If you only take three things from this, here’s what I want you to know:
1. I strive for exceptional landscapes that artfully integrate people and the environment.
2. When you work with Landmatters you're not only talking to a "landscaper" but someone whose work is their passion.
3. Yesterday was best but now is still a great time for you to take a look and start thinking. How do you and your landscape work together? What statement does it or could it make about your impact on the planet?
Growing up on a farm in rural Iowa, sustainability was not a hot topic of conversation. However, things are changing. Around the world, we can find innovative solutions for water collection in Bermuda, a never-ending vista of wind turbines in Germany, solar panels on nearly every house in Australia, and so much more in the push for renewables and sustainability. I wanted to bring this push home to the farm.
PlanDSM is the first comprehensive zoning code rewrite since 1965, the first City of Des Moines specific Transportation Master Plan, and the newest Parks and Recreation Master Plan since 1994.
Operated through the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy and Environmental Education, Green Iowa AmeriCorps is a community service program. Our organization was founded in 2009 to address conservation and sustainable usage of energy resources in several Iowa communities as they struggled to rebuild from the devastating floods of 2008.
With the recent snow this past Friday, we were reminded that winter is approaching. Along with winter comes the holiday season: a time for family, friends, great food, and gifts!
Sometimes the holiday season can be tough for a sustainably-minded person, so we decided to share some ideas about how to give more sustainable gifts.
May is one of the best months of the year. The weather is warming, the Earth is full of happy green trees and colorful buds, and it's Bike Month! For the past several years the Des Moines Bike Collective has done an amazing job celebrating weekend trail riders, daily commuters, distance rollers and lovers of all things bikes here in Central Iowa. Here are ten ways you can join in on Bike Month fun!
Tim Kruse, from Green Light Renewable Services, provided a dynamic conversation at Smokey Row for our April Meetup and we thought it would be great to share some of the information since we know some of you couldn't make it!
Take a walk or ride a bike between the Science Center of Iowa, the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, and the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates to learn about science and conservation in Iowa and throughout the Universe! Take a tour of a LEED-certified building, meet NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, and participate in a collective art project using botanical and natural materials! This is a great event for kids. Learn more here.
Organize a short weekend road trip and join volunteers from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation to do important restoration work on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. The trail is 63 miles of crushed limestone that runs from Council Bluffs down to Blanchard. There are two four hour volunteer shifts available. Learn more here.
This year Iowa’s largest Earth Day event is focusing on what we can do to create a more sustainable community. Join more than 1,200 volunteers to remove tens of thousands of pounds of trash from the city of Des Moines. Register your volunteer team here.
Tune up your bike and prepare to ride for Bike to Work Month in May! Sponsored by the Des Moines Bicycle Collective, Bike Month is meant for anyone who loves to ride bikes in Central Iowa. Whether you’re a weekend trail rider or a daily bike commuter, Bike Month brings together bike enthusiasts of all experience levels to celebrate the ride! Learn more here.
Check out resources from the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Policy Project, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, or any of these other great organizations who are working to improve environmental legislation and policy in Iowa. Become an informed voter and make sure your voter registration is up to date!
Whether it’s in the window of your apartment or a quarter of an acre in your backyard, April is a great time to start a garden and grow at least one new thing this summer. Learn more about planting flowers and grasses that benefit native butterflies and bees and register your garden with Plant.Grow.Fly!
Visit the Blank Park Zoo to hear about Iowa Conservationist James Pease's lifelong work for water conservation in Iowa. Pease has paddled 1,400 miles of Iowa’s rivers conducting surveys and will provide a unique perspective on Iowa’s waters. The final seminar in the Blank Park Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation Series is Thursday, April 7 at 6 P.M. Buy tickets here.
Whether it’s an event we missed or something you want to organize on your own, post it in the Urban Ambassadors Facebook group! This is a great way to make new friends who care about protecting Iowa’s natural resources, just like you. Not part of the group yet? Join here.
Have a great idea from an environmental project that’s not in Des Moines yet? Register a Seed Project at our website and find community members to help you make your dream a reality.
This month's meetup will be on April 12 at Smokey Row from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Tim Kruse, owner of Green Light Renewable Services, is a master electrician with 20+ years of experience. He will share his vast knowledge on the different types of solar panels available for your home or business, the installation process, and also the incentives available at the state or federal level. Check out their website for a great list of reasons to consider solar for your home.
A group of organizations (and passionate youth involved in iMatter) are working together to make Des Moines carbon neutral by 2040. By attending the City Council meeting on April 25, the goal is to encourage City Council to create a citizens' task force with youth representation that provides input on how to get to net zero. Join the group from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at City Hall in downtown Des Moines.
Green running is a way to better yourself and your community. It is the act of running with a purpose: to make the world a greener place. Runners and walkers of all shapes, sizes and abilities meet in one place to get a workout and make an impact on the earth by picking up the garbage that litters our communities. Join them on April 22 at 6:00 p.m. at Los Laureles.
Are you willing to help set the direction of Urban Ambassadors while we are evaluating and defining our role in the world of sustainability? We are seeking passionate and motivated individuals to join one of the two following committees. Your vision and expertise can help us ensure we are planting the correct seeds where they will grow the best.
If you are interested in joining either of these committees please email us at info@urbanambassdors.org with your interest.
Urban Ambassadors celebrated sustainable friendships at the second annual Sustainable Sweethearts at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden last Friday. DJ Wolf Pack from Harding Middle School cranked out some tunes, Fresh Café and Market served up some wheatgrass lemonade and vegan desserts, and a photo booth brought new friends and old friends together. Check out the full album here!
At our FRIEND(raiser) this September we launched the Seed Project Tool, an online platform for planning a sustainability project in Des Moines. For the past few months we have been reviewing some of the great projects people have submitted and discussing how to help build connections for anyone interested in starting a project.
One seed project we collected that is now organizing a team is the Empty Bowls project, which UA Member Ash Bruxvoort introduced to the crowd at Sustainable Sweethearts.
“Iowa is the third most product ag state, yet 1 in 8 people in Iowa are food insecure. That is shocking. Empty Bowls is an opportunity for us to come together as a community of artists, farmers, and eaters, to raise money and awareness for a local hunger organization. Admission to the event is the purchase of a bowl made by a local artist, which the attendee chooses themselves, and we will serve a simple, local, vegetarian meal.
Ash has organized a follow-up meeting for anyone interested in learning more about the project. You can find the Facebook event here or learn more about the developing project at the Seed Project page.
UA is all about making connections with like-minded people and making Des Moines a better place to live. To new connections we had a short networking event where we shared our sustainability challenges and goals.
We try to foster community all year, not just at our four annual events like Sustainable Sweethearts. At the event we launched two new ways to connect with each other. One is the sustainable directory, which is an online directory where individuals or businesses can submit their information and the expertise they hold in a specific area. Consider this our seed project that we kicked off at Sustainable Sweethearts! We hope you share these links with individuals or businesses who offer value to those interested in sustainability projects.
Another way to connect with fellow UA members and sustainability experts is through our Facebook group. This is a place to let each other know what we’re working on and to make friends. Are you planning a hiking trip? Post an event in the Facebook group and invite others to join you! Looking for volunteers for your community garden or Seed Project? This is a great place to share that information too.
UA is so thankful for your contribution, large or small. We hope you stay connected to all the things we have going on in 2016.
Written by: Ash Bruxvoort
We are excited to announce a call for a new board member at Urban Ambassadors. Having served three years on the board, current president Bethany Wilcoxon will transition off the board in January 2016. With the completion of a term comes the opportunity to add new ideas, talent, and leadership to the organization. Are you or someone you know interested in helping shape the future of sustainability in Des Moines?
Board members are critical in helping UA grow and sustain its current operations to serve the community and to envision and guide the community to its next chapter. We hope you'll consider joining or perhaps refer an interested community member to join the board in January 2016.
After nearly 150 people attended Sustainable Sweethearts Feb. 6, February's meet-up Tuesday at the Scenic Route Bakery was all about looking through great new project ideas submitted by the community.
Momentum is building for an annual Seed Project workshop Urban Ambassadors will hold on March 3 at DART Central Station. All of the project leaders who submitted ideas at Sustainable Sweethearts (along with anyone else who'd like to come) are invited to the workshop on launching your community project idea coming up next month.
Here are some updates on projects members of the UA community are talking about. Need help contacting one of these project leaders? E-mail info@urbanambassadors.org and we'll connect you.
The Tiny House is currently on display at the Des Moines Home & Garden Show. Members of UA are planning to visit it as a group Sunday, February 15, at 1:00 pm.
The #ReStoreTinyHouse is coming together! Don't miss us at @HomeShowDM this weekend. pic.twitter.com/SQJMKDL9rP
— GDM Habitat ReStore (@Habitat_ReStore) February 10, 2015
The Forest Ave Community Orchard Project monthly planning meeting will be this Monday 2/16 at 6:00 pm. The are meeting at St Vincent de Paul Thrift Store (1426 6th Ave. DSM 50314) in the Education Room on the 2nd Floor. This meeting is open to all who want to participate or simply observe. It's not too late to join this team as they unite to "Forge a Jewel in the Crown of Des Moines" You can access a meeting agenda here.
James Bruton, production manager of the Des Moines Arts Festival, stopped by to share his efforts to make that major downtown event more sustainable, from charting out where waste goes to re-evaluating how the festival's stages manage electricity and beyond.
In addition to the project discussion, Lee Wagner stopped by to deliver an update on this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade, in which UA friends will march for a second year. Last year's event proved to be a fun way for members of the "green" community to march in the city's green parade. We thought it just seemed proper somehow, and indeed with the good energy from the crowd along the street, we're excited to return again for a second year to prove we're "as green as the Irish."
We are excited to promote a Pop Up Film Festival at HoQ, one of our favorite “real food” restaurants in Des Moines. The Real Food Media Project, is a collaboration among some of the nation’s leading food and farming organizations joining together to help spread the story of our food. The event will take place from 2-4 PM on Sunday, February 22nd at 303 East 5th Street, Des Moines. The event is free with a cash bar. Please sign up to let us know if you plan to come.
Finally, Food Corps friends Marlie and Chelsea stopped by to let us know about their 2nd annual "It's almost spring meeting" which brings together members of school, community, and faith based garden for a morning of networking, resource sharing, and garden planning for the 2015 growing season. UA's own Greg Van Den Berghe will present a session on seed saving. The event takes place at Hiatt Middle School, 1214 E. 15th Street, Saturday, Feb. 28 from 9-noon. It's free to attend.
