Category: What You Can Do Now - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Support Afghan Refugees - What You Can Do Now

1/18/2022

Furniture Donation for Afghan Refugees - Action Alert
Drop off Monday through Friday 9 am to 3pm

World Relief Quad Cities
1852 16th Street, Moline, IL (map)

World Relief and PACG Civil Rights Forum

The PACG Civil Rights Forum works in coalition with other groups aiding immigrants and refugees. World Relief is in the process of resettling 175 Afghan refugees who will be arriving in the Quad Cities by February. The relief volunteers have been impacted by the surge in Covid cases and could use our help.

Initially, most of the refugees are temporarily housed in area hotels while permanent living quarters are being set up. World Relief is requesting donations of furniture, household appliances and other supplies to help these people start their new lives in our area.

Susan Leuthauser

ACA Sign Up - What You Can Do Now

1/6/2022

Sign Up for ACA Coverage for 2022
Enrollment Ends on Saturday, January 15th

Health Care Reform Forum

Consumers seeking government-subsidized health insurance for next year can sign up by Saturday, January 15th for Affordable Care Act coverage, with increased financial assistance available through President Joe Biden's coronavirus relief legislation. This coverage will take effect on February 1st.

People who are already enrolled don't have to do anything. If they're satisfied with their current plan, they will be automatically renewed for 2022.

HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts are insurance marketplaces that offer taxpayer-subsidized private coverage.

Go to http://healthcare.gov/ for more information.

Julie Ross

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

No Hate - Prejudice and Indigenous Women

11/8/2021

How prejudice affects the cases of missing Indigenous women

PBS Newshour

From the Newshour description from 9/27/2021:

“While Gabby Petito's death has captured national attention, tens of thousands of people are reported missing or murdered every year in the U.S. Native women are murdered at rates 10 times the national average. In Wyoming alone, 710 indigenous people were reported missing from 2011 to 2020. Amna Nawaz discusses those statistics with Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute”.

Watch or read the transcript via this link: https://www.pbs.org/video/unsolved-crimes-1632779487/

Julie Ross

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.

Recycling Centers Closing in Rock Island

8/17/2021

Closing of the Rock Island County Recycling Centers
Tuesdays, August 17th and
September 21st at 1:00 pm

1504 3rd Avenue
Rock Island, IL Room 320 (map)

Environmental Forum

News Release: Appeal to Rock Island County Waste Management Agency to keep drop-off sites.

Attend August and September Board meetings to share your concerns.

(Rock Island, IL) – Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) announces a call to action in response to the closure of recycling drop-off centers!

Please join PACG representatives in attending the Rock Island County Waste Management Agency (RICWMA) Board meetings on both Tuesday, August 17th and Tuesday, September 21st at 1:00 pm at the Rock Island County Office Building at 1504 3rd Avenue, Room 302, Rock Island, IL 61201.

The RICWMA Board has announced that they are closing the recycling drop-off centers on September 30th. Their press release, reported by the QC Times and Argus/Dispatch on July 8th, stated that this decision was based on a budgetary shortfall due to decreased revenue in solid waste tonnage attributed to businesses being closed during the pandemic. They did not explain why other options were not pursued, nor did they obtain public input for this decision.

Many Rock Island County residents have no curbside recycling option, and discontinuing this program will create a massive increase in waste sent to our county landfill. A great deal of the material will include plastics, which do not degrade for hundreds of years. This is not an equitable arrangement for the county’s citizens, and we would like them to explore alternative solutions. If you share these concerns, please join PACG in asking the RICWMA Board to reconsider this plan.

Shirley Johnson

Register for Our Picnic and Pie Auction! - WYCDN

8/3/2021

Register Now for Our
9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction
Sunday, September 12th at 12:00 noon

Fejervary Park (Shelter # 1)
1800 W. 12th St.
Davenport, Iowa (map)

We are back LIVE for our Annual Picnic and Pie Auction with some exciting new, family-friendly activities in the works!

Please register here: https://pacg.app.neoncrm.com/event.jsp?event=516&.

Allison Ambrose

Pollinator Gardens - August Environmental Celebration

8/3/2021

Pollinator Gardens - August Environmental Celebration

Environmental Forum

Many of you have already realized the importance of planting pollinator-loving plants in your yard. For those still seeking information, here is some history: Why We Have Grass Lawns (FYI: Green lawns were “invented” and popularized by the European aristocracy as a status symbol). We have been conditioned to see lush, green, weedless lawns as beautiful and desirable; but, to save our planet, we need to change this way of thinking.

In reality, lush green lawns are nutritional deserts for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Dandelions are an important nectar source, yet we’ve been conditioned to view those yellow flowers as pesky. Early in the spring, when the world becomes alive again, the bees and other pollinators emerge when very few other flowers have bloomed. Dandelions are valuable for vital for their nutrition.

By necessity, pollinator gardens must change as the season does. It is a privilege to be able to be in tune with the subtleties of different blooming times and their connection with migrating birds and insects. As the saying goes, “When the goldenrod blooms, it is time for monarchs to start their long migration south.”

Take Action Steps:

Don’t mow early in the spring. The bees need your dandelions. Leave a patch of clover and dandelions after each mowing.
Plant native pollinators - avoid plants treated with pesticides and those genetically modified with neonicotinoids. Most big-box stores do not know the sources of their plants. Shop at local nurseries that know their suppliers.
Plant flowers that bloom at different times during the growing season.
Get inspired by visiting a prairie! Here are some local suggestions: Wapsi Education Center, Illiniwek Forest Preserve, Jo Daviess County.
Do NOT use any herbicides or pesticides. Even the smallest exposure will kill bees and butterflies.
Create pollinator-friendly areas in your yard. There is a lot of information online. Here’s an example: Unleash the Wild on Your Back Yard.
Plant milkweed. Plant milkweed. Plant milkweed. Learn more at MonarchWatch.com.
Attend the Wapsi Monarch Fest, Saturday, September 11th.
Watch Flight of the Butterflies.
Join a group on Facebook: The Beautiful Monarch; Monarchs of Eastern Iowa; Pollinator Gardening; Muscatine Pollinator Project; Illinois Monarch Waystation Capital.
Come to PACG’s Annual Picnic on Sunday, September 12th. We will have milkweed seed bombs for you to distribute and monarch butterflies to release.

Recycling Drop-Off Centers to Close - Environmental Concerns

7/29/2021

Rock Island County to Eliminate Recycling Drop-Off Centers

Environmental Forum

According to an article in the QC Times and Argus/Dispatch on July 8th, Rock Island County Waste Management Agency will terminate their Recycling Drop-Off Centers on September 30th. This agency represents 12 cities in Rock Island County. The article states that this decision was based on a budgetary short-fall, which was due to decreased revenue in solid waste tonnage attributed to businesses being closed during the pandemic.

We encourage Illinois residents to send letters of concern to the agency at 1504 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL, 61201 or at www.ricwma.org. If you have used the drop-off sites personally, please share your need for these services.

Lori McCollum

9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction - Save the Date

7/6/2021

Save the Date: 9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction
Sunday, September 12th at 12:00 noon

Fejervary Park
1759 W. 12th St.
Davenport, Iowa (map)

We are back LIVE for our Annual Picnic and Pie Auction with some exciting new, family friendly activities in the works! More details provided in the coming weeks.

Allison Ambrose