An all you can eat pancake extravaganza to benefit the Growing Green Urban Youth Farm!
Saturday April 9th, 2011
at Trinity Church – 371 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo NY
Just pick a time -
8:30 am
10 am
and
11:30 am
and follow this link to purchase tickets-
Link to MAP website
Comments :: Calendar, Community, Green Collar Jobs, Money, Sustainability
Next Wednesday, March 30, at 6pm, Buffalo ReUse will be part of a discussion at Medaille College about “Leadership in WNY”.
Some points of discussion:
Comments :: Activism, Business, Calendar, Community, Education, Environment, Government, Green Collar Jobs, History, Housing Issues, People, Politics, preservation, Sustainability
The People's National Fuel Stakeholder Meeting
THURSDAY, MARCH 10TH @ 4PM St. Paul's and St. Mark's UCC (Niagara and W. Huron) National Fuel executive are on their way to Florida, where they will be making a plan to increase their profits while we are left out in the cold. But tomorrow the community will have a voice too! We'll be passing our own resolutions and delivering them to National Fuel! Spread the word far and wide: Buffalo is tired of big corporations like National Fuel taking resources out of our communities and leaving families to make tough choices just to stay warm. Why is National Fuel CEO David Smith making $3,500 an hour while WNY families struggle to pay their bills? National Fuel needs to partner with this community because we have the solutions and we deserve better! We'll be meeting on Niagara St then marching up to National Fuel to send a strong message that we can't afford to be left out in the cold any longer. When we show up in big numbers, people listen! We need you! The People's National Fuel Stakeholder MeetingComments :: Activism, Community, home ownership, Housing Issues, Politics, Sustainability
Our friend Aminah Johnson at PUSH passes this along:
Not The West Side Bazaar, but like it
Treat yourself and meet merchants from many different countries who are starting their businesses at the Bazaar.
Bonnie Smith
Are you looking for an opportunity to grow your community garden, add a component to your neighborhood project, strengthen your youth program or neighborhood outreach efforts, learn strategies to address policy challenges, market your city farm project or create value added products? Then join us in Buffalo, NY:
The Massachusetts Avenue Project’s Urban Agriculture Training features many practical, philosophical, and experiential opportunities to learn from MAP’s success with urban, youth centered agriculture.
In addition to witnessing the components of a functional urban farm first hand, such as urban fish farming, composting, and value-added food production, participants will be able to engage and observe many of the successful elements in MAP’s youth training program, Growing Green. Attending the training also means being able to hear from regional experts on food system planning and development, and network with other beginning or established urban farmers, with training at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Innovation Center and hands on at Growing Green’s Urban Youth Farm. Only $200, this weekend workshop includes 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, a cocktail reception, and intensive, hands-on training opportunities.
Workshops include
Comments :: Community Gardens, Composting, Education, Environment, Food Security, Green Collar Jobs, Green Spaces, How-To, People, Sustainability
From BR friend and supporter Chris Llop:
A Competition That Consciously Challenges the Conventional Paradigm
COMPETITION PREVIEW EVENT
Join us as we work together to build support around this exciting project.
We request your feedback and continued involvement as we move forward.
Designing to Live Sustainably seeks to encourage sustainable living through collaboration and design.
Chris says:
Long story short, our team has been working to create a national sustainable design/architecture competition for the Buffalo-Niagara Region. We’ve made a lot of progress, and are holding this event to invite feedback from the experienced to fine-tune and have as much impact as possible. We’re also interested in finding synergies where what we are doing might relate well to the initiatives of others in the area.
Comments :: Community, Environment, People, Sustainability, Technology
Winter is a difficult time at Buffalo ReUse. If you haven’t noticed our store is cold. But our incredible staff and crew are tough and hardy and do a yeoman’s job under these hard conditions. Winter is also a difficult time financially for ReUse. The pace of deconstruction and salvage slow. Lower volumes of stuff come in and it’s hard to entice people to visit us when it is 10 degrees in the store.
Thus we are issuing this appeal to let you know you can help support Buffalo ReUse’s missions by donating old scrap metal items. It doesn’t have to be large amounts of metal either. The old rusty baking sheet in the pantry, that cigar box of little wire clippings grandpa saved years ago, the obsolete valve the furnace guy replaced when you switched to modern heating and you can’t throw away because it is metal, that pile of aluminum pie tins and take-out containers under the sink, Grandma’s pair of broken scissors . . . I think you get the idea.
Of course you could take these items to the metal recyclers but at 15 cents a pound for steel you might get 25 cents for that rusty old baking sheet. And you’d have to wait in a long line of menacing trucks to wait your turn to pull up on the scale – it’s pretty intimidating. However for us old bits of scrap metal add up and help Buffalo ReUse push through the slow seasons.
But if that weren’t reason enough consider this, your pantry will be clutter free and you will be helping the environment as well. Environmentally metals have and still do exact a very heavy environmental toll. In America the legacy of our industrial past has left many terrible and toxic scars across the land. From mountains of waste rock destroying vast ecosystems and flooded mines and pits producing acidic mine drainage into water supplies, to increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other emissions from the fuels used to mine and produce metal, and thousands of former industrial sites badly poisoned with everything from solvents to PCBS to toxic metals. This only mentions a few of the problems. Nowadays much of this work is done in places like Africa, Asia, and South America and is introducing industrial-scale environmental ruin to these places and their people.
A particularly bad recent example is the toxic red mudslide that occurred in Hungary. That mudslide occurred when a levee containing a lake of chemical wastes from aluminum mining and processing failed and the reddish colored mud/toxic waste flooded over the land. Tributaries of the Danube and miles of land were poisoned and will not be safe for generations. Aluminum is an especially troublesome metal because it requires approximately four tons of bauxite to obtain 1 ton of aluminum. It also requires millions of gallons of water and tons of caustic chemicals and huge amounts of electricity to refine it. Aluminum is one of the most environmentally damaging metals despite being one of the easiest to recycle. Recycled aluminum uses one-third of the energy virgin aluminum does and recycled aluminum does not require mining or produce toxic red lakes.
So please bring your scrap metal to Buffalo ReUse at 298 Northampton Street, Buffalo NY 14208, any time we’re open (Tues-Sat 10-6, Sun 12-4, closed Monday), and we’ll gladly accept your donation. If you have a lot of scrap, we can come pick it up – just call us at 716-882-2800 and we’ll see what we can do to take it off your hands. Metals may be old, rusty, twisted and bent but we ask you follow the guidelines below.
We cannot accept or dispose of the following:
Finally, no processing (e.g. removing glass) can be done at Buffalo ReUse and we cannot dispose of ANY non-metal items that are not acceptable. We reserve the right to reject any metals for any reason. So if in doubt or you have extremely large loads please call ahead, 716-882-2800.
Comments (1) :: Environment, Fund Raising, Fundraising, Store, Sustainability
HEAP is a federally funded grant program intended to assist low-income households in meeting immediate home energy needs. HEAP recently changed their guidelines – if you didn’t qualify before, you may qualify now!!
HEAP can help you pay your families energy bills in an emergency situation or over a period of time. Please check out the following eligibility guidelines to see if you qualify for a HEAP Program.
There are THREE types of HEAP benefits:
Regular HEAP – this benefit is an annual supplement to assist eligible households with heating costs or to supplement rent which includes heat.
Emergency HEAP – this benefit is used to meet heat or heat related emergencies. (such as a shut off notice)
Heating Equipment Repair and Replacement – this benefit is available to assist homeowners in replacing or repairing unsafe or inoperable primary heating equipment.
Beginning November 1 each year, clients can apply for regular and emergency benefits. When funding runs out, the application period closes.
Eligibility Rules for Regular HEAP
HEAP eligibility is based on the following:
2010-11 Income Eligibility Guidelines
|
Household Size |
Tier I |
Tier II |
|
1 |
$1,173 |
$2,129 |
|
2 |
$1,578 |
$2,784 |
|
3 |
$1,984 |
$3,439 |
|
4 |
$2,389 |
$4,094 |
|
5 |
$2,794 |
$4,749 |
|
6 |
$3,199 |
$5,404 |
|
7 |
$3,604 |
$5,527 |
|
8 |
$4,009 |
$5,650 |
|
9 |
$4,415 |
$5,773 |
|
10 |
$4,820 |
$5,896 |
|
11 |
$5,225 |
$6,029 |
Emergency HEAP
In addition to regular benefit eligibility criteria, applicants for Emergency Benefits must also have the bill in their name or the vendor must be willing to put the bill in the applicant’s name. Emergency applicants should have a shut off notice.
Heating Equipment Repair and Replacement
HEAP benefits are also available to repair or replace the primary heating system for households when the system is unsafe or inoperable. The applicant must be the homeowner. The dwelling must be the applicant’s primary residence and the applicant must currently be residing in the dwelling.
Applying for Regular Benefits
Households must file an application each HEAP program year. All applicants can apply by mail unless they are self-employed or have rental income. You can also fill out the HEAP application in person at the NYS HEAP Bureau.
Contact Information:
NYS HEAP BUREAU
NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
40 North Pearl St., 11th floor
Albany, NY 12243
Phone: 518-473-0332
NYS HEAP Website: www.otda.state.ny.us/main/programs/heap
NYS HEAP Email: nysheap {at} otda.state.ny(.)us Additional information and an eligibility prescreening tool can be found at: www.mybenefits.ny.gov
Comments :: Environment, home ownership, How-To, Money, Sustainability
Maybe you already have a rain barrel at home, or maybe you need one too. You might know someone with a thirsty garden, or someone who uses rain water as a way to reduce their water and sewer bills. Rain barrels are a way to conserve water and improve our local environment; they divert water away from building foundations, slow water run-off, reduce the amount of water entering storm drain systems, and reduce the amount of pollution that is carried into our waterways. What a great gift!!!
A Buffalo ReUse Rain Barrel includes: a 55 gallon food grade barrel, a hose bibb (spigot), a screened drain cover, all fully assembled, and instructions for installing the rain barrel under your downspout. Once installed, the barrel will hold 55 gallons of high quality rain water, and you can attach a hose and use it for whatever you want.
Save more than 30% on Rain Barrels, only on Black Friday. No other discounts or offers are good with this deal. Get ‘em while they last!
Comments (1) :: Business, Calendar, Community, Environment, How-To, Sustainability Tagged Black Friday, Buffalo ReUse, Rain Barrel, Sale
Starting next Tuesday, November 16th there will be a series of three public meetings to inform city residents about the new zoning code that the City of Buffalo is going to create over the next couple years.
As stated from the Buffalo Green Code website;
The new Buffalo Green Code will be the first opportunity Buffalonians have had in nearly sixty years to establish a new regulatory framework for the development of our neighborhoods.
Zoning is the tool by which we build our communities. It determines what gets built and where. It’s essentially Buffalo’s DNA. The process to re-imagine the city’s future and write a code that matches the community’s vision will be an exciting opportunity for the people of Buffalo. As this process gets rolled out, over a period of three years of serious work, encouraged that all citizens in every section of the city participate and take an active role.
If you do not know what zoning is, the question and answer section of the green codes website does a decent job covering the topic. It definitely is a very important tool in creating and maintaining cities and is going to be a key part to Buffalo’s accrued success moving forward.
We have one of the most friendliest and enthusiastic cities out there and it shows as you walk up and down the streets of Buffalo, no matter what neighborhood you are in. So please come out and continue the support and give your input on our City’s own future. If you want something done you have to go out and do it. Things don’t happen on their own. So come out and have a say next week, there will be three different meetings that are held to provide Buffalonian’s an opportunity to have a say in our promising future we all have known this City is capable of.
Tuesday, November 16th, 7pm. Central Public Meeting
Buffalo Musuem of Science. 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo, NY, 14211
Wednesday, November 17th, 7pm. North Region Public Meeting
Bennett High School. 2885 Main Street, Buffalo Ny 14214
Thursday, November 18th, 7pm. South Region Public Meeting
Tosh Collins Community Center. 35 Cazenovia St. Buffalo NY 14210
Keep up with the Buffalo Green Code’s development by becoming a fan of their facebook page and signing up for the website’s newsletter. Issue #1 is already out. Follow this link to read more.
Comments :: Activism, Community, Environment, Government, Housing Issues, Politics, Sustainability Tagged Buffalo Green Code, Urban Planning
