1 post tagged “environmental sustainability”

So here I am in Minnesota for the Summer of Solutions program! It's been an exciting first few days! I can't believe it's only been 4 1/2; it already feels like I've done A LOT. But I decided that it's really important for me to write down what I'm doing not only so I can remember what I've done, but also so that others know what I'm up to and the amazing work that's going on out here! So I created this blog for that purpose. I'm going to try to write a little bit every day and also include lots of photos!

The first few days we've spent really getting settled in Minnesota and doing all sorts of introductions and meetings and debriefings and updates and catch-ups and explanations, so those of us who came from elsewhere know what has been done so far and also what we will be doing for the next two months! And these are big projects! My mind was blown when I heard what the college kids out here have been up to. The main project I'll be working with, ARISE (Alliance to Re-Industrialize for a Sustainable Economy) was introduced to us yesterday in a couple meetings. First we met with Lynn Hinkle who is a long time worker at the huuuuge Ford manufacturing plant here in St Paul and union leader at the plant. He explained to us how the plant is being planned to be shut down in 2009. This is a major issue for St Paul, because the facility currently provides jobs for 2000 people! So, Lynn and others have stepped up to provide a positive solution to this problem, using a vision of sustainable community development. They told us all about their plans to create a mixed-use site on the huge lot that will combine housing, clean energy manufacturing, clean energy production, green architecture, public transit, retail, jobs, child care and elderly care facilities, etc. Basically they are designing a model sustainable community for the site! It's really a win-win-win situation because it's good for the city, good for the people, and good for the environment!

So we will be working on helping to design this project, doing research about community development, clean energy installations and possibilities, environmental and social justice, and holistic communities to try to make this plan as awesome as possible and a great opportunity that the city of St Paul could not pass up!

If you can't tell, I'm INCREDIBLY excited about this project! I got really excited and energized and even emotional hearing them talk about it because I know these types of projects are what we need. Also, it's nice to be a part of a project with people that have such vision and imagination that is so in line with what we all want to see our future look like.

So that was the big news yesterday! Today we worked on a couple different things. This morning we talked about another project called Cooperative Energy Futures, which is the proposal to create a business which will link up investors with community energy efficiency projects in the Twin Cities (and eventually beyond). The idea is that energy efficiency is REALLY helpful for people, but most cannot afford the upfront cost. So this business would be organizing communities of people and their homes to get efficiency future-fits (as opposed to retro-fits) in a more efficient and cost effective way since there are more people getting them done at the same time in the same location. Also, a big part of this project is getting investors to pay the upfront cost and the home-owners would pay back the loan over time (with interest) as they save money on energy bills. So we'll be designing a business plan to make this happen and work on getting some pilot projects off the ground to figure out the best way of organizing communities and attracting investment.

After the Cooperative Energy Futures meeting, one my fellow solutioners Kate ran a skill-share on public speaking. I'm really excited for her skillshare/classes because public speaking is one of my major weaknesses and I definitely need to improve. So 5 of us did the skillshare and she ran us through different exercises to work on diction, projection, and posture. It was so helpful! I learned a lot from this first class already, I can't wait for the rest!

Later this afternoon we went to another meeting for another one of the projects, WeCAN. WeCAN is going to be a web-based networking resource for environmental activists. The idea is to create a web site that combines ideas from Facebook, Google, Wiser Earth, and other networking sites to create a place for the environmental movement to quickly share resources, information, and connections! It's going to be really great and an important tool for finding people working on similar things or interested in joining together! I don't know a lot about computers and websites, so this one was a little harder for me to follow, but it should be really exciting to learn more about it!

Lastly tonight is one of our three weekly potluck dinners (they're on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays) so we all met at the house next door for dinner at 6. It was great! We had veggie stir fry, a beautiful salad with strawberries and blueberries in it, delicious baked tofu, a mushroom and veggie curry stew, and then for dessert a pineapple blueberry upside-down cake and nectarine rhubarb pie! It was so good!

After dinner we had a m eeting with the whole group to talk about scheduling, then when the meeting ended around 9, we all hung out and had a music jam session.

A great day! Even though it was really rainy and stormy with downpours, thunder, and lightning.