East Cleveland looking for help with planning RECYCLING!!!

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 07/25/2006 - 00:38.

I had the pleasure of joining a group of East Cleveland residents of Ward 2 (the neighborhood nearest to University Circle), hosted by Ward 2 Councilwoman Barbara Thomas, where she gave citizens the opportunity to discuss their issues and seek insight and solutions - one of the things I love about East Cleveland is this small-town form of government... you need to experience it. One topic was trash, and that led to recycling, and I know realneo members love that! So... who wants to plan some more recycling?

My friend and very active Ward 2 resident Patricia Blochowiak, M.D. (of Global Awareness Through the Arts (& Sciences), Coit Road Farmers' Market, Cleveland Academy of Family Physicians, Windermere Renaissance) raised the issue that East Cleveland could save $80,000 in trash hauling costs (they are under contract with BFI, I believe), if they could recycle more of their trash. The councilwoman asked that a committee form to address this issue and Pat said she will be on the committee.

Now I don't know anything about recycling so I don't have much to offer, but I know lots of REALNEO members helped organize and operate the recycling for Ingenuity Festival, so how about helping an entire city with that challenge. I'm sure you'll have lots of field support and community appreciation. Post your comments here, and email me if you want to look into this further... I think this is a great opportunity to show NEO how people from all over and of all interests can work together to make a big difference in a community and for their local economy through environmentalism. Email me at realneo [at] inbox [dot] com or private message me.

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Recycling effort - I'm in!

Submitted by Sudhir Kade on Tue, 07/25/2006 - 01:29.

I'll gladly assist with this effort.  Models like those being employed by the City of Cleveland could be implemented and when I spoke with Mayor Jackson last Friday he expressed a bit of dichotomy - clearly demarcating East Cleveland as its own city but remaining open to dialogue or best practice sharing.  

Programming through the schools to inspire young people and their wide-eyed idealism might help make a difference and enforce recycling with families in their respective households if the systems were in place to make recycling easy and painless as possible.

Perhaps EECO and Earth Day Coalition could help facilitate such programming at the K-8 and high school levels, respectively - should the EDC environmental congress add Shaw to its list of schools supported.   I can reconnect with Mark McClean, David Wright... and John McG, I know you can hit those inroads at EDC - it was a pleasure meeting Chris Trepal at the Shaker Lakes meeting and I know she voiced willingness to support East Cleveland programming at that meeting.

If we want to innovate let's do it with process here.  Capturing those cost savings will be critical to help fund and sustain the program so kudos to Pat for her projections.    

I'm picturing the ideal - biodiesel -fueled trucks  motoring around town, picking up recyclables at easy to find recycling drop-off points- perhaps even curbside.  Systems that make it easy for businesses in town to share and use recycling dumpsters.  And perhaps creation of new economic opportunity in a state of the art recycling center in East Cleveland? 

Dr. Pat, Sudhir, Mark for sure... who else?

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 07/25/2006 - 02:34.

Now this is exciting. I'm sure we need to start with some small steps but there shouldn't be a lot of turf fighting over making this happen, since its all about trash. I saw Mark McClain at the meeting tonight and he is as cool as always and we can count on his support. Councilman Martin was there and will be supportive. Coumcil President Norton is always great and that brings in County Commissioner Lawson-Jones. But we need the  trash experts and all the connections we can get - Sudhir, you're in charge of putting that together. I'll help as I may but this in not my field... I'll sort through some trash if that helps. I didn't catch the details, but I think the first step will be a neighborhood clean up in a few weeks when we can make sure the recycleables get sorted out - all the long term plans can be mapped out as we have some small successes. BTW - think income opportunities for residents - sorting out what can be sold, for example (and not the siding off the house down the street). Also, the education idea is great! I'll get more details -  I already emailed Pat about that.

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Crawling Before Walking

Submitted by Charles Frost on Wed, 07/26/2006 - 14:14.

 

Just my 2 cents, but when Cleveland Heights started up their recycling program (1984 ish?) they started out by having a sectioned drop-off trailer located at the parking lot of the scating rink in Forest Hills park, on Saturday mornings from 8-noon.  Those interested in participating brought their weekly accumulation of recyclables to that location and dropped them off.  It was attanded for the first year of so, then people got the hang of it.  After a couple of years they started up a very simple curbside program, and it has subsequently grown over the years (Ack!! decades!!!) to the point where we put out the majority of our household waste in the recycling bags, rather than in the trash bags.

East Cleveland walks - wants to run

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Wed, 07/26/2006 - 14:19.

From Dr. Pat, on the immediate need and recycling in East Cleveland

Thanks, Norm!

Barbara Thomas is planning a clean up, and clean ups are always
necessary, but the recycling need is a combination of education and
motivation. We have curbside pickup of newspaper, as well as
glass/cans/#1 & #2 plastics.

We have Abitibi paper bins at Rozelle School and at the Coit Road
Farmers' Market. They take catalogues, office paper, newspaper, junk
mail.

We have a Planet Aide bin for clothing at the market.

We need a local place to drop cardboard.

It would be great if more people did FreeReCycle - or something
comparable - instead of putting furniture in the trash.

I still have SCF lightbulbs to give to people in East Cleveland who
recycle.

Still people who say they plan to recycle don't do it.

One of my neighbors put 6 bags of usable clothing out for the garbage
trucks. I took it to Goodwill. [We didn't have the Planet Aide bin
yet.]

On a more positive side, the Planet Aide bin fills frequently.

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Down With The Landfills Up with the People

Submitted by Zebra Mussel on Thu, 08/03/2006 - 21:53.

Oi  I have a lot of ideas on this issue... but to keep them focused to city ord.
I am aware of some very progressive and applicable legislation elsewhere in the world that could help solve part of this problem.. in a way that would make all the landfill loving burbs go " Duh, why didn't we think of that".   

Norm, I am going to be on the road with my fam this month ALOT, but feel this is an important topic to support the development of.  Please email me directly (top secret) as this evolves.

Household Haz Waste

Submitted by Britelantern on Fri, 08/04/2006 - 11:55.

Another thing to consider integrating with this effort would be household hazardous waste pick-up and recycling (oil-based paints, motor oil, waste pesticides, etc., etc.)

This is being doing at the city level in a lot of the suburbs and at the county-level at least once a year. I think it's important to create a user-friendly mechanism to keep this crap out of the landfill waste. and, as with most of this other stuff, public education is a critical component. But, in my day job as a consultant who deals with environmental compliance, I see a lot lacking in awareness at all levels, and inadequate infrastructure to do anything about it. I'd be glad to assisst in ths regard.

Peace

county has waste resources, too

Submitted by Susan Miller on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 17:24.

The folks at East Cleveland who are looking to clean up and restore their community may want to take advantage of the county's services. There are some wonderful education programs, too. http://www.cuyahogaswd.org/
Martha and I saw this quote on a rock in the Mill Creek reservation today...
“We must always remember that we did not inherit the earth from our parents. Rather, it is on loan to us from our children.”
It stands to reason that not only must we learn to be good stewards, but we must pass this along to future generations.

I'll share REALNEO members support with East Cleveland

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 18:52.

I'm meeting with Mayor Brewer tomorrow and will let him know there are many experts in this area who are supportive of helping East Cleveland develop programs and strategies - I'll follow up here as soon as I have more feedback from the community leaders there. Thanks for all the great suggestions and insight

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Rallying East Cleveland Support around a concerted strategy

Submitted by Sudhir Kade on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 21:30.

After a productive meeting with Nancy King Smith, local and universally-beloved matron of sustainabililty and founder of 'Green Connections', I have little doubt we will be able to bring any additional resources we need to the table to aid in this effort.  Four names have been provided, showing interest in supporting Community Gardens if need be, and we have already a solid core capable of driving the recycling effort to success.  If an effective and efficient model of pickup and transfer of appropriately sorted material to optimally located recycling centers gets locked down we will be in great shape. 

If we can justify enough community support and involve among 27K residents to create revolutionary support for recycling - (3 of 4 Austin residents recycle).  East Cleveland could set a precedent and lead the way, opening the door for funding and subsequent benchmarking.  The key would be to facilitate community understanding of the importance of doing it and driving action with compelling stories and dedicated leaders to execute.

  Name the resource we need or lack, and I feel confident we can map (within a few degrees of separation if need be) to the optimal people we need.  This and related projects have been dear to my heart from day one, I'll try to help in any capacity I can with the spare time I can muster.  

Jon Cline sent me some impressive resources recently along the lines of open source community planning and mapping.  The vision of two parallel efforts in GIS mapping and Social Network mapping - proceeding in synchrony is compelling and persistent in my vision. As such I'm gathering data and assessing tools at this stage and would like to draft a proposal for this project as time allows.  It provides us the metrics-generative, quantitative toolkit to optimally strategize, map and deliver effective solutions - and document the entire process offering the potential for research publication through some of my networks. 

Norm has led the way, and Zebra, Lantern, and several of our other RealNEO members have risen to the challenge and offered support and assistance.  We already have a high-level sustainability plan, but the crtitical network players and complete ecosystem map require attention and completion.  As a team I'm confident we can do this, with a little help from our respective networks and friends.  I guess that's what social networking is all about...  connecting, polarizing, and if need be - revolutionizing.

DISRUPT IT !

Spreading positive energy

Submitted by Britelantern on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 08:05.

Right on Sudhir!- A groundswell of collective energy can move mountains.

" Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness" - Chinese Proverb

 

more ideas from Vancouver

Submitted by Susan Miller on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 19:20.

This speeech given at the World Urban Forum in June 2004 about waste recycling and reuse in Vancouver -- http://www.cityfarmer.org/WUF2006SolidWaste.html#wuf
If East Cleveland could make these things work for them, they could not only save money, but be a leader in the region. Please print this and share it with Mayor Brewer.
In reference to the garbage trucks that run on biodiesel, Phil Lane should be able to provide the stuff. Urban gardening and using available land for community gardens and subsidized water conservation measures can save residents money, too. Even just using the open land for composting would be a step in the right direction. Hey, if Cleveland Heights can collect and sell leaf hummus, why can't East Cleveland make their own natural fertilizers?
This writer notes the sex appeal of urban gardening, too.
http://thetyee.ca/Life/2006/05/19/UrbanGarden/

got garbage?

Submitted by Susan Miller on Thu, 08/10/2006 - 19:30.

Check out what entreprenuers from Princeton are doing with the stuff we throw away... They're making cool cash. http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060701/coolest-startup.html
Where are the local student entreprenuers with this sort of get up and go in Northeast Ohio.
Have they gotten up and gone?

neo sustainable entrepreneurs

Submitted by johnmcgovern on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 20:04.

as for the lack of entrepreneurs..... it will certainly be kickstarted by the opening of the charter school, the entrepreneurship academy
"The school, one of only a few charter schools to be sponsored by the Cleveland Municipal School District, will be launched by a team including former entrepreneur John Zitzner, founder and president of the successful after-school program E CITY (Entrepreneurship: Connecting, Inspiring & Teaching Youth), now in its fourth year of operation."

perhaps this curriculum could expand to other schools with a dose of sustainability/natural capitalism/ecoknowledgy ??

Charter schools in East Cleveland

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/14/2006 - 09:45.

I've taken the leadership of the state and nation's top charter school, the Intergenerational School, through two properties in East Cleveland in the interest of them moving there, and they are very interested, and I arranged for Mayor Brewer and John Zitzner to meet to discuss a future Entrepreneur Academy in East Cleveland, which has potential, so East Cleveland is poised to have some very innovative and world-class educational resources in the future. Combined with programs to eradicate lead poisoning there, which is going very well, East Cleveland will soon be the only inner-ring city to connect healthy minds with healthy learning opportunities, putting residents there in a position to truly achieve excellence in learning. All the pieces must fit.

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Let's not forget the other five

Submitted by Sudhir Kade on Mon, 08/14/2006 - 20:39.

So entreprenership education  an intergenerational learning are fantastic but what both John McG and Susan Miller have referred to is inculcating entrepreneurial education with the opportunities which will only blossom further with time in environmentally sound eco-friendly products and services.  This was alluded to in a blog posting I made a year ago a well.  But the essential concept is simply this. 

We need education to be innovative, experiential and rigorous yet accessible, affordable, and comprehensive for all and an atmosphere needs to be created which cultivates pride in and motivation to learn.  Intergenerational  learning is a key component as well, of course - Each generation teaches the prior so much through worldly experience and that learning is reciprocated when young avant garde computer savvy kids show grandad a thing or two about social computing and the advantages to the senior citizen community - or any community.

Let's not forget that value is created at all of these intersections with education:

1.  technology and entrepreneurship

2.  entrepreneruship and environment

3.  technology and environment

4.  arts and culture and entrepreneurship

5.  health and technology

and so on, you get the point.   Each needs to be applied in its open source, cutting edge, affordable form so young people in underprivileged schools and communities can still use the most innovative technology around to network, become educated, and learn through a transparent and collaborative inherency.  Education is uplifted by every one of these , should best practices be shared and crossover research and design create new value

intergenerational aspects intersect these all, so one could place it in the center

as the hub in a hub-and-spoke model where each spoke reaches to one of our six pillars

above.  And each of the nodes to which these spokes connect cross connect as well.

All represent points of new innovation and value.  A holistic model for innovative charter

school education results. 

Anyway, I strongly  recommend Mark Mclean and David Wright at the k-8 level for environmental education.  I meet David next week.  and Earth Day Coalition should add Shaw to its list of high school programs if it hasn't already.

For Arts the Progressive Arts Alliance would be excellent - and Santina, a good friend of mine has already worked in East Cleveland a good deal and understands the politics and dynamics of several schools there.  She is amazing both as a musician , person and friend.

 

Health Education could come from a variety of sources : Health Space, Huron Hospital, MPH programs, and Urban Outreach programs out of free clinics and university medical centers like Case.

Technology education would require convincing the school boards to capture the value, adaptability, and transparency / collaboration advantages of Open Source computing , not to mention the employability of young people right out of , if not during high school to lucrative technical positions.  Shaw has programs that certify several of their H.S. grads.

And of course there are intergerational components to this all.  Age diversity promotes learning and enriches it with powerful and imaginative stories.

Eradicating lead poisoning will help with all six

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/14/2006 - 22:59.

I'm committed to one primary objective for East Cleveland - eradicating lead poisoning. This will involve renovating or removing all lead hazard properties, including restoring lead contaminated land, completely transforming the look and feel for the city. As a result, and through the process, all people in the community will come together as one, for one common goal, and in outcome all the children will be more advantaged than in Cleveland and the other inner ring suburbs, making them more successful in school and competitive in life. We are making progress with this, as demonstrated last Friday when CCOAL and Mayor Brewer came together to strategize the lead eradication process, reported on REALNEO here. Of related interest, read about what the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council is doing to make NEO the world leaders in addressing the lead crisis, beyond the efforts of any other major community in America, only on REALNEO, here.

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Absolutely agree

Submitted by Sudhir Kade on Tue, 08/15/2006 - 15:24.

Norm, I agree 100% that lead is the highest priority and will enable the ground for the other initiatives to proceed optimally.  Again, i'd like to work to assist with bringing aid and support to other initiatives that could move in parallel with this one.  And I'd like to get more involved with lead and these groups personally. Attending the Lead Rally last month was a good start and i have information to post around learnings from that experience.  I just need to work on making the time to be there and getting engaged.  Next week should open up that opportunity.  We should talk more soon. 

 

sustainable E CITY

Submitted by Susan Miller on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 21:20.

I posted this idea on GCBL back in March http://gcbl.org/node/39/14#comment-14
Good Idea. I concur.