July 2014
The People's Climate March on September 21 as nations gather for a UN Meeting on climate will be the largest in history. Plan to join the Sierra Club and dozens of other organizations to demand real action on global warming. Click here for details. Join the Conversation Connect with Read Subscribe to our Mailing Lists |
*The Climate March in New York City is happening on September 21. On June 8th, Dan Sherrell, Sierra Club’s national organizer for NYC, sat down with the ExCom to brief Group Leaders on preparations. He explained that his responsibility was to recruit as many individuals as he could in a kind of each-one-reach-one method: Individuals would commit to participate in the March and would then be asked to commit to contact more people and so on. The Group ExCom decided that it would develop an organizing strategy. At a follow-up telephone conference call on Monday, July 14, several members set up a call-a-thon for the 23rd with plans to invite members of the ExCom mailing list and others to the March (see below).
Susan Long and Pat O'Connell talk to visitors |
*This year’s City of Water Day on Governors Island July 12th was, to quote the song, a “bright, sun-shiny day.” Six volunteers, rotating in two-hour shifts from 10:00 to 4:00, spoke with visitors. Dozens of people, from all five boroughs, stopped to chat with us about what the Club is and its views and work on many issues, and more than 30 signed up to request more information about our work. It also gave us a chance to introduce people who did not know about the Club to our work. Much thanks to the volunteers who helped answer questions and hand out literature. It especially gave us a chance to talk with many people about the Sept. 21 Climate March.
*Here’s what phone banking for the Climate March looks like: Nine people with cell phones showed up and after a little socializing (Dan Sherrell of the Sierra Club supplied the pizza), got busy with the work of calling people about the Climate March on September 21st. The message was simple: Can you show support and come out to the Climate March? If the answer was yes, we directed them to http://sierraclub.org/climatemarch. We also asked them if they would like to help make the March a success by volunteering to help organize. We planned another Phone-a-than for later in August. Watch our Calendar for details.
*So, how about you? Can you get involved in the People's Climate March in New York City on September 21. The People's Climate March--held just days before the United Nations Climate Summit--is an unparalleled opportunity to let our world leaders know how urgently the public is calling for solutions to climate disruption, and how we need to move quickly from dirty fuels to clean energy. We’re working to make it the biggest public outpouring of support for climate solutions this planet has ever seen. RSVP now for more details at sierraclub.org/climatemarch. Contact dan.sherrell@sierraclub.org if you're interested in volunteering in NYC to help build this March.
*Do you know that about half the food that is grown is never eaten? Waste occurs at farms, processing plants, and supermarkets, but much occurs in homes. We throw out 23 pounds of food per month—about 20% of what we buy. Think of what that food costs you and the environment. The war against wasting food starts at home and when you shop: (1) Don’t buy food until you use what you already have. (2) Avoid impulse buying and make lists, for a few days, a week, or a month. Don’t buy what you’re not sure you’ll use. (3) Try to plan multiple dishes using the same ingredients. Don’t buy extra; buy less, so none of it goes to waste. (5) Buy smaller packages, even if it costs more per serving. You save nothing from the larger package if you throw away half of it. (6) Don’s buy anything you’ve thrown out 3 times in the past few months unless you know exactly when you’ll be eating it. Check out National Geographic “Feeding Nine Billion.” And, check out the Ted X talk on food waste by Truistram Stuart by clicking here. Send your ideas for wasting less food to Bonnie Webber.
*Check out these recent posts on our Blog: FHWA: Bike-Ped Investments Pay Off By Cutting Traffic and Improving Health, Maine Victory: City Council Prevents Tar Sands Oil Exports and Taking Back the Gowanus Canal. And don’t forget to check our calendar and the Upcoming Events Widget on all pages of our site for events of interest to environmentalists in and around New York City.
If you are interested in volunteering to work on the NYC Group’s online and digital communications, please email Gary Nickerson at gary@gwntec.com.