2011: Another year into the Transition

The beginning of our seasonal climb from the shortest day of the year towards the longest reminds me of the image (provided by Rob Hopkins, I believe) of the iconic peak-oil Hubbert Curve turned upside down.  In this more positive representation, we are swimming upwards from the depths of our oil dependency toward a satisfying and happy, albeit different, life.  Transition Houston has been exploring that future in small pieces with our awareness-raising, our community-forming, and manifestations of resiliency such as our permabiltzes.  During the new year we will continue that work, but also explicitly connect with other aligned organizations through our Action Groups, and progress toward a Great Unleashing.
 
There are several events of interest in the works for January 2011, including the Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale, screening of Climate Refugees, monthly meetings of Transition Houston, Transition Old Sixth Ward, and the Clear Lake Transition Initiative, and a Clear Lake permablitz.  More details will come soon regarding the monthly meetings and permablitz, but for now here is information about the fruit tree sale, a related volunteer opportunity, and the movie screening.

Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale, Saturday, January 15
Fruit trees offer a great opportunity for abundant food with minimal effort, and can be a core element of personal resilience.  Fruit tree sale season is coming up early in the new year, with a number of organizations holding sale days.  One of the sales coming up soon is the Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale.  This annual sale brings together far more types and varieties of fruit trees than can be found anywhere else in the greater Houston area  This year the sale is going to be held at Robertson Football Stadium, on the University of Houston Main Campus (Scott Street at Holman Street).

Event: Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale
Place: Robertson Football Stadium on the University of Houston campus Scott Street at Holman Street
Date: January 15, 2011
Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until sold out

Buy a tree or two from the largest one-day fruit tree sale in the U.S. and learn “the how to’s” at the presale talks:

Presale talks: Heidi Sheesley and Ray Sher
Place: United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive at Memorial Drive
Dates: Tuesday, January 4 (7 to 9:30 p.m.) and Saturday, January 8 (2 to 4:30 p.m.)
Learn more at www.urbanharvest.org

Volunteers needed for Fruit Tree Sale, January 13-15
The Urban Harvest sale can not happen without the contributions of volunteers, both for setup on Thursday and Friday, January 13 and 14, and on the actual day of the sale on Saturday, January 15.  You do not have to volunteer for every one of those days!  If you are interested please contact Bob Randall as soon as possible.  His contact email is baeb at comcast dot net.  This is a great opportunity to learn about the sorts of fruit and other productive trees and bushes which are well-suited for the Houston area, and to meet other interesting and like-minded people.

Movie Screening:  Climate Refugees, Wednesday, January 26
Transition Houston, the USGBC Emerging Professionals (EP), and the Rice Environmental Club are presenting the next film in our green film series on Wednesday, January 26.  The movie is Climate Refugees, a documentary film about “the human face of climate change.”  Information about the movie can be found at www.climaterefugees.com, including film trailers.  More details will come soon, but please save the date!

Climate Refugees film screening
Place:  Rice University Media Center, corner of University Blvd and Stockton, entrance #8 on the Rice University Campus
Date:  Wednesday, January 26
Time:  6:30pm

Transition Houston is looking forward to another great year of community, connection, relocalization, and resiliency in 2011.  We wish you a happy and joyful New Year!

October is the busiest month (in warm Houston)

As the October weather cools down (we deeply and sincerely hope), activities of interest to the Houston Transition community heat up.  Here is our mid-September update and look-ahead for your anticipatory pleasure.

 

Transition Houston October Meeting October 4
We are very fortunate to have a special guest speaker at our October meeting.  Richard Johnson is the Director of Sustainability at Rice University, in which role he coordinates, supports, leads, and provides technical assistance for a broad range of campus sustainability initiatives, including high-performance “green” building, recycling, energy conservation, and environmental education.  Richard gave a talk at My Houston 2040 a couple of months ago that spoke directly to the challenges and responses of the Transition Movement.  You won’t want to miss his talk.  Details of the meeting can be found at transitiontexas.ning.com/events/transition-houston-monthly-137.

Transition Houston October Meeting
Monday, October 4
7-9pm
Urban Harvest (2311 Canal St., Houston)
contact:  Mark Juedeman (mjuedeman at gmail dot com)

 

No Impact Project
Our annual Labor Day Potluck was excellent, again–we had a great group of people, great food, and–this year–a special movie screening of the No Impact Man Movie.  If you missed that opportunity to see the movie there is another screening on Tuesday, September 28, 7:30pm-9:30pm, at the Houston Arboretum.  This is all leading up to GreenWeek Houston, October 10-17, presented by USGBC Emerging Professionals, Houston Green Scene and the Last Organic Outpost.  Many of our Transition Houston members are involved in GreenWeek, and several are actually going to be facilitators for No Impact Experiment workshops.  One of the facilitators, Nancy Edwards, provides this tidbit:

The No Impact Project is coming to Houston, Oct. 11-15, the week after 10/10/10, the Workday for the Planet.

After you see the film you might be frightened and think, “I could never do that, even for a week.  That’s too hard.”  Also from the film you get the impression that Colin Beavan spent all his time on shopping at the Farmer’s Market and childcare.  Actually his child had a daycare provider and he went to The Writer’s Room, a co-op office, during the week and worked on his book.

But the point is not to do everything that he did.  The point is to use the impetus of the project to learn and implement new ways to lower your own impact.  It is also an opportunity to meet other people at the evening seminars who are working on the same experiment and learn from their trial and error as well as your own.  If you want to sneak a peek at what you will be doing go to 10/11 – 10/15: No Impact Experiment (Evening Workshops).

I hope to see you at New Living, the green building and home store (6111 Kirby Drive) where I, along with Matthias Jung, will hold seminars Monday through Thursday evening  from 6:30 to 8PM  (The seminars are not required).  Mary Schultz and Jan Tijmes will be at Taft Street Coffee, 2115 Taft Street (between Fairview and West Gray), holding seminars there also.

Nancy Edwards
needwards at comcast dot net

 

10-10-10 Permablitz(s)
Speaking of the 10/10/10 workdays–our Transition community will be at work with two Permablitz projects on October 10!  Please save the date to participate in whichever is most convenient for you:

Transition Houston will be Permablitzing in the Sharpstown area of Southwest Houston on the morning of October 10.

The Clear Lake Transition Initiative will be Permablitzing all day on October 10 at the community garden at St. Christopher Episcopal Church in League City.

Details for both will appear in the Transition Houston newsletter at the end of the month, but for now please clear your calendar on 10-10-10!

 

Solar Tour and Social, October 2
As you can already see, October is chock-full of activities and events that will be of great interest to the Transition Community.  Here is another that you won’t want to miss–The 2010 Houston Solar Tour and Social, chaired by Transition Houston’s own Matthias Jung:

Are you curious about how solar systems work?  Learn about solar system designs, the costs and how a solar energy system will reduce your electricity bill.

Come to the ASES Houston Solar Tour for a first-hand experience showing a variety of solar solutions. From commercial installations and residential projects to solar thermal hot water and pool heaters, don’t miss out on this opportunity to see renewable energy solutions. Meet homeowners with solar systems, plus learn why solar energy systems are becoming more and more popular.

This year’s Solar Social will take place at the University of Houston’s College of Architecture. Stop by between 9 am and noon to meet the city’s solar installers and other groups involved with our growing renewable energy industry.  Learn about the Green Building Component Program at U of H, and see student projects that are being developed as part of the green building movement.

Transition Houston will be represented at the Solar Social, but we need volunteers to be a contact and to staff the table during the social.  Can you help?  Please contact Mark Juedeman (mjuedeman at gmail dot com) and let him know you are available!

 

APTA Annual Meeting, San Antonio, October 3-6
For those of you with an interest in transportation policy–a key tool in managing energy descent in our Transition communities–you may wish to attend the American Public Transportation Association annual meeting in San Antonio October 3-6.  Michael Davies (also a member of Transition Houston) will be attending, and can provide more information (davies88 at gmail dot com).

 

Transition Class at Leisure Learning, October 18
But wait, there’s more!  October isn’t done yet–on the evening of Monday, October 18 Transition Houston will be presenting a class at Leisure Learning about the Transition movement and Transition Houston, followed by a visit on Saturday, October 23 to the Japhet Creek Transition community.  If you have family or friends who are curious about the Transition movement, what it is all about, and what it means for Houston please tell them about this class.  A portion of the class fee will go to Transition Houston for our projects.

Transition Houston–Strategies for the 21st Century
Monday, October 18 7-9:30pm (field trip on Saturday, October 23, 10am-noon)
Greenway Plaza Area: Richmond/Kirby

 

Training For Transition Class, January 2011?
There has been a good deal of interest amongst Transition Houston members about having another Training For Transition (T4T) class, following up on last November’s very successful course.  The class is useful for those who want to learn about the Transition movement as well as those who are already involved.  We have now also received interest from Transition Dallas folks who are starting up their Initiative now.

Given the lead time required to plan a class, and indications that early next year would work best for the Dallas people, we are tentatively thinking about having the class in mid-January of 2011.  We still don’t have enough people indicating their interest for this class to make it definite, so if you would like to attend please let Mark Juedeman know as soon as you can (mjuedeman at  gmail dot com).  The cost of the two-day class, including breakfast and lunch, Friday potluck, and optional garden tours, is likely to be around $200.  There will also be a few partial scholarships available.

An Active Season, in the Gulf and elsewhere

I am sorry to admit that I am unprepared for a hurricane.
 
In the usual measures of preparedness my family is in good shape.  We have enough water for many days, and a good supply of food laid in the pantry.  Our car has its tank topped-off, and we even have plans on where we would go if we had to leave Houston.
 
Unfortunately I don’t think we are doing so well in terms of resiliency, especially in that all-important area of community.  We know our neighbors well enough to say hello, but do we know them well enough to work together in the aftermath of a disaster (natural or otherwise)?  We haven’t had get-togethers or potlucks with other folks on our block.  We haven’t really begun to build trust, haven’t done enough good things–voluntarily–for our neighbors, haven’t established our credibility as a family who can be counted on when needed.
 
A storm in the Gulf with uncertain trajectory and potential for significant intensification focuses the mind terribly.  One point that becomes particularly clear is that the natural level of Transition is not at the City of Houston level, but at a neighborhood level.  Transition Houston exists as a Transition Hub so that we can help connect concerned people with other concerned people, do things that are most effectively done (at least to start) for the entire area, and to provide support for neighborhood initiatives as they start.
 
And so it is a thing to celebrate when a community Transition Initiative emerges.  The Clear Lake community is providing our newest reason for celebration, as they are taking the first steps toward bringing neighbors together in the Clear Lake Transition Initiative.  If you live in the Clear Lake area you have an opportunity to not only celebrate, but also to be a part of this beginning at an introductory meeting on Tuesday, July 7, at 6:30 in the evening.
 
Clear Lake Transition Initiative introductory meeting
Tuesday, July 7
6:30 PM

Coffee Oasis
4650 Nasa Road 1
Seabrook, TX
Phone: 281-532-1439

Please RSVP by calling Rob Williams at 281-705-4307, as space is limited!
 
There has been a lot going on within the Transition Houston hub, such as the ongoing work by members of our Local Economy Action Group and others to establish a Buy Local business alliance, initial discussions between our Local Food Action Group and Berry Elementary Environmental Magnet school to see how we might work together, and our Permablitz Action Group’s most recent and extremely successful Permablitz.  We will be talking about these and other items at our July 12 meeting at Urban Harvest, 2311 Canal St., from 7 to 9PM (note that this is a date change from our usual first Monday of the month meeting date).
 
One thing we want to do at the meeting is to draw host names for our Fall and Winter Permablitzes.  The summer is a good time to plan for our cool-weather locations and schedule.  If you are interested in hosting a Permablitz and aren’t on the list to be considered (or don’t know if you are on the list) please email me at mjuedeman@gmail.com so that we can be sure to include you.  It would also be helpful if you could attend the meeting on July 12 so that we can answer questions you might have about Permablitzes or the planning process.
 
Transition Houston July meeting
Monday, July 12
7-9PM
 
Urban Harvest
2311 Canal St.
Houston 77003
 
As the 4th of July holiday approaches we are hearing many calls for energy independence, triggered by the ongoing tragedy in the Gulf but (I hope) sustained by a realization of the depth of our fossil fuel addiction and the consequences of our dependency. 

To my mind, the Transition Movement is the best and most comprehensive response to this call.