After nearly 150 people attended Sustainable Sweethearts Feb. 6, February's meet-up Tuesday at the Scenic Route Bakery was all about looking through great new project ideas submitted by the community.
Momentum is building for an annual Seed Project workshop Urban Ambassadors will hold on March 3 at DART Central Station. All of the project leaders who submitted ideas at Sustainable Sweethearts (along with anyone else who'd like to come) are invited to the workshop on launching your community project idea coming up next month.
Here are some updates on projects members of the UA community are talking about. Need help contacting one of these project leaders? E-mail info@urbanambassadors.org and we'll connect you.
Tiny House built by Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity
The Tiny House is currently on display at the Des Moines Home & Garden Show. Members of UA are planning to visit it as a group Sunday, February 15, at 1:00 pm.
Creating a community orchard with Forest Avenue Outreach
The Forest Ave Community Orchard Project monthly planning meeting will be this Monday 2/16 at 6:00 pm. The are meeting at St Vincent de Paul Thrift Store (1426 6th Ave. DSM 50314) in the Education Room on the 2nd Floor. This meeting is open to all who want to participate or simply observe. It's not too late to join this team as they unite to "Forge a Jewel in the Crown of Des Moines" You can access a meeting agenda here.
Creating a framework for sustainable event management in Des Moines
James Bruton, production manager of the Des Moines Arts Festival, stopped by to share his efforts to make that major downtown event more sustainable, from charting out where waste goes to re-evaluating how the festival's stages manage electricity and beyond.
Announcements about events coming up
In addition to the project discussion, Lee Wagner stopped by to deliver an update on this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade, in which UA friends will march for a second year. Last year's event proved to be a fun way for members of the "green" community to march in the city's green parade. We thought it just seemed proper somehow, and indeed with the good energy from the crowd along the street, we're excited to return again for a second year to prove we're "as green as the Irish."
We are excited to promote a Pop Up Film Festival at HoQ, one of our favorite “real food” restaurants in Des Moines. The Real Food Media Project, is a collaboration among some of the nation’s leading food and farming organizations joining together to help spread the story of our food. The event will take place from 2-4 PM on Sunday, February 22nd at 303 East 5th Street, Des Moines. The event is free with a cash bar. Please sign up to let us know if you plan to come.
Finally, Food Corps friends Marlie and Chelsea stopped by to let us know about their 2nd annual "It's almost spring meeting" which brings together members of school, community, and faith based garden for a morning of networking, resource sharing, and garden planning for the 2015 growing season. UA's own Greg Van Den Berghe will present a session on seed saving. The event takes place at Hiatt Middle School, 1214 E. 15th Street, Saturday, Feb. 28 from 9-noon. It's free to attend.