Houston Environmental News Update February 21, 2018

Earth Day Houston: Call for Exhibitors, Speakers, and Sponsors

Please mark your calendars for Earth Day Houston on Sunday, April 22, 2018, from noon to 6 pm at Discovery Green park! Hosted in partnership with the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, Discovery Green’s citywide Earth Day celebration–presented by Green Mountain Energy–is designed to inspire, educate, and encourage action. The event features displays, exhibits and booths on topics ranging from alternative energy to recycling methods, a foodie farmers market, Canned Acoustica, recycling, and more.

The Citizens’ Environmental Coalition is currently accepting applications for exhibitors for the Earth Day festival and nominations for speakers for Earth Talks on the big stage. If you are interested in being a sponsor or corporate volunteering, please email earthday@cechouston.org.

We have tried to confirm the events listed below, but not all organizations have updated their websites. Please consider confirming directly with the hosts.

1. H-GAC Regional Recycling Roundtable: Electronics Recycling
   Presentations include How to Run a Repair Cafe (Steve Stelzer with the City of Houston Green Building Resource Center) and Dell ReConnect Program with Goodwill. Registration is requested and a webinar option is available. For more information about the Roundtable, please contact Becki Begley at becki.begley@h-gac.com or 713-993-2410. Learn more at on the registration website.
2. Sea Turtle Patrol Training
   The 2018 Sea Turtle nesting season runs from April 1 through July 15. Turtle Island Restoration Network and Texas A&M have 11 patrol routes that extend from Rollover Pass on Bolivar, through Galveston to Surfside Beach, Follet’s Island. Patrol shifts are Monday through Saturday, 7AM-9AM and 10AM- Noon. Volunteers must commit to at least one shift per week throughout the entire season. Learn more at 2018seaturtlepatrol.blogspot.com. Remaining dates for training are Thursday, Feb. 22 in Galveston and Saturday, Feb. 24 in Bolivar.
3. Walk for the Woods Project
   This estimated 5K walk will take you on a journey through Houston’s historic East End, where many of The Woods Project’s students live and play. The scenic route includes stops along a beautiful undeveloped area of Buffalo Bayou, where walkers will meet TWP students and hear inspiring stories about their transformative experiences during summer trip. Learn more at thewoodsproject.org.
4. Nature Jog with a Naturalist
   On Saturday, Jan 24, 2018, join Bayou Land Conservancy’s very own Conservation Director and Naturalist, Becky, for a family friendly, 2-mile nature jog on Spring Trails. Keep your resolution while enjoying the outdoors. You may even learn something new. BLC staff and Spring Creek Nature Center staff will provide information about the ecology along the trail and Spring Creek. Learn more from Bayou Land Conservancy.
5. Making Houston a Resilient City: Flooding, Carbon and Food (Urban Harvest & HMNS)
   This lecture, on Feb. 27, 2018, by Jim Blackburn will focus on the challenges and opportunities that lie before Houston, a key city in the global response to changing weather patterns, emerging economies and changing consumer preferences and needs. The future of Houston as a serious competitor in the global marketplace lies in many of the choices that will be made in the next few years. Are we ready to take our place as a truly world-class city, showing the way for the world, or will we be left behind? Learn more at urbanharvest.org.
6. City of Houston to Consider Floodplain Ordinance
   The City of Houston is considering revisions to Chapter 19 to ensure new dwellings are built high enough to save lives and property in the event of flooding. The public is encouraged to provide input on the proposed changes to Chapter 19 through Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. Learn more about the proposed changes at houstonrecovers.org. The ordinance will be presented to Council on February 28, 2018.
7. NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks Seaside Chats
   Seaside Chats are informal presentations about ocean topics associated with Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the Gulf of Mexico. These presentations take place on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in February and March at The Texas A&M Galveston Campus. Learn more at flowergarden.noaa.gov. Participation by Webinar is available. Remaining topics for 2018 are:
   • 2/28/18: Okeanos Expedition 2017: Surprising Finds in the Gulf of Mexico presented by Charles Messing, Nova Southeastern University
   • 3/7/18: Reef Resilience: Bleaching, Mortality and Hurricanes, Oh My! presented by Michelle Johnston, FGBNMS
8. Boundary Expansion Working Group Meeting
   A public meeting of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council’s Boundary Expansion Working Group will take place at the sanctuary offices in Galveston on Feb. 28, 2018, at 5 pm. Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) members of this working group will be meeting to review and discuss the sanctuary’s proposal for boundary expansion as detailed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/management/expansiondeis.html).
   Public comment will be accepted. For more information contact Leslie.Clift@noaa.gov or visit the FGBNMS Facebook Page.
9. PACE: Liftoff in Houston
   Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, is not yet an everyday term, but it is gaining traction in Houston. Texas PACE enables property owners to finance 100% of their energy saving, water conservation, and distributed generation improvements with little to no capital outlay. PACE enables commercial property owners to lower their operating costs, increase net operating income and the quality of the asset as the idea is what you save in utilities will be greater than your payments.  A voluntary land-secured assessment that is paid off over time, often up to 20 years or more, the City enabled PACE as a way to incentivize sustainability and resilience upgrades to commercial, industrial and multifamily properties. Partnering with US Green Building Council, PACE: Liftoff in Houston is a free education seminar, open to the public. Feb. 28, 2018, 6:00-8:00pm at the Green Building Resource Center. The panel will be discussing the first few successful PACE projects in Houston. CEU’s available. Please RSVP to Steve Stelzer at (832)394-9050 or steve.stelzer@houstontx.gov. For more information, visit codegreenhouston.org.
10. HNPAT Presents Professor, Environmental Lawyer, and Author Jim Blackburn
    The Houston Chapter of Native Prairies Association of Texas (HNPAT) has the honor of hosting Jim Blackburn on Feb. 28, 2018, from 6:30-8:30pm, at the Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion at Hermann Park. Blackburn will discuss the Texas Coastal Exchange, a system developed at the Severe Storm Prevention, Education and Evacuation from Disaster (“SSPEED”) Center at Rice University, for buying and selling ecological services such as carbon sequestration, water supply enhancement, flood mitigation and fish and wildlife enhancement. Restoration of coastal and inland prairies is a key driver of Texas Coastal Exchange, and this restoration along with certain grazing techniques could revolutionize conservation thinking as well as the farm and ranch economy and the oil and gas industry. For more information, visit houstonprairie.org.
11. Discovery Green Celebrates Ten Years!
    The spring season at Discovery Green Park starts on March 1, 2018, with the opening of The Rink–Houston’s first outdoor rolling rink–and the kickoff of the Bayou City Music Series featuring acclaimed Houston rapper Bun B. and an entourage of extraordinary musicians. The 10th Anniversary celebration continues with four signature events: the B!rthday Bash on April 15, Earth Day Houston–in collaboration with CEC–on April 22, Harvey Heroes Discussion on April 27, and the FUNomenal Family Festival on May 26.
12. Open House for The Galveston Bay Plan, 2nd Edition
    Help protect and sustain Galveston Bay for future generations by providing your input on The Galveston Bay Plan 2nd Edition draft. Attend anytime between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 5, 2018 for an open house to learn more about the four Plan Priorities identified in draft plan and provide document feedback.  Learn more at GalvestonBayPlan.org.
13. Save the Date: Bayou Greenway Day
    Get to know your bayou at Bayou Greenway Day, a FREE outdoor festival with games, music, giveaways and more. Experience the beauty of the Bayou Greenways while enjoying free activities, hosted by Houston Parks Board and other community organizations. Saturday, March 24, 2018, at Tidwell Park along Halls Bayou Greenway. Learn more at houstonparksboard.org.
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15. TV: Texas Parks & Wildlife
    Broadcast on KUHT Channel 8 at 3:00 p.m. each Saturday and on municipal access cable channels in Baytown, Deer Park, Houston, Texas City, Galveston, Nassau Bay, Pasadena, Seabrook, Sugar Land, and on HCC TV. More info on the TPWD website (* indicates a segment about the Houston area). For a preview, visit TPWD’s YouTube Page.
    • Planting Pines: Greg Grant and his family have been restoring pines on their family land, just so the birds and the bugs can live off the decaying trees.
    • Texas Quail: See what’s happening with Texas’ four species of quail as their habitats have been fragmented and destroyed.
    • Trinity Paddling: Discover paddling in the heart of the Metroplex with a float on the Dallas Trinity Paddling Trail.

Additional Upcoming Events

http://cechouston.org/category/green-jobs/