Temple Talk: Van Jones on Green Jobs

echoinggreen.org

Another opportunity to hear Van Jones speak on Tuesday, March 29th at Temple University. Jones, the former Green Jobs advisor for President Obama and author of The Green-Collar Economy, will discuss the future of the green economy and job market. This event is free and open to the public, so take this opportunity to broaden your green job knowledge, and learn how you yourself can get involved in a career that will better the environment for years to come.

Event details:

Van Jones: Green-Collar Economy

Tuesday, March 29, 6 p.m.

Temple Performing Arts Center, (Baptist Temple), 1837 North Broad Street

Register here.

More on Jones:

Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All.

Van also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Party Time: April Issue Release Party Tonight!

It's time again to celebrate the release of the newest Grid, and our April Gardening Issue is certainly one to get excited about!

Are you new to gardening and intimidated by the mere thought of growing your own grub? Never fear, growing guru Char Vandermeer will guide you through starting your first container garden -- for less than 30 bucks. And, if you've already mastered the basics, our "So You Think You Can Garden?" feature will teach you how to break all the rules and take your gardening to the next level, with unflinchingly honest tips from grow-masters Sally McCabe and Mike McGrath.

This issue also highlights FutureFarmers' upcoming Soil Kitchen, a temporary public art project coming to NoLibs in April, that will transform a vacant building into a soil testing facility/soup kitchen/education center.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg for this 46-pager. This issue packs in a plethora of new topics, plus our regular line-up. Marisa McClellan goes veg. with Passover, Lent and Easter-friendly recipes, Madame Fromage gets weak in the knees for the brothy and sweet Washington's Crossing, the Urban Naturalist talks frog love, and more...

Join us tonight from 5 - 7 p.m. at Hawthornes Cafe in South Philly (738 S. 11th Street) for gardening talk, plenty of great beer, and an eclectic menu. In the mean time, take a look at our digital edition.

Can't wait to see you there!

Marathon Farm: Work Days, Hoedown, Farm Dinner and More!

Grab your work boots and help Marathon Grille build an urban farm! In our December 2010 issue (Agriculture, p. 18) we shared that Marathon Grille and Emerald Street Urban Farm's Patrick Dunn were teaming up to transform vacant lots into blossoming farms. The team has identified a site in Brewerytown, and this weekend will kick-off the first of Marathon Farm's Volunteer Work Days at the site on 27th and Master Streets:

Saturday and Sunday March 12-13, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Lunch, gloves and tools will be provided (if you own a battery-operated drill, bring that along too!)

Contact: mailto:farmerpatrick@marathongrill.com or 215-282-1505

Additional work days will also be held on Wednesday, March 16 from 2 - 6 p.m. and Saturday, March 19 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., plus a Grand Opening Work Day with Mayor Nutter on Monday, March 21 from 12 - 6 p.m.

On top of getting down and dirty on the farm, the team is also hosting a "Hoedown ~ Farmraiser" and "Farm Dinner" to raise funds for the urban farm:

March 20, 7 - 10 p.m. Hoedown ~ Farmraiser: Music, food, local beverages, and a raffle! The Keystone Mountain Boys and Sour Mash will perform and every penny of your $10 admission will support Marathon Farm. Held at Marathon Grille, 10th and Walnut.

March 26, 7:30 p.m. Farm Dinner: Only 50 seats available for this one folks! This four course dinner will not only celebrate locally grown ingredients, but celebrate "Earth Hour" as well. All the lights will be turned off, and guests will enjoy each course by candle light.

Again, contact: mailto:farmerpatrick@marathongrill.com for event details.

Visit Marathon Farm's blog for more information, and to make a donation to the farm through Kickstarter (the goal is $10,000!)

Happenings: GRID's Daily Round-up of Local Events

Van Jones, courtesy treehugger.com

Monday, March 14, 6 - 8:30 p.m.

Energy Audits - Your Building’s Return on Investments: Everybody's talking about reducing their energy costs, but where does a condo or co-op building start the process? This Academy of Natural Sciences, Town Square event will tell you how. Register here.

Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 p.m.

Green - The New Black: On Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 900AM-WURD, Philadelphia’s only African-American talk radio station, will present: “Green — The New Black.” This event will feature a landmark conversation between John Francis, Ph.D. and Van Jones — two of the most renowned thought leaders on social activism and environmental justice. Register here.

Tuesday, March 15, 5 - 7:15 p.m.

The Future of Sustainable Healthcare - From Global to Local: The evening will include an opportunity to network over appetizers and beverages and to meet hospital leaders engaged in moving hospitals toward more sustainable practices. Register here.

Wednesday, March 16, 6 - 8 p.m.

Sustainable Fashions Entrepreneurs Circle: The goal of the event is to bring together entrepreneurs that are interested in creating social change and/or being more sustainable in their fashion businesses. This month's topic is: Behind the Seams with Kristin Haskins Simms, Best Strangefruit. Register here.

True Tales: An EnergyWorks Examination, Pt. 4

As this month's GRID Issue Release Party is nigh, it's time to reveal the winner of the contest (outlined in Part 3 of this series) to guess how leaky my house is.  Drum roll, please!  The winner is Jim Rude, who said that my house registered on the "swiss cheese meter" at 2689 CFM.  I know it's hard to believe that my house is that leaky, but here's the truth—even Jim, with his seemingly outlandish guess, was off by about 3700 CFM.  That's right.  The air leakage rate for my house registers at a whopping 6400 CFM!  Let me take this opportunity to remind you that normal air leakage rates for a house of my volume are 471 to 674 CFM.  My house leaks air at around ten times the amount of a normal house.

I doubt this is terribly uncommon for most old Philadelphia rowhouses.  So here's the question:  What can I do about it?  Since we're on the topic of the results of my energy audit, it seems like the perfect time to discuss the rest of what I learned from the audit and what my next steps are.  And Jim, you can claim that tasty beverage at this Thursday's Issue Release Party at Hawthornes Cafe (738 S. 11th Street, 5 to 7 pm).

Let's dive into the results, shall we?

I doubt this is terribly uncommon for most old Philadelphia rowhouses.  So here's the question:  What can I do about it?  Since we're on the topic of the results of my energy audit, it seems like the perfect time to discuss the rest of what I learned from the audit and what my next steps are.  And Jim, you can claim that tasty beverage at this Thursday's Issue Release Party at Hawthornes Cafe (738 S. 11th Street, 5 to 7 pm).

Let's dive into the results, shall we?

Click to read more ...