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Tuesday, December 13th 2005 @ Schlafly Bottleworks
Panelists
Eric Brende – St. Louis Rickshaw
Eric offered a unique and personal story of voluntary simplicity that erupts from his personal experience living on an Amish-ish and Menonite-esque Farm. He was able to offer a view of living simply without technology and how it has enriched his life. Eric has taken his simple country life experience and adapted it to his 2 years of living in the city of St. Louis. He is also the author of “Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology” which chronicles his experiences on the farm and life without technology.
Anna Sandidge
Anna gave us a peek into her personal Quakerism perspective mixed with a twist of voluntary simplicity. Anna has downsized from a sizeable house to a 700 sq. ft. apartment. She has had to reevaluate her possessions and life arrangement. In the process and through experiences in Burundi Africa Anna has consciously learned to live richly and simply with less.
Greg Johnson
Greg is the Assistant Pastor at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. His undergraduate degree was in architecture, so his introduction to sustainable development in the early 1990s was through the doorway of new urbanism. He spoke on the background of and development of environmentalism among American evangelicals.
Chris Schosser
Once upon a time Chis Schosser worked as a senior research scientist at Monsanto. She left her job in the early 90’s for a more clean and satisfying life spiritually and substantively. Her eyes were opened by such books as “Your Money or Your Life” and “The Tightwad Gazette”.
Steve Sorkin
Steve is a Central Reform Congregation member and previous Jewish Environmental Initiative consultant and director. He was able to offer some insight into Tikkun Olum which is is the Jewish spirit of protecting and restoring the resources of the earth. He also spoke of the Jewish Environmental Initiative which has taken such wonderful actions as planting 60,000 trees – one for every Jew in St. Louis.
Resources
The Urban Guide to Almost Self Sufficiency
An Ethical Approach to Consumption
The Better World Handbook
The Green Pages
Quaker Earthcare Witness
General information on Quakerism
Target Earth/Christian Environmental Association
“What Would Jesus Drive” Evangelical Environmental Network
Greg Johnson, “Motivating Evangelicals: Francis Schaeffer, Christianity Today and Evangelical Concern for the Environment” (unpublished paper, St. Louis University, 1998)
Burundi, Africa Information
Anna has worked in Burundi, central Africa. They have been in an active civil war since 1972. In 1993, the genocide began (very similar to the one in Rwanda). Her specific work was with two Burundian directed non-governmental organizations, one provides free healthcare for persons with HIV/AIDS and the other group offers trauma counseling and reconciliation services for genocide survivors and perpetrators.
Burundi is primarily a subsistence agriculture society, with farmers practicing perma-culture techniques and organic farming. Their main export is coffee and tea. Deforestation and land erosion is a huge issue for Burundi. Many trees are harvested for charcoal and thousands of acres have been destroyed over three decades of intense civil war.
One local group has proposed a reforestation project that would plant over 10,000 trees in a year. Another group would like to explore the use of solar ovens to reduce the need for charcoal stoves. If anyone has information or would like to support them in their efforts they can contact Anna Sandidge.
October 18th 2005 @ Pop’s Blue Moon
Panelists
St. Louis Biodiesel Club
Maud Essen – Biodiesel Mercedes sedan & Mark Fiedler – Straight Vegetable Oil Ford F-250
Maud and Mark discussed how biodiesel and straight vegetable oil engines work and told us about the recent groundbreaking of a biodiesel plant in Missouri, Mid-America Biofuels, LLC in Mexico, MO.
Jill C. Miller – Conservation Organizer, Eastern Missouri Sierra Club
Hybrid Car Campaign Panelist and Green Car Rep for the Mercury Mariner Hybrid (built in Missouri) Jill discussed hybrid cars as well as Sierra Club’s campaign to get our area mayors to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a “something for everybody” approach to reducing CO2 emissions. Mayor Slay, Mayor Adams of University City, and Mayor Langston of Maplewood all signed!
Tom Shrout, Jr. – Executive Director, Citizens for Modern Transit
Tom discussed the grassroots efforts, public participation, and urban planning aspects of the history and future of mass transit in St. Louis.
Cathy Farroll – Project Communications Manager for Cross County MetroLink Project Office.
Cathy spoke to us about the cross couty extension to MetroLink, all the public participation and social justice aspects of expanding public transportation. She also talked about future lines, including a north-south line through downtown.
September 14th 2005 @ Riddle’s Penultimate
Panelists
Dan Sammartano – Sustainable Design Manager, Alberici Constructors, Inc.
Dan Sammartano, Alberici’s Sustainable Design Manager discussed the 65 kilowatt wind turbine that you see on your right when traveling north on 170. As Alberici’s Sustainable Design Manager, Dan told us about the wind turbine that was designed to generate 20 percent of the total energy needs at Alberici’s headquarters on Page in Overland as well as talk about his company’s new spinoff, Vertegy.
Pat Justis – Project Manager, Mo-DNR St. Louis Urban Outreach Office/Energy Center
Pat Justis is an energy engineer with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Energy Center. He is the project manager for Missouri Schools Going Solar and told us all about new initiatives in renewable energy in St. Louis and around the state and the new federal tax credits for residental solar installations.
Bill Barbieri – Managing Executive, Renewables, Ameren Energy Fuels & Services
Bill Barbieri and his team are responsible for the development and implementation of the corporate strategy related to renewable energy for the Ameren group of companies. The team, comprised of several groups within Ameren, is leading the initiative in the procurement and development of renewable energy resources for customers in Ameren’s service territories which encompass Illinois and Missouri. He told us about Ameren’s plans to ramp up purchasing of renewable energy as well as a sneak preview about options for direct purchasing of green power to come in late 2006.
Resources
www.renewableenergyaccess.com
One of the popular sources for Renewable Energy News and Information on the Internet.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council
IREC’s mission is to accelerate the sustainable utilization of renewable energy sources and technologies in and through state and local government and community activities. They maintain a a comprehensive and easy to manuever database of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy.
The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
A gateway to hundreds of Web sites and thousands of online documents on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NREL is the Department of Energy’s research and development arm on renewables.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA)
The EIA created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. This website is an excellent resource to find out energy usuage statistics by state or nation. A lot cooler than it sounds – try it out!
The American Solar Energy Society (and Solar Today magazine)
Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy & Environment Program
August 16th , 2005 @ Schlafly Bottleworks
Panelists
Jill Hamilton – Recycling Program Manager, City of St. Louis Refuse Division
All of the City’s MANY great handouts are available on their website.
Laura Yates – Waste Management Specialist, St. Louis County Health Department – Solid Waste Management Program
St. Louis County Solid Waste Management Program’s webpage which contains info on electronics recycling, safer recipes, paper recycling, etc. The County’s new Solid Waste Management Plan completed in 2005 discusses the current state of waste and recycling happening in the counties (generation rates, location of landfills, etc.) and options for the future.
Sara Graham – Sustainable Design Specialist, HOK Construction
As Sustainable Design Specialist at HOK, Sara promotes the use of sustainable design practices in HOK projects worldwide. Most recently, Sara led the coordination and execution of finding users for many of the materials scrapped during the renovation of HOK’s new office space in downtown St. Louis, going for LEED-CI certification. This is a HOK (60kb) summary of the materials. Sara is a LEED accredited professional, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and is playing an instrumental role in the development of a construction and demolition materials online exchange through the non-profit St. Louis Sustainable Buildings Co-op.
Dale Behnen – Co-owner & Project Manager, Peerless Park Landfill
Dale Behnen is co-owner of Peerless Landfill, Peerless Resource Recovery, Terrafil, the Meramec Valley Processing Facility and Throw & Go Trash, Co. Since 1996, she has assumed the roll of project manager and has been actively pursuing avenues to incorporate recycling and material recovery into daily waste disposal activities at the Peerless facility in St. Louis County, including harvesting materials on the working face of the active landfill, cardboard recycling pickup routes, pilot projects using processed wood waste as a temporary erosion control product and a hot asphalt mix that blends demolition roofs into asphalt roads.
July 26th , 2005 @ Riddle’s Penultimate
Panelists
Linda A. Williams – Organic Farmer & President, Missouri Organic Association
Andy Ayers – Owner & Chef, Riddles Penultimate Cafe and Wine Bar
Tricia Wagner – Community Development Specialist, Local Food Systems University of Missouri Agriculture Extension Office Food Circles Networking Project
Trish Grim, Molly Dupre & Joseph Black – Farmers, New Roots Urban Farm CSA in the City of St. Louis
Resources
Missouri’s Community Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture Program
Buying Group of St. Louis, Local Food Buying Coop
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program
Corporate Players in the Organic Marketplace
Sierra Club’s “True Cost of Food” Campaign
June 22nd, 2005 @ Schlafly Bottleworks
Panelists
Bruce Litzsinger – Environmental Compliance Director, Metropolitan Sewer District
Gerry Boehm – Executive Director, Greenway Network & President, Brookside Environmental Services
Stephen Ibendahl – Landscape Architect, HNTB – Shady Creek Greenway Project
Chris Ricci – Certified Permaculture Designer
More Information
Building the River Ring: A Citizen-Driven Regional Plan
The Great Rivers Greenway District is building The River Ring, an interconnected system of greenways, parks and trails.
Dardenne Creek Watershed
Dardenne Creek Watershed is located in St. Charles County and extreme eastern Warren County, Missouri near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and is in the most rapidly developing area of Missouri. This rapid rate of development in the watershed has resulted in the loss of wetlands and the degradation of remaining wetlands and other water resources. Flooding and flash-flooding events are taking an increasing toll. The watershed’s citizens have a strong interest in improving the management of the stream, increasing open space for recreational use and preventing flooding.
Chouteau Lake & Greenway Project
A master plan and conceptual design for the proposed 1400 acre Chouteau Lake and Greenway, a master development plan for a mixed-use urban district, greenway and technology corridor along the south edge of downtown St. Louis. This plan will create a greenway and system of streams and lakes that connect forest park to the Mississippi River. View pictures, maps, and details online.
Why Use Rain Barrels/Rain Barrel Set Up
A more detailed description and tips on finding a barrel. Plus good links for more info.
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/rain_barrel.php#setup
May 17 , 2005 @ Hartford Coffee Company
Panelists
Gil Williams, Macro Sun International
Local retailer with many personal ties to artisans in Asia selling their beautiful wares here for more than ten years.
Theresa Wilson, Blessing Basket Project
Local nonprofit started last year already providing prosperity wages to over 6000 impoverished artists in six countries around the world.
James Fox, Hartford Coffee Company
Tower Grove cafe serves exclusively fair trade coffee.
Online Fair Trade Stores
A Greater Gift
Equal Exchange – For profit offering organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by 28 democratically run farmer co-ops located in 14 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
More Information – World Fair Trade Day
April 19, 2005 @ Schlafly Bottleworks
Panelists
Ralph Eglin Wafer, AIA and Stacy Kraft of Architecture & Planning
Ralph is the architect behind the rehabbing the EarthWays Center, discussed home energy usage with a focus on the high impact of furnace efficency.
Stacy is one of the founders of St. Louis’s CoLibri Urban Housing Collective, a recent graduate of Washington University’s dual graduate degree in architecture and social work, and is an intern architect in Ralph Wafer’s practice. She presented on the use of green materials.
Stacy’s Handouts:
Tim Montgomery of TMA Architects LLC
Tim is the architect of the largest green residential rehab in St. louis, the Culver Way Co-Housing Project discussed solar influence and lighting.
John Hoag
John worked on the US Green Building Council’s LEED building standards for homes and existing buildings and is the architect of the Community Arts and Media Project’s mixed use green rehab at Cherokee and Minnesota. He presented the various aspects of healthy indoor air quality.
Resources
EarthWays Center
The EarthWays Center, a three-story Victorian residence built in 1885 at 3617 Grandel Square (across from Powell Hall), was renovated in 1994 to showcase practical demonstrations of energy efficient systems, recycled products and waste reduction practices. Visitors will experience hands-on applications of sustainable lifestyle choices. $2 tours are given every 3rd weekend of the month.
St. Louis Rehabbers Club
The Rehabbers’ Club is a loose organization of people interested in renovation in the City of St. Louis. This useful website includes a comprehensive list of local contractors referred to the group by rehabbers. The group also maintains an e-mail very active and helpful listserve and has monthly meetings in St. Louis neighborhoods.
Energy Star
* Use their energy advisor tools to find out if your energy use is above average and get a list of customized energy improvements and the estimated savings.
* Also provides information and advice on improving energy efficiency every day and when remodeling as well as solutions to common household problems.
Habitat ReStore
3763 Forest Park Parkway (just east of Barnes-Jewish Hospital) Open Tuesday-Saturday 9-4 An outlet for reusable but otherwise discarded items – appliances, light fixtures, wood, siding, windows, paint, cabinets, sinks, etc. Also, ReStore welcomes your donations of new and used building materials.
Guide to Indoor Air Quality – US EPA’s comprehensive, plain-language online guide to all aspects of indoor air quality/healthy homes.
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