|
(Miami,
FL)- As Summer season begins, the
City of Miami is dedicating one week
to focus on the environment with
events centered on education,
investment, and our parks. Green
Week will take place June
22, 2009, through June 26, 2009,
focusing on developments in the
City’s environmental initiatives.
The following is a list of events
taking place during Green Week:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009:
• Re:Design Simpson Park
Fundraiser
A Mid-Summer Night’s Dinner
benefitting the Re:design of Simpson
Park. Mayor Manny Diaz and
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff will join
Miami’s business leaders to honor
and celebrate Miami’s only original
Hammock—Simpson Park. One hundred
percent of the proceeds from the
evening will go towards the
revitalization efforts of Simpson
Park. Re:design Simpson Park is one
of the initiatives of Dream in
Green, an environmental education
non-profit working to increase
environmental sustainability. For
more information, please contact
Joanne Williams at
jwilliams@miamigov.com or
305-250-5302.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009:
• Recognition of the Restoration
of the Barrier Islands & Shake-A-Leg
Summer Camp
10 am, Shake-A-Leg, 2620 S.
Bayshore Drive
Mayor Manny Diaz will visit the
Shake-A-Leg’s Eco-Island Adventure
Camp, a summer camp for kids ages 7
through 17 that teaches kids about
South Florida’s unique aquatic
ecosystems and how to protect them
by taking part in activities on the
eco-islands on the shores of
Biscayne Bay. Those Dinner Key Spoil
Islands were restored through a
joint effort between Shake-A-Leg,
the City of Miami, Miami-Dade
Department of Environmental Resource
Management, and the Army Corps of
Engineers.
Thursday, June 25, 2009:
• Check presentation to Dream in
Green at City of Miami Commission
Meeting
9 am, City of Miami City Hall, 3500
Pan American Drive
Through the Gateway to Green event,
the city’s first green building
conference that took place in April
2009, the City collected proceeds
over $5,000. Mayor Manny Diaz will
join the City Commission to present
a check for these funds to Dream in
Green to go towards a joint
collaboration between the City of
Miami, Dream in Green and Home
Depot, called the Home Energy
Saver Challenge. Through this
program, 50 Homes in the City of
Miami will partake in a 6 month
program that will monitor the energy
use of each home and provide
homeowners with training to teach
them about low cost methods to
reduce energy.
• Launch of the Park Rangers
Program
1 pm, Virrick Park, 3255 Plaza St.,
Coconut Grove
Mayor Manny Diaz will join City
Commissioners to officially launch
the Park Rangers program. For the
first time in the City’s history,
the City of Miami has rangers
dedicated to ensuring the safety of
residents, cracking down on
vandalism, and enforcing rules at
parks throughout the City. This
program is a continuation of the
City’s efforts to invest in our
parks and provide neighborhoods with
a quality park system. Joining
officials for the launch will be the
24 Park Rangers who have been
dedicated to this effort.
Friday, June 26, 2009:
• Green Commission
Meeting
11 am, City of Miami City Hall
Chambers, 3500 Pan American Drive
Miami’s Green Commission will meet
to discuss recent environmental
initiatives’ accomplishments such as
Gateway to Green, tree plantings,
and Bike Miami Days. In addition,
commission members will go over
possible grant opportunities and
policies related to LEED standards.
• District 5 Teen Green Clean
Summer Youth Employment 2009
Orientation will take place for the
participants of the District 5
Summer Youth “Teen Green Clean”
Employment Pilot. The program will
provide 100 youth ages 14-24 an
opportunity to receive Environment
Training on how to keep their
community clean and recognize visual
pollution. The youth will be take
part in environmental educational
courses that focus on sustainable
living, environmental protection and
public communication. They will also
work on neighborhood beautification
projects around the district. This
program will take place over the
course of 8 weeks. Partners
involved: South Florida Workforce,
Commissioner Michele Spence Jones,
NET Offices, Miami Office of
Sustainable Initiatives, City of
Miami Public Works and City of Miami
Solid Waste Department.
Saturday. June 27, 2009:
• Fruit & Vegetable Community
Garden Planting on the Miami River
9 am, Robert King High Towers, 1407
NW 7 Street
Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez,
Miami River Commission, Babson
College Alumni, Hands on Miami
volunteers, Miami-Dade County & City
of Miami will partner to create a
fruit and vegetable community garden
and beautify the Miami River. Over
50 Babson College alumni and Hands
on Miami volunteers will join the
Miami River Commission to create the
first-ever riverfront vegetable
garden on the historic Miami River,
plant a variety of fruit trees,
construct two raised planter beds, a
rain barrel and a composter and help
remove litter and debris along the
shoreline of the Miami-Dade County
Public Housing Agency’s elderly
housing development Robert King High
Towers.
During the past six years, Mayor
Manny Diaz has launched a proactive
and ambitious environmental program
to clean streets, waterways, brown
fields, storm drains, as well as
improve air and water quality.
Initiatives have included the
creation of the Department of
Sustainable Initiatives, creation of
a city-wide Tree Master Plan,
implementation of green fleet and
green purchasing programs, and the
establishment of the Miami Green
Commission. The GreenMiami campaign
seeks to increase the City of
Miami’s tree canopy to 30% within
the next ten years through tree
plantings and extensive education,
as well as facilitating neighborhood
groups and individuals to plant and
preserve our urban canopy.
For more information more
information about GreenMiami, please
visit
http://www.ourgreenmiami.org/
For additional information about
Green Week or the City’s
environmental agenda, please call
the Miami Office of Sustainable
Initiatives at 305-416-1601 or email
ssuccar@miamigov.com.
|