[SustainableTompkins] Affordable/sustainable tips - Got more?

[Elan Shapiro]

Here's a summary of what was sent so far in response to my request 
for affordable, sustainable options that could work for people of all 
incomes. Thanks to Marian Brown, Anne Rhodes, Tony Del Plato, Deb 
Eichten & Bethany Schroeder for their input. Anyone want to add to 
this nice start?
  I know there's a vast literature on frugality & sustainable living, 
but I'm especially looking for local solutions from our local 
experiences, that don't consume a lot of time.
None of this , by the way, is meant as a substitute for systemic 
policy &  institutional change , but it is an essential part of the 
puzzle.
Elan


FOOD JUSTICE
How can we ensure that relocalization/sustainability strategies 
(policies, economics practices, agriculture, lifestyle, etc.) address 
the rising costs of healthy food? 

Small Farmer's Markets in Northside and Southside (at Southside or 
GIAC) and maybe in Caroline and Enfield, Groton, Newfield.
Inform more people about subsidized/low income CSA program offered 
through Coop Extension, and get more funding sources in order to 
expand it.
Teach people how to porch-garden - tomatoes, lettuce, spinach.
Teach the kids at school, and send them home with little plants and 
instructions.
Localized campaign for donations  - by neighborhood - for either 
vegetables that people have grown or cash donations to buy 
vegetables. Special appeal to people who earn more than twice the 
Living Wage.
Neighborhood gardens.
Plant neighborhood fruit trees, grapes, berries, and herbs.
Neighborhood small scale composting set ups.
House parties, inviting neighbors in to try a new recipe  - small 
groups that visit each other's homes and try something new, and get 
the recipe.
Invites to Southside or GIAC and Enfield Community Center etc. to try 
new recipes, like demonstration kitchens.
Shared food preparation:
  On alternate Saturdays, alternate one baking bread, and pastries , 
and  other making a large entree which could be shared between the 
households with even leftovers to be made into casserole or lunch 
meals for days..Perhaps a "sign-up if interested" sheet could be done 
of individual small neighborhoods.
Rotate dinner sites in a small neighborhood, so that working parents 
could have family meals without so much of the overhead and we could 
all  reduce the energy to some degree of cooking, etc
Block parties in the summer with opportunities for people to learn 
how to cook with vegetables and make salads etc.  Lots of food and 
music.  All ages.
Neighborhood greenhouses and hydroponic growing spaces ... high 
school students learn at school (or BOCES) how to maintain, (and 
meanwhile learn the biology, math, economics, etc. connected to the 
project) and teach neighborhood folks.   Involve Coop Ext. people or 
Cornell people. 
Presentations at churches, clubs, service clubs, day care centers, 
about the nutrition and economic information, and information about 
how to get involved in growing food on your own or together.
Young Chefs program at GIAC to teach young people how to cook, with 
local TV program, demonstration sessions for parents and neighbors, 
dinners.  Bring people from the hotel school down to teach.  Get real 
equipment donated, and chef outfits, and fresh foods ... help the 
Young Chefs think about going to school to learn this profession.
Bring these educational programs into schools and agencies where 
people who eat (!) learn enough about food and options for good 
nutrition, including cooking methods - not as specialized as career 
training programs. The Chefs' Collaborative developed an eight week 
Sustainable Cuisine program for schools, which covered eating locally 
& seasonally, foods from different regions & ethnicities , water 
issues, etc. Kids eat what they learn. 


GENERAL/RE-USE
There has been an increase in local places to purchase "gently used" 
items at very low cost. There is much less of  a stigma these days 
about frequenting places  with used clothing and other goods- it's 
becoming the "cool" thing to do, at least here in Ithaca.
Salvation Army store, has very cheap reusable cloth tote bags, 
affordable replacements for free plastic shopping bags.
Many used items readily adaptable for new purposes. For $1, at the 
Salvation Army, I purchased a used ceramic jar which I now use to 
collect food scraps for composting.
"Sew Green" collective offers opportunities to learn how to refashion 
items from used fabrics, so the skills to "do it yourself" and make 
even higher quality bags exists.
Significant Elements, unknown to many,  offers used household items 
very cheaply. Free Fridays once a month.
.

.
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-- 
Elan Shapiro
Sustainable Tompkins Community Partnership Coordinator
Sustainable Living Associates, Principal
Frog's Way B&B
211 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-275-0249    607-592-8402 Cell

"We must be the change we want to see in the world"
	          Mohandas Gandhi