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
Do you like salmon? Come help complete a large salmon restoration project by removing invasive weeds, planting native vegetation, and mulching at Codiga Farm on the Duwamish River. The restoration event is part of Puget Sound Partnership's Duwamish Alive restoration day. Event information: Date: Saturday, October 17th Location: Codiga Farm | 12535 - 50th Place S, Tukwila, WA People For Puget Sound will be hosting this large restoration event, along with the City of Tukwila. Duwamish Alive website:
 Hundreds of pounds of plums are rotting on Seattle’s sidewalks this time of year, especially in the southend (where Italian truck farmers once settled), so now’s the time to find ways of consuming and preserving this free food source. Canning and jam making is one way. Terrie Irish, a WSU-trained master food preserver, taught the basics of canning and jam making at the Beacon Hill Community Center kitchen last night. Twelve southenders spent three hours cutting, cooking, packing and canning the sweet Italian prune plums provided by CityFruit.  And there will be another canning and jam making class in south Seattle on Sept 29 (email moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak#moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak to get on the wait list). These classes are brought to you by CityFruit, Sustainable South Seattle and Terri Irish at www.SummerInAJar.com.
CommunityKitchensNW is cooking up community! We are here to link you to resources and help you get your own kitchen going, to let you know what kitchens are in your area and to let people know how to support community kitchens throughout the Northwest. What’s This Community Kitchen Idea, You Ask?  The formal “community kitchen movement” has its roots in Peru in the 60’s & 70’s. Since then, it has been put to use across the globe……..with Canada’s CK movement spreading & taking root since the 90’s. We look to what British Columbia has created – with nearly 400 community kitchens across the province and more than 60 CKs in Vancouver alone. Using a cooperative approach, the model is based on a set of principles that brings together:
Please Note New Time and Location When: Sept. 15th and Sept. 29th from 5:30pm to 8:30pm Where: Jefferson Community Center FREE (donations to City Fruit and Sustainable South Seattle accepted) Each class will be able to hold 10 people. Every participant will learn how to preserve fruit with Terrie Irish, a canner for 30 years who recently received her master food preserver certificate. Every participant will learn how to can plums and make plum jam and will be able to take home what they make. The goal of these classes is to educate our local south Seattle community about food preservation. These classes are free in exchange for a commitment to continue canning and educating your friends and neighbors about food preservation. In addition, resources such as public access to canning equipment and guidance from master canner volunteers will be available after the series of classes are over. A translator will be available if requested in advance. Please contact our Outreach Coordinator, Kate King, at moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak#moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak if you are interested in attending one of these two classes. This project is a collaboration between City Fruit (http://cityfruit.org/) and Sustainable South Seattle (http://columbiacitizens.net/sss:welcome)
We will begin building the new Learning Garden in 5 days! We’ve secured all the materials and funds needed to complete the build and have signed an agreement with Seattle Parks to use the land. The only thing missing is YOU! The new learning garden is next to South Shore School and Rainier Beach Community Center, near the tennis courts and baseball field. It is a project of Seattle Tilth and the New School Foundation that will serve students at South Shore School, Kids Co, and Rainier Beach Community Center. We hope for the garden to become a locus of activity for the whole Rainier Beach neighborhood. At the moment, we are trying to fill shifts particularly on Saturday and Sunday. We need 10-12 volunteers each day to complete the paths and raised beds within 5 days. Please email me today to let me know which shift(s) you would like to work. If you can think of any other ways to get the word out, we have some money to support efforts, but need to act quickly. I have already created flyers if you want something to hand out. See you next week! Thanks, Jodi Newton Work 206-303-6610 moc.mortsdron|notwen.idoJ#moc.mortsdron|notwen.idoJ
Last night was a very big night (and a beautiful one.) Altogether, we picked 405 pounds of fruit in two hours. Amazing. Lynn's pears - 110 lbs (will sit in my cool garage until they ripen a bit) I heard that Lynn's tea and pita/hummus snacks were terrific (we'll come back anytime) and that my husband almost crashed and burned on Laurie's tree, reaching for the biggest plums he'd ever seen. It was a gorgeous night, I hope everyone had fun, it's so satisfying to see all that fruit sitting in boxes ready to feed people. Thanks all of you! Interested in getting involved? Contact Gail Savina at moc.liamg|anivasliag#moc.liamg|anivasliag or 818-5684. This was a collaboration between Solid Ground (solid-ground.org), City Fruit (cityfruit.org) and Sustainable South Seattle. Thanks for your interest!
Seattle/Shoreline Solar Homes Tour: Introduction to Solar PV Come see how solar works in Seattle & Shoreline! FREE Self-Guided Tour of Solar Homes & Businesses Presented by Northwest SEED, Solar Washington, and Seattle City Light as part of the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour Visit one of the following locations to pick up a tour map and learn more about how solar works in Seattle through hands-on solar activities. There will be a "Basics of Solar" presentation at 10am and 1pm at each location. There will be homes in South Seattle. Contact Carrie Dolwick, moc.liamg|kciwlodc#moc.liamg|kciwlodc if you are interested in more information.
The Community Fruit Tree Harvest in south Seattle is looking for volunteers to pick fruit and deliver it to food banks, meals programs and others who can use it. Unharvested fruit often falls to the ground and goes to waste. Help rescue it! Orientations for harvest volunteers will be held at two times: Wednesday, July 29, at the New Holly Library , and Tueday, August 4, at the Columbia City Library. Both meetings start at 6:30 pm. If you would like to help but can't make one of the orientations, contact Gail Savina at moc.liamg|anivasliag#moc.liamg|anivasliag .
If you or anyone you know frequents nail salons (in South Seattle or any other neighborhood), take a few minutes to checkout the Youtube video from the State of WA about what you can do to keep nail salons safe and enjoyable for all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w8kBAk5SOo This video discusses the potential health hazards from improperly managed salons, suggests ways you can stay safe when pampering yourself, and offers information about what to do if you see something that isn't quite right.
HELP RAISE $ FOR THE CLEAN GREENS FARM & MARKET! Rev. Robert Jeffrey Sr. is participating in the Group Health Bicycle Ride from Seattle to Portland to raise funds for the Clean Greens Farm & Market Project on Saturday & Sunday. We have a beautiful Farm that have all kinds of non-chemical Collards, Mustards, Turnips, Kale, Spinach Tomatoes and other produce. I have attached a pledge sheet. If everyone this goes out to will donate just 5 or 10 dollars or as much as you can, it will help us tremendously. On August 15th we will have a grand open of the Market right in the Central Area, 116 - 21st Ave. in Seattle. We accept Visa and Master cards also. Name, card number, expiration date and 3 digits on back of card. Make check payable to BDDTF/Clean Greens and mail to: BDDTF Check out the [ http://www.cleansfarm.com/ ]www.cleansfarm.com website
After years of waiting for the start of Seattle's Sound Transit Light Rail, you will be able to catch a free ride on Saturday, July 18. Light Rail fans can affirm their commitment to non-car transit on opening day by getting an Undriver's License at the Othello Light Rail Station. Sustainable South Seattle(S3), Sustainable Ballard, and Transportation Choices Coalition(TCC) will issue Undriver's Licenses with a creative picture of you on them. They were a huge hit last year on Rainier Avenue during the Car Free Sunday. We need volunteers on the 18th. If you can help issue Undriver's Licenses, please contact Richard Wilson at moc.loa|1modrahciR#moc.loa|1modrahciR or 206-722-0548. There are many events at stations and neighborhoods all along the rail route - too much to mention here. See Sound Transit's website for more info: http://www.soundtransit.org/Projects-and-Plans/Project-Updates/Link-Grand-Opening.xml
Please join Sustainable South Seattle for our 2nd Annual Picnic in the Park. Kids and dogs are welcome. Please bring something to share and a smile. We'll talk about upcoming events and activities and hopefully get your input of what else we could be doing in our southend community to make a difference. Feel free to extend an invite to anyone else that may be interested. We look forward to seeing you! Find us at Genessee Meadows near the playground, under the covered picnicing area at 6:30pm Wednesday 7/8. Thanks!
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 $5 to $10)
Event 2: Panel Discussion on "Corporate Crime, Environmental Injustice and Toxic Trespass: Lessons from the 1984 Union Carbide Gas disaster in Bhopal, India."
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 $1500 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. |
contact
For more information contact
Carrie Dolwick, moc.liamg|kciwlodc#moc.liamg|kciwlodc
