This is the first of two emails sent TWICE MONTHLY to 3,130 Philadelphia officials, organizers, businesses and jobseekers.

FREE HEAT

WINDOWBOX HEAT GRABBERS are the most direct route to free home heating, creating many entry-level jobs. This simple and inexpensive technology can be built of local materials, to pour winter sun’s heat into south-facing rooms.
—This is an old and powerful tool: “My dad’s [family lived] in Johnstown, PA at the turn of the [20th] century and the black boxes they built and put into the windows kept the house so warm the upstair windows had to be raised. Just 15 years ago my dad built one box for their dining roon window to show my mother free heat could be obtained. After a month my mother had him take out the box for it made the whole floor too hot. Solar heating does work.” –Batha 7/15/08 [Note: heat can be adjusted]
—Materials: lumber, sheet metal, windowglass, black paint, screws and screwdriver. Connected at base of window and tilted at local latitude (40 degrees) + 10 degrees. Plans: 1977 and 1978 

SHALLOW GEOTHERMAL drills as little as 35 feet for heating or cooling residences.  Philadelphian Bill Parker Liberty Heat & Energy says 5 drills to 100′ will reduce reliance on grids.

EnergyWisePA is a new website “for all Pennsylvanians seeking to make their homes more energy efficient: grants, loans, contractors, fact sheets, and program details.” 
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REAL MONEY

REVIVE CITY BUDGET WITH COMMUNITY CURRENCY: Interest-free and inflation proof cash can be created locally. Community currency has transacted millions of dollars of trade in Great Barrington, MA and Ithaca, NY.  Philadelphia’s City Hall, which faces $450 million shortfall, could accept local currency as part of tax payment, gradually supplementing local dollar supply. More info: paul5glover@yahoo.com 215 805-8330

FUNDS FOR THE GREENING OF PHILADELPHIA’S LOWEST-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS: Philadelphia Fund for Ecological Living (PhilaFEL)

PHILLYMICRO LISTSERVE facilitates microlending in Philadelphia.  Make a big difference with small loans.

GIVOLOGY makes donations for “education infrastructure in impoverished areas in the developing world.” Founded by Drexel university students, its model can serve Philadelphia’s Third World neighborhoods.

PHILADELPHIA DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP “is the region’s largest provider of micro enterprise development services, working with more than 400 entrepreneurs each year, the majority of whom are in the business start-up phase.”

 Join the SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS NETWORK of Philadelphia to be listed in its 2009 Directory of “triple bottom line” businesses (people, planet, profit). 
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FRESH FOOD

GROWING POWER of Milwaukee sets the pace for Philadephia, by employing three dozen full-time workers and 2,000 volunteers to grow $500,000/year of food on two acres. That’s 18 jobs/acre. Our city has 40,000 vacant lots and 50,000 chronically hungry children. NYT
—PHILADELPHIA’S FOOD HEROES
* PHILADEPHIA URBAN FARMERS NETWORK (PuFN) 
* Farm to City connects local farms to local markets
* NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS ASSN LAND TRUST “long-term preservation of community-managed gardens and green spaces in Philadelphia neighborhoods.”
—”FARMING IN PHILADELPHIA: Feasibility Analysis & Next Steps”: 
—PHILLY GARDEN SWAP is a “free local network for the exchange of plants, flowers, trees and shrubs.” “Rather than spend money that could be used for other purposes, post a request on our website and make an offering.”
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POWER OVER ELECTRIC POWER

ADVANCED SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC DESIGN & INSTALLATION
“This class is designed to upgrade existing skills and prepare [for] the NABCEP certification exam.” Prerequisite: Solar Energy International’s (SEI) hands-on PV Design & Installation workshop, or Grid-Tied PV workshop, or instructor permission. Ron Celentano 215-836-9958.

SMART ENERGY INITIATIVE OF PENNSYLVANIA

PA ENERGY ACTION BILL 2200 NEEDS YOUR PUSH. Would create jobs through energy savings but State Senate is amending it to death.
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THE GREEN ARTS

PHILLY CREATIVE JOBS, the “first-ever creative industry online job bank,” launched at createAdelphia  Local firms attended to collect resumes.
—Audrea Parrack of Marketing Capital Management said, “probably 25% of the people seeking work through our agency want to get involved in the green movement. There’s a big surge in Philadelphia.”

WHEN IS A CREATIVE JOB ALSO GREEN? Here are some suggestions.
1. The job encourages and/or teaches creative expression, so others are able to enjoy creating more than consuming. Making music and art together, and dancing together, is a green alternative to wasteful, random shopping.
2. When the arts tell stories of people taking power together to make essential personal and neighborhood change.
3. When creative work strengthens organizations or companies dedicated to green change, or improves their green function.
4. When the job uses technologies, materials and processes that pollute least.

SOME OF THE MANY PHILADELPHIA ARTS ORGANIZATIONS PROMOTING SOCIAL CHANGE:

—Anna Crusis is a “feminist choir striving for musical excellence and social change.”
—ArtSanctuary is “ Celebrating 10 years of the power of black art to transform, unite, and enrich!”
—Asian Arts Initiative is “promoting social justice and change through arts.”
—Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble “uses the power of dance and spoken word to explore our communities’ social ills… while celebrating the positive solutions that can come from making a social change.”
—Design for Social Impact “We shape the message of “public-interest groups… and sustainable businesses.”
—Gas & Electric Arts teaches acting “strategies for personal and group transformation” inspired by the Theatre of the Oppressed.
—Interact Theatre uses theatre “as a tool to foster positive social change.”
—Moving Creations is a theatre studio “stimulating the creative potential of youth,” “inspiring them to become activists for change.”  
—Mural Arts Program reflects neighborhood dreams: children, heroes, nature.
—Painted Bride Art Center generates innovative work that “celebrates the transformative power of the arts,” creating a “forum for engagement centered on contemporary social issues.”
—Philadelphia Folklore Project believes the arts are “one of the chief means we have to represent our own realities in the face of powerful institutions. We are committed to paying attention to the experiences and traditions of ‘ordinary’ people.”
—Point Breeze Performing Arts Center provides art instruction to young people through its Arts for Social Change program.
—Scribe Video Center’s Community Visions Program assists “production of mini-documentaries and neighborhood portraits that help communities address important social and political issues.” These “document community concerns, celebrate cultural diversity, and comment on the human condition.”
—Spiral Q teaches puppetmaking, maskmaking and bannermaking for social change.  They organize the annual Peoplehood Parade.
—Taller Puertorriqueño “uses the arts as a vehicle for social change.”  They organize the annual Feria del Barrio.
—Tova: Artistic Projects for Social Change “empower audiences and performers to explore issues of common ground and social justice.”
—Village of Arts and Humanities “uses the power of art to transform impoverished communities.”

LOCAL ART GRANTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
—Bread & Roses Community Fund
—Greater Philadephia Cultural Alliance gives grantwriting tips for “arts-based community development”
—Leeway Foundation makes social change grants for social change to women and trans applicants in our region.

DESIGN COMPETITION: “Sustainably Designed Structures in an Urban Woodland”  Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education’s Environmental Art Program. Deadline 11/21 
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JOB SEARCHES

GREEN JOBS PHILLY makes it easy to find talented people seeking green jobs, find like-minded folks with whom to start an organization or business, offer and request grants or loans that help green Philadelphia’s economy.

CAMPAIGN FOR MENTORS and Young Males of Color is “Committed to reducing the achievement gap between young males of color and increasing graduation rates through access and utilization of quality mentoring and out-of-school time programs.”  (215) 665-2476 Lynda Terrell lterrell@uwsepa.org

ENERGY COORDINATING AGENCY has an extensive green jobs training program
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VACANT LOTS TO SUNFLOWERS: Pittsburgh is converting brownfields to beauty, generating jobs, biofuel, and cleaning polluted soil.

100K HOUSE has just broken ground in Port Richmond: “building an affordable modern & green home” LEED platinum (energy star, solar thermal hot water, rainwater collection, low-flow, dual-flush, radiant in floor, radiant, passive & ERV, CFLs, SIPs, low- or no-VOC, green wall) for less than $100,000. 

FIRST CITY PARK WITH RECYCLING is Clark Park.  Volunteer bundles full bags for pickup.  “Trash containers fill up more slowly,” says Frank Chance.  
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EVENTS

10/5 SEED SAVING & HERBAL TINCTURES part of Urban Sustainability series at Jewish Farm School, 2pm, 4905 Cedar Ave.

10/7 NET TUESDAY: Peer to Peer Social Change Sites: “These are the sites which enable people and organizations to list their cause, and then help others to engage with those causes with their time (e.g., Volunteer Match), money (e.g., Kiva and other microphilanthropy sites) or other support (e.g., change.org).  This is a fast-growing field that is still in its early stages.” 6:30-8:30pm, 32 Strawberry St.

10/7 PHILADELPHIA ORCHARD PROJECT  (POP) PLANTING
POP has planted 91 fruit trees and will plant more at Potter Thomas Elementary, 6th and Indiana, starting 10am.  Join the fun; learn some orchardry.  And please try this at home.

10/11 WEAVER’S WAY FARM HARVEST FESTIVAL (“farm fresh food, music, hay ride, raffle, more!”) noon-4 at Awbury Arboretum (Washington Lane east of  Germantown Ave).

10/16 ECO-NEIGHBORHOOD OPENING NIGHT: A Clean Break http://www.acleanbreak.org exhibits prefab “high-design, low-waste innovations for the urban environment.” S. Broad & Spruce Sts, 7r-10pm.  Continues 10/17-30, 11am-7pm.

10/23 LIGHTS, CARBON, ACTION: Energy Action Agenda for Buildings in Pennsylvania.  PENNSYLVANIA SOLAR & EFFICIENCY RESOURCES introduced by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) at Academy of Natural Sciences.  6:00pm.  Free.  RSVP

10/24 CONSERVATION IS SURVIVAL Conference: “strategies for surviving high and rising energy costs, and the expiration of PECO’s rate cap.” Sponsored by Energy Coordinating Agency. Register 
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 MINI-EDITORIAL: Economics Should be Fun
Simple technologies made in neighborhoods can employ all Philadlephians to provide nearly free heat, food and health care.  The rest is beauty: we handcraft household goods, we make music and art, we relax with friends, kids play.  Our homes and families are secure.
—We gain this good life, all of us, by creating a regional ecological economy.  Its elements are massive insulation (R70), passive solar, urban orchards and greenhousing, trollies, community currencies and cooperative health plans, with maximal reliance on re-used raw materials to manufacture these fundamentals and the tools of creativity.
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OTHER ISSUES
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YOUR LETTERS

“Fun to get the Green Jobs newsletter–I’m impressed!”  –Lauren
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“This is a great service– I attended an event that I wouldn’t have known about.”  –Denise Straiges-Warkov
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“I recently moved to this fair city and have been looking for organizations to get involved with.  I have also been trying to find a job in a field in which I am most qualified.  I was discussing my dilemma with a friend the other day and they said you were a person I should try contacting to get more information about facilities and groups that have green jobs around the city. I have previous experience gardening, working with kids(my passion), sharing information with children and their families about cooking and nutrition and organizing different community programs. Please email me any information that would be helpful in my quest.”  –Alexandra Augustine
—[REPLY] Welcome to Philadelphia!  Your resume is impressive and Philadelphia needs you.  Best suggestion I have is to go to greenjobsphilly.org and click: REGISTER TO SEEK JOB.  There you can upload your resume.  Watch Green Jobs Philly NEWS for events and meetings and go to events (gpen.org) where environmental groups are tabling.  Sustainable Business Network grows its list of local socially responsible businesses.
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“I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about your model for green jobs Philly? I have been looking at your website, but I am still not sure I understand how you are generating the jobs and where the microfinance comes in. Could you also tell me how far along you have come in the project, like how many people are currently involved? I really admire the changes you are trying to make happen in Philly, so I would love to learn more about your initiative!”  –Cecilia
—[REPLY]  Thanks for this good question and for your encouragement.
—GreenJobsPhilly.org launched in mid-September so we’re learning to make it work more smoothly.  It has started as a social enterprise, with a small grant from New Voices Foundation.

 —Currently I’m seeking people who want to develop the several related programs introduced in my book “Green Jobs Philly.”  Such programs will strengthen and accelerate the growth of our green economy, by creating networks of regional and neighborhood capital– land, cash, and labor.  They become the basis of local-serving trade and hiring.  These spread economic authority more widely, so that basic needs are met.  I call this a Mutual Enterprise System, celebrating private and public initiatives that are accountable to community and nature.
—I’ve written extensively about this.  At Green Jobs Philly see greeningeconomy.php  Microlending is one of the initiatives in this toolkit.  It describes how dozens of modest programs weave webs of power. 
—I started a microcredit system in Ithaca NY called Ithaca HOURS, which makes interest-free loans of local paper money, $50 to $30,000.  Millions of dollars value has transacted, among thousands of residents and over 500 businesses.  Started as well a health co-op for the insured, who pay $100/YEAR to be covered for 20 categories of everyday emergency and who own their own free clinic.
—So green jobs rise from mutually-reinforcing networks which move capital and culture in the direction of energy efficiency, urban agriculture, alternatives to automobiles, maximal re-use and recycling.  
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“I work at Next American City Magazine.  I have rifled through your site and have observed all the good that you are creating.” –Jeff Burdo 
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“Got your Greenjobs newsletter.  Good going.  Once I get my PhD and have a class, I’d like to invite you in as a speaker on how to get things done.”  –Maija

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“Nice job!”  –Steve
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“How can YIKES go about posting a job in your newsletter? We have an opening for a full-time programmer.”  –Becky
—[REPLY]  Green Jobs NEWS publishes twice monthly.  To publish directly, go to greenjobsphilly.org and click on REGISTER TO HIRE.  Enter your contact info, click again, then enter the details you’ve provided below.  Would be good if you’d mention the environmentally-relevant elements of your work.
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“As I am including the GreenJobs site in my next newsletter I hope you can mention my business in yours. Thanks!
—”Paige Wolf Media & Public Relations is committed to serving clients using the most ecologically friendly and sustainable methods available while communicating their message to targeted demographics. Her free e-newsletter, The Paige Turner, displays a consistent message of eco-friendly living, highlighting green tips and resources in every issue. We foster relationships with eco-friendly businesses.”
—[REPLY]  Happy to return the favor.
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“Nice to see the site in action.  I’ll start promoting it.”  –Kim
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GOT NEWS?  paul5glover@yahoo.com

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