Meeting Recap

Hey everybody!
This past Wednesday we got together for our first meeting of the semester. Naturally there was a lot of catching up to do! For those who couldn't make it out that night, some of the things we talked about included previous events we held and participated in last semester, including the Long Way Home/Alternative Construction Day and film screenings, as well as the meeting that Brittany, Brigitte and I attended with Becky Anderson, Coordinator of Student Activities at the BAC.

Believe it or not, we're already a quarter of the way through the semester! This means that the heat is on in terms of event planning. As we also discussed in our meeting, it's really important that we start brainstorming what types of opportunities we want to get involved in this year and how we can make it happen. I'm pretty excited about the ideas that were shared during the meeting, including:

• Archventures, a Boston-based organization that provides design/build assistance for urban nonprofits in underserved communities. Projects include the redesigning of trophy displays and the space they inhabit at the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics in Roxbury (January '10), refurbishment of the shed used by the Hawthorne Youth Community Center (March '10), and a remodel/renovation of the facilities used by the Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston (March '10). One of the unique features of Archventures is their "Blitz-Build" approach to certain projects, a great opportunity to involve folks like us in a construction project that typically lasts up to four weekends.
  
• Co-op Power, a network of communities throughout New England and New York that uses the co-op framework to make renewable energy a more attainable option for all. Initiatives that the Metro East division have worked on include barn raising-style weatherization and solar hot water projects, group energy purchases, and continual support for both green jobs and green businesses.

So lets keep brainstorming! Feel free to share your ideas by commenting, making your own post (see the first entry to learn how), or by coming up with a gnarly list for next time. We won't be meeting next Wednesday as Brian reminded us of an awesome opportunity to see David Adjaye speak at Harvard next Wednesday for the 2010 NOMA Conference (more information on that here), so check for an email/post from us soon for updates!

Attendees: Brittany W., Brigitte D., Bryan K., Kevin Y., Daniel F., Ivy S.
Time: 7:30-8:30 PM.

Rammed Earth Tire Construction with Long Way Home

Interested in Alternative Construction?

Four members of Long Way Home will be constructing Boston's first example of a Rammed-Earth tire structure. Long Way Home is dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty in developing communities by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction, and encouraging healthy lifestyles. Based in Comalapa, Guatemala, Long Way Home is currently constructing the Tecnico Maya Vocational School using alternative construction methods (similar to Earthship construction methods) that use rammed earth, discarded tires and plastic bottles

Long Way Home will be constructing a residential car garage in Georgetown, MA, utilizing local discarded tires and dirt to build the garage walls. Join Bridges members as they help the construction team on July 10th for an open volunteer day!

Expect to get dirty, work hard and have fun!

Check out the Guatemala page to see construction pictures of Tecnico Maya Vocational School

Saturday, July 10th, 9am-4pm
90 Pond Street
Georgetown, MA 01833
Open to all, lunch will be provided.

RSVP to bridgesbac@gmail.com

Transportation details will soon follow

EARTH WEEK @ BAC

GET INVOLVED!

JOIN US FOR EARTH WEEK!

We're really excited to be able to host so many events this week! Come learn about ways to get involved on Thursday at Bridges Info Night in The Loft and TAKE ACTION on Saturday as we clean up Back Bay! During the week we'll be screening some great films that really portray the meaning of Earth Day. Check out our EARTH WEEK page (on the left hand tab) for more details!

Garbage Warrior Screening

Thanks to everyone who came to our first event on Friday night! A head count before the screening revealed over 70 people in attendance, and we couldn't be happier. In addition to generating some more interest in Bridges, we hope attendees were as inspired and motivated by the film as we have been.

Thanks again, everyone! More updates soon...

NEW PANAMA & GUATEMALA PAGES

I just created two pages about my trip to Central America over winter break. I worked with some great non-profits, that I that I think the BAC and Bridges community will find interesting. I visted Panama to study sustainable development and then went to Guatemala where I learned some alternative construction techniques. I hope you all find this experience as inspiring as I did.

-Brittany Whitaker, Bridges member

PLEASE let us know if you are interested in working with any of these organizations -Bridges would love to organize a trip of BAC students to join them!

Check out my pages, PANAMA and GUATEMALA, on the LEFTHAND tab to read more!

Garbage Warrrior

Just a reminder that tonight (Friday, 7pm) we're meeting up at Brittany's in Jamaica Plain to watch Garbage Warrior. Come hangout and watch the film before the screening on the 26th!

Check your email for details/directions!

Meeting Recap

Hey guys,
Hope everyone's Spring Semester is going great so far. There have been two meetings since the semester started, so just to recap:

Friday, January 29th:

• LOGO(s), FLYER(s)!! Let's put our awesome heads together and get photoshopping, y'all. Please pass around any ideas you have, complete or incomplete. We especially need a flyer designed for our movie night. I'm going to work on something this weekend, please do so yourself if you find a minute!
  
• In addition to the flyer, there are two other matters we need to sort out A.S.A.P. for the Garbage Warrior Screening:

Invitations: We have a big room to fill this night. In addition to Upward Bound and AfHB, please start getting the word out to friends, coworkers, and any other group that you fancy.

Food: Who wants to bring some drinks, potluck food, etc.? The more homemade/inexpensive the better!

Attendees: Brittany W., Bryan K., Young W., Miroslava T.
Time: 6-8:45


Sunday, February 7th:

• At this meeting, we mostly discussed Earth Day and the ways we can approach various aspects of Sustainability throughout the week. We concluded that a drafted proposal for the week's activities would really help get things moving, especially as we hope to contact other students (college level and below).
  
• Last meeting's attendees had the great idea of teaming up with other school's in the area (SMFA, Mass Art to create a gallery of earth related art; Berkeley for music performances, North Eastern and other schools with Sustainability related organizations). Let's find something we can do with high schoolers/elementary students too!
  
• We talked about doing some research on what people have done for Earth Day in the past for inspiration.
• Finally, looking beyond Movie Night, we're hoping to plan an event in which people can discuss their volunteering experience.
  

Attendees: Brittany W., Bryan K., Ivy S.
Time: 3-4

Meeting Recap

Here are some notes from our last meeting, 12/18/09.

• First, we talked about New Student Orientation, which is today. Miroslava and I (Ivy) will be speaking to new students about the organization. We'll be taking names and emails for students interested in finding out more/becoming involved.
• February 26th = GARBAGE WARRIOR SCREENING! We discussed inviting other organizations, including Upward Bound and Architecture for Humanity, Boston. Depending on the number of people we expect to attend this event, we'll potentially screen the movie in Casc Hall. We also briefly discussed bringing some homemade food, with or without the option of donating to our group. You can watch the trailer here.
  
• Earth Day (Week), 2010: This should be a major event for us. We discussed organizing daily activities for the week surrounding Earth Day (April 22nd). Ideas included volunteering for the Charles River Conservancy to do some cleanup, as well as hosting an Adaptive Reuse Design Charrette. For this activity, we talked about collecting plastic bottles, coffee cups, etc. around the campus, and using these as building materials for a series of pre-planned projects, like chairs, recycling bins, installations, etc. One additional idea was to approach each area of sustainability over the course of the week.
  
• Spring Break, 2010: We discussed the possibility of putting a group together to attend classes at Yestermorrow (Warren, VT) over the break. If we pursue this potential opportunity, we talked about pitching the idea of simultaneously working for the organization during this week in order to offset some of the cost.
  
• Lastily, we decided we needed to talk to the Practice Department about group volunteering and gaining credits. Here are a few of the local organizations we talked about getting involved with:

-The Food Project
-Habitat for Humanity (Greater Boston, Nashua)
-Department of Conservation and Recreation
-The Arnold Arboretum



Attendees: Brittany W., Brigitte D., John G., Miroslava T., Ivy S.
Time: 5:30-7:30

If there's anything I missed, please don't hesitate to add it in the comments!

First Post!

Hello everyone,
Happy New Year! The Bridges Blog is here to provide us with meeting recaps as well as to serve as a forum for ideas and bulletin board for upcoming events and potential opportunities. To make your own post, you can sign in with bridgesbac@gmail.com, password: community.

Check back soon!