DIY Decorating

The Cleveland Exeuctive Fellows' next challenge in preparing for the Electric Roller DiscoTech is to make a cavernous warehouse into a disco fabulous venue. I solicited advice from artist Alexandra Underhill to help us get started.

She showed us photos of some projects she created reusing objects normally bound for the landfill or the recycling bin: Defunct CDs and DVDs, plastic bottles, plastic bags, bubble wrap, plastic construction fencing and zip ties. Alexandra was generous with her time, advice and her basement full of materials. We left Alexandra's house with a Corolla full of supplies to get us started, including an old army parachute, lots of plastic sheeting, old sheets, light sticks and other materials.

We'll be at the Leff Electric Warehouse tomorrow to begin the daunting task of lighting and decorating two rooms and a hallway.

Does anyone have a disco ball or some twinkle lights we could borrow?

Behind the Scenes: Electric Roller DiscoTech

The Cleveland Executive Fellows have spent the past couple of weeks working unglamorously on the Electric Roller DiscoTech. Armed with advice from Pop Up City's Terry Schwartz and crew, we set about setting up.

The behind the scenes action included getting estimates for portable toilets, water stations and security; booking a DJ and finding food vendors. We had to look critically at our budget and refine our event to make sure it will be a good fit.

I am pleased that Santina Protopapa, director of the Progressive Arts Alliance will be spinning some vinyl. There will be food to purchase from Hooper Farm and Plant Kingdom Bakery.

David Jurca and Gauri Torgalkar of the Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative created a great post card that will be hot off the presses tomorrow. In the meantime, we've been promoting this event online through email, social media and event listings. Jeff Schuler is creating a website and event details will be listed there soon.

Today the Fellows spent all day sweeping, vacuuming and ventilating the warehouse space. With some help from the Leff Electric manager and the maintenance man, we managed to get electricity working on half of the 2nd and 3rd floors. Logistically this will make our event so much easier because we won't have to rent, fuel and supervise generators.

The Cleveland Museum of Art's recent party featured red pool noodles in a public art display. Chuck at All Go Signs saved them from the landfill and he is letting us use them for our event. They'll become benches in the Roller Rink Room.

We started removing winterizing plastic from the windows today because ventilation is crucial to a skating party and the views from Leff are phenomenal.

Next steps include more cleaning, decorating and lighting.

Save the Date! Electric Roller DiscoTech

Save the date! The Electric Roller DiscoTech is a free event on August 28th, 6-11pm at the Leff Electric Building.

The Cleveland Executive Fellows are partnering with Pop Up City and St. Clair Superior Development Corporation to host this temporary use of the 2nd floor of the Leff Electric Warehouse.



When the fellows went to Duisburg and Stuttgart, Germany, we focused on post-industrial re-use. Typically the final Fellowship event is a conference, but we realized that a conference isn't the best way for us to share what we learned with Northeast Ohio. We also know that there are already folks in Cleveland doing that same thing like Pop Up City and All Go Signs.

So, instead of talking about post-industrial re-use, we decided the best thing for us to do is to partner with folks, put into practice what we learned and then share with the community.

The DiscoTech is still in the planning phases, but we'd like to use the term Roller to apply to all non-motorized wheeled devices: bikes, scooters, rollerblades, rollerskates, unicycles, skateboards, etc. Of course, there'll be a DJ, some food and drink, and a fannypack decorating contest. We're excited to work with partners to enliven the space and reach other networks.

For more information about the event or how you can be a partner, contact Jenita McGowan at jmcgowan@cleveleads.org.

The Local Food Movement: Connecting Every Sector

As soon as we got back from Germany, we started our fourth sector placements in the Fellowship. After completing placements with education, private and public sector organizations, it was time for the non-profit sector.

As the concluding presentation for this sector placement, we will host a panel forum to discuss the local food movement, with a specific focus on how different sectors are involved in this movement. The forum will include representatives who will discuss policy changes in the public sector; community engagement in the non-profit sector; education of consumers, students and the general public; and the burgeoning opportunities in the private sector.

SPEAKERS

• Brad Masi, Founder & Executive Director, New Agrarian Center
• David Apthorpe, Director of Operations, Bon Appetit Management Company
• Matt Russell, CWRU Center for Health Promotion Research, Corner Store Project
• Morgan Taggart, program specialist from OSU Extension of Cuyahoga County
• Ifeoma Ezepue, Business Development Officer, Department of Economic Development, City of Cleveland

WHEN

Friday, June 19, 2009

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

WHERE

Cleveland Public Library

325 Superior Avenue, Room 218 East

Cleveland, OH 44114

TO REGISTER

For additional information or to register for the forum, please contact Cleveland Executive Fellow Gwen Forte at gforte@cleveleads.org

Join us!

Walking Tour of Stuttgart

Aided by a map and five hours of free time, I went on a self-guided walking tour on my last day in Stuttgart. My intent was to expand my experience to other neighborhoods beyond the center of the city. 

About half a kilometer uphill from my hotel is Karlshohe Hill, a ridge that runs across the south and western parts of the city. The hill is a picturesque park with winding trails, plenty of benches and a vista overlooking the center city. Grape vines were grown along the slopes during the middle ages until the end of the 19^th Century; they have been reintroduced on some of the terraces.

View from the Milch Bar

I stopped at the Milch Bar on the Terrace which was designed for a federal garden show in 1961. I had a cappuccino and then set off to see the majestic Athena Fountain, built by Karl Donndorf in 1911.

Athena

I wound through the park, getting a little lost until I found the Hasenbergsteige, a steep ancient road which eventually leads to the Northern Black Forest. The steep road turns into a footpath, the Blauer Weg (Blue Path) that continues up the south side of Hasenberg Hill. Along the path are ancient stone walls with steps and narrow gates every so often leading up a terrace to residences. Looking down the hill, I had breathtaking views of Heslach Valley.

Back gate on the Blau Weg

The trail leads to Mount Birkenkopf, a 511 meter hill, World War II memorial and the highest point in the area. Between 1950 and 1955, 1,750,000 cubic meters of rubble from World War II were deposited on the hill, which locals call Monte Scherbelino (Mount Shards). From the top of the hill, there are panoramic views of Stuttgart and the country.

Mount Birkenkopf made me realize the potential to alter landscapes with rubble as structures are deconstructed and demolished. Maybe we could construct a foreclosure memorial hill overlooking Lake Erie instead of landfills choked with once vibrant neighborhoods. 

I returned via the Blauer Weg, but then took an alternate route back to Hasenbergsteige. I descended a narrow, steep staircase and path instead of the less steep, winding trail. I got lost on the way back to the hotel and accidently explored Bobblingerstrasse, a colorful and less ostentatious neighborhood than the one along the Hasenberg. 

Looking up the steps towards the Blau Weg

The Chicken or the Egg?

Which came first - the chicken or the egg? In this entry we look to see what came first - electronic recycling legislation or industry led electronic recycling? In the case of IBM and Germany, the latter came first.

The European Union and its European Commission has created a electronic take back program under Directive 2002/96/EC (commonly known as WEEE - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) which has issued guidelines on preventing companies from putting harmful materials into electronic equipment and promotes the collection and recycling of electronic equipment. Under this directive, each member country enacts legislation to accomplish these outcomes and tailor the legislation to its own country. This legislation mostly places the burden of collection on industry within the EU. This legislation isn’t revolutionary in Europe. The first take back programs began in Switzerland in 1989 and in Germany in 1990. But recently, the EU Commission has been talking about setting mandatory collection targets based upon weight and the market share of the company. At this point in time, this has not been undertaken, and is of a controversial nature because it places a significant burden on industry to meet these goals.

In order to get more information on the WEEE and Electronic take back in Europe, we consulted Dr. Reinhard Hoehn, who is one of the executives in Corporate Environmental Affairs at IBM in Stuttgart, Germany. Dr. Hoehn gave us a great presentation about IBM’s efforts to reuse and recycle electronic equipment worldwide.

On a logistics end, this directive and subsequent legislation can become a serious problem for IBM. Considering IBM operates in a handful of countries in the EU, having different legislation in each country can pose a significant burden for compliance. With this, IBM has undergone efforts to harmonize member legislation so that IBM can have singular compliance. IBM, as a company, has a worldwide policy in regards to reuse and recycling – which is exciting to know – so that if take back legislation is enacted in Europe and is stringent, those in the USA can benefit from such legislation.

Most of the product take back is done at the corporate level which IBM can handle through minimal logistics. It is IBM's public take back program that can cause some headaches.

1^st IBM has to coordinate with municipalities so that it can collect the electronics curbside or at a municipal location. IBM has a coordination group that provides a dual role between government and the company because reporting to the EU is based upon market share .

2^nd The municipality must give the electronics back to industry in a recycling bin and industry replaces the full bin with an empty one.

3^rd Then the reusing/recycling begins at an IBM contracted facility.

It was pointed out to us by Dr. Hoehn that there is free movement of goods in the European Union, but not free movement of waste. This creates an interesting dilemma for IBM in Europe whereby they have to be careful when transporting waste because it is illegal to transport lead and other materials that are used in old computers but by law have to comply with the take back legislation.

IBM is at the forefront of reusing and recycling - which at the end of the day is good for the earth, and good business. Since IBM sold off its PC business to Lenovo in 2004, IBM mostly does business in the large server market. The good business of reusing and recycling can help IBM since a large portion of these servers are leased to companies. If IBM takes them back and reuses them they can reenter into service in the refurbished market.

Some interesting statistics from IBM and the Environment - it makes you think what type of computer do I use? And are they more are less environmentally friendly?

Cradle of the Automobile Embraces Cycling

The City of Stuttgart has been a car-dominated city for more than 50 years. Dubbed “The Cradle of the Automobile”, it is home to Daimler Benz, Porsche, Maybach, Bosch and Mahle.

“Nobody thought about cyclists for years,” said Claus Kohnlein, Stuttgart's Bicycle Officer in our meeting on Thursday. His department has been working to reduce speed limits and increase the number of bike lanes in this auto friendly city.

The newest part of his bicycle strategy is the Call a Bike Program which is designed to address traffic congestion, improve air quality and increase mobility options. Call a Bike is a Deutsche Bahn program in several of Germany's major cities and Karl-Heinz Erdt, Deutsche Bahn Dispatcher for Call a Bike Stuttgart was also at the meeting.

One of Stuttgart's 65 Bike Stations

Implemented in 2007, Call a Bike has been widely accepted in Stuttgart with 60,000 bike rentals in 2008. There are 65 bike rental station in 10 square kilometers in the Downtown area. The city converted car parking spaces into bike stations, with 6 bicycles in each former car spot.

How it Works Herr Erdt and Herr Kohnlein demonstrated how to use they system and the time it takes to rent a bike is only slightly longer than it would take to unlock a personal bicycle.

1. There is a one-time registration completed online at www.callabike.de or by calling 07000 5 22 55 22. You must provide a credit or debit card number for the rental fees. There is a 5 Euro registration fee that will be used for your first bike rentals.

2. Call the number on the bicycle on your mobile phone and the automated system will provide a code that must be entered into a keypad to release the bike lock. The system will also text your phone with the number so that you may lock and unlock the bike multiple times during the rental.

3. There is a bolt that locks the wheels if you need to lock your bike, but don't want to return it to a station.

4. To return the bike, bring it to any of the 65 stations, lock the bike to the rack and enter the same four digit code.

Who uses Call a Bike?

The largest demographic of Call a Bikers are residents and tourists 18-35 years old because this is the age group most comfortable using mobile phones. Although, using a mobile phone is convenient for many , Herr Kohnlein explained that it was also a drawback for people without cell phones. Stuttgart and Deutsche Bahn are researching the possibility of a kiosk to make the system even more user friendly.

User Cost

The bikes are free for the first hour and then can be rented by the minute, the day or the week. It costs 8 cents a minute to rent or a maximum of 9 Euro each day. Bikes can be rented for a a week for 36 Euro.

Multi-modal transportation is the goal. Trains, Bikes & Car Sharing make a complete system.

Transit Culture

“If you need mobility, we are your partner,” Herr Erdt said. Deutsche Bahn has a corporate mindset of true customer service. I also noticed this attitude at the local transit agency in Duisburg. There is truly a focus on the rider's experience throughout the rider's entire journey. The transit agencies we have spoken with in Germany value customer goodwill and see it as their duty to provide the best possible user experience.

In the future, Stuttgart would like to combine the bike system with Pedelec bikes because Stuttgart is a very hilly city. There are political, technical and financial obstacles to providing the electric bicycles, but it may be a bike rental option in the future.

Deutsche Bahn provides maintenance and ensures stations have bikes at all times.

Start-Up Costs

The investment and risk of the program is assumed by Deutsche Bahn and it does not profit from the Call a Bike program, but the bikes are excellent advertising and the system encourages people to ride trains because they know they can hop on a bike when they arrive. The City of Stuttgart pays Deutsche Bahn a fee to provide and maintain Call a Bike. Each bike costs 1,000 Euro, each rack costs 300 Euro and the bikes are very well maintained.

Bike Rental in Cleveland

Could a program like this work in Cleveland without an entity such as Deutsche Bahn? Herr Erdt and Herr Kohnlein don't believe this type of bike rental will work without a partnership between the city and a large partner—whether it is a public, private or charitable entity.

I am not sure which organizations could best create a bike sharing program, but I imagine a Call a Bike Station at Cleveland's forthcoming Bike Center, Public Square at the CSU campus and at University Circle to start.