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
Seattle Climate Action Now Are you ready to take your passion for environmental action to the next level? We are looking for community leaders to help Seattle continue to lead in the field of sustainability — and we have a great opportunity for you! We are currently recruiting for our next class of Carbon Coaches. This is a FREE training program where you will learn about reducing carbon emissions from transportation, waste generation, home energy use, and materials purchasing as well as how to teach those lessons to others. Download an application. Deadline to apply is Friday, March 12. The course objectives are the following: * Educate Carbon Coaches on the fundamentals of climate change science. Course Format Expectations For more information, contact vog.elttaes|nacelttaes#vog.elttaes|nacelttaes. Thanks,
Help build a garden! Alleycat Acres, Seattle's newest urban farming collective, need your help to create their first farm. The team behind Alleycat Acres would like to invite 30 volunteers to Beacon Hill to come help dig, till and build on February 28. Shifts are 9 am-12 pm and 1-4 pm. Space is limited! To attend, send an email with your phone number and preferred time slot to: moc.sercatacyella|ofni#moc.sercatacyella|ofni
A new series of late winter work parties has been announced for the collaborative Othello Park Habitat Restoration project. Six scheduled work parties from December to March will give community members the chance to help steward a valuable park resource, and to serve as a positive adult role model for the youth working on the project. Tools and gloves provided. * Saturday February 6, 10 – 1 pm During six work parties this past fall over 25 community volunteers worked alongside 10-15 youth participants of King County Superior Court’s job training program to remove invasive weeds, install erosion control jute netting, and mulch with woodchips on the slope north of the famous Othello Park slide. This project is a partnership of the Othello Park Alliance, City of Seattle Parks and Recreation, King County Superior Court, and King County Department of Natural Resources. The project will take place during the period of October 2009 – April 2011. The Othello Park Alliance works to assure that Othello Park’s beauty and open space is retained, enhanced, and integrated into a vibrant, multicultural, pedestrian-friendly Othello town center and residential community by coordinating community events and making capital improvements in the Park. To RSVP for work parties or find out more about helping Othello Park Alliance with our work, please contact Katie Pencke at moc.oohay|ekcnep#moc.oohay|ekcnep.
Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion Attend the free premiere of "Mission: Sustainable" — a green makeover TV show based in Seattle. Watch the pilot, mix and mingle with cast and crew, enjoy live music and visit the booths of local, sustainable companies at the green carpet event of the season. Visit mission-sustainable.com for more info and to RSVP. PCC is a supporter of Mission: Sustainable.
First Jefferson Park Community Garden Meeting. Date/time: Tuesday Feb. 2nd (ground hog day) 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Place: Lawn Bowling Club House, Jefferson Park. One of the greatest things a community can do during an economic decline is to provide food and the opportunity to grow food for itself. We think Jefferson Park is a perfect location for this sustainable recreation. The proposed site for this community garden is on the western slope of Jefferson Park. South of Columbian Way, east of 15th Ave. It has southern and western exposure which means we could grow a lot of variety really well. The site, as it stands now is a grass desert with a big carbon footprint maintenance program that we could turn around and regenerate into an all-species welcomed, healthy life inspired community garden and orchard. If you are at all interested in community gardens, food sovereignty, water catchment, land regeneration, natural building, nursery and orchard building, polyculture planting, and community ecology I highly recommend attending this meeting. Please pass this along to your gardening friends.
There is an informal grassroots movement to convert the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department's Atlantic City Nursery to an urban agriculture site (the Rainier Beach Urban Farm) serving the needs of the Rainier Beach neighborhood and the surrounding community. We are in the critical part of this effort. Parks will soon (exact timeline unknown) be presenting their proposal for the future of the nursery site. Parks has not yet committed to including an urban farm concept although they have heard from over 100 local residents and many local organizations that this is a desired outcome. The core group of volunteers who have promoting this concept the past few months met last week to devise an organizational structure to formalize the advocacy effort and enable us to seek and receive grant funding and also build an organizational relationship with Parks. We are holding our first Friends of Atlantic City Nursery Member Meeting on Sunday January 24th at 11:30 am to discuss, adjust as necessary and then ratify a structure so that we can be prepared for upcoming grant opportunities and the next round of the public process. Please RSVP to Harry at harry_hoffman(at)msn.com and we will choose a venue based on the number of attendees. You may invite others who are supportive of our efforts, please have them RSVP as well. Thanks,
We are sad to report that over the last few weeks donated bikes have been stolen from the yard behind Bike Works. The stolen bicycles were destined to be put back into the community in May at this year’s Kids’ Bike Swap. We lost a large pile of bikes – an estimated $1,500 value – that have been worked on since September during our volunteer repair nights and youth Earn-a-Bike classes and drop-in hours. With the KBS now just 4 months away, this is a big setback for us. We are reaching out to our community to help! Most of the bikes that were stolen were “adult” sized bikes for older youth. (These bikes are harder for us to collect, take longer to fix, and are worth more money.) In the next three months, we hope to build our pile of bikes back up to what it was! In Columbia City at Columbia City 3709 South Ferdinand Street, Seattle, WA 98118 206.725.9408
Bill Wanless, co-owner of brooke/wanless gardens, will teach a beginning fruit tree pruning workshop at the Bradner Gardens in Mt. Baker on January 30. Bill is an ISA-certified arborist with over 20 years’ field experience and specializes in the pruning of shrubs and small trees. The workshop will cover pruning tools, basic pruning cuts, different reasons for pruning fruit trees, and when to prune. Bradner Gardens is a P-Patch and teaching garden with apple trees, a grape arbor, espaliered apples and numerous berries. The class runs from 10 am – noon. Cost is $15 for City Fruit members and $20 general. Register at Brown Paper Tickets or send a check to City Fruit, PO Box 28577, Seattle 98118. For more information, contact gro.tiurfytic|ofni#gro.tiurfytic|ofni. City Fruit is an organization that helps urban neighborhoods grow and harvest fruit. In 2009 south Seattle residents donated more than 5,000 pounds of fruit to food banks and meals programs. Healthy trees will produce more—and better—fruit, and pruning a tree is one way to maintain its health and vigor. City Fruit is sponsoring the class; the Phinney Neighborhood Association is a co-sponsor. 
Orca K-8 School would like you to be a part of Environmental Science Night! On Thursday, February 25, Orca's students, families, and neighbors will gather for an incredible evening of environmentally focused fun. We are inviting sustinable businesses, environmental organizations, and community members to share the important work they do to promote sustainability and environmental awareness. Participants can take part in a number of ways. You could host your own outreach table, lead an interactive demonstration, or donate items for the raffel. Have some other ideas? We would love to hear about them and work with you to make those ideas a reality! What can you expect from Environmental Science Night? The event will take place in the Orca cafeteria from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. In addition to outreach tables, students will be presenting class projects, we will have several guest speakers, and a raffel will be taking place throughout the evening. Guests will move freely between outreach tables, interactive areas, and the guest speaker area. We are anticipating 150 - 200 families and a variety of community members to attend, making this an invaluable opportunity to reach out, network, and forge lasting connections with an environmentally focused community. Orca is an alternative public school in South Seattle that is commited to teaching youth about environmental awareness and social justice. Our award winning garden program most recently received a Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union Cooperative Spirit award. If you would like to learn more about Orca K-8 and the Orca Garden visit www.orcapta.org or our blog at www.orcagarden.wordpress.com. You can also become our friend on Facebook! Your presence at Environmental Science Night is important to us. You will help us strengthen our community and educate those who are passionate about making a difference. If you would like to participate in this event, please RSVP to moc.liamg|nedragacro#moc.liamg|nedragacro or contact us at 206-252-6918.
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. |
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For more information contact
Kate — moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak#moc.liamg|gnik.c.etak
Murph — ten.tsacmoc|hprumfm#ten.tsacmoc|hprumfm