May's Green Bag Lunch will be presented by Tim Lovell. In recognition of National Preservation Month's theme: "Old is the New Green," Tim will talk about how historic preservation is green and can be energy efficient. We will also mention information available through the National Trust for Historic Preservation on protecting historic resources from natural disasters. This will be at 11:30am at Kendall Whittier Library on Friday, May 28th.

On March 26th, Bill and Mary Rowe of Integrity Pest Management spoke on 'green' pest control for your home and business and specifically about the EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP), which is a voluntary program that forms partnerships with pesticide users to reduce the potential health and environmental risks associated with pesticide use and implement pollution prevention stategies. There was a great turnout and lots of interesting questions. Thank you Bill and Mary for such a great presentation!

On April 23rd, Earl Burden with Riverbend Timber Framing, a member of the Tulsa HBA Green Building Council and a founding exhibitor of Tulsa Partners' Green Building Resource Library, spoke about timber framing and the use of structural insulated panels (SIPS): "The Best Kept Green Secret." He brought several examples of SIPS panels and how the timber framing fit together. Great presentation!

 Pictured: Tulsa Partner's Executive Director, Tim Lovell, local Grainger Branch Manager, Randy Frost and DRBC Chair, Dave Hall.

From Press Release on April 28th.

The Grainger Foundation, Lake Forest, Illinois, has donated

$10,000 to Tulsa Partners in support of its mission to create a disaster-resistant community. Tulsa Partners works to reduce risk and assist the community in being prepared for all hazards through public-private partnerships and citizen education.

"This grant will be used to assist our Disaster Resistant Business Council in its efforts to help chambers of commerce, small businesses and non-profit agencies develop business continuity and emergency response plans," said Tim Lovell, Executive Director, Tulsa Partners. "We rely on our partnerships to help build a disaster resistant and sustainable community.  We are grateful to The Grainger Foundation for its generosity."

This donation was recommended by Randy Frost, Branch Manager of W.W. Grainger, Inc.'s Tulsa location.  Grainger has been a part of the Tulsa business community for more than 40 years as the leading broad line supplier of facilities maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products.  "We are proud to recommend the programs offered by Tulsa Partners," said Frost. "Grainger has a long tradition of helping communities respond to disasters and we understand the importance of emergency preparedness planning in our local communities."

State Farm Check Presentation

The State Farm Operations Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been recognized as a 2009 Green Neighbor Challenge winner for their work to create a recycling program. This internal award, given by State Farm Environmental Affairs Department, honors offices that excel in the areas of energy and water conservation, paper stewardship, waste reduction and recycling, travel alternatives, and community outreach.

The Tulsa office identified the need for a more focused recycling program that included paper, aluminum and plastic materials. The Tulsa office recycled more than 1,000 pounds of aluminum and 1,365 pounds of plastic over the course of only six months in 2009.  In addition, more than 240,000 pounds of paper was recycled in 2009.

The office was honored on Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day) with a grant of $5,000 to give to the non-profit organization of their choice.

That grant was shared with Tulsa Partners, a 501(c) (3) organization in Tulsa that focuses on sustainable housing and disaster preparedness. The mission of Tulsa Partners is to create a disaster-resistant community and improve Tulsans' safety and well-being by reducing deaths, injuries, property damage, environmental and other losses from natural or technological hazards.

For the first time, the International Code Council and International Code Council Foundation has expanded Building Safety Week into a month-long Building Safety Month campaign to expand opportunities and increase awareness about the critical importance of building and designing safe, sustainable and green structures in the United States and worldwide.

As part of this expanded effort, the ICC and ICCF will work with millennium sponsor BASF to generate awareness about the progress made during the past 30 years. Building Safety Month will also showcase historic milestones, current technologies and future innovations in building and fire codes as well as construction and safety technologies.

WEEK 1: Energy and Green Building

WEEK 2: Disaster Safety and Mitigation

WEEK 3: Fire Awareness and Safety

WEEK 4: Backyard Safety

The Foundation is managed by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Inc, FLASH.  FLASH is an award-winning coalition of government agencies, professional associations, and private industry committed to strengthening homes, safeguarding families, and protecting economic well-being by promoting disaster preparedness.

The Foundation is a subsidiary of the International Code Council (ICC), a membership association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention. The Council develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states that adopt codes choose the International Codes developed by the International Code Council.

Tulsa Partners is proud to be a Community Partner with FLASH. We will be providing you weekly press releases in May to make you aware of things you can do to promote Building Safety Month.

For more information on Building Safety Month, please go here.

As I begin working on this issue's Woody's Web, the news is full of updates regarding the storms that battered parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama.  So far, the most devastating damage has been reported in Yazoo County, MS - with (at the time of this writing) up to 10 deaths reported.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100425/ap_on_re_us/us_severe_weather  Please keep those affected by this outbreak in your thoughts as they cope with this tragedy - and those that work to assist them.

Considering this and other recent weather-related events - combined with the fact we are entering into prime storm season in the Mid West - I felt it most appropriate to focus primarily on Preparedness, Planning and Safety information.  So pull up a chair and get comfy...here we go!

Floods

Last month, we observed Flood  Awareness Week (March 15^th - 19^th).  Our friends at the National Weather Service offered this website as a promotional tool, chock-full of great links http://www.weather.gov/floodsafety/.  Be sure to take some time and explore, there are some wonderful resources listed here.

 I especially liked the Flash Flood Safety for Car site http://www.norman.noaa.gov/2008/04/flash-flood-safety-in-a-car/ (Driving into standing water NEVER a good idea!!), and if you're looking for information on Flood Insurance, you'll find the link http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/, which provides information for residential and commercial situations.

General Preparedness

Every season presents different challenges from Mother Nature.  Winter brings snow/ice storms; Spring - thunderstorms, tornadoes and lightning; Summer - extreme heat conditions; and Fall - hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning (not to mention early snows in some areas!)...it just never ends.  What do many of these events have in common?  They have the ability to affect our family's food supplies.  Check out the  FoodFacts page from the FDA at http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm076881.htm#s1 for just about any question you might possibly have regarding what to do after power outages, floods, or other situations that may affect the safety of our food and/or water supply.

Is YOUR community Storm Ready?  Visit http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/ and select the "Communities" item from the menu on the left side of the screen.  While you're there, be sure to look at the other info on the site!

Some additional sites that provide a multitude of topics on preparedness and safety:

http://www.ready.gov/ (Available in English, French and Spanish)

http://www.redcross.org/prepare/ (American Red Cross' Be Red Cross Ready program, click on right side of page for interactive site training)

The 2.0 World

Are you looking to incorporate Social Media into your Family/Business Preparedness Planning?  It's all the latest buzz...check out:

http://mashable.com/2010/03/09/prepare-disaster-social-media/

http://www.fema.gov/help/social_media.shtm

http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Disasters-20-Conference-Social-Media-Use.html

Children and Disasters

Do you have small ones at home?  Perhaps grandchildren, nieces/nephews that visit?  There are several great resources available to help you include them in the process of being prepared.

 From those fabulous folks at Sesame Street,http://www.sesameworkshop.org/newsandevents/sesameupdates/naturaldisaster_advice (Helping Children Understand Natural Disasters), provides some tips for talking to children about natural disaster - and a little bit of insight to how they might see things.  If you're looking for a fun, interactive site with games, checklists (AND the fun Sesame Street gang!), try their Let's Get Ready-Planning Together for Emergencies page at http://www.sesamestreet.org/ready, 

FEMA's site Ready Kids  gives children the chance to Build a Kit, Make a Plan, and other activities.

From the Florida Institute for Family Involvement, I found the publication Disaster Preparedness for Families of Children with Special Needs.  While there are a few localized references, there are even more useful checklists and other planning tools/information.http://www.fifionline.org/resources/disaster_english.pdf.

Those with children in daycare/childcare settings may find some interesting information at http://www.naccrra.org/disaster/. 

Looking Back

April 19^th marked the 15^th Anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing.  In memory of those we lost, and in support of the loved ones left behind.  http://www.koco.com/news/23191319/detail.html

It's been three months since the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.  Countless organizations have been on working to restore order and provide emergency relief to the hundreds of thousands of people affected. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/04/ff_haiti/presents some "Lessons Learned" from the relief effort, and the American Red Cross has released its 3-Month Progress Report for review http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/international/Haiti/HaitiEarthquake_ThreeMonthReport.pdf.

Recent events have given many of us cause to stop and think of just how precious time is.  Time with our families and friends - time doing the things we truly enjoy - time to just....be.  A video that has been making the rounds serves as a reminder to us all to take a little time, to save that precious time.  A few seconds is all it takes to "Embrace Life", and buckle up.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/embrace-life-video-seat-b_n_471799.html .

Until next time ....

Be Aware ~ Be Informed ~ Be Safe

Woody