To directly subscribe to this quarterly newsletter, or other City of Tacoma updates, sign up here<https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WATACOMA/subscriber/new?topic_id=WATACOMA_156>. [Sustainability Semi-Annual Report Masthead] April 2015 Stay in Touch! Subscribe to the EnviroNews Listserv<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/environmentalservices/education_and_involvement/environews_listserv/> to send and receive e-mails on environmental topics: * grant opportunities, * workshops, * restoration activities, * volunteer programs, * trainings, * announcements, * news, and * events. Follow Tacoma Sustainability on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/TacomaSustainability?ref=br_tf>. Follow Tacoma Mobility on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/tacomamobility> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/BikeMonth253>. Upcoming Events Earth Month (April) Events<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=54927> Our calendar of local Earth Month happenings. 7th Annual Bike Swap<http://www.exit133.com/events/details/7th-annual-tacoma-bike-swap> May 2, 2015, 10AM-2PM. University of Puget Sound Memorial Fieldhouse. Bike Month (May) Activities<http://www.bike253.com> Join in on the many bike-related events happening in May. Ongoing Opportunities Sustainable Tacoma Commission<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?objectId=9650> - 2nd Tuesday of each month, 3:30-5:30 PM at Tacoma Municipal Building, 9th floor Visibiilty Center. Public welcome! EnviroHouse workshops<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?objectId=17140> - Free with advance registration. Weekends at the EnviroHouse, Recovery & Transfer Center, 3510 South Mullen St. Tacoma Green Drinks<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tacoma-Green-Drinks/86050006565?ref=ts> - Every 1st Thursday at 5:30 PM at different locations around town. Point Defiance Marina Beach Cleanup<http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/calendar/index.php?cid=4125> - 3rd Saturday of each month, 9 AM- 12 PM. Additional Education and Involvement<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=3100> Video Features EnviroShorts Go behind the scenes to find out where Tacoma's waste goes<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=72941>. Urban Green * Historic Water Flume Line Trail<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnaX-pUzaRg> * Architectural Salvage<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPXSctJg5-0> * Full Episode Archive<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?objectId=55748> Tacoma Report Eco Videos Explore the City of Tacoma's archive of videos on environmental topics<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHN0JO4EyqceA1Fq2Xvyr0PDhQq-3THbD>. [=============] Happy Earth Month! [Earth Day Word Art] In recognition of the increasing number of Earth Day/Week/Month activities in the greater Tacoma area, The City of Tacoma Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability (OEPS) has created an online Earth Month Events Calendar, where local residents can learn about various environmental volunteer and educational opportunities in the month of April. View the Earth Month Events Calendar<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=54927> to see how you can get involved. The image above, in honor of Earth Day<http://www.earthday.org/about-earth-day-network-3>, is word art made up of individual pledges from the South Sound Sustainability Expo. People were asked to write an answer to the question, "How will you create a more sustainable South Sound?" Thanks, everyone! [=============] Our New (Sustainable!) Home [Bike Commuters]In March, the Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability relocated from the Tacoma Municipal Building to the Center for Urban Waters<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=16938> in order to work more closely with the Environmental Services department. We’re appreciating the perks of working in a LEED® Platinum-certified facility, as well as the new experience of bike-commuting to and from sea-level! [=============] Sustainability Expo [Expo Handshake]The 8th-annual South Sound Sustainability Expo<http://www.southsoundsustainabilityexpo.org/> was a huge success! Held at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center in early March, the Expo featured nearly 100 vendor displays. More than 1,500 attendees explored new and simple ways to live more sustainably around topics such as rainwater harvesting, solar technology, bicycling, sustainable building materials, and gardening. Attendance increased 71% from 2014, with 65% living in Tacoma and 21% living in other areas of Pierce County. [Screen printing]The 2015 Expo featured a Book-Movie-Music Swap activity where hundreds of books, DVDs, and CDs were swapped, and a screen printing activity that went non-stop! The event led to increased community knowledge of local organizations and sustainability resources, and was made possible by the City of Tacoma’s Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability with support from Pierce County, Tacoma Public Utilities, Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union, and Goodwill. As one attendee said, “The size of the crowd on such a beautiful South Sound day shows how much sustainability means to our citizens.” [=============] May is Bike Month! [bikes]The City and its partners are planning a full slate of over 20 bicycle-related activities in May. We’ll kick things off with the annual Bike Swap (May 2), the largest bike event in the South Sound region, where people gather to buy, sell, and trade bicycles and gear. Organized bike rides will occur throughout the month, including the family-friendly Kidical Mass ride and the history/fashion-themed Tweed Ride. The month-long Bike Everywhere Challenge encourages residents to bike for transportation, logging their trips on piercetrips.com to be entered into prize drawings. Check out all the Bike Month programming at BIKE253.com, and join us in biking Tacoma! [=============] [HHHN] For the past several months, Healthy Homes, Healthy Neighborhoods (HHHN)<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=9672> staff and volunteers have been active in Tacoma’s Dometop neighborhood, engaging with residents about local health and sustainability issues. In addition to their door-to-door outreach and education efforts, program organizers also arranged a number of special events that emphasize community partnerships and highlight local resources. For the past several months, Healthy Homes, Healthy Neighborhoods (HHHN)<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=9672> staff and volunteers have been active in Tacoma’s Dometop neighborhood, engaging with residents about local health and sustainability issues. In addition to their door-to-door outreach and education efforts, program organizers also arranged a number of special events that emphasize community partnerships and highlight local resources. On Saturday, March 28, HHHN—along with Council Member Marty Campbell, MetroParks, and other partners—hosted a Dometop walking tour.<https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/1548775962068845/> Over 125 participants walked through McKinley Park and up Strawberry Hill, looping around the neighborhood and through the McKinley Business District. The urban hike brought residents outside and onto streets and sidewalks that are not commonly used for recreation or community activity in this traditionally underserved Eastside neighborhood. [Dometop hike 1]On Saturday, March 28, HHHN—along with Council Member Marty Campbell, MetroParks, and other partners—hosted a Dometop walking tour.<https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/1548775962068845/> Over 125 participants walked through McKinley Park and up Strawberry Hill, looping around the neighborhood and through the McKinley Business District. The urban hike brought residents outside and onto streets and sidewalks that are not commonly used for recreation or community activity in this traditionally underserved Eastside neighborhood. In February, a community breakfast event drew over 100 community members and provided a venue for neighbors to connect with each other and with local sustainability resources. In the months ahead, HHHN will host an Edible Gardening workshop at Dometop Community Garden in Rogers Park; a clean-sweep event to clean the safe routes to Blix Elementary School; and a depaving event, where community members will remove unneeded pavement and replace it with rain gardens, reducing local surface water pollution and beautifying the neighborhood. For more details, visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/HHHNDometop (photo credits: Scott McElhiney) [=============] [Puyallup Watershed Initiative] Energy is building around the 10-year collaboration known as the Puyallup Watershed Initiative (PWI), a network of over 100 local organizations (including the City of Tacoma) working for sustainability in the broad area between Tacoma and Mount Rainier. PWI has formed eight “communities of interest” (COI’s)—groups of individuals, organizations, and/or partnerships that share specific values, interests, or concerns related to the health of the watershed and its communities—and the OEPS has representatives on two of them: Environmental Education and Active Transportation. Find out more about this exciting, long-term program at www.pwi.org<http://www.pwi.org/>. [=============] EnviroHouse Update [EnviroHouse]The spring workshop series at the City of Tacoma EnviroHouse<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=17140> (located at the Transfer and Recovery Center, 3510 S. Mullen St.) will include presentations on solar power, rain barrels, depaving, and more! Workshops are free, but advance registration<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=17243> is required. (Note: If a workshop is full, please register for the waiting list.) May 2, 10:30 AM. Solar Power: How It Can Work for You. May 9, 10:30 AM. Yard Waste & Worm Bin Composting. May 16, 10:30 AM. Depave and Go Green. May 17, 1:30 PM. Rain Barrels: How to Make & Maintain. May 30, 10:30 AM. Residential Rain Garden How-To. [=============] Meet Our Staff: Emily Campbell, Sustainability and Active Transportation Assistant [Emily Campbell]Emily is from Dedham, Maine. She joined our office September 2014 as a member of AmeriCorps. Subsequently, she has spearheaded the 2015 South Sound Sustainability Expo, researched municipal disposable bag ordinances, and assisted in Bike Month 2015 planning. Emily also helps to manage the City of Tacoma’s Green Events program<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=56017> and EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager initiative, which benchmarks the energy use of City-owned buildings. Although she doesn’t consider herself a “city person,” Emily enjoys living in Tacoma. She appreciates the landscape, the beautiful surroundings, and what she describes as the “sense of local identity.” She is drawn to sustainability because it touches on a lot of the issues she’s interested in, including green space, active transportation, and local food—particularly community gardens. She enjoyed planning the Expo since it was a feel-good eventthat brought together so many people and organizations with different interests. Emily is a vegetarian, but when asked about her “guilty pleasure,” she confessed to taking the occasional bite of meat. (Her most recent transgression was half of a free hot dog.) She has also been known to eat an entire batch of no-bake cookies herself. [=============] Puget Sound Starts Here Month [Puget Sound Starts here]The City of Tacoma is teaming up with hundreds of organizations across Puget Sound to challenge residents to commit to at least one Sound-healthy action during May’s Puget Sound Starts Here Month. The goal is to raise awareness that Puget Sound is in trouble due to a variety of pollution sources, and empower residents to make a difference through simple actions and local volunteer opportunities. The highlight of PSSH Month in Tacoma will be the free Family Fun Day at Foss Waterway Seaport, on May 30th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The full calendar of Tacoma events is listed below. Learn more about the bounty of Puget Sound and how you can help protect it at www.PugetSoundStartsHere.org<http://www.pugetsoundstartshere.org/>. May 2nd – 10:00 am-2 pm ­– University of Puget Sound Memorial Fieldhouse – 7th Annual Bike Swap May 9th – 10:30 am-Noon – EnviroHouse – Yard Waste and Worm Bin Composting Workshop May 12th – 5:00-8:00 pm – Center for Urban Waters – “Urban Waters Symposium” hosted by the Puget Creek Restoration Society May 16th – 10:30 am-Noon – EnviroHouse – Depave and Go Green Workshop May 17th – 1:30 pm-3:00pm – EnviroHouse – Rain Barrels: How to Make & Maintain Workshop May 30th – 10:30 am-Noon – EnviroHouse – Residential Rain Garden How-to Workshop May 30th –10:00am-2:00 pm – Foss Waterway Seaport- Puget Sound Starts Here Family Fun Day May 31st –1:35pm – Cheney Stadium – Puget Sound Starts Here with the Tacoma Rainiers [SFMTA Logo]<http://www.cityoftacoma.org/> STAY CONNECTED: [Visit us on Facebook]<http://www.facebook.com/CityofTacoma?fref=ts> [Visit us on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/CityofTacoma> [Sign up for email updates]<https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WATACOMA/subscriber/new> [Visit us on Twitter]<http://www.youtube.com/user/CityofTacoma> [Bookmark and Share]<http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WATACOMA/bulletins/101619e?reqfrom=share> SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Preferences<http://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WATACOMA/subscribers/new?preferences=true> | Unsubscribe<%5b%5bONECLICK_UNSUB_URL%5d%5d> Contact Us<https://www.cityoftacoma.org/residents/contact_us> | Help<https://subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com/> Having trouble viewing this email? 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