Here are the notes from the last Sustainability Subcommittee mtg, June 10:

NLC Sustainability Committee Meeting June 10, 2008

Attending: Kathy Saranpa, Crest Drive, convener; Anand Keathley, Whiteaker; Erik Muller, Amazon, recorder; Linda Kelley, Far West; Jan Spencer, River Road; Carlos Barrera, Friendly; Chara Carrier, Harlow; Doug Black, "Post Carbon Eugene" outpost from Relocalize.net/Friendly.

Directions for the Committee, Brainstorming:
In an effort to define mission & program, we brainstormed the following.
Jan: bike tours of neighbor yards & gardens, series of public forums, summit of our own including social and fun elements, roster of resources/speakers, media contacts for maximum splash.
Carlos: maintaining quality of life with “sustainability” not being limited to concerns about peak oil and energy footprint, which some people resist acknowledging, but including such things as crime watch, food security, reducing effects of crowding.
Linda: reviving gleaning programs, Portland Fruit Tree Project as a match for our neighborhoods, reaching beyond the usual allies and framing appealing solutions, supporting Victory Gardens.
Doug: approaching neighbors, synthesizing our many points and approaches, information being put out should be easy to take in.
Chara: supporting Farm to School and school gardens, which each neighborhood group could champion for its local schools, neighborhood round-up of toxic or electronic waste.
Kathy: neighborhoods separating paper for better recycling, community of faith involvement in recycling and organic foods/meals.
Anand: getting people to change what they do, community-based social marketing, Low Carbon Diet an example of a workbook to be used by neighbors pledging reduction of footprint, funding the tools we need by EWEB, Sustainability Commission, NLC, neighborhood groups, UO.
Erik: appreciate the breadth of the “sustainability theme” and the many levels where we might act, Amazon Neighbors being involved in surveying interests/needs, e-listing excess goods/skills, swapping plants, touring local yards conversions.

Toward Processing the Brainstorming List:
We discussed the need to process this rich listing, perhaps by headings/groups. Erik volunteered to try out a tentative scheme and send it to committee members. [Please see it below as an attachment.]

Relating & Reporting to NLC:
Jan Wostmann’s e-mail to this committee indicated that we are advisory to the NLC; further, that the themes of the next summit will be determined by a polling of the neighborhoods and that the summit planning will be done by the Neighborhood Empowerment Group. We decided to discuss our role in the summit at the next meeting.
More neighborhood representatives on this committee would strengthen our voice at the NLC. We have about eleven representatives so far, and Kathy will invite others at the NLC. Anand has already sent out an e-mail inviting more reps.
Neighborhood newsletters and websites could disperse sustainability info, and each neighborhood could have a sustainability committee or a program of action. We at first thought to urge NLC members to form such committees, but then thought that we needed to deliberate more on what the function of such committees or action programs might be.
We agreed we need to process the brainstorming list to help us follow through on our mission/charge statement. We also agreed that we should report the work of this committee to our respective neighborhoods and to report to this committee the sustainability work done in our neighborhoods.

“Suggestions for Amazon Food Sustainability Programs” from the Amazon Neighbors Sustainability Subcommittee:
1. Teach gardening skills to kids in a neighborhood plot
2. Set up a year-round demonstration plot (no till gardening?)
3. Develop plant/seed swaps
4. Explore converting public space to gardens (parking strips)
5. Survey neighborhood food resources/needs
6. Examine the '100 mile diet'
7. Create eco-footprint evaluation service—energy audits
8. Establish a community repair shop, tool library
9. Develop Amazon Neighborhood Resource Network
10. Organize neighbor work parties (tilling, gleaning, preservation, storage)
11. Share in common composting and soil making
12. Establish resource library
13. Establish “shelves” for distributing extra produce & food sharing with Food for Lane Co.
14. Establish common city leaf drop site
15. Establish common drop off for yard plant refuse (from yard care pros & others)
16. Share in disposal of toxics & yard material to Rexius/Lane Forest Products
17. Share in bulk purchases of garden material
18. Read "Creating A Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Eco Villages and Intentional Communities" by Diana Leafe Christian
19. Set up signboards for posting and many yard signs identifying green features