Category: Earth Day - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Earth Month Proclamation by Local Mayors

4/7/2020

April is Earth Month City Proclamation

Environmental Forum

April 1st marks the beginning of Earth Month. The mayors of Bettendorf, Davenport, East Moline and Rock Island signed a proclamation declaring the month of April to be Earth Month in their city.

Each year, in the weeks leading up to the April 22 Earth Day, we are encouraged to initiate and participate in activities that focus on the needs of the environment and climate solutions. With the rollback of environmental regulations and climate change, the earth is in a crisis. This is urgent! We need to join together and help the planet fight for its life. The responsibility falls on each one of us. Contact the Environmental Forum for suggestions about what you can do in this effort.

Susan Leuthauser

What You Can Do Now - Start a Climate Victory Garden

4/7/2020

Celebrate the Beginning of Earth Month - Start a Climate Victory Garden

Your Own Home

Environmental Forum

Live celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day has been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, but the festivities are going to take place digitally to mark this milestone event. Through the month of April the Environmental Forum will post activities you can do as we’re staying at home and practicing social distancing.

Be a part of the climate solution, join the Green America Climate Victory Garden movement and start a Climate Victory Garden. Plants help sequester carbon in the soil. The Climate Victory Garden uses gardening methods that minimize soil disturbance and improves the ability of the soil to hold carbon. If you already have a garden, you can transform it into a Victory Garden by doing the following:

Know your garden, - test the soil to determine nutrient content and plant accordingly.
Grow edible plants and increase your vegetable consumption.
Cover the soil with mulch, leaves or cover plants. Mulching reduces water needs, soil erosion, protects soil microbes, and maintains topsoil.
Maintain a chemical-free garden by composting your food waste and using it as fertilizer.
Plant pollinator habitats to encourage biodiversity.
Plant perennials - they reduce soil disturbance.

Click on this link to get started on your Climate Victory Garden.

For additional information on Climate Victory Garden, visit the Green America Climate Victory Garden 101 website.

Susan Leuthauser

Attend City Council Meeting in Support of Earth Month Proclamation

3/11/2020

Earth Day Proclamation - East Moline -
Monday, March 16th at 6:30 pm

East Moline City Hall
915 16th Avenue E Moline, IL (map)

Environmental Forum

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day this April, the Environmental Forum has asked the mayors of local cities to pass a proclamation declaring April, 2020 as Earth Month. You may read the letter to these mayors along with our suggested proclamation on our Earth Month Proclamation Blog post.

Most of the mayors have responded to our request, and the proclamation will be proposed at their city council meetings. The first meetings we are aware of are East Moline and Davenport.

We would like to have PACG members from each city attend these city council meetings to voice support for our proclamation and all sustainability efforts in their city. Please contact Shirley, Susan, PJ or Lori if you are willing to come to your city hall in support of this issue. We will keep you informed about upcoming dates as they are scheduled.

The East Moline city council meeting is at 915 16th Avenue, 2nd Floor, East Moline at 6:30 pm.

Davenport's city council meeting to pass the proclamation is tentatively scheduled for April 8th. The more people who attend, the more council members will recognize how important environmental issues are to their citizens.

If you are able to attend or have specific questions, please contact the people below by your location.

East Moline and Silvis residents - contact Lori McCollum.

Bettendorf and Moline residents - contact Susan Leuthauser.

Rock Island residents - contact Shirley Johnson.

Davenport residents - contact PJ Slobojan.

What You Can Do Now - Support Earth Month Proclamation at Your City Council Meeting

3/11/2020

Attend Your City Council Meeting to Voice Support for the Earth Month Proclamation - What You Can Do Now

Environmental Forum

The Environmental Forum has requested that local municipalities consider declaring April as Earth Month in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

The following cities are having Earth Month Proclamations issued at their city council meetings. All PACG members are welcome at each event, and we especially hope that everyone attends their own city's council meeting to voice their support for these proclamations and for continued year-round efforts to protect the environment.

3/16 East Moline: 6:30 pm at 915 16th Avenue, 2nd floor, East Moline, IL (map)
3/17 Bettendorf: 7:00 pm at 1609 State St. Bettendorf, IA (map)
3/23 Rock Island: 6:45 pm at 1528 3rd Ave, 3rd floor, Rock Island, IL (map)
4/08 Davenport: 5:30 pm at 226 W. 4th Street Davenport, IA (map)

We would like to have PACG members from each city attend these city council meetings to voice support for our proclamation and all sustainability efforts in their city. Please contact Shirley, Susan, PJ or Lori if you are willing to come to your city hall in support of this issue.

We will keep you informed about upcoming dates as they are scheduled.

If you are able to attend or have specific questions, please contact the people below by your location.

East Moline and Silvis residents - contact Lori McCollum.

Bettendorf and Moline residents - contact Susan Leuthauser.

Rock Island residents - contact Shirley Johnson.

Davenport residents - contact PJ Slobojan.

What You Can Do Now - Keep Up-to-Date With Our Earth Month Calendar

3/10/2020

Keep Up-to-Date on April Earth Week Activities in Our Area

Environmental Forum

PACG is partnering with many organizations in the Quad Cities Area to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, which was originally established as April 22, 1970. Various groups are offering a wide variety of ways to honor our connection to the principles of having clean waterways, protecting species, moving toward a commitment of clean transportation and rethinking urban land use.

Our PACG website will maintain a current calendar list of everything we know about that relates to Earth Week. You can view the PACG calendar here. We are proud that our website, calendar and Facebook pages are ways for our community to know what's happening. And, although we don't usually post Community Events on our PACG calendar, we are going to for the month of April so that people in the Quad Cities can readily find the events celebrating the day, week and month devoted to taking care of the Earth.

Contact Lori McCollum with questions or comments.

Earth Month Proclamation - Environmental Forum

3/8/2020

Proclamation to Establish the Month of April as Earth Month
in the Quad Cities

Environmental Forum

Because this April marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, the Environmental Forum has written to the mayors in the Quad Cities Area, requesting that they declare the month of April Earth Month. The letter to these mayors reads as follows:

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, which was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. The original goal was to inspire an appreciation of our nation’s natural resources through conservation and protection. The Environmental Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) is encouraging Quad City Area communities to make official Earth Day Proclamations in recognition of a commitment to environmental stewardship. We have attached a draft proclamation for your city council’s consideration and use.

Quad City Earth Month activities can be found at the Quad City Earth Coalition web-link: https://www.qcearth.org/earthweek2020.

The draft proclamation that PACG would like each city council to consider is:

Earth Day Proclamation 2020

WHEREAS, Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, with the goal of inspiring an appreciation of our nation’s natural resources through conservation and protection; and

WHEREAS, the celebration of this day marks an annual review of and commitment to the principles of that first Earth Day; and

WHEREAS, Earth Day marks a renewed commitment to environmental stewardship and to the implementation of sustainability efforts; and

WHEREAS, the global community now faces extraordinary challenges, such as environmental degradation, global health issues, climate change, food and water shortages; and

WHEREAS, a green economy can be achieved on the individual level through education, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns; and

WHEREAS, it is understood that the citizens of the global community must step forward and take action to create positive environmental change to combat the aforementioned global challenges; and

WHEREAS, the City of Davenport celebrates Earth Day by extending it to the month of April in recognition of the commitment to environmental stewardship; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Davenport residents are encouraged to implement practices designed to preserve and protect our environment and shape the future of our environmental security.

THEREFORE, I, (name), Mayor of (city), do hereby proclaim the month of April 2020 as Earth Month.

We hope that the mayors take this proclamation to their next city council meeting for discussion and input from the community. We ask that residents attend these meetings to strongly voice their support for their city adapting some form of this proclamation to proclaim April as Earth Month in the Quad Cities. We will post information in the Weekly Email Update as meetings are made known to us. Thanks for your continued support.

Lori McCollum
Susan Leuthauser
Shirley Jackson

Environmental Forum Meeting

6/24/2019

Environmental Forum Meeting - Monday, July 1st at 6:30 pm

Cobblestone Place, 1212 W 3rd Street, Davenport, IA (map)

The PACG Environmental Forum will meet on the first Monday of each month. We welcome newcomers to our Forum ~ this week’s topics include:

• The June 27, 2019 PACG Environmental Forum Green Drinks Gathering the last Thursday of every month from 5:00-7:00 pm. Join us for this networking opportunity at Fresh Deli at the Freight House (map).

• Meeting with Iowa and Illinois state legislators and federal representatives. Please bring a question you would like to ask your legislators https://votesmart.org/

• Earth Day 2020!!! Planning - Join us for this planning meeting!

Shirley Johnson

Environmental Forum Meeting

5/28/2019

PACG Environmental Forum Meeting -
Monday, June 3rd at 6:30 pm

Cobblestone Place
1212 W 3rd Street, Davenport, IA (map)

The PACG Environmental Forum will meet on the first Monday of each month. We welcome newcomers to our Forum ~ this week’s topics include:

June 27, 2019 PACG Environmental Forum Green Drinks on the last-Thursday-of-the-month (5:00-7:00 p.m.) networking opportunity at Fresh Deli (map) at the Freight House.

Earth Day 2020!!! Planning the 50th anniversary

Meeting with Iowa and Illinois state legislatures and federal representatives. Please bring a question you would like to ask your legislator to our meeting Monday evening.

Voters deserve to know: Which candidates commit to acting on climate change as a "Day One" priority when in office. Whether presidential candidates support the Green New Deal or can offer their own climate plan that also meets the scale of the crisis.

Sixty-two percent of voters believe that the federal government should do more to address climate change. (Jennifer Marlon et al., "Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2018," Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.)

Join us for this planning meeting!

Shirley Johnson

Earth Day 2019 Was a Success!

5/2/2019

2019 Earth Day Celebration - After Action Report

St. Ambrose University Rogalski Center and Freight House Farmers Market

The PACG Environmental Forum began the 2019 Earth Day celebration by screening the National Geographic film Paris to Pittsburgh on April 17th from 5 pm. to 7 p.m. at Rogalski Center, St. Ambrose University. This event was held jointly with the SAU Green Life Environmental Club. A panel discussion on Climate Change and actions needed to address this urgent issue followed the film. Approximately 120 students and members of the general public filled one of the Rogalski ballrooms, it was standing room only for the late comers.

The second Earth Day celebration was held on Saturday, April 20th, from 9 am to 1 pm at the Freight House in Davenport. The Environmental Forum teamed up with the Freight House Farmers Market and Living Lands & Water to host this event. Twenty speakers gave 10 minute “mini-TED” talks on various environmental topics. There were over twenty display and activity tables hosted by environmental organizations, a museum, and vendors. Many learned how to repurpose a T-shirt into a tote bag and Farmers Market kicked off their 2019 Bag Reduction Program.

There was live music, children’s activities, door prizes, and networking everywhere during the event. The river and weather cooperated - about 2,000 visitors enjoyed a beautiful sunny morning along the riverfront and learned about the urgency of protecting the environment. Visit our FB page for more pictures of the event.

Planning for the 2020 Earth Day events has already started. 2020 will mark the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day! If you have any suggestions, please contact the Environmental Forum and/or join us at one of our meetings on the first Monday of each month.

Susan Leuthauser

Message from Our President

4/29/2019

Hello Progressives!

Message from the President

I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to the Environmental Forum for the very successful Earth Day event that was held a week ago Saturday! This group of people worked hard to make sure that our messages about the environment were heard. I hear plans are underway for next year's event. We can all be proud of this event!

I also wanted to let you all know that we have two new board members: Deb Sperry and Glenda Guster. Both of these women are hard working progressives. We are lucky to have them join our board!

Keep up the good fight everyone, Allison.