Spring Bounty: The EcoCenter's Living Roof
How does a green roof turn purple and yellow? LEJ’s
EcoCenter is not only San Francisco’s greenest building, it’s a marvel of beauty and innovation. Just look to its living roof, which is now in full spring bloom, with colorful California poppies, yarrow, seaside daisies, and more. To nourish the grateful plants, the EcoCenter captures rainwater in a tank, and using solar power, pumps it to the roof, where it is distributed directly to the plants' roots. Very little water is wasted!
Since fall 2010, more than 1,500 school students and adult volunteers have come to Heron's Head Park. Many have also stepped into the EcoCenter to learn about its green technology and the importance of conserving resource, as well as the importance of environmental justice in Bayview Hunters Point. No other organization in San Francisco is providing this type of environmental education.
Want to Get Involved?
Volunteer at Heron’s Head Park on June 11, 9 a.m. - noon (second Saturday of each month). Check out the EcoCenter’s roof, and help us maintain Heron’s Head by planting seedlings and removing invasive species.
Literacy forEnvironmental Justice provides educational and stewardship programs at Heron’s Head Park funded by the Port of San Francisco, with additional major funding provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the State Coastal Conservancy, the Kimball Foundation, and Yosef’s Fund of the San Francisco Foundation.
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LEJ Youth Going to College!
Congratulations to the four graduating high school seniors in LEJ's Bay Youth for the Environment (BYE) program, who have all been accepted to colleges to pursue their degrees. As LEJ interns from Bayview Hunters Point, these students amazed us by running our volunteer programs at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area -- teaching adults about land stewardship, environmental justice, and growing native shoreline plants. Good luck to Frank Nelson, Diamond Jones, Malena Osborne, and Brittany Brandon!
Volunteer June 4 and Meet Our New Youth Interns
We'd also like to welcome our six new youth interns to LEJ. Want to meet them? Volunteer at Candlestick on June 4 at 10 a.m. (first Saturday of each month) and they'll teach you how to propagate the native shoreline plants at LEJ's nursery that are helping to restore the Bay!
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Rent San Francisco's Greenest Building for Your Next Event
Come experience San Francisco's first 100% off-the-grid building, the EcoCenter, winner of EPA's 2010 national Environmental Justice Award. Rent it for your community or private event, or gather a group of curious friends or peers to learn about the building's groundbreaking sustainable design. Click to view our rental package.
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LEJ Trains 140 Teachers and Educators in Sustainability and EJ
We've just wrapped up a
year-long series of professional development trainings for Bay Area teachers and educators, focusing on environmental justice (EJ) and sustainability. More than 140 teachers and educators participated in trainings and workshops and learned teaching methodologies and content with a social and environmental justice lens. In addition, we worked with local youth workers to provide more science and environmental content ideas and activities for their youth programming. Topics covered included water, energy, astronomy, food, habitat restoration, and plant adaptations.
Trainings were made possible through partnerships primarily with the Exploratorium Teacher's Institute, SFUSD, Crissy Field Center, KQED and BMagic (Bayview collaborative for youth and family nonprofits). See more
photos here.
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Upcoming Events
Bay Youth for the Environment (BYE) Reunion at Candlestick Pt. Nursery
Saturday, May 28
12-3 p.m
Bioregional Ecology Workshop
Saturday, June 4
9am - 4pm
EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park
This workshop is open to the general public and is hosted by the Planet Drum Foundation featuring LEJ guest speakers. Sliding scale $35-$50 with full scholarships for SFUSD teachers, limited work exchanges available.
Learn More >>
DONATE TO LEJ
Please consider making a donation to support Literacy for Environmental Justice in continuing our efforts to make an impact in Bayview Hunters Point. Our on-the-ground work with youth, teachers, educators, and volunteers aim to provide a healthy environment for all and are dependent on your financial contributions, in which every level of commitment makes a difference.
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