Green Neighborhood Council

Green Neighborhood Scorecard Increases Participation More than 100 Percent in Second Year

2009-11-19T10:38:00.000-06:00

The GOC’s Green Neighborhood Council recently conducted its second annual Green Neighborhood Scorecard, a tool to assess the greenness of neighborhoods while identifying areas of environmental need. The neighborhoods with the highest scores were recognized at the Green Homes Tour on September 19 (see the story on the tour in this issue).

“There was a 100 percent increase in participation over last year,” said Daniel Lawse, Green Neighborhood Council co-chair. “We are excited about the potential impact and the benefits to providing residents with resources and tools as we make our neighborhoods more sustainable.”

Winners included:
1st Place: Orchard Hill Neighborhood Association (Prize: $250)
2nd Place: Gifford Park Neighborhood Association (Prize: $125)
3rd Place: Mockingbird Hills Neighborhood Association (Prize: $75)

Participants included:

• Benson Business Association
• Clairmont Heights
• Dundee Neighborhood Association
• Field Club Homeowner's League
• Gifford Park Neighborhood Association
• Hanscom Park Neighborhood Association
• Highland Park Neighborhood Association
• INJF Save Our Youth Association
• Metcalfe-Harrison Neighborhood
• Miller Park/Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association
• Mockingbird Hills Neighborhood Association
• Orchard Hill Neighborhood Association
• Ridgefield Neighborhood
• Westgate Neighborhood

The Green Neighborhood Scorecard is a multi-question survey completed by neighborhood residents. Topics include energy, recycling, food, water and transportation. A resource list has also been developed to accompany the scorecard and further help residents green their neighborhoods. Completing the scorecard is an interactive process that requires respondents to walk their neighborhoods for survey answers.

All neighborhood associations are eligible to work with the Green Neighborhood Council to learn ways to sustainably advance the greening.

-Wendy Harrison

2009-01-23T08:19:00.002-06:00

Green Omaha Coalition 2008 Year-in-Review

The GOC had a very busy, successful year in 2008. Click on the links below to learn what each council accomplished in the past year.

Green Neighborhood Council Achievements
1. Green Neighborhood Scorecard. To identify what makes a neighborhood green and create a baseline for measuring sustainability progress.
-Developed and distributed the first Green Neighborhood Scorecard in Douglas County
-12 Neighborhood Associations or Sewer Improvement Districts (SIDs) applied
-Glenbrook Neighborhood (SID) was the 2008 Green Neighborhood winner.

2. Monthly Green Living Workshops.
-Hosted 10 Green Living Workshops, reaching over 400 people.
-Topics covered: Rain Barrels & Rain Gardens (46 present) - January ; Green Cleaning (45 present) – February; Green Lawn Care (35 present) – March; Green Your Trash (25 present) – April; Getting Around Green in the Big ‘O’ (30 present) – May; Growing Up Green (70 present) – June; Green Your Eating (35 present) – July; Recycling (40 present) – August; Composting (70 present) – October; Permaculture (70 present) – November

3. Media Outreach. Establish a monthly Green Homes column for print materials, i.e. neighborhood newsletters, local daily and weekly newspapers.
-Established a monthly Green Home article written by various local experts.
-Printed in over 15 Neighborhood and organizational newsletters reaching over 10,000 residents throughout Metro Omaha.

4. Green Home Tour. Highlighting sustainable homes in area neighborhoods and demonstrating practical, low-cost, DIY projects to make your home and lifestyle greener.
-2008 Green Homes Tour was a huge success on September 6, 2008
-40 volunteers; 10 planning team members
-261 paid participants
-Over 15 sponsors and event supporters
-Media coverage by 8 print and TV news outlets

5. Home Energy Education and Outreach. Develop a neighborhood education and outreach program using existing materials.

6. Neighborhood Recycling Study and Outreach. Develop a process to identify current recycling capture rates and develop an outreach program to increase recycling rates in neighborhoods.
To date through the Mini-Recycling Center Project, five containers have been placed strategically in the downtown and midtown neighborhoods. The plan is to establish 50 drop-off centers. Sites will include strip malls, shopping centers, schools, churches and others with maximum public access.

7. Food Choices Committee - Local Food Education and Outreach. Encourage the production, preparation and purchase of local food through hands-on workshops, education and networking events.
-Farm-2-School committee – researching and working on ways to get local, healthy food into schools. Partnering with Activate Omaha Kids to make contact with School Wellness programs.
-Community Garden Workshop committee – developing a Community Garden Panel – “From Here to Community Garden” - to help residents and businesses learn about the concept of and start community gardens in their communities. Scheduled for January 24, 2009.
-Developed a draft resource for local foods – everything from farmers markets and community gardens to local farms. The goal is to develop a Local Foods Resource Booklet.

2009-01-15T20:27:00.004-06:00

Green Neighborhood Council 2008 Achievements

Substantial credit goes to the Green Neighborhood Council and its leaders Daniel Lawse, Cammy Watkins and Trilety Wade. The monthly workshops were a tremendous success, with topics ranging from conserving water and greening your lawn to raising your children green and composting waste. The Green Homes Tour was an ambitious undertaking for our young group, but with the assistance of Tim Hemsath and the partnership with Nebraska Flatwater Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, we recorded a resounding triumph, garnering over 260 visitors to four unique homes featuring green strategies.

Green Homes Composting

2008-10-08T15:25:00.010-05:00

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a continuing series of articles provided by the Green Omaha Coalition’s Green Neighborhood Council. The Green Omaha Coalition (www.greenomahacoalition.org) is dedicated to promoting a healthy, sustainable community through partnerships, policy and smart solutions. This month’s column was written by Andy Szatko.

Composting. I did this throughout most of my childhood and early teenage years without ever realizing it. To me, I was throwing away scraps and piling our yard waste into one area so we didn’t have to bag and haul it to the curb to be picked up. We put what came out the bottom of the pile into our garden and flowerbeds and didn’t have to spend lots of time and money on fertilizers. This was just how we did things - it wasn’t to make the garbage man’s job easier, to make the landfills less crowded or to be as ‘green’ as possible. It just made sense, because with as little effort as we put into it, we received huge returns.

Simply stated, composting is the decomposition of organic matter. It’s a pretty straightforward process and a project you can undertake to reduce your environmental impact. When starting a composting program of your own, follow some basic steps to help organize yourself and make the most of your resources.

Where you live makes a pretty big impact on the type of composting you choose. There are two types: ‘normal’ composting and vermicomposting.

‘Normal’ composting is what most people are familiar with, and includes grass clippings, leaves, food scraps, etc. It’s perfect for those with larger yards and who have yard waste and food scraps to compost.
Vermicomposting uses a bin and ‘red worms’ to speed up the decomposition of food scraps. These ‘red worms’ and bins don’t take up a lot of room, so they can be placed almost anywhere and are perfect for those with small homes or apartments.

After you decide what type of composting you’re going to use, now it’s time to look at the appropriate structure.

Heaps are, as the name implies, a large heap of yard waste and scraps. It’s important to realize that this can attract animals and insects if food scraps are not mixed in and covered when placed in the heap. This will help keep pests away and speed up the process.

Hoops are more structured than a heap. You can use fencing or chicken wire or buy a pre-made plastic enclosure. This helps keep your compost pile contained and can be fitted with a door toward the bottom to make the compost easy to harvest. This setup can be easily moved around the yard as needed and can provide a certain level of protection from animals, even though most hoops typically are not animal-proof.

Rollers or tumblers are manufactured containers that help aid in mixing and speeding up the decomposition. These systems are typically more expensive than other composting bins, but they are fairly compact in size, so they would be great in a small yard.

Worm bins are used for vermicomposting. Using a plastic storage bin is great for a worm bin as it will last for a long time and keeps rodents out. With the lid on, it keeps things dark for the worms.

Now that you’ve made it this far, what should you put in your new compost pile? There are four major components.

Green material – This includes new grass clippings, pruned plants and kitchen scraps. These materials are high in nitrogen, so when they start the decomposition process, they release heat, which, in turn, helps keep the process going. Before putting this material in the pile, make sure you get it as chopped up as possible. This will help speed up the process.
Brown material – This includes the leaves you rake up in the fall, dried out shrub prunings and weeds. Just as with the green material, chop up the browns as much as possible to help speed things along.
Air – We’ve talked about mixing up our compost piles here, and this is the reason why. The process needs good air flow for oxygen to work its magic on the materials, and the microorganisms that feed on it need air as well.
Water – The compost bid shouldn’t be soaking wet, but a damp rag consistency is ideal for the bin.

The Green Neighborhood Council will sponsor a workshop on composting Saturday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Fontenelle Forest Nature Center in Bellevue. Local composters will share their experiences. Those who attend will be eligible to win a Worm-Factory™ vermicomposting system. The workshop is free and open to the public. To register, R.S.V.P. to Andy Szatko at grlandscaping@hotmail.com.

2008-10-08T15:25:00.001-05:00

Green Homes: Composting

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a continuing series of articles provided by the Green Omaha Coalition’s Green Neighborhood Council. The Green Omaha Coalition (www.greenomahacoalition.org) is dedicated to promoting a healthy, sustainable community through partnerships, policy and smart solutions. Omaha by Design is a founding partner. This month’s column was written by Andy Szatko.

Composting. I did this throughout most of my childhood and early teenage years without ever realizing it. To me, I was throwing away scraps and piling our yard waste into one area so we didn’t have to bag and haul it to the curb to be picked up. We put what came out the bottom of the pile into our garden and flowerbeds and didn’t have to spend lots of time and money on fertilizers. This was just how we did things - it wasn’t to make the garbage man’s job easier, to make the landfills less crowded or to be as ‘green’ as possible. It just made sense, because with as little effort as we put into it, we received huge returns.

Simply stated, composting is the decomposition of organic matter. It’s a pretty straightforward process and a project you can undertake to reduce your environmental impact. When starting a composting program of your own, follow some basic steps to help organize yourself and make the most of your resources.

Where you live makes a pretty big impact on the type of composting you choose. There are two types: ‘normal’ composting and vermicomposting.

‘Normal’ composting is what most people are familiar with, and includes grass clippings, leaves, food scraps, etc. It’s perfect for those with larger yards and who have yard waste and food scraps to compost.
Vermicomposting uses a bin and ‘red worms’ to speed up the decomposition of food scraps. These ‘red worms’ and bins don’t take up a lot of room, so they can be placed almost anywhere and are perfect for those with small homes or apartments.

After you decide what type of composting you’re going to use, now it’s time to look at the appropriate structure.

Heaps are, as the name implies, a large heap of yard waste and scraps. It’s important to realize that this can attract animals and insects if food scraps are not mixed in and covered when placed in the heap. This will help keep pests away and speed up the process.

Hoops are more structured than a heap. You can use fencing or chicken wire or buy a pre-made plastic enclosure. This helps keep your compost pile contained and can be fitted with a door toward the bottom to make the compost easy to harvest. This setup can be easily moved around the yard as needed and can provide a certain level of protection from animals, even though most hoops typically are not animal-proof.

Rollers or tumblers are manufactured containers that help aid in mixing and speeding up the decomposition. These systems are typically more expensive than other composting bins, but they are fairly compact in size, so they would be great in a small yard.

Worm bins are used for vermicomposting. Using a plastic storage bin is great for a worm bin as it will last for a long time and keeps rodents out. With the lid on, it keeps things dark for the worms.

Now that you’ve made it this far, what should you put in your new compost pile? There are four major components.

Green material – This includes new grass clippings, pruned plants and kitchen scraps. These materials are high in nitrogen, so when they start the decomposition process, they release heat, which, in turn, helps keep the process going. Before putting this material in the pile, make sure you get it as chopped up as possible. This will help speed up the process.
Brown material – This includes the leaves you rake up in the fall, dried out shrub prunings and weeds. Just as with the green material, chop up the browns as much as possible to help speed things along.
Air – We’ve talked about mixing up our compost piles here, and this is the reason why. The process needs good air flow for oxygen to work its magic on the materials, and the microorganisms that feed on it need air as well.
Water – The compost bid shouldn’t be soaking wet, but a damp rag consistency is ideal for the bin.

First Ever Green Home & Walking Tour - September 6th

2008-08-25T14:24:00.001-05:00

OMAHA - Metro area residents will have the opportunity to learn how to green their living environments this fall in conjunction with the 2008 Green Home Tour. The event, the first of its kind in Omaha, is set for Saturday, Sept. 6, from 1 to 5 p.m.

The tour, presented by the Green Omaha Coalition’s Green Neighborhood Council, will feature four homes. Each will focus on a different sustainability topic – food, water, energy and materials. Participants will also be able to take a guided walking tour of one of Omaha’s sustainable neighborhoods, Gifford Park, including stops at the Gifford Park Community Garden and the Community Bicycle Shop of Omaha.

“We want the public to know that greening your home or apartment can be easy, affordable and even fun,” said event organizer Tim Hemsath, chair of the Flatwater Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. “The tour will be a great way for people to learn about sustainable practices by observing them firsthand.”

The tour stops are outlined below.

• The Food Home
Located at 1412 N. 35th St., this tour stop will feature an edible garden and orchard tour.

• The Energy Home
Located at 350 N. 36th Ave., this tour stop will feature examples of energy-saving practices that will work in your home or apartment. (The guided walking tour of the Gifford Park neighborhood begins at The Energy Home.)

• The Water Home
Located at 5073 Jackson St., this tour stop will feature indoor and outdoor examples of water conservation practices.

• The Materials/Resources Home
Located at 1018 S. 36th St., this tour stop will feature a home that’s been constructed with repurposed materials and designed with energy savings in mind.

Tour goers will receive free “green” giveaways at each home while supplies last. A “green” grand prize drawing also will be held at each home.

The cost of the tour is $5 per person. Proceeds will help fund the Green Neighborhood Council’s programs and activities. Tickets can be purchased at any of the tour homes the day of the event.

Media sponsors for the 2008 Green Home Tour are The Reader and KIOS 91.5 FM.

Hemsath said a host of organizations have collaborated to help plan the inaugural tour, including the Flatwater Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, the Sierra Club, City Sprouts, the Community Bicycle Shop of Omaha, the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association, Omaha by Design and Destination Midtown.

Financial support is provided by the Omaha Public Power District, the Metropolitan Utilities District and Home Energy Defense.

For more information about the tour, contact Hemsath at 402.472.4472 or themsath@gmail.com.

Green Your Eating

2008-08-04T15:08:00.001-05:00

Ask seven Omaha foodies why it’s important to eat locally and this is what you’ll learn.

Taste & Nutrition: Local produce - harvested close to the “sell date,” - is fresher and more nutritious than national/global food because fewer “in transit” days are required to bring the food to your table. Choosing locally means you eat kale from Blair, Nebraska, not California.

Food Security: Good food for all, this is “Food Security” at its simplest. Growing and purchasing locally grown/raised produce/meat increases the local food supply - providing greater access to healthy food for families/citizens. For more information see www.foodsecurity.org or www.usda.gov and search “Community Food Systems”

Resiliency: – Producing and consuming within one region (e.g. local) reduces dependence on external resources. A “resilient” community indicates a city’s/town’s ability to be resilient enough – i.e. produce enough food locally – to prevent a crippled economy in the face of food or oil shortages.

Economics: Purchasing food/meat from local farmers/ranchers, who direct funds back into the community, builds a sustainable economy. When you pay a local grower/rancher, you are paying for the production of your food – not for packaging, long-term storage, or long-distance transportation. And when food is in-season and plentiful, it’s usually inexpensive too!

Bio-diversity: Liberating your food choices from a commercial market, dominated by a few hybrid varieties, means you have more decision-making power about what varieties of fruits/veggies/even meat you eat. A dwindling agricultural gene pool creates concern about the vulnerabilities of monotypic crops – think Irish potato famine and Food Security.

Lifestyle: Gardening creates connections - connections between people and nature, consumers and producers, and citizens and their community. Growing food for yourself/family/friends/consumers can engender a sense of awe and it’s fresh-air-exercise!

“Peak Oil”: Peak Oil is the concept that oil is a finite natural resource and the world is running out of cheap, easily accessible oil. If your food was 1) grown with commercial chemical inputs, 2) harvested with oil dependent equipment, 3) transported long-distances via trucks/ships, and/or 4) wrapped in petroleum-based packaging – then your food is Oily! Growing and eating local food can reduce our oil dependence and mitigate effects of “peak oil.”

Start “Eating Locally”

Visit Farmers’ Markets in Omaha

o Omaha Farmers’ Market-Downtown – 11th & Jackson Streets – Saturdays, 8:00 am to 12:30 pm www.omahafarmersmarket.com
o Village Pointe Farmers’ Market – 168th & Dodge – Saturdays, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm www.voterealfood.com
o Omaha Rockbrook Farmers’ Market – 10744 W. Center Rd. – weekdays 10am to 6pm
o Benson Farmers’ Market – Military Avenue & Maple, Saturdays 8am to noon
o Bancroft Street Farmers’ Market – 2702 S. 10th Street, Sundays 10am to 1pm
o Cirian’s Farmer’s Market – 4911 Leavenworth Street, 402.551.1879
o For markets in the State of Nebraska, visit www.agr.state.ne.us/pub/apd/produce.htm or www.localharvest.org

Join a Food Co-op Visit the Nebraska Food Co-operative – www.nebraskafood.org - to find a variety of local meats, cheeses, eggs, and baked goods.

Join or start a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Visit www.csacenter.org or www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml. The Alternative Farm Systems Information Center defines a CSA as a “community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farm becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the grower and consumer providing mutual support and sharing responsibilities and benefits of food production.”

Community Gardening allows you to cultivate food on a nearby plot of land with other food-interested folks. You can learn and grow side-by-side with neighbors and friends. Omaha’s community gardens include the City Sprouts garden at 40th & Franklin (www.omahasprouts.org), the Gifford Park Community garden at 35th & Cass St. (www.giffordparkomaha.org), and 13 BIG Garden Project gardens (www.gardenbig.org). To find out more about community gardening visit www.communitygarden.org.

Be a Local Food Advocate Talk to the managers at your local grocery store and restaurants, members of the school board, representatives of your city, and your local corrections system. Explain to all these folks why choosing locally produced/raised food/meat is important and see how you or your organization can work with them to begin buying local!

Grow Your Own Food: Land doesn’t need to be “set aside” to produce crops. You can plant a kitchen garden (www.kitchengardeners.org) or a square-foot garden (http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Build_a_Square_Foot_Garden) - a modified style of Biodynamic & French intensive gardening. Better yet, become a permaculturist. Developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, permaculture – permanent culture and permanent agriculture - includes good practices from many disciplines and systems, and offers them as an integrated whole, a sustainable earth care system. Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture explains, "Permaculturists can grow food just about anywhere, repair environmentally damaged lands, design lovely and long-lasting green buildings, produce power, run successful, people-oriented businesses, and build authentic community--all by using the same fundamental permaculture principles and applying a Permaculture Ethic: Care of People--Care of the Earth--Share the Surplus." (www.midwestpermaculture.com)

Don’t limit yourself – try locally “value added” foods like flour! Visit www.agr.state.ne.us and click the “Food & Meat Directory” link under “Brochures.”

Collaborative effort by Food Choices Committee of the Green Neighborhood Council – (Trilety Wade, Kathy Townsend, Mary Green, Nancy Williams, Katja Koehler-Cole, Daniel Lawse)

Green Homes: Turning Your Kids Green on a Dime

2008-06-17T21:32:00.005-05:00

by Alaina Hickman

As I walk through the aisles of the local shopping center and see all the fancy toys made of newly manufactured plastic, I can’t but help hear her words ringing in my head.

The way we use our environment is growing more and more important. With food shortages, landfills of massive proportion, decreasing amounts of fossil fuels and impending global warming, it is our responsibility as parents to raise our children to be very conscious of how they consume. My husband and I have always felt it important to raise our children with an awareness of the environment, but what we didn't expect was that in so doing, it actually made our lives easier and less expensive. Here are some ways for you to green your lives and teach your children valuable environmental lessons.

1. “Your presence is our present, no gifts please.” No-Birthday-Present Parties for Kids:

Reduces the amount of toy clutter in your house.
The parents of other children will really appreciate not having to spend money on a toy (trust me, they will).
Handmade birthday cards are more memorable and easier to scrapbook than molded hunks of plastic.
When you do purchase gifts, buy green. Some easy green gifts are: books, toys made from wood or bamboo (Target has a line of these) or craft kits like paper airplanes or origami.

2. “Wait… so, mom, giving stuff away to thrift stores and buying from thrift stores is recycling?”
For every new piece of clothing or household item that is produced there is also some waste produced. That is why it’s important to teach kids not to just throw away what they don’t want, but instead to donate it. Great Web sites for secondhand clothes and other children’s items are freecycle.org and rerunsrfun.net.

3. A great Web site dedicated exclusively to handmade items, etsy.com, supports craftspeople and artists and can direct you to local sellers. Don't forget about your local thrift store! Buying second hand saves you money and cuts down on the amount of new products produced, which also cuts down on waste. Items bought second hand or handmade are just as good as things bought new.

4. Find durable and sensible lunch boxes that are made to last for years at laptoplunches.com. Using these has drastically cut down on the brown bags and plastic bags that inevitably end up in the trash.

5. Buying second-hand and handmade is a great start, but that doesn’t cover the weekly grocery trip. Buying in bulk greatly reduces the amount of packaging and saves you money. Organic foods are prepared with much fewer chemicals. The chemicals used in regular food accumulate in ground soil and eventually diminish the amount of usable land for foods. Foods that have traveled a long way to the store did so by burning fossil fuels and foods from factory farms are the leading producers of methane gas in this country. Shop for local, organic and plant-based foods for the health of the earth and your family.

6. “Mommy, can the worms eat this?” Educating children on green living can be a family experience that gives life long lessons on living independently. Beneath our kitchen table is a worm bin that we put our dinner leftovers and other foods that have sat in the fridge too long. My youngest daughter is absolutely fascinated by the worms and we often work on them together. My children are able to see how nature really works when they put their food scraps in the worm bin and watch the worms make healthy fertilized soil. We use the soil in our garden. My kids actually get to see and experience the full circle of nature and, in the end, get to reap the “fruits” of it. Part of being green is being self-sustainable, which is not often taught in schools today. So even if having a box of worms in your kitchen is just not your thing, gardening with your children in the back yard or even a pot on the table can be fun and give them a sense of pride for having grown their own food.
There isn’t a trick to raising kids green. All you have to do is become mindful of what you consume and throw away. Being green is just living more simply, not spending as much money and being more self-sustaining, all of which would benefit ourselves, our families, our communities and our earth.

Join the Green Neighborhood Council for our monthly Green Living Workshop: Growing Up Green. The workshop will be held from 10 am to noon Saturday, June 28 at the Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20th St. (the workshop is free, but if you wish to visit the museum afterward you’ll need to pay admission). Learn more tips and tricks for raising green kids and sign up for a chance to win FREE green parenting and kids’ items. For information and RSVP (space is limited), contact Julie at wasserfarms@gmail.com.

GNC Report

The Green Neighborhood Council (GNC) is eight months into its first year and the momentum continues. Currently, six Work Committees consolidate the efforts of the GNC. The committees include:· The Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee is chaired by Steve Andrews of Nebraska State Recycling Association and Dale Gubbels of Firstar Fiber. Volunteers are currently working on two projects.

The first project is a capture and participation project, funded by Firstar Fiber and the City of Omaha. Phase I is complete and the results are in —unfortunately, fewer residents recycle than expected and fewer materials are being captured than expected. Phase II, which will focus on outreach, will involve surveying the public in established locations in local grocery stores. The goal of Phase II is to develop instructive, image-oriented marketing and to bust recycling myths. Volunteer needs for the project include outreach and surveying. Contact Steve Andrews to volunteer at sandrews@nsra.omhcoxmail.com.
The second project is a mini recycling center project, funded by Nebraska State Recycling Association. Mini recycling centers will be set up in the Midtown area and along the West Maple corridor. Target groups for the mini recycling centers are apartments, small businesses and neighborhood and church groups. The goal of the project is to capture recyclable material, otherwise not being captured, and generate revenue for participating groups. If you represent, or know of, an organization willing to sponsor a Mini Recycling center, contact Steve Andrews at sandrews@nsra.omhcoxmail.com.

The Green Neighborhood Scorecard Committee developed a neighborhood-level survey with the objectives of:o Discovering current “green” scores for neighborhoodso Assessing what environmental information/resources are needed by neighborhoods in Douglas Countyo Developing practical projects to create “green” neighborhoods

Establishing a baseline to help measure a neighborhood’s environmental progress. The survey, launched April 15, 2008, was distributed via e-mail and was posted to all neighborhood associations and sanitary improvement districts in Douglas County. The survey is also available at http://www.greenomahacoalition.org/. Volunteers will be needed this summer for survey scoring and award development. If you are interested in volunteering with the scorecard committee, either this year or for development and distribution of next year’s scorecard, please contact Trilety Wade at trilety@hotmail.com.

The Food Choices Committee recently voted unanimously on a mission statement for the group: Encourage the production, preparation and purchase of local food through hands-on workshops, education and networking events. This mission will be implemented through partnering with other organizations and effective facilitation.

A short-term project of the committee, in collaboration with the Green Living Workshop committee, is organization/hosting of the July Green Living Workshop – “Green Your Eating.” The workshop, which will focus on how to buy, prepare and store local food, will be held Saturday, July 26 from 10 am to noon at the Village Pointe Farmers’ Market. If you would like to volunteer for this workshop, please contact Kathy Townsend at kathtowns@msn.com. · The Green Living Monthly Workshop Committee has organized and hosted five workshops since January. Workshops are held the fourth Saturday of the month and are scheduled through February 2009. Following is a general schedule of workshops through the rest of the year:

June 28 – “Growing Up Green” at the Children’s Museum
July 26 – “Greening Your Eating” at the Village Pointe Farmers’ Market
August 23 – “Green Your Recycling” at Firstar Fiber
September 6 – “Green Homes Tour," location TBD
October 25 – “Learning How-to Compost” at Fontenelle Forest Nature Center
November 22 – Permaculture workshop – tentative – location TBD

The next workshop committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm at the Sierra Club office, 5170 Leavenworth. Contact committee chair Cammy Watkins, cammelia.watkins@sierraclub.org, if you would like to volunteer with this committee, if you know of local composting or solar energy experts or would like to participate in program planning for the 2009 season.

The Green Homes Tour Committee is planning a tour of local green homes – with a focus on affordability – and a tour of the Gifford Park neighborhood, including the Gifford Park community garden, neighborhood urban trees and the Omaha Bicycle Community Shop. The Green Neighborhood Council is partnering with the Flatwater Chapter of the US Green Building Council, Omaha By Design and Sierra Club in this effort. The Green Homes Tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 6 from 1 pm to 5 pm and will highlight four homes, the energy house, water house, food house and materials house.Volunteer opportunities abound for this event. To volunteer, contact committee chair Tim Hemsath (themsath@gmail.com).

The Energy Group is transforming into the Energy and Transportation Group. Do you know of energy/transportation needs or do you have ideas for energy/transportation projects? If so, contact committee chair Pat Jesse at pjesse@MAPAcog.org. The next general meeting of the Green Neighborhood Council is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 at 6pm at the Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha, 115 S. 49th Ave, University of Nebraska at Omaha Annex 11.

Recycling Survey: Take Action

The Nebraska State Recycling Association is working with the city of Omaha, Firstar Fiber and the Green Omaha Coalition on a recycling awareness campaign. We need your help. We have developed a survey to help us determine who is recycling, who is not and why. Our goal is to raise awareness of recycling and determine what you want from your recycling program. The survey is available online at http://www.recyclenebraska.org/ or by phone, through the end of September.

We are asking anyone in Omaha who is eligible for the curbside recycling program and is over the age of 18 to take the survey, whether you recycle or not. After all, we can't improve the program unless we know what's wrong with it. Please help us spread the word. If you know someone who does not have computer access, we can conduct the survey by phone as well. When you complete the survey, you will be entered to win a $25 Hy-Vee gift card!
Thank you for your participation.

Green Homes: Growing Up Green - Tips & Workshop

2008-05-07T15:00:00.013-05:00

Turning Your Kids Green on a Dime
Easy and Inexpensive tips for Raising Green Children

by: Alaina Hickman

When I became pregnant with my first child I recall fretting to my grandmother over how expensive having a baby would be. In her aged wisdom she replied with a smile, “Dear, the only thing you really need is a dresser drawer and some cloth diapers … and if you don’t have any cloth diapers, then you can use dishrags.” Looking back on this pearl of wisdom it has occurred to me that my grandmother captured the essence of raising green children: simplicity. As I walk through the aisles of the local shopping center and see all the fancy toys made out of newly manufactured plastic I can’t but help hear her words ringing in my head.

Our environment and the way we use it is growing more and more important. With food shortages, landfills of massive proportion, decreasing amounts of fossil fuels, and impending global warming, it is our responsibility as parents to raise our children to be very conscious of how they consume. My husband and I have always felt it important to raise our children with an awareness of the environment, but what we weren’t expecting was that in so doing, it actually made our lives easier and less expensive. Here are some ways for you to green up your lives and, at the same time, teach your children valuable environmental lessons.

1. "Your presence is our present, no gifts please." -- No-Birthday-Present Parties for Kids

Reduces the amount of plastic toy clutter in your house.
The parents of other children will really appreciate not having to spend $5-$10 on a toy (trust me, they will).
Children will have nearly 500 toys in their lifetime, but only remember a few.
Handmade birthday cards are more memorable and easier to scrapbook than molded hunks of plastic.

When you do purchase gifts, buy green. Some easy green gifts are: books, toys made from wood or bamboo (Target has a line of these), or craft kits like paper airplanes or origami.

2. “Wait… so, mom, giving stuff away to thrift stores and buying from thrift stores is recycling?”

For every new piece of clothing or household item that is produced there is also some waste produced. That is why it’s important to teach kids not to just throw away what they don’t want anymore but instead to donate it. Great websites for second hand clothes and other children’s items

Freecycle.org
rerunsrfun.net

3. There is a great website dedicated exclusively to hand made items called Etsy.com which supports craftsmen and artists and can direct you to local sellers. Don't forget about your local thrift store! Buying second hand saves you money and cuts down on the amount of new products produced, which also cuts down on the waste produced. Things bought second hand or handmade are just as good as things bought new.

4. Find durable and sensible lunch boxes that are made to last for years, at laptoplunches.com. Using these has drastically cut down on the brown bags and plastic bags that inevitably end up in the trash.

5. Raising green children also means teaching them how to be green consumers. Buying second-hand and hand-made is a great start, but that doesn’t cover the weekly grocery trip. Buying in bulk greatly reduces the amount of packaging and saves you money. Certified Organic foods are grown without the use of synthetic chemicals. When poorly managed, synthetic chemicals used in conventional farming can build up in the soil, diminishing the productivity of farmland. Foods that have traveled a long way to the store did so by burning fossil fuels, increasing the carbon footprint of these items. So when you can try to shop local, organic, and plant based for the health of the earth and your family.

6. “Mommy, can the worms eat this?”

Educating children on green living can be a family experience that gives life long lessons on living independently. Beneath our kitchen table is a worm bin that we put our dinner leftovers and other foods that have sat in the fridge too long. My youngest daughter is absolutely fascinated by the worms and we often work on them together. My children are able to see how nature really works when they put their food scraps in the worm bin and watch the worms make healthy fertilized soil. Then we use the soil in our garden. My kids actually get to see and experience the full circle of nature and, in the end, get to reap the “fruits” of it. Part of being green is being self-sustainable, which is not often taught in schools today. So even if having a box of worms in your kitchen is just not your thing, gardening with your children in the back yard or even a pot on the table can be fun and give them a sense of pride for having grown their own food.

There isn’t a trick to raising kids green. All you have to do is become mindful of what you consume and throw away. Being green is just living more simply, not spending as much money, and being more self-sustaining, all of which would benefit us, our families, our communities, and our earth.

Join us four our Monthly Green Living Workshop: Growing Up Green. The Workshop will be held from 10:00 am to 12 noon on Saturday, June 28, 2008, at the Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20^th St. (the workshop is free, but if you wish to visit the museum afterward you’ll need to pay admission). Learn more tips and tricks for raising green kids and sign up for a chance to win FREE green parenting and kids’ items. For information and RSVP (space is limited), contact Julie at wasserfarms@gmail.com

The event is free and open to the public. Feel free to forward to anyone who may be interested.

Sponsored by the Green Neighborhood Council of the Green Omaha Coalition (www.greenomahacoalition.org)

Greetings from Green Neighborhood!

2008-05-01T15:47:00.000-05:00

Green Neighborhood provides a venue for neighborhood associations, homeowners, and non-profit groups committed to educating residential neighborhoods on the collective benefits of sustainable home ownership.

The Green Nieghborhood Council is very active today, and encourages you to check out their wiki too see how you can get involved.

Go to http://omahagreenneighborhoods.wetpaint.com/ for more information.

Contact Daniel with Green Neighborhood