A special festival to celebrate the Monarch butterfly and highlight efforts to rebuild the butterfly population and keep them flying in our community is scheduled from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. This family-friendly event will be held at the East Side Recycling Center, 2401 Scott Blvd. SE in Iowa City. The festival is open to the public, and there is no fee to participate.
Events will include displays about Monarchs, information-sharing on how to grow milkweed to help feed them, and an opportunity to learn how to successfully raise Monarch caterpillars on your own. At 2:15 p.m., there will be a chrysalis giveaway. Also scheduled: a kids' storytime, lemonade and snacks, and a search of the area's milkweed plants for caterpillars.
Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton signed the National Wildlife Federation's Mayors' Monarch Pledge on Tuesday, Aug. 16 to help raise awareness about declining Monarch populations. This pledge indicates a commitment from the City to help rehabilitate the Monarch population.
Backyard Abundance Monarch Day
Backyard Abundance is holding a Day of Service for Monarchs at Wetherby
Park on Sunday, Sept. 11 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. See
BackyardAbundance.org for more details.
Monarch tagging event at Kent Park
The Johnson County Conservation Board
is holding a Monarch Butterfly Tagging Event at Kent Park on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.
Pre-registration is requested. To register email kmorrow@co.johnson.ia.us.
Farm to Street Dinner: A collaborative success
Combine fresh ingredients with elegantly prepared dishes by some of the area's top chefs, then serve it to a group of eager diners seated at white cloth-covered tables in the middle of North Linn Street, and you have a picture of what the first Farm to Street Dinner was like.
The event, held Thursday, Aug. 18, was a collaborative effort between the City of Iowa City's Farmers Market, the Downtown District, Field to Family, and Johnson County to celebrate local foods and support local food systems. This year, it also helped raise funds for the Farm to School Program. This nonprofit program provides Iowa City Community School District elementary students with fresh, locally grown foods for school meals, as well as hands-on opportunities to learn about healthy foods and food production through programs such as "Farmer Fairs," an in-school field trip that provides a farm experience at school sites.
Coordinator of the
ICCSD Farm to School Chapter Michelle Kenyon said, "This event helped support the
goals of our Farm to School Chapter, which are to increase the amount of fresh,
local foods that students eat, support school gardens in order to teach kids
where their food comes from, procure locally-grown foods for the school lunch
menu, and offer hands-on activities and demonstrations showcasing the components
of a sustainable food system."
The Farm to Street Dinner was supported through the Iowa City Council Sustainable/Locally Grown Agriculture initiative, with additional support coming from the University of Iowa Community Credit Union, PIP Printing, Bark and Bloom, High Ground Cafe, Get Fresh, and Jessica Pease Design. The meal was created by chefs from Baroncini Ristorante, Devotay Restaurant, Motley Cow Café, Northside Bistro, Pullman Bar & Diner, and SHARE Wine Lounge and Bistro.
Solar power brings sustainable energy to local businesses
Downtown Iowa City businesses M.C. Ginsberg - Objects of Art and MidwestOne Bank are paving the way to sustainable energy solutions with the installation of solar panels above their businesses.
After the installation, Mark Ginsberg, owner of M.C. Ginsberg - Objects of Art noted, "330 pounds of carbon was eliminated the first month we ran this." Kevin Monson, Chairman of the Board at MidwestOne Bank, added that about 10% of the energy required for the bank building will now be produced on site. Check out this video for more about these innovative energy solutions.
Double Up Food Bucks increases healthy food purchases
The introduction of the Double Up Food Bucks Program, Iowa's statewide healthy food incentive program, has been a great success in Iowa City this summer, essentially doubling the amount of fresh produce low-income residents can purchase from the Downtown Iowa City Farmers Market. Through this program, low-income residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are offered a one-for-one match on their Farmers Market purchases -- in other words, for every $1 spent, they receive $2 worth of healthy foods. The local program is the result of a collaboration between the City Council, City of Iowa City Farmers Market, and Johnson County. Double Up Food Bucks not only makes it easier for low-income residents to access fresh fruits and vegetables, it also builds business for local farmers and producers and helps keep food dollars in the local community. Read more about it here.
Rummage in the Ramp: a "win, win, win" situation
In its 10th anniversary year, Rummage in the Ramp, the City of Iowa City's annual reduce / reuse / recycle event, showed once again how vital (and popular!) it continues to be by helping to divert a whopping 27 tons of still-usable household goods from the Iowa City Landfill.
Each year when apartment leases end, the program encourages tenants to donate, rather than throw away, household items, furniture, clothing, books, and other items they no longer need or want to Rummage in the Ramp. The items are then put up for sale in a local parking ramp, with all profits from the multi-day sale split by local organizations and nonprofits that help staff the event. Over 200 volunteers
from 38 local nonprofits helped staff this year's Rummage in the Ramp, sharing $17,480 for their organizations.
Jen Jordan, Iowa City's Recycling Coordinator commented, "At the surface, Rummage in the Ramp is a giant garage sale. However, if you dig deeper, this event provides people with items they need, provides local non-profits with operating funds, all while diverting waste from the Landfill, making it a win-win-win."
Sustainability Spotlight: Jen Jordan
Jen Jordan, Iowa City’s Recycling Coordinator, is the featured staff member for this month's Sustainability Spotlight. She defines sustainability through its impact on what she calls the "triple bottom line" -- environment, local
economy and social well-being -- and uses the triple bottom line to ensure waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting opportunities are available and accessible for as many Iowa City residents as possible. Read more about Jen's efforts here in the full Sustainability Spotlight feature.
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Connect with us on social media! We’ll be posting sustainability facts and updates every week from City of Iowa City accounts, with our hashtag #SustainableIC. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so be sure to like and follow! To subscribe to this e-newsletter, visit www.icgov.org/e-subscriptions and check the "Sustainability" box in the Newsletters section.
4-STAR: In March 2016, Iowa City was awarded a 4-STAR Community Rating for sustainability excellence, by being formally certified in the STAR Community Rating System. STAR offers the nation's leading certification program in evaluating local sustainability, encompassing social, economic and environmental performance measures. More info: www.STARcommunities.org.
This newsletter is published by the City of Iowa City Sustainability Office. For more information, contact Brenda Nations, Coordinator, at 319-887-6161 or brenda-nations@iowa-city.org.