Jan 22
Imagine communities inspired by artists, that make their own energy, provide access to health care, create jobs, that are powered by their own waste, that provide alternative transit, and grow their own food.
That's what PLACE makes; communities beyond sustainable.
It's a difficult vision for some people to see. That's where our Ten Thousand Hands discussions come in. We've been discussing Urban Agriculture together for a long time. We can bring together some of the cutting edge innovations happening all over the world and imagine some of our own.
PLACE proposes to attach a green house to its newest communities. Take a look at what's happening in New York in the pictures below; green houses, powered by solar energy, growing produce for restaurants.
Jan 19
In the kerfuffle around yesterday's decision to reject the permit application by TransCanada for a pipeline from oil sands (formerly known as tar sands) in Canada, across, among other places, the State of Nebraska, the facts about the process have been lost. Whatever side of this contentious issue you espouse, (PLACE is an assiduously nonpartisan organization by charter) these are important facts to know about the issue:
Given the concentration of concerns regarding the proposed pipeline route through the Sand Hills area of Nebraska, on November 10, 2011, the U.S. Department of State announced that it could not make a national interest determination regarding the permit application without additional information. The Department estimated, based on prior projects of similar length and scope, that it could complete the necessary review to make a decision by the first quarter of 2013. In transparent consultations with the State of Nebraska and TransCanada, all agreed with the estimated timeline.
However, on December 23, 2011, the Congress passed the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (“the Act”). The Act—not related to the pipeline—tacked on a provision that gave the President a sixty-day deadline to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest – which is insufficient for such a determination, even by agreement with the company proposing the pipeline.
As a result of this arbitrarily imposed deadline, there was insufficient information to determine the merits of the pipeline proposal.
Jan 18
We still hear many people observe that the climate is not changing because of the weather they see happening around them (i.e. : it's freezing outside, so how can the planet be warming).
The Norwegians have created an effective animation to illustrate the difference between trend and variation, or between the weather and the climate. Watch the short animation below.
Jan 7
An open call to the arts community:
On Monday evening, January 9 at 7:00 pm, an Arts Town Hall Meeting will be held at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.
PLACE, a nonprofit that builds sustainable arts communities in the United States and the United Kingdom, has been engaged to perform a comprehensive artist study to determine if there is interest in the creation of at least 450 new living and working spaces for artists.
The two proposed sites, the Historic Schmidt Brewery in Saint Paul, and the Historic Pillsbury A Mill in Minneapolis, will be preserved as affordable space for the arts including apartments, studios, galleries, rehearsal and performance space, and other uses. We want to hear from you about the need for space, how to use the large shared spaces, and how to get our survey in as many artist “hands” as possible.
Dec 30
Nearly 2000 polyester fibers can float away, unseen, from a single fleece sweater in one wash cycle, a new study reports. That synthetic lint likely makes its way through sewage treatment systems and into oceans around the world.
Mark Browne and his team from University College Dublin recruited scientists on six continents to scoop sand from 18 beaches. (The scientists wore all natural-fiber clothing, to avoid their own garments shedding lint into the samples.) Back in the lab, the researchers painstakingly separated the plastic from the sand—a process that involved, among other things, hand plucking microscopic fibers from filter papers. A chemical analysis showed that nearly 80% of those filaments were made of polyester or acrylic, compounds common in textiles.
Dec 18
A 2011 by Bank of America Merrill Lynch found that philanthropic decisions in a household are more likely to made by women, and that women are more likely to develop a more collaborative relationship with the nonprofit.
So, to the women who support PLACE through Ten Thousand Hands, thank you, and give us a call anytime!
Dec 17
A study from Gallup and the Knight Foundation of over 40,000 people identified three important drivers that attach people to their community, 1) social offerings like art and entertainment; 2) Openness and welcoming to different kinds of people; and 3) Aesthetics — how beautiful a place is.
PLACE's communities seem to be hitting all of these main drivers and more. What do you think? Watch the short video.
Dec 16
At 870 feet tall, New York by Gehry is the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere. The tower flaunts a sensuous exterior of stainless steel that ripples like folds of drapery. Our colleague, Gina Ciganik of Aeon once said that she had never seen a beautiful residential tower. Gina, what do you think of this?
