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LAtest news: no meeting on December 15th

There is no meeting at camp long tonight. Our December meeting was the very successful Money Free Shopping Spree (see the West Seattle Blog for coverage of the event).

Other announcements:

Coordinating Council Meeting: January 5, Location TBA, 7-9pm -- Main topics will be preparation for our Planning Retreat and Annual Meeting. People outside the CC interested in attending please contact--
Bill at pres 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org

SWS Strategic Planning Retreat, Saturday, January 10, 7102 30th Ave SW, Time TBA (morning start) -- This retreat will chart out some of the goals, and strategic operations for SWS for the coming year. What has worked? What can we change? What do we want to focus on?. Our capacity is somewhat limited to 10-12 participants, but if you are interesting playing an active leadership role in SWS in the coming year we would love to have you there. RSVP with Gary at energy 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org

Eat Local Now Planning Meeting, Tuesday, January 13, Uptown Espresso, 7-8:30. Get involved with this awesome project! contact pres 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org.

The Next SWS General Membership Meeting, TUESDAY, January 20, Camp Long 7:30-9:00pm. Due to the Holiday on Monday, we have moved our meeting to Tuesday, January 20. At this meeting we will be signing up members for 2009 (10$ membership fee), accepting any new changes to our by-laws, and voting in a new coordinating council for 2009. We will plan to some carry some videotaped coverage of the presidental inauguration, and have plans for a special speaker (TBA).

Holiday Event: "Money-free Shopping Spree"

December 8, at Camp Long (5200 35th Ave. SW) 6:00-9:00

WHAT: Sustainable West Seattle invites you to our “Money-Free Shopping Spree”, a holiday swap
and potluck focusing on economic and community sustainability during the holidays. We will also
have music and speakers to add cheer and a message about supporting our local economies.

Please Bring the following....
POTLUCK: Please bring a food item to share ( Last names A thru M bring
appetizer: dip, salad, bread, casserole, finger food; N thru T bring dessert; U thru Z bring non-alcoholic beverage) and please bring reusable dinnerware for your use. There is no cleaning facility
available.

SWAP: Bring 1, 2 or 3 items (no more, please) for trade that meet the
following characteristics: A sustainable handcraft/food item worth roughly $30-40. Examples: foodstuffs (cookies, chutneys, breads, jams, home canned goods), household goods (soaps, aromatherapy, candles), embellishment (scarves, jewelry, knitted items), art & paper goods. Sustainably-made uses materials
which are non-toxic, non-sweatshop, as locally-sourced as possible. Please label item(s) with your name, name of object(s), ingredients used.

AND / OR Offer a useful service as a gift certificate with a time donation valued at $30-40. Examples: gardening consults, bike/auto repair, simple dinner for two made at your house, weeding, music lessons, babysitting, green home improvement consultation. We’ve posted a certificate template on our website or you can make your own; please include your name, service donated (detailed description), and reasonable limitations.

WOW! Food, music, handmade stuff! Bring the family and come celebrate with us! Children welcomed!

Questions and RSVP (by Dec 3rd, Please)
thru Carmen at cev_now@hotmail.com, or Stu at alkistu@hotmail.com, or visit www.sustainablewestseattle.org.

WHEN/WHERE:
Monday, Dec. 8, 6pm-9pm, Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW

Download the Invitation/Poster or print out the Gift Certificate template.

November Meeting Summary

Our meeting this month featured the Movie "What Would Jesus Buy?" - This hilarious documentary produced by Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me), features Reverend Billy of the Church of Non-stop Consumption and explores the mainstream culture's excessive focus on consumption during the holidays. Free, popcorn served. Before this event, we shared information about our next event, and how you can get involved...

Other SWS Events:

EAT LOCAL NOW meeting, November 19, Uptown Espresso, 7-8:30pm.
Are you interested in helping plan, organize, and present a dinner that promotes the importance of local food in West Seattle? Help us organize, plan, and strategize for this event next October. This goal(s) of this fundraiser include increasing business for local farmers, increasing local food production in West Seattle, and increasing access to locally produced food among all income groups. Email Bill if you want to join us or help: Pres 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org.

Brainstorming Session for SWS Goals for 2009 and 2nd Annual Festival , (Tentatively) Saturday, January 10.
Join us for a Saturday brainstorm covering both of these topics, breakfast and coffee served! RSVP with your interest to: Pres 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org.

Please join us or visit us Tabling at the West Seattle Farmers Market.

HELP EDUCATE and ADVOCATE for SUSTAINABILITY with SWS.
Take a role in Sustainable West Seattle. Contribute to growing our organization and bringing sustainablity to our neighborhoods. Over this year it is our goal to reach out to our membership to find ways to get all that want to contribute involved. If any of the following roles interest you or you would like more information about them, let us know: Treasurer, Tabling Team, Website Content, Marketing, Writing/Content, Neighborhood Representatives, Distribution, Grant Writing, Socializing. If there are ways that you want to be involved that we have not thought of, let us know! Contact Bill at: Pres 'at' sustainablewestseattle.org.

Older Stuff...

At our October meeting we discussed West Seattle Transit Issues,
as well as the benefits and costs of Prop 1.

Prop 1 has been stripped of the roads portion of its bill and in its own words "will build 36 miles of clean & reliable light rail, add 100,000 new bus hours, and expand Sounder. For about $69 per adult each year, it plans to build a system that can carry over one million people daily..."

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HELP PLAN A "EAT LOCAL NOW!" DINNER
October 22, 6:15pm-7:45pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th Ave SW).

Are you interested in helping plan, organize, and present a dinner that promotes the importance of local food in West Seattle?

This our 2nd meeting organizing for this event, a perfect time to come join us to help plan or lend a hand the next few months. This fundraising dinner is tentatively in late January or early February would serve locally grown foods, would be prepared by local chefs, and would feature speakers and exhibitors on this topic. Email Bill if you want to join us or help: pres@sustainablewestseattle.org

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At our September 15 SWS members Chas Redmond and Stu Hennessy explored pedestrian and bicycle issues in West Seattle. Both Chas and Stu are active in these issues and led a discussion of ideas of how we can make West Seattle easier, safer, and more convenient to move about without a car.

Here is the Pedestrian Issue presentation (Powerpoint version) given by Chas (also available in PDF format).

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Our August 18 meeting was our summer potluck at Camp Long.

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Our July 21 meeting featured Michael Grenetz of the Washington Toxics Coalition who spoke about problems with toxics in our food. Michelle Gaither of Toxinspect covered toxics in consumer products, and Ben Cook of E-Green Building Systems discussed toxics in building materials, the chemistry involved, and why this issue is generally so important.

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Our June 16 meeting featured great Solar Energy presentations by Eric Thomas, Solar Epiphany about Solar Photovoltaic Systems, with Reeves Clippard & Andy Yatteau of A&R Solar teaching us about Solar Thermal Systems.

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Our May 19 meeting featured presentations about the development projects underway in the "Fauntleroy Triangle" between SW Alaska St, 35th Ave SW and Fauntleroy Way SW. We had a great panel discussion with West Seattle Resident Marshall Foster, Sean Sykes, (Sustainability Officer, Harbor Properties), Jim Burton and Justin Fogle and Jim Burton (President and Vice President respectively, NW Ecobuilding Guild), Derek Birnie (Executive Director, Delridge Neighborhood Association), and Dave Montoure (President, West Seattle Junction Association)

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Thanks to all, our 1st Annual Festival on May 4 was a huge success!!

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Our April 21 meeting featured presentations by Zach Zink about the Longfellow Creek Garden, Aviva about the Community Harvest of SW Seattle Fruit Tree Harvest project, and Laura Sweeny of Terra Flora Farm who gave an awesome presentation about the basic principles of Permaculture.

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At our January 28, 2008 meeting we adopted our new Bylaws and elected our first Coordinating Council under those bylaws: Bill Reiswig (President), Chas Redmond (Vice-President), Brian Allen (Secretary), Dorothy Bosteder (Treasurer), Manuela Winters (Water Action Group), Andy Silber (Transportation Action Group), Gary Leichtenstein (Energy Working Group).

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Here's the group photo (our first) that we took before the meeting:

You can download an .mp3 recording of the evening (careful, it's 33MB!) right here

SWS adopted our Mission and Vision statements at our October 17, 2007 meeting:

SWS Mission

Sustainable West Seattle educates and advocates for urban sustainability in our local community.

SWS Vision

We envision a West Seattle community of empowered citizens who actively lead us toward greater self-reliance, local democracy, social justice, and existence in harmony with life on earth.

Sustainable West Seattle's shape and activities will reflect the talent and interests of those who come along for the ride, but we aim to provide resources and outreach for the West Seattle neighborhood on issues such as:

You can get involved directly with one of our ACTION GROUPS at any time! Just contact one of the friendly folks listed below:

Be sure to take a look at our first two newsletters from our May and June meetings

Check out the West Seattle Walking Trails materials Chas Redmond put together!

	We were at the Sustainable Solstice Festival (Gasworks Park) following the Solstice Parade on June 16.
			SWS co-founder Bill Reiswig works on our new banner for the Sustainable Solstice Festival
	Sustainable Communities All Around Puget Sound (SCALLOPS) met for the first time at the Sustainable Solstice. Dozens of cities and towns sent representatives!
			SCALLOPS particpants from around the Puget Sound gather to discuss how to collaborate on educating our communities about Living Sustainably.

Please invite others in West Seattle who you think would be interested in joining such a group to sign up for our announcement list above. We also want to know if you cannot come but are interested in the group, since we would value your input.

If you have any questions or suggestions for us, please contact:

Brian Allen - secretary at sustainablewestseattle.org (206) 973-7374

Copyright 2008 Sustainable West Seattle