Fairfax on Foot: Cypress Hillside Easement Trails- Saturday, August 20
Fairfax on Foot Walk
Saturday, August 20th
Meet: 9:00 a.m at Doc Edgar Park (see map below)
Join Sustainable Fairfax and Council Member John Reed in exploring easement trails and open space above Cascade Canyon. Walk includes streets, steep dirt trails, some fire roads. This is a good opportunity to see the trail improvement work on one of our many easement trails, and think about the role of these trails as both convenient neighborhood paths and fire evacuation routes.
Duration: Up to 3 hours/3+ miles depending on group interest. Please bring water and wear hiking shoes with good tread as some trails are rough/slippery.
This walk is part of the Sustainable Fairfax Reducex2 (car trips per week) initiative. Help us flip the paradigm and learn about ways to joyfully replace at least two of your car trips each week with walking, biking, public transportation or carpooling!
Streets for People is Almost Here!
Fifth Annual Fairfax Streets for People will Make Bolinas Road in Downtown Fairfax a Car-Free Party for One Day: August 28, 2016
Sustainable Fairfax announces the fifth annual Streets for People festival; an Open Streets event in downtown Fairfax, on Sunday August 28, 2016 from 10:00 am to 4:00pm. The event transforms Bolinas Road in downtown Fairfax into a lively car-free space for a day. Participants can catch live music, play a game of checkers, get a bite to eat or drink at an outdoor café, find a new outfit at the clothing swap, or watch dance demonstrations.
This year in Bolinas Park there will be a Teen Scene (10am-2pm), organized by the Streets for People youth committee, featuring an open mic, hula hooping, and more. You can also catch a QiGong (2:30) or Tai Chi (3:00) class later in the afternoon.
Outreach tables by nonprofits and local agencies will provide information and resources focusing on sustainability and community.
The event celebrates alternative transportation and will feature Transit Alley, with biking, walking and public transportation related exhibits as part of Sustainable Fairfax’s ReduceX2 campaign. Safe Routes to School will be be there with its bike powered smoothie maker! Free bike valet service will be provided in the parking lot next to Gestalt.
Streets for People is part of a national and international movement of Open Streets events. It was started in 2012 by Renee Goddard of Sustainable Fairfax (now Mayor of Fairfax), in collaboration with Sustainable Fairfax, the Town of Fairfax and the Fairfax Chamber. She was inspired by Ciclovía, a successful weekly event in Bogotá, Columbia that opens over 70 of miles of city streets to citizens for outdoor physical activity, attracting up to 2 million participants. “It is the diversity of people in a common space which allows for a rich community fabric in which each citizen is a thread”, says Goddard. “The vision behind Fairfax’s Streets for People is to create community resiliency and positive spirit. It’s a celebration of what makes Fairfax unique, and a fun opportunity to stimulate our local economy.”
The event is a collaboration of Sustainable Fairfax, the Town of Fairfax and the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce.
For more information on Streets for People, visit the Streets for People website.
Help us make Streets for People a success! Sign up to volunteer here.
Find resources and information on Open Streets Events at http://openstreetsproject.
Free Backyard Composting Class- Saturday, July 30
Join us for this FREE Backyard Composting Workshop!
O’Donnell’s Fairfax Nursery
Saturday, July 30 – 11am-12:30pm
Composting is an essential gardening practice for improving soil quality and recycling garden waste. Let’s demystify it by learning about the physical and biological properties of soil, the difference between soil texture and soil structure, and the importance of the intricate soil food web.
- Avoid adding to our landfills and turn your kitchen scraps and yard debris into “black gold” that your plants will love.
- Discover the methods of hot & cold composting, vermicomposting, cover crops, and sheet mulching.
- This class is for beginners of all ages!
Hold your spot by emailing SustainFX@gmail.com!
Instructor Bio:
Laura Nicoletti is a UC Marin Master Gardener and a Bay-Friendly Qualified Landscape Professional certified in sustainable landscaping. Laura loves to teach how to become stewards of the environment by cultivating sustainable gardens. A native of Venice, Italy, Laura is an avid edible gardener and a passionate advocate of cooking with fresh ingredients from the garden.
This workshop was organized by Sustainable Fairfax with funding provided by the Town of Fairfax.
Free Backyard Composting Class- Saturday, July 30
Join us for this FREE Backyard Composting Workshop!
O’Donnell’s Fairfax Nursery
Saturday, July 30 – 11am-12:30pm
Composting is an essential gardening practice for improving soil quality and recycling garden waste. Let’s demystify it by learning about the physical and biological properties of soil, the difference between soil texture and soil structure, and the importance of the intricate soil food web.
- Avoid adding to our landfills and turn your kitchen scraps and yard debris into “black gold” that your plants will love.
- Discover the methods of hot & cold composting, vermicomposting, cover crops, and sheet mulching.
- This class is for beginners of all ages!
Hold your spot by emailing SustainFX@gmail.com!
Instructor Bio:
Laura Nicoletti is a UC Marin Master Gardener and a Bay-Friendly Qualified Landscape Professional certified in sustainable landscaping. Laura loves to teach how to become stewards of the environment by cultivating sustainable gardens. A native of Venice, Italy, Laura is an avid edible gardener and a passionate advocate of cooking with fresh ingredients from the garden.
This workshop was organized by Sustainable Fairfax with funding provided by the Town of Fairfax.
Film & Speaker Night: Abundance on a Dry Land- Friday, July 22
Film: Abundance on a Dry Land
When: Doors open: 7:00pm / Film: 7:30pm
Where: Women’s Club, 46 Park Road, Fairfax
Cost: $10 Suggested Donation
Speaker: Erik Ohlsen/Permaculture Artisans Featured in the film!
Erik Ohlsen is a licensed contractor, founder, and owner of Permaculture Artisans, an ecological farm and landscape company. Erik is a renowned certified permaculture designer, and certified permaculture teacher and has been practicing permaculture and ecological design since 1998.
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Some experts are predicting less than average rainfall this year in California due to a La Niña effect, a phenomenon that often follows El Niño conditions.
It is important that we take steps to adjust to these new persistent drought conditions in California and beyond. The good news is that there are many technologies and techniques that we can adopt to save a significant amount of rainwater from being wasted down the storm drains.
The film Abundance on Dry Land will introduce you to some of these solutions. In this state and in many other dry regions around the world, land restoration helps water penetrate healthy soils and in turn increase crop yields. Even in dry areas, water which typically might run off, can be harvested and stored in tanks, ponds and swales. By using gabions, biodiversity, mulching, pioneer trees, wild and domestic animals, swale systems, check dams, fruit forests, keyline plows, compost teas and many other methods, it is possible to restore the soil and design new productive landscapes.
This film explores the work of Erik Ohlsen, Geoff Lawton and other growers, permaculture designers and educators, showing how intentional design can benefit both humans and nature. LOCATIONS: northern and southern California, Arizona and Jordan.
This film is sponsored by Sustainable Fairfax and Fairfax Parks & Recreation.