September Sustainability and Facebook

How do you keep up on current happenings?  Seems most organizations have a Facebook page these days.  Some are better at posting than others, but all indicate how recently and include information "About" the group.  Be sure and "Like" any for which you want ongoing updates.  Here are just a few good, local orgs including us!

Pikes Peak Green Team

Energy Resource Center

Colorado Springs Utilities

Pikes Peak Urban Gardens

Pikes Peak Community Foundation

August 2016

Hello!  Sorry if we've been out of touch for a while, but it's been a great, productive summer.  Hope the same for you. 

Most of our activity these days is documented on our facebook page.  Check that for the most current events, classes, and other Sustainability information. 

We will try to update this blog monthly at least.  Whenever a new local resource, physical or virtual comes to our attention, we'll add it here where you might refer back to it at a later date more easily than through the facebook page.

In the meantime, here are a few other, local facebook pages to like and follow:

Colorado Springs Utilities
Urban Farm and Garden Show
Carbon Footprint Calculator

And here's the page for the Colorado Springs Master Bike Plan.

2016 Farmer's Markets

Here's a list of this year's markets:

Event! Garden of Gods Earth Day 2016

Forecast is rainy, but put on your raincoat and galoshes and head out to enjoy just a few of the many activities planned for Garden of the Gods Earth Day 2016, Saturday April 16.

Class! PPUG Growing Warm Season Veggies

Hundreds of gardeners attend these sessions led by local expert Larry Stebbins.  Registration urged but not required.  Large number of local vendors also on hand with regionally appropriate products.

CLASS #4 "How to Grow the Best Warm Season Vegetables...And Get Incredible Yields in Less Space!" Saturday, April 16, 2016

Event: Sustainnovate at UCCS

It's not too late to attend.  Look at the great line-up they have planned for tomorrow:

Sustainnovate at UCCS

Resource! Colorado Springs Utilities on Facebook

Colorado Springs Utilities is on Facebook.  Lots of regular updates on local news, tips, and sustainability in general.  We'll try to share often on the PPLD Green Team Facebook page.

2016 Sustainability Season!

Welcome back!  As described in the right column, this is the Pikes Peak Library Green Team blog--your source for regional organizations, resources, events, classes, etc.  While our Facebook page is a constantly updated site with much of the same information, we hope you will find this blog readily searchable if you are trying to track down that previously mentioned organization, website, or local resource.

We started the blog about a year ago, knowing that early spring is the busiest time for many green living groups in the Pikes Peak Region.  Sure enough, it has been a quiet winter, but everyone's gearing up now for a full spring of recurring and new programs and events.  Below are just a few of the events planned around the region for March.  Remember, you can search for just organizations, resources, events and classes by clicking on those label options to the right.

EVENTS FOR MARCH 2016

Pikes Peak Urban Gardens CLASS #3 "How to Grow The Best Cool Season Vegetables... All Season Long" SaturdayMarch 19,10 AM - 11:30 a.m.


Colorado Springs Utilities has posted a full list of summer classes on Xeriscaping, landscape design and outstanding plants.  They're free. 

Catamount Institute has posted the Sustainability in Progress speaker series gathering, planned for Wed. March 16 at 6:30 p.m.

And the Pikes Peak Library District is offering the following programs on gardening.

Also, save the dates:  coming up in April:

The Big Cool Science Festival at Colorado College, Saturday, April 2, 2016.

Save the Date!  UCCS office of Sustainability, Sustainnovate: Sustainable Mobility Summit, Wednesday, April 13th 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Looking forward to Spring!

Stay tuned for more information about a fun, free upcoming program. The PPLD Green Team and the Healthy Living Committee will host Master Gardener, Valerie Brodar, for a hands-on demonstration of making your very own urban garden! You will learn how to build your own raised garden bed, learn how to recognize good soil, and how to plant seeds. You will leave with some free garden supplies and tons of helpful gardening information.

We will meet at the Green Team Urban Garden at the Penrose Library, located near the lower parking lot on West Pikes Peak Avenue. More details coming soon. Registration is not required, but highly recommended to make sure you get your own supplies at the end!

If you have access to any land, even a small patch in the grassy strip by the street - you can become an urban farmer!

Organization! Pikes Peak Community Foundation and Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future

About Peak Alliance:

Looking to Our Future: Pikes Peak Region 2030 (PPR2030) is a strategic road map for achieving sustainability in the region by 2030. The roadmap was developed by a broad based collaborative effort representing volunteers, professionals and community leaders from nearly 100 organizations. The PPR2030, which was finalized in March 2012, provides a framework by which our local governments, institutions, businesses, and individuals can coordinate, collaborate, and find regional solutions to regional challenges.
The PPR2030 roadmap was initially administered by PPACG under the name of “Pikes Peak Regional Sustainability Project” but is now referred to as “Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future” (Peak Alliance), a component fund of the PPCF. Peak Alliance will build upon the momentum and enthusiasm generated through the 2 + year process that resulted in PPR2030. The mission of Peak Alliance is to promote regional sustainability and advance the PPR2030 through regional collaboration and outreach.

 And here's the Facebook page for Pikes Peak Community Foundation

Happy New Year! Sustainability in February

Happy 2016.  We took January off, but there are some nice things coming up, and it's going to get more exciting as spring approaches.  Here are a couple events this month:

Pikes Peak Urban Gardens is continuing a series:
CLASS #2 "All You Need to Know to Start Your Vegetable Garden": Garden Planning and Design, Preparing Soil and Site, Seed Starting, Container Gardening and More"
Saturday, February 20, 2016:
10 AM - 11:30 Am (doors open at 9:15 AM, please come early to visit all our local garden vendors and so we can get everyone in the door before the class starts at 10 AM)
Cost: $10 per person (pay at the door)
Designed to instruct the gardener on what needs to be done in the next 30 days to have a successful garden come planting time. Topics will include details on Larry's favorite varieties that grow well in this region, affordable season extending and hail protection structures that you can build now, seed starting in details, small space gardening, keyhole garden beds, planting perennial veggies and fruits like rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries. Learn Larry's secrets to have an abundant strawberry crop year after year and more.


Sustainability in Progress
February 17 @ 7:30 am - 9:00 amEach month the Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future hosts a morning speaker series Sustainability in Progress, also known as SIP. The Peak Alliance for a Sustainable Future promotes regional sustainability and advances the PPR2030 through regional collaboration and outreach.



And for the most current updates, be sure and follow our Facebook page.

Resource! Colorado Springs Utilities "Re: Sources" Blog

This post is worth it just for the photo!  Be sure and check CSU Re:Sources blog for great tips, news, and other information.  This post is about Range Anxiety.  Do you know what that is?  Hint: it's nothing to do with the cow in the photo.

Class! Taming Energy and Water Waste

Don't miss the last session in a 4 part series on Saving Money:  Taming Energy and Water Waste. Downloads from previous sessions are available.  From their website:

Session 4 will focus on residential renewable energy.  The basics of how solar and wind energy systems work; how much do they cost; what’s the return on investment; “are they right for me?”– limitations of these systems.

Guest speaker:  Mr. Phil Brodhagen, Owner, El Paso Green Energies. Local installer certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)

The Southeastern Colorado Renewable Energy Society (SECRES) presents a series of 4 energy efficiency seminars designed to help residents and businesses make wiser decisions with their energy and water use. Choose one or all of the seminars to become more aware of your consumption, explore the benefits of saving resources, both financially and ecologically, and discover how you can become an energy producer, rather than just a consumer.

Resource! Environmental Working Group

From their website:

The Environmental Working Group’s mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. With breakthrough research and education, we drive consumer choice and civic action.
We are a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment. 

Organization! Seeds Cafe

If you haven't visited Seeds Cafe, you've missed a great experience and fresh, locally grown food.  From their website:

Empowering People through the Power of Food

We believe that food literally has the power to change lives.

It happens every day at Seeds Community Cafe’. 

Our pay-as-you-can, pay-it-forward model helps us to give people a hand up, not a hand out. When a person no longer has to worry about where their next meal is coming from, they have the power to begin to create the life they see for themselves.
At Seeds, we help them do this through the act of sharing a meal, which goes beyond just creating community. It is our mission to bring people from all walks of life together, serve them locally-sourced healthy food, and encourage them to communicate and connect. Seeds is about honoring the humanity in each other, that which binds us to each other. We are about inclusion, regardless of status, education, or religious beliefs. It is about dignity and allowing those who cannot afford to pay for a meal the opportunity to volunteer in exchange for it. We never turn away a hungry person.

Event! Local non-profit fundraisers coming up.

A couple fund raisers coming up for local sustainability non-profits and others:

Eat, Drink, and Give!

November 10 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm

OVER 25 NON PROFITS UNDER ONE ROOF!
LIVE MUSIC • FOOD • DRINKS • PRIZES

WHERE: ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER
114 W. RIO GRANDE STREET,
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80903

WHERE: ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER
114 W. RIO GRANDE STREET,
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80903

Ute and Yeti Give Night

November 4 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Community donation night with entertainment, prize drawings and more!
Five awesome non-profits are getting together for a party at the Ute and Yeti. Come on over for some food and drink specials. Donate through Give! to one or all five groups. For each group you donate to you will get a ticket for the prize buckets! We hope to see you there.
Who will you meet there?
Catamount Institute
Upadowna
Seeds Community Cafe
Rocky Mountain Field Institute
Millibo Art Theater

Event! U.S. Green Building Chapter Colorado Green Schools Summit

The U.S. Green Building Chapter Colorado has announced this year's Green Schools Summit happening November 6, 2015 at the Arvada Center.  From their online site:

The Green Schools Summit is an annual education and networking event hosted by USGBC Colorado and organized by a dedicated group of volunteers from the Green Schools Initiative. It is Colorado’s only conference dedicated to convening green building industry professionals, school decision makers, educators and parents. The event provides a truly unique opportunity for open and productive dialogue on how to create better learning environments for our kids.
Volunteer at the Summit! Volunteers get free admission to the conference. Fill out this form and someone will be in touch with you soon.

This year’s theme is "The Balancing Act." 

Sponsors/exhibitors and community partners make this educational conference possible.
LEED professionals, AIA architects and teachers can earn up to 5 hours of continuing education.

Resource! PPLD Green Team Facebook page

In order to give our patrons even more information on current events, programs, and timely projects and sustainable practices, the PPLD Green Team now has a Facebook page.  It will probably be more current than this blog, but this will be a great place to look when searching for regional resources, organizations and annual events. 

Resource! Recycle Yard Waste for Free

 With all the rain this summer, everyone will have lots of leaves and other yard waste to dispose of. Put it to good use rather than sending it to the landfill. Rocky Top accepts free yard waste (with some restrictions) Saturday afternoons, with a non-perishable food donation.

Events: Sustainability Opportunities in October

It's going to be a beautiful October, but sources say we may have a cold, wet winter ahead.  Now's the time to make a green living resolution to keep Colorful Colorado the natural wonder it has always been, inspite of burgeoning population and urbanization.  Start with some of these upcoming events to get yourself on the Sustainability train.


Colorado Springs Utilities is offering at least one class this month, on DIY and professional energy and water audits:  CSU classes

University of Colorado Colorado Springs is having a  Campus Sustainability Day . Not many details at press time, but check it out later this month.

CRES is offering the second in a series of seminars on sustainability and saving money: Saving Money: Taming Energy and Water Waste Seminar 2

Farmers  Markets are winding down, but don't miss the last opportunities to get out and enjoy fresh, wholesome, locally grown produce while supporting our local growers.
And finally, but probably most cool, don't miss  Cool Science Carnival Day  coming up this Saturday.  Amazing how science and sustainable practices can connect.