Tag Archives: green infrastructure

Doubling down for sustainability in Connecticut: Get matched!

ioby is always looking to partner with other organizations innovating in the civic leadership world. Today, we’re proud to announce our new partnership with Sustainable CT, leading innovation in sustainability and equity work inside government. 

Sustainable CT runs a voluntary certification program for municipalities in Connecticut and has been operational since 2016. The model is not unique to Connecticut: similar programs have been in place in New Jersey for 10 years and in Maryland for 8 years. We’ve been familiar with it for a long time at ioby through our work supporting Sustainable Jersey City, and lifted up their work on green infrastructure

So, when we had the opportunity to explore an innovative new partnership with Sustainable CT, it was easy for us to imagine how we might work together. Even so, the depth of the partnership we have today was beyond the scope of our imagination and we couldn’t be more excited. 

Continue reading Doubling down for sustainability in Connecticut: Get matched!

Go Green: How to make your community more sustainable

You’ve done it: you’ve gone green at home! You’ve replaced your incandescents with LED light bulbs, you’re eating less meat, and that low-flow showerhead is in effect. High five!

Now that your home is in good green order, you might be wondering what it would mean to go green in your community. What could it look like to make your whole block—or neighborhood, or town—a little more sustainable? And how would you go about it?

For over 10 years, ioby Leaders have been going green in their communities in all kinds of ways. Get inspired by three of their very impressive, highly replicable environmental projects, along with the guiding visions that helped them succeed. (March 8 is International Women’s Day 2019, so we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that these three commendable Leaders are all women!) Continue reading Go Green: How to make your community more sustainable

Green infrastructure checklist for local leaders

Interested in learning about what green infrastructure is, why it’s important, and how you can help your neighborhood and your city by starting a green infrastructure project where you live? Start here!

Continue reading Green infrastructure checklist for local leaders

2014 Giving Report

That’s right: Our  2014 Giving Report  is now out! (We promise you, it was worth the wait.)

In it, you’ll find:
• Stories from our 2014 ioby Heroes, awesome ioby Leaders who worked to improve their neighborhoods from Denver to Livonia, GA;
• A look at 2014 by the numbers (Wondering how many new projects were launched? How many BBQ restaurants our staff tried in Memphis?);
• Why we’re excited to look beyond the grassroots to the “Deep Roots”;
• A one-stop shop for ioby resources, with how-to guides covering everything from Green Infrastructure to Throwing Killer Galas!
…And much more!

Click here to view the 2014 Giving Report.

 

Awesome Project: Clean Rivers Campaign

Pittsburgh is about to make the largest public investment in its history. Like hundreds of cities across the country, the Pittsburgh Region’s sanitary authority, ALCOSAN is under a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it is not in compliance with the Clean Water Act, meaning that when it rains, raw sewage from the city’s overburdened sewer system over flows and pollutes the area’s rivers. ALCOSAN is under a mandate from the EPA to fix the problem, which gives Pittsburgh a tremendous opportunity to make real, long lasting changes.

“I am an outspoken advocate of Pittsburgh’s ability to become a leader of green initiatives and infrastructure in dealing with our stormwater overflow. We need to get this right because what we decide today will shape our future for the next 100 years.”
– Mayor Bill Peduto, July 2013

CRC EPA Event

The Clean Rivers Campaign is leading the way. This coalition of organizations led by Pittsburgh UNITED and including Clean Water Action and Action United was launched as an advocacy and education campaign almost three years ago that was tasked with informing ordinary people and elected officials about the opportunity to create a sustainable and vibrant Pittsburgh by investing in green infrastructure to repair the City’s sewer system. Together, the partner organizations knocked on more than 40,000 doors, hosted speaker series on the benefits of green solutions, and met with elected officials from Pittsburgh and from other municipalities across the region to discuss how investing in green solutions can bring economic, social, and environmental benefits to cities and the people who live there.

Emily Alvarado, age 32, who has worked as the interim director of the Clean Rivers Campaign for the past year explained, “Not many people think about sewage…but when you show people that this sewer investment will be the largest ever public investment in our region’s history (over 2 billion dollars), they agree that we must maximize the benefits of that investment to clean our water and rebuild communities. The Clean Rivers Campaign has been key in creating a public dialogue about our sewer fix and advocating for green solutions as a sustainable approach to our water infrastructure needs that provides many community benefits.”

Using green solutions means investing in infrastructure that uses natural processes to manage stormwater. There are a whole array of strategies to help absorb water into the ground rather than having it run straight into the sewer system, such as rain gardens, bioswales, properly maintained and planted trees, permeable pavements, and green roofs. However, few cities have water management systems that use these techniques. Tom Hoffman, the Western Pennsylvania Director at Clean Water Action, explained that when it rains in Pittsburgh currently the water runs off of the roofs, the parking lots and the streets and the sidewalks and it goes into storm sewers. “Unfortunately, like many cities our ‘storm sewers’ and our ‘sewers sewers’ are the same thing,” meaning that storm water runoff ultimately flows into the same sewers used for raw sewage. This is called a Combined Sewer System (CSS). During heavy rainfalls, the amount of water in the CSS exceeds the system’s capacity, and is ultimately discharged directly into rivers, spilling raw sewage into natural water bodies to relieve overburdened sewers.

Green infrastructure offers a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative. One of the most vocal advocates for these types of solutions in the City of Pittsburgh has been Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. When the EPA ruled that ALCOSAN’s current plan to fix the sewer system using gray infrastructure was deficient, Alvarado explained that Mayor Peduto responded passionately about the city’s opportunity to use green infrastructure for the City’s sewer fix.

CRC Press Conference
Mayors want the best for their cities, which makes green infrastructure investments an even more positive choice since the benefits go beyond just the environment. Because the sewer repair will be funded by ratepayer increases, it is important that local people can see improvements in their communities. Green solutions will produce more green spaces in communities, increase property values and decrease crime, as well as create good jobs.

“Our vision is to use this investment as one that both solves our water quality problems and meets many community needs at the same time,” said Alvarado. For her, some of the most exciting aspects of this work have been the moments where the strength of civic engagement shines through. “By doing education and organizing work we have brought thousands of ordinary rate payers to meetings and public hearings. Some of these people have never been involved in community advocacy before. But they understand that we must work together to ensure that this massive public investment creates healthy communities and economic opportunities for generations to come. And they get that we have the chance to transform this investment to rebuild the Pittsburgh region in an equitable and sustainable way.”

Being at the forefront of cities making a green-first sewer fix isn’t always easy. While there is research from around the country, Pittsburgh needs more local data to demonstrate the kinds of impacts created by investments in green infrastructure. Using ioby, the Clean River Campaign has begun to generate the revenue to get the local data they need to show the sanitary authority that green solutions are really a cost effective way of maximizing benefits. Alvarado explained, “The technical analysis resulting from this study will show the potential for green infrastructure, paired with right sized gray infrastructure to address our region’s water quality problems. The study will provide a data-driven, technical framework to assist the region’s decision makers, in making informed decisions about this infrastructure investment.” They can continue to conduct this important research with your support.

Matching Funds for NYC Green Infrastructure Projects

Today ioby is proud to announce a call for small-scale, community-led green infrastructure projects inside of the Gowanus Canal watershed. Projects that meet this criteria, with budgets of up to $3,000, will be eligible for dollar-for-dollar matching funds applied to your ioby campaign.

ioby is a community of donors, volunteers and leaders working to make their neighborhoods stronger and more sustainable. Leaders can run ioby campaigns to “crowd-fund” their ideas for their neighborhoods. ioby often runs match campaigns to incentivize and support certain project types. This match campaign is designed to support small-scale projects around the Gowanus Canal that reduce storm water.

To qualify, you must submit your project idea at ioby.org/idea by 6pm, July 3, 2014. Include in the project description the ways you believe your project will measurably reduce storm water.

To support leaders in the Gowanus Canal watershed who may be starting green infrastructure projects for the first time, we’re also announcing today the release of ioby’s Guide to Green Infrastructure, 5 Projects that any Community Can Do to Reduce Storm Water Runoff in 5 Easy Steps . You can find out more about this guide here.



Guide to Green Infrastructure

Today, ioby is proud to release our Guide to Green Infrastructure, 5 Projects that any Community Can Do to Reduce Storm Water Runoff in 5 Easy Steps. You can can download this free guide by clicking here.

GI_Slider

This guide is released as a resource for ioby leaders applying to qualify for the green infrastructure matching funds, also announced today here.

The Guide to Green Infrastructure was written collaboratively by ioby leaders and experts in the field. We are grateful to Robyn Mace, Devona Sharpe, Irene Nielson, Eric Rosewell and Philip Silva for sharing their expertise with all of us.

This resource includes an easy how-to guide on creating a rain garden, a bioswale, installing a rain barrel, depaving and caring for street trees.

We hope you enjoy it! Please share it widely, and if you want to send us feedback, please do so at feedback@ioby.org.