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About Us
The Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association (MAREA) is a nonprofit organization, dedicated to informing and educating the public on renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through meetings, workshops, educational materials, and energy fairs.
Visit us on theweb at
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On-Line Calendars
Many areas and groups use on-line calendars to let the community know of upcoming events.
These are great, environmentally friendly and low-cost ways for us to get the word out about the Festival. If you run across a calendar that you think would be appropriate, please send the link to themarea@gmail.org.
You've done the hardest part, we'll take it from there...thanks so much! |
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April MAREA Meeting
Renewables at Kenyan Sustainability Center
The founder and director of a rural Kenyan sustainability center will discuss its work with solar electricity, biogas conversion and conservation practices at the April meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association. The public is invited to the free program, which will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 at 1 TEK Park, 9999 Hamilton Blvd., Breinigsville, 18031.
In 2005, Josphat Macharia started the Ndabibi Environmental Conservation Center (NECC) in the Rift Valley Province, some 50 miles northeast of Nairobi. He installed a photovoltaic system at the Center in 2007. The UN estimates that only 10 percent of Kenyans have access to electricity.
According to its Facebook page, the NECC targets education, poverty reduction, and self-help, through programs that teach families and communities best practices in sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, animal husbandry, water harvesting and conservation, bio-gas production and collection. The hope is that families will succeed in preserving their land and resources, supporting and feeding themselves, and keeping their children in school. Affordable activities, local innovations and the notion to "act locally - think globally" are promoted. Interaction and cooperation between otherwise unfriendly tribes is encouraged.
Rift Valley Province of Kenya, bordering Uganda, is one of Kenya's seven administrative provinces outside Nairobi. The province covers an area a little larger than the state of Florida and with its population nearing nine million, it is the largest and most populous province in the country.
Following the talk, there will be a networking session and planning meeting for this fall's Pennsylvania Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Festival. Volunteers are needed and anyone with an interest in renewable energy or sustainable living is welcome to participate.
The seventh annual festival will be held September 16-18, 2011 at Kempton in Berks County.
MAREA, which was formed in 2005, is a nonprofit, grassroots educational organization that supports citizen participation in renewable energy and sustainable living projects.
Sources: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183780241667894#!/pages/Ndabibi-Environmental-Conservation-Centre/313058241074?sk=info
TEK Park
9999 Hamilton Boulevard
Breinigsville, PA 18031
April 26th
7 p.m. |
Sustainable Obtainable Symposium:
Call for Papers ends May 31st
MAREA is pleased to announce the first Sustainable Obtainable Symposium, a one-day event to be held in conjunction with this year's festival, on Friday, September 16. We are releasing a Call for Papers to institutions across the region seeking undergraduate and graduate papers that investigate energy issues and solutions. MAREA is awarding up to $1,500 in prize money and winners will be invited to present their work at the Symposium. The day will also include a luncheon and speakers who will discuss employment opportunities for careers in sustainability.
With this Symposium, MAREA is looking to encourage and recognize hard-working students for their dedication and creativity in fields contributing to a more sustainable society. We look forward to learning from their good ideas! Submissions may include original research, investigative and demonstration projects, illuminating analysis, position papers, supported proposals and novel concepts. A wide range of topics are welcome, including architecture and buildings, transportation, renewable electricity generation, social science, recycling and waste management and agriculture.
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Call For Local Artists
. . . and their ways of reducing our ecological footprint.
Your art could be part of the solution!!!
The PA Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Festival is looking to display 3D sculptures on the festival grounds,
September 16-18, 2011 in Kempton PA for this year's festival
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Electric Vehichles on Display: "The Cars of Tomorrow on the Road Today"
Macungie, PA - April 30, 2011
Local owners and drivers of battery-powered electric vehicles will gather to exhibit their "green" cars on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at Macungie Memorial Park, Macungie PA. The vehicles, mostly traditional gas automobiles and trucks which have been converted to run on ordinary household current, will be on display from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Also on display will be a MiniE and Tesla. An owner panel question-and-answer session is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. followed by a quiet parade - featuring the EV's.
For more info/exhibit your vehicle/volunteer, contact macungieevent@gmail.com or a.digate@gmail.com. Check it out online at https://sites.google.com/site/wwweveventcom/
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What's in YOUR water?
A free community event
What's in YOUR water? Find out on April 28th - 30th at a free community event featuring talks and films on Marcellus Shale, sewage sludge fertilizer, privatization of water, the bottled water industry and other issues putting our water at risk. Speakers include Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Karina Wilkinson of Food & Water Watch. The event kicks off on April 28th and 29th with screenings of Gasland at 7 p.m. at Kutztown University's Boehm Hall, Room 261. The screenings continue on the 30th with two showings of Split Estate, Blue Gold, Sludge Diet, Water Wars, and The Mighty River starting at 1 p.m. The event will close with a Take Action meeting moderated by Michelle Sayles, a Kutztown University student, and our own Bill Bispels.
A new coalition of water advocates will hold its organizational meeting at 9:30 a.m. on the 30th. Members already include Berks Gas Truth, Clean Water Action, Food & Water Watch, the Delaware Riverkeepers Network, the East Penn Residents' Association, and the United Sludge-Free Alliance. Anyone interested in participating in meeting should contact Karen Feridun, the event's organizer.
The Kutztown Borough Environmental Advisory Commission and the Kutztown University Environmental Action Club are co-sponsoring the event.
For more information and a full schedule of events and locations, visit www.whatsinyourwaterpa.org.
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MAREA at Reading Earth Day
Stop by MAREA's exhibit at Reading's Earth Day celebration on May 1st at the city's Riverfront Park. We'll be there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the festival continues until 9 p.m. with entertainment.
Know of a great festival in your area where MAREA should have an exhibit? Let us know! Send your suggestions to themarea@gmail.com. |
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Sunny Notes
Updated Guidelines for the PA Sunshine Rebate Program were published in January. The program now covers battery backup for systems installed after Sept 1, 2010. The solar thermal rebate limits have been revised. And, consumers can now assign the rebate to the installer or a leasing company. On a related note, if you are generating electricity, be very careful about choosing a electricity supplier other than your utility company. Utility companies must provide net metering; for other generation suppliers, it is voluntary. Questions (or ideas!), vera.cole@themarea.org.
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Festival Outreach at the Corner Store
Friends of the festival, new and old, are volunteering to make sure that literature about the Festival is available at public locations in their area. This is terrific, can you help too? The outreach "captains" are identifying appropriate venues for hanging Festival posters and putting out literature-places like earth-friendly businesses, community colleges and other schools, health food stores, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture groups), libraries, coffee shops, farmers markets, churches, hotels and art museums. You get the idea! Then volunteers check in periodically to see that MAREA posters and info are neat and well stocked. It's that easy and makes a real difference.
If you can recommend a spot for Festival posters and flyers, or would like to help in your area, please contact your captain, listed below. If there is no one listed for your area, contact vera.cole@themarea.org ...maybe you would like to help, hey, will you be the captain for your area?
So far, we have rack cards (with a coupon) and posters printed. As the festival gets closer, we'll also have festival program guides available. We'll work with you to be sure you have the literature you need and plenty of thumbtacks!
This is the most friendly, effective and neighborly way we have to promote the Festival. Your help is truly appreciated, thank you!! To help contact a volunteer below or vera.cole@themarea.org.
Allentown
Ray Wolfe
onlinewolf@aol.com
610-432-7822
Bethlehem Township
Diane Rudolph
dianerudolph22@gmail.com
610-570-4965
Bethlehem City
Tom Ickes
tomickes@ptd.net
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Ryan Sherlinski
domegnome@live.com
Doylestown/Quakertown
Vera Cole
vera.cole@themarea.org
215-219-7908
Whitehall/Northampton/Lehigh Townships
Judy Weichel
jjweichel@verizon.net
Lehighton/Ringgold/Jim Thorpe
Kimberly Simeone
ksimeone12@gmail.com
570-578-6816
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Questions or Comments? Drop us a line or call Bill Hennessy at 610-682-4300. |
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