Green Umbrella’s Food Policy Council kicked off National Farmer’s Market Week with a rainy Sunday visit to the Hyde Park Farmer’s Market where they chatted with farmers and shoppers. The visit was part of this summer’s Farmer’s Market Tour. Check out the full farmer’s market line-up and schedule here.

Looking for a great market to visit this week? Check out Edible Ohio Valley’s weekly market guide or flip through the electronic version of the Central Ohio River Valley (CORV) Local Food Guide.

The recent floods in Cincinnati neighborhoods were a wake-up call to local leaders that climate change isn’t something in the decades to come – it’s already here. As our interim Executive Director, Van Sullivan, says in this recent blog post: “We can’t treat climate disasters like localized issues that can be repaired in pieces. Floods and fires don’t respect borders, boundaries, or property lines … We need our government leaders to work together to weave resilience plans that cover everyone in our region.”

Green Umbrella’s Climate Action Fellowship matches students and professionals with local government partners to develop practical plans for our changing climate. The 2026 fellows and their government staff collaborators will present the results of their work at a free showcase on August 12 at the University of Cincinnati’s Digital Futures Building. Come learn more about what this year’s communities – Hamilton County, Mariemont, Oxford, Covington, Anderson Township, Cincinnati, and other regional organizations – have been working on this summer.

Join us TOMORROW at Esoteric Brewing in Walnut Hills for an evening of conversation and connection with young professionals shaping sustainability across Greater Cincinnati. A moderated discussion will kick off the night and will feature young professionals from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. They will share their career journeys, experiences, and advice on getting involved in the green workforce. The discussion will be followed by time to network with fellow attendees and panelists. This event is open to ages 15–35, including students, recent graduates, early-career professionals, and anyone interested in sustainability.

On July 23, Green Umbrella hosted our first Climate Queer Mixer! More than 50 folks joined us at Roebling Books and Coffee in Newport, KY, for an evening of queer community around climate issues, featuring local libations from Voyager Beverage. Friends from Ohio Lesbian Archives and Nature Beyond the Norm joined us, highlighting nature’s natural queerness and how heteronormative bias has shaped scientific research. We’ll be hosting more Climate Queer Mixers – if you have ideas of what you’d like to see at these events, please fill out this survey by August 31.

Green Umbrella’s Climate Research Incubator is an annual cohort that trains regional researchers on how to collaborate and communicate with community members and government representatives to make climate projects more accurate, effective, and impactful. Applications for the upcoming 2026-27 cohort are open now.

Ohio River Paddlefest celebrated its 25th anniversary in a big way! 1,440 paddlers braved the storm on August 1 and achieved a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for Largest Paddle Craft Party. "What we wanted to do was to give people in the region an opportunity to experience the Ohio," said Brewster Rhoads, a founding board member of Adventure Crew and Green Umbrella’s first Executive Director.

Congratulations, Paddlefest and Adventure Crew!

Photo Source: Ohio River Paddlefest

The Wayne National Forest is a patchwork of public land in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio. It’s Ohio’s only national forest. In September, oil and gas companies can start bidding on leases in the national forest that also has over 400 miles of nature trails and offers camping, hunting, fishing, biking, and horseback riding.

The Bureau of Land Management’s overall plan is to lease out 40,000 acres for fracking in Wayne National Forest, Ohio Environmental Council Senior Attorney for Land and Water Nathan Johnson told the Ohio Capital Journal. “That’s a huge amount of land for Ohio,” he said. “That’s more than 30,000 football fields.”

Photo Source

As required by law, the BLM is currently in the middle of a 30-day public protest to receive additional comments, which will end on August 17.

80 Acres Farms, one of the largest vertical farming businesses in the country, recently announced its closure. 80 Acres grew products like lettuces, basil, tomatoes, and microgreens indoors via hydroponics – without soil, in nutrient-supplimented water.

The company was in the middle of a pending acquisition deal when the buyer unexpectedly pulled back from the agreement. The acquisition would have provided funding to continue operations; without the funding, 80 Acres was forced to close immediately.

Photo Source: Ann Thompson / WVXU

The Ohio EPA has decided not to move forward with a controversial permit that would have relaxed wastewater discharge requirements for data centers. The permit would have allowed all Ohio data centers to dispose of untreated wastewater directly into waterways. More than 7000 comments on the permit proposal impacted OEPA’s decision to not move forward with this type of permit. OEPA will still grant permits for individual data centers, taking the size of the data centers, discharge type, and potential environmental impact into consideration.

Photo Source: Christian Thorsberg / Circle of Blue

August 29 | 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

Organized by Tri-State Trails and presented by Great Parks, the Tour de CROWN is a community bike ride open to riders of all abilities. The event showcases existing and future trails throughout the expanding Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (CROWN). Riders choose from three distance options, all starting and ending at Fifty West Brewing Company, located just off the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Register here!

Have an event to share? Green Umbrella members can submit events here. To learn more about the benefits of becoming a member, click here.

August 9 | 10:00 - 11:30 am

Are you interested in learning more about careers in biology, environmental education, veterinary medicine, diving, and more? WAVE Foundation is excited to offer teen and adult students the opportunity to talk to professionals in these fields through our Career Exploration Panels. Learn more here.

The Southern Ohio Partnerships and Engagement Specialist is part of TNC’s Strategic Partnership and Engagement Program and implements projects and programs in coordination with the Southern Ohio Program Manager and others to engage people with nature. They will become part of a culture that supports and inspires conservation achievement and personal development, celebrates innovation, values collaborative approaches, and seeks lasting conservation results. The Strategic Partnership and Engagement Program focuses on engaging communities in conservation through outreach, shared conservation priorities, education, youth specific programming, volunteerism, and other nature-based community programs. Learn more about this position and apply 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.