January 14th Notes

We had a very lively discussion about "What is a reasonable sustainable lifestyle in the modern world?"

Meeting Notes

1. Polystyrene Letter
Claire and Eileen have drafted a letter and sent it to a few other people in the group for critique. Claire would like input by TUESDAY so she can send to the city.

2. Google Tour - It's a go for Thursday March 18

• Someone needs to draft a letter from SK inviting them to the event.
  
• Torrey needs to run the letter through Google for approval.
  
• We need to draft a list of invitees by the FIRST WEEK of FEBRUARY so that someone has time to consolidate the names, print letter, prior to our next meeting.
• We would like to have a mix of land owners and developers with an emphasis on those that aren't already doing work in this area.
  
• Doug needs to make letterhead from the SK logo prior to our next meeting. (Do we also need more business cards?)
  
• SK will cover food and drinks.
  
• Torrey is still sorting out some of the logistics.

3. Group Meeting Structure

• Meetings are switching from being all business to alternating between business and discussion.
• Each SK member is encouraged to think about a topic on which they have knowledge or would like to discuss.
• Doug and Eileen have generously offered to host our meetings! Thanks for your hospitality.
  
• Next meeting will likely involve some envelope stuffing and posting of letters for the Google Tour.
  

Attendance: Claire, Torrey, Eileen, Doug, Dave, Tania, Larry, Edmond, Vivian, Mary, Jan, Amanda, and Joe

Discussion Night

We are having a disussion this month the topic is:

What’s a reasonable, sustainable lifestyle in the modern world?

Please join us for some lively discussion! (and a little bit of business)

Time: 6:30 - 8:30

Place: Doug and Eileen's
10627 NE 123rd St., Kirkland 98034

Please bring food for the potluck dinner

Meeting Notes - December 10, 2009

In attendance: Claire, Torrey, Eileen, Doug, Amanda, Dave, Tania, Margaret.

Polystyrene
Styrofoam is a trademarked name
letter to City of Kirkland - by end of January/early February
Dave action: check out costs of alternatives at Costco
Claire & Eileen action: write letter
Note: Pegasus Pizza where we had our meeting switched to recycled cardboard for takeout boxes because it was cheaper

Google Tour
Torrey action: confirm date in early spring
how will we get the word out?
Send out letters of invite?
Quadrant, Woodinville lumber, Bob Sternoff (City Council member and builder), BOMA, City Planning department for suggestions
Doug action: make letterhead

Cash for Caulkers tie-in? probably not as is commercial not residential

Time Banking
hiring a coordinator moved to January
moving forward

Gardening
Dave spoke to the pea patch coordinator and they are limited this year due to funding so no expansion this year
We can help with the garden at the teen center

Next Meeting
Philosophical discussion
how do we get people to change their behavior? or similar topic
at Doug and Eileen's
Thursday, January 14th

Meeting Thursday December 10

The next meeting will be this Thursday from 6:30-8:30

This month we will meet at Pegasus Pizza. Tell the hostess you are there for the Sustainable Kirkland meeting and you will be shown to the banquet room. It is generally expected that most people would buy food and drinks but if you either don't like pizza or don't want to spend the money you are still welcome to come.

It is located on 85th east of 405.

12669 NE 85th Street
Kirkland, WA 98033-8046

http://www.pegasuspizzakirkland.com/

Abbreviated Minutes from our November 12th Meeting

Meeting at the Kirkland Firehouse, we had a good turnout with 13 people for the dinner and discussion.

A reminder to all members and potential members: please join the mailing list!  You're missing out on discussion,  news, and planning otherwise.

Styrofoam or Bag ban
The main discussion topic of the evening was the possibility of pursuing either a Styrofoam-food-box ban or plastic bag ban, or some variation of that, such as a bag tax.  Conclusions so far:

1. We need to research and understand the options better.  We need data on environmental impacts of bags & styrofoam, legislative approaches, and what Kirkland businesses are already doing.
2. We need to get a better understanding of what Seattle is doing regarding a Styrofoam ban.
3. We will pursue at most one of the possibilities.
4. A Styrofoam ban might be both easier to achieve, less disruptive to business, and more environmentally beneficial.
5. After we've done some research, the plan is to write a letter to the new City council early in the next year.

Further work on this will take place on the mailing list.

Meeting Location
The Kirkland Fire hall is working well for us, but everyone seemed to agree that a restaurant with a back room might be a good alternative, at least some of the time.  We will see what we can do for December, but otherwise plan to continue at the fire hall.

Future Project Possibilities and Updates
There are lots of interesting possibilities for us to get involved in:

1. Sustainable Seattle is running a "Dream a Sound Future" competition.  That will be mid to late 2010.
2. Hopelink is working towards a Time Banking project on the Eastside.  Also probably mid to late 2010 before launch, maybe we could help sooner than that.
3. Pea Patch project in Kirkland near the Teen Center / Community Center.  Looking at facilitating hands-on involvement from multiple generations, teens & seniors. 
4. In Motion project from King County Metro - Kirkland might start summer or fall of 2010.
5. Bike Sharing project may be coming to the Eastside, more than just Kirkland as well...  RFP is (or is going?) out to vendors.
6. The BNR Rail Route is finally making some progress again (Multi use trail).  This is a huge project, but we can look for opportunities to provide input.  At the least, if and when the Environmental Impact Statement is prepared, we can comment.  (The Kirkland Reporter is supposed to have a story on this but I could not find it on their website.)
7. Possibility of joint events with other Eastside Sustainable Communities.  Maybe a Sustainable Eastside Festival could be organized?

Google Campus Tour

As discussed before, we're looking at organizing and co-sponsoring a tour of Google's new LEED (certification in progress) campus.  Google is interested in doing this.  To have a real positive impact on Kirkland, we need to plan to promote this beyond the existing sustainable community.  We want to reach conventional builders and other interested-but-not-yet-committed businesses.  We can aim for a date in spring 2010, but we'll start reaching out to the business community immediately, building contacts etc.

Other Upcoming Events

• Eastside Greendrinks is meeting in Kirkland, at Architechtronics on November 19th.  More details at their site.
• Al Gore is coming to Seattle on his book tour, speaking at Seattle Town Hall on November 17th.
• The Sustainable Futures Book Club is doing a presentation of the movie "No Impact Man", as well as discussing the book.  Contact them for more info.

Meeting November 12th

We will be meeting at the Fire Station 22 6:30-8:30 this Thursday. We will discuss the meeting with the City of Kirkland regarding a possible bag or styrofoam container ban as well as other potential projects.
Please bring a dish to share, there are no cooking facilities so keep it simple. Also bring your own plate, cutlery, and cup. Note that at this location we are not permitting to bring alcohol.

Directions to Fire Station 22 (Houghton area):

6602 108th Ave. NE
Kirkland, WA 98033

visitor parking on the front left of the station and entrance on the left side of the building

http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/depart/Fire_and_Building/Fire___Medical_Services/Fire_Station_Locations/Station_22.htm

No October meeting, next meeting November 12

Sustainable Kirkland will not be meeting today - meetings will resume on November 12 and will continue on second Thursday of each month.

Hope to see you in November!