GOdort for Sustainable Living:

A Workshop on Creative Uses of Government Resources

July 8, 2011

Festival Hall at the Argiro Student Center

Maharishi University of Management

GODORT members: $5

Iowa Library Association members: $10

General Public: $15

PROGRAM

8:30 am: Registration at the Sustainable Living Center opens with organic coffee and pastries.

9:00 am: Welcoming remarks by David Fischer, Department Head, Sustainable Living. 9:15 am: Mayor Ed Malloy, speaking briefly on green economy and what FF is doing (he probably will have to leave at some point). Emphasis: local government resources. He will be followed by remarks by a member of the Fairfield Green Council.

9:45 am: Round table, 15 min. per speaker.

Moderators: Maeve Clark of the Iowa City Public Library and Director of the Iowa Library Association. Co-moderator is Brenda Nations, Environmental Coordinator for the City of Iowa City, who supervises the environmentally friendly flood control project in Iowa City:

• Francis Thicke, local green dairy; ran for Secy. of Agriculture for Iowa in 2010.
• June Oliver, Grant Writer for Sustainable Living, who was the force behind getting funding for the Maharishi University of Management’s new total-compliance green building, the Sustainable Living Center. A tour of the center will be available in the afternoon with June.
• Mark Stimson, Director, Maharishi University of Management Sustainability Coordinator and Director of the Sustainable Living Workshop, on what initiatives are planned and how M.U.M. plans to achieve them.
• Leann Hays, M.U.M. Student in Sustainable Living, author of website, “Green on a Shoestring.” Discusses her website.
• Maeve Clark, IC effort at flood control and how it is being accomplished with the help of Iowa City Public Library

11:00 am: The floor opens for questions/discussion of the following questions:

1. do all of these speakers (mostly not information professionals) have access to adequate documents on actually achieving green initiatives? If so, what are they?
2. If we are not satisfied with government resources in an area where they are needed: how can information professionals involved with Government documents be the green change in documents

11:45 am: break for lunch.

1 pm: Afternoon meeting starts

1-2 pm: Sarah Passanau: Greening Iowa Libraries: a workshop.

2-3 pm: Maeve Clark and Jen Jordan of the Iowa City Public Library, “Bringing Green Programs to Your Communities: an update” (need to follow up on this and also check on whether Jen  will be there). An update on the green activities of ICPL).

3-4 pm Tours; optional:

• Sustainable Living Center (June Oliver): this is an exciting building to see as well as to hear about, being unusual in its interior and the only total green effort in public architectural history to date.
• Prairie Restoration (Cathy Brooks, who spearheads the project, or Suzanne Vesely).

Third Annual Edible Cityscape Sale

Date: April 23-24, April 30-May 1, May 7-8 and May 14-15.

Time: Sale hours will be 9:00 am — 5:00 pm, planting and pruning workshops throughout the day

Location: Sustainable Living Coalition building, next to Abundance Ecovillage

Description: The Sustainable Living Coalition is offering 4-5 foot tall bare-root fruit trees and two year old berry bushes at wholesale prices.  Four weekends scheduled, though limited quantities available. Come early! April 23-24, April 30-May 1, May 7-8 and May 14-15. The sale will be held at the SEED Center located on 185 St., just south of Abundance Ecovillage.

We offer varieties that have been selected to perform well here in southeast Iowa. Disease resistant apples: Jonafree, Pristine and Liberty. Japanese plums, sour and sweet cherries, Iowa grown chestnuts, pawpaws, raspberries, currants, and more.

Our mission is to provide affordable high quality fruit trees in an effort to strengthen our local food systems. Tree planting demonstrations each day of the sale.

Contact Avi Pogel

pogelavi@gmail.com

641-919-6890

Viewing of the film “Liquid Assets”

Date: 5/19

Time: 2pm; 2^nd showing 7pm

Location: Fairfield Public Library

Description: This ninety-minute documentary highlights the current state of our Nation’s essential water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure.  This video will be shown at the Fairfield Public Library on May 19, 2011 at 2:00PM and at 7:00PM to inform the citizens of Fairfield that these systems, some in the ground for more than 100 years, provide a critical public health function and are essential for economic development and growth. Largely out of sight and out of mind, these aging systems have not been maintained, and some estimates suggest that this is the single largest public works endeavor in our nation’s history creating problems in Fairfield and all across Iowa and the nation.

What to do with Wells and Cisterns

Date: 5/18

Time:7pm

Location: Fairfield Public Library

Description: Russell Tell from the DNR will discuss how to use or safely deal with old wells and cisterns on your property, including DNR programs that can help residents do so safely.

DIY Rainbarrels/Conservation Station

Date: 5/14

Time: 8am-12pm

Location: Farmer’s Market

Description: On May 14, 2011 during Farmer’s Market at Howard Park, Backyard Conservation will be sponsoring an opportunity for you to purchase the basic components needed to retrofit a recycled food grade barrel into you own rainwater collection system.  Kits will be available to purchase “at cost”, and a display/information available on site.

In addition, the Conservation Station will be parked at the Market.  A hit with children and adults alike, this mobile educational tool will captivate its audience!  Through demonstrations, pictures, computer animations, three-dimensional interactive displays, video and sound, people of all ages can learn why Iowa’s water and soils are so precious and how they can help preserve and protect these natural resources. Visitors can see the Conservation Station for free and will learn about soil, water, crop residue, prairies and wetlands. It also has a rainfall simulator, demonstrating the affects of rainfall on the land, collecting surface water runoff and subsurface drainage.

What is a rain barrel?

A rain barrel is a system that collects and stores rainwater from your roof that would otherwise be lost to runoff and diverted to storm drains and streams. Usually a rain barrel is composed of a 55 gallon drum, a vinyl hose, PVC cou­plings, a screen grate to keep debris and insects out, and other off-the-shelf items, a rain barrel is relatively simple and inexpensive to construct and can sit conveniently under any residential gutter down spout.  Therefore, a rain barrel is an easy way for you to “GO GREEN” and have a consistent, no cost supply of clean, fresh water for outdoor use.