This month's topic is electric cars. Join Green Energy Ohio in Akron for its first network meeting of 2008. Snack on delicious food from Mustard Seed while hearing from Dana Myers, President of Myers Motors. Located in Tallmadge, Myers Moters is dedicated to provide creative, innovative, functional, responsible and fun alternative forms of transportation (www.myersmotors.com).

Learn more on upcoming environmental events, and network with professionals and others dedicated to creating a sustainable energy economy in Ohio.

The event is free and open to the public. RSVP to Athan at Athan@GreenEnergyOhio.org or call (216) 526-5545.

Save money, water, & energy with green building guru, Jim LaRue. This 7-week series will teach you practical ways to adapt your home to be more healthy for you and the environment. Program is FREE. Registration is required. Series runs from Jan. 10 - Feb. 21, 7 to 9 p.m.

This week's topic is, "Greening heating and cooling."

This series is Sold Out! Please follow the series online here.

Board of Trustees elections will be held at this meeting, and Harry Stark, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, will present the accomplishments of the Rocky River 319 implementation grant.

For more information, go here, or contact Jared Bartley, Rocky River Watershed Coordinator, at 216-524-6580 x14.  

Linking Land to Lake: Landscaping in Celebration of Water 

Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes will present their third annual sustainability symposium, this year focusing on the impact of gardening and landscape design on the Lake Erie Watershed and other water systems in Northeast Ohio. As stewards of one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water and 95 percent of the U.S. supply, people living near the Great Lakes' watershed have a particular responsibility to support and inform about the importance of water and conservation. 

Registration information.

Groundhog Day Bicycle Ride

Meet (at the bike co-op) after 10am, ride leaves around 11am. Supper*
served (back at the bike co-op) beginning at 1pm

Ride (6 to 40 miles, flat terrain) to Clark Field sledding hill (3
miles); stay for sledding, or continue to the new Ohio Erie Canal
Reservation Mountain Bike Trail (7 miles); ride the trail (if it's not
wet) and/or continue south on the Towpath Trail into the Cuyahoga
Valley National Park. Return on the same route**.

Helmets are required (loaners available), and mountain bikes are
recommended (a limited number are available for rent, or for loan to
members who clean and tune them up afterwards). Bring any sleds, skis
or snowboards you can carry (some loaners will be provided, and
transported). We'll break out the ski-bikes, and perhaps a sleigh-bike
if we get it built. Our new, gas-powered (!?) bike-washing equipment
will be available (and the shop for drying and re-lubing) after the
ride.

East Cleveland Theater presents August Wilson's play "Fences", a story of a former star of the Negro Baseball League who is working as a garbage man in 1957.

The performance and special reception will benefit the Windermere Renaissance Corporation (WR) was chartered as an Ohio non-profit corporation on August 20, 2004. It is sponsored by the Windermere Taskforce/East Cleveland Initiative.

This parent Taskforce had been organized in 2000 by Methodist and civic leadership in order to (1) repair and refurbish Windermere United Methodist Church for religious and community service, (2) to initiate professional family service programs and other services from the church facilities, and (3) to stimulate the physical and social redevelopment of the Windermere neighborhood in East Cleveland.

The Taskforce has raised and spent more than $3,000,000 for physical repairs to the church building and new child-care and family service programs from the church. Rev. Donald Lefelar, who served as Windermere Church pastor from 1974 to 1980, is the chairman of the taskforce. While church refurbishing and program development continue, the Windermere Taskforce decided last summer that it was ready to explore the development of new housing and other facilities in the neighborhood. It organized an independent corporation for this purpose.

You're Invited

Ohio's elected officials need to hear from you.

Please join Environment Ohio staff and many others as we meet with Ohio's legislators to express support for strong renewable energy policies.

Who: Environment Ohio members, renewable energy businesses, academics, landowners, local leaders and concerned citizens who support renewable energy development.

What: Briefing and training on renewable energy policy basics followed by in-person meetings with Ohio legislators.

Why: Ohio's elected leaders are currently making decisions about future energy policies and they need to hear from constituents about the benefits of renewable energy. That's why we are inviting you to join us in Columbus to share your story with Ohio's leaders.

How: Sign-up for Environment Ohio's lobby day at: www.environmentohio.org/action/energy/rsvp?id4=ES

Or, contact Amy Gomberg at 614-460-8732 or agomberg@environmentohio.org

If you are interested in going to this event and live in Cleveland, contact Stefanie Spear to carpool at 216-387-1609 or spear@earthwatchohio.org.

Learn about the Thunderhead Alliance, a North American coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations working in unison to break down the barriers to safe bicycling and walking in our cities and suburbs. Interim director Dominic Liberatore will talk about the group's Complete the Streets campaign. Part of the environmental town hall brown bag lunch series.

Engage with young leaders in Northeast Ohio including Chris Ronayne and Jose Feliciano on the “State of your 10,000 Little (micro) ideas” and then help create a three-part strategic plan to keep moving the idea initiatives into action.

For more information and to register.

You're Invited

Ohio's elected officials need to hear from you.

Please join Environment Ohio staff and many others as we meet with Ohio's legislators to express support for strong renewable energy policies.

Who: Environment Ohio members, renewable energy businesses, academics, landowners, local leaders and concerned citizens who support renewable energy development.

What: Briefing and training on renewable energy policy basics followed by in-person meetings with Ohio legislators.

Why: Ohio's elected leaders are currently making decisions about future energy policies and they need to hear from constituents about the benefits of renewable energy. That's why we are inviting you to join us in Columbus to share your story with Ohio's leaders.

On Wednesday, join us for Governor Strickland's State of the State Address at noon in the statehouse.

How: Sign-up for Environment Ohio's lobby day at: www.environmentohio.org/action/energy/rsvp?id4=ES

Or, contact Amy Gomberg at 614-460-8732 or agomberg@environmentohio.org

Quarterly meeting of the Greater Cleveland Asthma Coalition Education Committee.

For more information, call Lisa Camardo of the American Lung Association of Ohio at 216-524-5864, ext. 306.

By growing a native garden, Steve and Beth Cagan have turned their Cleveland Heights yard into an explosion of color and diversity. At this month’s Planet Chat, Steve, a professional photographer, will share his native wildflower photographs.

Planet Chat is a Cleveland Museum of Natural History Store program held the first Wednesday of each month to discuss topics concerning conservation, citizen science and the world around us. Stop by between 5 and 7:30 pm. Free with Museum admission.

For more information, please contact Terri Martincic at (216) 231-4600, ext. 3291, or tmartinc@cmnh.org.

CSU Levin College of Urban Affairs Forum with keynote speaker Tom Hicks, Vice President of LEED, U.S. Green Building Council. Hicks joined the U.S. Green Building Council in November 2004 after a distinguished career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He oversees the development and implementation of all LEED rating systems.

More Forum information.

As part of the 2008 Year of the Frog campaign, Biodiversity Alliance will present an evening with Panamanian herpetologist, Edgardo Griffith, Director for the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in El Valle de Anton.

For more information contact Cathi Lehn at (216) 707-2826 or clehn@cbgarden.org.

7th annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference on building safe, healthy and livable communities.

Registration information.

Don't miss this month's Midtown Brews event.

Topics will include:

• The proposed AMP-OH's 1,000-megawatt conventional pulverized coal-fired power plant to be built in Meigs County.
• How should CPP diversify its energy portfolio? What role should renewables and energy efficiency play in this make up?
• Is IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) a better technology?
• Is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) a viable solution?

Speakers will include:

• Councilman Matt Zone, City of Cleveland, Ward 17
• Richard Stuebi, BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at The Cleveland Foundation and is also the Founder and President of NextWave Energy, Inc.

Join us for lively dialogue and be a part of new networks changing the conversations in Northeast Ohio!

Visit Cleveland Public Art on February 7, 2008, from 5:30pm-8:00pm, to view the latest exhibit in our Storefront Installation Series.  Join us as Ryan Jaenke and Paul Rogers exhibit recent works inspired by the urban landscape.  They offer a fantastical tour of hand painted signage, train lines and bygone traditions and respite.  This event is free for all.  Refreshments will be provided.  

Save money, water, & energy with green building guru, Jim LaRue. This 7-week series will teach you practical ways to adapt your home to be more healthy for you and the environment. Program is FREE. Registration is required. Series runs from Jan. 10 - Feb. 21, 7 to 9 p.m.

This week's topic is, "Ventilation and interior surfaces."

This series is Sold Out! Please follow the series online here.

Help out this all-volunteer program for emergency response plans that will provide assistance, temporary housing, food and basic first aid for all animals during a man made or natural disaster. Volunteers needed for immediate training.

For more information, call 216-661-2292.  

Launch, the group of designers and activists that grew out of last year’s MOCA “Open” exhibit, will hold its inaugural film night. The first film is Orson Welles' F is for Fake. Free and open to the public. Go to www.launchcleveland.com for more.

7th annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference on building safe, healthy and livable communities.

Registration information.

Public forum for the Lake Erie lakewide management plan.

More information. Or contact the Ohio Environmental Council at 614-487-7506.

Monthly meeting of the NOACA Governing Board on regional transportation funding.

Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland’s 31st Annual Luncheon, with guest speakers Sandra Pianalto, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, and Kenneth D. Wade, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America.

Ticket information.

Oberlin Entrepreneurship Symposium: Inventing the Future will explore entrepreneurship within the fields of finance, the environment , the arts, and social enterprise, as well as the intersections among market , social, civic, and arts entrepreneurship. The symposium will feature keynote speakers and panelists, and provide opportunities for all participants to meet informally to share their own entrepreneurial ideas and ventures.

Speakers include Jerry GreenField, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, and Michael Alexin, vice president of product design and development for Target.

Free and open to the public.

Symposium schedule here.

Informal gathering of local planners and other placemakers organized by staff of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.

7th annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference on building safe, healthy and livable communities.

Registration information.

Public forum for the Lake Erie lakewide management plan.

More information. Or contact the Ohio Environmental Council at 614-487-7506.

Oberlin Entrepreneurship Symposium: Inventing the Future will explore entrepreneurship within the fields of finance, the environment , the arts, and social enterprise, as well as the intersections among market , social, civic, and arts entrepreneurship. The symposium will feature keynote speakers and panelists, and provide opportunities for all participants to meet informally to share their own entrepreneurial ideas and ventures.

Speakers include Jerry GreenField, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, and Michael Alexin, vice president of product design and development for Target.

Free and open to the public.

Symposium schedule here.

Hans Clebsch, CMNH Volunteer & Cleveland Orchestra Member

Click here to view our announcement on our website

Potluck dinner and election of officers followed by guest speakers Kathleen Chandler, State Rep. 68th District and Tom Sawyer, State Senator, 28th District. The topic is the Great Lakes Compact and pending environmental legislation by the Ohio General Assembly.

Led by Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ronald Fry, the co-creators of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a proven approach to engaging multiple stakeholders to achieve rapid, dramatic and holistic transformation.

Learn how to incorporate sustainability into your core strategy using AI.

For more information and to register, call 216/368-2030

Led by Dr. David Cooperrider and Dr. Ronald Fry, the co-creators of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a proven approach to engaging multiple stakeholders to achieve rapid, dramatic and holistic transformation.

Learn how to incorporate sustainability into your core strategy using AI.

For more information and to register, call 216/368-2030

Meeting of people interested in developing a more sustainable, local food system in Cuyahoga County.

Location TBA.

RSVP: Morgan Taggart at taggart.32@osu.edu or 216-429-8238.

Speaking at the City Club of Cleveland, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, the controversial authors of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility.

More information and reservations.

The Cleveland Section of the Ohio Planning Conference is offering a distance learning series to OPC members and guests free of charge. This session covers:

Demonstrate how to achieve density through design, as well as how to understand the economics of density. Learn how density works with transportation and ultimately affects sustainability. Examine density’s effects and benefits. Gain ideas on how to present the concept of density to achieve critical buy-in.

Please RSVP to Ann Klavora at ann.klavora@shakeronline.com or 216-491-1436.

An evening with Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals. His primary responsibilities include setting NAE's policy direction on issues before Congress, the White House, and Supreme Court, as well as serving as a national spokesman on issues of concern to evangelicals. He is the author of more than one hundred published articles and editorials, author and editor of The High Cost of Indifference (Regal Books), a contributor to On Christian Freedom (University Press of America), the Dictionary of Christianity in America (Inter-Varsity Press), and the landmark document "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Engagement."

Cizik has led the evangelical Christian movement to recognize the Gospel call to issues of creation care and justice. In a recent statement, Cizik said of his role, "Why? Because they are God's concerns. Thus, I will continue to sound a clear trumpet about the threats to God's creation posed by climate change, habitat destruction, species extinction, pollution and the spread of human infectious diseases. And, I will also continue to speak out about global hunger and climate change, genocide, and all denials of human dignity, such as posed by torture."

Meeting to discuss the reauthorization of the Clean Ohio Fund.

For questions, please contact Bill DeMora of the Ohio League of Conservation Voters at 614-481-0512 or bdemora@ohiolcv.org.

Save money, water, & energy with green building guru, Jim LaRue. This 7-week series will teach you practical ways to adapt your home to be more healthy for you and the environment. Program is FREE. Registration is required. Series runs from Jan. 10 - Feb. 21, 7 to 9 p.m.

This week's topic is, "Electrical service and water usage."

This series is Sold Out! Please follow the series online here.

Explorer Series lecture at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, with Case astonomy professor George Collins on the science of climate change. This will be a very good introduction to the topic -- summarizing the science and debunking the myths.

Ticket information.

29th annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association, the state's largest conference on sustainable food and organic farming.

Registration information.

29th annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association, the state's largest conference on sustainable food and organic farming.

Registration information.

In 2006, vacant and abandoned properties in just eight cities cost Ohio more than $60 million in municipal services and lost tax revenues. But our state and local governments can do more to spur productive use of these blighted properties.

Please join us for a media/policy forum on the release of a groundbreaking new report, "$60 Million and Counting: The Cost of Vacant and Abandoned Properties to Eight Ohio Cities."

Speakers will include experts from ReBuild Ohio and Community Research Partners, state officials, and some of the local leaders from the eight communities in the study:

• Cleveland (Detroit Shoreway, Mount Pleasant and Slavic Village neighborhoods)
• Columbus (Franklinton, Livingston-Driving Park and North Linden neighborhoods)
• Dayton
• Ironton
• Lima
• Springfield
• Toledo
• Zanesville

RSVP to John Williams at Greater Ohio at jwilliams@greaterohio.org or 614-258-6200.

Monthly sustainable business networking night of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability. This month's topic: Emerging urban farming opportunities.

The 2008 Annual Meeting of Cleveland Peace Action and the Cleveland Peace Action Education Fund, including a 50th Anniversary Celebration of Peace Action.

Potluck dinner at 6 p.m. and the annual meeting convenes at 7 p.m.

Keynote speaker is Joan Southgate.

Cleveland Peace Action/Education Fund members will be electing board members for both organizations. They will also be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Peace Action (nee SANE and Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign), including the recognition of many dedicated Cleveland peace activists.

Rally to encourage Cleveland City Council to reconsider the
AMP-OH Contract concerning the proposed 960-megawatt
conventional pulverized coal-fired power plant that would
be built in Meigs County near the Ohio River.

Come meet Elisa Young, founder of Meigs CAN (Citizen Action
Now) and resident of Meigs County and hear the community
perspective regarding this proposed coal plant.

For more information on this event contact Stefanie Spear at 216-387-1609 or spear@earthwatchohio.org. Visit www.earthwatchohio.org to click on a link to our
petition site or visit the Ohio Citizen Action website at www.ohiocitizen.org for additional information on the AMP-OH contract issue.

For updated and ongoing information concerning Meigs County, contact Elisa Young at 740-416-2694 or elisa1@yahoo.co

Save money, water, & energy with green building guru, Jim LaRue. This 7-week series will teach you practical ways to adapt your home to be more healthy for you and the environment. Program is FREE. Registration is required. Series runs from Jan. 10 - Feb. 21, 7 to 9 p.m.

This week's topic is, "Residential maintenance."

This series is Sold Out! Please follow the series online here.

• Why does Cleveland Heights need an increase in the City Income Tax (from 2.0% to 2.4%) which it's placing on the March 4, 2008 ballot?
• Why is the library asking for a new levy?

Come get answers and share your thoughts with members of Cleveland Heights City Council and the Library officials.

Bring your questions. Bring your neighbors and friends.

Co-sponsored by the Heights League Of Women Voters and FutureHeights.

Do you have a question you would like to pose to the City about the levy? What information do you need to cast an informed vote on this issue? Submit your questions (Elected officials are providing answers to the need to raise the income tax here.)

Cleveland City Council will hear testimony about Cleveland Public Power's agreement with AMP-OH to buy power from a proposed coal-fired power plant in southwestern Ohio. It is estimated the plant will emit 7.3 million tons of carbon annually.

Kenneth Reardon, Ph.D., Associate Professor in City and Regional Planning at Cornell University discusses a successful model for participatory planning and rebuilding in New Orleans' 9th Ward that resulted in the allocation of $145 million in available federal funds.

Free and open to the public, bring your own lunch!

To register, call 216-523-7330 or online at Rebuilding New Orleans.

Weekend Permaculture Design Course
in Columbus, Ohio

“Help green the city and prepare for climate change. Build networks of support and empower yourself with the skills of ecological design as we search for the roots of permanent culture”

Dates: February 22-24, Feb. 29-March 2, March 14-16, 28-30, April 11-13, 2008

Location: Columbus, OH

Description: Over five weekends on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, we will present the permaculture design curriculum with special emphasis on urban applications, strategies for changing climate and building local networks of support. The class will implement at least one of the design projects by rehabilitating an old orchard as a forest garden on the 40-acre campus of the United Methodist Children’s Home in Worthington; helping to move this historic institution back to its agricultural roots and forward to a second century of sustainability. The course is co-sponsored by Simply Living Columbus, and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, and UMCH. Some work-trade scholarships will be available.

Instructors: Peter Bane, Rhonda Baird and guests.

Cost: $895 including weekend lunches and course materials, $150 deposit required.

Contact: Peter Bane
812-335-0383
Association for Regenerative Culture
P O Box 5516
Bloomington, IN 47407
pcactivist@mindspring.com

What is Permaculture?
Consciously designed landscapes, which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings, and the way in which they organize themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent culture.

For more information on permaculture: www.permacultureactivist.net

The green party of the year!

"eMerge: A celebration" will remember 15 years of EcoCity Cleveland's efforts to make Cleveland a green city on a blue lake, celebrate the merger of EcoCity Cleveland with The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and help launch the new Center for Regional Sustainability at the Museum.  Everyone in the sustainability community will be there!

The party will include heavy hors d’oeuvres made with organic and locally sourced ingredients, cash bar featuring organic wine selections, a Great Lakes Brewing Company beer-tasting and live entertainment by Abby Normal, a very cool local band. You will also be able to learn more about the Museum's exciting vision for telling the story of life on earth and how humanity can respond to the challenges of the 21st century.

Tickets: $35 for Museum/EcoCity members, $45 nonmembers. Party plus private reception at 7 p.m. with EcoCity's David Beach and the Museum's Executive Director Dr. Bruce Latimer: $100.

See the invitation here. To reserve tickets online go here, or call 216-231-1177.

All proceeds benefit the Museum's Center for Regional Sustainability, which will carry on the work of EcoCity Cleveland.

Event sponsored by Ohio's Tomorrow

If your organization relies heavily on foundation grants, and you want to diversify your income by increasing individual gifts, this workshop is for you! Through engaging activities, small group work, role-playing, and action planning, participants will gain skills and tools to implement new individual giving strategies into their fundraising efforts.

Facilitator: Andy Robinson, a member of the Institute for Conservation Leadership's Consultant Network, has been raising money for social change since 1980. He brings to his trainings contagious enthusiasm, fundraising expertise, and practical suggestions for participants.

Cost: $120 for the first person; $70 for each additional person from the same organization. This fee includes the one-day workshop, all materials, and lunch. This workshop is made possible by generous support from the George Gund Foundation, which allows it to be offered at a rate significantly below the estimated value of $250 per person.

For more information: Visit ICL's website at www.icl.org or contact Quentin Samuels at quentin@icl.org or 240-638-3599.

This year's theme is, "Impact of Ohio's new electricity plan on your electric rates." Geared to energy managers and engineers.

For more information or to register, go here.

Watershed Management Plan Meeting 1
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
4:00 - 6:00 PM
Big Creek Watershed Management Plan introductory meeting. Representatives from the Big Creek watershed communities of Cleveland, Brooklyn, Linndale, Parma, Parma Heights, Brook Park, and North Royalton will participate. The public is welcome to observe. For more information contact the Charles Hambly, project coordinator, at the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan at 216-241-2414 x253.

This year's theme is, "Impact of Ohio's new electricity plan on your electric rates." Geared to energy managers and engineers.

For more information or to register, go here.

Over 100 conservationists will descend on Capitol Hill to discuss the importance of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes by attending the Healing Our Waters®-Great Lakes Coalition’s Great Lakes Day 2008. We invite you to join us, to meet with your elected officials and to share with them how vital a role the Great Lakes plays in your community and in your own life.

Go here for more information or to register. 

As part of Pop Up City, the Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio will conduct a workshop on temporary use projects, such as adaptively reusing pieces of the industrial landscape, as a way of drawing new energy to urban areas. Morning workshops with Berlin artist/designers Klaus Overmeyer, Tore Dobberstein and Andreas Haase, who will present some of their projects including temporary sports facilities or "sportification" for urban sites. Also, Natalie Pauken from the School of Visual Communication Design at Kent will discuss environmental graphics as a temporary use strategy.

In the afternoon, participants will tour several neighborhoods and talk about ideas for temporary use projects for specific sites. The UDC will select and implement at least one temporary use project for a Cleveland neighborhood. The cost to participate is $10. Contact Terry Schwarz at the UDC 216/357-3426.

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club gathering with a speaker on socially responsible investing.

Earth Day Coalition's Clean Transportation Program in partnership
with the Clean Air Task Force, the Ohio Environmental Council, the
Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign, and NOACA are proud to present a
3/4 day conference on clean diesel retrofits.

This event will feature comprehensive information on the range of
products available for reducing tailpipe emissions from heavy duty
diesel engines.

Conference components include:

-a live (outdoor) demonstration of a diesel particualte filter (DPF)
utilizing equipment which provides a realtime visual display of
emissions reduction.

-a technical explanation, targeted at fleet managers, of the science
behind the functioning of various retrofits, including, DOCs, DPFs, CCV's, APUs, and more.

-a question and answer panel featuring representatives from major retrofit manufacturers

-a question and answer panel on sources of funding for diesel retrofits, including specifics on Ohio's recently announced DERG program.

We hope you will be able to join us!
$30 cost includes continental breakfast and lunch

The Knoch Corporation will be hosting a Green/LEED seminar to discuss cost benefits of green building for employers.

Paul Shahriari, Partner of Greenlight Strategies and Founder of Greenmind Technologies, is the guest speaker and will cover eco-friendly building practices that have been proven to help our environment and reduce operational cost. Shahriari speaks throughout the United States discussing how the changes can make a big impact.

Registration details.

Join Green Energy Ohio for our first network meeting in Cleveland in 2008. Featured speaker is Bill Eger, Energy Manager in the City of Cleveland’s Sustainability Program. Established in May of 2005, the program’s goals are to save the City of Cleveland money and reduce its environmental footprint, use sustainability as a tool for economic development and introduce sustainability principles to city employees.

Bill will discuss energy policies and initiatives focused on driving sustainability in Cleveland in 2008 and beyond.

For more information, contact Athan Barkoukis at Athan@GreenEnergyOhio.org or call (216) 526-5545.

The destiny for the Towpath Trail is one that embraces a network of connecting trails that follow streams, creeks, and small rivers and provide a system that can one day place every Cleveland resident within a 10 minute bike ride. Once you find one of these trails, you can find your way to one of many authentic places that make Cleveland unique.

One such trail connector will follow the former Walworth Run now buried beneath Train Avenue. Plans for this new greenway will begin with a public meeting to be held on February 28 at Zion United Church of Christ in Tremont.

Get a jump on Leap Year at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Leap Frog Day on Friday, February 29 with activities in The RainForest from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The entire day is dedicated to our slimy frog friends with fun games, crafts, Get Close Frog Encounters, Meet the Keeper sessions and an opportunity to meet the Zoo's new mascot, the wood frog, Vern.

More information.

Keynote Speaker: Russell Pry, Summit County Executive.

For reservations: Call (440) 526-1822 or email cvrcog@yahoo.com

A pop up experience with food, fun, and spectacle in the Flats East Bank.

FOOD
Food vendors Ideally, some of the restaurants that will be part of the Flats East Bank development will set up stands and sell food and drinks. Pig roast and/or oil drum barbecues Grilling meat will add warmth and protein to the evening.

FUN
Ice skating If the weather is cold enough in the days leading up to the event, we will flood part of the Flats East Bank site for skating. If the weather is too warm, the rink area will become a pond for toy boat races. Open snowboarding and competition on rails, boxes, and ramps set up for the night.

Video game competitions Large-scale video games (Rock Band, etc.) projected on a blank building wall at the southern end of the site. (Vertical Sound for audio/projection equipment) Snowsuit fashion show and the crowning of Miss Leap Night.

SPECTACLE
Snow installation The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative and local artists will create a temporary snow environment as a setting for the event, using ice blocks and snow that will be stockpiled on the site in January and February. The snow installation will be constructed during the last week of February, generating interest and publicity in the days leading up to the event.

Central bonfire and/or a series of trash can fires at the river’s edge to provide light and warmth. Dead Christmas tree forest Old Christmas trees will be stockpiled and used to landscape the site for the event; trees will be harvested throughout the night to fuel the bonfire(s). The Christmas tree forest will be populated by polar bears (actually people in polar bear costumes) who will hand out snacks and deliver trees to the bonfire(s).

SAFMOD Cleveland’s multi-media performance ensemble will create a special fire performance for the event.

LOGISTICS
Safety Fire truck and ambulance on site; off-duty police officers will provide security.

A pop up experience with food, fun, and spectacle in the Flats East Bank.

FOOD
Food vendors Ideally, some of the restaurants that will be part of the Flats East Bank development will set up stands and sell food and drinks. Pig roast and/or oil drum barbecues Grilling meat will add warmth and protein to the evening.

FUN
Ice skating If the weather is cold enough in the days leading up to the event, we will flood part of the Flats East Bank site for skating. If the weather is too warm, the rink area will become a pond for toy boat races. Open snowboarding and competition on rails, boxes, and ramps set up for the night.

Video game competitions Large-scale video games (Rock Band, etc.) projected on a blank building wall at the southern end of the site. (Vertical Sound for audio/projection equipment) Snowsuit fashion show and the crowning of Miss Leap Night.

SPECTACLE
Snow installation The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative and local artists will create a temporary snow environment as a setting for the event, using ice blocks and snow that will be stockpiled on the site in January and February. The snow installation will be constructed during the last week of February, generating interest and publicity in the days leading up to the event.

Central bonfire and/or a series of trash can fires at the river’s edge to provide light and warmth. Dead Christmas tree forest Old Christmas trees will be stockpiled and used to landscape the site for the event; trees will be harvested throughout the night to fuel the bonfire(s). The Christmas tree forest will be populated by polar bears (actually people in polar bear costumes) who will hand out snacks and deliver trees to the bonfire(s).

SAFMOD Cleveland’s multi-media performance ensemble will create a special fire performance for the event.

LOGISTICS
Safety Fire truck and ambulance on site; off-duty police officers will provide security.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History will host a "Health Fair for Humans" with information about exercise, nutrition, physical wellness and mental well-being. More than 20 other health-related organizations will participate.

More information.

A pop up experience with food, fun, and spectacle in the Flats East Bank.

FOOD
Food vendors Ideally, some of the restaurants that will be part of the Flats East Bank development will set up stands and sell food and drinks. Pig roast and/or oil drum barbecues Grilling meat will add warmth and protein to the evening.

FUN
Ice skating If the weather is cold enough in the days leading up to the event, we will flood part of the Flats East Bank site for skating. If the weather is too warm, the rink area will become a pond for toy boat races. Open snowboarding and competition on rails, boxes, and ramps set up for the night.

Video game competitions Large-scale video games (Rock Band, etc.) projected on a blank building wall at the southern end of the site. (Vertical Sound for audio/projection equipment) Snowsuit fashion show and the crowning of Miss Leap Night.

SPECTACLE
Snow installation The Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative and local artists will create a temporary snow environment as a setting for the event, using ice blocks and snow that will be stockpiled on the site in January and February. The snow installation will be constructed during the last week of February, generating interest and publicity in the days leading up to the event.

Central bonfire and/or a series of trash can fires at the river’s edge to provide light and warmth. Dead Christmas tree forest Old Christmas trees will be stockpiled and used to landscape the site for the event; trees will be harvested throughout the night to fuel the bonfire(s). The Christmas tree forest will be populated by polar bears (actually people in polar bear costumes) who will hand out snacks and deliver trees to the bonfire(s).

SAFMOD Cleveland’s multi-media performance ensemble will create a special fire performance for the event.

LOGISTICS
Safety Fire truck and ambulance on site; off-duty police officers will provide security.

A presentation towards a greener lifestyle  sponsored by www.NewOrganicLifestyle.com

Learn ways to improve your life with:

• Recycling
• Energy Efficiency and Usage
• Local Food Sources and Diet
• Landscaping
• Vermicomposting ( Worm Composting )
• Green Products for the Home and Body
• Transportation