Mark your calendars – next Sunday, December 12th, neighbor Myla Goldberg and Darin Strauss will be talking about their new books at Union Hall, she says, “where you can drink drinks and eat food, play bocce, and be a part of a literary conversation all at once.

From Myla:
Darin, who’s normally a novelist, has written a memoir, Half a Life, which has some interesting things in common with my new novel, The False Friend.

So, on December 12th, it’ll be Fiction vs. Memoir, with the two of us talking about the different ways they allow a writer to get (or fail to get) at the truth.

Plus, the event is a benefit for the Brooklyn New School, also known as P.S. 146, which like all public schools has been hit hard by the city’s budget cuts.

You should come! After Darin and I are done talking, there will be drinking and mingling.”

Here’s the info:

FICTION VS. MEMOIR: MYLA GOLDBERG AND DARIN STRAUSS IN CONVERSATION IN A BENEFIT FOR THE BROOKLYN NEW SCHOOL (P.S. 146 )

Sunday, December 12
6pm
Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Brooklyn
$12-$25 Donation at the Door

DARIN STRAUSS
In Darin’s new memoir, Half a Life, he writes of his experience of being behind the wheel when a high school classmate swerved in front of his car and died.

MYLA GOLDBERG
In Myla’s new novel, The False Friend, a woman confronts the memory of having contributed to the death of a child when she was a girl.

Kensington Cleanup

Come help clean up Kensington on October 10th (Sunday) from 9am to 10am.  We're picking up garbage at pedestrian and bike paths at the entrance to the Prospect Park Expressway.

Questions or ideas, call Lee or Jason @ 718-701-1295. Bring kids, gloves (disposable is best) and garbage bags if you have 'em.  

(Maybe a communal breakfast afterwards at Connie's?)

Ocean Pkway and Church Ave
Brooklyn
9:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.
www.350.org

Reduce the Use in District 39!

Saw this posts on Kensington Prospect.

the competition is ON! you can still sign up for the competition here

Sign up for the district wide energy competition!

Sustainable Kensington Windsor Terrace, the community group that brought you the pilot energy conservation competition in February is proud to announce an expanded competition throughout the Councilman Lander's entire district. Thanks to NYSERDA and Councilman Lander's Office, our target for the expanded competition is 300 households!

In the 3 months that the pilot ran in the spring, the 40 families enrolled saved cumulatively about $600 in reduced energy costs. And that was in the cool months, imagine how well we'll do in the summer when electrical costs are higher and consumption typically spikes. You can read the press release here.

If you pay your own electric bill and have been in the same space for at least a year, you are eligible to participate. In addition to Windsor Terrace and Kensington, the neighborhoods we are expanding to are: Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Borough Park.

If you live in a house or an apartment, or run a retail store or manage a Co-Op, join us.

It's a fun and easy way to learn about how much energy you are using and how your usage compares to your neighbors. You'll use less energy, meet your neighbors and win prizes (seriously, there will be real prizes this time!)

Go to the signup form here
www.surveymonkey.com/reducetheused39
(you'll need to have your con ed bill handy)

Happy Conserving! See you at the pie social!

Ellen

free green-themed carnival June 12th

Free Sustainable Community event.

I got this from the Brooklyn Green Team

May 1st - 9th: NYC Wildflower Week

Wildflowers in NYC?

NYC Wildflower Week engages and connects urbanites to their local environments and aims to inspire and empower New Yorkers to conserve and cultivate a landscape that is sustainable, beautiful and ecologically sound. It is part of National Wildflower Week, an initiative begun by Lady Bird Johnson.

45 events throughout the 5 boroughs including plant giveaways, tours, nature walks, greenroof visits, childrens events celebrating NYC native flora.

Community Energy Conservation Competition Pilots in K/WT

Want to compete in the K/WT Pilot Neighborhood Energy Conservation Competition? READ ON, CLICK HERE FOR THE ENERGY COMPETITION WEBPAGE OR DOWNLOAD THE FLYER HERE.

Neighbors will compete to reduce their energy consumption and there would be winners in two categories – biggest loser and smallest footprint.

We'll all be winners if our theory proves right that the entire group’s consumption will be reduced by gaining awareness about energy conservation plus a little peer pressure.

In order to make the competition fun and fair, we need a year’s worth of energy bills from about 100 real households in order to see the actual data trends from month to month. Anyone who pays their own energy bill is eligible to compete. We aren’t offering prizes yet but there will be promotions, and the winner(s) can be featured on the website if they want!

To join, just click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYSERDA. The survey will ask you for your neighborhood, zipcode, type of home, number of occupants and appliances and allow us to access your Con Ed account using your account number.

The information will be used only to crunch numbers to figure out and inform you of your energy consumption compared to your neighbors, it will NOT be released to anyone else. You will receive a monthly email with your standing in the competition, energy saving tips from NYSERDA and coupons/special offers for energy saving products. Signing up will not put you on any other NYSERDA email list.

We are hoping to have everyone signed up by the end of January. Thank you in advance and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need further information. Click here to see the competition rules below so you don’t have to scroll through the survey.

Contest Rules:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

How to enter: To enter the Prospect Park Energy Reduction Competition, you must complete the online survey. One (1) entry per household. All entries must be submitted by February 9, 2010. No responsibility is assumed for lost or misdirected entries.

All registrants to the Prospect Park Energy Reduction Competition must have a valid email address. All registrants must be a direct customer of Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Con Ed). Residents or households who do not pay directly for their own electricity usage are not eligible for this competition. All registrants authorize NYSERDA to access their electricity consumption for the duration of this competition and two (2) years thereafter.

Competition Timeline: Starting February 2010, each month’s energy usage shall be tracked by NYSERDA. The winners will be determined based on their energy usage after 3 months from the competition’s start.

Evaluation and Notification: The electricity usage for each registrant for each month (as determined for each registrant based on their utility meter read and billing date) will be calculated by NYSERDA based on the actual utility bill from Con Edison (as reported for that registrant at Con Edison’s website). The total usage will be divided by the number of occupants in the home to determine the electricity usage per occupant (kWh/person) for each evaluation period. The “Smallest Footprint” will be determined by comparing the kWh/person for the monthly evaluation period among all registrants. The “Biggest Loser” will be determined by subtracting the kWh/person for each evaluation period from the same time period of the previous year.

Each registrant will receive an email from NYSERDA once per month indicating their current usage per person for that period and providing them a ranking comparing them to all other registrants in the competition. The email notification may also include tips and/or information on NYSERDA’s programs and incentives to help the registrant reduce their energy usage in the future.

General: Competition is open to New York Energy $mart Program territory residents who are customers of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., 18 years of age or older as of the time of entry, except employees (and their immediate family member)of NYSERDA, the State Department of Public Service and their advertising, promotional production

Open Invitation to K/WT Neighbors to compete in the Pilot Neighborhood Energy Conservation Competition

Hi Neighbors,

My name is Ellen Honigstock.

Many of you know me – I’m an architect in the neighborhood who works on environmental and energy efficiency projects.

I have been working (volunteering is more accurate) with NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) to design a neighborhood residential energy saving competition using Con Ed bills as the scoring device and I want to ask Kensington & Windsor Terrace to host the pilot project.

Neighbors would compete to reduce their energy consumption and there would be winners in two categories – biggest loser and smallest footprint. Our theory is that the entire group’s consumption would be reduced by gaining awareness about energy conservation plus a little peer pressure.

We want to pilot this competition in Kensington/Windsor Terrace within the next three months, starting February 1st. Eventually, we’d want to scale it up so that we could have KWT versus Park Slope (we’d kick their butts) versus Fort Greene, versus Flatbush versus Sunset Park etc... and eventually Brooklyn v. Queens!

In order to make the competition fun and fair, we need a year’s worth of energy bills from about 100 real households in order to see the actual data trends from month to month. Anyone who pays their own energy bill is eligible to compete. We aren’t offering prizes yet but there will be promotions, and the winner(s) can be featured on the website if they want! The main benefit will be an increased awareness about your energy usage and (hopefully) a reduction in your bills!

Would you be interested in allowing us to use your electrical data?

This is what we would ask you to do:

Fill out a short online questionnaire including your neighborhood, zipcode, type of home, number of occupants and appliances and allow us to access your Con Ed account using your account number. Just go here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYSERDA

The information will be used only to crunch numbers to figure out and inform you of your energy consumption compared to your neighbors, it will NOT be released to anyone else. You will receive a monthly email with your standing in the competition, energy saving tips from NYSERDA and coupons/special offers for energy saving products. Signing up will not put you on any other NYSERDA email list.

We are hoping to have everyone signed up by the end of January. Thank you in advance and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need further information. Click here to see the competition rules so you don’t have to scroll through the survey.



Ellen Honigstock



--
Ellen Honigstock RA, LEED AP
Ellen Honigstock Architect PC
Sustainable Strategies for Existing Buildings
45 Main Street #806
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 228-1585
ellen@ehapc.com
www.ehapc.com
[toeprint project] www.toeprintproject.com