It’s that time of year again when Sustainable Renton elects new Board members to forge the journey ahead through the next year. Anyone who has served on a board knows the importance of position rotation. In keeping with that principle, we are looking for some new folks to step up and help us with our vision of making Renton a more resilient community.
Some people may not know what projects Sustainable Renton is involved with so here is a list of what we have going on right now:
Sustainable Renton Community Farm: a community farm located on the property of
Celebration Church in the East Renton Highlands neighborhood. We grow food for our Farm Stand, a local restaurant and offer year round community garden plots.
Sustainable Renton Farm Stand: We offer organically grown produce at a pay-what-you-can pay scale. We set up currently at the Renton Senior Activity Center bi-monthly from May-Sept. We are looking to expand our horizons in the coming year.
Little Mountain, Spabadeed: Spabadeed is the Duwamish name for Earlington Hill meaning Little Mountain. We are working with the Earlington Hill Neighborhood Association, City View Church and Seattle City Light to place a food forest and community garden site adjacent to the church on the utilities’ property. We hope to make major progress towards this goal in the coming year.
Sustainable Renton Gleaning Project: We have a group of volunteers that forage and
glean from a variety of sources and redistribute food to those that will use it. This project keeps food from the landfill and keeps people fed that live in and around Renton.
Plastic free Renton: We have been working with the city of Renton to move a plastic-free initiative forward and present it to the council. We hope to achieve this in 2018.
Plant and Seed Swap: Sustainable Renton and the City of Renton collaborate to bring together a great community gathering. People bring their unwanted seeds and plants and take what they like. We have workshops on specific sustainability topics and vendors from around the area. This event is going into its third year.
Sustainable Renton is an official “muller” within the Transition US movement. Our goal is to become an official transition initiative in 2018.
Some of the projects and ideas that Sustainable Renton wants to see happen in the future are:
Acquisition of the property where our community farm is located. Our vision is to have a sustainability hub where anyone can come and learn about sustainable and resilient living.
A Green Festival as a part of the already existing Renton River Days where companies and organizations concerned with resiliency are highlighted, workshops and hands-on demonstrations are given.
A mobile Farm Stand that will travel into food deserts and underserved communities to disperse food to those in need.
A Gleaner’s Cafe where we can use foraged, gleaned and locally grown foods to create
Mmm…fresh produce.
delicious and nutritious meals on a pay what you can pay scale. This cafe would offer hours for a community kitchen to act as a business incubator for those in need.
Food Cooperative: Cooperative businesses are making their way back into our economy as a more egalitarian way to conduct business. It is an empowering business model for all involved and we would love to see a hybrid cooperative grocery store in Renton.
Sustainable Renton has primarily been focused on food justice issues but we would love to expand our concentration on all topics concerning resiliency within a community such as time banking, alternative currencies, eco villages/co-housing, transition streets, alternative energy sources, free stores, free schools,reskilling, sharing economies the list can go on. We have ideas, we have the 501c3 federally exempt status to help with fundraising but what need we now are people. Not just anybody either. Sustainable Renton has seen quite a few folks come and go since its inception in 2010. What we need are folks that have a drive to make Renton a more resilient community and who are willing to take the lead on a project they are passionate about. It can be an already existing project or one they want to begin.
I know that as a stay at home and home-schooling parent (that has a multitude of other interests) time is precious. I also know that my life has had deeper purpose and meaning since becoming involved with Sustainable Renton. Some things are worth fighting for and the energy put into fostering a healthy community that is independent from the not so stable world is something worth fighting for.
So, if you are feeling inspired, we encourage you to attend our next Board meeting held on December 21st at 6:30pm. We will meet at Top Pot Doughnuts in The Landing,
If you have any questions or would like to be involved but are unable to attend the Board meeting please contact us at sustainablerenton@gmail.com and we can answer any questions you might have.
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