Last week I stumbled across this really cool idea of reusing a recycled 747 Boeing Jet and making into a house.  Throughout the project it has plans to use 4.5 million parts of the jet throughout the 55 acre property that is located out west in the hills of Malibu, California.

The main residence dawns the plane’s wings while the cockpit has become the owners meditation pavilion. The first class cabin deck is now the guest house but the oddest transformation is the animal barn. Made from the lower half of the fuselage, which forms the cargo hold, the animal barn is intended for housing endangered species.

One of the interesting things about this project that was first started in 2005 was that it was required to get approval from the FAA so the site would not be mistaken as a crash site from above.  There are hundreds of airplanes that have been mothballed in the deserts of California and are sold at the price of their principal raw material, aluminum.  This 747 home represents the single largest industrial achievement in modern history and its abandonment in the deserts.

Not only is the final result breathtaking, it’s an environmentally friendly home, too.  Who would of thought??  For more information on this project as well as some cool videos, check out the architects website!

Did you know there is a community garden on the roof of the Broadway Market?

Image taken by Chris Byrd for Broadway Fillmore Alive

Check out these images from Broadway Fillmore Alive and this video from the Buffalo News.

The garden plots atop the Market were made available to the public for free. Community members are growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers in raised beds that were built by WNY Americorps. The plots are blossoming quite nicely, especially since they have top notch exposure to sun and rain.

To celebrate this innovative gardening adventure, the Market is throwing a little shindig. Join rooftop gardeners and market goers for a relaxing evening among the church steeples – Wednesday June 30, 5pm. It’s bring your own beverage and a dish to pass. They will provide the hot dogs and hamburgers.

If you can’t make it Wednesday, stop by anytime during regular shopping hours. The garden is open to the public – just ask a security guard how to get up there! There are benches for resting and even a few tables for snacking.

Learn how to build that rain barrel that you’ve always wanted!

Stop by Buffalo ReUse on July 7th @ 4pm for a free workshop demonstrating how to prepare and assemble a rain barrel from a 55 gallon (food grade) barrel.  If you’d like, for $25 you can build your own rain barrel after the demonstration to take home with you.  And if you don’t want to build one but still want a barrel to harvest rain from your roof, you can buy one that’s ready to go at the ReSource on 298 Northampton for $25 as well.

What: Build-a-Barrel Wkshp

When: July 7th @ 4pm

Where: 158 Eaton St, Buffalo

Why: Because it’s fun!

The process of creating a rain barrel from a plastic drum is easy, doesn’t take much time, and needs only a few supplies.  At the workshop you will see the materials that go into assembling a barrel, and the process we use to put ours together.  We will have already-assembled rain barrels available for sale, and we will have the materials ready if you want to put your own together (so you know for next time, or if you want to show a friend).  Hope to see you there!

Are you the Sultan of swat!?!

The King of crash!?!

The Colossus of clout!?!

The Buffalo ReUse team isn’t exactly known for their speedball pitch, stealing third base, or hitting homers, but they will give it their all on the Fourth of July.

Join us for a pick-up game of ssssuper silly softball on July 4th at 10:00 am. We will run the bases for a bit, then settle down for a picnic potluck.

Grab your gear, a crazy costume,and a dish to pass.  Meet us at home plate in Father Conway Park off Louisiana Street @10am.

Join us for our first summer fundraiser on a catamaran party boat! We invite friends of Buffalo ReUse to sail away in style aboard the Moondance Cat on July 2 from 4:00-5:30pm.

Get Tickets from us at The ReSource, 298 Northampton St. for $50–discount rates available.  Proceeds from this aquatic adventure will help support our mission.

There will be soda, water & nibbles, a CASH BAR, and music too.

The launch is near Templeton Landing – formerly Shanghai Reds.

There will be lots of fun, sun and merriment. It is a boat, so tickets are limited to 60 people. Bring a friend!

Special thanks to WGRZ-Channel 2 for providing this opportunity!!

Throughout the last week of June, a concert series presented by The Good Neighborhood is being held in support of Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo and their efforts to revitalize and beautify vacant land in our community. Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo is a community gardening program in Western New York working with public and private sectors to revitalize neighborhoods and build quality of life through the reuse and beautification of vacant land. The event will take place at the Sportsman Tavern and Pearl Street Grill & Brewery over four nights (see below), from June 23rd to the 30th. Grassroots Gardens will be there to share information about the mission and programs and upcoming garden events, and will also be holding a raffle each night to support their work.

Check out the article about the Concert series at Buffalo Rising!

The full lineup is as follows -

Wednesday, 6/23, Sportsmen’s Tavern, 7-10pm, $5 – Dee Adams, Bob Buckley, Zak Ward, Alan Whitney

Friday, 6/25, Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, 9:30pm-12:30am, $4 – Lazlo Hollyfeld & Sonny Baker Talking Heads tribute, “Stop Making Sense”

Saturday, 6/26, Pearl Street, 9:30pm-12:30am, $4 – DJ Cutler Ultimate Breaks & Beatles, Photos of Wagons Magical Mystery Tour

Wednesday, 6/30, Sportsmen’s, 7-10pm, $5 – Pamela Ryder & Friends Homecoming Hoot

We hope to see you there!!!

A message from Jason Crane, executive director of the New York Bicycling Coalition (and Green Options Buffalo):
New York State’s ‘Complete Streets’ Bill Is In Jeopardy—We Need Your Help!

TAKE ACTION:
We’re asking you to make one phone call, with a one-sentence appeal: “Please amend the ‘complete streets’ bill (Assembly Bill 8587-a) so that it matches the version passed in the Senate on June 17.”
Assemblyman David Gantt’s contact info:
District Office: 585-454-3670
Albany Office: 518-455-5606
GanttD {at} assembly.state.ny(.)us

(June 22, 2010) — In Albany, bicycling advocates are working overtime to help assure the passage of a Complete Streets law—sweeping legislation that will create more livable, bikeable and walkable communities across the state. This proposed law would direct the state Department of Transportation to consider bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in the planning and development of state, county, and local roads and other transportation facilities. NYBC is working closing with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, AARP and other groups to get this legislation passed.

On June 17, the Senate passed the bill 53-3. Unfortunately, Assemblyman David Gantt of Rochester has amended the Assembly version of the bill in a way that would render the legislation nearly useless. Assemblyman Gantt’s amended bill covers only state roads, meaning that more than 90% of the roads in New York State would not be covered by the law. Additionally, of the 21 most dangerous roads in the state, as defined in a recent study by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, only 6 would be covered under Assemblyman Gantt’s amended version of the law.

The only way to get this process back on track is if we can get bicycling advocates — particularly those in Rochester, where Assembly Gantt is based — to make their voices heard!
Thank you for supporting Complete Streets in New York State!
Sincerely,
Jason Crane
Executive Director
New York Bicycling Coalition

We need folks to go on a walk, a stroll, a canvas to pass out invites for Saturday’s Strawberry Moon Celebration and hang some posters for the Pickle Eating Spectacle in the neighborhood and around town.  PLEASE email us at volunteer {at} buffaloreuse(.)org for more details or stop by the porch at 158 Eaton and pick up the posters.

From our friend Megan McNally:

Hello!

As many of you know, I will be heading out of Buffalo mid July on a journey around the US. My first obligation is to be out in Taos, New Mexico in August to learn about building earthships, totally sustainable structures that are off the grid and built from used materials (tires, glass bottles, etc)! Eventually I will find myself in Vermont in October interning for Yestermorrow Design and Build School for 6 months, a school that teaches anything from drafting to timberframing to welding to straw bale building. Along the way I am stopping in targeted cities to interview awesome people, businesses and organizations, learning about cool ideas being implemented in this giant country (can you imagine my future gas bills??? Eek!).

In any event, I am writing to invite you to my blog that I am starting. It is titled “Stops Along the Way: Buffalo and Back Again.” Realistically, I don’t know how long it will take me to get back to Buffalo…maybe years, or maybe only 8 months, but I thought it fairly apt. I want to share with you the people I meet who GET IT and offer up some cool ideas that I think are worthwhile to mention. Don’t worry, for those of you not interested in this type of stuff, I’m sure there will be plenty of silly anecdotes about me getting lost or doing something totally crazy that will really make you laugh.

The address for the blog is followingthetide.blogspot.com…because that’s what I’m gonna try to do. I have generic plans because I want to have the ability to change plans at the last minute. To stay an extra day somewhere, to leave early, to get SO lost that I discover something insanely amazing.

Hope you’ll follow me on my journey! If you’d like a postcard at some point, please forward your address.

Love,

Megan

Summer is almost (technically) here, but from a quick glance while passing by a garden, it is clear that summer in Buffalo is pretty much in full swing.  We are operating several gardens on Northampton near our store, and have built / created a few others around our neighborhood as well–including a rain garden on the corner of Michigan and Northampton.  Our gardens here at Buffalo ReUse are coming together nicely, and I wanted to take some time to show them off to the world over the course of a few blog posts, so keep your eyes peeled.

Patchwork Garden – our community garden, a piecemeal collective of 4′x8′ raised beds that we put up for adoption at the beginning of the growing season.  Neighbors and community members have adopted more than 40 of our 50 available beds.  At the Patchwork lot we also planted Three Sisters Gardens (a Native American tradition where the three sisters–corn, beans, squash–live and grow together harmoniously), onion mounds, potatoes, and a deep, tiered bed for carrots.  Here’s a sampling of what we have growing in the Patchwork so far this year:

Cabbage, Onions, Marigolds, and Choi

Raised beds planted by neighbors

Broccoli buds, collards, lettuce

Three Sisters

Children’s Vinery – just next door to the Patchwork Garden, this is where the “Tanglers, Danglers, and Creepers” live.  This garden’s primary focus is children, and getting them excited about and involved with the wonders of growing things.  We have peas climbing trellises made of reused materials and tree limbs, topsy-turvy tomatoes, colorful Swiss Chard, interesting squashes and cucumbers, potatoes and raspberries growing in old garbage bins, an earth oven, and a sweet, sweet strawberry patch.  We have already harvested almost twenty pounds of Strawberries this year, and more are coming! Join us on June 26th at 8pm, when we are hosting our Strawberry Moon Celebration–we will harvest our remaining berries, hold a workshop for making Strawberry jam, and project movies on the screen in the Patchwork Garden all while enjoying the early summer breeze and the company of neighbors and friends.  Here are some shots of the Children’s Vinery:

Rainbow Chard and Mr. Big Pea

Peas growing up

Our Strawberry Patch

Keep your eyes peeled for more garden biographies, and more pictures of our progress as the season goes on.  There is plenty more to come!!!