Since early October 2012, Sustainable Agriculture team members Matt Moore (AmeriCorps with OU COM placed at Rural Action) and Joe Barbaree (VISTA through the Ohio CDC Association placed at Rural Action too), have worked with local music venues during open stage nights in Athens, including Jackie O’s Brewery (hosted by Junebug), Casa Nueva Restaurant and Cantina (with host Chris Biester) and the Front Room Coffeehouse (with Bruce Dalzell), to collect cash donations for fresh food purchasing for area food pantries.

All proceeds are pooled into a fund for sourcing fresh, local, seasonal produce from the Chesterhill Produce Auction and area farmers in and around Athens County once the 2013 growing season begins. The food purchased will then go directly into local pantries and food pick-up centers.

Donations for the fund took a brief hiatus during the holiday season, but kicked off again on Friday, Jan. 11 with a month-long benefit concert series at Donkey Coffee and Espresso. As part of their “Rural Action Benefit Series,” musicians and artists from the area are donating their time and talents to perform at Donkey each weekend for the remainder of January. Event organizer Troy Gregorino says all proceeds from the $3 cover charge will go to Rural Action. Area musicians Michael Rinaldi-Eichenberg and Jimmy Herpy began the concert series and new donation cycle on Friday evening. Controlled Folly and Dirty Thumbs took the stage on Saturday evening to wrap up the first weekend.

Rural Action Sustainable Agriculture works to encourage and grow a healthy, accessible, local food system. This current project addresses food access issues for food pantries in the area, especially those in need of fresh produce.

“When you talk about food access and food pantries, fresh fruits and vegetables often go overlooked in lieu of shelf-stable dry goods – not to mention those grown locally,” said Barbaree. “Shelf stable foods are vital to those in need, but by supplementing the shelves of area food pantries with fresh produce that’s also local and seasonal, we’re supporting both the health and wellbeing of community members in need of food that’s dense in nutrition, as well as helping local farmers by increasing their business. And growing their business builds the entire local food economy,” he added.

But why connect local music with local food and food pantries? According to Moore, they’re all very similar ideas. “The ideas of local food and local music are really alike,” he said. “The music community is just that – a community, and it takes the support of the local community to allow for a local food system to grow,” he noted. “We want to encourage growth and collaboration between both of these ideas, that’s why we chose to work with the local music community.”

Be sure to look for the next Rural Action Benefit show at Donkey on Friday Jan. 18 and Saturday Jan. 19, and visit open stage venue around Athens to see Rural Action Sustainable Agriculture volunteers at work collecting donations weekly. Collections take place at Jackie O’s on Mondays at 10:00 p.m., Casa Nueva on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m., and the Front Room at Baker Center on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. Many thanks to our wonderful partners making this happen and if you’d like to donate, help, or learn more, contact Joe at joe.b@ruralaction.org

Dr. Seldman will bring his expertise and experience to Athens in September and will be giving the keynote address at the Waste to Wealth Summit on September 13 & 14, 2012 at the Ohio University Inn. There, he and other stakeholders from Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia will examine how to build rural wealth through resource recovery.

Immediately after the summit from 12:30-3pm on September 14th, Dr. Seldman will also be leading a forum for residents and employees of the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District. Attendees will be discussing the results of a feasibility study that details several different opportunities to improve recycling and waste handling in Athens and Hocking Counties.

Dr. Seldman has been working with communities like Athens and Hocking Counties to address waste issues for decades. He grew up in Brooklyn, NY working in factories owned by friends and relatives before attending the labor relations school at Cornell University. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Political Theory at George Washington University. Seldman then co-founded the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in 1974. “The insight that we developed was that communities could be self-reliant if they used resources that were readily available,” said Dr. Seldman.

Because of his factory and industrial experience, Dr. Seldman was put in charge of recycling and economic development, and he was been working in that department ever since. Dr. Seldman’s extraordinary work in the Washington D.C. area led to the ILSR becoming a national organization in 1980 with the main goal of decentralizing authority by giving more power and responsibility to local government and citizens.

Dr. Seldman believes that implementing local recycling programs creates local jobs, saves companies money on materials, and helps preserve the environment in the long run. Dr. Seldman’s work has not been in vain; his efforts have led to the cancellation of over 300 garbage incinerators which destroy the raw materials needed to establish sustainability.
The last incinerator in the U.S. was built over 15 years ago and a new one has not been built since. Dr. Seldman’s numerous books, publications, and technical reports have been instrumental in swaying cities, industries and local governments toward a pro-recycling stance.

Clearly Dr. Seldman has a lot of great experience in the world of recycling. He also has a history with Rural Action. When the organization was known as the Appalachian Ohio Public Interest Campaign (AOPIC), he spoke at AOPIC’s Seminar on Economic Development from Solid Waste in 1992. His main point was that costly local recycling programs could be turned into economically productive endeavors. Within a few years of Dr. Seldman’s visit, AOPIC was able to catalyze the launch of ReUse Industries. We are excited to welcome Dr. Seldman back as a speaker as the Zero Waste Initiative continues to work to improve recycling and waste operations in Athens and Hocking Counties.

The Lowe’s/Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant of $5,000 is one of 120 merit-based grants awarded nationally to support grassroots community improvement projects ranging from community gardens and tree plantings to litter and debris cleanups, recycling programs, park and playground restorations and beautification efforts.

Locally, the grant for $5,000 will provide funding for Rural Action’s Monday Creek Restoration Project, one of several partners that make up the Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful collaborative. The grant will assist local residents and groups in projects that support the revitalization of New Straitsville’s Main Street. Three green spaces along Main Street will be improved. In the community garden, an edible and native plant rain garden will be installed to control stormwater runoff and provide an edible landscape for the community to utilize. Fruiting trees will be planted in the community park. At Robinson’s Cave, replacement of the crumbling footpath bridge will give a safe path across the stream to the cave and historical markers already on the site.

“We are happy to see one of the Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful partners benefiting from one of the many grant opportunities offered by Keep America Beautiful,” said Gary Chancey, affiliate spokesperson.

Since joining the Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful collaborative, the Monday Creek Restoration Project and the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative, both programs of the Trimble, Ohio based Rural Action have been actively engaged in Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup (GAC) events. Together, the partnership strengthens our efforts to address illegal dumping, recycling and community greening initiatives.
The grant program is being supported by Lowe’s company-wide volunteerism effort, Lowe’s Heroes. This initiative offers Lowe’s employees the opportunity to work on a project in their own neighborhood, helping to make their communities better places to live, work and play.

“Keep America Beautiful is proud of the positive impact that Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful project will have in the New Straitsville community,” said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna. “We are truly grateful to Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation for its support and leadership that is being demonstrated in community sustainability.”

“I think that the main problems [leading to dumping] are lack of access, lack of education, and sometimes just a lack of caring.” Keyes said.

Originally born and raised in West Virginia, Keyes has lived in Athens, Ohio for over six years now and graduated from Ohio University last year. Keyes says she was always interested in issues surrounding waste and recycling, but joining AmeriCorps “took it to a whole new level.”

Steinbrecher was born and raised in Ohio and earned his associate’s degree in Eco-Tourism and Adventure Travel at Hocking College. Steinbrecher is no stranger to serving his community; he earned the rank of Eagle Scout by organizing volunteers to cook food for the Ronald McDonald house. He jumped at the chance to work with AmeriCorps and the Zero Waste Initiative.

Through their work with the Zero Waste Initiative, Keyes and Steinbrecher have made major strides in addressing dumping. Keyes and Steinbrecher are proud of doing their part to get the Zero Waste AmeriCorps program off the ground, but it was no easy task.

“One of the biggest issues we had was with the newness of the program,” Rose recalls. “We had to spread the word and get [AOZWI’s] name out there.”

Keyes and Steinbrecher did more than just spread the word. With a $2000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Keyes, Steinbrecher, and dedicated volunteers cleaned dumpsites in Athens, Hocking, Perry and Morgan County–which are part of the Sunday and Monday Creek Watersheds. They removed 143 tires, 237 bags of trash, 1,600 pounds of recyclables and an assortment of mattresses, washing machines, toilets and couches. Their favorite dumpsite find was a stuffed Oscar the Grouch who has become a mascot for the program.

One of Keyes’ favorite parts was seeing how supportive the Athens community and surrounding counties were of their efforts. “It felt really good to know that there were other agencies out there that recognized [illegal dumping] as a problem.”

In order to assist these agencies, which include the Wayne National Forest, the county health departments and the solid waste districts, Keyes and Steinbrecher mapped over 100 illegal dumpsites in Sunday and Monday Creek Watersheds. An online database of these dumpsite locations will be created. Agencies will be able to use the map to collaborate and keep one another up-to-date on what sites have and have not been cleaned up.

Keyes and Steinbrecher have also taken steps this year to decrease the amount of trash generated in the region. In partnership with the Trimble School District staff and the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District, they helped Trimble Schools start recycling in April. Prior to that, Trimble was the only school district in Athens County without a recycling program.

Keyes and Steinbrecher’s terms with AmeriCorps end this August, but both will stay in the area. Steinbrecher plans to work with a local architect, and, you can swing by and see Keyes at Catalyst Café as her next plan unfolds.

“Working with the Zero Waste Initiative has opened my eyes. I can’t look at anything the same anymore,” said Steinbrecher who plans to incorporate what he’s learned into his work with the architect and beyond.

Garlic mustard is an invasive species, first introduced in the late 1800’s for medicinal and culinary purposes according to the Stewardship Council’s website. It can spread rapidly, threatening the native species of wildflowers and the diversity of the ecosystem in much of the United States. The garlic mustard is now affecting tree growth as well as the animals that depend on this diverse ecosystem.

Yearly totals of pulled garlic mustard continue to grow, starting at 128,470lbs in 2008 to 308,032 lbs in 2012. Mark your calendars for April, 2013 if you want to help the region maintain its natural and abundant beauty. Look for more information in the March, 2013 Rambler.

“Over the years of observing what is happening to our earth and to this world, I personally look to reduce, reuse, and recycle more and more. I am trying to set the example as a community leader that recycling is important for sustaining the beauty of our community”.

Irvine has been an active participant in recycling efforts for many years. He lived in other communities where recycling was an expected aspect of taking out your trash on a weekly basis.
“Personally, I will carry plastic bottles or cans back from the beach if I have to, just to make sure that it is recycled”.
But not everyone will do that. So when he returned to his hometown after 30 years away, Irvine started a recycling program within the Logan City facilities. There are recycling bins in the Mayor’s Office, police departments, fire departments and other city buildings.
Steve Shaw, the Director of Safety and Service for the City of Logan, is responsible for making sure the recycling at the Mayor’s Office gets taken out each week. Shaw, a lifelong resident of Logan, has not participated in recycling efforts previously. However, after working with Mayor Irvine and learning more about the importance of recycling, Shaw has begun to make efforts in his personal life to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
The essential aspects of Irvine’s plan to make recycling and waste reduction efforts successful include educating the community, providing convenient recycling, and having the entire community join together to promote and implement these programs. Mayor Irvine is working on a grant application to put recycling bins at three of the Logan city parks to increase convenience and community participation.
“It is imperative that residents understand the purpose of recycling and the need to recycle. Once the education is there and it becomes more convenient for residents to recycle, the movement will continue to grow”.
He emphasized that the residential surveys and community meetings on recycling and waste issues conducted by the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) are essential in educating residents and building a complete community education process.
“It is going to be a lifelong educational process to continue to talk about the importance of recycling. We can’t do it alone; it will take everyone working together”.
AOZWI is building a community of people who are doing fantastic zero waste work in Appalachian Ohio. If you know of a person we should interview, write to us at zerowaste@ruralaction.org.

Tropical butterflies soared and glided over the heads of 50 Millcreek Elementary 5th grade students and their teachers at Franklin Park Conservatory in late March. This field trip was the grand finale of a unit led by Rural Action’s Environmental Education Program that focused on food webs, pollinators, and life cycles of plants and insects…read more

These 50 students became experts on pollinators and the like by interacting with them in outdoor settings such as Monroe Outlook on the Wayne National Forest where students were able to see Monarch butterflies in all four stages of their magical life cycle.

Rural Acton’s EE program has provided similar outdoor exploration experiences for 1400 children so far in 2012 and has worked with 30 teachers in Southeast Ohio during the 2011-12 school year to integrate environmental learning into their curricula. Projects vary–from trail building with Trimble High School to developing sense of place with Nelsonville-York 8th graders, exploring water quality in Sunday Creek’s headwaters with Trimble Middle School students, and arming Millcreek Elementary students with butterfly nets and field guides–but all are tied to a central theme: enriching education by celebrating the region’s biodiversity.

Working with local schools to take advantage of amazing outdoor resources has been very successful for Rural Action and our partners this year. Millcreek Elementary 5th grade science teacher Angie Plant “could have done cartwheels”, she said, when she saw that the standardized tests her students were about to take had several questions focused on food webs and life cycles. Mrs. Plant said that the lessons Rural Action facilitated “gave the students confidence to answer those questions. Some of them had started writing before I even finished reading the question.”

Mr. Amrik Brar, environmental science teacher at Trimble High School, touted the trail building project with Rural Action and the Buckeye Trail as “the most rewarding collaborative experience I have been a part of in my 10 years of teaching.” His environmental science students helped to build 1/4 mile of trail behind the school through various habitats that teachers now have access to for their classes.

As we have gathered feedback from these programs, it’s clear that this type of outdoor education not only improves student learning but also engenders a sense of pride in both students and teachers. They become more aware of how special the natural world is in Southeast Ohio and therefore more passionate about understanding and preserving it.

These programs are made possible by generous grants from Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, Athens Foundation, and Target Field Trip Grant Program.

Fluharty founded RUPRI in 1990. RUPRI is the only national policy institute in the United States dedicated to assessing policy impacts on rural America. RUPRI takes a comprehensive approach and “provides unbiased analysis and information on the challenges, needs, and opportunities facing rural America. RUPRI’s aim is to spur public dialogue and help policy makers understand the rural impacts of public policies and programs,” according to RUPRI’s website.

Michelle Decker, Rural Action Executive Director, had this to say, “Dr. Fluharty is simply one of the main leaders in this country helping policy makers of all stripes understand how important rural places are to America’s future. He is in the trenches in Washington and can share with our members why rural matters and how Rural Action can play a role in promoting a progressive rural development movement.”

For more information or to RSVP for the event, please click here (this should take people to the website of the announcement) or email susan@ruralaction.org.

Join Now

Join us at 3:00pm for a social hour followed by our program starting at 3:00pm. Chuck Fluharty, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Vice President for Policy Programs will be the keynote speaker.

Sustainability and lifetime achievement award winners will be announce

Light refreshments and beverages will be served.

“I enjoy working with the public and helping to educate about what we can do to help the earth. Humans are the ones that created the current issues and I feel that it is important for us to be the ones to correct the problem,” Coss said.

Coss’s position is funded by a grant that was secured by the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) on behalf of AHSWD through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prior to Coss taking on the position in October, the Education Coordinator position had been vacant for over six years.

In her short time as Education Coordinator, Coss helped place additional recycling roll-off containers in more locations within Athens and Hocking counties. The roll-offs are 30 yard dumpsters with compartments for paper and cardboard, bottles and cans, and glass that are placed for a period of time in a community.  Many communities that only had access to recycling for four hours, once a month, now have access to recycling for one week.  Because of the new roll-off containers, secured through a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) written by the Zero Waste Initiative on behalf of the AHSWD, there are also an increased number of drop-off sites.

“It has been very rewarding to see these containers come back to the center full of recyclables. I look forward to creating even more of these opportunities for residents,” said Coss

A major component of Coss’ work is visiting schools, scout organizations, and preschools to teach about the importance of recycling and proper waste practices. Coss and District Operations Coordinator Roger Bail have been able to introduce a recycling program into the Trimble Local School District. With the help of Bail, dedicated Trimble School staff, Hocking Athens Perry Community Action and the AOZWI, Coss hopes to maintain a strong recycling program and partnership with the Trimble Schools.

ODNR has also awarded the AHSWD a grant, which was written by Coss, to promote litter pickup and recycling in the month of May. Coss wrote this grant in hopes to give residents an opportunity to improve the areas in which they live.

“I wanted everyone, including children, to have a chance to help. After all, these children will be the ones that will be here after we are gone. I feel that teaching children about good earth practices now will help to ensure these practices in the future.”

Coss has always had a strong interest in community education. She was a naturalist for thirteen years before becoming the Education Coordinator for AHSWD. Coss was born and raised in Southeast Ohio and deeply cares about the health of her community and its residents. If you are interested in Coss’ educational programs about recycling and proper waste practices, you can contact her by email at athenshockingsolidwaste@gmail.com.

AOZWI is building a community of people who are doing fantastic zero waste work in Appalachia Ohio.  If you know of a person we should interview, write to us at zerowaste@ruralaction.org.