We’re just one week away from our biggest event of the year - the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit! In addition to nearly 100 speakers, 3 live performances, 46 exhibitors, 40 research displays, and an electric vehicle showcase, we are excited to honor 4 individuals and 2 organizations with Sustainability Awards for their leadership, innovation, and impact.

Learn more about this year’s award winners: Deepa Vedavyas, Alan Wight, Padma Chebrolu, Joanne Gerson, Green Columbus, and Greater Cleveland Partnership. Join us at the Summit to celebrate their achievements!

Today marks the beginning of the 2025 Climate Action Fellowship! Green Umbrella is excited to welcome our new Fellows: Ava Heffernan, Constance Kammerer, Jackson Hare, Kate Kozak, Oluwaseun Olubodun, Rachel Cranmer, and Shobha Pai. The Fellows will be supporting the communities of City of Fairfield, OH; Hamilton County, OH; City of Milford, OH; City of Newport, KY; and City of Oxford, OH.

For the next three days, the Fellows and their City supervisors will participate in training with Green Umbrella staff and partners to learn about key sustainability issues and strategies for action. On June 2, the Fellows will start full-time in their local government offices for the next ten weeks, tackling projects related to energy, greenspace, workforce, and more. This Fellowship is generously supported by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.

The Greater Cincinnati 2030 District is offering a free, in-person introduction to energy benchmarking for building and property owners. Energy benchmarking is the first step in creating an effective energy management plan for your property, which can lower costs, reduce waste, and make buildings healthier and more comfortable for tenants.

The next session is at College@Elm on Miami University’s Campus on Wednesday, June 11 from 12:00-1:00 pm at 20 S Elm Street, Oxford, OH 45056. It is free and open to the public, but registration is requested here. More sessions will be scheduled later this year - stay tuned!

The Greater Cincinnati region has officially been recognized as a Regional Center of Expertise (RCE GC) in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability.

An RCE is a local network of organizations that facilitate learning towards sustainable development in local and regional communities. An RCE involves teachers, environmental NGOs, scientists, researchers, museums, zoos, botanical gardens, local government officials, volunteers, media, volunteers, learners, and more. RCE GC now joins a global network of over 170 regions across the world, and just the 12th in the United States.

A report on the CSN partnership was recently published and selected to be featured as an Editor’s Highlight on Eos through AGU Publications, a non-profit organization that provides high-quality peer review and publishing services with a focus on open and equitable science. The report, “Climate Safe Neighborhoods: A community collaboration for a more climate-resilient future”, was developed in collaboration with Green Umbrella, Groundwork Ohio River Valley, and Northern Kentucky University. Fewer than 2% of all AGU papers are selected to be featured in this way. You can read the full report here.

The Columbus Dispatch recently published a piece on how people across Ohio are being impacted by the unusual weather of the past years - unusual weather that is now the norm, thanks to climate change. From flooding in New Richmond to drought in Guernsey County, heat waves in Columbus to algae blooms on Lake Erie, this article touches on climate issues throughout the state and what Ohioans are doing to improve community resilience to the new normal.

The packaging might say “flushable”, “green”, or even “biodegradable”, but the disposable wipes that are so convenient to flush away are NOT safe for your plumbing, septic tanks, or sewers. Even wipes made from organic materials like cotton or wood pulp don’t break down enough to slide through pipes without causing build-up. This can quickly escalate to blockage that can clog your home’s plumbing and even impact the community’s water systems - like the recent sewage that flowed into Winton Lake, caused by a sewer line blockage of roots and wet wipes. 

According to Consumer Reports, “flushable” wipe backups can cost households hundreds to thousands of dollars in plumbing fixes. The most environmentally-friendly and cost-effective method is a reusable cloth wipe that you can launder to use again, but when you have a “flushable”, single-use wipe - toss it in the trash, not the toilet!

The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit is the largest sustainability conference in the Midwest, bringing together 650 passionate and visionary leaders to share inspiring, forward-thinking, and solution-oriented ideas that propel us toward a healthier, more resilient, sustainable, and equitable future. At this year’s Summit, we invite sustainability leaders from across the Midwest to share the stories of their impact and successful partnerships. Join us to make new connections and celebrate climate solutions as we each find our place in the movement to secure a resilient, equitable, and thriving future! Register today!

Click here for the full Events Calendar. Members can submit events in the Green Umbrella online portal here.

Green Umbrella has an available opportunity to execute on its donor development strategy. The position will focus on donor cultivation and retention, fundraising communications, campaigns, and major gifts, with the goal of increasing support from local donors for local climate and sustainability action. You can see the full position description here.

Have an event, volunteer opportunity, or job posting to share? Green Umbrella members can submit them via the online Membership Portal. To learn more about the benefits of becoming a member, click here.