To view Rachel Carson Legacy Events for 2009 click here


2nd Annual Rachel Carson Legacy Conference

Green Chemistry: Solutions for a Healthy Economy

Saturday, September 20, 2008
@ Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA


The Rachel Carson Homestead Association's second Rachel Carson Legacy Conference was
Green Chemistry: Solutions for a Healthy Economy.  The conference addressed:  Environment and Health Connections - The Green Chemistry Solution; Innovations in Products and Processes; Design for Non-toxic Results; Business Strategies - Risk, Investment and Insurance.


Click here for information and speaker presentations.

Also, read about the resulting
2009 Green Chemistry Roundtable - Eliminating the Institutional Barriers (May 7, 2009)





2008 Rachel's Sustainable Feast
(Click on the picture to download the program which includes all the chefs', vendors' and exhibitors' information.)


Noon to 5 p.m. on May 25 Rain or Shine – Bring your appetite for great local food and your love of the region to the 2nd annual Rachel's Sustainable Feast at the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, PA.  The best of Pittsburgh's chefs committed to buying locally, more local farmers' markets, and as many of the region's great environment, conservation and fair-trade organizations and vendors as we can squeeze into the block party.  The event is held in celebration of Rachel Carson's birthday (May 27) and helps connect people to all the great things going on in Pittsburgh's backyard. 

This year we're challenging people to travel to the event in as sustainable a method as possible - walk, bike, paddle, bus, carpool, use alternative fuel.  Special prizes will be presented for the most innovative and carbon-neutral modes of travel.   Click here to learn about an 8-mile hike on the Rachel Carson Trail that ends at the Feast organized by the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy.  Click here to view a bus route map to Rachel's Sustainable Feast

Organizing partners include big Burrito Restaurant Group, Parkhurst Dining Services, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Slow Food Pittsburgh and Whole Foods Market.  This event is part of the 2008 Pittsburgh Great Outdoors Week.

 
 


Media Sponsors
             





Major sponsorship is provided by the Dominion Foundation




Additional sponsorship is provided by Whole Foods Market, Parkhurst Dining Services, La Prima Expresso, Giant Eagle, Waste Management and Marburger Farm Dairy.  Very special thanks to each of our participating chefs!



Participating Chefs:

Bill Fuller; big Burrito Restaurant Group; Brad Kelly, UPMC,  Brandy Stewart, Soba; Alan Peet, Casbah; April Gruver, Vanilla Pastry Studio;

Farmers’ Markets;
Farmers@Firehouse - Slow Food Pittsburgh - including Najat’s Cuisine, Mushrooms for Life, Mediterra Bake House, Blackberry Meadows Farm, Heilman Family Farm and Goose Creek Gardens); Cherry Valley Organics, Cornucopia Baking Co., Dean Farms-Pasture Maid Creamery, Grow Pittsburgh, Mildred’s Daughters, Milestone Specialty Produce,  The Mushroom Man, Three Sisters Farm, Turner Dairy.


Exhibitors and Vendors:
Allegheny Front Radio, Allegheny Land Trust, Anchor Headstand, Animal Rescue League Wildlife Center, Built In Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Clean Water Action, East End Brewing Co., Edible Allegheny, Equita, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Herb Society of America, Lane Construction, La Prima Expresso, Merlin’s Bark Products, Narcisi Winery, Natural Selection Green Cleaning, Our House Home Products, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Phipps Conservatory, Query Quest, RiverQuest, Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy, Rachel Direnna, Roaring Run Watershed Association, Sierra Club, Springdale High School Biology Club, Springdale U.S. Post Office, Whole Foods Market, Women of the Cloud Forest



        






Spirit & Nature Conference
April 16, 2008
Chatham University
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
 
Rachel Carson Homestead will present a multi-faith gathering to discuss the reverence for nature contained in all world religions.

Through this roundtable discussion, participants can explore how earth stewardship is a matter of faith and how sustainable living, including conservation efforts, green building and using renewable energy, are practices that can be embraced by all. 

In addition, we have have a special presentation of excerpts from Bill Moyers’ “Is God Green?”  This PBS documentary that was first aired in 2006 focuses on the growing environmental activism of the National Evangelical Association and how this church’s members are making a difference.

Participants include Reverend David Carlisle, Springdale United Presbyterian Church; Nusrath Ainapore, Islamic Center of Pittsburgh; Sharon Pillar of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, biologist Dr. Kanak Iyer, Bryan Ritti of the  Zen Buddhism Center of Pittsburgh, Dr. Elisa Beck, Founding Co-Chair of the United Jewish Federation Environmental Committee, Dr. Terry Collins of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, and Sister Mary Christopher of Felician Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province.

Organizing Partners: Chatham University, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, Donald Gibbon and Michael Schiller

See our Events page for additional Rachel Carson activities.











Scientist, ecologist, thinker, writer, activist, a keen observer of nature and people, Rachel Carson brought the need to use science and technology wisely and think of the whole exquisitely balanced and evolved systems on our planet as we design solutions for what we consider problems.  The Rachel Carson Legacy Conference: Sustaining the Web of Life in Modern Society celebrates the legacy of Rachel Carson in the year of the 100th anniversary of her birth. This inaugural Rachel Carson Legacy conference aims to generate a participatory environment in which we all reflect on the legacy of her work and make our promises to carry on the spirit of Rachel Carson’s environmental ethic through our actions.   Download the conference program here


Presentations from the Rachel Carson Legacy Conference:
Sustaining the Web of Life in Modern Society


Michael MacCracken, Ph.D., Presentation given in "Perspectivins on Global Warming" Panel

Jennifer Schoeder, Presentation given in "Perspectives on Global Warming" Panel

James Ayers, Presentation given in "Perspectives on the Health of our Oceans" Panel

Edward L. Miles, Ph.D., Presentation given in "Perspectives on the Health of our Oceans" Panel

Anthony Cortese,  Sc.D., Presentation given in "Environmental Leadership/Changing the Way We Live and Work" Panel

Diane Heminway, Presentation given in "Environmental Leadership/Changing the Way We Live and Work" Panel


Click here to learn more about artist Cindy Snodgrass and her SOS Fish, whose bubbles communicate urgent messages to help widen and deepen our understanding about a critical resource: WATER 



Rachel Carson Legacy Lecture Series

There are also various associated events being held by regional institutional partners in conjunction with the Rachel Carson Legacy Conference.  Please visit the links below to learn more:

Carlow University - A Celebration of the Environment, September 14
Duquesne University - Global Trends in Bio-Diversity - click here for the presentation
LaRoche College - Global Problems, Global Solutions Conference, October 26-27



The Rachel Carson Legacy Conference was organized with assistance and sponsorship from the following:

Platinum                 Carnegie Mellon University
                                 Chatham University

Gold                        Duquesne University

                                           Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
                                University of Pittsburgh
                                           Dept. of Geology & Planetary Science, Environmental Studies and
                                           The Mascaro Sustainability Initiative

Silver                      Carlow University

                                Robert Morris University
                                Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental
                                Education and Research, CMU

                                UPMC

Bronze                    La Roche College - Break Sponsor

                                United Steel Workers





        

Centennial Celebration
Buy Rachel Carson's books, DVDs and signature logo gifts and help support Rachel Carson's environmental ethics. Many eco-friendly items featured, including organic, fair-trade Rachel Carson Coffee.
 
Contributions
Support Rachel Carson's legacy by making a contribution. Individual and Corporate giving programs are available.  Also donate on-line.
 
Make a Commitment
Learn more about Rachel Carson’s environmental ethic and environmental health. Take action now to reduce your exposure to chemical toxins and help heal the planet.

Photos of Rachel Carson courtesy of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services and the Lear/Carson Collection, Connecticut College