Blog

Blog

3 Reasons You Should Join the Social Capital Council Right Now

We think that 2015 is an advantageous time to be a part of the Social Capital Council.  The Council is a cadre of energetic and socially conscious professionals who want to connect with community development activities, green economy issues and social entrepreneurship in Pittsburgh. 1. Attend Fun and Meaningful Events These events aren’t your typical networking events. Sure when you attend a GTECH event you’ll have the opportunity to mingle with community development mavericks, social innovators, and Pittsburgh changemakers, but you'll…

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What’s in that bag? Window Plastic!

What’s in that bag? Window Plastic! With the ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency Challenge swinging into full gear, here’s an insider’s look at what participants are working with. Every household that signs up to be a part of the competition receives a ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency toolkit! Our Ambassadors have been hard at work getting these useful tools into the hands of Homewood, Hazelwood and Millville residents. This week, we've looked inside the Energy Efficiency toolkits and discovered the energy saving…

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What’s in that bag? Outlet Caps and more!

What’s in that bag? With the ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency Challenge swinging into full gear, here’s an insider's look at what participants are working with. Every household that signs up to be a part of the competition receives a ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency toolkit! Our Ambassadors have been hard at work getting these out into their neighborhoods, and encouraging their neighbors to utilize them.This week we're diving into those Energy Efficiency toolkits and taking a closer look at the energy saving…

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What’s in that bag? Caulk!

What’s in that bag? With the ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency Challenge swinging into full gear, here’s an insider’s look at what participants are working with. Every household that signs up to be a part of the competition receives a ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency kit! Our Ambassadors have been hard at work getting these out into their neighborhoods, and encouraging their neighbors to utilize them.   So…what makes these kits so great? They are chock full of energy saving goodies!  …

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What’s in that bag? Weather Stripping!

What’s in that bag? With the ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency Challenge swinging into full gear, here’s an insider’s look at what participants are working with. Every household that signs up to be a part of the competition receives a ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency kit! Our Ambassadors have been hard at work getting these useful tools into the hands of their neighbors. This week, we’ll be taking a look inside the Energy Efficiency kits and discovering what is inside, why, and how you…

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What’s in that bag?

A closer look at what's in the energy efficiency toolkits. With the ReEnergize Pittsburgh Energy Efficiency Challenge swinging into full gear, here’s an insider’s look at what participants are working with. Every household that signs up to be a part of the competition receives a ReEnergize Pgh Energy Efficiency kit! Our Ambassadors have been hard at work getting these useful tools into the hands of their neighbors. This week, we'll be taking a look inside the Energy Efficiency kits and discovering what…

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Community Leaders in McKeesport talk the future of youth

On Tuesday night at the Twin Rivers Intermediate School in McKeesport, GTECH hosted a panel discussion about engaging youth in McKeesport.   The panel of local leaders who discussed youth engagement as part of the event included the following: Nikita Zook, Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time partnership coordinator Brie Adams, McKeesport Area School District coordinator of educational opportunities Austin Davis, executive assistant to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald Keino Fitzpatrick, Youth CAST — Community and Schools Together — developer Laura Bosnak-Thompson,…

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For the Love of Lots!

[bctt tweet="There is lots to love about #Pittsburgh. What former vacant lot has your heart? #LoveThatLot https://groundedpgh.org/?p=5715"] With only a few days left until Valentines Day, it's hard not to feel that love is in the air. This week the Center for Community Progress is asking you to share the love and give recognition to those battling blight and vacancy in their community by posting photos of your favorite transformed vacant lots.  It's easy to participate, just follow these instructions…

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Round up your grocery bill and help reclaim Pittsburgh!

For the entire month of February, customer of the East End Food Coop have the option to round their shopping bill and donate the difference to GTECH. Like the EEFC, we believe in creating vibrant, healthy and sustainable communities throughout the Pittsburgh region. All donations raised will help us continue our efforts in reclaiming vacant land for the creation of green community places and increasing the adoption of energy efficiency actions throughout Allegheny County. [bctt tweet="I pledge to shop at the @EastEndCoop in Feb.…

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GTECH Launches New Resource Page

Useful community development tools and open data are available on the GTECH website. This month GTECH launched a brand-new resource page. On the page you can find the data that we collect for our projects and reporting as well as the tools and methodologies that we use when approaching a particular issue. Currently there are 5 full-length reports available on the site. Topics cover themes like vacant lot classification in the Northside, to an aggregation of environmental youth programming in the Pittsburgh region as…

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ReClaim Ambassadors vacant lot designs come to life

As Ambassadors design, there are two ways to approach vacant land projects. Haven't met our Ambassadors yet? Check out the Northsiders and McKeesporters who are participating in the ReClaim program year! ReClaiming a vacant lot takes a lot of imagination, time, and careful thought before you even break ground. That's why our Ambassadors have been attending classes since last October. They’ve learned about how to transform vacant land into activated, green community spaces, the processes that come before and the partnerships that need to be…

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Thank You!

With your help we raised $18,627 during our year end fundraising campaign! Here are a few things to look forward to in 2015: 1 brand new, very helpful website that will help Pittsburgh residents tackle vacant land in their communities. 20 new, Ambassador-led green spaces popping up on vacant lots in the Northside and Mckeesport. 300 residents in Millvale, Homewood and Hazelwood competing to save the most energy. What are you looking forward to in 2015? Tell us below.

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