This week a lot of folks will take a peek at the flag they have hanging on their porch and decide if it’s time to replace their weather beaten version with something new. Have you thought about recycling your old flags? There are rules for properly destroying the flag; however, the new nylon flags shouldn’t be burned; click here for an alternative. What about ones that aren’t in the best shape, but can be repaired–here’s an idea for tattered and faded flags?

We hope to see you this holiday! We’re offering a special discount to anyone that shows up to the store on Friday or Saturday displaying their red, white and blue!

You can download and print out a coupon by clicking on this link, or just mention you saw Old Glory on our blog.

Plus there will be a chili dog buffet, music, baked apple treats and demonstrations!

Reading Michael’s blog entries, I’ve realized that Michael and I have something in common; we love drawing messages from books we read and sharing them with others. I rediscovered a book yesterday, a book that I used to read all the time but in recent years have put on the back shelf. It’s a wonderful story of new beginnings and of hope—a feeling that I find abundant in the Buffalo ReUse atmosphere. Anyway, the story is The Wump World, written by Bill Peet, and it’s about a planet full of these cute capabara-like creatures (Wumps) that is taken over by Pollutians from the planet Pollutus. The Wumps are forced into hiding while their world is destroyed by pollution. The world becomes so polluted that the Pollutians give up and leave, finding it easier to leave than change their ways and stop polluting. The Wumps emerge from hiding to find their world completely contaminated and it seems like things will never be the same, but wait! Among the smog-filled miles of highways and skyscrapers, they find a patch of grass! The last page is a picture of a plant growing up from under the concrete and I believe it holds a strong message: no matter how bad things seem or how much a place has been destroyed, it can still be rebuilt. Put in the context of Buffalo, this story tells me that there is so much potential in this city. It has been neglected for a long time, but we can rebuild it and rebuild our communities. New beginnings can happen in this city. Wump World is a short read and I recommend you share its message with anyone who will listen.

Back when I led young people in the woods building trails, I always ended our expedition by reading the story “Hope for the Flowers,” by Trina Paulus. It’s a touching story about personal growth, setting and attaining life goals, and transformation–told from the perspective of two caterpillars, Stripe and Yellow. If you’ve never read it, you should share it with the children in your life, a loved one, or friends (young and old). This summer, Buffalo ReUse will share those same values with over 15 summer youth eager to learn, explore, grow. It will be our first summer initiating our Green Summer Program. With your support, we’re confident it too can be a transformative experience for Buffalo neighborhoods, the youth involved, and all of those touched by our effort.

The goals of Green Summer are quite simple.

1. Surround young people with supportive and caring mentors that will provide positive leadership development and training experiences in Buffalo neighborhoods.
2. Engage youth in projects that improve inner-city neighborhoods through the creation of new green spaces, the maintenance of existing assets, and service projects that support existing resources and programs.
3. Create a community of mentors, youth, and families that encourages critical thinking and problem solving; action that improves our neighborhoods; and understanding and respect for individual differences.

In two weeks, we’ll launch this unique program and we need your financial support. Your contribution will complement recently committed funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, for hand tools and materials for green-space projects and the City of Buffalo, who will pay the stipends for the youth involved. We are working to raise funds to pay the amazing mentors that have stepped forward to pioneer this action-packed experience for youth and buy the a van that will transport them on their journey.

To make a contribution via PayPal, click on this link http://www.buffaloreuse.org/Donate/HomePage or reply to this email with a commitment. Checks can be sent to Buffalo ReUse, Inc., P.O. Box 1132, Buffalo, NY 14213. (Please put GREEN SUMMER in the memo line).

If a financial contribution is not possible, we invite you to get involved as a volunteer mentor or resource person. We’re looking for gardeners, landscapers, horticulturalists, cooks, artists, engineers, ecologists, handy and creative folks of all kinds, and people eager to make a difference in the lives of youth. We’ll keep you informed of community events and activities planned as the summer moves along. In addition, we need flowers, seeds, plants, trees, topsoil, compost, surplus garden tools, and 12 or 15 passenger van (you’ll get the super contributor of the year award if you help us land this). Send us an email with your thoughts and ideas!

Here’s a real-life example of what we mean…
The photos included are of a community garden and outdoor learning lab recently “re-discovered” on Buffalo’s east side. It was designed to serve the community as a space for social interaction and education. Unfortunately, the site has been neglected. Here in Buffalo, we have amazing assets; it is our responsibility to maintain existing resources and support the creation of new spaces for community engagement. Participants of Green Summer will take an active role, not only in maintaining this unique destination, but in creating new ones. We’ll clean vacant lots and improve green spaces, beautify urban neighborhoods, and provide positive learning experiences for teens. With your contribution our communities can achieve their potential and become inviting places to live and visit–from caterpillar to cocoon, to butterfly . . . as Yellow explains to Stripe, “Once you are a butterfly, you can really love — the kind of love that makes new life. It’s better than all the hugging caterpillars can do.”

Last weekend was Father’s Day and I felt the pressure to do something special for my father. Now, my Dad is totally into gardening so I thought, what better present than supplying him with an easy way to help his garden grow? I bought him a kitchen compost pail—a small version of an outdoor compost—so that he could throw our kitchen scraps into it (more specifically, the egg shells from his spinach and feta omelet, bits of burnt toast compliments of me neglecting to check the toaster, and some stalks of gooey celery that I found rotting in the back of my fridge).  In a couple weeks the scraps will decay and turn into beautiful compost, high in nutrients, that my father will be able to add it to his garden.
It’s really simple, and there are so many ways to go about countertop composting.  There are stainless steel compost pails and some with filters to minimize odors and they can get costly.  But you should  buy a container that fits the size of your cooking needs–big families that eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies will find the counter top compost pails too small–they’d fill up every day.
At ReUse HQ, Michael uses a 5 gallon plastic rubbermaid bin with a lid (it cost $5 at “Tarzjay”)Not because he cooks or eats a lot, but because he doesn’t have time to run back and forth to the compost pile every day–actually he doesn’t even have much time to eat!  The tub is about a foot deep and it’s kept under the sink next to his garbage can.  We cleaned out the office fridge and disposed of some pretty scary stuff–including what might have been sweet & sour soup!  Composting is so easy–everyone should do it.

Read the rest of this entry »

(excerpted from The Buffalo News)
If you live within the 14150, 14217, and 14150 ZIP codes, the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York could use your help. Click the The Buffalo News link for full details!
Volunteers are needed to wear clip-on air-monitoring badges for a study of air quality in the Town of Tonawanda.
A total of 25 volunteers will wear the badges for 24 hours on June 29, when exposure to benzene will be measured.
An investigation of the link between the combined effects of all air pollutants and community health is being conducted by the coalition, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the University at Buffalo. Elevated levels of benzene, an organic chemical compound that is a known carcinogen, already have been detected by the DEC.

Volunteers are required to attend a brief instructional meeting before participating. Contact Jackie James, the coalition’s executive director, by Wednesday at 873-5608 or jackie@cacwny.org

Wednesday, June 18

Carvings for a Cause Fundraiser-Buffalo’s historical figures will “come to life” at Carvings for a Cause Fundariser at the Town Ballroom, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The event will feature a film documentary “red carpet” premiere by Canisius College Video Institute, historical carvings will “come to life,” food stations, live music and auction items related to the 2006 storm, as well as environmental themed auction items.

Monies raised from this event will go towards assisting Phase II of the project, which includes a Carvings for Cause Tree Sculpture Park, a map & guide, audio tour, transporting and storage of the trees, and future maintenance, in addition to helping re-tree Western New York.

Tickets to the Carvings for a Cause fundraiser are $40 at the door or $30 presale, available at J.P. Bullfeathers (1010 Elmwood Ave.), Grille 620  Holiday Inn (620 Delaware Ave.), the Town Ballroom box office, or

www.tickets.com

Here is an opportunity–”Know Your Rights” forum.  The topic of the forum will be “Discrimination in Housing and Employment, Fair Lending & Consumer Rights.” Date:  Thursday, June 12th  Location: Buffalo Museum of Science in The Cummings Room, 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo Time: 6:30 p.m.forum flyer

This summer, we are teaming up with Grassroots Gardens and creating twenty community gardens across Buffalo–ten on the east side and ten on the west side. In order to do that, we need a lot of compost! Compost is decomposed organic matter that is very rich in nutrients which will help our gardens grow well. To get a large amount of compost we have created our very own compost pile…
First, we pounded in some stakes and stapled chicken wire to it to create an enclosure. Then, we found some stuff from our garbage and threw it in. With very little effort and within a few weeks time we will have nutrient rich compost for our community gardens. Simple as that! Now, we are looking for you to help us out. The more organic waste we put into the pile, the more compost we will make, so please read the list below to discover what you can donate to our compost pile and then bring it on over to 298 Northampton!

While everything can eventually be broken down, the main reason to avoid putting any meat or dairy in our pile is to avoid attracting unwanted pests. Also, chemically treated yard trimmings will kill the “good bacteria” that breaks down your waste and adding diseased plants could potentially spread the disease to plants in the area. Did you notice the cups in our compost pile? The may look like plastic, but they’re not; these are special biodegradable cups made out of corn that we can put in our compost! Please feel free to drop off any waste donations and make our composting and community gardens a success!

If you’re not sure whether something can be composted, visit some of the websites below. For the Compost This website, just type in your item into the search box and it will tell you whether you can throw it in our pile or not! The EPA website gives a great introduction on composting, and the Recycling Revolution website offers another list of what and what not to compost.
Look for a post next week featuring ideas to start collecting compost at your home!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Brush Up Buffalo 2008

Bring your fave ladder, scrapers, rollers, hammers, brooms and use’em!

Lovejoy Neighborhood

Meet at the Central Terminal by 7:15 a.m. (individuals not with teams may arrive at 8:15 a.m.). Finish by NOON and have Chicken BBQ lunch for volunteers provided by Chiavetta’s Catering!

email Sherry to give her a heads up by Wednesday– sherryburns@roadrunner.com

Click the link and listen to a recent interview with Joyce Kryszak from WBFO featuring Michael talking about the Sundance experience.

Stop by 298 Northampton St. to check materials you can use in your home.

7:30-5pm Tuesday-Saturday.