Promise Christian Academy Visit Habana Outpost

Yesterday, we got a visit from Promise Christian Academy school! Marjorie Purdee and Assistant Director Luz Sora brought their 5th grade Spanish class for an Eco Tour of the Outpost. Led by our manager Xiomara “ZeeZee” Morgan, kids learned about the eco-friendly innovations of Habana Outpost and learned about ways to be more Eco-conscious while having fun. Hurry and bring your friends and/or family for a free eco-tour this month before the end of the season!

Free Healthy BBQ this Saturday!

Our Local Council Woman, Letitia James will be sponsoring a neighborhood Food Conference this Saturday. You know we’ll be there, and we’re bringing the smoothie bike! Come on down to learn the benefits of Urban Gardening (yes, it exists!), supporting local Farmers Markets, and healthy eating in general. Plus, any event with the words FREE and BBQ in the description is worth crashing.  

Help Keep Brooklyn Green & Clean

Thanks to Brownstoner.com, we thought we would re-post this article about a cleanup day scheduled for September 19th for Prospect Park Lake.  Read on for deets:

Cleaning Prospect Park Lake

A reader kindly sent us a link to a clean-up project for Prospect Park Lake. We spoke to Tami, the organizer, who has set up a donation site at Ioby as well as a Facebook page. Tami, who has lived in Brooklyn for eight years, hopes to raise at least $400 in order to rent paddle boats and buy supplies to pick up litter in and around the lake on September 19, which is International Coastal Clean-up Day. She has received the support of the Prospect Park Alliance, and any extra funds she receives will go to the Alliance for future park preservation. The impetus for the project came when Tami took a tour of the lake last spring on the Independence, an electric boat, and she saw birds’ nests, babies hatching, aquatic life such as turtles and bass, and trash. Plenty of trash. Her tour guide said there used to be a green team for the lake, but it has since dissolved. “As I was walking around the lake to take pictures,” Tami said, “couples on the boats would say ‘Oh my god, it’s so gross in here.’” Tami has at least 20 volunteers so far for the September 19 event, and is still accepting volunteers or donations.

Back to School Bash 2009

Do you remember that looming feeling that accompanied the end of summer and the approaching beginning of school?  Well, so do we.   To help kids forget (and parents celebrate!) the impending start of the school year, we’re throwing a kickin’ party here at Habana Outpost!  Here are the deets:

Habana Outpost’s Back to School Bash
Monday, September 7^th 2009 – Labor Day
12 noon – 5 pm          FREE!

Schedule of Events

All Day (12-5 pm):
-Face Painting
-Recycled Arts & Crafts
-Coloring Pages & Crayons
-Joey the Clown
-Free Habana Spiral Notebooks
-Live kid-friendly DJs
-Beanbag Toss, Bubbles, and Games! 

Kid’s Corner brought to you by Habana Works and Leadership Learning Lab – Join Marivi as she creates, inspires, and turns recycled materials into fun, usable “new” items!  www.cafehabana.com/planet

The Scrap Kins - Kids will make crafts like bookmarks and memo pads from recycled goods and decorate them for the upcoming school year!  www.thescrapkins.com

Brooklyn Public Library – Librarians will be on site signing kids up for library cards … and the best part is – anyone who signs up for a library card at the event gets a free piece of corn!  www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org

1:30-2:30 pm:  Storytime with Brownstone Books – Join storytellers for books out loud (geared toward the under 6 crowd).  Titles will include:  “Llama, Llama Misses Mama,” “Jazz Baby,” “A Fine, Fine School,” and “Miss Bindergarten.”  www.brownstonebooks.com

2:30-3:30 pm:  John Howe, The Bee Man – Join John in a hands-on, kid-friendly workshop called “Pollinators: Honeybees Make a Difference,” where children will learn how bees pollinate flowers in an interactive way.  www.thebrooklynbee.com

3:00-5:00 pm:  Cherub Rock: Dance Party for Kids – Join DJ Juice E for a kid-friendly dance party in the Lowpost (downstairs in Habana Outpost).  www.djjuicee.com

 Directions: G to Fulton, C to Lafayette, B/D/N/R/Q/2/3/4/5 to Atlantic/Pacific. 

Many thanks to our friends at:  Habana Works, Brownstone Book, Brooklyn Public Library, Scrap Kins, Leadership Learning Lab, DJ Juice E, and The Brooklyn Bee.

Check out some pics from last year’s event on the next page!

Addressing The Biker Issue …

As I’m sure you all know, we here at Habana Outpost have had a little bit of a problem with the biker “gangs” trolloping around our green gates and we’ve been taking a lot of flack, mostly from those who think we are encouraging the bikers to hang out here.  After noticing a few inquiries on various blogs about our “connection” with these guys, we need to address this issue for everyone’s appeasement!  The Local Fort Greene/Clinton Hill blog recently did a story on the bikers in front of our place.  Find the video they posted here. 

We just want to clarify that we have been working with the 88th Precinct since before May and in no way condone the noisy groups of bikers that for some reason tend to hang out here.  So please understand that we’re making moves to keep Fort Greene a reasonably quiet ‘hood.  Thanks

Don’t Miss Green Drinks! Wed. 7/19

Come by the Outpost TONIGHT to mingle with Brooklyn Green Drinks from 7-9 pm! 

About Green Drinks:

“The idea of Green Drinks is simple, and universal: Gather together like-minded individuals, and talk. It’s as familiar as the local dive, completely organic, and a fertile scene for societal progress and the deployment of sustainable ideas. And it’s growing exponentially each month.”

More on the next page …

Habana Outpost Named Top “Green Restaurant”

Treehugger.com, a web offshoot of the Discovery Channel, has named us one of their fave green restaurants across the US of A!

Check out the full article and other honored restaurants here.  Cool fact – did you know that Chipotle serves free range pork, chicken and beef? 

Be sure to stop by sometime soon (and look out for details about our upcoming Back to School Bash) – as we close for the season at the end of October!! 

“Green Tips” newsletter

Check out this newsletter from Michael Bloch, of carbonify.com.  Sign up for their free newsletter and they will plant a tree in honor of your joining up!

We can all stand to learn more about living green!

Sign up here (look to the sidebar on the right) 

Youth Going Green!

Today, a class from the Urban Assembly Institute for Math and Science for Young Women came by today to get a Green Tour and have a little fun at Habana!  The UAIMSYW (a mouthful!!) is a public elementary and high school in Brooklyn.  These girls are participating in a summer program on urban ecology, and they stopped by for a tour and a recycled craft exercise.

Click the link for more pics from the day…

Greene Harvest CSA at Habana Outpost

 

This past Saturday the Greene Harvest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) had their third official pick up for members in the courtyard of Habana Outpost. From 9:30am – 12:00pm, dedicated Fort Greene “Foodies” arrived with reusable shopping bags to pick up their fresh veggies provided by local NY farms.  There are also fresh pasta, egg, and fruit add-on options for members.