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