Sunday, May 22, 2011

LEJer featured in Exploratorium's media channel!


You MUST check out, Jasmine Dow - former LEJ youth, current LEJ Americorps/Public Ally, and future health professional in the name of environmental justice! Watch this audio slideshow that the Exploratorium created as a part of their online media series, Driven. Jasmine talks about her personal and political journey with LEJ, Heron's Head Park, and the EcoCenter... reminding us that there is no such thing as "away" and the vision for environmental justice in Bayview Hunters Point.

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Living Roof is alive!


Check out the beautiful colors exploding from the EcoCenter's living roof! The same folks who designed the Academy of Sciences' living roof - Rana Creek - designed the EcoCenter's roof. Why is the EcoCenter's living roof a little more colorful and robust that the Academy's? The roof installers, Habitat Gardens, laid irrigation lines from in the soil so that the plants are directly watered at the roots! Less water loss than a sprinkler system! In addition to using rainwater, subsurface irrigation is another way that the EcoCenter is reducing water use



LEJ staff recently conducted methane monitoring from the vents on the roof with an intern from Treadwell and Rollo, Shante Austin, who is also a former LEJ youth now studying Environmental Studies and Africana Studies at SF State University. We're excited to continue to work with Shante in this new capacity in which she's sharing with LEJ her new expertise!


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Every day is People's Earth Day!

What an eventful month of April!

For LEJ's People's Earth Day, we hosted over 75 students from local schools, 8 different youth science/environmental organizations, and a variety of partners to make a successful PED full of environmental education activities and hands-on the land service. Music, food made by local caterers, hands-on activities, poppy costume, solar-powered water fountain, ZooMobile with an owl and oppossum - we had it all!


Click here for more pictures of the celebratory day!

At the EcoCenter, LEJ is rounding out its year-long series of teacher/educator trainings by collaborating with BMagic (Bayview youth nonprofit collaborative) on a training to incorporate science and the environment into youth programming on May 4 (more pics here).



LEJ's last teacher/educator trainings will occur in collaboration with the Planet Drum Foundation focusing on bioregionalism and low-impact designs (LID). See LEJ's website for more details and registration info.