List of suggested uses for REC dollars presented at the City Council March 21 Work Session

Posted by Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel is a university research scientist who retired to Oberlin several
User is currently offline
on May 5, 2016
in Energy Matters

Click below to download a copy of the REC project ideas from the March 21 City Council Work Session.  They have been compiled into a single document. Print copies are available at the Oberlin Public Library as well.

all rec dollar use suggestions for city council may 2016.pdf

Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1080 1 Comment

Community Voices - Dan Roddy

Posted by Maya Blumenberg-Taylor
Maya Blumenberg-Taylor
Maya Blumenberg-Taylor has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on April 21, 2016
in Community Voices

Dan Roddy-4Dan Roddy is the Facilities Operations/Painting and Rental Property Manager at Oberlin College.

Q: What word(s) or image(s) would you use to describe this community and why do you choose these?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 935 1 Comment

Community Voices - Ann Cooper Albright

Posted by Sydney Garvis
Sydney Garvis
Sydney Garvis has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on March 22, 2016
in Community Voices

AnnCooperAlbrightAnn Cooper Albright started Girls in Motion 12 years ago when she saw a confidence gap growing between middle school boys and girls.

An Oberlin College Experimental course (Exco) now helps Oberlin College students train other students to be mentors who run the Girls and Boys in Motion program in the middle school.  

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1028 0 Comments

Community Voices - Maureen Simen

Posted by Victoria Albacete & Sofia Moscovitz
Victoria Albacete & Sofia Moscovitz
Victoria Albacete has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on February 22, 2016
in Community Voices

Copy of Maureen SimenMaureen Simen received her BA from Michigan-Flint in English and Social Sciences.  She then pursued a Masters in Reading Education from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.  She has years of experience in curriculum design and development, as well as educational technology.  Currently, Maureen works at the Bonner Center for Service and Learning as the Coordinator for America Reads.  Outside of work, she enjoys fixing up her house as well as relaxing and reading the classics.  Her love for reading is seen in her job, where she inspires college students involved in the America Reads program to volunteer in many schools around the Oberlin area to promote literacy.

Q. What is the America Reads program?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1225 0 Comments

Community Voices - Carlos Mendez

Posted by Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on December 9, 2015
in Community Voices

CarlosCarlos Mendez is going to be a senior at Oberlin High School this year. A Ninde Scholar himself, this summer he worked for the Aspiring Ninde Summer Scholars program as a Summer Fellow. As a Fellow, he assisted the Summer Instructors and acted as a role model for the Aspiring Ninde Scholars. Carlos is very committed to sustainability and also attended the Foresight Prep at Oberlin summer program in which he and his group members identified impactful solutions for food related challenges.

Q: What is your name?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1685 0 Comments

Community Voices - Leonard Gnizak

Posted by Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on November 16, 2015
in Community Voices

Copy of Leonard GnizakLeonard Gnizak is in his 36th year of teaching music.  Currently, he is the Director of Bands at Oberlin City Schools, a post he???s held since 2004.  Mr. Gnizak has been a community partner to four generations of Music Mentors since the program was started in 2005.  He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Cleveland State University, and has studied Clarinet with Ted Johnson of the Cleveland Orchestra.  In 1988, he was elected Teacher of the Year by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

Q. How did the Music Mentors project first come to be?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1654 0 Comments

Community Voices - Bradley Hamilton

Posted by Victoria Albacete & Sofia Moscovitz
Victoria Albacete & Sofia Moscovitz
Victoria Albacete has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on October 28, 2015
in Community Voices

Bradley HamiltonBradley Hamilton is a junior at Oberlin College and hails from South Carolina.  He is majoring in Neuroscience and is on both the track and cross country team.  Bradley currently volunteers with the America Reads program and has been involved with college run activities such as STEM night to get Oberlin kids more interested in math and the sciences.  He sees community involvement as a very important and rewarding part of his time at Oberlin College and hopes that others are inspired to get involved in any way they can.

Q. So Bradley, have you seen any of the environmental digital signs at the library, in the public schools, around town, or in the AJLC?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1582 0 Comments

Community Voices - Ayana Imann Morrison

Posted by Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on October 20, 2015
in Community Voices

Ayarna MorrisonAyana Morrison is going to be a senior at Oberlin High School in the fall. This summer she was a Ninde Summer Fellow. As a Fellow, she was a role model for the Aspiring Ninde Scholars during their summer program. She was especially helpful in matters of cooking, visual art, and writing, as these are some of her talents.

Q: Emily Clarke: Okay so can you say your name and something about yourself?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1579 0 Comments

Community Voices - Ashley Hale

Posted by Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on September 24, 2015
in Community Voices

Copy of Ashley HaleAshley Hale is a fourth year, Dual Degree student majoring in Economics and Trumpet Performance. She was born in Oakland, California but is immediately from Seattle, Washington, where she began playing the trumpet in 7th grade. In her time at Oberlin she has been involved in many non-profits in the area by way of the Bonner Scholars Program. She is currently one of the coordinators of Music Mentors, a position she's held since her freshman year, and is a tutor for the Ninde Scholars program as well as at The Backspace - an after school activity center for middle and high school students. She has one more year until she completes her degrees here and is looking forward to seeing what life has to offer after Oberlin.

Q. Could you start with a description of what you???re doing?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1728 0 Comments

Community Voices - Tyler Gogolek

Posted by Carolyn Burnham
Carolyn Burnham
Carolyn is a fourth-year Studio Art major at Oberlin College and is originally f
User is currently offline
on September 10, 2015
in Community Voices

TylerGogolekinHydropinicGarden2Tyler Gogolek is a hydroponic farmer who lives and works with his family in Oberlin, OH. He has over twenty years of growing experience with garden mums and produce and is committed to sustainable farming practices. In January of 2014, Tyler attended a hydroponic grower training where he learned the systems of hydroponic crop growing and produced his first crop in February of 2015. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water without soil. This method of farming offers sustainability through water conservation because the water is constantly recirculating and uses 70-80 percent less water than traditional soil farming methods. Tyler's Farm's mums and produce are available at farmer's markets in Northern Ohio as well as local restaurants and retail locations.

Q: How is it you came to live and work in Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1983 0 Comments

Community Voices - Joy Harrison

Posted by Bryan Rubin
Bryan Rubin
Bryan Rubin has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on August 25, 2015
in Community Voices

Optimized-Joy HarrisonJoy Harrison has been a Prospect Elementary teacher for three years. She lives in Oberlin, and feels that it is a place where real change can happen--that if you can make something work in Oberlin, you can make it work somewhere else.

How long have you been working at Prospect?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1981 0 Comments

Community Voices - Aliya Rednour

Posted by Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans
Becca Orleans has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on August 17, 2015
in Community Voices

AliyaAliya is going to be a senior at Oberlin High School this fall. This summer she worked for the Aspiring Ninde Scholars Summer Program as a Summer Fellow. As a Fellow, Aliya acted as a role model for the younger Ninde Scholars in facilitating discussion and keeping a positive attitude. After high school, Aliya is considering going to school for nursing.

Q: So if you want to just introduce yourself, say anything that feels relevant.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1867 0 Comments

Community Voices - Ralph Potts

Posted by Isaac Deitz-Green
Isaac Deitz-Green
idgreen has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on August 4, 2015
in Community Voices

Ralph PottsRalph Potts is the General Manager of the Cable Co-op and has been a member of the Oberlin Community for nearly three decades. His business has provided an alternative to large corporations for the community's cable and internets needs for over 28 years. He also serves as the President of the Board of Trustees of the Oberlin Business Partnership.

Could you tell me a little bit about the Cable Co-op?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1870 0 Comments

Community Voices - Jim and Anne Helm

Posted by Isaac Deitz-Green
Isaac Deitz-Green
idgreen has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on July 16, 2015
in Community Voices

Anne Helm GardenJim Helm is a Professor Emeritus of Classics at Oberlin College, and an active member of the Kendal at Oberlin community. Jim is chair of the Wood-shop Committee, and currently the Vice-President of the Kendal at Oberlin Residents Association.

Anne Helm is trained and certified as a Master Gardener in the state of Ohio. Anne volunteers at places such as Oberlin Community Services, and has volunteered in the past with teenage parents and their children at Wilkes Villa, a low-income housing development in Elyria. In addition, she maintains 3 of her own gardens and 6 communal gardens around Kendal at Oberlin.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2076 0 Comments

Community Voices - Melissa Thompson

Posted by Carolyn Burnham
Carolyn Burnham
Carolyn is a fourth-year Studio Art major at Oberlin College and is originally f
User is currently offline
on July 9, 2015
in Community Voices

MelissaThompsonbyCarolynBurnhamMelissa Thompson is an Oberlin resident who has made sustainable changes in her home and daily life as a result of POWER (Providing Oberlin With Efficiency Responsibly). She has lived with her husband and three children in Oberlin for over thirteen years and believes that being environmentally conscious is a natural part of being part of this community.

Q: How would you like to be referred to as?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 1862 0 Comments

SEED Ventures

Posted by Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff, joined the Oberlin Project in September 2014 as the Director of
User is currently offline
on June 17, 2015
in Resilient Economy

SEED Ventures Logo and Text

SEED Ventures (SEED) is growing local entrepreneurs for financial, social, and environmental success.  SEED, a new Oberlin Project initiative, is a pop-up marketplace and incubator aimed at developing sustainable business models, increasing foot-traffic and business activity in Lorain County, and promoting economic growth through innovation.  SEED works with local entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of development, targeting those entrepreneurs with a prototype with sales up to $10,000 in annual revenue.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2446 0 Comments

Community Voices - Steve Dupee

Posted by Chloe Vassot
Chloe Vassot
Chloe Vassot is a first-year student at Oberlin College. Originally from Lancast
User is currently offline
on June 16, 2015
in Community Voices

dupeeSteve Dupee (amppartners.org photo)Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

An image that comes to mind immediately is right here on my business card with wind turbines in the background, illustrating the community???s commitment to environmentally responsible power supply resources to meet our community???s electric needs with a focus on sustainability and carbon emission reduction.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2085 0 Comments

Oberlin Receives Bicycle Award

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on June 11, 2015
in Energy Matters

BFC BronzeOn Tuesday, June 9, 2015, the League of American Bicyclists recognized Oberlin, Ohio with a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFCSM) award, joining 350 visionary communities from across the country. With the announcement of 42 new and renewing BFCs today, Oberlin, Ohio joins a leading group of communities, in all 50 states, that are transforming our neighborhoods.

???We applaud this new round of communities for investing in a more sustainable future for the country and a healthier future for their residents and beyond,??? said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. ???The growing number of leaders taking up bicycling as a way of solving many complex community problems is encouraging. We look forward to continuing to work with these communities as we move closer to our mission of creating a bicycle-friendly America for everyone.???
 
The BFC program is revolutionizing the way communities evaluate their quality of life, sustainability and transportation networks, while allowing them to benchmark their progress toward improving their bicycle-friendliness. With this impressive round, there are now 350
 
BFCs in all 50 states. The bronze level BFC award recognizes Oberlin???s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.Over the past few years the Oberlin Community has made significant improvements for cyclists.  Oberlin College received bronze level for the University category in the fall of 2013. This spring Oberlin City Council passed the first Complete Streets policy in Lorain County.  In addition, there have been improvements in the downtown area for designated bicycle parking that increases safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.  Continued efforts are planned to assist Oberlin's move from bronze to silver level designation in the future.The BFC program provides a roadmap to building a Bicycle Friendly Community and the application itself has become a rigorous and an educational tool in itself. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied and the five levels of the award ??? diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze ??? provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.To apply or learn more about the BFC program, visit bikeleague.org/community.
 
About the Bicycle Friendly AmericaSM ProgramThe Bicycle Friendly CommunitySM, Bicycle Friendly StateSM, Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly UniversitySM programs are generously supported by program partner Trek Bicycle Corp. To learn more about building a Bicycle Friendly America, visit www.bikeleague.org/BFA
 
The League of American Bicyclists is leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. As leaders, our commitment is to listen and learn, define standards and share best practices to engage diverse communities and build a powerful, unified voice for change.

Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2089 0 Comments

Community Voices - Carol Lasser

Posted by Evan Holliday
Evan Holliday
Evan Holliday has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on June 10, 2015
in Community Voices

Carol Lasser  HusbandCarol Lasser is Professor of History at Oberlin College and has lived and worked in Oberlin for 36 years. She has a long history with the Ben Franklin and the owner, Krista Long, and serves as a member of the board of the Bill Long Foundation.

Q: What are some words or images that you would use to describe Oberlin

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2256 0 Comments

Community Voices - Kelly Molesky

Posted by Daniella Mostow
Daniella Mostow
Daniella Mostow has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on June 1, 2015
in Community Voices

Kelly Molesky photoHow have you interacted with the Dashboard?

Well, I work at the Oberlin Public Library, so it???s in my library. I turn it on every morning. I have also noticed over time how people will come in just to look at it, which is kind of cool. I think kids get a real kick out of the animation with the squirrel. I am also realizing that it is a great way to advertise the programs going on here. And yeah, it???s a cool tool.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2057 0 Comments

Community Voices - Sal Talarico

Posted by Leah Martin-Rosenthal
Leah Martin-Rosenthal
Leah Martin-Rosenthal is a first-year at Oberlin College planning on majoring in
User is currently offline
on May 21, 2015
in Community Voices

Sal PicMr. Sal Talarico is the Finance Director for the City of Oberlin and manages the city???s finance department.  He has served the City of Oberlin for 15 years, and a total of 20 years in the public sector.  The finance department is responsible for financial reporting, liability, property and health insurances, utility billing, revenue collections, accounts payable, payroll, treasury and investment management, income tax collections and administration, and debt management. 

What words/images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2197 0 Comments

Community Voices - Alison Ricker

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on April 27, 2015
in Community Voices

alison rickerAlison Ricker is a Science Librarian at Oberlin College. She has held this position for thirty-one years. She has also collaborated with other science librarians in Ohio to present a poster at the 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting, on digitization projects in the sciences among the Five Colleges of Ohio.

 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2378 0 Comments

Community Voices - Ian Yarber

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on April 17, 2015
in Community Voices

Ian YarbergIan Yarber is the head of the Recreation Department of Oberlin. He oversees recreation-related activities around in the town. He was born in Oberlin, and returned here about 17 years ago. Ian has a three year-old daughter.

Q: What comes to mind when you think of Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2160 0 Comments

Community Voices - Krista Long

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on March 27, 2015
in Community Voices

10408886 10205315515192490 303125158256278654 nQ:  What words/images would you use to describe Oberlin? 

A:  Let???s see???progressive, beautiful, historic, small town, musical.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2284 0 Comments

Community Voices - City of Oberlin, General Maintenance Division Employees

Posted by Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on March 20, 2015
in Community Voices

          
Will BlackmonWill Blackmon Johnny MooreJohnny Moore

 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2275 0 Comments

Community Voices - Matt Adelman

Posted by Jake Holtzman
Jake Holtzman
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on March 16, 2015
in Community Voices

feve interiorMatt Adelman (whose wife is the Assistant Director of the Oberlin Project) is an Oberlin resident and one of the owners of The Feve. He genuinely loves Oberlin and is committed to care for both the environment and the Oberlin community. He has taken steps with The Feve such as a recycling initiative, a lighting retrofit, and fundraisers for local non-profits.

Q: What are some words and images you would use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2566 2 Comments

Community Voices - Tom Geller

Posted by Carley Stein
Carley Stein
Carley Stein is a second year Environmental Studies major from New Jersey. She i
User is currently offline
on February 11, 2015
in Community Voices

Tom Geller is a freelance writer who chose to use the services of Providing Oberlin with Efficiency Responsibly (POWER) to insulate his home.

Q: How did you hear about POWER?

I???ve been around Oberlin for about five years now. It???s a small town, so you find out about everything pretty soon. I???m actually friends with somebody whose mother is one of the people who runs POWER. Also, I???d gone through a different program called CHIP, which the city offers, and I found it really lacking. I figured I???d give POWER a try; I???d seen the signs around and so forth.

Q: Why did you contact POWER?

Well, [my house] was a fixer-upper when I bought it. I bought it really cheap: The entire kitchen had to be torn out, there was no insulation in the attic, there were a lot of problems all over. And so I did a few things when I first bought it, including putting insulation in. But I knew that the windows were leaking and the insulation wasn???t great, and so forth. So really [contacting POWER] was just out of need. It???s too bad [the work] couldn???t have been done before the winter started, but the insulation company was too busy.

Q: When you bought your home was energy efficiency a consideration?

To be honest, I didn???t really think so much about energy when I bought the place: I knew I was going to improve the place. And when one of the original contractors said, ???Yeah well, we???re tearing out these walls we should put in insulation,??? I was like, ???Oh, yeah, I never even really thought of that??? -- that when you tear out walls, you put up new insulation... so it really was kind of the last thing on my mind. But then with the polar vortexes coming through, it became forefront of my mind.

Q: Have you done any previous work to improve the energy efficiency of your home?

No, this was the first home I owned. But I did do some work before POWER got here it: It just wasn't as good as what they did.

Q: How would you describe your initial walkthrough with POWER?

It was great, especially compared to the CHIP program, which was very badly run. [Greg Jones] came over, described the program, and gave me some papers. [Later] they sent somebody to actually do the assessment, and he was terrific. They put a big fan in the door and they close off all the windows and such and basically see how airtight the house is. It was a good six hours of stuff, and the guy was really good with me. Then I got Ritsko insulation, who were terrific, who actually did the work. So, pretty much from beginning to end it was good.

Q: Have you saved money on energy?

It???s kind of hard to tell, because they only did the work a couple of months ago. And it was sort of as the polar vortexes were ending, and my energy bills had been so variable up until then. I will say that the first thing I notice is that smells stay around in the house longer: It's not as drafty. That's for better or worse, of course.

Q: How would you define sustainability and what actions have you made to contribute to sustainability?

I think, generally speaking, the lifestyle I enjoy is not sustainable in any way. I???d say that's true for Americans generally -- and I don't pretend that it isn???t. And there are small things that we do: I???m glad that Oberlin has a recycling program, for example... But, yeah, my energy consumption personally is way out of line with what I give back to the world generally.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts?

I really do want POWER to do well. They did such a good job by me, and God knows there are plenty of places in Oberlin that could use it. The housing stock here is not great, and partly that???s because the value of the houses is so low. If you have a $40,000 house and it's going to cost $10,000 to fix it up, well, it's not as worth it, because you???re never going to get more than $40,000 for it, no matter how fixed up it is.

So having something like POWER makes it possible to make the houses more livable and certainly more energy efficient.

Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2383 0 Comments

A New Years Resolution Idea - The Oberlin Pledge

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on January 16, 2015
in Community Voices

ID-100299611

Each January is a new start for many people.  If offers a proactive person the opportunity to start again. Regardless of whether a person believes in New Year???s Resolutions, making commitments at the start of a new year can teach a person how to make, set, and work toward achieving goals. 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2582 0 Comments

Oberlin among elite communities across the nation leading the way on energy efficiency

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on January 15, 2015
in Energy Matters

GUEP Semifinalst MapOberlin, Ohio ??? January 14, 2015 ??? Today, Oberlin officially advances to the Semifinal round of the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a national competition that is challenging communities across the U.S. to rethink their energy use. At a press event in Washington, D.C. today, Oberlin was announced as one of the 50 communities who are leading the way on energy efficiency.

???Oberlin has made a commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions below zero by the year 2050 and energy efficiency is a huge part of that equation. Right now, the average Oberlin home is losing an estimated $450-500 per year in missed energy savings at today???s energy prices. We have access to efficiency programs that will, in most cases, nearly triple a homeowner???s investment. Some income-qualified programs pay for all the work. Collectively, over the course of the two-year competition, the status quo in Oberlin will lose us nearly $8 million. So while winning the $5 million prize purse will help these efforts, we have an opportunity to ???win??? a far greater amount of money in the process. And those savings will continue after the competition ends.??? ??? Sean Hayes, The Oberlin Project

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2775 1 Comment

Entrepreneurism, Oberlin and Sustainable Economic Growth

Posted by Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff, joined the Oberlin Project in September 2014 as the Director of
User is currently offline
on January 14, 2015
in Resilient Economy

ID-10032685In Oberlin, sustainability is more than a buzzword, it is a tool that drives innovation???that transforms community by changing behavior and promoting sustainable economic development. Sustainable economic development generates economic wealth that is based on the triple bottom line, balancing impact and opportunity to people, profit and planet.  Market solutions are generated that produce improved economic opportunity (reduces the growing income disparity between the rich and the poor), accounts for impact to the environment and value of ecosystem services in financial accounting, and finally and most familiar, creates flows of dollars at the local, regional and global scales.  As you know, Oberlin isn???t afraid of doing something a little different.

The Oberlin Project is challenging individuals in and outside of Oberlin to use the triple bottom line to generate solutions that change the way we create, deploy and do business.  Oberlin is home to a wealth of human resources representative of many demographics including age, experience, socioeconomic status, race and educational attainment.  This diversity is key to the wealth of ideas generated in our community.  Of course, not all of these ideas are market ready, or even market worthy, but they do represent the seeds of economic development to be further evaluated and supported by technical service agents in Oberlin and northeast Ohio.  

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2284 1 Comment

Community Voices - Laura Brua

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on December 9, 2014
in Community Voices

Laura Brua 2

Lauri Brua is a fifth grade teacher at Prospect Elementary School. She uses the Environmental
Dashboard as a teaching tool in her classroom, and makes sure that her students go home with an awareness of energy use and environmental issues, along with a sense of their own power to address these challenges.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2533 0 Comments

White House Recognizes Oberlin as Climate Action Champion

Posted by Ben Jones
Ben Jones
Ben Jones graduated from Oberlin College in 1996 with majors in English and Envi
User is currently offline
on December 9, 2014
in Community

The White House announced today that Oberlin is one of 16 local governments selected as the inaugural Climate Action Champions, a new initiative administered by the Department of Energy (DOE) that recognizes local governments that have taken proactive steps to cut carbon pollution and prepare for the effects of climate change and extreme weather. Oberlin was chosen as part of a competitive application process screened by the DOE.

By addressing these two goals together???for instance, by installing renewable energy sources on buildings in order to provide a reliable energy source for emergency responders; installing energy-efficient windows that are also more storm-resistant; or leveraging innovative green infrastructure for carbon sequestration and flood protection???the Climate Action Champions will serve as a model for other communities to adopt clean energy strategies.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2623 0 Comments

City of Oberlin's Zero Waste Plan Goals

Posted by Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff
Cullen Naumoff, joined the Oberlin Project in September 2014 as the Director of
User is currently offline
on November 20, 2014
in Community

While this February???s fire that destroyed the City of Oberlin???s refuse fleet was not an ideal scenario, it did provide a catalyst for the City to rethink its public recycling and refuse program.  The new process, which launches this week, is one step toward realizing the City???s new Zero Waste policy, passed by City Council in May 2014.  Oberlin???s Resource Conservation and Recovery Commission worked closely with the City to develop the new zero waste policy.

Each residence will receive two 64-gallon carts; one for recycling and one for refuse.  The City???s revised recycling process does not require sorting on behalf of the residents.  Multiple sources have noted that mixed, single stream has proven to improve recycling rates in municipalities by 30%-%50%, nationally.  All recyclables will be taken to Republic???s recycling facility just east of town.  Republic???s facility was built in 2013 and uses an advanced sorting system with the latest technology in mechanical and optical sorting.  The facility is touted as one of the most advanced in the state.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3963 5 Comments

Community Voices - Thomas Bethel

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on November 19, 2014
in Community Voices

Tom BethelThomas Bethel is the Mastering Engineer/Managing Director of Acoustik Music, Ltd.. Prior to starting his own business, he served as Oberlin College???s Director of Audio Services and Concert Sound for 26 years. During his time working for Oberlin College, he recorded over three thousand concerts and did live concert sound for hundreds of live events.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2726 0 Comments

NEW Automated Refuse & Recycling Curbside Program

Posted by Lori Sprosty
Lori Sprosty
Lori Sprosty has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on November 11, 2014
in Community

The City???s Public Works Department will be delivering new refuse and recycling carts the week of November 10th. Cart delivery is planned to coincide with the normal collection schedule. Each residence will receive two 64-gallon carts; one for refuse (black lid) and one for recycling (blue lid) along with a Residential Refuse & Recycling Guidelines brochure explaining the new program.

Residents are required to begin using the carts immediately on their normal collection day. Weekly curbside collection will be provided using the City???s carts only. Carts remain the property of the City. Containers may not be removed from the residence.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2684 0 Comments

Community Voices - Tanya Rosen-Jones

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on November 10, 2014
in Community Voices

photo

Tanya Rosen-Jones is the owner of Rosen-Jones Photography. She is an Oberlin alumnus who studied History. She now lives in Oberlin with her husband, who also graduated from Oberlin, and her two sons. She hails from Berkeley, California.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2592 0 Comments

Community Voices - Mark Fahringer

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on October 31, 2014
in Community Voices

Mark FMark Fahringer is a Coordinator at The Salvation Army Oberlin Service Unit. He also has volunteered as a Board Member and Board Chair for the Catholic Action Commission of Lorain County. In March 2009, he was awarded the Bishop A.J. Quinn Peace and Justice Award for efforts in immigration reform.

Q: What words/images would you use to describe Oberlin? 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2925 0 Comments

Community Voices - Jan Miyake

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on October 1, 2014
in Community Voices

160Jan Miyake is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Oberlin Conservatory, and a client of Providing Oberlin with Efficiency Responsibly (POWER).

How did you hear about POWER?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2694 0 Comments

Community Voices - Jerry Anderson

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on September 2, 2014
in Community Voices

Jerry AndersonJerry Anderson is the owner of Watson???s Hardware, located at 26 South Main Street in Oberlin. He believes in making full use of available materials.

Q: What words/images would you use to describe Oberlin?
A: Coming from your point of view, zero carbon.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3189 0 Comments

Community Voices - Manuel Espinoza

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on July 29, 2014
in Community Voices
Manuel EspinozaManuel EspinozaWhen Mr. Manuel Espinoza first came to Oberlin in 1964 for a job interview at the local barbershop, he knew right away that he wanted to stay. A self-identified ???people person,??? he enjoys interacting with his clients and making them look good, one haircut at a time. 
 
Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?
 
A: Oberlin???Lively, animated. Entertaining. 
 
Q: Why would you choose those words?
 
Because I go through other towns and you hardly see any people on the streets. But you come to Oberlin and there???s students walking around, any day of the week???Most outside towns, Saturdays are busy days. Oberlin, every day you???ve got movement in town. From here, you can see all the people going to the Feve, walking by and going to the banks???and just the different people???the different countries walking around. It???s pretty cool.
 
Q: How is that you came to open your business in Oberlin? 
 
A: It was back in 1964. I was an apprentice barber...Grew up in western Ohio and went to barber school in Toledo. I had my apprentice???s license but I couldn???t find any job that I really wanted to do over there. And then I was working as an apprentice hod-carrier???you mix mud for a plasterer???I set up the scaffolding and put the ladder up, and mixed the mud and the plaster, would do the walls???One day we were working in Toledo at a hotel and he [my boss] went out to lunch and came back with the Cleveland Plain Dealer and there were three job openings in the wanted section. One was in Bedford, one was in North Ridgeville, and one was in Oberlin. Went to Bedford and interviewed there???They said I could come work the next day. Then I drove to North Ridgeville???and I went to Ron???s Barbershop and he said I could start the next day. And then I came to Oberlin and it was about noon and the kids were leaving their art lessons at the museum and we were at the crosswalk???and I said yep, I think I???ll stay here???.I came in here???and I applied and he said yeah, you can start working tomorrow. So at noon, when he closed up the shop, we went over to a place called Martin???s Inn???a monthly rental place???and I got a room there for a month. And the next day I came to town. 
 
I started working the next day, which was the first part of October. I had a year and a half apprenticeship and then in???March I came to work and Perry, my boss, says, ???If you want to buy the barbershop, you should buy it today,??? he says, ??? ???Cause I???m retiring. If you don???t, you???ll be working for somebody else tomorrow.??? So I bought it. And he packed up his tools and left, just like that. So that was pretty cool???That was about 1967. 
 
When I was over there [in a different location], I got married and sent my wife to barber school and she was cutting hair. And we cut hair together???she was very good, she was excellent. We ended up getting a divorce???We remained good friends???She was looking for a place to open her own business and I said, well, come back to Oberlin. I said, you???re a hair stylist, a barber stylist; I???m just a barber. We???ll get along fine, you???ll have your customers and I???ll have mine. So she had a place right up the street, right next to Gibson???s???it was called A Cut Above???and she had a really good business going???I had Renee working with me, then after that, I just worked by myself. It worked out pretty good and I???ve been by myself since then. I call it quality control. 
 
Q: Can you briefly describe the nature of your business and its function in the Oberlin community? 
 
A: My business is making people look good.
 
Q: The word sustainability can be used to describe actions that promote the economic, social, and environmental well-being of a community. What does sustainability mean to you as an Oberlin resident and a business owner?
 
A: I don???t know how much a barbershop would apply to that, other than good grooming???Well??? the town itself???you don???t have to go out of town to get whatever you need. Most of your needs are here. With that, I???d say Oberlin does pretty well. Self-sufficient, self-sustaining.
 
Q: I think longevity is part of it too, what you were saying about how you???ve been here since the 60s. I would say your business has definitely been sustainable. 
 
A: I think I???ve changed when there needed to be change. When the long hair came in???in the mid-70s, the late 70s???Renee and I went to hair design school and learned to cut long hair and women???s hair and all that???You???ve got to go with the flow, not to extremes, just enough to rock the boat. So we changed as the times changed. I???m probably the first barbershop to have appointments. In town, no barbershops had appointments???I was the first guy who had a woman with me working as a barber. She got first chair???I was second chair???I deferred to my wife???s talents!
 
Q: What sustainable practices have you incorporated into your business practices? 
 
A: I think one of them is the appointments because a lot of my clients, customers, they have time constraints. I have professors and college students and they have x amount of minutes to go between classes or before classes start and they???ll call up and set up an appointment. They???ll be in and out and guaranteed they won???t have to wait. I think that???s the biggest thing I???ve done. That, and consistency in the quality of the haircuts???I do all right, cutting hair. After 50 years???that says it all.
 
Q: Is it difficult to handle all the scheduling? What kind of system do you have worked out?  
 
A: The system is???I go at 20-minute intervals. A good hair cut, the actual cutting action of the hair, takes about twelve minutes. To cut it right, make it look good. But you also have the set-up time, the client coming in.  So I have a five-minute window. If you???re five minutes late, I???ll have to hurry your haircut and it???s not going to come out the way I want it to. And then the guy that has an appointment has to wait and he shouldn???t have to wait. So my thing is, if you???re five minutes late, I have to reschedule you, unless there???s nobody coming in afterwards. So my customers know that I???m not going to wait. The walk-ins are welcome, but they???ll have to wait if I have an appointment???I think that???s what???s kept me consistent. 
 
The people who come here come here of their own volition, so it???s a great working environment. No one comes in here because they have to. You come here because you want to???50 years and I love my job. And if you love your job, you never spend a day at work. 
 
Q: What sorts of economic development would you like to see in Oberlin? 
 
A: I don???t know???I think specialty shops would probably be the best because anything else, you have???Walmart and all that competing with you and they???re going to undercut you and cut prices just to get people. And people are more bargain hunters than quality buyers and they???re going to go over there. An example in hair cutting: you???ve got Best Cuts, Fantastic Sam???s???these are like the fast food of haircuts. They serve a good purpose because there???s families with four or five kids and that???s a big chunk to pay out to give them haircuts, so you???re going to get them at half price???and they???re kids???kids are cute whether you cut their hair good or bad???I think unique stores would probably last longer [downtown] than anything that would have to compete with the big ???box stores??? as they call them???I never worried [those stores]. In my business, if I lose a customer, it???s not because of somebody else???it???s because of me. 
 
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3575 0 Comments

Community Voices - Donna Shurr

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on July 16, 2014
in Community Voices

Optimized-DSCN0153Donna Shurr has been teaching Family and Consumer Sciences at Oberlin High School since she moved to the town in 1998. She is involved in many volunteering pursuits such as managing the Oberlin Backpack Program, which gives eligible students from Prospect and Eastwood Elementary Schools meal items and snacks to bring home for the weekend.

Q: Have you had any interaction with the Environmental Digital signs in the Public Library, The AJLC, or Prospect Elementary School, and if so, what do you think about it?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3190 0 Comments

Community Voices - Glenn Gall

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on June 26, 2014
in Community Voices

GlennGallWebGlenn Gall is an activist, a writer, and a farmer living in Oberlin. He received his Bachelor???s Degree from Huntington University, and has training in permaculture and grazing techniques. He proposes the use of natural systems as a multidimensional approach to the problem of climate change. More of his ideas can be found on the website: reverseglobalwarming.org.

Q: What comes to mind when you think about Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3990 0 Comments

Community Voices - Peter Comings

Posted by Jake Holtzman
Jake Holtzman
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on June 17, 2014
in Community Voices

 

254158 1893056859527 3870992 nPeter Comings is a resident of Oberlin who grew up in town and came back a few years ago with his family because of the positive, forward-thinking mindset he sees here. One of his hopes for Oberlin is that people come to see themselves as important parts of the sustainable, progressive actions Oberlin is taking.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3295 3 Comments

Community Voices - Janet Haar

Posted by Rachel Rossello
Rachel Rossello
Rachel Rossello is a Voice Major at the Oberlin Conservatory. She has a passion
User is currently offline
on June 13, 2014
in Community Voices

photo1Mrs. Janet Haar, the director of the Oberlin Business Partnership, likes to call her business a ???three-legged stool???. The OBP combines a chamber of commerce, main street organization, and visitors??? bureau all into one. Haar followed son Blake New (men???s soccer coach for Oberlin College and owner of Slow Train cafe and the Local) to Oberlin after he implied that her work was needed in Oberlin. He was right. Janet Haar has done a great deal for the community. She is constantly thinking about the future and what would benefit her business in the long-run. Economic and environmental sustainability plays a key role in not only her professional life, but in her personal life as well.

Q: Could you briefly describe the nature of your business and its role in the Oberlin community?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3422 0 Comments

Community Voices - Marleen Watling

Posted by Jake Holtzman
Jake Holtzman
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on June 6, 2014
in Community Voices

Optimized-IMG 20140606 140956173Marleen Watling is a librarian at the Oberlin Public Library. When the weather allows, she bikes all the way to and from her home in North Ridgeville 3 days a week. Biking has become a real positive force in her life, as a way of not only reducing her energy use, but also of feeling healthier and more connected to the environment.

Q: What are some words or images you would use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3104 0 Comments

Community Voices - Robert Q. Thompson

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on May 12, 2014
in Community Voices

Robert Q. ThompsonRobert Q. Thompson is a chemistry professor at Oberlin College. He has invested time, money, and effort into installing solar panels in his home and has created an energy-efficient and green household. He has lived in Oberlin and worked at the college for thirty-two years.

 Q: What was the process of making your home more ???green??? like for you? What did it teach you about environmental design and construction?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3338 0 Comments

Community Voices - Charles Horton

Posted by Brooke Ortel
Brooke Ortel
Brooke Ortel is a first-year student and prospective Environmental Studies majo
User is currently offline
on April 29, 2014
in Community Voices

Optimized-Charles Horton Image 2Mr. Charles Horton, Oberlin resident and entrepreneur, is the proprietor of Custom Cleaning Services located in the Industrial Parkway. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Horton came to Oberlin more than thirty years ago ???with the intent of starting a business.???

Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3619 0 Comments

Community Voices - Russell Benjamin

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on April 18, 2014
in Community Voices

RussellBenjaminRussell Benjamin is a woodworker and a contractor. He is interested in green and energy efficient construction and community development. In addition to living in Oberlin, he also lives in the Pemaquid Peninsula in Maine. He is a strong proponent of education and enjoys travelling.

Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3124 0 Comments

Community Voices - Alan Mitchell

Posted by Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on April 10, 2014
in Community Voices

Alan MitchellAlan Mitchell is Oberlin Community Services??? Food Coordinator and an active Oberlin resident, exemplary in his care for others. Alan grew up in Oberlin and after being away for a decade, during which time he attended college and serving in the Navy, he returned to raise his family in an environment he feels can teach his kids essential values.

Q: What word(s) or image(s) would you use to describe Oberlin:

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3601 0 Comments

Community Voices - Barbara Pierce

Posted by Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on April 7, 2014
in Community Voices

Barbara Pierce FlagBarbara Pierce, an Oberlin resident and the first post-war blind student to attend Oberlin College, has worked for the last 40 years for the National Federation of the Blind, advocating for the civil rights of blind people. She is a leader nationwide as well as in the Oberlin community.

Q: What word(s) or image(s) would you use to describe Oberlin:

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3737 0 Comments

Sustainability investments focused on community resilience: $10 increase to the ???Green Fee??? establishes Carbon Management Fund

Posted by Tani Colbert-Sangree
Tani Colbert-Sangree
The problems of climate change are human problems, requiring equally humane answ
User is currently offline
on March 24, 2014
in Greenbelt

The Carbon Management Fund (CMF) was started in the Fall of 2012 in response to a student referendum supporting the addition of a $10 term bill line item to fund carbon offsetting projects. This term bill line item was approved by Student Senate in February 2014 as an increase to the ???Green Fee??? and was also recently approved by the Board of Trustees in this year???s March meeting. The fee increase will generate ~$25,000 a year for local carbon offsetting projects effective FY15.

Oberlin College has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025 through the American College and University President???s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and to become climate positive by 2050 through the Clinton Foundation: Climate Positive Development Program (CPDP). This means that as an institution the College???s effect on global atmospheric green house gas levels (GHGs) must be zero or actively improving atmospheric GHG levels. As we stand now, 11 years from our 2025 carbon neutral date, our future estimated annual carbon footprint is ~7,000 metric tons of CO2 or equivalent green house gasses (mtCO2e), down from ~40,000 mtCO2e currently. These expected emissions will result from our continued reliance on natural gas for heating buildings and fossil fuels for transportation. The projected emissions footprint in 2025 will prevent us from achieving carbon neutrality and fulfilling our commitment, unless we gather offsets in line with these commitments.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2438 0 Comments

Community Voices - Lisa Kavanagh

Posted by Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili
Enzo Cabili has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on March 24, 2014
in Community Voices

Lisa KavanaghLisa Kavanagh is a retired Oberlin resident with a rare mitochondrial disorder caused by Lyme disease who is passionate about influencing change towards a sustainable future. Although she only has a few hours of energy a day, she is very active through online forums, writing letters, and making environmentally conscious consumer choices. More than anything she makes sure she starts with herself, nurturing a holistic philosophy with the natural environment.

Q: What word(s) or image(s) would you use to describe Oberlin:

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3917 1 Comment

Community Voices - Ron Bier

Posted by Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat
Melissa Cabat is a first year Environmental Studies major from New York City. Sh
User is currently offline
on March 13, 2014
in Community Voices

 

Ron BierRon Bier is a Chemistry and Environmental Science teacher at Oberlin Senior High School. While he hails originally from the east side of Cleveland, he and his family currently live in Amherst, Ohio.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4754 0 Comments

Community Voices - Shirley Owens

Posted by Emily Belle
Emily Belle
Emily Belle is a second year Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College. Ori
User is currently offline
on March 13, 2014
in Community Voices

Shirley OwensPhoto by Yvette Chen OC '16A lifelong Oberlin resident, Ms. Shirley Owens is General Manager of Quick and Delicious restaurant, located at 311 South Main Street. She believes in creating community through the continuous beautification of neighborhoods, and by making good-tasting food accessible to everyone. Ms. Owens is thankful that Quick and Delicious is equipped to serve people of all ages and abilities, giving customers the opportunity ???to eat what you???d like to eat??? in ???a place where family and friends gather and hugs are free.???

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4729 1 Comment

What is the Best Way to Reforest?

Posted by Machmud Makhmudov, OC '16
Machmud Makhmudov, OC '16
As a second-year Politics major at Oberlin College , I'm primarily interested in
User is currently offline
on February 11, 2014
in Greenbelt

Written by Machmud Machmudov, edited by Tani Colbert-Sangree

White Oak SaplingA White Oak SaplingOn October 26th, the Carbon Management Fund implemented its first project of the '13-'14 school year, taking another step towards carbon neutrality for Oberlin College, but with a new, innovative approach to tree planting. The College Grounds Crew, with assistance from student volunteers, planted 8 red oak trees and 8 white oak trees across 18 acres of formerly agricultural fields next to the north campus intramural and club sports fields and north of the 2.27 megawatt solar array. The trees were funded by a grant from the Green EDGE Fund and are part of a larger plan to naturally return this land to forest.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4953 0 Comments

Community Voices - David Gard

Posted by Jake Holtzman
Jake Holtzman
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on October 21, 2013
in Community Voices

FaceDavid Gard was hired the end of September 2013 as the Executive Director of the Oberlin Project.  Prior to the Oberlin Project, David Gard worked at the Michigan Energy Council as the Program Director. David completed the Erb Institute MBA/MS Program at the University of Michigan, worked as a design engineer, and served in the U.S. Navy. He grew up in Cincinnati, OH and has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.

What excites you about the Oberlin Project?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5417 0 Comments

Community Voices - Pastor Andy Call

Posted by Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on October 15, 2013
in Community Voices

call 2Andy Call is Pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Oberlin. He moved to Oberlin in Summer 2012 with his wife and their three children. Andy is enthusiastic about the renovations at FUMC, especially the improved children???s classrooms. He says, ???It???s an exciting project because it will provide a safe, clean environment for children to be and we are doing it in a way that we think is responsible with the resources we have.???

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4219 0 Comments

Community Voices - Barbara Fuchsman

Posted by Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on October 11, 2013
in Community Voices

fuchsman2Barbara Fuchsman has been an Oberlin resident for 43 years. She is a layperson at the Oberlin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. She works closely with the Santa Elena Project that supports human rights for workers in Guatemala. She enjoys gardening with her husband. 

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3576 0 Comments

Community Voices - Amanda Schmidt

Posted by Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC
Anita Peebles w/o YC has not set their biography yet
User is currently offline
on September 26, 2013
in Community Voices

amanda schmidt picAmanda Schmidt has lived in Oberlin since 2011. She is Assistant Professor of Geology at Oberlin College and is active with the local Baha???i community. She studies human-landscape interactions, primarily in China and enjoys traveling with her 8-month-old son Colby. Amanda and her husband are competitive mountain bikers and race locally in mountain bike and cyclocross races.

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?
A: I guess Oberlin reminds me of a friendly New England college town. I went to grad school in the northwest and there aren???t towns like this. Definitely friendly, and it???s kind of an eccentric town. Very accessible.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4254 1 Comment

2013 Green Energy Ohio Oberlin Guided Tour

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on September 24, 2013
in Energy Matters

Over 200 Open Houses at Over 100 Tour Sites, 7 Guided Tours Across Ohio will showcase clean energy and green design in events throughout local areas. Oberlin is offering a guided tour on Saturday, October 5 from 10 am ??? 3 pm. The public is invited to take the FREE ???Green Energy Ohio Tour??? and network with friends and neighbors using renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green design. 

For the last 11 years, the educational non-profit organization Green Energy Ohio (GEO) has sponsored the tour on the first weekend in October tour to showcase the industry across the state. A few years ago GEO changed the "Ohio Solar Tour" name to the"Green Energy Ohio Tour" to more accurately describe the tour that features not only solar, but tour sites with wind, energy efficiency, biomass and other green energy technologies.  

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4368 0 Comments

Community Voices - Kim Koos

Posted by Shane Clark
Shane Clark
Shane Clark is a 3rd year Environmental Studies major. She manages the Learning
User is currently offline
on September 10, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-Kim KoosKim Koos is a teacher and IB Coordinator at Prospect Elementary School. Aside from her passion for education, she loves spending time with her family, swimming, reading, and gardening. She is also very artistic and loves to create items in various mediums.

Q: What are some words that come to mind when you think of Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4097 0 Comments

Community Voices - Greg Jones

Posted by Shane Clark
Shane Clark
Shane Clark is a 3rd year Environmental Studies major. She manages the Learning
User is currently offline
on September 3, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-gregjoneswideGregory Jones is Oberlin???s Energy Advocate, part of POWER???s initiative to help homeowners improve their energy efficiency. In his free time, Greg enjoys fishing and is a self-proclaimed ???sports nut.??? Cleveland teams, all the way. 

What are some words or images that come to mind when you think of Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4324 2 Comments

Community Voices - Dori Tiller and Shelley Clagg

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on August 21, 2013
in Community Voices

shelleyclaggDori Tiller and Shelley Clagg are committed residents at John Frederick Oberlin (JFO) Homes who put together a recycling program at the John Frederick Oberlin (JFO) apartment complex. For both of them, recycling and reusing have come to feel very natural, and they are working hard to share this spirit with other members of the Oberlin community.

Q: What are some words or images that come to mind when describing Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4104 0 Comments

Will Congress Pass Carbon Tax Legislation?

Posted by John Elder
John Elder
John Elder is aresidents of Kendal at Oberlin. John served as Pastor of the Firs
User is currently offline
on August 16, 2013
in Policy

It seems almost laughable to ask the question, ???Will the U.S. Congress pass carbon tax legislation????  At present, so little legislation of importance gets through both houses of Congress that the chance of the Sanders-Boxer Climate Change bills being passed seems nil.  Nevertheless, we need to pay attention to the ???Climate Protection Act??? and the ???Sustainable Energy Act??? introduced earlier this year by Senators Barbara Boxer (Dem. CA) and Bernie Sanders (Ind. VT).  In a hearing held by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week, a panel of experts explained the vital importance of taking steps now to reduce carbon emissions.  And as Al Gore writes in The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change (2013), ???Global warming pollution??? should carry a price.  Placing a tax on CO2 is the place to start.???  If this summer proves to be even hotter than last, resulting more widespread disastrous drought, and extreme climate events continue to occur at an increasing rate, perhaps the public outcry will reach the ears of our representatives on Capitol Hill.

What would this legislation do?  It would set a long-term emissions reduction goal of 80% or more by 2050 ??? a ???too little too late??? goal in the view of many, but ???realistic??? in the view of others.  To help achieve this goal, a carbon fee of $20 per ton of carbon or methane equivalent would be applied at the coal mine, oil refinery, natural gas processing plant or point of importation.  The fee would rise at 5.6% a year over a ten-year period.  It would be levied on about 3,000 of the largest fossil fuel polluters, covering about 85% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates this step alone could raise $1.2 trillion in revenue over ten years and reduce greenhouse gas emission approximately 20% from 2005 levels by 2025.  And the legislation includes other actions that would further reduce emissions.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 2085 0 Comments

Community Voices - Fr. Robert Cole

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on August 14, 2013
in Community Voices

Fr. ColeFr. Robert Cole has been Pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oberlin for 5 years. Born and bred in the Cleveland area, he is glad to be serving several churches in the Cleveland Diocese. Fr. Cole has been a priest for 41 years.

Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4675 0 Comments

Community Voices - Chuck Annable

Posted by Shane Clark
Shane Clark
Shane Clark is a 3rd year Environmental Studies major. She manages the Learning
User is currently offline
on August 7, 2013
in Community Voices

Chuck Annable picChuck Annable was the President/Horticulturist at Green Side Up Garden Center. He recently sold it to his employees.  He is an avid traveler and has visited 49 of the 50 United States. He loves to hike, canoe, and explore natural areas.

Q: How did you come to own Green Side Up Garden Center?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3933 0 Comments

Community Voices - David Snyder

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on July 31, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-david snyder.YCPhoto by Yvette Chen OC '16David Snyder has been a resident of Oberlin since 2006. He serves as the Clerk of the Oberlin Friends Meeting. David has long engaged in environmental activism and shared  that he inspired his parents to get involved in the nuclear freeze movement in the 1970s.

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4174 0 Comments

Grow Your Way to Less Carbon

Posted by Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel is a university research scientist who retired to Oberlin several
User is currently offline
on July 29, 2013
in Energy Matters

Why have a vegetable garden?

Oberlin Community Service???s June networking lunch was crowded???perhaps 50 people were there. A panel of nine represented the diversity of local food and gardening projects in Oberlin from school to neighborhood gardens.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3964 0 Comments

Community Voices - Che Gonzalez

Posted by Jake Holtzman w/YC
Jake Holtzman w/YC
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on July 22, 2013
in Community Voices

12042013 YC CheGonzalezPhoto by Yvette Chen OC '16Oberlin resident Che Gonzalez is a librarian at the Oberlin Public Library. A few years ago, she started a home-based business for affordable, healthy foods. Gardening since she was a kid, Ms. Gonzalez grows many of her own vegetables at home.

Q: Some people think of ???sustainability??? as actions that improve the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the community? How would you define ???sustainability??? for yourself?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4223 0 Comments

Community Voices - Anita Lock

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on July 17, 2013
in Community Voices

AnitaMrs. Anita Lock has lived in Oberlin for 10 years. After visiting Oberlin when she was 15 and getting a flavor of the community, she thought, ???I hope someday I???ll live here.??? She is the proprietor of One-On-One Tutoring of Lorain County and is a music educator. Mrs. Lock also hosts ???All Things Irish,??? which airs on WOBC 91.5 FM every Saturday from 4-5pm.

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3950 0 Comments

Environmental benefits of a high performance, carbon neutral K-12 campus in Oberlin

Posted by Gabriel Moore
Gabriel Moore
My name is Gabriel Moore and I'm a first-year from South Carolina, hoping to bec
User is currently offline
on July 5, 2013
in Education

The mind of a growing child is an impressionable thing. As a line taken from the musical Into the Woods states, ???Careful the things you say, children will listen. Careful the things you do, children will see and learn.??? And in fact, majority of the things children hear and see come from the place they spend majority of their time: school. So, in light of developing a more sustainable community, what can we do in order to show the youth the importance of practices that aid the environment rather than being detrimental to it? And how can we then expand that to the Oberlin community in order to positively move towards the goal of carbon neutrality? On the table is a plan that will address both of these issues: the construction of a consolidated, high performance, carbon neutral K-12 campus.

Langston

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4131 0 Comments

Community Voices - Valerie Hardnett

Posted by Jake Holtzman w/YC
Jake Holtzman w/YC
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on June 17, 2013
in Community Voices

12042013 YC valeriehardnettWords to describe Oberlin.

Diverse, unique, different, different perspectives religions and people, traditional

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4259 0 Comments

Community Voices - John and Anne Elder

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on June 7, 2013
in Community Voices

phpGv2iotAMJohn and Anne Elder are residents of Kendal at Oberlin. John served as Pastor of the First Church in Oberlin UCC from 1973 to 1991. Anne was a Supervisor in the Lorain City Schools from 1973 to 1991. John enjoys papermaking, printmaking and watercolors. Anne is a Court Appointed Special Assistant to advocate for children in the court system.

Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5291 2 Comments

Community Voices - David Hill

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on May 20, 2013
in Community Voices

davidhillpicDavid Hill has been Pastor of First Church in Oberlin UCC  for ten years. He serves as President of Oberlin Community Services, a local social services organization. Pastor Hill enjoys integrating music into worship experiences, especially jazz.

Q: What words or images would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4156 0 Comments

Community Voices - Midge Brittingham

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on May 13, 2013
in Community Voices

MiidgeheadshotMidge Brittingham has been a resident of Oberlin since 1969. She is an alumni of Oberlin College, class of 1960, and is the mother of two Oberlin graduates. She served many years with the Oberlin College Alumni Association and is an active layperson at Christ Episcopal Church in Oberlin. She and her husband Smith enjoy hosting meals for international students at their house each Sunday night.

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4605 0 Comments

Community Voices - Ms. Margaret Christian

Posted by Jake Holtzman w/YC
Jake Holtzman w/YC
I am a second year Oberlin College student majoring in environmental studies and
User is currently offline
on May 1, 2013
in Community Voices

12042013 YC margaretchristianPhoto by Yvette Chen OC '16Think about all the places you have walked. Have you walked to the public library? Or to school? To pick up some groceries downtown? Or to friend???s house?

Margaret Christian has walked back and forth a countless number of times to these places and to others. Why not drive a car instead? There are a number of reasons she could tell you, from health reasons to environmental ones. There is also a fundamental difference for Ms. Christian in the way you perceive the town as a walker. She says, ???I see the changes of the seasons, I see the cans that are left behind.??? So perhaps walking can be a learning experience as well, explains Ms. Christian. A way to get in touch with the surrounding environment and to gain a better sense of the community, with all of its unique characteristics and rich history. Ms. Christian personally likes to walk to the Westwood cemetery, because it is a place she can come back to, remember and learn about the people that were here who make up the history of the town.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4467 2 Comments

Community Voices - A.G. Miller

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on April 23, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-AG Miller photo.YC         Photo by Yvette Chen OC'16A.G. Miller is Professor of Religion at Oberlin College. He has lived in Oberlin with his wife Brenda Grier Miller since 1991. In 2001, he and several other Oberlin community members started the Oberlin House of the Lord Fellowship, part of the House of Lord Pentecostal churches.

Q: What word or image would you use to describe Oberlin?

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4193 0 Comments

A Flexitarian Diet Lifestyle

Posted by Michaela Joyce
Michaela Joyce
Michaela Joyce is a single mother that works full time at a local restaurant and
User is currently offline
on April 12, 2013
in Community Voices

I have been thinking about my eating habits since I went visit my brother in Colorado, who has recently adopted a strict Vegan diet. Not only does he not eat any animal products, he abstains from eating any type of processed food. This adjusted nutritional lifestyle seems like a very difficult task. I???m not sure if I have the willpower to currently take such a drastic step in my own life. His new nutritional lifestyle made me reflect on my daily food choices. How does the food I eat affect me, and furthermore, how does it affect the environment? I never took time to think about how my food choices affect the environment. An Introduction to Ecology course at Lorain County Community College recently opened my eyes to my narrow scope of my food choices.  It also offered me a fresh perspective and challenged me to begin looking at my food and the environment through a broader lens. During my Ecology course is when I first heard the term flexitarian. It means someone who is a vegetarian and allows meat in his or her diet on occasion. I started thinking about the different food choices that I can make that can positively affect the environment without going to the extreme.

This idea of becoming a flexitarian is appealing to me, because even though I care about the environment and my own health, I am not ready to take such drastic steps in my life to become a full-fledged vegetarian. Instead, I want to push myself to make better food choices rather than feel guilty about eating meat or processed foods on occasion. I believe that eating a completely vegetarian diet is hard and can be costly. With the adoption of a flexitarian lifestyle, I can make changes while also bending the rules to suit my personal tastes. Also, I have a young son that loves his macaroni and cheese and I would not feel right restricting his food choices. However, he will still be affected by this lifestyle change because grocery shopping as a flexitarian will directly affect what I put on the dinner table. He will unknowingly reap the benefits of our newfound nutritional lifestyle.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4580 2 Comments

Community Voices - John Memmott

Posted by Shane Clark
Shane Clark
Shane Clark is a 3rd year Environmental Studies major. She manages the Learning
User is currently offline
on April 11, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-John Memmott

John Memmott is a semi-retired teacher who spent many years in the Oberlin public schools. He???s also a long-time sea-kayaker and avid photographer. Recently, he???s gotten involved with getting the Environmental Dashboard system set up in Prospect Elementary. 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4285 0 Comments

Environmental Dashboard

Posted by Gabriel Moore
Gabriel Moore
My name is Gabriel Moore and I'm a first-year from South Carolina, hoping to bec
User is currently offline
on April 11, 2013
in Community Voices

121111 HBD DashboardTeam

Technology to display video has come a long way since its start in the 1800???s. From analog to digital, VHS to BluRay, and even as you look at your computer, how we receive information (and entertainment) via a screen has changed drastically in order to make a more informed society. But are we informed about the right things in all the right places? While information about the world continues to grow and become more easily accessible, how about what???s happening in Tappan Square this weekend? Or what is my favorite local business doing on the sustainability front? How is the electricity and water I use daily moving through the City of Oberlin? With the launch of the new Environmental Dashboard at Prospect Elementary School and the Oberlin Public Library, this information will be more accessible and relevant to Oberlinians than ever.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 6229 1 Comment

Oberlin Project Community Conversations Translate Into Next Steps

Posted by John Bergen
John Bergen
I grew up in North Newton, Kansas (if you don't know the state, its right near t
User is currently offline
on March 28, 2013
in Community Voices

For the last few months, members of the Oberlin Project Community Engagement Team have been engaged in Community Conversations, chances for Oberlin residents to meet together and discuss what they would like to see for the future of Oberlin. These Community Conversations were held from October through early February, and involved over 120 members of the Oberlin community from a wide diversity of backgrounds. Conversations covered topics such as improving our downtown, creating opportunities for youth and seniors, and expanding city recycling. Many Oberlin residents expressed a commitment to working harder on sustainability; one participant commented on an evaluation form, ???I can dig in my heels a little deeper. I am part of the solution.???

The Oberlin Project is a joint effort of the City of Oberlin, Oberlin College, and other local partners to improve the sustainability, resilience, and prosperity of our community. It supports the goals of the City and College to create a climate-positive community by 2050.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4047 0 Comments

Community Voices - Steve Hammond

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on March 28, 2013
in Community Voices

Optimized-steve.hammond pic

Steve Hammond has been Co-Pastor of Peace Community Church in Oberlin for 33 years, along with his wife Mary. Steve and Mary are both Protestant Chaplain Affiliates for the Oberlin College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Steve was the youngest of 18 children in his family. He enjoys running and hanging out with his grandchildren.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4019 0 Comments

Community Voices - Linda Arbogast

Posted by Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles
Anita Peebles is a 3rd year Religion and Environmental Studies major from Eaton
User is currently offline
on March 22, 2013
in Community Voices

Linda Arbogast is Executive Director of Oberlin Community Services. She lives in Brownhelm Township with her husband, Bo, and their three children on an organic blueberry farm. Both Linda and her husband were Peace Corps volunteers in Sri Lanka.

Linda Arbogast photo

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4438 0 Comments

Do Electric Vehicles Make Sense in Oberlin?

Posted by Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel
Carl McDaniel is a university research scientist who retired to Oberlin several
User is currently offline
on March 11, 2013
in Energy Matters

Several months ago my wife and I, along with a friend, drove our new Prius plug-in hybrid 40 miles on state roads to an evening picnic. The battery was fully charged and on arrival the dash board display showed 100 miles per gallon (mpg) for the trip. Being the first local trip out of Oberlin on which I noted the mileage, I was surprised and said to our friend, ???That seems high.???

On the way back we were in hybrid mode, which means the car is powered by a gasoline engine as well as an electric motor using electricity generated by the engine and when the car coasts or breaks. Each of us made a guess for the return trip mpg: my wife, 65; our friend, 70; and I guessed what I thought would certainly be too high, 75. Back in Oberlin, the dashboard display showed 73 mpg. We were impressed!

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5361 1 Comment

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: The Feve

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on October 30, 2012
in Resilient Economy

new front Feve pic

The current Feve location has been a local landmark for so long that it slipped my mind that Matt and Jason???s first location was across the street from Oberlin City Hall.  The Feve began as a coffee shop and has evolved into ???the place to go??? by many locals and others who know about Oberlin.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 10094 2 Comments

Oberlin Participates in 10th Annual Green Energy Ohio Tour

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on September 21, 2012
in Energy Matters

The public is invited to take the FREE ???Green Energy Ohio Tour??? and network with friends and neighbors using renewable energy, energy efficiency and green design.  There are many open houses and guided green energy tours taking place across the State of Ohio. Oberlin will be participating with a guided tour on Saturday, October 6 from 10 am ??? 4 pm.

For the last 10 years, the educational non-profit organization Green Energy Ohio (GEO) has sponsored the tour on the first weekend in October to showcase the industry across the state. A few years ago GEO changed the "Ohio Solar Tour" name to the "Green Energy Ohio Tour" to more accurately describe the tour that features not only solar, but tour sites with wind, energy efficiency, biomass and other green energy technologies.  

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5912 4 Comments

Solving the Carbon Problem

Posted by Ben Jones
Ben Jones
Ben Jones graduated from Oberlin College in 1996 with majors in English and Envi
User is currently offline
on September 20, 2012
in Community Voices

"I think I've figured out the carbon problem," says my seven-year-old son. It's Monday morning, early, and I'm still half asleep. He stands next to my bed, already dressed and dancing with excitement.

Rewind a day or so. He and I lay on our backs in the mid-afternoon sunlight, staring up at the sky, wearing t-shirts in mid-November in northeast Ohio. It is almost 70 degrees. "Isn't this great?" he says.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4501 1 Comment

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: Magpie Pizza

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on September 18, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Magpie Pizza pic 2Living in a college town offer residents the opportunity to be a connoisseur of pizza.  I believe that small and locally owned pizza places have a better taste than their chain-owned competitors. In fact, Magpie???s my pie Tex-Mex pizza is what my taste buds crave on a regular basis.  It is my favorite specialty pizza (just ask the servers there, I don???t even have to tell them my order because when I show up they know what I want as soon as they see me walk in - LOL!)

Magpie Pizza is located in the East College Street Complex at 65 East College Street.  Jim and Rachael Strader, residents of LaGrange, are the owners of Magpie Pizza.  Rachel and Jim opened up Magpie Pizza because they liked the sustainable building complex and are encouraged by the resident???s desire for local foods.  In addition, they have a family history of relatives that are restaurant owners.  One family member owns a restaurant in Lorain County and another family member owns a restaurant in New York. Magpie Pizza offers specialty pizzas, salad, and sandwiches.  Prices range from $4.50 for in individual sized pizza to $18 for a large pizza.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5235 0 Comments

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: Cowhaus Creamery Artisan Ice Cream

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on September 10, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Photo by Eat Drink ClevelandEating ice cream at Cowhaus Creamery is like the taste of beautiful art in your mouth.  Eating at this local creamery is a great experience any time of year because the menu is constantly changing.  Cowhaus Creamery Artisan Ice Cream located at 55 East College Street, Suite 4 in downtown Oberlin, next to Slow Train Caf??.

The owner of Cowhaus Creamery is Joe Bomback and he is an Oberlin College Alumni from Lorain County. He and his wife Debbie (who is from Shaker Heights) love Oberlin and it was their goal to be involved in the community and so they decided to open up Cowhaus Creamery. 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 6827 0 Comments

Oldies and Goodies: The Greenest Buildings Are Already Built

Posted by Pat Murphy
Pat Murphy
Pat Murphy is the Executive Director of the Oberlin Heritage Center. She enjoys
User is currently offline
on September 7, 2012
in Energy Matters

Older buildings are often unfairly maligned as great energy hogs and money pits that are too expensive to rehabilitate.  While not every building can be preserved, demolishing existing buildings to make way for new is costly, gobbles up new resources, and adds to the landfills of the country.  Many older buildings have irreplaceable architectural details and a strong sense of space and pride of place that is rarely found in new construction, no matter how "green."   

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, together with local preservation organizations such as the Cleveland Restoration Society and the Oberlin Heritage Center, are working to encourage property owners of older buildings to weatherize, retrofit and rehabilitate them in ways that both retain their character defining special features and adapt them for 21st century living.   Start by having an energy audit; you can call POWER at 440 789 4531 for a 1 hour assessment, or call Columbia Gas at 1-877-644-6674 to receive a thorough heat loss inspection. Then learn what you can about your building's history.  Get to know your building, inside and out.  Inspect it regularly, and be proactive in addressing maintenance concerns.  

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5850 0 Comments

For the Love of Food - A Cinematic Portrayal of Oberlin???s Local Food System

Posted by Brad Masi
Brad Masi
Brad Masi is a graduate of Oberlin College and long-time Oberlinian. Previously
User is currently offline
on September 5, 2012
in Local Foods

FTLOF banner


...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 6118 0 Comments

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: Swerve Bike Shop

Posted by Linda Arbogast
Linda Arbogast
Linda Arbogast is the Executive Director of Oberlin Community Services, providi
User is currently offline
on August 30, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Linda ArbogaSwerve picst interviewed Rethink Your Ride business sponsor Chris Robinson, owner of Swerve.  Swerve is a local bike shop and has prices that range from $1 to over $7,000.  Chris said that Oberlin has had a history of having more bikes than cars and upon noticing that a bike shop was missing from this equation, it was an easy decision to start a bike shop business.

Oberlin has many people who enjoy biking around town, it is also a town located along the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.%20Find%20them%20on%20Facebook:%20%20http:/www.facebook.com/pages/Swerve-Bike-Shop/281943428491842?ref=ts%20%20">North Coast Island Trail  and downtown.  In addition, Oberlin serves as a spur Route along the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.%20Find%20them%20on%20Facebook:%20%20http:/www.facebook.com/pages/Swerve-Bike-Shop/281943428491842?ref=ts%20%20">Backroads to Beaches trail.  Last but not least, Oberlin is also a hub along the Underground Railroad ride for bicyclists traveling to Canada by way of Detroit.  For more information on the alternative route visit: http://www.adventuretravelnews.com/new-cycling-route-brings-underground-railroad-alive.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 6739 2 Comments

Polycultures - Food Where We Live

Posted by Brad Masi
Brad Masi
Brad Masi is a graduate of Oberlin College and long-time Oberlinian. Previously
User is currently offline
on August 29, 2012
in Local Foods

The word ???polycultures??? describes farm systems that include a number of diverse crops growing together. A common example of a polyculture system is the ???three sisters???, a growing system that includes corn, beans, and squash growing together in the same spot. The corn plant grows quickly, providing support for vining bean plants. Squash plants have shallow roots and wide leaves that produce shade and limit competition from weeds. The roots of bean plants fix nitrogen in the soil, adding fertility and providing extra nitrogen that corn plants need so survive. All three of the plants provide a yield of food. They also provide complementary services to support each other.

Polycultures can also be used to describe the social movement that has formed around the support of local food systems, including the collaboration of diverse communities, both rural and urban, around the provision of local food.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5880 0 Comments

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: Simply Elegant Candle & Gift

Posted by Linda Arbogast
Linda Arbogast
Linda Arbogast is the Executive Director of Oberlin Community Services, providi
User is currently offline
on August 24, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Simply Elegant PicOberlin Community Services Executive Director Linda Arbogast interviewed Chris Heinebrodt and Amanda Heinebrodt about their local business called Simply Elegant Candle & Gift.  Their store is located at 29 South Main Street, Oberlin (former location of Infinite Monkey.) Chris Heinebrodt is the owner and President and his wife Amanda is the Vice President of this Oberlin business.

Chris and his wife Amanda consider their store a boutique of candles and gifts.  Their store items price range from 99 cents to $120.  The reason Chris and Amanda opened up a store in Oberlin is because they grew up in Lorain County.  After college they moved to Oberlin because they loved the downtown.  They waited for a spot to open up downtown and then the perfect spot became available.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5067 0 Comments

Technology is Not Enough

Posted by Dale Lucas
Dale Lucas
Dale Lucas is the Manager of Plant Operations at Lorain County Community College
User is currently offline
on August 23, 2012
in Energy Matters

How much can we rely on technological advances to solve our energy problems?  Some new technologies have the potential to be a powerful way to save energy.  For example, automating HVAC systems and enhancing their digital control capabilities has saved lots of energy and money in buildings. However, many technologies -- including these -- require some level of human intervention to fully benefit from them. If people don???t use the technology properly, the expected benefits will not be realized.

The most important people are those who directly manage the new technology:  building operators, facilities staff, etc. If they are given a new system, but not taught how to use it, the system will not work properly.  I have witnessed this first hand during a recent installation of an automated and digitized HVAC system at a local institution. The Operations & Maintenance Staff didn???t have the required knowledge and experience to operate and maintain the new technology, and the system underperformed.  Also, too many staff members had the ability to change system operating parameters without a full understanding of how these changes would impact the operation. There was also reluctance from a few staff members to actually experiment and optimize the new technology. Eventually this harmed the equipment energy performance.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 4764 0 Comments

From Waste to Food - Thinking in Multiples of Four

Posted by Brad Masi
Brad Masi
Brad Masi is a graduate of Oberlin College and long-time Oberlinian. Previously
User is currently offline
on August 22, 2012
in Local Foods

food to waste

 

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5710 0 Comments

Rethink Your Ride Sponsor Spotlight: Ben Franklin & MindFair Books

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on August 21, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Ben Franklin PicI was walking toward Ben Franklin and noticed that I was 20 minutes late according to the downtown clock as a result of another interview.  I underestimated the enthusiasm of business owners to want to talk to me about their business. I quickly rushed in to Ben Franklin and asked for Krista who was already standing there appearing to be a bit out of breath herself.  She said she had also rushed thinking that she was late for her appointment with me.  This is the camaraderie that takes place in Oberlin when a person spends time shopping in downtown and involved with community events.

Krista told me that each Ben Franklin store is independently owned so the setup and displays are different.  There are some Ben Franklin stores that have turned into a craft store so many younger people are surprised to learn that the Ben Franklin in Oberlin is a variety store filled with books (new & used), office supplies, health & beauty items, household goods, fabric, custom framing, fair trade gift items, snacks,  and candy.  Krista says that her store is ever evolving to adapt to the needs of her customers, which is the reason people should visit often.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5889 0 Comments

Local Business Spotlight: Ginko Gallery & Studio

Posted by Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson
Sharon Pearson is the Program Coordinator for the Oberlin Project and liaison to
User is currently offline
on August 16, 2012
in Resilient Economy

Ginko picIt was a rainy and somewhat cold Friday morning as I waited outside the door for Liz Burgess to open the door to begin our interview.  As any normal business owner is, she approached the door looking as though she had something on her mind but as soon as she saw my face she began to smile.  She quickly started her computer and turned on music on low as it to set the atmosphere for the day before we sat down in front of the glass case that she recycled from possibly another store that operated in Oberlin.

Liz Burgess is the Owner/Manager of the Ginko Gallery & Studio.  Ginko Gallery & Studio specializes in art made by individual from smaller studios.    Most of the art are considered contemporary crafts with an emphasis at times on local resources, which may be wood, glass, trash metals, etc.  None of the artists are from big companies or studios.  Ginko Gallery also has artist studios and has a large variety of art supplies. The items in her store range from 50 cents to $2,500.  For the most part the artists try to keep some items at $20 or under, keeping in mind that people desiring to find affordable gifts.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5431 0 Comments

Adventures in Sustainability

Posted by AJ! Clonts
AJ! Clonts
AJ! Clonts was born in Murphy, North Carolina and moved to Ohio three years ago.
User is currently offline
on August 15, 2012
in Community Voices

My fianc??, Sharon Pearson, introduced me to the world of sustainability. Much of my life I had some knowledge of recycling and energy saving practices: however, I did not realize the full impact I had in making my community a better place, both now and for generations in the future.

Upon arriving to Ohio from North Carolina, my recycling efforts began quite simply, with saving aluminum cans and taking them to a recycling center for money.  With further knowledge and education, I began recycling at home by sorting metals and plastics labeled as recyclable for trash day, using a recycling bag as a separator. This bag was placed next to the trashcan as a reminder to consider recycling over throwing our waste away. After a short period of time, we were filling up the recycling container much faster than the ???regular??? refuse container.  In fact, we do not place the refuse container out on the curb but every few weeks.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 3975 1 Comment

City Fresh comes to LCCC

Posted by Gabriel Moore
Gabriel Moore
My name is Gabriel Moore and I'm a first-year from South Carolina, hoping to bec
User is currently offline
on August 7, 2012
in Local Foods

It may be the Southern boy in my heart, but the Collard Green festival in my hometown was always a highlight of my childhood. Everyone in the small, rural town would gather at the town hall and partake in a feast of all sorts of dishes, children would run around on the carnival rides, and it was a real town bonding experience. But the best part of it all was the fact that a majority of dishes brought were made with produce grown by local farms. This is probably why I was excited to hear that City Fresh, a local CSA (or community-supported agriculture) is continuing to push for local foods through a new partnership with Lorain County Community College (LCCC). Starting in June, weekly boxes of food from local farms is now available for subscribers to purchase at the new LCCC City Fresh stop.

City Fresh is a program of the New Agrarian Center, a non-profit organization that distributes locally grown seasonable vegetables and fruit to residents of Lorain, Cuyahoga, and Summit Counties. The majority of fruits and veggies are grown without the use of pesticides or genetic modifications, and even the vehicles that delivery produce use old vegetable oil. And you can guarantee that the supplies are fresh, as they are picked up within 24 hours of harvesting. Access to this incredible program has become even easier for residents of Lorain County with the establishment of the new pick-up location.

...
Tags: Untagged
Hits: 5823 0 Comments

city-of-oberlin-logooberlin-college-logo

Climate Positive Participant-Logo

TwitterFacebookYoutube