LEARN MORE

Tom Fulton, President of the Family Housing Fund, draws the connection between the health of America's children and green building (.pdf).

 

What you can do:

• Learn more about the connections between housing and health from the National Center for Healthy Housing. 
• Physical inactivity is one of the most important lifestyle behaviors afflicting our nation.  Practice and promote Active Living By Design with your family, through your work, or in your community.
• Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, and most of Minnesota is in high radon risk areas.  Have your home tested for radon.
• Lead is toxic to humans. Especially if you live in an older community or home, learn about how you can reduce lead exposure in your home.
• Learn about environmental health and the connections between health and how we build our towns and communities through World Health Organization. 

Janne Flisrand, Program Coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, shares what Green by Design is doing to reduce the carbon footprint for the conference and to promote long-term energy efficiency (.pdf).

 

What you can do:

• Carpool, bike, or take transit to the conference
• Get a home energy audit through the Center for Energy and Environment or your local utility company
• Go carbon neutral
• Purchase renewable energy
• Join a CSA

 

Warren Hanson, President of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, shares his concerns about global warming and peak oil (.pdf).

 

What you can do:

• Learn more through these global climate change information networks
• Learn more about peak oil
• James Howard Kunstler, former keynote speaker, writes about peak oil in Orion Magazine
• Will Steger, former keynote speaker, documents global warming on current expedition

 

How is Green by Design a Green Event?

• Carbon Neutral event through partnership with Native Energy
• Menus, developed with Renewing the Countryside, include locally produced beef from Thousand Hills Cattle and Gold’n Plump chicken, local dairy products, eggs, and pastries. We also offered fair trade, shade grown coffee.
• Extra food, including 50 lunches and desserts, approximately 45 pounds of fresh fruit, and snacks were collected by Second Harvest to be distributed to local shelters. Our staff also rescued 150 box lunches from other concurrent events.
•  Anecdotally, we know the pedestrian- and transit-friendly location resulted in at least 10 people cycling and 12 people taking transit to the conference.
• Recycling is brought to The Depot by conference organizers, as it is not part of the hotel's daily practice
• Green characteristics of The Depot (.pdf)

Our website includes many more local resources and details on Minnesota Green Communities' work. 

 

E-mail Janne Flisrand, Minnesota Green Communities program coordinator with other resources we should include here.

 

Back to conference homepage ->