Lessons learned from The Great Climate Marchers and Sustainable Monroeville in Monroeville, PA !

The Great Climate Marchers came through our town! We are blessed Monroeville, PA!

College students walking across the country! That's called experiential learning!

Scouting out the route is one of the important jobs. The route from The Monroeville Church of the Brethren on Haymaker Road, crossing Route 22 and 48 to travel to Saunders Station is not yet bicycle or pedestrian friendly! No young children in the rickshaw for this part of the journey!

 Playing and cheering along the way! The young ones, they preserve the spirit of play!! So much fun!

 Thank you founder of the Great Climate March from Iowa!

Solar panels, bicycles, rickshaw and walkers....

Not much space to walk on the side of the road in Monroeville, PA while approaching the intersection of Routes 22 and 48....Lots of potential for this second busiest intersection in the state of PA!

 We have lots to learn about composting toilets. Cradle to cradle and the whole ecosystem functions so efficiently as we educate ourselves to come back to ourselves and be wise about using all of our resources!!!

What lessons did I learn through this experience with and likely because of my involvement with Sustainable Monroeville for these past many years ?

1) Sustainable Monroeville's Carol Cutler sure knows the lessons of perseverance! Thanks Carol from the bottom of our hearts for persisting by calling so many churches and temples to finally, after 12 calls to religious institutions in Monroeville, PA, find an institution willing to graciously host the Great Climate Marchers! That amazing space is called the Monroeville Church of the Brethren. This church's generous spirit and trust was truly a blessing for hosting many of the Climate Marchers while they were in Monroeville, PA.

2) The religious institutions in our town are not yet acculturated to understand how important it is to open their doors to tired, amazing individuals that are working to make the world a better place. Time will heal!

3) The Climate Marchers taught me how important it is top lighten our loads, remain unattached to material goods, and never give up!

Thanks, thank you, WOW, THANK YOU 50 Great Climate Marchers for your courage, your wisdom, for sharing your lives with us, even for the brief moment that you crossed our paths in Monroeville, PA! We honor you, we bless you, and we hope to see you again soon! Thanks so much to all of the amazing individuals that live in Monroeville, PA for hosting marchers in their homes!

The Great Climate Marchers will be arriving in Washington D.C. on November 1. If you go to meet them and make your voice heard about cultural shifting, let them know you are from Monroeville, PA, and you support them. They are happy to accept monetary donations for their work!

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

Peaceable Kingdom documentary on July 7, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library

Join us on Monday evening, July 7, 2014, at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library to see the award winning documentary Peaceable Kingdom: the journey home, for the July meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. Free and open to the public!

"Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home is a riveting story of transformation and healing. This award-winning film explores the awakening conscience of several people who grew up in traditional farming culture and who have now come to question the basic assumptions of their way of life. Presented through a woven tapestry of memories, music, and breathtaking accounts of life-altering moments, the film provides insight into the farmers sometimes amazing connections with the animals under their care, while also making clear the complex web of social, psychological and economic forces that have led them to their present dilemma."

Directed by	Jenny Stein
Produced by	James LaVeck
Starring	Lorri Bauston, Gene Bauston, Harold Brown, Howard Lyman, Jim Mason, Jessi Seif, Peaches Gillete, Jerry Cook
Running time	70 min.
Language	English
Budget	unknown

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

Triple Divide Documentary with the Producers! Free Screening on Monday evening, June 3, 2013 at the Monroeville Public Library

Join us for a free screening of the newly released documentary Triple Divide,  co-sponsored by Sustainable Monroeville and the Monroeville Public Library.



The screening at the Monroeville Public Library will be followed by Q&A with the Producers. Show time is 6:30 PM. Free and open to the public. Bring along a friend or two or three!

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!

Gift Circle and Promised Land

Our monthly meeting of Sustainable Monroeville will be on Monday evening, January 7, 2013. We will have a short discussion about the movie Promised Land whether or not you've seen it, hear a talk by Wanda Guthrie of Murrysville Marcellus, and host a Gift Circle. You can bring a gift of any kind to share with others and/or be prepared to take whatever there is to give! 

See you at the Monroeville Public Library in the downstairs program room at 7:00 PM! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHQt1NAkhIo Here's the link to the trailer for the new movie Promised Land. 

Act 13 Educational and Accountability Event, Monday, October 15, 2012

Act 13 Educational and Accountability Event
Monday, October 15

Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale Gas Act (Act 13) will have a mayor impact on the environment and on communities in our region. It is therefore important to know how our representatives voted on Act 13, why they did so, and how they would like to see Act 13 amended.
 

6:30-8:30 PM, Monday, October 15,Murrysville Community Center
3091 Carson Avenue
Murrysville, PA 15668

Act 13 is Pennsylvania's controversial new oil and gas law, which stripped local governments of their right to plan where natural gas drilling operation can happen in their communities. In July portions of this new law were challenged by local township government officials, a Monroeville doctor, and Delaware Riverkeeper, and overturned by the Commonwealth Court and declared “unconstitutional.”

But the battle continues, as Governor Tom Corbett and his administration appealed the Commonwealth Court decision. These two sides, will argue their cases before the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 17th in Pittsburgh.

Many other municipalities and organizations have filed amicus briefs in support of the Commonwealth Court’s decision that preemption of local municipal control over shale gas extraction is unconstitutional, including American Planning Association (Pennsylvania Chapter), Association of Boroughs, Association of Township Officials, Clean Water Action, Mountain Watershed Association, Murrysville Council, Pittsburgh City Council, and the Sierra Club. 

Two days before the historic court October 17 hearing, the public is invited to a free, educational discussion about the new law, which covers all aspects of natural gas development in the state, as well as how the law came to be.

Our event will include a question and answer period and conclude
with an optional phone bank to call state legislators. 
For more information, contact Melissa at Mountain Watershed Association,
724-455-4200 ext. 6#  or Melissa@mtwatershed.com.

Sponsored by: Clean Water Action, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, PennEnvironment, Sierra Club, and Westmoreland Marcellus Citizen Group.

===============

The Pittsburgh Public Market at Sustainable Monroeville

On Monday, November 14, 2011, at 7:00 PM, Rachel Kudrick of the Pittsburgh Public Market will be our speaker. Rachel will be talking about some of their specific plans for how to help communities become healthier, more sustainable, greener and friendlier, including future planning for educational classes, demos and partnerships.

She'll be bringing some maps of the Strip and a few other give-aways. Rachel, center, came to our meeting in September, 2011, and is pictured below with the two speakers from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Food Security Partnership:

Pittsburgh Public Market is a year-round public market hall located in the heart of the Strip District, Pittsburgh’s historic market district. The market offers a variety of locally grown and produced goods to support local business, industry and agriculture.

They are a non-profit entity under the auspices of Neighbors in the Strip and provide a place for local small businesses to open, learn, grow and thrive without the high cost of overhead that a traditional storefront would entail.

Their mission is to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood, provide healthy food and nutrition education to the neighborhood and surrounding region, provide jobs for low-income individuals with an emphasis on women and minorities, and create a public space that celebrates Pittsburgh’s diverse ethnic and food traditions.

Prior to the meeting NOTE CHANGE! At Monroeville # 4 Firehall, 4370 Northern Pike, in Monroeville, PA, on Monday evening, November 14, 2011, at 5:30 PM there will be a public meeting sponsored by Alcosan to update the community on fulfilling the consent decree to fix the sewage system in Allegheny County.  Sustainable Monroeville will not have a pot luck dinner that evening so we can attend this meeting and then follow it with our meeting at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library.

Background: Alcosan is planning to spend billions of dollars to expand their facilities and put in a new system to handle stormwater.

Another meeting will take place on Wednesday evening, November 9 from 5:30 to 7:30at the IBEW at 5 Hot Metal Street on the South Side. Alcosan has scheduled other meetings too. Go to their website for details.

Why Food Matters

It is remarkable how much progress the sustainable food movement has made in the last 18 months. Only a few years ago, in 2006, Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma was published, highlighting 40 years of a movement and building off the wisdom of J.I. Rodale, Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson and countless other visionaries who believed that growing food in ways that improved human health, the environment, soil and communities was the best approach to an agriculture that could renew the American spirit rather than degrade it.

After years of wandering in the wilderness, the sustainable food movement has gone mainstream. Just last month Time magazine celebrated four sustainable food thinkers and doers among The 2010 Time 100 List. For those who still haven’t seen a copy of the magazine, joining Michael Pollan in the 2010 Time 100 List are Will Allen, Milwaukee urban farmer and MacArthur Genius award winner, Temple Grandin, the renowned animal scientist and Kathleen Merrigan, current Deputy Secretary at the U.S Department of Agriculture. Together, we continue to make history, proving that a united community can make positive change.

Source: Food Democracy Now and Babble Photo

Bee Curious or Bee Happy?

Burgh Bees will be hosting the first Open Apiary of the season at the NEW 1st of its kind, Homewood Community Apiary, this Saturday, May 22 from 1pm until 3pm. Protective head equipment will be provided. Please wear or bring long sleeve shirts and long pants. Please, no open toed shoes! A $10 suggested donation to Burgh Bees is appreciated. The apiary is located on Susquehanna St off of N. Dallas ave in the Homewood section of the city of Pittsburgh. It is across from the East End Brewery. Please RSVP by May 21 to Steve Repasky.

Additionally, the Beekeeper Meetups are lively and fun! Whether you are a new beek, a seasoned beak or just bee curious, stop in say hello and become involved! meet us this Tuesday, May 25 at 700pm at the Carson City Saloon, located at corner of 14th and Carson in the Southside part of Pittsburgh! Look for us upstairs in the mezzanine! No RSVP required!

Source: Burgh Bees is an all-volunteer organization that supports beekeeping in Pittsburgh.

You Are What You Eat

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) always recommend eating more fruits and veggies and buying them organic if you can, but we know that sometimes they're too expensive or flat-out unavailable. That's why they have created the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides (download here). You’ll be able to know which fruits and vegetables have the lowest pesticide residues and which you should try to always buy organic. This guide was created in partnership with renowned medical expert on natural health and wellness, Dr. Andrew Weil. He shares below in his video that making healthy food choices is simple and leads to money saved and improved quality of life.

Farm to Table: Eat Local Food

Come and find out where you can buy local milk, cheese, grains, produce, meats and more. There will be a Farm to Table event on Friday and Saturday, March 26 & 27 from 10am to 5pm, at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Tickets are required to enter and include food tasting, giveaways, cooking demonstrations and speaker series by doctors and healthcare experts.

To learn more about the event, click here.

For the Friday night food tasting info, click here.

Buy Local. Eat Local

Join us tomorrow evening, February 1, 2010, for the one year anniversary pot luck dinner and meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. The festivities will be in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Dinner begins at 6:00 PM. Remember to use one locally sourced ingredient in your dish, but do not be intimidated or scared away by this request, come anyway! Remember to bring your own bowl, utensils and a cup for Building New Hope coffee (local Non-profit!)

The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM and end at 8:30 PM. Dave Boulos of Blackberry Meadows Organic Farm, will be the speakers. Blackberry Meadows has been at the Monroeville Farmer's Market for a few years already! Our question this month during introductions will be, What does locally sourced food mean to you? We'll talk!