Calendar

Sep
7
Sat
KKG’s Electronics Recycling @ Kingwood Metro Park
Sep 7 @ 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Keep Kingwood GreenThe City of Houston Solid Waste Department and CompuCycle are providing monthly one day E-Recyclable collection events on the first Saturday of the month at the Kingwood Metro Park & Ride lot. Keep Kingwood Green encourages you to do the right thing and drop off your old electronics.

Mandell Park’s Toy Swap @ Mandell Park
Sep 7 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Swap toys with other families, and keep usable toys from entering the landfill.

Sep
9
Mon
Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable @ Houston-Galveston Area Council
Sep 9 @ 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Join us for the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, July 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

The PNA Roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas, promotes the PNA Award Program, and maintains a regional inventory of parks. The PNA roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region. To register visit events.r20.constantcontact.com/register.

Sep
11
Wed
Lunch Bunch: Don’t Lose Your Plants This Winter! @ Mercer Botanic Gardens
Sep 11 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Jacob Martin, greenhouse manager at Mercer Botanic Gardens and owner of Old School Produce, will teach participants how to preserve tropical plants in your garden over the wintertime. He will demonstrate how to cut and cover large tropicals and give tips for storing smaller plants when the temperatures drop.

Lunch Bunch is recommended for ages 12+. Bring lunch and enjoy this gardening presentation. Call Mercer Botanic Gardens at 713-274-4160 to make a reservation or receive more information

Sep
14
Sat
Mandell Park’s Toy Swap @ Mandell Park
Sep 14 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Swap toys with other families, and keep usable toys from entering the landfill.

Sep
15
Sun
The Progressive Forum Introduces World’s Most Famous Environmentalist @ Congregation Emanu El
Sep 15 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

A principal creator of the climate movement, Bill McKibben returns to The Progressive Forum on the eve of worldwide climate demonstrations scheduled in September, while the City of Houston develops its Climate Action Plan for year-end. Furthering the importance of the event, McKibben will be joined onstage by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for a brief Q&A on climate change and planning at the local level.

McKibben is the co-founder of 350.org, the first organization to launch a planet-wide movement including 20,000 rallies held in every country except North Korea, while spearheading the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement. Foreign Policy magazine named him to its inaugural list of the world’s most important global thinkers. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and the recipient of the Right Livelihood Prize, called the “alternative Nobel,” as well as the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize. He wrote the first book for a general audience on climate change, The End of Nature, in 1989, plus a dozen other books. In May, he published Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? He is the Schuman Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Books will be on sale at the event, and McKibben will sign books and greet fans at the end of the evening

Three levels of ticket prices. A $150 ticket includes a private speaker reception and reserve seating near the front. $70 and $45 general admission.

Sep
18
Wed
Houston GREEN Film Series @ Rice Media Center
Sep 18 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

_greenfilmThe films presented by the Houston Green Film Series are free to public and funded by volunteer efforts, in-kind contributions and donations from the public.

In general, the series is screened on the third Wednesday of each month.

For current films, visit the Houston Green Films website or Facebook page.

Houston GREEN Film Series Screening “Hot Grease” @ Rice Media Center
Sep 18 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

The films presented by the Houston Green Film Series are free to public and funded by volunteer efforts, in-kind contributions and donations from the public. Free tickets on Eventbrite.

“There has to be a fuel revolution.”

-Donnie Tipton of Going Green Grease Recycling

Set in Houston, Texas in the shadow of the nation’s oil industry, Hot Grease tells the surprising story of how the biodiesel industry is turning an ostensibly worthless raw material, spent kitchen grease, into a renewable energy source capable of fueling cars, buses and fleets of trucks throughout the country.

The millions of gallons of cooking oil that our country’s restaurants use to fry up chicken, fries, and donuts used to end up as waste in landfills and pollutants in our waterways. But today, thanks to innovators, entrepreneurs, and politicians, it’s being turned into a functional fuel: biodiesel. Biodiesel reduces carbon emissions up to 85% compared to petroleum fuel, the equivalent of removing over 19 million cars from our highways. This film dives into the untapped market of biodiesel as it rapidly becomes a commodity and individuals dedicate their livelihood to making it an accessible fuel choice in Houston.

This month’s panelists & exhibitors:

Chris Powers, Houston Biodiesel

Jody Gibson, Energy Institute High School

Michael McClere, Dependable Cooking Oil

Alona Hernandez, Houston Public Works

Ted Driscoll, Galveston Bay Foundation

Free to the public, though donations are kindly appreciated. Rice Cinema is located at 2030 University Blvd, near Stockton and University.

  • 6:30 PM Reception & Refreshments
  • 7:00 PM Film Screening
  • 8:00 PM Panel Discussion
  • 9:00 PM The conversation continues at Valhalla, Rice University’s Graduate Student Pub

For questions about transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event go to https://park-trans.rice.edu/

Sep
21
Sat
Mandell Park’s Toy Swap @ Mandell Park
Sep 21 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Swap toys with other families, and keep usable toys from entering the landfill.

Sep
25
Wed
History of Nash Prairie and other Dumb Luck Stories @ Houston Red Cross Building
Sep 25 @ 6:30 pm

Susan’s presentation will address the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, and why) and the one H (how) the Nash Prairie came to be owned by The Nature Conservancy.

Susan became a Cradle of Texas Master Naturalist in 2001 and have been a volunteer land steward for the Nash Prairie since 2010. Recently she have completed an 11-month job as an AmeriCorps Member working as an assistant land Steward for the Columbia Bottomland Preserves for The Nature Conservancy, which includes the Nash Prairie, Mowotony Prairie, Brazos Woods, and The San Bernard Woods in Brazoria and Matagorda county.