Falls of the James Group expects a highly successful program season. We will highlight our programs as they are confirmed. We will be placing them on the events page, and advertise them on our BLOG and in various newspapers. We hope our members and visitors will take advantage of these educational and enjoyable opportunities and will advise us of opportunities to expand outreach into the community.
Please come and bring a friend-come for the programs, make a new friend.
Sept 9th, 2009
Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Program: Peak Oil: How to Cope with a Slow-Moving Emergency - or the discussion we all need to have about an issue that may be even bigger than climate change.
Speakers: Mr Tom Whipple, former CIA analyst, edits the daily and weekly newsletters of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA; Mr Alex Zeigler, activist and author of Culture Change: Civil Liberty, Peak Oil, and the End of Empire, lives in Charlottesville.
As oil supplies steadily decline worldwide and demand rapidly increases, can our enormous energy appetite and extensive energy infrastructure systems continue to support the American lifestyle? Can we maintain our transportation networks, our work, travel, and consumer patterns? Can we maintain our global food network, highly dependent on oil-derived fertilizers and pesticides, and ship it across the country, with escalating transportation and refrigeration costs? Is jet travel sustainable, or air-conditioning for that matter? Are big cities and suburbs sustainable? Or is all this alarm unfounded, and human resourcefulness be able to innovate through this looming crisis?
Please join us for the fall kick-off program, which promises to be provocative and fascinating, and please, bring a few friends and colleagues. Discover what practical solutions we can adopt now as individuals and as a regional community to deal with the challenging changes ahead ! Special reception to follow program.
October 14th, 2009
Wednesday 7:00 pm
Program: Recycling and Sustainability. And a Pre-Elections Political Update!
Speakers: Jacek Ghosh, Director of Sustainability at VCU, and Steve Heinitz, Recycling and Reuse Coordinator at VCU.
Jacek Ghosh has been leading VCU’s campus effort to meet the requirements of the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and is directing the development of VCU’s Sustainability Master Plan, due in May 2010 (see also www.vcugoesgreen.vcu.edu).
Mr Ghosh has worked for community-based non-profit organizations for over thirty years. Previously, he was the Economic Development Director for the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation (FRDC) from 1997 to 2006. Many of you may have already met Mr. Ghosh, working with the JRGBC, Richmond’s Better Housing Coalition, and the Richmond Cool Cities group.
Steve Heinitz has worked at VCU since the 1990s, managing its recycling and reuse program, a major effort handling confidential documents destruction, cardboard, electronics, light bulbs, mixed paper, scrap metal, wood and waste products. He has been a FoJG member since the mid-1990s, and is active with the group.
Come discover how our FoJG Recycling initiative is progressing, and how you can play your part!
November 11th, 2009
Wednesday 7:00 pm
Program: “Recycling 101”. The ABC’s of Recycling for Homes, Your Neighborhoods, and Businesses and Offices.
Speakers: Ms. Nancy Drumheller, with the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, and Mr Dave Patrine, with TFC.
Our speakers will discuss all aspects of regional recycling, and what we, as individuals and as a Group, can do to help. Special guest included ! More info in the Nov-Dec issue.