The EcoBlock team is delighted to celebrate Earth Day and Earth Month 2022! Join in the fun as EcoBlock’s Miriam Aczel shares ideas for celebrating Earth Day and honoring the environment in our community.
Picking a tree is a matchmaking game. Sherwood Design Engineers is gathering a list of the best tree options for the Oakland EcoBlock that have relatively low water usage, low isoprene emissions, and high resiliency in a changing climate. Learn more about Sherwood’s tree selection process for EcoBlock.
Living in a clean and safe community with access to opportunities for employment, education, and transportation are key to promoting individual and community well-being—yet not all individuals have equal access to these resources. In this blog, EcoBlock communications assistant Anna Haefele discusses the concept of environmental justice within the context of Oakland, highlighting historical challenges and future opportunities to advance social equity and improve quality of life for communities.
Wahpepah’s Kitchen is part of a rapidly growing movement to publicly reclaim Indigenous culture and space through a universal medium: food. EcoBlock intern Amit Cohen shares how Chef Crystal Wahpepah is bringing a wave of Indigenous cuisine to Oakland’s Fruitvale District.
Cathy Leonard is the Community Liaison for the Oakland EcoBlock project. Born and raised in Oakland, CA, Cathy is actively involved with the city. In her interview, Cathy reflects on her family’s long-standing roots in Oakland and shares how a respect for local history and culture shapes her own approach to community activism.
Organic materials like food scraps and yard waste make up about 50 percent of California’s landfills where they release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. California is enacting legislation that requires cities and counties to reduce their organic waste by composting.
The EcoBlock team looks back on the past year, reflecting on key milestones and challenges, and the importance of building community. We’re grateful to be working with the EcoBlock community—together, we’re building something amazing.
On Monday, November 8, the Oakland EcoBlock team participated in a panel discussion at the 2021 Virtual Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change (BECC) Conference. The event centered on the development of two Advanced Energy Communities (AECs)—the Oakland EcoBlock and Bassett Avocado Heights Advanced Energy Community (BAAEC)—and highlighted each project’s approach to accelerating the transition to community-scale clean energy.
Place-based efforts play a key role in improving communities’ sustainability and resilience to climate change. EcoBlock intern Amit Cohen writes about Oakland’s environmental journey and highlights how community groups have driven progress on climate and public health issues in the City.
The Aardehuizen Project is a community microgrid serving 23 homes in Olst, Netherlands. Few other ecovillages around the globe have been built at a scale as successful as the Aardehuizen. In this blog, Erin Yu highlights why Olst became the ideal location for a sustainable community and highlights several factors critical to the community’s success.