Lights Out San Francisco

The SF Neighborhood Parks Council and San Francisco Parks Trust have both signed on as Supporters. Many thanks!

Festivals are a great way to learn more and to learn more and become involved in conservation activism. Two big eco events are taking place next week. West Coast Green is a residential green building conference with speakers, architects, builders, and green builder materials suppliers.

The Climate All Stars Conference, which takes place next Friday, September 21, will provide a venue for leaders, businesses, and individuals to learn practical ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and work together toward more sustainable living.

October 19-21 (just in time for Lights Out!), the annual Bioneers Conference will take place. The Conference is a forum for learning about and exchanging ideas and solutions, and networking with “visionary thinkers and doers from wildly varied fields, cultures and walks of life”.

In November, The San Francisco Green Festival takes place at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center. The Green Festival is a “three-day party with a purpose” featuring green businesses, speakers, workshops, live music, and organic food and beverages.

If you have the time, check out one or more of them!

Hello everyone! This is Brendan writing from the LOSF office in the Mission. Just wanted to remind everyone that LOSF is hosting a great happy hour event at Pete’s Tavern this Thursday from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. We want to share the enthusiasm about LOSF and tell you how you can do your part!

Pete’s will be offering us drink and food specials, and they’re really excited to help spread the word about Lights Out San Francisco . Come early, come late…we’ll be there!

Pete’s Tavern is located at 128 King St. in San Francisco…right near the ballpark! E-mail me at Brendan@lightsoutsf.org if you have any questions. Thanks!

Hello! This is Brendan and Julia writing from the LOSF office here in the Mission. We are launching our outreach efforts starting next week and we need your help! We are looking for some active and energetic volunteers to assist us in getting our message out! Our volunteers will be “out and about” in communities throughout San Francisco spreading our message and distributing bulbs to city residents. More specifically, volunteers will be taking part in tabling sessions during the lunch hour/evening communte between Monday and Friday and also on the weekends at different events. At these sessions, volunteers will distribute literature, answer questions about LOSF from interested citizens, and assist in the distribution of CFL bulbs.

Also, we have some great INTERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES available with LOSF. See the following position description:

“Lights Out San Francisco is offering opportunities to experience and develop skills within a fun and considerate environment over the next six weeks where multi-tasking and creative solutions are encouraged. This position is the primary point in contact for the public and will have various responsibilities including: formulating strategy, community outreach, event planning, tabling, distributing light bulbs, and volunteer coordinating. An ideal candidate will be motivated and have a positive attitude. A professional phone manner and a sense of humor are also important.”

Please contact either of us if you are interested in volunteering or interning! Thanks!!!

Brendan
brendan@lightsoutsf.org

Julia
julia@lightsoutsf.org

Today I’m writing from our new office (!). The LOSF team is getting ready to head over to Green Drinks at Varnish this evening (see Monday’s post).

We’ve got another event coming up one week from today—Happy Hour at Pete’s Tavern. They’re offering us drink and food specials, and they’re really excited to help Lights Out SF move this exciting plan forward. Stop by early (we’ll be there around 5pm), or stay ’til late. Suggested contribution - $20. Please pass along the Evite to anyone you think might be interested in attending.

Avaaz.org sent out an email alert requesting it’s member to sign a petition regarding the September 8-9 APEC Economic Leader summit. The petition states, “Petition To World Leaders: Climate change is the greatest threat facing our world today - and we are almost out of time to stop it. You must tackle this problem now, decisively and together. Start working toward a new global agreement this year. Set binding global targets for emissions to avert catastrophic climate change. Take bold action immediately - and we will join our efforts with yours”. Check out the petition , and add your name to the list if you support their cause.

Here we are (from left to right) Rachel Ray, Brendan Devlin, Julia Sullivan.

We are very excited by the opening of our new office. We are located at 2548 Mission St. Between 21st and 22nd on Mission. Come down and give us a hand with organizing the event. We need lots of help tabling around the city, contacting businesses, putting up posters and distributing CFL’s. E-mail us at volunteer@lightsoutsf.org if you have any questions or just stop by. Maybe call first to see if we are in… 415-643-5673.

Join us at Varnish (77 Natoma, near 2nd St) for Green Drinks this Thursday, September 6th at 6pm. We’ll be available to discuss Lights Out and answer your questions. We’d love to see you there!

Stopglobalwarming.org founder Laurie David sent info on LOSF to 11th Hour Action. We are now featured in their Community News!

We’re making progress with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. Our hope is to have performers from both at our celebrations.

Check out our updated Supporters and FAQ pages.

Many thanks to our new supporters! They are: The California League of Conservation Voters, Gap Inc., Internation Dark Sky Association, Sports Basement, and Working Assets.

Also, LOSF wants to thank Tides Center for taking us on as a project.

After a fruitful Steering Committee meeting yesterday, we’re moving full-steam ahead. We’ve got a new office space, and are about to print posters, brochures, and handouts. Keep an eye out for our info in storefronts and restaurants. Special thanks to Nick Rubenstein and Mabel Liang for all their amazing design work!

Pete’s Tavern has graciously offered their space for us to host a fundraiser. Please join us there from 5-8pm on September 13, and contribute to a great cause!

We’re getting noticed on the national level! We were featured in the stopglobalwarming.org August 29, 2007 newsletter.

We would like to extend our appreciation to the folks around the world who have expressed interest in starting a Lights Out movement in their own cities. We truly appreciate your support! Right now, we need to focus our energy on LOSF, but would like to move on to other cities after out project is done. It’s a short time frame for this year, but please turn your lights out on Oct. 20 in solidarity. We have had a lot of success with Lights Out San Francisco, and our hope is to move the event national with Lights Out America. Tentatively we are looking at March for a national event. Sign up for the SF event and we will keep you informed about the national effort and will work with you on coordinating your area. Please stay tuned to our website and this blog for more information.

More great news. The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) has joined us as a supporter! Their mission is “to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting.” I’m looking forward to seeing some stars on October 20th!

Here’s some more green news: “Existing technologies combined with common sense design can increase energy efficiency by 35 percent and reduce heating costs by 80 percent for the average building in industrialized markets,” says United Technologies Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive George David. See Global Survey Shows “Green” Construction Costs Dramatically Lower Than Believed for the whole story.