New Haven’s been known as the Elm City, the Model City, and, if Nate Bixby has his way, it will soon be known as the “Sustainable City.” Bixby is the moving force behind the Network for a Sustainable New Haven, Inc., which is presenting an evening of ideas to chew on, as well as organic vegetarian victuals and jazz, all wrapped up in a program called “Creating a Space for a Culture of Sustainability,” Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. at Yale’s Peabody Museum on Whitney Avenue.
The event will raise money to increase awareness of and involvement in the 50 organizations that are working to create a more sustainable community in New Haven, beginning with a strategically placed, permanent outdoor public exhibit about tools for choosing a healthy planet right here at home.
“There are all kinds of interesting things happening in New Haven,” Bixby says, “from growing organic food to farmers’ markets to bicycle advocacy to electric trolleys. To the average New Havener these things are not necessarily related, so we are looking to make the connections that all these things contribute to a sustainable lifestyle.” That is, one that doesn’t despoil the air, water and land, and leaves some resources for future generations.
Some of the 50 agencies and organizations involved in the sustainability project are the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station, New Haven Board of Aldermen, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and dozens of grassroots groups such as the New Haven Land Trust, Elm City Cyclists, and the Eco Futurists.
The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a talk by Carl Frankel, author of Out of the Labyrinth and other works on sustainability, followed by a dinner presented by Claire’s Corner Copia, and jazz by Doug White.
Tickets for the evening are $50 per adult (some financial assistance is available) and include the lecture by Frankel, supervised children’s activities at the Peabody from 5 – 6:30, the buffet dinner and the jazz concert. For more information and reservations, call 1 – 888-232‑2085, or email tickets@sustainablenewhaven.org.