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

Get free seeds at the Seed Library - Of Interest to Our Community

5/6/2025

Davenport Seed Library

Davenport Public Library
Main Library
321 Main Street
Davenport, IA (map)

Davenport Public Library

Davenport Seed Library provides free seeds to residents to promote lifelong learning and encourage stewardship of natural resources. It is available during open hours for patrons of all ages! Supplies and varieties vary, but the collection usually includes vegetables, flowers, microgreens, and herbs. Seeds are available while supplies last.

There is no cost to borrow seeds. There is a limit of five (5) seed packets per month per household. You are not required to return any saved seeds to the library, but may if you wish! We may accept donated seeds but prefer clean, open-pollinated, or heirloom seeds. Please share your gardening success when using seeds from the Seed Library! Add #dplseeds and tag @davenportlibrary wherever you post!

For more resources on starting, growing, and harvesting vegetables and flowers in your own backyard, visit the Seed Library Growing Companion LibGuide.

Davenport Public Library
563-326-7832

No lead in our water - Action Alert

3/4/2025

Ask Congress to keep lead out of our water Action Alert

Environmental Forum

Please contact your US House Representative (Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa and Eric Sorenson in Illinois) to voice your opinion on this issue.

Resolution H.J. Res. 44 was introduced in Congress on Feb 12th to repeal the “National
Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper: Improvements (LCRI)." The
EPA adopted this rule in October, 2024 that requires the replacement of all lead-containing
water service lines over the next decade. Contact your representative and ask him/her to
keep lead out of our water by voting "NO" on H.J.Res. 44 and any other similar resolution.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks can be reached at 202-225-6576
Eric Sorenson can be reached at 202-225-5905

Susan Leuthauser (she/her)

Iowa's tested waters are dangerous! - Of Interest to Our Members

4/2/2024

More than half of Iowa’s tested streams and lakes are ‘impaired’

Environmental Forum

The North Raccoon River routinely has elevated levels of nitrate contamination.
(Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

From the Iowa Capital Dispatch:
By: Jared Strong - March 15, 2024

There are at least 721 water body segments in Iowa that do not meet water quality standards for recreation, public water supplies and the protection of aquatic life, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The DNR has drafted its latest list of “impaired” waters that it is required to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency every two years. The list is based on data collected by the department and numerous other entities between 2020 and 2022, and it is used to guide restrictions for stream pollution for sources such as wastewater treatment systems.

The number of impaired water body segments — which can be lakes, wetlands and parts of streams — declined about 4% from the last report in 2022.

But just 24% of stream segments and 30% of lakes that were sampled were deemed healthy. Elevated bacteria concentrations were the most-cited cause of impairment.

“We’re going to see fluctuations based on the climate, how much rainfall we’re getting, what the stream levels are,” said Noah Poppelreiter, water monitoring supervisor for the DNR.

He declined to speculate about water quality trends in the state but said the department has worked to increase its monitoring in recent years.

It assessed more than 1,400 segments for the latest report, which is a little more than half of the total segments identified by the state.

The 387 segments deemed “healthy” by the DNR are mostly composed of waters that meet some quality standards but lack sufficient data to determine that all the standards are met.

Only 24 water body segments had proof they met all the standards, up from 15 in the last report two years ago.

“That’s an abysmal number,” said David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa. “It shows we’ve got really severe water quality problems.”

The DNR noted 47 fish kills during the monitoring period. Animal waste, fertilizers and pesticides accounted for more than half of them. The causes of a third of the kills were unknown.

Plastic Free Festival - After Action Report

7/9/2023

Plastic Free Festival After Action Report

Environmental Forum

PACG joined the Quad Cities Earth Coalition to celebrate Plastic Free July at Niabi Zoo on Saturday, July 8th. The Environmental Forum hosted a table with educational materials encouraging zoo attendees to reduce plastic use.

Susan Leuthauser

Oppose the Illinois plastics pollution bill - What You Can Do Now

3/19/2023

Call to oppose the Illinois plastic pollution bill

Environmental Forum

The Environmental Forum encourages all of our Illinois members and friends to call their legislators to voice their opposition to House Bill 1616. Our allies at Beyond Plastics have done a lot of work on this important issue.

Dear Environmentalist,

An Illinois House Bill may soon come up for a vote that would promote false recycling solutions and potentially expose communities to toxic pollution if passed. We need your help to oppose it ASAP!
Please make a call now to your Illinois House Representative and urge them to vote 'No' on HB1616 - it only takes a few minutes.

HB1616 is backed by powerful petrochemical interests. See the WasteDive article: "Chemical recycling facility bill in Illinois highlights tensions around future permitting."

HB1616 would amend an existing Illinois state law that promotes "chemical recycling." The bill would extend the deadline for a pilot "pyrolysis" or "gasification" facility to begin construction without undergoing Illinois EPA's regular environmental permitting process. Pyrolysis and gasification (two technologies that fall under the umbrella term "chemical recycling") mostly turn plastic waste into low grade fossil fuels to be burned.

These technologies are polluting, generate hazardous waste, and are sited in low-income communities and communities of color. Also troubling, policies to promote chemical recycling can undermine waste reduction. The straightforward solution to plastic waste is to reduce the production and use of plastics in the first place.

HB1616 could come up for a vote any day. This bill has industry support, and grassroots opposition is critical to make sure false solutions like "chemical recycling" don't undermine true recycling and reduction efforts. Click here for calling instructions and a sample script.

Thank you for your help.

Alexis Goldsmith, Beyond Plastics

Lori McCollum

After Action Report - the Environmental Forum in 2021

1/17/2022

2021 Environmental Forum Activities - After Action Report

Environmental Forum

The Environmental Forum had a busy 2021. Here's summary of our activities:

Held ten Green Drinks virtual events and one Green Drinks in-person gathering.
Celebrated one specific environmental day/issue each month and published an informational and take-action flier (images and flyers below).
Held a weekly outreach table at the Farmers' Market during the market season.
The theme for the 2021 Earth Day was “Restore the Earth” and we celebrated this occasion with 2 events:
- Screened the film “Kiss the Ground,” followed by a panel discussion on the topic by soil conservation experts.
- Hosted an Earth Day Fair at the Farmers Market.
Supported City Council woman Judith Lee’s effort to pass the Davenport Resolution in support of a policy for Energy, Environmental, and Climate Change Sustainability and Resiliency.
Participated in the St. Ambrose University Sustainability Fest.
Supported the NAACP Environmental Justice Committee Events.
Participated in several local cleanup efforts.
Participated in the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative to collect plastic waste data.
Worked with Rock Island County residents to address the issue of the closing of the recycling centers.
Worked with the Davenport North High School Environmental Club students on their environmental projects.
Actively participated as a member of the QC Earth Coalition and River Action Steering Committee.
Supported NAACP Environmental Justice Group events.
Initiated the QC Voter Turnout/Voter information project.

We have made our 2021 Monthly Environmental Celebrations into two flyers. They print off nicely back-to-back to make a perfect placemat for the family. We have attached the flyers here as pdfs of Side 1 and Side 2.

Susan Leuthauser

2021_monthly_celebration_placemat_side_1.pdf
File Size:	1489 kb
File Type:	pdf

2021_monthly_celebration_placemat_side_2.pdf
File Size:	1271 kb
File Type:	pdf

After Action Report - The Environmental Voter

10/14/2020

The Environmental Voter: A Path to a Just and Stable Climate - After Action Report
Friday, October 2nd at 5:00 pm

Environmental Forum

On October 2nd over 40 participants attended our Happy Hour with Donald Addu from Citizens Climate Lobby. Local speakers discussed issues such as health complications and economic issues related to environmental factors. Don was an excellent speaker who interwove his personal stories with a history of environmental racism and injustice. This was recorded and is available upon request. Please contact me for a link if you are interested in seeing it.

Lori McCollum

Fourth Informed Voter Town Hall - Canceled

9/22/2020

This even has been canceled.

Fourth Informed Voters Town Hall via Zoom - Update
Thursday, October 8th from 6:00 to 7:00 pm

Environmental Forum

CANCELED - Informed Voter 4th Town Hall - Environmental Policy and the Climate Crisis has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

As an organization, PACG has learned a lot about what we can improve on with events like the Informed Voter series. With the time crunch of an election upon us, the candidates were unable to attend this town hall. And early voting means that people are already voting in Illinois and Iowa.

We are disappointed to have not heard from these candidates on issues that are so important to us all. For the next election cycles, we hope to plan farther ahead. Thanks for your continued support.

The Environmental Forum is a cosponsor of the Fourth Informed Voter Virtual Town Hall. Candidates for the US House of Representatives for Illinois and Iowa have been invited to participate in this Zoom event. We will ask candidates to explain their views on climate change and give us an understanding as to what their environmental policies will entail if they are elected.

More information will be in next week's WEU.

Susan Leuthauser

The Environmental Voter - Zoom Happy Hour

9/22/2020

The Environmental Voter: A Path to a Just and Stable Climate via Zoom
Friday, October 2nd at 5:30 pm

Environmental Forum

Join us for a happy hour with Don Addu and learn about how your vote impacts the environment and your community.

To register go to: www.us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/

You'll be sent an access link after registration.

Susan Leuthauser