Annual Report for 2011

***Editor’s Note:  This letter is also available as a downloadable two-page pdf here: 2011 Annual Report from the Center for Sustainable Living.***

Dear Friends of the CSL,

Thank you for another great year with the Center for Sustainable Living!  We had a tumultuous 2011 with the closing of the Bloomington Eco-Center and a shift in our board of directors and I am happy to say we came out stronger than ever, just in time to celebrate our 20^th anniversary.  “Sustainability” is quite the buzzword these days but it was a fringe movement in 1992.  We are proud to continue to promote living simply, sustainably, and in harmony with Nature –without worrying about whether or not it’s the trendy thing to do.

Financially speaking, 2011 was a very good year and helped us rebuild our bank account.

 2011 Financial Summary

2011 brought exciting news for several of our projects.  Most notably, the Bike Project opened a second location, BP2, right on the B-Line Trail near the Patterson/Grimes bridge.  SIREN also had a great year, seeing the number of photovoltaic panels in Monroe County increase significantly after they hosted a standing-room-only presentation on “Going Solar” in partnership with Earth Care.  Local First Indiana grew dramatically and had a wonderful response to their Think Local First Holiday Gift Guide.

Discardia organized the second annual (and highly successful) Trashion/ReFashion Show as a benefit for the Center.  B-TOP hosted several guest speakers while also lobbying hard for better pedestrian and bicycle access on our ever expanding roadways.  The Bloomington Organic Gardening Association held a plant swap at the farmers’ market and a number of gardening events for its members.  EcoReport had another great year recording hard-hitting environmental news.  Habitat Stewards held several wonderful workshops on topics ranging from rain barrels to bird baths to butterfly gardens.  Eco Media Center held a successful rain barrel and composter sale in partnership with Bloomingfoods and continued to develop gardens and eco-kiosks along the B-Line Trail.  Oasis put its efforts into gardening at other sites in the community while waiting to hear the timeline on storm sewer work proposed for underneath their primary location.

The CSL sponsored several events including the Simply Living Fair, National Parking Day, the Grow Organic Educator Series, and several other classes.  While we were sad to see the Bloomington Eco-Center close, we took the opportunity to downsize our office space and rental expenses.   We also decided to close the Food Project.  It was a difficult decision to make but we feel there are now a number of agencies in the community that provide access to healthy, organic, vegetarian fare and it would be best to focus our resources on educating about sustainability.

So far, 2012 is off to a great start!  We have a wonderful board of directors (see photo below).  Two new projects have joined us.  Trillium Horticultural Park Project is working to establish a permaculture demonstration garden/park on the county-owned Thompson property (off south Rogers Street, north of RCA Park).  Eco-Warrior Project is working on a film celebrating grass-roots environmental leaders in three countries.   Our website has been overhauled and we are working to digitize some of our archives so that past projects like BloomingHours, Beaming Bioneers, and the Straw Bale Habitat House will be easily accessible to everyone.

The 3^rd Annual Trashion/ReFashion Show was a great success (this year at the Buskirk-Chumley) and we are busily planning a special 20^th Anniversary Annual Celebration on Saturday June 23^rd in Bryan Park, preceded by a bicycle tour of solar homes (organized by SIREN) and a rain barrel workshop (organized by Habitat Stewards).   This fall we will also host a retrospective presentation on all that the CSL has accomplished in the last 20 years.

Please show your support for the work that we do by renewing your membership. 

Our financial needs are modest and you can rest assured that we will continue our tradition of frugal and simple living as we continue to grow the Center.  Want to show your support in other ways?  We are always looking for time donations, especially as we work to grow our membership and strengthen the sense of community amongst our members.  Let us know if you would like to host a discussion group, help plan an event like the Simply Living Fair, or contribute some other volunteer project that best fits your skills and interests.  With your help, we can continue to inspire and educate about sustainable living for another twenty years.

Thank you,

Maggie Sullivan, Board President

Current Projects:

• Bloomington Organic Gardening Association
• B-TOP
• Community Bike Project
• Discardia
• Eco-Warrior Project
• EcoReport
• Habitat Stewards
• Local First Indiana
• Oasis
• SIREN
• Transition Bloomington
• Trillium Horticultural Park Project

Volunteers Needed for Clips of Faith

We are seeking volunteers to help at the Clips of Faith Bike & Film Festival on June 8^th in Bryan Park.  The festival will screen a variety of bicycle-related short films and serve  hand-crafted beers from New Belgium Brewing Company as a fundraiser for the Center for Sustainable Living.

All volunteers must be over 21 and willing to get a temporary bartender’s permit (a simple application form) as many volunteer positions involve serving beer.  There will be a number of four-hour shifts available from 6:00pm to 12:00am.  This was a super fun event last year and we are looking forward to a great encore performance!  If you would like to help out, please contact us at csloffice@gmail.com.

Spring Plant Swap May 5th!!

The Bloomington Organic Gardeners Association (BOGA) will host a free plant swap on Saturday, May 5, from 8:00am to 1:00pm at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market.  Native plants, tree saplings, and seeds are especially  encouraged but all non-invasive plants are welcome.  Share your extras with fellow gardeners and pick up a few new plants for your yard or garden.  This is also a great opportunity to learn about BOGA.

Stylish Cycling – Panel Discussion May 2nd

Ready to become a professional pedaler?  Come to a “Stylish Cycling” panel discussion and hear tips and tricks from four female bicycle commuters on how to bicycle to work and still look great.  They will share their stories of mastering the bicycle commute and talk about how to look professional, stay safe, and have fun while traveling on a bike.  (Lycra and spandex are entirely optional.)  Ask your questions, share tips with others, and enjoy free tea and cookies.  All levels of bicyclists welcome, including not-yet-riders and those with bicycles buried deep in the garage.

7:00PM on Wednesday, May 2nd in room 1C of the Monroe County Public Library.

Looking for more bicycling opportunities?  May 11-18 is Bloomington Bicycle Week with a variety of events planned including a women’s ride, a bicycle rodeo, bike lessons for kids, and a family fun ride.  Learn more at the city’s website:  http://bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=5801

“The Raw and The Cooked” – A Visual Feast of Film

The Women Exposed Art Fest, in collaboration with The Ryder Magazine Film Series and IU Cinema will screen Monika Treut’s latest film “The Raw and the Cooked” on Sunday, April 29th at 6:30PM. The film is a documentary about Taiwan’s rich culinary traditions and is sure to make you hungry.  There will be a reception afterwards with delicious food prepared by Cafe D’Jango. The film is a fundraiser for Middle Way House and is also sponsored by IU East Asian Studies and Bloomington Center For Sustainable Living.

http://www.cinema.indiana.edu/?post_type=film&p=2445

Excellent Trashion ReFashion Show!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 3rd Annual Trashion/ReFashion Show this weekend!   We had a wonderful crowd and an amazing set of designs to showcase, plus the first ever Gail Kincaid Memorial Trashion Off.  (Pictured is local celebrity Miah Michaelson wearing the Trashion outfit designed by the “Town” team during the half hour intermission.)

Special thanks to event chair Jeanne Leimkuhler and the rest of the organizing committee who did a wonderful job with the logistics.  Discardia, the CSL project dedicated to creative recycling and upcycling of fashionable trash, has moved into a new location on the north end of the B-Line Trail.  They are planning a grand opening of their new boutique store in May.  Stay tuned for more details.

Hope to see you next Earth Day at the 2013 Trashion/ReFashion Show!

Guerilla Disc Golf with Trillium Horticultural Park

Join Trillium Horticultural Park and the Bloomington Disc Golf Club in a game of disc golf!  All experience levels are welcome and discs are available for loan to folks who do not have their own.  This event is being held to bring awareness to a piece of property that may serve as the future home of the Trillium Horticulture Park (a project of the Center for Sustainable Living) as well as Bloomington’s newest disc golf course.  The property is located north of RCA Park with parking available courtesy of Schulte at 1500 Strong Drive.

It will be an Open House style event where anyone can come and play between 10:00 and 7:00 on Saturday, March 31st and Sunday, April 1st.  Try out the temporary course, get a feel for the property, and ask questions about the Trillium Horticulture park or BDGC.  Admission is $1/ day per person which will give you access to the disc golf course.  All money raised will be donated to the Center for Sustainable Living in order help get the Trillium Horticulture Park off the ground.

For directions and additional information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/408625772497309/.  If you’d be willing to help staff an information table at the event for a couple hours, please contact Marie Fleming to volunteer.

Looking Back: The Start of EcoReport

The Center for Sustainable Living has been involved with the Bloomington community for the last 20 years. Starting now, we’d like to take a look back at some of the projects we have been involved in, and share our history.

Our first session of “Looking Back” features the EcoReport. The EcoReport first aired on WFHB (91.3) in Bloomington on August 30, 2007. The first broadcast was hosted by Paul Schneller and former CSL president, Lucille Bertuccio.  The featured guest, who led a discussion over bio-fuels, was Biology professor Marti Crouch.

All previous airings of the EcoReport are available on the WFHB website, and the radio show’s current time slot is Thursdays 11:00am-12:00pm.

http://www.wfhb.org/ecoreport-august-30-2007

Sticky Communities – Walk the Walk!

Mark Fenton is an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker who has been called “America’s walking guru”; his goal is to engineer physical activity back into American communities and lives.  B-TOP has invited him to join us next Wednesday for two events, a stroll through downtown Bloomington explaining his ideas and a more traditional presentation with examples from other communities. Join us! Both events are free and open to the public. For more information about him, see http://www.markfenton.com/

Wednesday, March 7th
Walk Audit
3:00-4:00PM (meet at Showers Plaza)

Presentation
5:30-7:00PM (City Council Chamber, City Hall)

Trashion Call for Entries

The 2012 Trashion Refashion Show is looking for fashion designs from the two following categories:

• Trashion is the result of creatively turning discarded items into fashion.
• Refashion is the result of modifying existing clothing into something more fashionable.

Up to 3 entries, in any combination of categories, may be submitted per designer or team.  Submissions are due on March 1, 2012. The show itself will take place on April 22nd (Earth Day!) at 7:00pm in the Buskirk Chumley Theater.  All levels of design are welcome!  We look forward to making the 3rd annual Trashion Refashion Show our biggest success and to raise funds for the Center for Sustainable Living.

Submission guidelines and other information are available on the Trashion website  www.bloomingtontrashion.org – start designing now!