Action Items

I just received a campus wide e-mail about this and thought I'd share it with everyone.

*During Move Out, Donate Your Unwanted Stuff to Trash to Treasure!*

Trash to Treasure, presented by Student Government's Campus
Environmental
Center, is a huge Move Out recycling program. From May 7-19, donate
your
unwanted furniture, electronics, clothing, bikes, house wares, and
anything
else reusable! Visit us online at www.TrashtoTreasureUT.com

Call 232-7840 to schedule a pickup of furniture, boxes of stuff, and
other
large items from your home, or donate your smaller stuff at our
drop-off
location at Red River and Manor Rd. Also look for our donation boxes in
area
dorms.

More than 150 volunteers will be needed from May 7-19 to collect and
sort
donations. For each shift you work, you help keep 75 pounds of stuff
out of
the landfill! Visit www.TrashtoTreasureUT.com to volunteer, learn
more, or
sign up for an email reminder!

Trash to Treasure is run by the Student Government Campus Environmental
Center, with support from The University Co-op, Freescale
Semiconductor,
Michener Self Storage, Avis Downtown Austin, Penske Truck Rental, and
Door
to Door Storage.

Three important FYIs!

Tomorrow, April 10th, shop at Whole Foods!
The Lamar & North Whole Foods are doing a Community Giving Day and 5% of their profits will go to the Sustainable Food Center.

This weekend, April 12-13, the Rhizome Collective is doing their Radical Urban Sustainability Training (RUST) workshop.
I went to the last one, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is serious about integrating principles of permaculture into their everyday lives. Learn about soil maintenance and remediation through biological cultures, aquaculture, humanure (poo composting), composting, rainwater harvesting and water issues, gentrification and access to land issues, bike mods, and so much more!

And one last thing: Smart Foods Healthy Kids is FREE!
The company I work for, Smart Foods Healthy Kids now has all it's online content available to everyone for free. Come check us out!

1Sky is planning to observe Mother's Day weekend (May 9-11) to send a message that resonates with our political leaders around global warming.

They are asking people to come together and draw or paint a picture of what's most important to them about climate change. The idea is to send a personal and compelling portrait for climate action to members of Congress. I've signed up to be part of this. If you're willing, I will bring a large piece of fabric and markers or paint to the next Green Girls meeting for those of us who want to do this and then I'll get the resulting product to 1Sky. 1Sky will incorporate the art pieces in to a giant tapestry and have a press event with it in DC.

If you want to do this with another group or your family, and need additional info, please let me know.

Keep Austin Beautiful's 23RD ANNUAL CITYWIDE CLEANUP

Every year thousands of volunteers come together for Clean Sweep - Austin 's annual city-wide cleanup. Last year 25 TONS of trash was removed in just two hours! Be a part of the transformation and have a lot of fun too! Join us on Saturday, April 5th.

Register now to Join an Existing Project. There are lots of projects that need volunteers and we still have spots available for the canoe and kayak cleanup on Town Lake. http://www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/clean_sweep_registration

Want to lead your own project? This is the perfect opportunity to clean your neighborhood or local creek. Its SO EASY - KAB will provide cleanup supplies, trash collection, and even help recruit and register extra volunteers for you. Sign up now to Lead Your Own Project.

All volunteers get a free event t-shirt and are invited to a FREE volunteer party.

Volunteer Party includes:
* Free lunch
* Live music by La Tampiquena
* Kids environmental activities
* Interactive art by Austin Green Art
* Dance performance by Ariel Dance Theatre
* Rock climbing wall
* Great door prizes

Website: http://www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/clean_sweep

Questions?
Contact: Alanna@KeepAustinBeautiful.org or call 512.391.0622

From their website: "The Texas Green Network (TGN) is an economic vehicle intended to affect positive change for our environment by making it profitable to make the best decisions in how we impact the future of our planet.
... As a conduit for business-to-business communication, the Texas Green Network drives economic incentives to speak out and act in the best interest of the earth." They also stressed that they are for any business wanting to go greener, not necessarily those which already are.
www.texasgreennetwork.org

They're just starting up and I went to their second meeting yesterday, 2/19. This group is exciting! There were about 40 or 50 businesses represented there, mostly various forms of real estate, finance, or ambitious start-ups. And for the most part, it was everyone talking, networking, with everyone else (great if can fully represent your business). But, during their presentation they had one point that I think was particularly brilliant: the idea of an "associate" member. "Associate" they defined as someone who is NOT in charge of the business they work in, but someone who wants to push through an environmental initiative. This is wonderful for all those who feel disempowered in the professional sphere because their official position within a company isn't at the top. This is business change from the bottom up, grown locally!

I encourage everyone who wants to green up business, whether you own your own or work for one, to get involved. Date for the March meeting isn't set yet - sign up on their website or check the Chronicle for meeting info.

The City of Austin Solid Waste Services Department is holding two public meetings to get input on the new "Zero-Waste" plan the city is developing. Join in developing a Zero Waste Plan for Austin!!!

Public Meetings are planned as follows:

February 12
6:30 pm - Introduction to Zero Waste,
7-9 pm - Options for Zero Waste in Austin, and Introduction to Austin’s Green District

February 13
*Geared toward businesses, public welcome to attend*
8:30-10 am - Introduction to Zero Waste, and business input on Zero Waste Options
10:30-11 am - Tour of Goodwill Computer Works

Location: Solid Waste Services Offices
1520 Rutherford Lane, Austin, TX 78753

For more information on Zero Waste in Austin, go to
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/zerowaste.htm
or phone 512-974-6421 or email Melissa.Martinez@ci.austin.tx.us.

Let your voice be heard on the future of recycling in Austin!

UT students (with organizations such as NWF) are sponsoring a ReEnergize Texas Summit this coming weekend, Feb 8-10, on the UT Austin campus.

The Summit is intended for High School Seniors and College students from across Texas. The Summit will be staffed by volunteers and -- there aren't enough volunteers!

To learn more, go to www.ReEnergizeTexas.org.

By volunteering, you would have access to good information and help college students learn and network around environmental issues. There is a Volunteer sign up on their site.

Thomas Shook, Recycling Coordinator for the Texas Facilities Commission, is looking for volunteers to give "Brown Bag Lunch" presentations with QA sessions to state employee on the dates listed below. This is an opportunity to increase environmental awareness in Austin state employees.

Monday, November 5, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007

They would like themes on or around "greening your house" and home composting but will consider other topics.

All presentations will be in state buildings. They will provide downtown parking and transportation.

If interested, please send your bio and a handout if you have one by Tuesday, October 23 to:

Thomas Shook
Recycling Coordinator
Texas Facilities Commission
Telephone: (512) 475-2528 Cell (512) 563-9283
Fax: (512) 236-6173
e-mail: thomas.shook@tfc.state.tx.us

GO GREEN this Saturday 10/13 and join in the fun as a shopper of the Austin Farmers' Market, and, as a visitor to the City of Austin Green City Festival. Special global warming presentations, Carolyn Wonderland playing at noon, and more than 3 dozen nonprofits explaining ways to be more green. All free.

For more info, go to:
http://www.austinfarmersmarket.org/
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/greencityfest/default.htm

p.s. Attend the 1:00pm WaterWise talk to be eligible to win a Honda Hybrid in March 2008.

More in the Bank, Less From the EnvironmentTM
Consumer and Organizational Conservation
November 6-7, 2007
Hosted at: Meals on Wheels of Austin
Sarah Oatman Conference Room, 3227 E. 5th Street
Presented by: A Nurtured World (www.nurturedworld.org)

Are you ready to take environmental action in a way that is fun, satisfying, and saves thousands of dollars each year? Are you also interested in how to be effective at encouraging others to take action? Are you an organization looking to take that next step in your environmental programs and create a workforce that generates measurable financial savings, improves employee morale and health as well as achieves environmental footprint reduction? Nurtured World is offering a workshop for individuals, communities, and organizations interested in saving money, protecting the environment, and improving personal and organizational performance. Nurtured World’s workshops have been offered in many venues, including Austin Energy, Advanced Micro Devices, NASA Johnson Space Center, Leadership Austin, The Texas Army National Guard – Camp Mabry, Texas Campaign for the Environment, the Texas Environmental Education Partnership, and The University of Texas at Austin. Attendees of our workshops report cost savings and reduced use of resources including:

•Participants report saving an average of $1,600 per year and up to $9,800 per year
•The average participant reduced their CO2 footprint by 2 tons
•In total, participants have reported saving over $143,000,reducing energy use by 112,303 KWH, gasoline use by 9,710 gallons, water use by 211,000 gallons; and eliminating 25,105
cubic feet of trash and 343,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.

To register go to www.nurturedworld.org and click on CALENDAR OF EVENTS. You can register online from there or download the registration form and fax us. For questions, please contact Elizabeth Frisch, Development Director at 512-656-7518 or elizabeth@nurturedworld.org