Be the Change Community Update March 18, 2022
What's In This Issue:

Simply Living news and events:
> Simply Living's annual meeting has been postponed. See below for details.
> Join our EcoChallenge Team April 1-30 and do your part for Earth Month
> Meet, Greet, and Share March 27 Sunday 2 pm + discuss community solar
> First Friday April 1st with SWACO's Sheila Davis on business programs and Cathy Cowan Becker on our April EcoChallenge teams!
> Santiago Rising is the first film in our new Community Empowerment series
> Sunday April 10 at 2 pm for Garden Sage Debra Knapke speaking on Climate Resilient Gardening!
> Save the Date! Mike Hogan will present on urban food and farming May 10 at 7 pm

Sustainability news and events:
> Full Moon Fire Circle with Mas Bagua in Clintonville
> Transition US offers 4 exciting Regenerative Community Workshops
> EPN breakfast program on Water Access for All in Ohio
> Arts - Ahmrain Irish band at Java Central Saturday
> Judy Fasone is leading Sunday Day Hikes
> Famous Jazz Orchestra is BAAACK at the Clintonville Women's Club Monday
> Michael and Ali Malley need help to buy a building to house a Center for Community, Spirituality, Ecology and the Arts - the auction is Saturday so Donate if able.
> Ohio Move To Amend webinar on their Pledge to Amend campaign
> Meet the Pollinators at Stratford Ecological Center
> Michael Shuman webinar on the ABCs of Local Investing
> Greenspot has a bike Update, Death Doula Jacki Mann webinar on A Good Death, Project Drawdown offers new program on Neighborhood Stories, Kind Meals Project prepares free vegan food on Parsons Ave
+ Community Calendars, Quotes, and lots more on the Simply Living Calendar here

Thanks for subscribing and please share and invite friends to sign up for this free service here. Your support makes this work possible. If you are not already a member, please consider joining Simply Living here or donating here. Be sure to click on our business member graphics to visit their websites. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, simply scroll down to the bottom and click Unsubscribe.
Simply Living Events
Annual Membership Meeting Postponed

Simply Living's Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to POSTPONE our Annual Membership Meeting. This year's meeting will not be taking place on Sunday, March 20. Simply Living is in a lot of transition right now, with some board members stepping down and several new people joining the board. We will be in a better position to launch our volunteer committee structure at a later date, with more ways for you to get involved and contribute to our mission of providing community education on sustainability, environmental justice, and our local economy.

We will let you know the new date for the Annual Membership Meeting as soon as we have it. Meanwhile, please consider joining Simply Living's Earth Month EcoChallenge team! See below. Throughout April, we will be taking actions that transform the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into concrete forms with measurable results, in a friendly competition with other teams around the country. Learn more about the EcoChallenge here. Register here.
Join the Simply Living
Earth Month EcoChallenge
April 1 - 30, 2022

Through this monthlong event, Simply Living team members will participate in a nationwide challenge to put the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into action. The SDGs are a commitment to achieving sustainable development across three dimensions — environmental, social and economic — in an inclusive and integrated way.

This year's Earth Month EcoChallenge transforms the 17 SDGs into 5 categories of daily and one-time actions an individual can make. Categories include:
  • Basic needs and security
  • Health and equity
  • Education and livelihood
  • Economy and communities
  • Climate and ecosystems

Under each category you can sign up to do any of a dozen actions, or you can come up with your own action commitment. Each action has real and measurable impacts on sustainability and equity. The more actions our team members do, the more points we earn in a friendly competition with other teams around the country.


Register to join the Simply Living Earth Month EcoChallenge team here. We will send you an invitation to sign up on the EcoChallenge website, join our team, and start committing to action with a real impact on sustainability and equity.

Meet, greet, share and learn at our monthly Simply Share Salon. We'll be hearing updates about solar in March, including the campaign by Solar United Neighbors for Community Solar and the new legislation to make it happen across Ohio. What's on your mind? Simply Share wants to hear from you! Invite a friend. Register here.
April First Friday: SWACO Business Programs
Fri April 1 @ 12-1 pm

Simply Living's First Fridays series highlights sustainability initiatives in the city of Columbus and surrounding region that you may want to know more about. Each month our speakers will discuss the initiatives they are working on to make Columbus more sustainable and equitable.

Join us in April as we speak with Sheila Davis, business program manager at SWACO. Sheila will talk about how businesses can start a recycling program and about sustainability-minded customers. We will also hear about Simply Living's exciting new team for the Earth Month EcoChallenge!

This online event will feature two short presentations followed by Q and A. Register here to get the Zoom link: weblink.donorperfect.com/aprilfirstfriday
Empowering Community Film Festival
Hosted by OHCRN and Simply Living
Zoom Discussion: Sunday, April 3 @ 2 pm ET
Register HERE.
NOTE: You will be sent a link to watch the film 24 hours before the 2 pm Sunday Q&A with Nick, Juliet and others.

Santiago Rising (directed by Nick MacWilliam, 2021) takes place on the streets of Chile’s capital city in late 2019 as massive protests over economic inequality engulf the country.
Description source: Santiago Rising's about page
Director, Nick MacWilliam
Expert on Chile, Dr. Juliet Lynd
Debra Knapke, "Climate Resilient Gardening and Gardeners"
Sun Apr 10 @ 3-4:30 pm (EDT)
OSU Kottman Hall Room 104
2021 Coffey Rd, Columbus, OH 43210

Tickets to this event are $25 each. Register at 

Climate change is here, and our gardens are microcosms of what is happening around the world: unpredictable weather events, flooding, soil and water erosion and degradation, and changes in plant and animal responses. What is our path for ensuring that our gardens can be resilient in this time of change?

Find out the answers to these questions and more from Debra Knapke, aka the Garden Sage. Debra has been a garden designer since 1994, shaping public and private spaces. She is the co-author of six books on plants and garden design, is a contributing writer to Edible Columbus, shares a blog on Midwest gardening, and has created numerous materials for courses and lectures.

Debra gives horticulture-related talks at professional and nonprofit organizations, garden clubs, book fairs and libraries and has taught college classes on horticulture and garden design for 24 years. She is a frequent guest speaker on WOSU's All Sides with Ann Fisher. She serves on the board of Friends of the Ohio Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden, the advisory committee of the Walnut Grove and Flint Cemeteries and is active in GWA Garden Communicators, an international association.

Tickets to this event are $25 each. Register at http://weblink.donorperfect.com/climategardening
Simply Living News
Earth Month Events +
Simply Living volunteers will be exhibiting at the Green Bexley Fair and the Green Columbus Earth Day celebrations on Saturday, April 23. We will be at the White Castle Earth Day Fair on Wednesday, April 27 at their new headquarters. And we'll be at the Green on the Green event in Worthington on Saturday, May 7. These events will be lots of fun and a chance to see you in person! Volunteers are welcome! Drop us an email to hello@simplyliving.org.
Registration Coming Soon!
We're excited to host Mike Hogan and learn about urban farming and the developing food systems in central Ohio. Mike will share a slide presentation and entertain our questions.
Mike contributes to Edible Columbus and the Columbus Dispatch. He is part of OSU Extension in the City and shares his knowledge of Food and Agriculture throughout Ohio.
By Mort Schmidt for Simply Living

Fun excerpt: According to the University of Wisconsin horticultural extension, in the Middle Ages, mistletoe was believed to have “life-giving powers and bestowed fertility, could protect against poisons, was an aphrodisiac, and could ward off evil spirits. In Europe it was commonly hung in doorways throughout the house and stable to prevent the entrance of witches. The origins of today’s traditions involving mistletoe may date back to the Greek festival of Saturnalia where it was believed to confer fertility and later with primitive marriage rites.” Wikipedia states that “Pagan cultures regarded the white berries as symbols of male fertility, with the seeds resembling semen. The Celts, particularly, saw mistletoe as the semen of Taranis, while the Ancient Greeks referred to mistletoe as “oak sperm." This seems likely to explain the association between mistletoe and romance. Find out much more about Mistletoe on the Simply Living blog here.
Community Events
Full Moon Fire Circle with Mas Bagua band
Friday March 18 @ 7:30 pm
Meet at the end of Lakeview in Como Park
 Every Friday 5 pm on 94.1 FM and streaming @ WGRN.org, Repeats on Sundays at 2 pm on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams @ WCRSFM.org.

Conversations with everyday people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Justice: environmental, social, racial, economic, with folks on the front lines.

Details on Facebook here. Listen to Podcast archives here.
KickButt Columbus!
Sat Mar 19 @ 9 am - 12 pm 

KickButt Columbus! is an annual spring highway ramp clean-up event created to remove blighted conditions from our city's exit and entry ramps after winter thaw and raise awareness about the hazards of cigarette butt litter to the environment. The event always takes place on the third Saturday in March.

All participants will meet at the Wolfe Shelterhouse (105 Park Drive, Columbus, OH 43209) before heading out to clean up the designated ramps.
Welcome to Move to Amend’s Pledge to Amend Campaign!
Sat March 19 @ 10am

Register HERE to be sent link to the Zoom program

Move to Amend has had phenomenal success through its Pledge to Amend campaigns. Pledge to Amend campaigns have been been critical in growing support for the “We the People” Amendment on Capitol Hill, yielding an impressive 89 and counting congressional co-sponsors. Local state candidates are equally essential, many proving amenable to our amendment that puts people before corporations.

Join other Ohio Move to Amenders for a one hour virtual, kick-off training program. This orientation is important and urgent - with a healthy dose of fun.

The goal: Target candidates for local, state and federal office across Ohio to get their positions on record for the We the People Amendment and make this an election issue.
  • Find out about Move to Amend's Pledge to Amend Campaign
  • Learn how and where to reach out to candidates running for office
  • Hear and see the resources available 
  • Connect with others who are available to help

Ohio Move to Amend State Network: http://www.movetoamend.org
We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims. ~ R. Buckminster Fuller
Kind Meals: Vegan Food the Third Saturday of Every Month
Saturday March 19 @ 12-2 pm
Parsons Ave & E Gates St, Columbus 43206

Kind Meals is a nonprofit local group providing free vegan meals as well as free gently used clothing and household items to anyone who needs them.

Join us by making donations in the form of vegan food or items for the free community store. We are always collecting vegan canned food items like beans and tomatoes and bags of rice, for Star House and other community support facilities too. Let us know if you are interested in helping with Kind Meals. Check out our FB page https://www.facebook.com/kindmealscolumbus.

This month we will be serving up vegan Irish stew, farro/barley, green beans, soda bread and dessert. If you enjoy preparing vegan meals, we can always use an extra dish.
We love feeding our community, one vegan meal at a time!
Meet the Pollinators
Saturday March 19 @ 1-3 pm 
Come join us at Stratford Ecological Center for a fun two hours of learning about pollinators and their habitats. We will do a leisurely stroll around the farm and learn about native bees, butterflies and other insects that help with pollination. Each of these pollinators play a vital role in the food chain that we humans are a part of. Plan on joining us every month for new bees and topics. All ages welcome
To learn more about all the pollinators and their important role in our ecosystem, join Carl for "Meet the Pollinators" the 3rd Saturday of every month (March - September) from 1pm - 3pm. $10 per person. Limited spaces available. Register online to secure your spot!
Third Sunday Day Hikes
with Judy Fasone
Sun Mar 20 @ 12 pm

3rd Sunday Day Hike Series 3/20 - 4/17 - 5/15 - 6/19

Join trip leader Judy Fasone for a few hours of fresh air and a walk on Sunday afternoons. We will begin this series on Sunday, March 20 (first day of Spring!) at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park at noon. Easy to moderate pace. Gather at the Ranger Station, at the second entrance (old main entrance) to the Park off Darby Creek Drive.

Sponsored by Columbus Outdoor Pursuits https://outdoor-pursuits.org
Spring Farm School: Farm Babies &
Vernal Pool
Mon Mar 21 - Tue Apr 5

Spring Farm School sessions have sprung! Maple Sugaring was so much fun and now we're beyond excited for our next set of seasonal activities:

We have dates available for ages 4 - 5 (pre-school) and ages 6 -12! Spots are filling up quickly - sign up now to secure your space! REGISTER NOW
Farm Babies & Vernal Pool
March 21st - April 5th

Organic Gardening & Wildflowers
April 8th - April 26th

Beekeeping & Native Pollinators
May 2nd - May 20th
Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra -- IS BACK!
Mon Mar 21 @ 7:30 - 10 pm
Clintonville Woman’s Club, 3591 N High St, Columbus 43214 map 

FAMOUS JAZZ ORCHESTRA's TRIUMPHANT RETURN!
After a two year hiatus, back in time to welcome Ed Morrison to be the guest artist!
Vaughn Wiester's "Famous Jazz Orchestra" is made up of 22 very talented professional musicians that have come together every Monday evening on a semi-informal basis for the last twenty two (23) years to share their love of their music by "reading" the best Big Band Charts from the last 50 years. For us "big band" fans, this is an opportunity to hear the sounds of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington and all the great bands, without ever leaving Columbus. Give them a listen!

Cost is just $10 for adults and $5 for students. Visit the FJO Schedule page for Guest Performers details - and, FJO vacations.
R4 Workshop Series:
Resist, Repair, Reimagine, Regenerate!
Mon Mar 21 @ 8 pm 

We are excited to announce the launch of our R4 Practicum, a workshop series hosted by Transition US’ ReGenerative Communities Design Lab! Through this series, we will focus on nurturing the development of local, municipal, and (bio) regional efforts to build a more regenerative and just world! Invite your friends and let's be creative and courageous as we leverage our collective efforts in support of the Regenerative Communities Movement.

In addition to monthly facilitated workshops, get access to support, special interviews and offerings, and the R4 Community Action Toolkit (R4 CAT) that will help you and your community launch and or celebrate a regenerative process or project during the Fall 2022 National Week of Action (more details to come).

Cost: We're offering this series on a gift/sliding scale basis; suggested contribution of $35+ for those able to support financially. Free tickets are also available at checkout.

Schedule:
March 21 @ 8 pm ET - Resist
April 21 @ 8 pm  ET- Repair
May 23 @ 8 pm  ET - Reimagine
June 23 @ 8 pm ET - Regenerate

For more general information about the series contact us at info@transitionus.org
We invite aligned, partners, collaborators, creators, and sponsors interested in co-creating the Fall 2022 National Week of Action to contact jess@transitionus.org
Water for All: A World Water Day
documentary film screening and discussion on water access and affordability in Ohio
Tue Mar 22 @ 7:15 - 11:45am (EDT)

Cost: Full WMAO program is $40, includes EPN Breakfast; EPN Breakfast only $17.00; this program is free for students and virtual participants
Location: Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center Map
Contact: Cecil Okotah, 614-688-0434, okotah.1@osu.edu.
More info on EPN website. Registration here.

In collaboration with Ohio State’s School of Earth Sciences, the Ohio Water Resources Center, Water Management Association of Ohio (WMAO), and TerrAqua (a cross-disciplinary student organization at Ohio State and WMAO affiliate) this Environmental Professionals Network Breakfast event consists of networking and educational features related to water affordability in Ohio.

Building and maintaining drinking and wastewater infrastructure to treat and deliver high quality, affordable water to Ohio’s residents is a costly endeavor. Decisions on how to pay for these important investments can lead to heightened levels of conflict and competition in local and regional communities as increasingly the ability to ensure clean water access relies on the financial capacity of system users1. In the past two decades, average drinking water and wastewater service rates across the U.S. have increased by 136%, outpacing rates for other utilities such as electricity, natural gas, and phone service, while overall median household income only grew at 35% over this same period2 placing some low-income residents in a position where they cannot afford water or wastewater services.

On #WorldWaterDay 2021 the United Nations put out the global call for community leaders to ask and record what water access means to their residents and neighbors, to assess water’s true value and how we can better protect and improve this vital resource in our communities. A team of Ohio State researchers from the School of Environment and Natural Resources answered this call, traveling the past year across Ohio asking water utility managers, users, and advocates in communities big and small, urban, and rural, about the challenge of water affordability. The result is And Water for All, an educational documentary examining the opportunities and challenges that governmental and non-governmental entities are facing today to secure clean and affordable water and what to expect in the coming decades.

Join this conversation on #WorldWaterDay, March 22, 2022, to see how we can ensure all residents of our communities have this basic right.

The full schedule, including 2 additional segments at 10 am and 11 am, is available on the Simply Living calendar here.
GreenSpot Conversations: Biking around Cbus
Tue Mar 22 @ 12-12:45 pm

Columbus has many trails and dedicated bike lanes to get around the city. How can you safely navigate the trails and streets? What to look for when buying a bike? What if you can’t afford a bike? Learn the answers to these questions and more as we talk with Erin Sync with Yay Bikes!, Chet Ridenour with CoGo Bike Share, and Scott Ulrich with Columbus Public Health.

Register: email GreenSpot@columbus.gov with “bike” in the subject line.
If you missed any of the past GreenSpot Conversations you can catch them on the GreenSpot website.

GreenSpot is a program of the City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities. Stay connected through our website. www.ColumbusGreenSpot.org
FROM ART TO ACTION: How Beauty Can Inspire Us to Protect What We Love
Tue Mar 22nd @ 2 pm

Register now to join panelists Chris Jordan, photographic artist and filmmaker, and Jenny Price, author of Stop Saving the Planet!: An Environmentalist Manifesto, for our online event on March 22. We’ll discuss why a reverence for natural beauty can be an important motivating factor in what we deem important — and as a result, how we choose to act.
Environmental Virtual
Film Festival
March 17-27, 2022

The DC Environmental Film Festival is the world’s premier showcase of environmentally themed films. Since 1993 our mission has been to celebrate Earth and inspire understanding and stewardship of the environment through the power of film.
DCEFF30 opens Thursday, March 17, at 7pm ET with FIRE OF LOVE. Most of our programming will then become available to stream at noon ET on Friday, March 18, through Sunday, March 27. Passes are on sale at dceff.org for $50, but there are also many free programs. If you have questions, please refer to the Festival Schedule and FAQ at dceff.org, or reach out to info@dceff.org.
The ABCs of Local Investing
Wed Mar 23 @ 4-5 pm

As part of our upcoming Move Your Money Month, internationally known local economist Michael Shuman will present The ABCs of Local Investing.

This webinar is designed to help you personally and your community, this workshop will help you develop practical local investment strategies. Americans now have $56 trillion in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance funds — nearly all of it invested in global corporations. If you and your neighbors could shift even a small amount of that capital from Wall Street to Main Street, your local economy could flourish.


Michael Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, entrepreneur, and a leading visionary on community economics. He serves as Director of Local Economy Programs for Neighborhood Associates Corporation and an Adjunct Professor at Bard Business School in New York City. More info and links to Shuman's books on local investing are in the Simply Living calendar here.
Wild Ones Presents
"Weed Ordinances" Webinar
with Roseanne Plante
Wed March 23 @ 7 pm ET

Most towns, cities, and other municipalities have weed ordinances (local law) concerning what is a weed, what is not defined as a weed in their jurisdiction, and what is allowed to be grown on the property of local citizens. How do you know if you are really in violation, or if your “flowers” just remind others of weeds? Rosanne will present a handy checklist to use if you are ever accused of breaking a weed ordinance.

Roseanne Plante is an Iowa attorney and business professor. She is also a certified Iowa Master Gardener since 2004, having been awarded 10 year and 500+ community service hours lifetime achievement awards. In the fall of 2019, she received credentials and is an Iowa certified Master Conservationists.
Free and open to the public. A recording will be available to the public on Wild Ones website and YouTube channel soon after the event.
The green economy should not just be about reclaiming throw-away stuff. It should be about reclaiming thrown-away communities. It should not just be about recycling things to give them a second life. We should also be gathering up people and giving them a second chance. ~ Van Jones
Sustainability News
Scioto Mile | Downtown Columbus

Located in the heart of downtown Columbus, the Scioto Mile is an urban oasis comprised of more than 175 acres of lush parkland. Stretching along the waterfront from the vibrant Arena District to the natural beauty of the Whittier Peninsula, our riverfront parks connect downtown to the Scioto River through an integrated system of parks, boulevards, bikeways and pedestrian paths.

Columbus Navigator lists 6 Columbus Parks & Gardens Perfect For A Spring Stroll. See them all here and treat yourself to a walk in the park.
Need more options? Experience Columbus lists 10 local parks here.
Action Alert:
Medicare for All - HR 1976
3 Minute Video Explains

Simply Living member Bob Krasen passed along this new video by SPAN member Tim Bruce. It compares the UK's National Health System to our privatized health care system. Watch it here.

Did you know? There is a bill to provide Medicare for All. Our legislators need to know your opinion on HR 1976. Is it time? If not now, when?
A Good Death: Living a Mindfulness of Mortality
Virtual Livestream Event Weds, April 6 @ 6:30 pm
What does a good death look like for you? It is during life that we create a pathway to a good death.

Jacki Mann, a new Simply Living business partner, will introduce the basics of living with a mindfulness of mortality, for the journey toward a good death, exploring topics such as: fear, impermanence, connections and living authentically.
Click below to register and obtain link to the event.

$20 Pre-Sale Discount 15% off until March 26 - code PSMM22

Presenter: Jacki Mann, End of Life Doula, Home Funeral Guide/Trainer, Certified Hospice & Palliative Care Nurse
Across the United States, individuals are working to reduce the threat of climate change. Drawdown Stories, a new initiative of Project Drawdown, aims to showcase their work and inspire others by passing the mic to the climate problem-solvers whose voices and stories often go unheard.

Launched earlier this week, Drawdown’s Neighborhood: Pittsburgh features 11 stories of how people are mobilizing to fuel a green future in a city with a deep history in coal and steel. In the spirit of Pittsburgh native Mister Rogers, the series showcases the diverse “neighborhood” of people working to help the world reach drawdown, the future point when greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere start to steadily decline. Climate solutions heroes who share their efforts to build a better community and a better world include Clara Kitongo, program coordinator at Tree Pittsburgh; Alexis Cromer, food operations director at 412 Food Rescue; and Veni Mittal, community service chair at the Green Building Alliance.

In addition to the featured videos, the Drawdown’s Neighborhood site offers discussion prompts to engage classrooms or communities in dialogue around each episode. And there are resource links to help individuals and others take action to address climate change in their own lives and neighborhoods. To view the videos, learn more, and stay up to date with future releases, please visit drawdown.org/neighborhood
Economic and Community Development Institute
ECDI makes microloans to small businesses and startups in Central Ohio and statewide. See the infographic below.
Click here for businesses that received loans in February
IMMEDIATE Support Requested for Local Center for Community, Spirituality, Ecology, and the Arts

Since 2009, Michael and Ali Malley have led a diverse spiritual community (now called) Sacred Ground Inter-Faith Church & Sangha, melding Eastern and Western traditions, focusing on mindfulness, peace, and caring for our Mother Earth. For years, Sacred Ground has met in their home, public spaces, and online. On Saturday morning (March 19), they will be making a bid on a 2,500 sq ft warehouse space (here’s a link to see the space) that they envision as both a church/sangha and as a local community center for creative and performing arts. (Their son, Meshach, graduating from college as a film major in May, has enthusiastically agreed to help with the "arts side" of the space.) 

Following the tradition of their primary teacher, the late Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, they aspire to utilize the space to "water beneficial seeds" through community, the arts, care for our planet, and spiritual practice. If you would like to make a "last-minute pledge or donation" to Sacred Ground before they go to auction on Saturday, contact Michael or Ali at (740) 319-5808 or MichaeltheStoryteller@gmail.com.  
Inside the Market: March 19

Since the winter market opened 14 weeks ago, it has provided a vital direct-to-consumer retail opportunity to 43 unique Ohio farmers and food producers. Sales earned provide farmers with much needed "off season" revenue to buy seeds, repair equipment, and hopefully, grow their businesses in 2022. The market has redeemed $4,640 in SNAP/P-EBT sales and matched $3,852 in Produce Perks, increasing accessibility of local fruits and vegetables for more shoppers.

Over 3,700 of you have made a trip to the market this winter - including 230 of you the weekend of Snowmaggedon in February! - for which we just want to say: thank you! We hope you've enjoyed the exhibits inside the Ohio History Center on your visits as well. 

Market Specials for March 19 (valid for onsite purchases only)
1. BOGO cookies! - My Nana's Sweet Tooth
2. Buy any two salami and get a Fino or Zin salami free! - North Country Charcuterie
3. Buy three pairs of pasta bundles, get a fourth pair of pasta bundles free! - Ohio City Pasta

Blueprint Columbus will be in attendance this Saturday to answer general project questions, demonstrate roof water redirection, and assist residents in looking up their project area. Linden-area residents are encouraged to continue signing up for their sump pump program. Clintonville-area residents are encouraged to ask questions about the latest arm of the project.

In Other News...
See the full Common Greens newsletter here with annual report and producer lineup.
Invest in the Earth This Earth Day and Every Day
Earth Day is coming up on April 22, but EarthDay.org has been working year-round with campaigns that help people invest in the Earth as individuals, at work and at the polls.  more...
Earth911 Conscious-Shopping Guide: Best Solar Panels
We've updated our guide to help you find the top solar panels on the market. Learn about each panel's efficiency, performance, long-term power generation, and more. more...

The 2022 IPCC Report on Climate Change: What You Can Do
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released its 2022 update on the state of the planet and the news isn't good. While it's essential that policymakers and companies make major changes, you can help, too! Consider taking any of these actions, which are based on ideas from the report. more...
It's Time To Rethink
How Much Toilet Paper We Use
We use more toilet paper per person in the United States than residents of any other country. And unfortunately, our toilet paper has a big negative environmental impact. Can we learn to use less TP — or adopt more sustainable options? more...
Did you learn something new today?
Please support Earth911 database updates
so we can help others recycle
Community Calendars
The Beatles, Dante, KickButt Highlight the Weekend


Sang & Hangout is a curated, neo-soul and R&B jam session, where the audience is the main performance guest.

Here’s a rundown of things to do this weekend. Did you enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day Parade? There’s a few more of the Brew Box remaining for this weekend’s pickup, if you’d like to try coffees at home, don’t miss it! Enjoy your weekend!
Fun Things to Do
Get funky at The Oracle.
Alton Brown brings his live show to The Palace.
Damn Girl is back at Skully’s.
Take your dog on a special hike at the Sharon Woods Metro Park.
Go walking in Franklinton (on a tour).
Enjoy RAIN – A Tribute to the Beatles.
Rambling House has a special Saint Patrick’s Day music show.
Pickle has a dj set at Galla Park.
Easton welcomes the First Day of Spring with a Popup Flower Bar.
Or, welcome spring at The ReDO at The Forum.
Get Free Movie Tickets to The Lost City – Paramount’s THE LOST CITY opens in theaters on March 25 and we’re hosting an advance screening at 7PM on Tuesday, March 22 at AMC DINE-IN Easton Town Center 30 in Columbus. Link to get passes: https://gofobo.com/TLCCU. Each pass downloaded is an admit 2 pass. While supplies last.

Enjoy Exploring Art
Get to know Frida Kahlo.
Little Shop of Horrors opens at Short North Stage.
Martial Arts March continues at The Drexel.
Head Over Heels opens at CATCO and you can attend a Wigs and Weenies benefit for the show.
The Columbus Symphony presents a special multi-media show centered on Dante.
PBJ & Jazz returns to the Lincoln Theatre.
Daughter of the Thread has an opening reception at the King Arts Complex.
Enjoy a delightful evening with ProMusica at St. Mary Catholic Church.
Club Lincoln invites you to a fun Sang & Hangout on Sunday.

What else can you do this weekend?
Learn to correctly compost with Bronzeville Agricademy.
Meet Nan Whaley, candidate for Ohio Governor.
Attend a discussion about the war in Ukraine.
The Bliss Home Market brings out the outdoors decor.
Volunteer cleanup event KickButt Columbus is back on Saturday.
Go up to Groovy Plants Ranch for a special event.
Keep enjoying Blooms & Butterflies.
Get yourself a cute new stuffie at the Lunar popup shop event at Tigertree.
Shop a woman-owned popup event at Freedom a la Cart.
Pretentious Barrel House hosts the So Lucky Sip and Sho.
Go on a Sunrise Fitness hike.
Register for a class to make pierogi and help Ukraine.
Looking for even more events? Find more things to do in Columbus.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!
Connie Hammond's Newsletter
Peace and Social Justice Events

To subscribe to weekly events newsletter or to have progressive events for peace and justice added to this list, please contact cmhammond11@att.net.

Saturday, March 19, 2022, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. 2022 Liberation Lab: A Social Justice Teach-in on Abolition and Environmental Justice partnered with IRTF & CWRU. The 22nd Annual Social Justice Teach-In is a great opportunity for high school and college students--as well as people of all ages -- to learn about critical human rights issues and to practice hands-on organizing and communication skills to work for peace, justice and human rights—here and across the hemisphere. In pre-pandemic times, this annual event has attracted up to 850 attendees, mostly from area high schools and colleges, providing participants with information, practical skills, and resources to support social justice programming at their schools, places of worship, and other community groups. This year will be our second virtual Teach-In. While we do not expect attendance numbers on par with in-person figures from recent years past, having this event online will allow people to participate from across the US and around the world. Please register on Eventbrite @ teachin22.eventbrite.comFacebook event

Saturday, March 19, 2022, 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Fundraiser for Ester Flores on Human Trafficking. Come to listen and learn from frontliners, survivors and freedom fighters. There will be a home-cooked dinner by Gary Witte and Winie Wirth, including vegan options. Butterfly theme. $25 fee. More information: 1divineline2health@gmail.com. Location: West Columbus at Parkview United Methodist Church, 344 S. Algonquin Ave., 43204.

Saturday, March 19, 2022, 12:00 PM. Understanding E-Carceration: A Community Event on the Future of Surveillance and Mass Incarceration. In celebration of the publication of James Kilgore's "Understanding E-Carceration" (The New Press, 2022), this event brings together activists, abolitionists, students and academics to discuss important themes in the book. Beyond the increasing social understanding of the oppression of ankle shackles, we will look specifically at the growth of community surveillance regimes, and how bodies are being commodified into data points for tech companies. More information and registration here

Sunday, March 20, 2022, 2:00 PM. GrassRoot Ohio With Carolyn Harding.  Our mission is to profile every-day people working on important issues and to connect them with other folks who want to help. Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio Justice: environmental, social, racial, economic, w/ folks on the front lines. LISTEN TO 94.1 FM and stream US online at WGRN.com. You can find all GrassRoot Ohio podcasts/shows on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ

Sunday, March 20, 2022, 5:30 PM. Columbus Common Good Immigration Evening Event. Join in-person or live stream. We believe that as people of faith and Americans who care about the Common Good, immigration and our country's border practices are humanitarian issues that we must act on. Now. In the Fall of 2021, we rode bicycles along the entire 3,200-mile U.S./Mexico border and the U.S. coastline. We spent 66 days listening to and learning from people who live on and serve one another on the border. They know first-hand the best way forward for our Immigration and Border Practices. And we are thrilled to share their stories. We met our neighbors suffering under arcane and unjust laws, and many more of our fellow humans are dying each and every day as they attempt to cross the border. Can you imagine having an opportunity to better your children's lives and having to face death to do it? That's what thousands are facing right now. We believe that the Bible is serious when it says to love your neighbor as yourself, and that command comes without stipulations. No "love your American neighbor" or "love your documented neighbor," simply love your neighbor. Full stop. Location: Jacob’s porch, 45 E. 13th Ave., Columbus. More information on the Facebook Event Page

Sunday, March 20, 2022, 6:00 - 7:00 PM. Promoting Pro-Peace Candidates and Platforms in the 2022 Congressional Primary Elections. The 2022 Midterm elections are enormously important in the battle for insuring voting rights and protecting democratic processes. The crucial issues of the bloated Pentagon budget, development of new nuclear weapons, and need for diplomatic not military solutions to conflicts, including Ukraine and Taiwan, have generally been relegated to the electoral closet. This webinar will address the need to bring these issues into the elections, through Congressional primary elections, which will be held this Spring though early Fall. More information and registration here.

Sunday, March 20, 2023, 5:00 - 7:00 PM. Redbird Books to Prisoners. We collect, pack, and send books to Ohio prisoners every 1st and 3rd Sunday. Location: Thirdhand Bike Coop, 979 East 5th Ave, Columbus. Please wear a mask, and please don't park in front of the building.

Monday, March 21, 2022, 12:00 P.M. APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA!  APARTHEID ISRAEL! Ticking the Boxes of Occupation and Dispossession.  Dr. Michael Spath interviews author Rev. Brian Brown. Apartheid South Africa! Apartheid Israel! considers how the policies of the State of Israel, in violently dispossessing Palestinians of their land, nationality, and human rights, replicates policies of South Africa’s era of Grand Apartheid. In both comparative terms and in regard to international law, Israel has become an Apartheid regime, engaging in crimes against humanity. Using the 2009 “Kairos Document” from Kairos Palestine and its 2020 “Cry for Hope,” and other documents from human rights organizations and international law, he analyzes the root causes of Israeli denialism and Christian denialism of Israel’s settler colonial project, and where we go from here. Register HERE.

Monday, March 21, 2023, 11:30 AM or 6:30 PM. ACLU Statewide Action Team Meeting. Get the latest on our current efforts to abolish the death penalty and bring bail reform to Ohio. We'll also be discussing a new campaign to connect with supporters and allies across the state. You won't want to miss this preview! Register for the 11:30 AM meeting here. Register for the 6:30 PM meeting here

Monday, March 21, 2022, 7:00 PM. Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels the Threat of Extinction. It's no secret that we live in a time of multiple bone-chilling crises. We face credible threats to human existence itself. Nuclear war and militarism; climate catastrophe on our doorstep; surging and waning Pandemics -- all taking place in the context of deep polarization and tribal populism. This program will not only explore the interlocking nature of these threats and how they feed upon each other. It will show that they have a common root in our system of corporate capitalism. Join Charlie Derber, Suren Moodliar, and the Peace & Climate working group of Mass Peace Action for a serious discussion of how corporate capitalism is the fuel for these threats. More information and registration here

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 2:00 PM. How the Israeli Government and Anti-BDS Forces Threaten Free Speech in Ohio. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement at age seventeen has proved to be so successful that U.S. and Israeli imperialist and Zionist leaders have lobbied states in the U.S. and the federal government to enact anti-boycott laws. Ohio is one of those states that has limited constitutionally protected Free Speech. The Free Speech Coalition in Ohio in solidarity with Israeli Apartheid Week will present a panel discussion to include the following topics: 1) BDS Overview, 2) Effectiveness of BDS, 3) Challenges to BDS, and 4) BDS Accomplishments. Panelists include: Dr. Nahida Halaby Gordon, Professor Emerita at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Professor at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities, Occupied Palestine, Terry J. Lodge, Attorney and Member, Ohio Free Speech Coalition, and Eric Resnick. Member Ohio Free Speech Coalition. Location: Cleveland State University, Student Center 313. You can also join on Zoom. Register for the zoom meeting here.  Facebook Event

Thursday, March 24, 2022, 3:30 - 5:00 PM. Vladimir Putin in Comparative Perspective.  There are few leaders today that attract more international attention and speculation than Vladimir Putin. Discussions about his aspirations, various motives, and hold on power in Russia are common and often intense. Professor Timothy Frye explores these in depth in his book Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia (Princeton University Press, 2021).  In this book, Frye argues that we miss a great deal when we focus solely on Putin or Russian exceptionalism and compares Putin to other personalistic autocratic leaders. Bringing to bear both an in-depth familiarity with contemporary Russia and an expert command of the literature in comparative politics, Frye makes an impressive contribution to our understanding of Putin’s sources of power and the tradeoffs he faces in sustaining them. This sheds important light on key questions such as: How popular is Putin? How does he manage the instruments of control in Russia? What are the prospects for change in Russia? Is Russian propaganda effective? Why are relations with the West so fraught? In his talk for the Mershon center, Frye will discuss these matters and the role he sees for scholars and scholarship in this era of intensely politicized discourse. More information and registration here

Friday, March 25 through Monday, March 28, 2022. All Walls Must Fall Conference. Explore the realities, the struggles, and the vision we must mobilize around, so that walls indeed fall!  We invite you to join us to explore the realities, the struggles, and the vision we must mobilize around, so that walls indeed fall, connecting our lives and similarities despite the thousands of miles of distance. From the US/Mexico border to the borders around Palestine - walls and militarization, dispossession of lands and cultural genocide, brutality and murder, mass detentions and lack of rights, forced migration and criminalization, environmental damage - these and other shared abuses, have all defined these experiences. This is a hybrid conference in Tucson, Arizona. More information and registration here.

Friday, March 25, 2022, 4:00 - 6:00 PM. Free Resource Friday. Free Resource Fridays is our monthly free resource giveaways, hosted at on the last Friday of every month! Grab some resources, harm reduction supplies, clothes, hygiene products, and food!! We have plenty so please feel free to pick up items for loved ones in need. If you can’t make this time, hit us up for porch/door drop offs! Donations are welcome. Masks required. Location: Community Grounds: Coffee and Meeting House, 1134 Parsons Ave. Facebook Event
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how
extremely expensive it is to be poor. ~ James Baldwin
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