Have you noticed areas in our parks that look like they have not been mowed in a while? Low mow zones are planted with meadow plants instead of traditional turf, saving valuable staff time and money on lawn maintenance while absorbing runoff and providing habitat for wildlife. They reduce usage of fuel and equipment, which in turn reduces carbon dioxide emissions, protects the atmosphere and saves money.
Continue reading “Growing Instead of Mowing in Hartford’s Parks”
Fall is here, and it is prime time to take a walk in the great outdoors. This month the iQuilt Innovation Center is celebrating Walktober, a series of over a dozen different walks around Hartford. Each walking tour will be led by a knowledgeable guide who will highlight a unique part of the city, so make sure to go to as many as you can.
Thanks to a $1.45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the Connecticut Department of Transportation and CT Transit, Hartford will soon get U.S.-made Proterra electric buses! Click here for the full story!
Many believe that from an environmental justice perspective, Hartford has shouldered the region’s trash burden for far too long already. Yet as a part of the Connecticut Solid Waste System Project, there are plans to redevelop the large materials and solid waste facility located within Hartford. The time to provide public input into these plans is now!
Continue reading “No Time to Waste: Public Comment Open for Trash Site Rehab”
The City’s newly adopted Climate Action Plan focuses on the action area of “food,” aiming for nutritious food that is locally grown or non-carbon-intensive, and is readily available across all neighborhoods, leading to improved health and greater resiliency for area families. But we are making progress in this area. An example? The Whole Cities Foundation (sponsored by Whole Foods) has given the Keney Park Sustainability Project a grant for a mobile teaching kitchen. The KPSP has purchased and rehabilitated a former school bus, and intends to start its first mobile programming later this fall. KPSP will offer health foods education and cooking demonstrations, with the ultimate goal of reducing rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Read more and watch a video, from the Hartford Courant!
Check out this video about the launch of the Climate Stewardship Initiative, edited by CCSU student Wojciech Muszynski:
Another video, focusing on the Climate Action Plan and featuring additional community members engaged in these efforts, is coming soon.
Thanks to an innovative set of new zoning provisions recently approved by the City of Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission in consultation with the green infrastructure team at the Office of Sustainability, green infrastructure practices will now be incorporated into new developments disturbing more than 5,000 square feet.
The goal of these changes is to manage one inch of precipitation on the lot, without discharging any stormwater runoff into the public drainage system. This approach was recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency in its Next Steps Memo for Hartford, after the “Green and Complete Streets” workshop it ran earlier in 2017. Green infrastructure also provides many valuable co-benefits beyond the capture and treatment of stormwater runoff. Reducing the amount of impervious surfaces in our city and adding green spaces helps cool and clean the air. Plantings help beautify our streets and neighborhoods.
As part of the permitting process, applicants will be required to show how they plan to manage the one-inch storm on-site or at another location. If that is not feasible, they can opt to pay into a newly-created green infrastructure fund supporting the implementation of stormwater best management practices around the city. Fees have been set at $3 per gallon, except in the federally-designated Promise Zone, where they will be $1.50 per gallon.
These new provisions are based largely on the stormwater management provisions instituted in Norfolk, Virginia. The goal of managing one inch of stormwater on-site follows the New York City requirement, and Hartford hopes to achieve the same goal on an incremental basis. The opt-out fees were adapted from an analysis of costs of best management practices done in Washington, D.C.
The photo above was taken at Keney Park Sustainability Project at its edible rain garden site!
Transport Hartford has some upcoming events that may be of interest:
Friday, Sept 1st – Bike, Walk, and Bus to Work Meetup
Wednesday, Sept 12th – Bike Share and Car Share Happy Hour
Wednesday, Sept 27th – CTtransit Goes East to UConn Storrs
Part of an environmental nonprofit organization, and interested in developing your professional grant writing skills?
On August 30th and 31st, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Center for Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships is partnering with the Hartford, Connecticut, Field Office & Promise Zone to host 2 grant writing training sessions. The first is geared toward more basic level grant writing, and the second will be more advanced.
Grant writing is a very valuable and useful skill set. “Key Facts on U.S. Foundations” by the Foundation Center states that $54.7 billion was donated to nonprofits by over 86,000 private, corporate, and community foundations in 2013! This is an increase of more that 80% over the decade preceding it. A HUD professional trainer will teach strategies to enhance community and organizational development, as well as the art of successful capacity building for your organization. Topics include: Strategies for a Winning Proposal /Organizational Development; Strategic Planning for Advanced Organizations; Budgeting/Financial Management; Elements of Successful Proposal/Finding Grants; Packaging & Submitting Your Proposal; Dispelling Myths & Building Relationships; Writing Your Proposal from the Funders’ Perspective; Knowing Your Funder; Logic Model; and Knowledge of Top Funders.
The two sessions will take place on August 30th and August 31st, from 10:00am to 4:30 pm at the Lyceum Conference Center – 227 Lawrence Street in Hartford. Register for the sessions separately; you can do so here and here.
For questions, contact Suzanne Piacentini via email at suzanne.piacentini@hud.gov.
We realize that can’t keep up with all of Hartford’s environment-focused events, including all of the regularly scheduled park concerts, farmers’ markets, and street fairs that take advantage of summer! But here are a handful in the second half of the month for you to consider attending:
