suggesting we screen this film! We are looking for sponsors to pay the $100.00 fee. Contact us if you'd like to donate. There will be a $5.00 suggested donation at the door. Proceeds will be sent to the filmmakers.

To Great Health!

The Monroeville Food Garden is behind the Monroeville Public Library. This amazing garden has supplied 500 pounds of fresh vegetables to four local food banks for the third year in a row! Kudos to Councilwomen Lois Drumheller, the Monroeville Public Library, the Municipality of Monroeville and all of the tireless volunteers!

Garfield Community Farm in Pittsburgh, PA

Solar panels on new bioshelter at Garfield Community Farm

Hops

Children running in Garfield Community Farm Garden

Black Snake crossing Frick Park

 Rooftop in eastern Pennsylvania

Lavender Buddha & Sage 

Sunflower from the home garden

The Joys, Trials, and Tribulations of a Permaculture Landscape in the Suburbs! Wednesday evening, September 11, 2013, at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library

Join Sustainable Monroeville on Wednesday evening, September 11, 2013, at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library. As the founder of Sustainable Monroeville in February, 2009, I will talk about the wonders and joys and challenges of the Permaculture Landscape at our home in Monroeville. Bring along a locally sourced plant based snack to share, if you'd like. All meetings are free and open to the public. Join Us!

Here's some photos to enjoy in the meantime.  If you are interested in seeing our almost 20 year old Permaculture Landscape prior to the meeting for a half hour tour beginning at 6:00 PM, please contact me by messaging me through the Sustainable Monroeville Facebook page, and join me for the grand tour of our suburban Monroeville landscape.

Jewelweed, antidote for Poison Ivy

Delicious Kale 

Delicious Apples

Maple & Tulip Poplar Trees

Echinacea

Hibicus flowers

Rain barrel

Our family attended the North American Vegetarian Society Meeting on the University of Pittsburgh's Johnstown Campus this summer. We enjoyed the T-shirts that said: Only KALE will save the world! We sure enjoyed growing it in our front yard this season and eating and juicing it too!

Wild Edibles Pot Luck dinner, Wild Edibles and Exotic Invasive talk, and Compost Tea!

For the May 6, 2013 meeting of Sustainable Monroeville, we will have a pot luck dinner at 6:00 PM.  What is the challenge for this pot luck? See if you can make a vegetarian or vegan dish that has at least one ingredient that is a wildly collected edible from a non-sprayed area in this region! 

The meeting, beginning at 7:00 PM, will feature 17 year old, Jake Cothern, teaching us about native wild edibles and supplying some delectables made of the soon sprouting exotic invasive Japanese Knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum (that's the technical genus and species name for knotweed!). 

The other speakers for our May meeting on Monday evening, May 6, will be Jeff Newman of Steel City Soils & The Pittsburgh Garden Experiment, and Jeff Jaeger of Octopus Organics. Jeff Jaeger and Jeff Newman will talk briefly about non-toxic soil management and the importance of soil biology.  They will cover basic vegetable, lawn, and flower garden soils and how to do soil testing, balance the minerals, then maintain using the magic formula of compost, mulch, and aerated compost teas.  

Jerusalem Artichoke: Helianthus tuberosus, from the Aster family

Jerusalem artichoke is not from Jerusalem and it's not an artichoke, it's a kind of sunflower, but whatever it's called, it has fleshy edible roots that are sold in grocery storesas "sunchokes." from The Joy of Foraging by Gary Lincoff, page 126.

Allegheny Cleanways on April 1, 2013 at Sustainable Monroeville's April Meeting!!

Join Us for a double feature! Myrna Newman, the Executive Director of Allegheny Cleanways will present the work of their Non Profit at the Monday evening April 1, 2013, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM meeting of Sustainable Monroeville at the Monroeville Public Library. 

Michelle Johnson, the Chief Executive Officer of the Spectrum Charter School in Monroeville and co- founder of Sustainable Monroeville's Recycling Committee will give an update on the Recycling Committee's work and also talk with us about the Spectrum Charter School's participation in the Green Schools Academy.

The meeting on April 1, 2013, will take place in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Free and open to the public! Please bring along a friend or neighbor or two!

Stan Beck speaking about Sprouting techniques at last months meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. We sampled sprouts and green juice and learn from one another!

A Drop in the Ocean: Sustainable Monroeville

A Drop in the Ocean

From the album: Cover Photos

By dropintheocean.co

What has Sustainable Monroeville, rather the people in the group, and the Monroeville Library and the Monroeville Food Garden and all the volunteers accomplished over these past, almost four years?Perhaps just a drop in the ocean, but we certainly have begun to educate ourselves about what it means to be a sustainable community and help to move Monroeville forward in the Green Economy. Join us this coming Monday evening, November 5, 2012 to plan our future! 2013, Here We Come!

Please watch this video short and share images of what you see here in Western, PA so we can reach out further and educate more and more people here in Western, PA and around the world for the need to understand and implement the work we do. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4abGpdEXf6g

Who conceived this video? It was a group of folks, including my friend Diana Rotberg Bray and a few of her children, and their friends. We have known each other since perhaps even before kindergarten. We were in a photography class together in eleventh grade. And then she married an amazing Australian man, had four children and well, what led to this video, that part, is history.

Be present in this moment. Linking the world together. Connecting the dots. Raising Awareness. One moment at a time.

See you on Monday, November 5, 2012 in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.

Elisa Beck
Sustainable Monroeville, founded February, 2009
A Transition Town Process

Food Not Lawns in White Oak, PA!

What a joy to see the descendent of a farming family farming her own suburban property and feeding the neighborhood! We went to the home of some friends in White Oak, Pennsylvania, and across the street I had the honor of finally seeing the garden my husband had been telling me about for ages:
Rows and rows of corn, tomatoes and more crops were abundantly producing all summer with only water from the sky! Amazing and wonderful!

The tall fence is to keep the deer from eating all the crops!

Natural Choices Lawn Care and A Chemical Reaction Movie on September 10, 2012n

Join us for the next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville on Monday evening, September 10, 2012, at 7:00 PM to hear Ed Hoffman of Natural Choices Organic and Natural Lawn Care and to view the movie A Chemical Reaction Go to http://www.safelawns.org/a-chemical-reaction/ for details.

Transition Pittsburgh http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dTcvO-o8NTA

So many beautiful colors! These tomatoes on the shelf in Pittsburgh's East End Food Coop are locally grown by responsible farmers. Yippee for the East End Food Coop!

How do we figure out where our food comes from and if their genome has been genetically modified? Peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, peaches, tangerines. Would you grow these on your front yard? Do you spray chemicals on your lawn? If so, would you consider not doing that any more and morphing your lawn into a lawn that produces Food Not Lawn? How bold are we anyway?

How long does it take to transform a formally sprayed lawn into one where we are comfortable growing food on it and eating that food?

The food grown in the Permaculture style garden behind the Monroeville Public Library that supplied 500 pounds of fresh vegetables for four local food banks last summer (we are still counting the bounty from this summer) does not use genetically modified seeds. How do we know?

What is the relationship between understanding the composition of the soils on our urban and suburban lots and how the grass is growing and our food systems in the United States? So much to learn! For the October meeting of Sustainable Monroeville, we will show a movie on genetically modified organisms called Genetic Roulette. Join us at the Monroeville Public Library for our meetings. They are free and open to the public!

Jeff Newman of Steel City Soils talking about Permaculture at the Cedars of Monroeville. The Cedars has worked with Jeff to put in a Permaculture garden as part of their landscape. The hearty local plants have done extremely well this season!

Jeff Newman Peddling with his Pierogies on Pittsburgh's Historic South Side! Peddlin' Pierogies uses whole wheat flour from Clarion River Organics and wonoderful organic potatoes too! Mmmm, mmm good!

Happy New Year!

Beautiful winter sky in Pittsburgh, PA, 2012

Mark your calendars for Sustainable Monroeville meetings in 2012: January 9, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, Sept. 10, Oct. 1, Nov.5 and December3, 2012. Most meetings will be at 7:00 PM. 

The monthly meeting on January 9, 2012 in the downstairs program room at 7:00 PM will feature the documentary Bag It: Is your life too plastic? The film is both lighthearted, and heavy, and a must see! 

The February meeting will be at 6:00 PM and will be our annual local foods pot luck dinner. Bring a covered dish that has at least one ingredient that is locally sourced. That gets all of us thinking! Remember to bring along utensils and a plate and cup too. We'll be packing it in and out. 

This year, the February, 2012 meeting will be the third anniversary of the founding of Sustainable Monroeville! A local girl scout troop will be joining us too! Come prepared to let us know at least three things you've done in the last three years that have led to a more sustainable home or community or earth!