Sustainable South Seattle (S3) is a volunteer-run organization working to promote sustainability in Seattle's south-end communities. We've defined sustainability as living in a manner that allows current and future generations of all life on Earth to thrive.
We design and implement projects to preserve the diversity of our community's businesses and residents, increase transit and transportation choices in our neighborhoods and to provide outreach and education about environmental, social and economic choices that enhance our community.
Sustainable South Seattle is a member of Sustainable Communities All Over Puget Sound (SCALLOPS) who connect neighborhoods taking local action to make their communities more sustainable.
schedule of events
August 8th is the Rainier Valley Heritage Festival, and we're going to need some helping hands to give sustainability the attention it deserves. This year it will take place in conjunction with a Car Free Day on Rainier, and will include good food, music, a street soccer game and whatever else the community brings to the street. Sustainable South Seattle is hoping to maximize recycling and composting, host an alternative vehicle rally, show a solar panel demonstration, create Undriver's Licenses and give folks an opportunity to plan a bucket garden to take home. To top it off, we're organizing a wheel barrow drill team for the parade. In order to pull this off, we'll need lots of help the day of. If you can donate a few hours of your time on August 8th to help with one of these great activities, please contact Josie Clark at moc.oohay|eisojkralc#moc.oohay|eisojkralc. Thank you!
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, in collaboration with numerous Seattle-based organisations, is organising a double-event with the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak tragedy in Bhopal, India, as the backdrop to discuss corporate crime, environmental racism and toxic trespass. One young person — Safreen Rafat Khan, a second-generation victim of Union Carbide's poisons — will be visiting Seattle with Satinath Sarangi, a long-time activist associated the Bhopal struggle, on 29-30 May, 2009. We look forward to your participation in the events. Kindly attend, and circulate this message to your friends and family. Event 1: Film and Q/A Program (*Suggested contribution content to )
Event 2: Panel Discussion on "Corporate Crime, Environmental Injustice and Toxic Trespass: Lessons from the 1984 Union Carbide Gas disaster in Bhopal, India." FILM DETAILS Hush, Baby (Himali Kapil and Umang Bhattacharyya, India, 2007, 3.5 minutes, English & Hindi with English subtitles) A powerfully evocative short film on the continuing damage caused to Bhopal's Generation Next as a result of the hand-me-down effects of the toxic gases released on December 3, 1984, and the ongoing contamination caused by groundwater contaminated by Union Carbide's toxic wastes. Secrets and Lies (Stavros Stagos, Greece, 2007, 79 minutes, English, Hindi, & Urdu with English subtitles) This historical documentary examines the 1984 chemical disaster of Bhopal, which killed up to 20,000 people, and how it continues to affect people today. It is by far the most up-to-date film on the world's worst industrial disaster. Using U.S. multinationals Union Carbide and Dow Chemical as cases, the documentary profiles how transnational corporations hold themselves beyond the reach of law, even as generation after generation continue to be poisoned by their neglect. ON TOUR 16-year old Safreen ‘Rafat’ Khan belongs to a family of six members who live behind the Union Carbide factory. Her mother was exposed to the gas in 1984. Safreen and her family continue to live in the area and consume poisoned water daily. Safreen and her sister Yasmin were the youngest members of the team of 50 survivors who walked 500 miles from Bhopal to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister in February last year. Safreen is a key organizer of the newly formed campaign group — Children Against Dow-Carbide — and believes that Carbide's toxic legacy must be ended before it takes its toll on yet another unsuspecting generation. Satinath ‘Sathyu’ Sarangi is a metallurgical engineer turned activist who arrived in Bhopal a day after the disaster and stayed on to become a key figure in the struggle for justice in Bhopal. He is a founding trustee of the Sambhavna Clinic, a non-profit clinic dedicated to the holistic treatment of gas-affected persons in Bhopal. As the founder of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, Sathyu has been involved with relief, research and publication of studies on the health impacts of the ongoing disaster on the residents of Bhopal. THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) is a worldwide coalition of some 20 people's organizations, non-profit groups and individuals who have joined forces to campaign for justice — legal and economic — for the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide toxic gas leak in Bhopal, India — the world's worst industrial disaster. Organizations of survivors in Bhopal play a leading role in the international network. Twenty-five years later, survivors and their supporters continue to pressure Union Carbide's current owner, the Dow Chemical Company, and the US and Indian governments to clean up the abandoned chemicals left at the site and ensure adequate health care, a safe environment and proper rehabilitation for the survivors of the disaster and their children. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION More details about the disaster, its aftermath and effects on Bhopal's Generation Next are available at: 1. What happened in Bhopal: http://bhopal.org/index.php?id=22 2. Beyond the Gas Leak: Union Carbide's Toxic Wastes is Bhopal's Secret Disaster http://bhopal.org/index.php?id=29 3. Health Issues: With Carbide refusing to divulge relevant information relating to the toxicity of the gases released that night, medical treatment has been based on a pie-in-the-sky approach. Not only are the victims of that night still suffering, but children born to gas affected parents after the disaster too seem to carry a disproportionate burden of effects of the toxic gases. Added to this is another route of exposure to people, many of whom are not gas-exposed, through groundwater contaminated by toxic wastes that still lie strewn around Carbide's factory site. http://bhopal.org/index.php?id=100 4. For more up-to-date reports, please see "777" — the newsletter of the Bhopal Medical Appeal.http://bhopal.org/index.php?id=113 Films Presented by: Tasveer 8 Association for India’s Development – Seattle Chapter 8 The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal www.tasveer.org 8 http://seattle.aidindia.org 8 www.bhopal.net
I am out on the Makah Indian Reservation at Neah Bay (widely known for its Shi Shi Beach trail access). The last time I came here, I gave my old laptop, which I had wiped of personal files, to a 25-year-old Native American woman. She text messaged me a month later to tell me that she had begun attending college online thanks to this laptop, which would otherwise have been sent to a recycling agency and probably shipped to China to be melted down for its minuscule bits of gold. That made quite an impression on me. Do any of you have functioning computer equipment that has been hanging around, unused, in your basement or home office? Do you know of anyone else who does? I have met the Makah's computer support technician, who rehabs computers for just this purpose. It makes a real difference — for school kids, would-be entrepreneurs, lonely isolated people, would-be college and grad school students, and elderly folks hoping to speak with family members scattered by circumstance and the economy. It doesn't cost you a thing, and can even save you the recycling charge. I am going to be in Seattle on Monday, May 11th and Tuesday, May 12th, when I would be happy to come to your home and pick up your unwanted equipment. If you would like to post this computer drive request to your work place's internal bulletin board, please do so — I can stop by offices and other areas. Please forward this email to as many people as you like. I also, come into Seattle often so if you can't make this date, email me and I'll come by my next time through town. Caveats: Kristen Young
Columbia City Library - May 13th at 6pm Sustainable Seattle’s Neighborhood Indicators-to-Action Project The Scorecard’s purpose is to be used in establishing baseline neighborhood health and sustainability assessments, comparing neighborhoods, and informing community action-planning. The indicators included in the report will include tree coverage, access to bike facilities, access to fresh food, and community inclusivity, among others. Informed by the Scorecard, the neighborhood will identify and complete a small project that seeks to improve the neighborhood’s levels of sustainability, specifically related to climate protection. Specific project ideas will be selected by participating community leaders. This project is meant to build on- and not compete with or duplicate- existing neighborhood efforts. Ideas for projects include: hands-on weatherization workshops, establishment of a garden, installation of bike racks, and fruit-tree planting. About 00 is available to each neighborhood for these projects. Energy Policy Come hear about developments on energy policy at the local, state and federal levels. Carrie Dolwick from the NW Energy Coalition and NW Sustainable Energy for Economic Development will be on hand for an overview of energy policy followed by a discussion on community energy planning and development.
Edible Garden Fair - Mark your Calendars - Saturday May 23 Want to learn how to grow heat-loving vegetables in our cool climate? Or maybe you'd like to know how to connect with neighbors to start a community garden? Perhaps you are considering getting chickens…or bees…or even goats. Come to a day of presentations and panel discussions on growing food. Learn how to provide more of your groceries from your own backyard. This free event will be held at South Seattle Community College, and is sponsored by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Check http://gleanit.org/ for more information.
Greetings south Seattle! Spring has sprung and members of Sustainable South Seattle (S3) have been busy as bees working to make Seattle's south end our neighborhoods better places to live, work, and play. Please join us at our April 8th meeting to share your thoughts about how to improve walkability of south-end neighborhoods, and help plan events celebrating the beginning of Light Rail service (starting in July!) S3 April Meeting: walkability and ST Light Rail opening A few other events are listed below. For a full list of upcoming S3 events, check out our wiki page: http://columbiacitizens.net/sss:welcome Cheers! -Murph
Dear Friends and Neighbors, My name is Brooks Kolb. I'm a Columbia City, Lakewood/Seward Park neighbor and I'm excited by the opportunity that our historic new political era is bringing us If we can make the conversion to renewable energy, we will be able to combat the threat of climate change, and what better place to start that in our own neighborhood? We need to show our state and national political leadership that there is a grass-roots demand for clean power, and what better way to do it than to lead by example? Let's create a new organization called "Green Columbia City." The mission of our group will be to show the city, the state and the nation that our neighborhood's businesses and residences can: 1. Improve our energy efficiency by retro-fitting our homes and businesses All we need is the will and the determination to do it. So: I am writing to ask, who would like to join me in creating a steering committee to launch Green Columbia City? Please write me back at moc.cllblokskoorb|skoorb#moc.cllblokskoorb|skoorb and we'll get started. Sincerely, Brooks Kolb, ASLA As President Obama says, "Yes we Can!" Brooks Kolb, ASLA
S3 is honored to welcome Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin to our meeting in January! Councilmember Conlin will discuss the Local Food Action Initiative, which was adopted by Seattle City Council in April 2008. Simply put, "This resolution brings together the critical issues around food to create a framework for food policy for Seattle government". After Councilmember Conlin provides an overview of the initiative, there will be a question and answer period, followed by a discussion about how S3 can promote smart choices in all aspects of our food system - from where and how our food is produced, how it's packaged and transported, to its place on your table… We will also hear from Diana Vinh, who will give an update on a project to increase urban and community gardening opportunities in the south end. Please join us: S3 January Meeting If you want to do your homework a good overview of the initiative is here: http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/miw/0803miw.htm#2 And here's the full text of the resolution.
SAVE THE DATE Sustainable South Seattle (S3) and Sustainable Central District are planning and organizing to create an action agenda for issues at the intersection of race and justice and the sustainability movement (S3 has defined sustainability as living in a manner that allows current and future generations of all life on Earth to thrive). The objective is to identify and build support for a community movement that meets the mutual goals of increased "sustainability".
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 from 6:30pm-8:00pm. The Northwest Environmental Education Council will be hosting 'Solar Power in the Northwest'. Come to this informative seminar to learn about producing your own clean, renewable energy with solar power. Yes, solar works in the Northwest! Learn how going solar can help you reduce your carbon footprint, save money and promote energy independence. Eric Teegarden, of Sunergy Systems (http://www.sunergysystems.com), an environmental engineer and solar expert, will present an informative seminar on the many benefits of adopting solar power. The event is FREE and will be held at NWEEC's offices: 650 S. Orcas St., Suite 220, Seattle WA 98108. Directions: http://nweec.org/directions.htm Please RSVP to gro.ceewn|stneve#gro.ceewn|stneve
Dr Robert Bullard, the "father" of the Environmental Justice movement, is coming to Seattle during the second week of December. CCEJ will host a "Town Meeting" with him on Wednesday, December 10. If you would like an invitation to this event, please email the office at [ mailto:justice@ccej.org ]gro.jecc|ecitsuj#gro.jecc|ecitsuj .Dr. Bullard was one of the first national organizers of the EJ movement, and wrote fourteen books that explained the situation to the public. A tireless organizer for the cause, Dr. Bullard founded the Environmental Justice Resource Center in Atlanta. Newsweek magazine recently named him one of the Environmental Leaders of the Century. CCEJ is honored to host Dr. Bullard for this event!
Maple School Ravine Restoration Work Party NWEEC will work to restore the Maple School Ravine, a 15-acre Beacon Hill greenspace and pedestrian corridor that has been devastated by invasive ivy and blackberries. Join us to remove these invasive plants, lay down mulch, and replant native species to create a beautiful and healthy community greenspace. Bring yourself and work clothes; tools, gloves, snacks, and instruction will be provided. Maple School Natural Area Meet at the base of the stairs Saturday Please RSVP via email to gro.ceewn|stneve#gro.ceewn|stneve or by phone to Sarah at 206-923-1980.
Dear Neighbors, I am happy to announce that Southeast Seattle is now a delivery location for Thundering Hooves pasture finished meat. Thanks to the many families and individuals who shared their interested in eating foods raised locally and sustainably. If you are interested in purchasing from Thundering Hooves, (or just learning more about them), go to www.thunderinghooves.net <http://www.thunderinghooves.net> and click go shopping. When you find the items you'd like to purchase, click buy now then choose the Beacon Hill Buying Club as your delivery location. The first delivery date is scheduled for Saturday, December 6th at 8am. Be sure to place your order by the Monday prior to the delivery day (in this case, by December 1). There is no minimum order, so order as little or as much as you want keeping in mind our orders are delivered monthly. The next order will be delivered January 10th. Feel free to pass this information along to anyone or any other group you think might be interested. Thank you everyone, and happy ordering! Stephanie
SEATTLE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY Thursday, December 11, 2008 Guest speaker: Dr. Robert Bullard Dr. Bullard also will speak on Wednesday, December 10, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Seattle City Hall’s Landes Room. Both events are free and open to the public! For more information, call 206-684-4500 or visit www.seattle.gov/civilrights Presented by the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, the Seattle Human Rights Commission, United Nations-Seattle and other co-sponsoring organizations.
The Northwest Environmental Education Counci organizes community events that promote biodiversity, sustainability and resource conservation. On December 6th they are leading a restoration work-party, from 10am - 2pm in Beacon hill. They will be planting native trees, laying down mulch and continuing to remove invasive species. Contact Sarah Klages <gro.ceewn|segalks#gro.ceewn|segalks> for more information.
Sustainable South Seattle (S3) held our first planning meeting to organize a forum to discuss anti-racism in the sustainability movement (S3 has defined sustainability as living in a manner that allows current and future generations of all life on Earth to thrive.) We will do this by hosting a discussion on the nexus between environmental and social justice/equity issues and how these movements can work together to help both movements meet our goals of increased "sustainability". Next steps * We identified groups that are already organizing in these issues and will invite them to get involved in our planning process.
Introduction to Saturday, November 22 Looking to drive green?
Brew Your Own Biodiesel! A hands-on workshop to learn all the basics to make your own high quality fuel for about content per gallon. In this workshop you will do titrations, make small batches of biodiesel with different oils, and learn the tricks to make quality biodiesel every time. We will also operate a small-scale "Appleseed" reactor during class. This system will be compared with the automated BioPro system which the instructor uses to facilitate fuel-making for a Bring-Your-Own-Oil type coop. The class will also cover topics, such as chemistry of the reaction, quality control, vehicle compatibility, cold weather issues, methanol recovery, disposal of wastes, and how to run a successful coop. Whether you just want to learn more so you can decide whether or not to use biodiesel, or you want to make your own brew, this class will help you get underway.
GOOD FOOD, Wednesday, October 22, 7 p.m. Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 South Alaska Street We will have food donation barrels for the Rainier Valley Food Bank at the film showing. Please bring non-perishable food items for the barrels. Bring your friends and neighbors to see Good Food about sustainable food and farming in the Pacific Northwest. A small part of Good Food was filmed at the Columbia City Farmers Market, and also Marra Farm and the food bank at South Park Neighborhood Center. This film was first shown in June to packed audiences at the Seattle International Film Festival. Since then it has been shown at the Seattle City Council, in university courses, and at local theaters, with many more screenings scheduled. Food, where it comes from, how it is grown, how healthy it is, and what it costs is becoming more important for everyone, and Good Food introduces us to the local farmers and ranchers, stores and restaurants that are building a more sustainable, healthy food system. For decades small family farmers have been disappearing, but there is new life in the fields, orchards and pastures of the Pacific Northwest. The film screening is sponsored by the Columbia City Farmers Market, Sustainable South Seattle, Rainier Valley Cultural Center, Tutta Bella, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Moving Images. The filmmakers will attend. The event is free and open to the public with donations welcome.
We had a great October meeting and we wanted to pass on some information to the whole group… 1. Save the date for the November S3 meeting- 11/12 7-7:30 at Co. City library 2. We had a great guest speaker, Todd Burley come from the Seattle Parks foundation to discuss the details of Proposition 2 the Pro Parks levy renewal. For more information and to endorse the levy, check out www.seattleparksforall.org . 3. Dick Burkhart led a discussion about the Mass Transit Now Proposition. For more information check out, http://www.masstransitnow.org/ 4. We discussed the possible bus changes in South Seattle. More information here. 5. Save the date for Time and date: Saturday, October 25th from 12:00PM to 3:00PM To request translation services, contact Yun Pitre, Department of |
contact
For more information contact
Carrie Dolwick, moc.liamg|kciwlodc#moc.liamg|kciwlodc
