Category: Environmental Forum - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

February Green Drinks - PACG Event

1/18/2022

February Green Drinks - Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative
Tuesday, February 1st at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

Join us on Tuesday, February 1st from 5 - 7 pm for our February Green Drinks. You will hear from Jennifer Wendt, Mississippi River Cities & Town Initiative (MRCTI), Plastic Waste Reduction Campaign Manager.

In October 2021, many Quad Cities residents participated in this initiative by tracking litter collected along our waterways. Jennifer will summarize the data collected and share the next step for this initiative with us.

Please register in advance at: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/

Susan Leuthauser

January Environmental Celebration - National Bird Day

1/18/2022

January Environmental Celebration - National Bird Day
Wednesday, January 5th

Environmental Forum

January 5th was National Bird Day. The Environmental forum is celebrating birds for the entire month of January. North America lost 3 billion birds in the past 50 years and we need to take action to protect them.

Susan Leuthauser

Green Drinks in 2021 - After Action Report

1/17/2022

Green Drinks 2021 - After Action Report

Environmental Forum

The Environmental Forum held 11 Green Drinks events in 2021. Since March 2019, we have met monthly to network and listen to a presentation by a subject matter expert. In spite of the pandemic, Green Drinks continues to meet virtually on the first Tuesday of each month from 5 to 7 pm. Watch this space for our 2022 gatherings, we have exciting programs coming up.

In January of 2022 the Executive Director of Citizen Climate International Joseph Robertson gave an inspiring talk about what happened at COP26. He gave us hope and motivated us to continue to do our advocacy work.

Susan Leuthauser

Plastic Pollution Initiative - After Action Report

12/22/2021

Plastic Pollution Initiative - After Action Report

Mississippi River City and Town Initiative

For the month of October, numerous organizations in the QC region participated in citizen scientist data collection. Those of us in the Environmental Forum participated in collecting litter and submitting information about the specifics to the Marine Debris Tracker app on our phones. Staff at the University of Georgia, National Geographic, and the United Nations Environment Programme analyzed the data and provided an overview at a Zoom conference on November 17th.

Data was collected from 6476 volunteers, who collected debris from an area equivalent to over 10,000 football fields. Significant take-aways included that the largest sources of litter were cigarette butts and food wrappers, with 76% of the material being made of plastic. What will be done with this data depends in large part upon our city commitments to reduce litter, particularly plastic litter. Ideas discussed at the meeting included modifying city contracts with mowing companies, who may not always clear trash before mowing. The trash is then chopped into little pieces, which then permeates our soil and water. There was also discussion of expanding Keep America Beautiful projects, and increasing the number of trash and recycling receptacles all around our communities. If you are interested in working on a litter campaign, contact the Environmental Forum.

Lori McCollum

January Green Drinks - What Happened at COP26?

12/22/2021

What happened at COP26? - Green Drinks
Tuesday, January 4th at 5:00 pm

Join us on January 4th at 5 pm for the first Green Drinks of 2022. Joseph Robertson, who led a delegation of 23 at COP26 in Glasgow, will share with us his experience and takeaways from the conference. Joe is the Executive Director of Citizen Climate International.

Please register in advance at: zoom.us/meeting/register

Susan Leuthauser

World Soil Day - Environmental Monthly Celebration

11/28/2021

World Soil Day - Sunday, December 5th
December Environmental Celebration

In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly designated December 5th as World Soil Day to focus on the critical nature of healthy soil, and to advocate for the sustainability in soil management.

Soil is an important ecosystem that contributes to human health. It is a habitat for many species, and combats climate change by storing carbon. Currently one third of global soils are damaged by hazardous waste, pesticides, fertilizers and other debris. Soil pollution is often invisible, but it, nonetheless, degrades soil and poisons our food and water.

Half of the earth’s habitable land is used for agriculture. Practices like diverse crop rotation, nutrient management and conservation tillage help rebuild healthy soil. Successful soil management feeds the soil, reduces erosion, improves soil structure, enhances nutrient cycling and water retention, increases soil biodiversity, and sequesters carbon.

Today, American lawns occupy 30-40 million acres of land. Lawn care adds chemicals to the soil, and fuel spilled from lawn equipment further pollutes the soil. Small changes like using organic fertilizer, replacing gas-powered equipment with electric, changing the type of grass, interplanting with clover or native plants, and watering more efficiently, will help regenerate the soil.

Take Action Steps:

If you aren’t doing it, start composting. You don’t need a backyard to do it.

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home or
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/how-create-and-maintain-indoor-worm-composting-bin

Take care of your lawn in an environmentally friendly way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4r88u8euYU

Susan Leuthauser

December Green Drinks - PACG Event

11/24/2021

December Green Drinks - Restoration of the River
Tuesday, December 7th at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

Join us on Tuesday, December 7th at 5 pm to find out how to restore the Mississippi River. Olivia Dorothy, Director, Upper Mississippi Basin at American Rivers, is going to talk to us about how floodplain restoration can be used as a tool to remove downstream nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that runs off from agricultural land.

Please register in advance at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcoduGpqTIsH9fD6ssFCjEteY09ZHZ41w6m

Susan Leuthauser

Green is the New Black - What You Can Do Now

11/24/2021

Green Is the New Black

Environmental Forum

We encourage you to re-think your holiday gift-giving spending! Here are some suggestions. And visit https://betterworldshopper.org to learn how to be a more responsible consumer.

Download this flyer below and share it with your family and friends.

Lori McCollum

green_is_the_new_black.pdf
File Size:	2971 kb
File Type:	pdf

America Recycles Day - Environmental Celebration

11/2/2021

America Recycles Day – November 15th
November Environmental Celebration

America Recycles Day was created by the Keep America Beautiful organization in 1997. Each year on November 15th, millions of people participate by raising awareness of recycling, and by purchasing recycled products. Corporate America has done a pretty good job of recycling paper (66%) and aluminum (65%). However, plastic producers and retailers aren’t doing as well, recycling only 9% of plastic products. Part of the problem is that only plastic products with Plastic Recycling numbers 1 and 2 have a strong market for recycling. The other numbers rarely get recycled. Another problem is that recycling is difficult for some residents without curbside options. Recently, the Rock Island County Waste Management Agency eliminated their four drop-off recycling centers, which had successfully diverted nearly 1000 tons of material from the landfill.

Some states recycle up to 75% of their waste, but Iowa and Illinois only recycle 44% and 37%, respectively. We can, and must do better. Materials that are not recycled are taking up landfill space, and are wasted potential resources. According to the EPA, recycling and reuse activities in the U.S. account for 681,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in tax revenues, and $37.8 billion in wages. Recycling also prevents pollution and saves energy.

Take Action Steps

If you aren’t recycling, start now. It’s easy and reduces your trash. You might be able to use a smaller trash bin, which would reduce your monthly fee.
Keep recyclables clean and dry, and empty and flatten cardboard. Keep plastic bags and wraps out of the recycling bin. They get caught in the machinery that sorts the products.
Special products, such as lithium-ion batteries should not go into recycling bins. They require hazardous waste collection points. Regular alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries are usually collected at participating retailers, because they contain metals which can pose a threat to human health or the environment.
Another way to reduce waste is to reuse products, or reduce purchases in the first place.
Ask your city/county public works department to add recycling containers in local parks, and check on recycling programs in your workplace.
Support companies that offer recycling options for their products, such as Crayola, Calphalon Cookware, Nike, Canon, Amazon Kindle, MAC Cosmetics, Crocs, and Brita.
Recycle your food waste by composting instead of dumping it in the landfill.

November Green Drinks - River Action Programs

10/26/2021

November Green Drinks via Zoom
Tuesday, November 2nd at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

Kathy Wine from River Action, Inc. is going to speak to us at our November Green Drinks on Tuesday, November 2nd at 5:00 pm.. She'll share with us the work that River Action staff and members have been doing to improve the waterways in the Quad Cities.

Please R.S.V.P. at zoom.us/meeting/register/

Susan Leuthauser