NFBPWC Member Spotlight

Environment & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:50:00 GMT

Please meet two of the newest members of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee. Together, we are working on issues that impact women.

Climate change disproportionately impacts women and girls. Let’s change that together. Please consider joining our committee and working on this critical issue.

My name is LaDorian Morris. I was born and raised in Queens, New York and have a Master’s in Public Administration from Baruch College, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, focusing on environmental justice and climate change.

I have a passion for working in the public sector, prioritizing communities in need. Previously, I worked in the social service sector, providing services to individuals struggling with mental illness, substance abuse, lack of housing, living in foster care, and being young and part of a marginalized community such as LGBTQ+.

I volunteered abroad in Bangalore, India, with the organization Art of Living’s For Better India Project, which addresses the scarcity of water in India by rejuvenating rivers, lakes, and streams and works toward reforestation. With the Women’s Empowerment Program I helped with creating jobs and teaching skills for women who had access to limited resources and education.

Currently, I am an Excelsior Fellow with The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. I work within the Recovery unit as a Project Manager and lead local government agencies and municipalities through the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant process in order for them to receive essential emergency funding to reduce the long-term effects of disaster.

My main interests with this committee are initiatives that not only focus on combating climate change but also prioritize environmental justice to ensure that underserved communities have efficient resources for community preparedness, resilience, and recovery for all environmental hazards and disasters.

For fun, I enjoy hiking, roller skating, and travel, and during some of my spare time, I make sustainable jewelry. Dr. Joanne Carfioli Naylor is the current Treasurer for the National Federation of Business and Professional Women (NFBPWC) and President of the NFBPWC-NC Affiliate. She is a pediatric speech-language pathologist with 26 years of experience.

Her interest within our committee is in helping further NFBPWC's mission to preserve and improve the world for woman and men.

In support of this idea, she not only collects shells and sea glass when she goes for walks on Atlantic City Beach, she collects and disposes of garbage, too. Dr. Jo believes that every little bit helps when it comes to helping keep the environment clean and healthy and looks forward to working both locally and nationally to make this world a cleaner and better place for all. She encourages every NFBPWC member to do their part to help the environment in any way possible.

December Sustainability Tip: Change your mindset on gift giving. Move away from material possessions and consider a gift membership or donation to one of the many climate organizations, charities, wildlife trusts, or NFBPWC.

Tracey MacDermott
Chair Environment & Sustainable Development

Environment & Sustainable Impact

Kemi Oyebade — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 17:20:00 GMT

Calling on NFBPWC Members to join us—ESD Needs You!

You may be wondering what the environment has to do with NFBPW, well, look at these statistics from the United Nations Women’s page:

Climate change is driving a surge in gender-based violence (2025 UN Spotlight brief)

Climate change is a “threat multiplier,” worsening gender inequality in conflict-affected areas

Women and girls are less likely to survive natural hazards.

A Gender Snapshot 2024 report indicates that by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty.

Do these things concern you? Do you want to do all you can to help other women and Mother Earth?

If the answers are yes, consider joining us to work on climate issues together and create a just world for all of us.

Contact me at traceymacdermott@gmail.com

Tracey MacDermott

Chair Environment Sustainable Development

2024-2026

https://learn.houstonmethodist.org/cardiovascular-disease/how-2026#

For more information contact the Health Committee.

Environment and Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:50:00 GMT

For information, please email.

TRACEY MACDERMOTT
NFBPWC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
(2024-2026)

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 16:45:00 GMT

Watch Out, Apocolypse

Denver Climate Project Fights Back In Clever New Campaign

What is up with the signs with cryptic messages appearing around town at bus stops and billboards? One billboard, “Do More. Do Less. Do Something” caught my eye. I noticed it is brought to us by the Denver Climate Project. What?

The Denver Climate Project is a brilliant new initiative designed to spark us all into action, and remind us that we can collectively solve the climate crisis. Ultimately, the goal is to get each of us to do more of what helps the planet, less of what hurts the planet and no matter what, DO SOMETHING!

This campaign is brought to you by the voter-approved Climate Protection Fund. Five years ago, 62 percent of Denver voters approved a 0.25 percent sales tax to help tackle climate change. Here are a few of the program’s success highlights: 1 million car trips reduced, 9,400 new e-bikes, 4,500 new trees, 31 buildings electrified (including the Greater Park Hill Community building at 2823 Fairfax St.). There are many other success stories.

As noted on the Denver Climate Project website at denvergov.org/Community/Denver-Climate-Project, our city is experiencing the impacts of climate change: more 100-plus degree days, increased wildfire smoke and droughts. However, the Denver Climate Project is not letting the negatives control the narrative. It is not too late to solve this existential crisis, and this campaign is focused on what each of us can do.

One billboard reads, “Not today, Apocalypse.” Another, “Unlike Climate Deniers, This Billboard Evolves. Soon to be up-cycled into reusable bags.”

In the “Do More” category on the website, people are encouraged to make changes at home, work and on the go. The city has collaborated with Goodwill industries to create the “Denver Climate Collection,” a line of what is described as “upcycled fashion bringing climate action to life.” You can buy these upcycled clothing items at Goodwill’s Archer Store at 21 S. Broadway.

Other things to “Do More” of: bike, compost, plant native species, drive an EV, turn off the lights behind you. Declutter your digital life to reduce energy burden on servers. Encourage co-workers to shut down their computers and unplug devices at night.

There’s also a “Do Less” category — as in simple steps to stop hurtingthe planet. Drive one less car trip per week, take public transit, waste less food, ditch single-use plastics. Wash your clothes in cold water, waste less food, shop at a Zero Waste store.

Encourage your employer to stop using disposable cups and bottled water.

When it comes to “Do Something,” we all can. Shop locally, vote for climate-conscious leaders, support green businesses. In Denver there are 420 Certifiably Green businesses — and yes Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. is one of those. If you live in Park Hill, become a dues-paying member (greaterparkhill.org/join-us/become-a-member/).

Your support helps us continue our climate work and yes, we would love your ideas and help.

There are many more ways — yes, fun ways — to learn about and explore what you can do on the Denver Climate Project’s website. Consider learning how to install a landscaping graywater system, check out a list of approved street trees, learn how to compost. Perusing all the options is a good reminder that we are not powerless — far from it. The power is in our community and its collective hands.

Denver is rated second in the country for policies that advance building energy efficiency. It also leads the way on market share of new electric vehicles. We have a lot to be proud of.

“One person can’t solve the climate crisis—but 716,577 of us who live in Denver can make a heck of a dent. So watch out, apocalypse—Denver’s fighting back.” — Denver Climate Project

Tracey MacDermott

NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development

Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Email her at traceymacdermott@gmail.com

Evironmental:

During the UN General Assembly High-level week 2025 there will be a “Climate Summit” on September 24 from 2pm-6pm Eastern. Available for viewing via UN WebTV https://webtv.un.org/en/schedule(See Also: https://www.un.org/climatechange)

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Don’t Agonize, Organize

Big Ugly Bill Got You Down? Get Back Up And Get To Work

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

Last month, Congress passed Donald Trump’s self- declared “Beautiful Bill.” For anyone who cares about the environment, it is anything but “beautiful”. The legislation has been labeled by many as the most anti- environmental ever passed. It reverses electric vehicle tax credits, slashes wind and solar programs, and invites oil and gas companies to drill on federal lands — just to name of few.

President Trump has called solar farms “ugly as hell” (he previously, falsely, claimed that windmills cause cancer). Let’s look at ugly. This “Beautiful Bill” strips away green energy tax credits, and it grants even more breaks to the already subsidized fossil fuel industry. The head of the American Petroleum Institute, Mike Sommers, praised it as meeting “almost all of our priorities.” Putting aside for a moment the destruction of habitat, air and water quality and the risks to public safety, can you imagine what opening up four million additional acres of federal land to drilling will look like? Hint: Not beautiful.

The bill also weakens environmental protections. It cuts clean energy (a cheaper source of electricity), energy efficiency programs, rebates, incentives, and eliminates programs aimed at reducing pollution.

Already ranked 6th in the nation for ozone pollution, Denver experiences high levels of particulate pollution and is no stranger to wildfire smoke. We can’t afford a reduction in air quality standards. Clean energy such as wind and solar can help reduce Denver’s brown cloud. Cutting these programs will surely lead to dirtier air as well as a spike in consumers’ electricity bills.

Meanwhile, mass firings are continuing at the federal level, and this bill could lead to an additional hundreds of thousands of job losses in the clean energy sector. Some 8,000 of these jobs in Colorado are in the solar industry. Arizona governor Katie Hobbs estimates nearly 69,000 jobs are at risk in her state.

These assaults on the environment, which were narrowly approved Congress, are devastating and can make things seem hopeless.

This is not the time for us to check out.

Recently I was reminded of this call to action: “Don’t agonize, organize!” Its origin is credited to Florynce Kennedy, the lawyer, radical feminist, civil rights advocate, lecturer, and activist in the turbulent 60s and 70s. Kennedy was a founding member of the National Organization for Women and the National Black Feminist Organization. She founded the Media Workshop to challenge racism and discrimination in media representation. Her life work encompassed heading into battle to fight injustices of all kinds.

You may find yourself agonizing over the passage of “the Big Beautiful Bill.” Now is not the time to give up. Follow Kennedy’s lead and get to organizing. Use your voice. Talk with your neighbors; run for office; get behind a candidate you believe in and help them win.

Many organizations — 350.org, the Climate Reality Project, Planned Parenthood, to name just a few — need your talents. Join them. They are not giving up and neither should you.

Email her at traceymacdermott@gmail.com

TRACEY MACDERMOTT

NFBPWC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

COMMITTEE CHAIR (2024-2026)

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Roaming with Dinosaurs As Another Climate Record Breaks, A Reminder We Must Work Together

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

We just blasted through another climate record, and it doesn’t appear to be splashing across headlines or grabbing the attention of the president. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last month that the concentration of carbon dioxide on our planet now exceeds 430 parts per million (ppm). This is the highest amount of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere in 30 million years — long before humans roamed the planet. And yet, we are still arguing about whether climate change is real.

The intensified heat, disappearing aquifers, loss of biodiversity and decrease in food crops are daily alarms that we have a problem. What will it take to get our elected leaders to work together — regardless of political affiliation — for the sake of the planet, other
species and humanity? When did our survival become so political and polarizing?

CO2 is a greenhouse gas emitted as a byproduct of burning fossil fuels. In the 1990s, the Kyoto Protocol was developed, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately, requiring those most responsible to pay to clean up the mess. Fossil fuel companies responded by dumping money into linking climate change with liberalism.
Politization has occurred for decades when it comes to our growing climate mess. The United States never officially joined the agreement of the Kyoto Protocol, which in recent years was effectively replaced by the Paris Agreement. And what was the prime reason holding us back? Money.

In 2016, President Obama signed the Paris Agreement. When Donald Trump became president, he withdrew the United States from the Agreement. When Joe Biden became president, he signed us back on. And now once again, with Trump back in office, we stand alone in our retreat from Paris. Why? He claims it would harm the U.S. economy. How this is so is unclear.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — which was Biden’s signature legislation — created 334,000 clean energy jobs, and they exceeded national wage averages by 19 percent. Biden’s landmark bill also aligned with the United States’ commitment to the Paris Agreement. The IRA had the potential to grow (not harm) the US economy by $1.9 trillion over the next decade.

To meet the world’s energy demands, renewables, including solar and wind, are critical. With the administration backtracking on the IRA’s commitments, who will develop those critical technologies? China — not the United States. China is also the largest producer of electric vehicles.

The Republican-led House of Representatives has voted to strip critical climate provisions from the IRA, including the EV tax credit. This does not make America great again. Nor does pumping out more pollution from gas-powered cars make America healthy again.
Trump wants to redirect clean energy credits to the fossil fuel industry. Let’s not forget that before the IRA, the fossil fuel industry had been subsidized by the U.S. government. In 2022 alone it was to the tune of $757 billion.

Most Americans are concerned about climate change, yet here we have a climate denier in the White House. First, the science of climate change was challenged. Now, the president just denies that it exists. Americans from differing political parties care about this issue. They care about what our children are facing. We cannot let politics divide us. The future of humanity is in the balance. We must work together to solve this crisis.

On July 7, at 6:30 p.m., the Denver chapter of the Climate Reality Project is hosting a presentation on Climate Disinformation. If you’re interested in attending, reach out to me at traceymacdermott@gmail.com for details.

Tracey MacDermott is an at-large board member of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. She was trained as a Climate Reality Leader in 2017. She chairs the Sustainability Committee for the Business and Professional Women of Colorado and the National Federation for Business and Professional Women. Email her at

Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair
(2024-2026)
traceymacdermott@gmail.com

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Playing Yo-Yo With the IRA Funds For Critical Climate Action Programs In Colorado Face Cuts And Uncertainties

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — one of President Biden’s signature achievements — was signed into law in August, 2022. Since then, its positive impacts have been far-reaching. With more than $369 billion planned for climate action and to develop renewable energy, it also prioritized environmental justice initiatives with a $60 billion commitment.

It is important to remember the people who suffer the most from the climate crisis and will continue to suffer if this funding is slashed or eliminated. That’s the risk we are facing.

Historical inequities have led to environmental racism, leaving communities of color disproportionately located near polluted areas. So, when such a monumental bill such as the IRA passed, it also provided an opportunity to end these injustices and begin to heal centuries of harm.

It should be our nation’s priority to right these wrongs. The IRA prioritizes over 50 percent of its investments to disadvantaged communities, for electrification upgrades, climate resilience, transportation equity and reducing air pollution.

As highlighted on Sen. John Hickenlooper’s congressional website, the IRA, as it was written, will bring $1.7 billion to Colorado. These funds, directed to projects for clean energy manufacturing, would create more than 4,900 jobs and would address environmental health disparities.

Part of that includes a $199 million package, awarded to the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), to improve air quality.

This program is focused on decarbonizing buildings by electrifying and transitioning away from natural gas. The DRCOG grant included decarbonizing homes in low-income communities, which included free home retrofits and upgrade services. The program also has an eye towards equity by supporting recruitment of low-income youth and previously incarcerated individuals for job training.

Now, under the Trump administration, the program may be threatened. Others have been cut entirely; it is unclear how many are at risk of elimination.

The “Solar for All” program, for example, is designed to lower utility bills for low-income households and disadvantaged communities. The money was to enable Colorado to increase the number of communities that could take advantage of distributed solar investments (think solar farms and large-scale utility plants). That would increase the number of communities who could benefit from clean and affordable solar energy.

Unfortunately, in February the Trump administration froze those funds.

In Southern Colorado, Pueblo was granted $200 million to expand manufacturing facilities for wind, while creating 800 jobs. Under Trump, funds for this program were frozen — and then unfrozen.

Meanwhile, the city of Brighton was awarded $250 million for a facility to manufacture solar photovoltaic modules. The facility is projected to create over 900 new jobs. It does not appear that funding has been stopped for this project, but the current trend of freezing and revoking funds could put it at risk.

The threat of eliminating the Advanced Energy Project Credits could lead to a billion-dollar gap for energy projects. That would ultimately lead to higher electrical costs for business and households. Losing these credits puts our state’s energy goals at risk, slowing down the work we can do and delaying the solution to the climate crisis.

Two of Colorado’s Republican congressmen, Jeff Hurd and Gabe Evans, have signed a letter to the Ways and Means Committee requesting restraint in cuts to the IRA, further expressing concern about “disruptive changes to our nation’s energy tax structure.” Gutting the IRA would greatly impact both representative’s districts.

This month, I encourage everyone in Colorado to call on Hurd and Evans and let them know you also support the IRA and the funding their districts received. Let them know you appreciate them standing up for their districts and these important provisions of the law.

While you’re at it, call Colorado’s other members of Congress. Thank them for supporting the IRA. And if they don’t, ask them to reconsider. This law is not just about the climate — it’s about equity and environmental justice.

Please note while this article is written for a Colorado focus, no matter where you live, please contact your US Congressperson and Senators and ask for them to defend the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair
2024-2026

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 01 May 2025 16:50:00 GMT

Next Stop: Suncor

A Few Tips For The Next Time The EPA Comes To Town

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here:

http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

Last month, Colorado received some high-level attention from two Trump Administration officials: Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright both made stops in our state.

Wright, the former CEO of the Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, has self-proclaimed that he is a lifelong environmentalist. He has acknowledged that climate change is a problem, but also recently said:“ the biggest barrier to energy development … is calling climate change a crisis.”

Here’s another example of Wright talking out of both sides of his mouth: During his confirmation hearings he said, “I am for improving all energy technologies that can better human lives and reduce emissions.” Then in February, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he lamented the previous administration’s environmental efforts, supporting Trumps goal to “Drill, baby drill.”

Sadly, burning more oil and gas will not help lower emissions.

The EPA, borne of the concern over polluted air, litter, and contaminated water and a desire to protect human health and the environment, is now, under Trump, rolling back climate and pollution regulations.

You may be wondering, how will the agency now keep its duty to protect us? Or secure a livable planet?

Should Mr. Zeldin’s first Colorado stop have been to Commerce City, home to Suncor? The petroleum refinery has been sued repeatedly for Clean Air Act violations, which gives the EPA the ability to hold industry accountable to the communities it pollutes. As reported by multiple news agencies, when asked about whether he would hold Suncor accountable, Zeldin said he was unaware of any specific problems.

Commerce City, about five miles north of Park Hill, was an agricultural community until 1920, when industry moved in, including eventually the oil refinery.

Now, Commerce City, along with the north Denver neighborhoods of Globeville and Elyria/Swansea have markedly higher pollution levels than any other area of Colorado. The residents of these neighborhoods are also low-income and largely communities of color. They experience and suffer from disproportionately higher levels of respiratory problems and other health conditions. As most people know, there is a term for this: environmental racism.

A few years ago, a study of 10,000 children found that early exposure to pollutants can lead to known or suspected harm to the central nervous system. The authors of the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances, highlighted that children from poor neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted. Further, the study noted that exposure during infancy reduced cognitive ability.

Multiple scientists agree that air pollution impacts the brains of our kids. As noted in the Journal of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences and elsewhere, long-term exposure to air pollution impedes cognitive performance in verbal and math tests.

Now consider this: Students in Adams 14 School District, which is in Commerce City, often score low on state-mandated tests. The district has asked for the state to reconsider its overall rating based on the knowledge that pollution impacts learning ability. Should the federal Department of Education, which is charged with prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education, intervene? Is now really a good time to dismantle the department, or even slash its programs?

I would argue that the children of Commerce City deserve to have federal agencies tasked with making sure that we all have clean air to breathe, access to clean (renewable) energy and a future that is fair and equitable.

Maybe we should spend less time focusing on student test scores, and instead address the environmental racism to which our neighbors in Commerce City are subjected.

I would also offer that next time Director Zeldin and Secretary Wright drop by Colorado, they visit the Suncor plant, then drop in for a chat with students attending the schools nearby. It may well be an important learning experience for them.

traceymacdermott@gmail.com

Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair
2024-2026

Environmental & Sustainable Development - Our Great Planet What We Can Do to Celebrate Earth Day at 55

Kemi Oyebade — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 17:05:00 GMT

Our Great Planet

What We Can Do to Celebrate Earth Day at 55

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

Earth Day is April 22. How will you celebrate our great planet this year?

Here in Park Hill, we know that, really, every day is Earth Day. Every day brings new reason to take action. If anyone is up for getting our hands in the dirt — literally and metaphorically — it is our neighborhood. Time and time again we show up to make the world a better place, knowing Mother Earth is counting on us.

Organizers of this year’s 55th Earth Day global event are asking humans to unite behind renewable energy and triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030. How can we do that?

We can demand rapid renewal energy deployment from governments, industries and businesses. We can also individually make smart energy choices, including taking steps to add solar and switching to electric in our living spaces.

We can start by making small changes. Here are a few suggestions:

Weatherize your home: Seal air leaks around windows and doors, install weather stripping, and ensure proper insulation in walls and attics.
Upgradetoenergy-efficient appliances: Choose Energy Star-rated appliances for lower energy consumption.
Switch to LED lighting: LED bulbs use significantly less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs.
Smart Thermostats: Use programmable or smart thermostats to optimize heating and cooling based on your schedule.
Optimize HVAC: Regularly maintain your HVAC system, including changing filters and ensuring proper ventilation.

Lower Water Heater Temperature: Lower the temperature of your water heater to reduce energy consumption.
Reduce Phantom Load: Unplug electronics when not in use, as they can still draw power even when turned off.

If you are thinking that in the future you may want to electrify, begin researching rebates that are available. When you are ready you can add solar, install an electric water heat pump or convert your gas stove top to induction or electric. One easy step you can do is join a solar co-op, allowing you to purchase an offset for the energy you use in your home.

This Earth Day there are recent victories to cheer. Did you know that the Greater Park Hill Community building at 2823 Fairfax St. is 100 percent electric and generates its own energy from the solar panels on the building? Elsewhere, Texas — a state known for its oil production — now leads the U.S. in wind energy production. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) boosted investments and growth in renewable energy. In 2023, there was a 50 percent increase in renewable capacity added to energy systems worldwide.

But we have to measure these successes with reality

— and this year reality is a toxic fume that threatens to take us far back in time. Under the new administration, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act are in the crosshairs. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), overseen by an administrator who outright mocks scientists and environmentalists, announced last month that it will roll back or change 31 rules and regulations.

Though studies show that two out of three Americans support transitioning away from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy and even more support regulating carbon, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced plans to move in another direction —

backward. For starters, plans are underway to step up drilling, including in protected areas.

Decades of critical work is being dismantled in moves that are clearly out of step with the wishes of the majority.

So, what can you do this Earth Day? In the short term, join us at one of our Earth Day events in Park Hill (see the sidebar below for details). Visit earthday.organd check out other actions you can take — both in the area and around the globe.

For the long haul, roll up your sleeves. We are the ones who can change this. Our kids can’t afford major setbacks. We must fight for them, their future and a livable planet.

Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair
2024-2026

Time to Call Washington Return of The Dinosaur Comes At The Worst Time For The Planet

Kemi Oyebade — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 17:50:00 GMT

Time to Call Washington

Return of The Dinosaur Comes At The Worst Time For The Planet

Through the mind-dizzying executive orders coming out of the Oval Office — from the wholesale canceling of federal grants to Elon Musk seizing access to sensitive financial systems — you may have missed the new report from leading climate scientist James Hansen and his team.

Hansen, a leading climate scientist, has been warning us for decades about the threat of global warming and the future of humanity.

In 1988 — nearly 40 years ago — Hansen testified to Congress that the greenhouse gas effect was changing the climate. In 2006, Hanson sounded the alarm that we had a 10-year window to take critical action on global warming to avert disaster. Ten years after that the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics published a report, in which Hansen collaborated, warning of what would happen if the planet warmed to 2 degrees Celsius above pre- industrial times. Namely, cities along coastlines would be at risk of submerging.

That last report coincides with the 2016 vote that elevated the Chief Climate Denier, Donald Trump, into his first term as president.

As it did after 2016, the first Trump Administration scrubbed mentions of climate change from government websites. It attacked renewable energy, and now in the second go-around, it has resumed its drumbeat for drilling for gas and oil. And in 2025, Hansen’s alarm bells are no longer warnings. The siren is blaring.

Last month, Hansen and a team of researchers reported that the rate of global warming since 2010 has increased by more than 50 percent over the rate of warming in the preceding four decades. The 2°C target is dead, because greenhouse-gas-producing energy use continues to rise.

The levels of heating in recent years has helped to fuel catastrophes like Hurricane Helene and the January wildfires in Los Angeles. Continuing production of CO2, as well as an El Nino effect, contributes to the rise in temperatures — yet the increase is happening even more quickly than originally predicted. Ironically, one explanation may be that efforts to reduce polluting aerosol particles may have resulted in the sun’s rays being able to better pierce through the atmosphere.

The acceleration in global heating is worrisome, and not just to Hansen and his team of scientists.

The warming is leading to increasing ice melt in the Arctic, which means more water is then pushed into the North Atlantic than is expected. That has a domino effect on the system of ocean currents in the Atlantic called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which helps moves water, heat and nutrients around Earth — which in turn influences Earth’s climate.

Hansen and his team have determined that unless actions are taken to reduce global warming, the impact of the increased ice melts has the potential to shut down the AMOC system within the next 20 to 30 years If this were to occur, sea levels would rise several meters. Hansen describes this as “a point of no return.” Among their recommendations: putting a price on carbon, as well as broadening global cooperation on emissions reductions and renewable energy.

Unfortunately, Hansen’s findings — indeed his latest warnings — happen to coincide with a return of a president and an administration that rejects climate science and has resumed its chant to drill-baby-drill.

What can you do? Step up and demand that we continue to work on the climate crisis. Call upon Congress to not lose sight — and to demand oversight.

A month into the Trump/Musk White House, our representatives in Washington are being inundated by calls prompted by a multitude of five-alarm fires. Add the climate to your list and call them every day, if possible.

Closer to home, you can also engage in other ways: Continue to get educated, support science and get involved. Write letters to the editor. Connect with the community through this newspaper — your community newspaper. If you can, step up to help support the newspaper’s operations at greaterparkhill.org/newspaper/support/.

We can do this.

Tracey MacDermott

NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair

(2024-2026)

Remarkable Woman – Marin Alsop

Marin Alsop is the first woman to lead a Major American Orchestra.

She is a wonderful friend of mine. Her bio does not fully tell the story of what a champion she has been for women in the maledominated conductingworld (https://takialsop.org/). She started a conducting fellowship for women. Over the

years, thirty-six women conductors have participated in the program. It provides mentorship, training and access to the podium. In addition, she started the Orchkids program in Baltimore which helps support music education for Baltimore's youth (https://orchkids.org/).

Marin has faced much adversity in her path to becoming a conductor. From being told that girls don't conduct and taking that as a challenge, she has risen to the top. She finds innovative ways to give back to her community and is a shining light in this world. A true humanitarian.

The first and only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, Marin Alsop is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to programming and audience development.

The 2024-25 season marks Alsop’s sixth as Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; her second as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony; her second as Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia; and her first as Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She is also Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder of the Baltimore Symphony and Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival, where she leads the Chicago Symphony’s annual summer residencies.

Alsop becomes the first U.S.-born woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic when she makes her long- awaited debut with the orchestra in February 2025, leading the world premiere of a new commission from Outi Tarkiainen. Other 2024-25 highlights include a Nico Muhly world premiere with the New York Philharmonic, a New Year’s Eve concert with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and multiple performances with the Philharmonia.

Alsop has longstanding relationships with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony, and regularly guest conducts the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, La Scala Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and others. A full decade after making history as the first female conductor of London’s Last Night of the Proms, in 2023 she became

the first woman and first American to guest conduct three Last Nights in the festival’s long history. She made her triumphant debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2024.

Alsop’s discography comprises more than 200 titles for Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Sony Classical, as well as her acclaimed Naxos cycles of Brahms with the London Philharmonic, Dvořák with the Baltimore Symphony, and Prokofiev with the São Paulo Symphony. Recent releases include a live account of Candide with the LSO & Chorus and multiple titles with the Vienna RSO for Naxos, among them a John Adams collection that has just received a 2025 Grammy nomination for “Best Orchestral Performance.”

Her is website: www.marinalsop.com

Fears Into Action: Young People Are Leading the Way. It’s Time to Follow Them

Kemi Oyebade — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 17:55:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Fears Into Action
Young People Are Leading the Way. It’s Time to Follow Them

It seems every year we break a new heat record; last year we temporarily hit the 1.5°C benchmark that scientists have been warning us about. Newly reinstalled President Trump has vowed to once again exit the Paris Agreement. Horrific fires last month destroyed entire neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

All news seems grim. World leaders have not risen to the challenge. We are still dealing with deniers despite the piling evidence of the continuing climate crisis.

In moments of despair, putting fears into action can help create a brighter future. I’m heartened that many of you send me emails after reading this column each month, asking what you can do. While actions at home may seem inconsequential, the reality is that many of us collectively making small changes do make a difference and drive sustaining results. Keep making those changes.

We know that solutions occur when people come together and put their values into action. And young people deserve credit for taking action. Consider the youth-led initiative, Green Schools Campaign. As described by the Climate Reality Project, this campaign “centers developing leadership, advocacy, and grassroots organizing of young people to spearhead initiatives to transition their schools and communities to 100 percent clean energy.”

The program grew out of the work of a team of people from Los Angeles who led the second largest school district in the United States to 100 percent clean renewable energy.

It’s worth noting that Palisades Charter High School, which is part of the district and whose students had persuaded their school to commit to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, was damaged in the fires that ravaged Los Angeles last month. It’s further worth noting those fires were fueled by a condition scientists calling hydroclimate whiplash — the result of extreme weather shifts that has intensified due to global warming.

Here in Denver, 47 school buildings currently have solar panels. Combined they produce about 10 percent of the electricity used by Denver Public Schools. The district has a five-year goal of generating 65 percent of its own electricity. In addition, the district is looking to electrify 80 percent of the heating load for 10 buildings within five years. Denver School of the Arts in Park Hill is one of those 47 schools.

DPS students are driving the efforts. Four years ago, students, pushing to prioritize climate action, gathered nearly 4,000 petition signatures, met with DPS board members and attended public meetings to make their collective voice heard. Passionate students, along with the district’s Sustainability Executive Director LeeAnn Kittle, are pushing to make great gains towards sustainability, including expanding rooftop solar systems and focusing on water conservation.

How can you help our kids? Contact your neighborhood school and ask about their sustainability programs. Find out what the students are interested in and how you and others in your community can help support them and their ideas. Let’s help lift them up to convert their schools to function using 100 percent clean energy.

Locally, the Climate Reality Project has a Denver Chapter working on the Green Schools Campaign. If you want to get involved, please reach out to Greenschoolscolorado@gmail.com.

Looking around our neighborhood I see more and more solar throughout our neighborhood. Greater Park Hill Community’s headquarters at 2823 Fairfax St. has installed solar panels and converted its building to 100 percent electric. Let’s explore together other ways to further advance Park Hill to a renewable future.

The challenge of solving the climate crisis is so immense that it sometimes seems impossible. However, I am inspired by young people whose futures are at stake. They are developing innovative programs and showing up at the state Capitol to fight. Their indomitable spirits keep so many of us engaged and working along with them.

Our children are leading the way. We just need to follow.

Tracey MacDermott

NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Be a Climate Hero

Kemi Oyebade — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 17:50:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development
Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Be A Climate Hero

Planet Earth Is Calling Your Name in 2025

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

At the end of November, the 29th Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP 29) was held. For many, it was a disappointment, beginning with the president of Azerbaijan praising oil and gas as a “gift from the gods.”

While the previous conference focused on limiting the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, this year’s conference was centered on how to pay and who would pay for the mess we humans have created.

The year 2030 is on the horizon, and each day of inaction is making it nearly impossible to stay below 1.5 degrees. That is the necessary benchmark to avoid the dangerous and serious effects of climate change. Yet each year, new data shows that we are missing promised targets and falling further behind. We are pushing the limits of what Earth can handle and catapulting us towards a global catastrophe.

This may leave you wondering if there really is anything that can be done. Organizers of this year’s Earth Day (earthday.org) certainly think so, and you, too, can be an agent of change for positive results for Mother Earth.

You may have already considered your New Year’s resolutions. Maybe becoming a climate hero wasn’t on your list, but the world is calling on you. Get inspired and make an action plan for 2025 that will lower your impact; be the change that is needed in our community.

Trying to solve a global problem that will take all of us is overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable. But small actions taken by many of us can create meaningful change.

Here are but a few:

Globally, we throw out two billion tons of trash every year. Much of that trash is harmful to the environment, wreaking havoc on unsuspecting wildlife, poisoning our soil and destroying waterways. Let’s reduce this, starting with the trash on our own streets. This year Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. will be hosting quarterly neighborhood clean-up events. Please check back in the months to come for dates and other specifics.

Did you know that our neighborhood has a group of volunteers that help kids get to school on their bikes? The Bike Bus is currently in operation at both Park Hill Elementary and Odyssey School. The Bike Bus encourages movement for the kids, reduces emissions and promotes wellbeing in our community. (The Park Hill School Bike Bus rides every Wednesday, rain or shine — check out the pledge and all details at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1s-co-HBmGikwi6B2bwkYizIE6mMygjAjGO

ojowy0Uk/viewform?edit_requested=true. More on the national Bike Bus movement is at bikebus.world.)

Beyond biking to school, can you reduce your car trips by walking and biking more for errands and getting to appointments? Carpool with your neighbors and colleagues. Denver has e-bike rebates to help get you into a new, clean way to get around our city. (Check out denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments

Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Climate-Action-Sustainability-and-Resiliency/Cutting Denvers-Carbon-Pollution/Sustainable-Transportation/Electric-Bike-Rebates.)

Or maybe it is time to get an electric car and vow to reduce your air travel in 2025. One less airplane trip can reduce your footprint by almost two tons of CO2.

Maybe you are a gardener. Would you be willing to help coordinate produce swaps this spring to help reduce food waste and get food to those in need? Shoot me an email at traceymacdermott@gmail.com.

Composting food scraps helps prevent methane emissions and also returns nutrients right back into your soil. Eating more vegetables, fruits, and nuts, and cutting down on meat and dairy, also lowers your environmental impact.

At home, work on reducing your energy usage. Wash your clothes in cold water, skip the dryer, switch to LED bulbs and energy-efficient appliances. Research rebates to see if you can convert your gas appliances to electric. If you are not ready to ditch the gas furnace, could you buy an offset with a solar and wind farm?

Stop the purchasing madness! We throw away so much and our homes are overflowing with items we rarely use. Shop second-hand, and repair what you can (see Mark Kuhl’s column below for a great new directory on related Denver businesses.) When you do need to buy, please consider companies that have proven to reduce their impacts and are not funding fossil fuels or deforestation.

Plant native species in your yard. This helped increase the biodiversity within Park Hill, helps native wildlife with food sources and enhances our beautiful neighborhood.

Use your voice. Get inspired, talk with neighbors and be the change. Make a goal each month to lower harmful impacts. Let us know what you are doing. Let’s motivate each other!

Back to the Past

Kemi Oyebade — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 17:55:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Back to the Past

What A Second Trump Presidency Could Mean, And What We Must Do

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here:

http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

On election day, the citizens of the United States voted a climate denier into the highest office in the land.

There is no way to spin a positive with Donald Trump as president when it comes to the environment. His own words make a mockery of the biggest existential threat to humanity. He calls climate change a “big hoax.” He has targeted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the signature bill of the Biden administration and the biggest climate legislation ever enacted by the United States. Trump wants to dismantle it. And for a second time, he has promised to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

During his first presidency, Trump’s mantra — “Drill, baby, drill” — was a call to open up federal lands to production of oil, natural gas and coal. His positions on federal lands, including selling them to private developers, mirrors the positions detailed in the hard-right Project 2025 manifesto.

In his first term, Trump shrunk Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and other national monuments. He replaced the Clean Power Plan with a weaker regulation. He repealed the Clean Water Rule and wreaked havoc on more than 100 environmental regulations. What should we expect from this second term? Frankly, more of the same.

How we respond to this new administration’s policies is up to us. Will we have the courage to speak out and fight for the future of our shared planet?

I hope so. I do believe in the power of community. I believe in this community. Rise up, fight for what we can still save and let’s work together to secure a future for our kids. Push back on anyone who tells you we can’t, because together, we can.

(Read the full article at: https://greaterparkhill.org/earth-in-crisis-back-to-the-past/ )

Environment & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 16:45:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Tall Drink of Water More Must Be Done To Protect Us From Forever Chemicals

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

For several years you may have been hearing commercials about Camp Lejeune and water contamination. Maybe you wondered what it was about or simply ignored the infomercial. Maybe you got tired of being barraged about the contamination via constant television ads.

However, the presence of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a serious issue. At Camp Lejeune, a military base in North Carolina, toxic chemicals contaminated the drinking water for decades, beginning in the 1950s and into the 1980s. Many of the compounds that contaminated the water are PFAS — more commonly known as forever chemicals. They are linked to various cancers and other medical issues.

These chemicals do not naturally break down. The Veterans Administration compared the medical records of 172,000 veterans who had been at Camp Lejeune and 168,000 veterans who were at Camp Pendleton in California during the same time period. Camp Lejeune veterans had a 70 percent higher risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease.

Last year, The Guardian reported that chemicals that came from at least 245 US military bases have contaminated or threatened to pollute drinking water in nearby communities. The military’s use of firefighting foam, which releases the chemicals during discharge, is one of the largest PFAS polluters on the planet.

Forever chemicals can seep into drinking water supplies through various ways, including leaching from landfills, land application of contaminated sludge and treatment plants. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that these chemicals are widespread. They are found in water, air, soil, and in fish across the globe.

Last year, Perfluoroocatanoic Acid — which is a type of forever chemical — was reclassified as a human carcinogen. While we know that exposure to these chemicals among military personnel outpaces the general public, we are all at risk. Forever chemicals are in cookware, waterproof clothing, even mascara. Avoiding them seems nearly impossible.

In April the Biden administration took critical action to protect communities from forever chemicals. President Biden committed historic levels of funding to combat forever chemicals pollution and to delivering clean water. The Safe Drinking Water Act standard for forever chemicals sets rules to safeguard public health and requires public water systems to monitor and reduce the levels of PFAS from drinking water in the United States.

In 2022 Biden also signed a bipartisan bill to provide assistance to victims of Agent Orange and toxic burn pits.

However, there are currently no similar protections in place for military personnel who have been exposed to unacceptable levels of forever chemicals. Last year Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan introduced the Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act. While Congress is debating Kildee’s bill, and any subsequent pieces of legislation, what can you do to limit your own exposure? There are some simple measures to take:

1. Avoid products made with PFAS-treated fabric and stain resistant clothing and furniture.

2. Bring your own take-out container to restaurants (it’s best to use non-plastic containers). Food packaging, microwave popcorn bags and grease-resistant paper have been shown to contain PFAS. Although, the FDA has taken some steps to limit their use in food packaging. In Colorado, HB22-1345 prohibits distributing any product in food packaging that contains forever chemicals.

3. Replace your non-stick pans with stainless steel, cast-iron, glass or ceramics.

4. Don’t heat up food wrapped in grease-resistant packaging.

A few more things you can do: On Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11 — and every day — thank a vet. And, do what you can to reduce your risk. Work for a safe and healthy planet.

Environment & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 16:45:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Tale of Two Parties

What the GOP And The Dems Say — And Don’t Say — About The Climate Crisis

By Tracey MacDermott

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

We are in the final push of election season and climate change is on our minds. Last month we reviewed the two presidential candidates and their positions on climate. This month let’s explore the major parties’ platforms when it comes to climate change.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s playbook for a Republican administration, calls to dismantle clean energy programs and continue to uplift the oil and gas companies. Is this also the position of the GOP platform? Republicans at their national convention certainly pushed for more drilling, while remaining silent on climate change — seemingly in alignment with Project 2025.

The GOP’s website (gop.com) lists six action items such as volunteering, “swamping” the vote and election integrity. Glaringly absent are mentions of other issues on many voters’ minds — including global warming.

Not all Republicans are ignoring the growing and urgent crisis. House members such as John Curtis of Utah and Colorado’s Doug Lamborn (who is not seeking reelection) are part of the Conservative Climate Caucus (CCC). The CCC’s webpage concurs that the climate is changing, and points a finger at China while pushing for innovation through the free market.

As this year will go down as the hottest on record, why isn’t the CCC pushing for innovative climate policy versus “fighting against radical progressive climate proposals”? Might we be in our current mess because we have let the free market control our energy sources and pollute the planet?

The Sunrise Movement, a progressive youth-led organization, released a statement after the GOP convention: “Make no mistake. Just because Republicans don't want to talk about their climate plans to voters, doesn ’t mean that their radical, anti-climate agenda that empowers oil and gas billionaires to destroy our planet won’t be a top priority for a second Trump administration. Another Trump presidency would cause catastrophic and irreversible damage to our climate."

By contrast, after President Biden passed the torch to Kamala Harris, the Sunrise Movement sent a letter to Harris requesting the backing of the Green New Deal, affordable housing, prioritizing gun violence and other critical social programs. Harris addressed many of these concerns during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Some have criticized the Democrats for a lack of highlighting the climate crisis in its party platform. However, consider the actions the Biden administration has taken on climate.

Much like the Affordable Care Act, which insured more than 45 million people, the Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest climate bill ever crafted, and indeed, championed by Democratic leadership. The final vote in the Senate was 51-50 — with all 50 Democrats in favor and all 50 Republicans voting no. Vice President Harris broke the tie, securing victory for the planet.

The Democratic National Committee ’s webpage includes a long list of concerns, from reproductive rights to voting rights, LGBTQ+, growing the middle class, and yes climate change.

The DNC also continues to speak out against environmental injustices inflicted in marginalized communities. This is an injustice we must not look away from.

Their website notes, “…we will work with affected frontline communities to develop a screening and mapping tool to ensure racial and socioeconomic equity in federal climate, energy, and infrastructure programs and identify areas of high cumulative pollution that threatens residents ’health and safety.”

The DNC climate platform addresses our national parks and monuments, worker safety, air and water, threats to farmers, and of course, the climate urgency we face. “…We believe the scientists: the window for unprecedented and necessary action is closing and closing fast.”

Yes, the window is closing and we as citizens of this planet cannot let it shut. The complete DNC’s statement on climate change can be read at the link:

democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/combating-the-climate-crisis-and-pursuing-environmental justice/

Please, check out both of the parties’ platforms, review their climate positions — and vote.

Environment & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 17:05:00 GMT

By: Tracey MacDermott NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Like A Hurricane

Climate News Is Scary. But We Can Still Control Which Way the Wind Blows

By Tracey MacDermott

Last month many news organizations — from The Guardian, Euronews and National Public Radio — all reported on differing climate stories. None of it was uplifting.

While hurricane Beryl was pummeling Texas, Mother Earth set on fire heat records and President Biden blasted lawmakers for climate change denial.

It may be no surprise to you that June was blazing hot across the nation. Here in Denver many of us were wondering if this was the hottest June we could remember (it is). This of us who were lucky had access to air-conditioned spaces. If you like to conserve energy by opening windows versus running your AC, this summer’s heat made that nearly impossible.

Worse, those without AC or a cooling system are stuck in dangerous, life-threatening heat. As we know, the climate crisis doesn’t impact us all the same. Multiple news agencies this summer reported that Black residents in New York City die from heat stress at double the rate of white residents. That is horrific, and unacceptable.

In Denver, the mean temperature in June was 6 degrees above normal. You read that right, 6 degrees! In fact, globally, June was the 13th straight month of record-warming temperatures and the 12th straight month we stayed more than 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial times. We are getting closer to the limit that was set forth in the Paris Agreement to avoid catastrophic outcomes. We are crossing into dangerous territory.

Scientists were not surprised by the broken records, but startled by how much Earth blew past those records. While June was scorching hot for most of the US, Hurricane Beryl was gaining strength. It was the strongest hurricane recorded in the Atlantic so early in the season. The burning of fossil fuels continues to drive up ocean temperatures intensifying the number and severity of storms.

Also last month, a study published in Nature Communications, reported that 50,000 gallons of water everyday are melting away in the Juneau Icefield. Due to shorter winters and longer summers the ice field is retreating 4.6 times faster than in the 1990s. Other devastating projections show that even if we can keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we will still lose about half of the world’s glaciers by the end of the century.

However, keeping to the goals from the Paris Agreement will help mitigate sharp sea level rise from melting glaciers and give our next generations a chance. So, we must do our part right now. We cannot languish in hopelessness, as not all hope is lost.

We are the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Yet the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2035. Are you able to tap into some of the city, state and national rebates to switch from air conditioners to heat pumps or geothermal? If this is beyond your reach, simple lifestyle changes add up and can be impactful.

Talk with your family and friends who may not fully understand what is at stake. Each of us can do our part. The collection of our small actions can help change our trajectory.

You know what else is incredibly impactful and simple? VOTING. This year is a critical national election year, and climate will be on the ballot in a big way. Climate policy in the U.S. impacts and influences the rest of the world. We must elect leaders who take that role seriously.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 17:00:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Past Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

It has been my great pleasure to write articles for my fellow BPW members about the perils

of pollinators and the actions (or non-actions) that we can take to give a helpful hand to our pollinators. I have gained great knowledge in doing research for these articles which I will continue to use on my property.

One of my many challenges has been to reduce my lawn from the large playground area I had when my children were young and had many friends over to run around. Over the years I have slowly reduced the size of my huge lawn by taking out grass and adding raised garden beds and hedge rows. This year I am taking it a step farther and leaving areas not mowed. It actually looks pretty good. I’ll see what happens as the summer progresses. Just the other day my grandson and I noticed birds hanging out on some of the tall grass eating the seeds, a hopeful sight. We also saw Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed last year.

On another note, the Washington Post recently wrote an article on Fireflies, interviewing both Candice Fallon, Xerces Society, who presented to BPW ESD Earth Day 2023, and me. Just this week Dr Schwarz, Fort Lewis College, has interest in studying the fireflies on my ranch.

I greatly appreciate all the interest and support BPW has given me during my tenure as NFBPWC ESD Chair. And for allowing me to write of my passion for pollinators.

Environment & Sustainable Development

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 16:55:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Past Chair (2022-2024)

The NFBPWC ESD Committee decided in our final meeting that as we pass the baton onto future Chair and committee members that it would be advantageous to repurpose other Environmental handouts for our newsletter articles. For our August 2024 Newsletter article, I give the following example with excited permission from the Leave No Trace environmental group.

It has been our great pleasure to share with our BPW members our many ideas on how to make a simple and meaningful act to have a positive impact on our Environment. We are grateful to all of you for your continued support.

NFBPWC is looking for the next Environment and Sustainable Development Chair. If you are interested in joining this Committee, please email President Barbara Bozeman at president@nfbpwc.org.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:50:00 GMT

Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development

In these hot summer months, the bugs start to bug us. However, “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” E. O. Wilson.

We know that insects pollinate about 90% of all flowering plants. As these pollinated plants turn the energy of the sun into the food we eat, they are absorbing large amounts of carbon, sending it into their roots and then into the soil. We need many interacting species of insects to sustain our complex food web. Insects, in their many forms of predators and parasitoids, are also the earth’s pest control and in this way keep food webs in balance.

Insects are essential for the rapid decomposition of plants, helping to create new plant life which provides vegetation for watersheds. This activity keeps our water clean and provides protection from floods. Most vertebrates- freshwater fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians- eat insects which additionally sustains the earth’s ecosystems.

Rather than thinking of bugs as threatening and harmful, appreciate that humans would only last on this earth for a few months without insects. We have killed many species of insects close to extinction, monarch butterflies, fireflies, species of bumblebees, moths, crickets, katydids and the list goes on. Insects can coexist with humans. We need to sustain them and to do that, we need plants to sustain them.

Caterpillars are a keystone to food webs, pollinating a majority of plants and providing the most nutrition and edible food to vertebrates. Native Plant Finder (http://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder) ranks plant according to their hosting ability for caterpillars. Audubon also has a website, Plants for Birds (https://www.audubon.org/native-plants). Oak, cherry and willow are the best hosts for many species of caterpillars.

Rather than pulling out that insecticide, learn to appreciate all the benefits of insects.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:45:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024) Submission by Susan Oser

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 16:50:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman,
BPW Colorado Virtual
Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Acts: Attracting Orioles and Hummingbirds to the “piece of Earth that you an influence”

I set out Hummingbird feeders every year as soon as the first little guy comes winging by

my window, some years as early as April. Starting out years ago with one feeder, I now have 6 hummingbird feeders and one Oriole feeder. It’s easy to make the mixture, one cup sugar to four cups of water, and challenging to keep up with filling those feeders, and so worth the cost of all that sugar!

Three years ago, an Oriole showed up at one of the feeders, so I rushed out and bought an Oriole feeder. Such pleasure! Suggestions to attract Orioles (Baltimore and Orchard Orioles) include nectar feeders (recipe for nectar above), orange halves and jelly. They also are attracted to yellow and white flowers and the bugs that are found in these flowers.

Native plants with tubular-shaped flowers such as trumpet vine, honeysuckle (in which many of the hummingbirds nest), beebalm are a great source of nutrition for these birds as Native plants offer more nectar than other plants and attract insects that hummingbirds and Orioles eat. Remember to plant in groups. This type of mass planting is preferred by insects and birds alike.

A suggested list of flowers to provide continual nectar (Rosann Kovalcik, Wild Birds Unlimited): Columbine, Phlox, Wild Geranium, Penstemon or Foxglove

beardtongue, Blazing star, Beebalm, and Cardinal Flower.

Trees and shrubs that provide dark fruits include: Serviceberry, Chokecherry, Cherry, Blueberry. Caterpillars provide a much-needed protein source and they are attracted to all of the oak species, willows, cherries, prunes and birches.

Another reason to leave your yard a bit untidy is that Orioles need long fiber strands to build their nests and hummingbirds use downy plant materials.

Whether you have a yard or patio or balcony, creating a refuge for birds and insects with Native plants will create a good environment for not only wildlife, but also for you.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Wed, 01 May 2024 16:40:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

We all know that bugs are disappearing at an astounding rate. We can all do something to help no matter how small your yard, even if it’s just a deck or balcony. In that little “piece of Earth that you can influence” (Douglas Tallamy), you can create a microhabitat with small features including a rock, water source, leafy area. This will provide bugs with shelter, food, water, and the ability to reproduce. Hang up that rake and put away that leaf blower! Leaving dead leaves, stems, brush piles (sticks in a flowerpot), you are providing not only nutrition for your soil, but also habitat for tiny insects.

Don’t clean up the stems of perennial plants because seed heads provide feed for goldfinches and the stems provide shelter for overwintering insects and habitat for stem-nesting bees. Plants will grow around them in the spring and many solitary native bees will nest in these stems yearround. Notice as the weather warms that some stems have their

ends blocked with mud or leaves or pebbles, possibly resin indicating that there is a nest inside. Natural materials such as stems are a much healthier option than bee blocks and bee hotels.

Creating habitat for Stem-Nesting bees is as easy as leaving dead flower stalks intact over the winter months. When Spring arrives, cut back the dead flower stalks at varying heights from 8-24 inches and leaving the dead stumble to decompose naturally on the ground. Female bees emerge and start nests in newly cut stems or stems laying on the ground. As summer progresses, the new plant growth hides the dead flower stalk in which bee larvae are developing. These native bees emerge in later summer months and repeat this cycle again.

Stem-nesting bees frequently use Hyssop (Agastache), Echinacea, Sunflowers, Blazing Star (Liatris), Bee Balm

(Monarda), Goldenrods (Solidago) Asters, Raspberries and other bramble bushes, Sumac (Rhus), and Elderberry.

Bringing Back Pollinators is as easy as not tidying up your yard and garden so much.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Wed, 01 May 2024 16:35:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Acts: Lawn Culture vs Lawn Futures

May is upon us and as the sound of lawn mowers echoes throughout the land (my neighbor starting mowing in early March), I wonder where the American obsession with the perfect lawn originated.

A bit of lawn history: From the Middle English word laude, the concept of the lawn originated in Europe, grasslands surrounding castles that were kept free of trees providing clear vision for guards. These meadows were referred to as the village commons where villagers could graze their cattle and sheep, keeping the grass “mowed” and fertilized. In the 16th Century, these meadows evolved into lawns, cultivated in France and England by the rich to display their wealth. An important note, these lawns were often planted with chamomile and thyme rather than grass, a great alternative to modern grass. In England in the 17^th Century, short trimmed grass lawns emerged as the symbol for rich landowners who could afford human labor to scythe and weed the grass.

The American obsession with lawns didn’t exist until the late 18^th century. Before then, front yards were a mix of flowers, vegetables, herbs, and chickens pecking at insects. Suburbs began to grow after the Civil War bringing with them the lush, sprawling green lawn which became a mark of prosperity, the American Dream, and the trend of replicating grassy pastoralism of the Romantic era of landscape paintings.

The first human-pushed lawn mower, the spiral-bladed mower, was designed in 1870. By 1938, Toro had created a power mower that every American household could afford and would fit into a household garage, and most importantly, safe enough for teenagers to operate. Now 54 million Americans mow their lawn every weekend spending about 70 hours per year on lawn care and emitting 5% of our total air pollution by burning 800 million gallons of gas. Manicured turf grass lawns consume 3 trillion gallons of water a year.

Approximately 20% of treated drinking water is used for outdoor lawns and landscaping. Over 80% of Americans have lawns, covering 50 million acres of land. Running a gas-powered lawn mower for 1 hour produces 11 times more emissions than the average new car in the same amount of time.

The Lawn Future.

It’s not necessary to remove every square inch of your lawn. Lawns are nice. However, think about spaces that you can replace lawn in your yard with ground covers or perennials or shrubs or with pollinator friendly flower gardens.

Implement No Mow Spring or May. Hold off mowing for as long as you can. Mowing less equals less emissions which will decrease your carbon footprint while providing habitat for pollinators. When you do mow, set your mower at the highest setting leaving your lawn at 3-4 inches in height. You will use less water on your lawn and find that you need to mow less often. I have experimented with this method the past 2 years and I have been amazed by how well this method works.

Replace your gas-powered mower with a battery charged lawn mower. Thanks to my daughter’s suggestion, I have used a battery powered mower the last 2 years. These are very efficient, easy to use and little maintenance tools.

Water deeply, only once per week, encouraging deeper more drought tolerant roots. Use soaker or drip hoses which will deliver water to the root zone and prevent loss of water due to evaporation. Where available, use rain barrels to collect water from downspouts rather than sending rainwater into drains and sewers.

Do not use chemical fertilizers. Not only are these pesticides killing our pollinators and polluting our waterways all the way to oceans, but chemical fertilizers cause grass lawns to burn in the heat thus needing watering more frequently. By leaving the leaves in the Fall, as they decompose you have provided natural fertilizer-carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus- to your soil. An additional light sprinkling of compost on your lawn in the Spring is all that is needed. Plus, decomposed leaves add a layer of mulch to your grass, less weeds and lawns don’t dry out in the windy Spring weather.

Las Vegas region offers us an inspiring approach. Through voluntary action, education, pricing and enforcement, 170 million square feet of “non-functioning turf” has been removed from front yards, resorts, highway medians and golf courses. This action has resulted in a 30% reduction in water consumption even though there has been an increase in population by half-million people.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 16:55:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Heather Holms, Biologist, conservationist, and Author presented an excellent discussion, Native bee specialists, plant hosts, threats and conservationfor the Best Practices for Pollinators Summit 2024. I frantically took notes about the 6 bee families and the 20%-45% of native bees that are pollen and nectar specialists. Many of these native bee specialists use only pollen and/or nectar from one species or genus of plants, Narrow Oligolecty. Some, such as the bumblebee, are Polylecty, meaning they use pollen and /or nectar from more than 4 plant families. Heather shared a list of native plants that serve specialists throughout the season.

Plants for Native Bee Specialist throughout the seasons:

Spring

Salix (Willow)- female uses nectar & male pollen

Hydrophyllum (Waterleaf)

Geranium maculation (Wild Geranium)

Zizia (Golden Alexanders) carrot family

Dogwood shrubs (Cornus, Coral Red, Red Osier, Artic Fire)

Summer

Physalis (Ground Cherry) tomatilla

Dalea (Prairie Clover)

Amorpha (Leadplant, False Indigo)

Verbena, Vervain

Lysimachia (Loosestrife) oil secreting glands attract Native Bees

Monarda (Bergamot or Beebalm) stem nesting Native Bees

Cirsuim (Thistle) 31 of oligolectic specialists need Native Thistle

Rudbeckia (Gray-headed or Yellow Coneflower)

Vernonia (ironweed)

Cucurbita (Squash, pumpkin, melon) squash bee specialists nest 5” deep- NO TILL Helianthus (Sunflower)

Autumn

Bunch Grasses (Bluestem) Dianthiduim simile Native Bee nest at base

Solidago and Euthamia (Golden rod) 3 species specific to nesting bees

Symphyotrichum Eurybia (Aster) 3 species specific to nesting bees Leave stem stubble of asters, bergamot, and beebalm.

Plant micro-garden with native perennials inside of a container.

Plant a shrubby hedgerow.

Create a habitat to provide for birds by providing 2 trees. This will give natural pest control by attracting barn swallows and red-winged blackbirds.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 16:50:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Acts: Join us for Pulse of Earth Day April 22 at 5:30 MDT

The Earth Day theme this year is Planet vs Plastic. The risk of microplastics to everyone’s health is alarming. This month’s ESD article will be sharing the extensive research byEARTHDAY.ORG.

“Our reliance on plastics could be the biggest gamble in the story of human health, in history. We are all ingesting and inhaling microplastics. They are everywhere. Are we just hoping they are safe, or is even the remotest possibility they might be toxic so terrifying, that we can’t contemplate it?” Kathleen Rogers, President, EARTHDAY.ORG

Microplastics are a derivative of the combination of petroleum and over 10,000 chemical additives used to manufacture plastics. These tiny filaments of plastic- microplastics- are in our food (February BPW ESD newsletter article), the air we breathe, inside our homes, the water we drink, our clothes, in our soaps and toiletries, vitamin and medicine capsules, to name a few. There is a frightening in-depth study out, Babies vs Plastics, demonstrating that microplastics in babies’ feces is 10 times higher than that of adults. 90% of toys are made of plastic, and baby bottles, sippy cups, utensils, clothing are all made of plastic.

Microplastics have been found to bioaccumulate in our major organs like the brain, kidney and liver, lung and heart tissue, urinary and gastrointestinal systems, and also in placentas and breast milk. Recent studies link diseases of the endocrine system and central nervous system including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Type 2 diabetes, infertility, and Parkinson’s to microplastics. Microwave heating in plastic containers releases the highest level of microplastics and nano-plastics, more than 4 million microplastics into a small bowl after 3 minutes of heating.

Oil-based plastics make up 69% of the fabrics we wear, such as polyurethane, nylon, spandex. The convenience of these synthetic materials is that they dry quickly, don’t need to be ironed and are water resistant. Every time we wash these synthetic textiles, they release thousands of microplastics into our water depositing 500,000 tons of microplastics into our oceans annually. Of all the plastics we hear about polluting our oceans, synthetic clothing is responsible for 35%.

While extremely harmful leads are being globally phased out, plastic production is increasing with over 390 million tons of plastic produced in 2021, doubling in the past 20 years. 99% of plastic is derived from petroleum. As we work to phase out the use of gas, oil and coal, the fossil fuel companies are rapidly increasing the production of plastics.

How do we solve this microplastic problem?“Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.” Commission on Plastics and Human Health.

EARTHDAY.ORG is asking that the Global Plastics Treaty, draft completion due December 2024, to include a call for 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040. Currently this Treaty is addressing only plastic pollution.
Science and industry are developing biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates and myceliumcomposite materials (grown on a mixture of sawdust and wheat bran).
Greenwashing is a term with which we are all familiar. Only 9% of plastic waste is recycled despite the plastic industry’s misleading campaign that mass-scale recycling is ongoing. Because of the many different types of plastic, it is impossible to recycle plastic in one process like paper. Sorting and melting down plastic is energy intensive, emitting hazardous chemicals, using large amounts of water, and releasing microplastics directly into waterways. Recycled plastic costs more to produce than virgin plastic making it not cost effective.
Legislative action against the use of single-use plastics needs to be top of list.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:40:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman

BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Several articles are staring me in the face, “There’s a water crisis. Why do we still have lawns?” and “You- yes, you!- can help the planet. Start in your backyard.” and “Lawmakers will push even harder to replace lawns” and “DurangoScape 2024 to focus on native plant benefits”. An article on Douglas Tallamy’s book, “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Begins in Your Yard” caught my attention.

The author believes that we everyday people can save the planet and support insects and birds by “ditching the pesticides and herbicides” and planting native species such as coneflowers, milkweed, and oaks. 78% of land in US is privately owned, therefore we must have buy-in from not just national and state parks, but also homeowner associations, homeowners, businesses, and public and school parks. “Don’t worry about the whole Earth. Worry about the piece of the Earth that you can influence.” Douglas W. Tallamy.

We don’t need to rid of our lawns totally, just shrink them back by maybe reducing them in half. Plan where you want to have a grassy area, for your dogs to roll in or for a sitting area. Then transform the rest by planting native grasses, native bushes, and flowers.

The largest irrigated crop in the United States is lawns devouring about 9 billion gallons of water per day, more than thirsty corn or soybeans. Beyond the water lawns need, the millions of pounds of fertilizer and pesticides required to have that perfect lawn leach pollution not only into our neighbor’s yard but also into our waterways. 40 % of these chemicals use on American lawns are outlawed in other countries due to carcinogens.

Do an online search for your local Botanical Garden, native plant societies or master gardeners. The National Wildlife Federation has a native plant finder ( https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org). Audubon has a native plants database (https://www.audubon.org/native-plants). Homegrown National Park (https://homegrownnationalpark.org) has a Keystone Species list.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:35:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Ways to get the word out on the environment on social media.

By Susan E. Oser/Michigan Affiliate

To get some advice and an idea on what we could do as a committee or in general, how we should get the word out on the environment on social media, Suzette Cotto, PR Chair was consulted for some basic ideas on what to do. She was very helpful in brainstorming this article and thanks to her, I am hopeful that these ideas can help you as well in our committees or on your own social media posts.

First, know what information you want to share. With all the information out there concerning the environment, it’s best to put a focus on at least one thing that is prominent in the news or that one thing you really care about. For example, right now, everyone is talking about microplastics. With this focus, why not give your opinion on your experience on the matter? Maybe you can discuss what people are saying about the news and who are downplaying the issue. Interviewing someone and putting the interview on YouTube, snippets on YouTube shorts and TikTok and promoting that interview will drive traffic.

Note: If you are using video from another source for your posts, please ask for permission, especially if you are part of an organization trying to get the word out on the Internet.

You might also want to make sure that when you post up about an issue that you give a reason why your audience should act. Perhaps it’s an urgent matter, such as a petition that needs to be signed. Maybe you want them to check out a video related to your post. Perhaps you want to encourage interaction and conversation (if it is not too combative).

Remember that no matter what you do, your posts should be short with references, keywords, and hashtags. If you post a link that is too long, you can look for websites such as tinyurl.com to help you. Sites like X (Twitter) are quite limited in the number of characters you should use. So, be careful. Most people do not have a big attention span, so the shorter the better.

No matter what you are doing online, make sure to get online every day for a few minutes to at least an hour or so to see what topics you’ve posted have engaged your audience. You do not want to stay on too long or get too overwhelmed. Give yourself a break and take a breather if you must. It’ll be good for your mental health and help curb any burnout you might be experiencing.

To get a clearer idea of what posts are making waves and grabbing attention, check your analytics if you can see what topics are getting the most hits and find ways to keep that engagement going. You might also want to consider what kind of audience you want to attract with your message. Perhaps you have a connection with an organization that you might want to quote or repost your support of. Sometimes you can gain attention and new followers that way.

So, what are some things that you do now to get the word out about the environment? Keep your eye on your news feeds. If there is something you think your followers should know, just retweet it. If you want to make a comment, just respond to it. You can even do a search on a topic and see what comes up. It is all up to YOU and what YOU are passionate about in relation to the environment.

For example, on X (Twitter), if you click on Explore on the left side, you will see a search screen at the top where you can type in a topic or scroll through the For You, Trending, and News headings to see what’s going on and if anything on the environment pops up. If not, just click on the search bar and type in a word or phrase you want to research.

So, let’s go back to our earlier topic microplastics. In the search button type out that term.

You might see something like this:

But then if you just click on the bar and hit return you can see all kinds of entries related to the highlighted key word of microplastics. You can choose if you want to find them from the Top, Latest, People, Media, or Lists. Clicking on the Latest tab and scrolling down, this entry came up that you can click on directly:

Clicking on the heart will like it, which is always a good idea to do. You can also retweet/quote your thoughts and tag someone with a @ (for example @ (insert your state senator) ) so you can get the message out there. It would also be a good idea to follow the poster since they put up such great information about the issue.

Note that whatever you do online in the environmental spectrum, it needs to be respectful and engaging. That’s not only how you gain followers, but you will get repeat responders getting involved in the conversation. And who knows? You might just inspire someone to quote you or get just as involved if not more so with an environmental cause.

Please note that the ESD Committee will be hosting a special Earth Day event on April 22, 2024, at 5:30 MDT titled the Pulse of Earth Day. It will be an interactive discussion about environmental awareness that has affected you and if anything has inspired you to act. Please stay tuned for future updates and details and the date gets closer.

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 17:45:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

With all the weighty news of the world and climate crisis, gardening can bring emotional refuge and physical health. With January, the excitement of seed catalogues arrives with promise for the upcoming planting season. Research has found that the benefits of conservation in small spaces such as gardens have “real, quantifiable effects.” By restoring yards with native plants (https://www.nwf.org>nativeplantfinderand https://www.audubon.org>native-plants), researchers found that within just 3 years a large increase in both the diversity and abundance of invertebrates occurred. Having the goal of providing habitat for native bees, butterflies, and birds while growing vegetables and flowers will have the additional benefits of reducing water use on your lawn while maximizing climate benefits.

When ordering your seeds and plants, plan for flowers to bloom throughout the seasons. Springtime bloomers include yarrow, bluebells, penstemon. Summer has milkweed, flax primrose beebalm blossoming. Don’t forget those end of season flowers, blanket flower, goldenrod, asters. By allowing your plants to go to seed, you will provide food for birds throughout the fall. Sunflowers are the best as they provide

pollen and nectar for native bees and hummingbirds, are host plants for moths which are a declining pollinator species, in addition to food for birds.

Yes, we need to push for stronger legislation to protect biodiversity and natural lands and to change the way we farm, no-till, cover crops and little to no pesticides. Meanwhile we can add to our own peace of mind by planting gardens.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 17:40:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman,
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Happy New Year to all of our NFBPWC members! Time for those New Year’s resolutions. And to keep it easy, we are suggesting 12 Simple Solutions that address Climate Crisis from which you can choose, one from each month of 2023.

Join an environmental organization. Friends of the Earth (https://foe.org), 350 cofounded by Bill McKibben (https://350.org), Audubon Great Lakes (https://gl.audubon.org), 52 Climate Actions (https://www.52climateactions.com), The Nature Conservancy (https://nature.org), The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (https://xerces.org).
Reduce food waste. Make the freezer your best friend. (www.foodprint.org)
Prioritize sustainable development and poverty eradication by financing environmental justice. Join local and community-led fights.
Eat what is in season. Shop at Farmers Markets. Join Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs). Choose organic.
No Mow Spring whether it be April, May or June. Don’t jump into spring clean-up. Re-think your lawn. (https://beecityusa.org>no-mow-may)
Educate yourself about water. The earth is running out of clean drinking water. Learn about the importance of protecting our rivers and streams, our wetlands, and our sustainable water supply. (https://tinyurl.com)
Curb your carbon emissions. Park your car and walk inside skipping the drive-thru. Avoid running late, you’ll burn less fuel. Park in the back of the parking lot instead of driving around and looking for the closest spot.
Be a “plastic-hater”. Avoid the use of plastic whenever possible. “1 million plastic bottles are used around the world per minute… 5 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide per year.” (Greensanity Designs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+7sjBbs3BOfY).
Become a backyard gardener. Home-grown food reduces carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels by reducing food packaging, refrigeration, and transportation. And no plastic packaging is required.
Use eco-friendly menstrual products. These products are free from toxins and chemicals that harm our bodies and our environment.
Recycle the correct way. Don’t recycle anything smaller than a credit card. Empty, clean, and dry should be your household motto. When in doubt, throw it out.
Remember Nature Boy and his message of the “Earth Box’. Spread peace and love to the Earth. Treat earth like your own bed, keep it clean and tidy.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 17:35:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual
Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

The Adventures of Nature Boy and how he helped the ESD Committee

Story written by Susan E. Oser

There once was a not-so-well-known superhero named Nature Boy. He was a tall, slender man of 6ft 2in with dark hair, brown shoulders, and muscles like superman. His mentor was the infamous Captain Planet that a lot of us remember from back in the 1990s or so.

He had not seen a lot of action lately as his time saving the planet was getting weary on him. Almost every day he was busting someone for illegal dumping, hunting, and/or cleaning the water of something. So, when Nature Boy got the call to help a small environmental committee on the Internet, he could not resist.

It was a little environmental committee called the Environmental and Sustainable Development Committee from the National Business and Professional Women’s Club. They were looking for help in spreading the message about the environment but could not think of an effective way to do it. Nature Boy knew exactly who to talk to. The old guy himself, Mr. St. Nick along with some help from his girl Mother Nature.

When Nature Boy travelled up to the North Pole, his trek was not too bad, especially with global warming on the rise. However, at the same time, he wished he could’ve seen just a little bit more snow than he wanted.

Once he got up to the North Pole, he noticed that Santa needed a bit of environmental education on light pollution and a few other small things he could talk about with him…especially when it came to the new toys on the market that he didn’t feel were exactly environmentally friendly.

Nature Boy arrived in the North Pole area and walked towards the house in which he could smell cookies and hot chocolate emanating. He walked up and rang the doorbell that sang the Jingle Bells song. Within a few minutes, the door opened and a sweet old lady in a red dress and glasses opened and stepped forward. It was Mrs. Claus.

Nature Boy was very grateful for the warm welcome. He felt very cozy inside as he walked in, took off his coat and sat down by the fire. After about 10 minutes later, Santa came into the room, also served a few snacks by an elf that Nature Boy had not seen before along with Mrs. Claus who sat across from them.

“So, who is this strange person joining us today?”

“Allow me to introduce myself,” Nature Boy stood up. My name is Sir Nature Boy and I come on behalf of a small environmental committee that needs some help to spread the message on the environment to kids and families around the world.”

“Oh!” Santa exclaimed, “And what do I have to do with it?”

“Well, since you make gifts, and toys and things and the world look up to you,” Nature boy answered, “I thought you would help create something to get the message out. Besides, there are a lot of people that are always asking you for things!”

“Well, that’s true.”

“And…instead of always making all these new shiny things, why not recycle or create something to show people how to recycle and make gifts!”

“But new is what I do! And I don’t think I have time since it is so close to Christmas!”

“But dear,” Mrs. Claus said, “You know most parents can’t afford what the kids ask of you. That’s why they hope to ask you, so you help them.”

“But won’t they be angry at me? I sometimes get hate mail and must put them on the Naughty List. I already have a list that’s as tall as me.” Santa said. He sounded a bit worried.

Nature Boy assured him, “Sir. If you put a special message with the gift, along with a message from Miss Mother Nature, not only would it be a gift to the world, but also a gift to you! I mean have you seen how smoggy the air is when you travel with your reindeer! You would want some cleaner air to travel in during the night to keep you and the dear healthy.”

“That’s true,” Santa sat in contemplation, “And you said that you knew Mother Nature herself and she could give us a hand.”

“Sure thing! Once we get our gift ideas together, I’ll give her a call.”

“Fine. So where do we start?”

Nature Boy and Santa sat up all night talking about this special environmental gift. Twinkles, one of Santa’s elves was summoned to sit down and take notes. He was dressed in a 3-piece green suit and wore thick red glasses.

As Nature Boy and Santa chatted, they were braining storming a lot of ideas over hot chocolate and cookies. Nature Boy mentioned how Santa could create recycled wrapping paper instead of using shiny, new non-environmentally friendly wrapping paper, as well as the light pollution that he first noticed when he stepped in the realm of the North. It was an eye-opening education for Santa.

When the project got underway, Santa was a bit skeptical, but when he saw how the product came together, he realized how precious a gift it was going to be. Mother Nature was contacted to write a special message and after a few days, it was sent. When Santa read it, he had a tear in his eye and decided that he too would put a message in the box as well.

When Nature Boy attended the next ESD meeting, he did a show and tell of the “Earth Box”. It was a shoebox wrapped in a used magazine. Inside, there was a mask made from a handkerchief, a small bunny named from an old rag, a painted jar with instructions inside for how it could be used (coffee storage, egg mixer), and a reindeer made from used socks. There were also two messages inside. One from Santa and one from Mother Nature.

The ESD Committee was pleased. They thanked Nature Boy for his help, and a few days later they received their own “Earth Boxes.” Each member found their own special use for the jar. They also decided to share the messages from Mother Nature and Santa that were given to them. These messages are below:

Mother Nature’s message:

If I were you, I’ll treat the earth like my own bed.

Make sure it’s clean and tidy, yes that’s what I said.

There’s a hole in the ozone and like your favorite sheet,

You need to hold it tight, so we won’t lose or gain any heat.

Protect the wilderness and give it care.

Don’t mess it up, like it as your hair.

This is my advice, spread it across the land.

Before everyone dies, and the world disbands.

Santa’s message:

My dear children and families around the world. I never realized how much the Earth needs our care until I met a special friend. He taught me about how I should really look around me and be careful about my travels so I can be safe to drop off your gifts to you. I didn’t realize that I do have to wear a mask as I travel through the air to some of your homes. A few of my reindeer always get sick for some reason when I return from my travels…and now I know. I also didn’t realize that I can see the stars more and I don’t need so many lights to be shiny outside. The stars are their own Christmas lights.

And there is so much more that I have learned. And because of this, the “Earth Box” was created for you to enjoy and to share with your friends and neighbors. Just as we spread peace and love for each other, we should also spread peace and love to the Earth and our homes.

May our Earth be around for years to come and for me to visit every Christmas!

Enjoy your gift and have a Merry Christmas and other Happy Holidays!

Zero Waste Initiative by Laurie Dameron

Kemi Oyebade — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 17:35:00 GMT

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

Dear Business and Professional Women colleagues,

As of November, I have officially retired from my position of Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development for BPW Colorado. It’s truly been an honor and privilege to serve BPW since 2015.

I have learned so very much as a member and this position and have so much gratitude for being able to represent our phenomenal organization in Cairo, Egypt at the 2017 BPW International Congress. Also, I got to do a cruise with BPW in the Caribbean and attended other conferences over the years and met so many incredible women!

It’s possible I’ve found a replacement for this position, and I will keep you updated on that.

My final “Green News,” “Simple Action” is this:

Raise your environmental awareness - Every time you buy something and every time you throw something away - think about where it is coming from and where is it going.

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

To sign up for Laurie’s monthly music and “Green News,” write to WindchimeL@aoL.com

Or visit www.LaurieDameron.com

Please visit and LIKE https://www.facebook.com/WhatCanIDoSpaceshipEarth

Zero Waste Initiative by Laurie Dameron

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:05:00 GMT

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development Dear Business and Professional Women colleagues

I will be stepping down from being BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development. It’s been a privilege and honor to serve BPW, humankind, all creatures, and our beautiful planet for so many years! I feel it’s time for some new energy and direction. I’ve tried very hard to find a replacement. If you have anyone in mind, please do let me know. I have a “Job Description” document I can send to anyone interested.

Just to mention one of many perks of the job was getting to represent BPW Colorado and NFBPWC at the 2017 BPW International Congress in Cairo, Egypt. We met women from all around the world! My colleagues and I stayed an extra week and sailed the Nile River with Luxor Sail the Nile owned by our BPW Germany colleague. It was truly the trip of a lifetime!

My “Green News” and “Simple Actions” may be coming to an end as well. I am making a final attempt with the

below document and have sent it out to all the Aides for Representatives and Senators at the Colorado capital. I will also be sending this to any other people or organizations that have a newsletter or regular e communications and also to news and media.

Please feel free to use the following as a template or edit it to use in sending any other persons or organizations that you are connected to.

Hello to my Colorado Representatives and Senators,

First of all, thank you for all you do to make our world a better place!

Psychologists have come up with a term "Eco Anxiety." With all the climate disasters in the news every day folks are feeling the impacts of climate change. I believe by focusing on solutions, folks will feel empowered like there's something they can do instead of feeling despair and helplessness of our situation on this beautiful planet.

I've been thinking of ways to address climate change as we need to take drastic action. I'm sure you are aware of the seriousness of our situation and that humanity (and all species) are at stake.

I started sending eco-suggestions out when I was motivated in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire that occurred in Boulder County, Colorado, where I reside. Over one thousand homes burned, and thousands of people lost everything. I am still affected with PTSD even though it’s been nearly two years ago.

As an organization or person sending out regular e-communications, you have the opportunity to reach many people. I'm urging you to include the "simple action" of the day, or week, or month in your communications.

For example, the majority of regular citizens don't know many simple things, including that idling their cars puts out a lot more CO2 than when driving, and lack the knowledge about phantom or vampire energy. YOU can help educate people.

Almost every day in the news, I read or hear of yet another climate disaster. But what about solutions?

Wouldn’t it be great if your newsletters and news outlets and media helped us to do that by sharing a

simple environmental action of the day? For example:

Don’t allow your car to idle
Avoid using drive-throughs
Have no-drive days every week
Shop and bank locally and divest from big banks that support oil and gas
Turn down the heat
Turn off lights when you leave a room
Use power strips and leave off when not in use to fight “vampire energy”
Minimize using single-use plastics
Bring your own cup to your coffee shop
Use a reusable water bottle wherever you go
Strive for zero waste
Hang-line dry clothes
Join Climate Citizens Lobby
Get the Climate Action Now CAN app (spend only 5 minutes a day to send emails to companies that are harming the planet or supporting oil and gas such as big banks. CAN provides the text and email addresses all one needs to do is click send)

There are SO many actions we can take. They may be small changes but can add up to make a big difference. I can send you a list of simple actions with links that are ready to send. (All you need to do is add a text box to your newsletter).

Switching to renewable energies, transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices, and passing legislation such as the Green New Deal, and a carbon pricing bill, are really important. However, these things take time

-- time we don’t have. I feel that every citizen needs to be environmentally educated and be part of the

solution.

I think Colorado Governor Polis and President Biden missed a huge opportunity to reach millions of households when they gave speeches for the Marshall Fire press conference which aired on television in January of 2022. They spoke at great length on the many climate disasters that are increasing but barely a word about solutions.

I urge our elected officials and others to use media opportunities to an advantage.

I believe what the EPA says: “Over 40% of our greenhouse gases come from the way products are extracted, produced, transported, used, and even disposed of. Striving for Zero Waste is one of the quickest and easiest ways to address climate change and build healthy communities.”

I also agree with Bill McKibben when he said: “We're under attack from climate change — and our only hope is to mobilize like we did in WWII.”

Again, thank you again for all you do and your time here. We can make this happen! I look forward to hearing from you!

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!!!

Laurie Dameron Climate Reality Leader

Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development BPW Colorado

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

To sign up for Laurie’s monthly music and “Green News,” write to WindchimeL@aoL.com Or visit www.LaurieDameron.com

Please visit and LIKE https://www.facebook.com/WhatCanIDoSpaceshipEarth

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:00:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Many of us are feeling overwhelmed by the immense weight of news about Climate Change. To add a lift to our spirits, I thought I’d write about the amazing annual journey of the Monarch butterflies. Between August & October, North American monarchs migrate south. Most monarchs who spent summer months west of the Rocky Mountains migrate to California coastal areas while those monarchs who breed in the east migrate to Mexico.

Coasting on air currents these migrating monarchs can travel up to 100 miles in one day, a total of 2500 to 3000 miles to reach their winter sites. We can’t see these migration patterns from the ground as they often fly at elevations of 800 t0 1200 feet high.
Scientists theorize that monarchs must use cues like sunlight & magnetism to navigate directionally, because none of these fall migrating monarchs have ever been to their destination before. When they head north in the spring, they will breed & die.
While a monarch’s lifespan is 2 to 6 weeks, a migrating monarch’s lifespan is 9 months. This lifespan is spent migrating south, clustering in large groups to survive the winter, migrating north, and breeding in the spring.
Some species of monarchs don’t migrate, such as those monarchs living in southern Florida. Scientists are

still studying- is because of the milder winters or genetics or both.

Much of the data about migrating monarchs is from community scientists who have been tracking, counting and photographing monarchs for decades. Anyone can be involved. Contact Xerces Society to be a community scientist to help with research of these beautiful animals.

Remember to LEAVE the LEAVES!

Most insects & invertebrates spend their winter right where they spent all summer. They rely on fallen leaves and other organic debris to cover and insulate them from the winter weather. Before you rake or blow those leaves, remember these are resources for nests and overwintering habitat.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:50:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair

NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Acts: Recycling the Correct Way

Despite being taught to recycle everything, everything cannot be recycled. About 30% of what ends up in our recycling containers doesn’t belong there. Contaminated materials being tossed into recycling bins are causing recycling centers to dispose waste by the truckloads to landfills. Some simple recycling Do’s and Don’ts

1. Don’t be a “Wish-cycler”. While tossing items like shoes, bicycle tires, old garden hoses, Styrofoam coolers, & plastic toys into the recycling bin might be done with the best intentions, these bad recycling habits are counterproductive. “Wish-cycling”, tossing non-recyclable materials into recycling bins, adds financial expense & labor to every system in the world. Someone has to manually pull these things off the conveyor belt & send them to the landfill. What can be recycled varies from community to community depending upon how far away processors are located. When in doubt call your local recycling facility or throw it out.

2. Do recycle all clean, dry paper & paper board products. Shredded paper can be recycled in paper bags, but not loose. Don’t recycle any soiled or coated or sticky paper, examples being envelopes with a clear plastic windows or sticky notes. Cracker, cereal, cookie boxes are okay as are the non-greasy side of pizza boxes. Rinsed out milk & juice containers are dependent upon where you live. Used coffee cups are a no-no!

3. Empty, clean & dry should be your household motto. Food residue of any kind, just one empty jar of peanut butter can contaminate an entire truckload of recyclables. Aluminum soda cans & tin cans can be recycled if they are empty, clean & dry. (I put mine through the dishwasher.) Aluminum foil with food stuck to it, bottle caps, soda can tabs & razor blades should never be recycled. Once again, when in doubt, throw it out!

4. Don’t recycle anything smaller than a credit card. Small items like bottle caps or tiny pieces of paper can become stuck in recycling processing machines.

5. Try the “poke test” with plastics- if you can press your finger through the plastic, it doesn’t belong in the recycling bin. Sandwich bags, plastic wrap, plastic grocery bags, produce bags, newspaper bags, & most cereal bags do not belong in the recycle bin.

6. Whether it’s broken window glass or a broken beer bottle, never put broken glass into your recycling bin. It can clog machinery and/or be dangerous for employees handling recycling.

7. Don’t assume all plastic is single-stream recyclable. The number inside the triangle of chasing arrows, called Resin Identification Codes, were not designed for consumers, but rather for processors to bale recycling materials with consistency. Ignore the numbers & recycle single-use rigid cleaned plastic containers only: water, salad dressing & shampoo bottles.

While almost anything is technically recyclable, processors need to have enough of a homogenous material supply to make it worth their cost for labor, space & marketability. Recycling is based on supply and demand. Processors need to be able to purchase materials and break them down for reuse at a cost that will sufficiently pay for labor & transportation and still make a profit for them.

Zero Waste Initiative

Kemi Oyebade — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 16:45:00 GMT

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

Another Way to Cut Down on Single-Use Plastics!

Along with your reusable shopping bags in your car, keep small containers for leftovers at restaurants. Since most places use Styrofoam, which is very bad for the planet and is not only not recyclable but takes years to decompose and has many harmful chemicals, your simple action can make a huge difference! Even if a restaurant uses other plastics and even compostables, it’s still “single use.” And it encourages more plastic to be produced or uses paper made from trees.

If I’m going out for Chinese, I know I’m going to have leftovers and take Tupperware or glassware with.

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

To sign up for Laurie’s monthly music and “Green News,” write to WindchimeL@aoL.com

Or visit www.LaurieDameron.com

Please visit and LIKE https://www.facebook.com/WhatCanIDoSpaceshipEarth

Bring Back the Pollinators

Kemi Oyebade — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 16:40:00 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Act: “Do a whole lot of nothing”

I was amused to read this headline: “Don’t you dare rake your leaves this fall.” by Dana Milbank, author who typically writes satirical political articles. A recent transplant to country living, he was perplexed to find few pesky bugs bothering him. After spending years trying to destroy the bug populations in his city yard- citronella tiki torches, garlic-based repellents, fogging screened in porches, & resorting to chemical insecticides- he learned from entomologists that cities & suburbs, due to abundant use of insecticides & destruction of habitat, have created “insect wastelands.” In the country (& wilderness) the eco-system is in better balance with birds & frogs, snakes, fish & spiders keeping insect pests in check. “The problem isn’t that we have too many bugs in cities & suburbs: the problem is that we don’t have nearly enough. We’ve been so successful at vanquishing the little critters that the entire insect world is in big trouble…” The insect population is declining by 1-2% per year leading to the loss of 1/3 of the insect population by 2040 according to Scott Black of Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Our entire food chain is dependent upon insects for crop pollination. We are already seeing the decline of bird & mammal populations.

Allow your lawn to be shaggy, leaving it at least 4” high for overwintering. Cutting your lawn too low in the fall weakens the grass and makes it vulnerable to dry and cold weather.
Don’t rake & bag your leaves, allow them to nourish the soil as they decompose and help protect your lawn & shrubs from harsh winter & spring conditions. Leaves provide habitat for insects.
Don’t cut back your perennials or deadhead your flowers. Not only will the stems provide nesting for insects, perennials have more resiliency when their stems are left to overwinter.
Don’t use pesticides which include fertilizers. Pesticides kill beneficial insects, one key example being caterpillars which are an essential protein for many birds. Many pesticides are approved by the EPA despite the harm they pose to insects. Testing occurs only using the European honeybee, not the more sensitive native bee, butterflies, moths, lightening bugs, or other invertebrates. The combination of chemicals used in the “real world” can be much more toxic.
Turn off exterior lights at night.

So do a whole lot of nothing & allow your yard to be shaggy. You’ll be helping out a whole lot of insects.

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Kemi Oyebade — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 16:35:00 GMT

By: Megan Shellman-Rickard
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Simple Acts: Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products

Menstruation is a natural and essential process. While we can't avoid it, we can certainly choose the products we use during our periods. Most menstruators rely on disposable menstrual pads and tampons, which are not only harmful to the environment but can also be harmful to our health.

Eco-friendly menstrual products are those that are made from sustainable and biodegradable materials. These products are free from chemicals and toxins that can harm the environment and our bodies. Eco-friendly menstrual products include menstrual cups, cloth pads, and period panties. Unlike disposable products, they are reusable and can last up to ten years with proper care. In addition, there are disposable menstrual products that are produced with organic materials that are made in a more sustainable manner and without harmful chemicals, toxins, and plastics.

There are many benefits of using reusable, eco-friendly menstrual products. They are cost-effective in the long run. Traditional disposable products may seem more affordable, but you must keep buying them every month and there is a cost to both your body and the environment. Conversely, eco-friendly reusable products only need to be bought once and can last years. Most eco-friendly menstrual products are healthier for our bodies simply because they do not contain chemicals and toxins. Many options are also more comfortable to wear and can reduce the risk of infections.

Disposable menstrual products, especially those with plastic applicators and wrappers, have a huge environmental impact. They contribute to landfill waste, plastic pollution, and deforestation. Research has shown that an average woman uses up to 11,000 disposable menstrual products in her lifetime. That's a lot of waste, much of which takes hundreds of years to decompose. Eco-friendly, disposable menstrual products do not contribute as heavily to environmental degradation as they are biodegradable and require less resources to manufacture. Some reusable products, with proper care, can last up to 10 years.

Choosing the right eco-friendly menstrual product can be a daunting task. You must consider your flow, lifestyle, and comfort. Menstrual cups are perfect for women with a heavy flow as they can hold more blood. Cloth pads are ideal for women who prefer a more traditional option and don't mind washing them after use. Period panties have the added benefit of not requiring any additional products. They are perfect for women who have a moderate flow. Sustainably manufactured disposable products are a simple way to make a difference by using less plastics and items that biodegrade much faster. Making the switch to eco-friendly menstrual products is not as difficult as it seems. Start small and try out different products until you find the right one for you. Research the brands that prioritize sustainability and choose one that aligns with your values and budget.

Click here for resources about eco-friendly menstrual products:

https://www.sustainably-chic.com/blog/sustainable-period-pads

https://vegoutmag.com/shopping/sustainable-tampons-and-pads/

https://period.co/

https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/best-period-underwear/

Zero Waste Initiative

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 23:22:49 GMT

Zero Waste Initiative

By:Laurie Dameron, BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

Cut Down Plastics Use

Choose glass or aluminum whenever possible but when those are not available you can cut down your plastics usage simply by purchasing the largest plastic container and refilling the smaller container to use over and over!

Thank you!

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

To sign up for Laurie’s monthly music and “Green News,” write to WindchimeL@aoL.com

Or visit www.LaurieDameron.com

Please visit and LIKE https://www.facebook.com/WhatCanIDoSpaceshipEarth

Bring Back the Pollinators - September

Kemi Oyebade — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 23:12:58 GMT

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual

Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Soil Health is a Climate Solution. While we all know that pesticides kill pollinators, fertilizer application causes widespread harm to soil health killing a wide world of soil invertebrates that live below our feet. In the Farming with Soil Health webinar, I was reminded of basics of Soil Invertebrates: Only 2% of insects are harmful, 40% of invertebrate pollinator species are at risk of extinction, and By minimizing disturbance, maximizing biodiversity in planting Native plants that bloom throughout the season, & Creating species habitat by leaving the leaves & stems & some dead branches or logs, we develop Soil Health.

(Photo courtesy of Xerces Society.)

What fascinates me are the invertebrates living in the soil- 25% of total diversity in life is found in soil! Fungi & Bacteria, Protozoa, Rotifers, Tardigrades, Nematodes, Potworms, Earthworms, all the Arthropods (Springtails, Woodlice, Millipedes, Centipedes, Spiders, Mites) and Insects such as Flies (Crane Flies, Moth Flies, Snake Flies, Dance Flies, March Flies, Flower Flies) and Beetles (Soldier Beetles, Fireflies, Tiger Beetles, Ground Beetles, Rove Beetles, Burying Beetles, Dung Beetles, Ants, Ground Nesting Bees, Wasps, Scarab Hunting Wasps)- all are Decomposers. These animals tunnel and burrow in the soil, bringing subsoil to the surface, hydrating and aerating the soil. As I learned about these amazing creatures, such as Millipedes can live up to 11 years and Woodlice (“rolly-pollies”) nurse their young and are good for detecting metals, and spiders are useful diggers, I was amazed by how many of these invertebrates live in leaf litter, under stones, overwinter in soil & under bark.

Tardigrades live in leaf litter & within soil & are great scavengers & predators eating bacteria, fungi, algae.

Not only does healthy soil filter & purify our water, reduce flooding, and provide greater crop yields and thus food production, it plays a crucial role in capturing and storing large amounts of carbon. Healthy Soil is second only to oceans as a carbon sink, surpassing forests, reducing the impact of Climate Change. Healthy Soil is a win-win for sustainability and for the human species.

Bring Back the Pollinators - August

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:14:16 GMT

Bring Back the Pollinators by Marikay Shellman

Summer is well upon us & your gardens should have signs of active beneficial insects such as few holes in a leaf or flower, a yellow stem. These are signs of insects thriving in a micro ecosystem. If you have planted native plants which are well adapted to the environment from which they came, they are less likely to be victim to pests. Rest assured that if you see pests, predators are nearby. Example: a lady beetle devouring an aphid.

Wonderful bugs to welcome into your garden are ground beetles who hide during the day just below the ground surface & emerge at night to feast on dozens of pests, slugs & snails & non-native spongy moths.

All bee species pollinate berries, fruits, nuts, and seeds including wasps which not only are important pollinators but also predators of garden pests. Don’t be so quick to get rid of these beneficial insects.

Syrphid flies, also known as flower flies, look a lot like bees. Not only are they great pollinators, the syrphid fly larvae can devour several hundred aphids before entering its pupal stage.

While you should rid your garden of invasive non-native weeds, leave your native plant beds a bit on the unmanaged, wild side which will provide food and nesting habitat for pollinators. Beware of mulch. Colored or rubber mulch is toxic to pollinators & heavy mulch blocks the ground for soil nesting bees.

Remember that the vast majority of insects are not pests. That caterpillar that is devouring a juicy leaf in your garden will turn into a beautiful butterfly or moth.

Bring Back the Pollinators - May

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Mon, 01 May 2023 19:57:10 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Member

We are grateful to Candace Fallon, Senior Conservation Biologist Xerces Society, for her excellent Earth Day presentation, Fireflies: Conserving the Jewels of the Night. With so much information in her presentation, I thought I would review some of the most important facts for NFBPWC members to remember and to act upon.

Fireflies are in trouble, threatened by 6 negative impacts:

Habitat Loss,
Light Pollution,
Pesticide Use,
Degradation of Water Quality,
Invasive Species, and
Climate Change.

The most important thing we can do to help these magical insects is to give Fireflies shelter that is free from pesticides, mowing, and trampling. They need moisture, clean fresh water with native vegetation in which they can burrow, and eat snails, slugs, and earthworms. Don’t over tidy in your rush for Spring clean-up.

Those leaves that you left last fall need to stay on the ground providing moisture in the soil & shelter for insects. Rather than using bark mulch, use those leaves as mulch. Don’t rake or leaf blow. Refrain from mowing as female fireflies spend most of their time on the ground first as larvae & then laying eggs and mower blades are devastating. Males use taller grasses and dried plant forbs as resting places. Unkempt areas in your yard and garden, downed logs & leaf litter are ideal.

As you head to your nursery, ask for pesticide-free native plants, including asters, goldenrods, & milkweed. Native brushy shrubs will add diversity in heights for perches for fireflies.

We all need to reduce night light pollution. Fireflies and many other insects and birds need dark skies. Limit your outdoor lighting to areas only necessary like sidewalks & patios. Where you must have lighting, use dim red lights and motion detectors. Join International Dark-Sky Association.

What we can all do is advocate and educate.

Simple Acts: No Mow May

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Mon, 01 May 2023 19:52:38 GMT

Simple Acts: No Mow May

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual
Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Here’s a Simple Act for May: No mowing your lawn for a whole month! “The goal of No Mow May is to allow grass to grow for the month of May, creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators. This is particularly important in urban areas where floral resources are often limited.” (Bee City USA). No Mow May is a catchy phrase, however, it depends upon where you live. It might make more sense to have a No Mow April or No Mow Spring; whenever you notice the daffodils popping & robins eating worms, the native bees and bumblebees are beginning to emerge and need food and cover from the chilly nights.

The start of growing season is a critical time to give lawn flowers a chance to bloom and provide nectar and pollen for these early emerging bees and pollinators to fed themselves & their offspring. Don’t jump into Spring Garden cleanup. Leave those leaves that you didn’t rake last Fall as they provide much needed protection from the Spring winds and lingering frosts for both plants and invertebrates.

Many bees & butterflies don’t emerge until late May. Notice chrysalides still clinging to the dried standing plant material you left last season. Longer grass can provide shelter for many invertebrates, and several species including ground beetles and some butterflies (fiery skipper and sachem) use grasses as host plants. (Xerces Society).

We need to re-think the American lawn.

40 million acres, 2% of the land in the US, are covered in lawns which are mowed, raked, fertilized, weeded, chemically treated, and watered. These neatly kept monoculture lawns provide little food or habitat for native bees and pollinators, and the pesticides & lack of habitat are contributing to one in four bee species being on the verge of extinction. “Weed and Feed” products contain toxins such as neonicotinoid insecticides, deadly to bees & other pollinators.

Last year I experimented with leaving half my lawn un-mowed for the month of May and the pollinators did come, for example this Sphinx moth on a dandelion flower (photo to the Left taken by my grandson Dylan Rickard). When it is finally time to mow, turf grass extension specialist, Paul Koch, University of Wisconsin, explains that: “You never want to remove more than one-third of the green leafy tissue at any one time.” By raising your mowing height to four inches and mowing every other week, your lawn will flower throughout the growing season attracting more bees & butterflies. You can over-seed your lawn with of “bee lawn seed mix” typically including white clover and creeping thyme. Longer grass shades the ground underneath keeping it cooler and maintaining moisture. It’s a win-win situation. Less time mowing, less expense in upkeep, less water use, and providing a diversity of plants equals a huge positive for pollinators and your pocketbook.

Balancing the urge to have a lawn for playing with your dog and wanting to create habitat for pollinators, try mowing a smaller portion of your lawn and leaving border areas of bunch grasses and shrubs. You can always make your patio or balcony more pollinator-friendly by planting pesticide-free native plants. If your neighbors or HOA are wondering about your long grass, print out free NO MOW MAY sign available from https://beecityusa.org>no-mow-may . Office Depot will laminate them, “outside” thickness, for a minimal charge. Involve your community members and city officials or HOA board members by asking them to adopt a No Mow Spring policy.

Bring Back the Pollinators - April

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 19:50:07 GMT

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Member

98% of insects are NOT pests and “yet most of the chemicals now used kill all insects, our friends and enemies alike.” (Rachel Carson, Silent Spring)

Spring is springing and so are bugs. There is no need for pesticides as there are plenty of non-chemical tactics to battle the bugs: basil to keep flies away, dish soap to rid of ants, a spray bottle filled with water & lemon or lime juice for spiders, a cockroach trap from a wine bottle lined with maple syrup & rubbed with cooking oil, salt for a flea infestation, and Neem Oil for many types of pests.

The number & diversity of insects are declining at an alarming rate due to habitat loss, climate change & use of pesticides. By transforming part of your lawn into an insect friendly habitat, you can attract pollinators and provide habitat for native insects. Lawns are like deserts to insects. Simply leave a section of your yard untouched, allowing vegetation to grow & produce seeds & flowers. Fallen leaves & stems, sticks, and especially logs should be left for insects to use for habitation. Add native plants; they will thrive in your landscape, use less water and attract natural insect enemies to limit damage from those pest species.

Urban areas can exceed rural areas in providing diversity & abundance for pollinators including planting native species in containers on your balcony or on rooftops.

Limit your use of outdoor lighting which is one of the major causes of insect decline. Nocturnal insects are attracted to artificial lights, killing many of them. Amber or red colored lights, best to use outdoors when a large amount of light is necessary, produce wavelengths that are not as attracting to bugs thus killing fewer. Do NOT use “bug zappers” which purposely kill all insects, especially our friendly insects.

For those of us that left the leaves and native flower stalks all winter, leave the leaves which are providing shelter for insects & pollinators. New growth will pop through this bed of dead leaves. Trim stalks at uneven heights between 6-12 inches. Leave the stubble on the ground as some stem nesting bees might be living in them. Ground nesting bees are 70% of our native bees. Leave some bare ground areas to provide for these ground nesters, especially sandy areas. Remember that a leaf being eaten is providing food for leafcutter bees, 30% of our native bees.

Bumble Bee Watch has put out a call for community collection of valuable data. “As you take your daily walk along your neighborhood trail, putter in your garden weeding and planting, or sip on your coffee on an outdoor patio, keep your eyes and ears open and your camera handy. If you spot a bumble bee foraging or crawling around on the ground, take a photo, a few photos. Then submit your photos to bumblebeewatch.org, along with the date and location of your sighting.” Bumble Bees, major pollinators for blueberries, tomatoes, & wildflowers, are nearing extinction.

Simple Acts: From Your Table to Your Community

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 18:20:35 GMT

Simple Acts: From Your Table to Your Community

By Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2022-2024)

Growing up in Florida, my mother would take me to the local farmer stands to purchase vegetables. “They taste much better because they are fresh”, she would say. And how true that still rings today. Our supermarkets advertise their “fresh produce”, but the food is often grown thousands of miles away or in another country, picked well before it has ripened, stored in warehouses, shipped over miles, and placed on your grocery store shelves. By the time this “fresh produce” hits your table, it is typically days if not a week or more old.

Farmers Markets provide fruits & vegetables that are grown seasonally and grown near to where you live, therefore keeping your food money in your community and providing you with real fresh produce. When you eat what is in season food is at its most nutritious in addition to tasting delicious. Those fresh peas & spinach in the Spring, berries & tomatoes ripe in Summer, and crisp apples in the Fall are loaded with vitamins & minerals. Feast on butternut squash soups to keep yourself nourished in the harsh winter months. You are cutting your ecological footprint by purchasing your food from local farmers (food miles count for 11% of your meal’s carbon footprint.). Couple that with using reusable bags, not plastic packaging, voila. Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) have become a user-friendly way to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. The consumer purchases a share in a farmer’s product & receives a box weekly of seasonal produce throughout the season.

Opt for Organic! Organic foods are healthier for you, providing more beneficial nutrients, lowering levels of chemicals in your food, and containing no genetically modified (GMOs) ingredients. “Organic” defines the methods & materials used by farmers to grow & process farm products including vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy products and meat. No synthetic or sewage sludge fertilizers are added to soil, no synthetic pesticides are used for pest control, no irradiation is used to preserve food or rid of pests, no genetic engineering of crops used for disease or pest control or to increase crop harvests, and no antibiotics or growth hormones are used for farm animals.

“Organic” does not mean the same thing as “natural.” Natural on a food label means only that the product has no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, having nothing to do with the way in which the food ingredients were grown. The labels “free-range” or “hormone-free” do not mean that these items were grown organically. Non organic foods are sprayed with extremely toxic chemicals which kill everything but the plant including beneficial insects and soil nutrients needed to grow the plant. Then, because the soil has no organisms or nutrients to provide plant growth, synthetic fertilizers are used. Millions of taxpayer dollars are handed out in subsidies for these extremely expensive, large scale, non-organic farming practices.

In purchasing organic foods, you are keeping toxins out of the air, out of the drinking water, and out of the soil. And remember, everything ends up in the ocean, leaching through soil into aquifers, into nearby rivers & lakes, into our landfills, and into our air.

Organic farming supports pollinators and we need pollinators to support life on earth. We need to maintain a level of biodiversity in plants, animals, insects, & birds.

Eat healthily.

Simple Acts: Addressing Environmental Displacement & Climate Migration

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 17:32:20 GMT

Environmentally displaced people are those who are forced to leave their homes and communities due to irreversible degradation of their environmental resources caused by sudden-onset events such as floods, wildfires, landslides, droughts, heat waves, or by slow-onset impacts such as desertification or sea level rise. Secondary displacement occurs when people such as refugees, who are already displaced and typically reside in “hotspots”, must migrate again due to climate disasters. Losing all of their assets and ability to produce food and unable to plan any future, these climate migrants are extremely vulnerable and suffer trauma. Many women & girls are at high risk of gender-based violence. The 1951 Refugee Convention “does not recognize the environment as a persecuting agent,” therefore people forced to leave their country for reasons related to climate stressors (over 145 million people in the past 6 years) cannot be considered refugees and do not receive refugee protections.
Environmental Inequity- air pollution, climate disasters, unsafe drinking water, poor housing- is directly related to social inequality. “Environmental racism is a problem where racism exposes minority groups to worse effects of environmental issues.” (EPA report 2023). The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is an example: low-income, minority residents. A new analysis by the EPA finds that “oil refineries release billions of pounds of pollution annually into waterways, and that pollution disproportionately affects people of color.”

Heavy metals, nitrogen and other toxic compounds make these waterways dangerous for people to swim in, fish in and even touch. Concentrated along the Gulf Coast, in California, and Chicago area, low-income communities all over the country are affected. A recent headline in our local newspaper states, “EPA eyes Colorado for discriminatory pollution” and is investigating if Colorado’s air pollution regulations from industrial facilities is prejudicial against Hispanic and racial minority residents. Another recent study of federal housing discrimination (Redlining) found that 45 million Americans are exposed to dirtier air, lower house values, lower job opportunities & poverty because race deemed their communities as “undesirable”.
NFBPWC members can explore Environmental Law Institute (www.eli.org) which provides legal tools for environmentally displaced persons & effective livelihoods for climate migrants.

Encourage your congressional representative to expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for climate migrants affected by slow-onset climate change (desertification and rising sea levels). With expansion of TPS, citizens from these regions or countries could not be deported & could obtain a worker’s permit allowing them to establish a secure livelihood.
New York City’s WE ACT for Environmental Justice strives to provide people of color and low-income residents environmental protection. WE ACT led efforts to clean up air pollution from diesel city busses and pushed for mandates of statewide testing of school’s drinking water and forced upgrades at a noxious sewage treatment plant. Notably all of these pollutants were most common in communities of color.
Louisiana Bucket Bridge has been fighting against petroleum industry’s oil & chemical pollution impacting Black communities, “fence-line communities” describing people who live right next door to polluting facilities.
We can no longer ignore the unfair price being asked of our world’s poor and minority communities. We must prioritize sustainable development and poverty eradication by financing environmental justice and join local and community-led fights.

Simple Acts to Reduce Food Waste

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 19:17:13 GMT

Simple Acts to Reduce Food Waste, by Marikay Shellman, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

A dismal fact: While 1 in 8 Americans- including over 10 million children- suffer from food insecurity every day, we throw away nearly 80 billion pounds of food every year; about $2500 for a family of four of food is tossed into the garbage yearly. (www.foodprint.org). Most of this food waste ends up in landfills contributing to 11% of greenhouse gas emissions, methane, carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons & nitrogen pollutions. This waste adds to the energy & resources it takes to produce this food- water, land, soil, labor, processing, & transportation. We consumers are the #1 source of wasted food (www.nrdc.org). What Simple Acts can we make?

More than 80% of perfectly good food is discarded because we misunderstand food labels such as “sell by”, “use by”, “best by” and “expires by”. According to FDA, these food packaging labels are “related to optimal quality-not safety” and are generally applied at the manufacturers’ discretion.
Keep food fresh by properly storing. www.savethefood.com has an interactive encyclopedia on food storage. Don’t wash vegetables or fruit before storing. Cut off tops of root vegetables to extend their shelf life & use greens for making broth. Store foods that emit ethylene gas- apples, bananas, citrus & tomatoes- separately to prevent the gas from spoiling other foods faster.
The simplest preservation method is freezing which works with most foods. Store leftovers in airtight containers & label them to avoid “the guessing game”. What you can freeze: bananas with peel removed, grated hard cheese, pre-sliced bread, yogurt, low fat milk, Grapes, ginger, chilis, herbs to name a few.
Save bones & vegetable scraps in a bag in the freezer to make homemade broth to be used for soups, sauces, & gravy.

The good news is that several states are actively curbing food waste by passing laws that restrict the amount of food waste going into landfills (CA, CN, MS, NY, RI & VT). Vermont’s “Universal Recycling Law” bans food scrap waste entirely which has increased by 40% food donations to Vermont Foodbanks. CA, CO, & MS fund private sector composting & food collection programs. MA & RI introduced legislation to reduce the amount of food waste in schools. Thank your legislators if you live in one of these states.

USDA & EPA set a goal to reduce food waste by half by 2030. (www.rts.com)

Simple Acts to Make a Difference in Climate Change HOLIDAYS

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:21:44 GMT

The holiday season is upon us with shopping & gifting and time with family & friends. It’s a joyous time, but unfortunately also a time of great waste & use of energy. How can we make our celebrations more sustainable?

Green Holiday Shopping

Make sure that you bring your own reusable tote when shopping for gifts or groceries. And totes make great gifts. There are so many styles & flavors of tote bags from Shutterfly Photo Cotton Tote Bag with memorable family photos to fancy designed totes that can be reused for everyone’s shopping needs.

Gifts that encourage sustainability such as a cookbook for leftovers or reusable carry-out containers are useful. Bar soaps purchased from bins at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers are always welcome. If you give gifts that require batteries include rechargeable batteries.

We can all use more life experiences such as gift certificates to local restaurants or museums, upcoming concerts, movie theatres, art classes. Grandkids can give coupons of things they would do such as “One free Foot Massage”. The gift of time is the best you can give a loved one.

Homemade gifts such as knitted or crocheted hat or scarf, herbed vinegars, jellies or jams, cookies, repurposed jewelry. My sister gives us a family calendar every year with photos, old & new, of our growing family. Such fun that we all submit photos year-long for her to include.

Climate Friendly Wrapping

Gift bags are a great alternative to wrapping paper and can be used over & over again. President Megan saved the Sunday Comics all year in which to wrap her gifts for this season. Another idea is to use the “wrapping” as part of the gift such as a garden pot filled with garden supplies or mixing bowl filled with goodies for the kitchen. I am always envious of the beautiful woven totes I see many women carry when shopping at Farmers Markets. Perfect to fill with breads or cookies. Make your own reusable gift bags; one needs only a glue gun, scissors, cloth, & ribbon.

Environmental Holiday Decorations

LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights are not only 90% more efficient than traditional lights, but they also last much longer. Many big box stores offer recycling or holiday light exchange programs for those old energy-sapping lights.

Rather than an artificial tree, cut trees are a much greener choice with, of course purchasing a potted native evergreen tree to be replanted after the holidays being the best. Stay away from tinsel & plastic ornaments (see NFBPWC ESD September 2022 newsletter on PLASTICS). Ornaments from berries, evergreen branches, dried flowers, & herbs add an essence of fragrance to your home.

Green Parties

It's time to bring out all those beautiful dishes and silverware. Avoid plasticware, paper plates & napkins. Stay away from individually packaged drinks. Purchase locally grown produce & foods whenever possible. Many Farmers Markets offer holiday markets for just this purpose. Plan your menu to minimize food waste. Ask guests to bring reusable containers to send them home with leftovers. Donate leftover food to local food banks and compost food that is not donated.

By: Marikay Shellman, Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Every member of the ESD Committee contributed to this article for our magazine: Sue Oser, Daneene Monroe Rusnak, Megan Shellman Rickard & Laurie Dameron

Simple Acts to Make a Difference in Climate Change TEXTILES

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 16:01:13 GMT

As the cold weather begins & the holiday seasons are upon us, catalogues are arriving every day and tempting us with new fashionable clothes. However, shopping for new clothes- Fast Fashion- is generating 14 million tons of textile waste into our landfills. Textile waste can take up to 200+ years to decompose, releasing methane gas and toxic chemicals & dyes into our groundwater & soil. The average American discards approximately 80 pounds of textile waste -clothing, towels, linens, purses, shoes, etc.-each year.

Almost every kind of fabric if it is clean & dry, can be recycled, even the oldest pair of underwear, but not in curbside recycling bins. (www.greenmatters.com) Recycled textiles are sorted by type, fabric (synthetic versus natural fibers) & color, then pulled into fibers or shredded, re-spun into yarn to be woven, or compressed into filling such as insulation. Polyester-based textiles are granulated into polyester chips which can be melted to create new fibers. Recycle Nation suggests these recycling fabric locations: GrownNYC a non-profit operating at Union Square Greenmarket & more than 50 local farmer’s markets & drop-off locations throughout NYC; East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Oakland, CA; Western Pennsylvania Center for Creative Reuse; Quilts of Valor community chapters uses recycled fabric to make quilts for veterans; Project Linus accepts blankets & quilts for children in need.

As part of the clothing Circular Revolution, TakeBackBag has developed a program with Bombas & ForDays that recycles old clothes for in-store credit. By purchasing a $20 a 24” x 24” bag made of 100% recycled polyester (which will be recycled again), filling it with 10 pounds of clean & dry textiles, placing on a pre-paid shipping label and mailing this REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE, REDUCE bag, you will receive a $10 credit with Bombas.

Patagonia is committed to the clothing circular economy. Their clothing made is from recycled material & they accept all Patagonia items to be returned for recycling. They launched Worn Wear, an online platform where one can buy, trade, or sell second-hand Patagonia goods.

Another ethical brand that supports textile sustainability, Levi Strauss creates jeans that are 100% recyclable. In response to the apparel industry’s over-consumption crisis, they are committed to sourcing high quality products that are produced responsibility, using less water to create & that last longer. Their partnership with Blue Jeans Go Green has developed a program recycles jeans into new items, diverting 2100+ tons of denim from landfills.

Vetta takes the ethical clothing business to the next level. Their factories are 70% solar powered, their packaging is recycled & recyclable, and their clothing made from sustainable fabric & organic cotton & “dead stock fabric”- leftover fabric made from landfill textiles. They have a family run factory in NYC & their sweaters are knit in LA. Vetta encourages their customers to buy a “lean timeless collection” and sell, donate or recycle their clothing. Focused on sustainability since its onset, Urban Outfitters offers upcycled & repurposed & remade clothing, it’s a fully recycled line of clothes. They are known as an ethical business model, part of the circular economy.

Ecoalf produces their clothing from used fishing nets, plastic bottles, coffee grounds. Their mission is “to create the first generation of recycled products with the same quality and design as non-recycled products.” By reducing consumption of natural resources, Ecoalf has removed over 500 tons of waste from the ocean floor & recycled over 120 million plastic bottles.

North Face developed Clothes the Loop program, a program that accepts & sends clothing & shoes to Soles4Souls, creating sustainable jobs in recycling clothing & shoes saving approximately 95,000 pounds of clothing & footwear from landfills.

As part of “In the loop, out of the landfill” recycling program, Madewell has developed a unique partnership with Habitat for Humanity and Blue Jeans Go Green where donated jeans are recycled into housing insulation, pet beds & food & pharmaceutical packaging, and saving 415 tons from landfills & recycling 830,700 pairs of jeans.

But back to my stack of Fashion design catalogues calling for my attention…. ThredUP sells 55,000 brands of clothing. Their mission, “Inspiring a new generation to think secondhand first”. They decided the best way to propel the clothing sustainable movement forward was to join forces with the fashion industry. ThredUP teamed up with fashion designer Zero Waste Daniel to create an upcycled collection made exclusively from fabric scraps & secondhand clothing. They are an online consignment & thrift store where you can find your favorite brands & find amazing deals. To do my part in helping solve the fashion waste crisis, I took the time to check out thredUP.com. It’s amazing! Moving to Circular Fashion, shopping secondhand, buying a used item instead of a new item is possible and easy.

Join the Clothing Circular Economy by shopping with intention & standing for sustainability.

Thanks to Evie Hudak (BPW Colorado President) for her shout out to our committee, “I want to learn about textiles.”

By: Marikay Shellman, Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Every member of the ESD Committee contributed to this article for our magazine: Sue Oser, Daneene Monroe Rusnak, Megan Shellman Rickard & Laurie Dameron

Simple Acts to Make a Difference in Climate Change AUTUMN CHORES

Megan Shellman-Rickard — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 14:30:00 GMT

As we build upon our SIMPLE ACTS in ways that each & every member of NFBPWC can make a difference in tackling Climate Change, here’s an easy one:

DO FEWER AUTUMN CHORES!

By leaving your yard & garden & even your planter boxes a little messy & wild, LEAVING LEAVES, dead flower stems, small brush piles, fallen branches & flower heads, you are providing winter habitat for native invertebrates & pollinators.
Moderation is the key. You don’t need to allow the leaves to pile up on your lawn, but don’t mow them with a mower as many insects & their eggs are living among the leaves. Rake leaves onto garden beds & around the base of trees & shrubs and onto bare soil. Many invertebrates overwinter in leaves a couple of inches thick. (Avoid Spring clean-up until late in the season to allow for invertebrates to emerge from overwintering.)

Some examples of Invertebrates and their winter habitats (https://xerces.org/leave-the-leaves):

*Luna Moths & Swallowtail Butterflies blend in with real leaves by disguising their cocoons & chrysalises as dried leaves and crawling into seed pods to overwinter.

*Tucked into leaf piles to protect themselves from cold & predators are Spangled Fritillary & Wooly Bear Caterpillars.

*Brush piles & cavities in the soil provide winter cover for mated Queen Bumblebees. An extra layer of leaves is extra protection for these endangered Bumblebees.

*Leafcutters & Mason Bees & 30% of Native Bees are tunnel nesting invertebrates. Dead wood & hollow stems & brush piles provide solitary-nesting spaces for these species to overwinter.

By simply doing nothing, leaving the leaves & not tidying- leaving habitats for the Winter & early Spring, you are providing safe overwintering spaces for invertebrates & pollinators.

By: Marikay Shellman, Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Every member of the ESD Committee contributed to this article for our magazine: Sue Oser, Daneene Monroe Rusnak, Megan Shellman Rickard & Laurie Dameron

Heatwave in Seattle – A Start of a Vicious Cycle?

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 23:35:18 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

September 2021

When I tell people about my work in sustainability and climate resilience planning in the built environment, I am often asked this question: “Where would you go to stay safe from the impacts of climate change?” While there is no certain safe place from the disruptions of climate change—hence the importance of and responsibility for prevention and mitigation—some regions are expected to feel the impacts less than others. One of the first places I would have mentioned is my hometown of Seattle. Although there are other risks there—including the “Big One,” a magnitude 9 earthquake that’s said to be coming any time—the Pacific Northwest was expected to fare better than other regions.

This, of course, was before the crazy heatwave in late June of this year. Instead of the relatively cool weather that’s characteristic of June in Seattle (locally known as “June gloom”), the temperature reached three digits and stayed there for three days, peaking at a record-breaking 108 degrees on June 28th. In the evenings, temperatures only cooled into the 70s. To put into context how unusual this is, there were only three days above 100 degrees in Seattle in the last century before the heat wave in June. Seattle’s average daytime high in June is in the upper 60s to lower 70s, and it drops to the mid to low 50s in the evenings. Typically, the mild temperatures and low humidity levels in the summer in Seattle meant natural ventilation was enough to cool most buildings. During the heat wave, however, most people were left to power through the 100+ degree heat without air conditioning. The heat wave was linked to hundreds of deaths across the Pacific Northwest.

My family and friends in the area told me it would pass and things would return to normal soon. Sadly, less than two months of normalcy was all they were afforded. The temperature gauge hit the upper 90s again in mid-August, about 20 degrees higher than the monthly average. The word “abnormal” was starting to seem inappropriate to describe the extreme heat in Seattle. I started to hear friends and family who never had air conditioning say they were considering installing it in their homes. I completely understand where they are coming from, having experienced a rather swift shift in attitude towards air conditioning myself after my first summer on the east coast. That said, I also find this development worrisome.

You might remember the state-wide power outage in Texas back in February. It was caused by surging demand for mechanical heating to cope with the unusual cold spell. In a similar way, thousands of residents in the Seattle area experienced outages due to the increased electricity demand for cooling during the heat wave. The outages in Seattle were nowhere near as large as those in Texas, possibly because most homes in the Seattle area are not equipped with mechanical cooling units to turn on and overwhelm the supply of electricity. Afterall, Seattle is the least air-conditioned city in the country. According to 2019 figures, only 44.3% of homes had air conditioning compared to the national average of 89%. Things have been quickly changing, however. In 2013, less than one-third (31%) of homes in Seattle had air conditioning; that’s an increase of over 13% in just six years (Figure 1). I expect the increase in air conditioning to continue, and, with that, the demand for electricity and the risk of larger-scale outages during the times when people need cooling the most.

Even if the additional power supply is made available, I remain worried because of how the additional energy might be produced. Will there be enough renewable energy sources to meet the increased demand for air conditioning? One of the major sources for Washington State’s renewable energy production, hydroelectric power, has been in decline, and it has been challenging enough to try to close that gap with other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

Figure 2: Change in average global temperature relative to 1850-1900, showing observed and simulated temperatures

The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850, according to the new IPCC report on climate change which came out in August, 2021. The IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a United Nations body charged with providing objective science-based information related to climate change. The report noted there was a 1.96°F (1.09°C) increase in the earth’s surface temperature observed over the last decade and presented concrete evidence that human factors have warmed the climate (Figure 2).

I mention the human influence on the climate not to point fingers but to highlight the fact there are clearly things we as a society can do to mitigate problems we had a hand in creating. In the case of dealing with more frequent heat waves in Seattle, for example, doing our part could entail ensuring air conditioning units are as energy efficient as possible and that the additional energy needed is generated using renewable sources.

Let’s talk about PFAS (it is as bad as it sounds)

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 23:03:30 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

July 2021

An important part of my job working as a sustainability and resilience strategist is to stay up to date on the latest scientific findings and studies. Sadly, this built up my tolerance for highly disturbing information, and it takes something extraordinarily bad to startle me. A few weeks ago, I found myself profoundly disturbed by a study on the chemicals included in cosmetic products. The study found over 50% of 200+ North American cosmetic products tested contained toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); most of the tested products did not disclose PFAS in their ingredients lists. To be clear, the study does not mention how much PFAS exposure would result from using these products, and, currently, there is no scientifically-based conclusion on what constitutes a harmful level of PFAS exposure for humans. That said, I feel compelled to share with you what I learned and why I am so concerned.

Figure 1: How PFAS can enter the body through the cosmetic items that contain them (Source: Environmental Science & Technology Letters)

PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down naturally. This means once PFAS enter our bodies, they continue to accumulate. Research has linked PFAS to a slew of negative health issues, including increased cancer risks, liver impairment, decreased fertility, and weakened immune response. According to the study, the cosmetic items with the highest levels include waterproof mascara (82%), liquid lipstick (62%), and foundation (63%)—all products that could easily penetrate into our bodies both directly and indirectly (Figure 1). I had known and deeply concerned about PFAS in water systems for some time, but I clearly did not grasp just how universal their presence is. A 2005-2013 environmental study of over 69,000 people in the Ohio River Valley found that people who were exposed to higher-than-normal levels of PFOA (a type of PFAS) had increased risk of high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. The findings helped over 3,000 affected community members reach a $670 million settlement with DuPont Chemical Company, which was accused of contaminating the local drinking water with PFOA. Knowing that, it made me feel sick to know I was actively introducing toxic chemicals of any amount into my body without realizing it every time I put on makeup.

PFAS is widely used in fire- and water-repellent products (e.g., Gore-Tex, ScotchGuard, spill-proof carpets), nonstick pans (e.g., Teflon), fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, and firefighting foams used at military bases and commercial airports (Figure 2). As there is no regulation or treatment guidelines mandated for facilities that use or produce products containing PFAS, the chemicals have freely made their way into the groundwater, surface waterbodies, and even the rain. The most common way PFAS enters the human body is through drinking water, yet neither the utilities nor the drinking water agencies are required to monitor PFAS levels in the waterbodies they manage.

Figure 2: Common items containing PFAS (Source: Earth Justice)

In January 2020, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reported finding PFAS in the drinking water of most major U.S. cities, including 34 that were not previously reported to the EPA. Among the previously unreported was Quad City, Iowa, where 109.8 ppt of PFAS was detected—1.5 times the EPA’s recommended limit of 70 ppt. Of the sampled cities, the highest level was detected in Brunswick County, North Carolina, at 185.9 ppt. All in all, 2,337 contaminated public and private water systems were detected in 49 states (Figure 3), serving over 200 million Americans.

Figure 3: Map illustrating the prevalence of forever chemicals in our water system across the country (Source: EWG)

In order to prevent mass paranoia, we need to understand the threshold at which PFAS exposure becomes harmful. After all, 97% of Americans, including newborn babies, already have PFAS in their blood. Unfortunately, scientists do not currently know the answer.

In the meantime, I suggest we become familiar with the products that contain PFAS and be mindful about avoiding them. For my part, I started by tossing my waterproof mascara into the trash and researched PFAS-free makeup options (of which there are many). Below are some resources for your immediate use:

In the long run, this is a grave issue that will continue to threaten our health and wellbeing unless the root causes are addressed. This would require all of us demanding regulatory action, at a minimum, to limit PFAS level in our drinking water supply and consumer products and cleaning up contaminated sites, including military bases and manufacturing facilities.

Sources:

Environmental Science & Technology Letters. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00240
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/index.html
C8 Science Panel. http://www.c8sciencepanel.org/
Grist. https://grist.org/science/its-raining-forever-chemicals-in-the-great-lakes/
Environmental Working Group. https://www.ewg.org/research/national-pfas-testing/
Environmental Working Group. https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/
Center for Disease Control. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc/index.cfm

Looking at Air Quality during the Pandemic

Wed, 05 May 2021 22:54:47 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

May 2021

We have been managing through a pandemic for over a year now. Considering the suffering, loss, and disruption so many people are experiencing, it is difficult to think of anything that could possibly be considered a “silver lining.” That said, the pandemic has led to new insights in a range of fields. For example, stay-at-home orders demonstrated the impact human activities have on air quality and, given the chance, the speed at which air quality could be improved quite dramatically through the wide adoption of more sustainable practices, including clean energy. As I was researching for NFBPWC’s first Earth Day Summit (which took place on April 24^th), I was struck by these satellite images from NASA of India (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Annual level of airborne particles (aerosol) in India from 2016 to 2020. The frame “2020 Anomaly,” taken a week after a strict government-mandated lockdown, shows the lowest air pollution levels in 20 years.

These images show the annual level of airborne particles, or aerosol, with the red-orange shade indicating high levels of particle air pollution and the blue indicating low levels. The last frame, labeled “2020 Anomaly,” was taken just a week after the government placed the country of 1.3 billion under strict lockdown measures on March 25, 2020. The lockdown halted many industrial and economic activities, including travel by motor vehicles, industrial manufacturing/production, and burning of croplands. The airborne particle level in northern India in particular showed a marked improvement compared to the pollution levels of previous years and was the lowest since monitoring began 20 years ago.

While some aerosols do come from natural sources, such as dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires, human sources contribute most of the aerosols in our environment, according to the World Health Organization. It is also the aerosols from human sources that are more likely to do the most damage to human health because of their sheer volume and small particle size. While some airborne particles, such as soot, dust, and smoke, are dark or big enough to be visible to the human eye, most are not. The smaller the particle, the greater the potential for causing health problems, as very small particles are able to enter the lungs and even the bloodstream, impacting our lungs and hearts. Human sources of these aerosols include burning of croplands, the use of fossil fuels for motor vehicles and heat/power generation, and industrial facilities such as mines and oil refineries.

With many of these activities that generate airborne particles on pause due to the lockdown, air pollution eased to the point where the visibility through the air noticeably improved. In the northern Indian state of Punjab, over 100 miles away from the Himalayan Mountain range, the Himalayas became visible for the first time in decades (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Courtesy of @KangManjit via Twitter. “This was the view from our rooftop in Punjab India. For the first time in almost 30 years we can see the Himalayas due to India’s lockdown clearing air pollution.”

As we in the U.S. hopefully start to climb out of the depths of the pandemic, you may have heard more chatter about “building back better” and how infrastructure spending could be used in more climate and environment-friendly directions. My hope is that this insight about air quality—and the brief glimpse of the mountains—will serve as a motivator to support these kinds of environmentally-friendly infrastructure improvements and other measures that could improve air quality and, as a result, our health.

https://www.who.int/airpollution/ambient/pollutants/en/

https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/public-health/pm25.html

Post-Storm Recovery & Equity

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 22:43:21 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

April 2021

It has been over a month since the winter storm caused power outages in over four million households in Texas, affecting about half the state’s population. The power outages meant no power to pump water and treat wastewater, disrupting the water supply. Even in areas where the water treatment system was not damaged, the cold weather caused distribution pipes and pipes in buildings to burst. This not only disrupted the water supply but also wreaked havoc inside the affected buildings, flooding people’s bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms and damaging their walls and ceilings. Many who were fortunate enough to still have running water found themselves under boil water orders. Days after the storm, over 14 million people—about half of Texas’ population—were left without access to clean, running water at their homes. News reports of Texas residents lacking water access continued to emerge well after 15 days post-storm.

In Houston, 25% of the city’s residents were affected by the various water issues brought on by the storm. Many homes were left uninhabitable, leaving their residents essentially homeless until the plumbing and structural issues at their homes are addressed. There is a huge backlog of over three months for requests for plumbing repairs, which are essential for getting the homes back to livable states. In Dallas, a city of renters where only about four out of ten residents own their homes, renters were at the mercy of owners and utilities to take responsibility for the repairs and provide water. For the renters in uninhabitable units with water damage, including mold and leaky roofs, relocating to safety posed a logistical nightmare. All this hit the lower-income families the hardest, many already behind in their rents due to the economic peril from the pandemic.

As a sustainability and resilience strategist, the discussion I would like to have in the storm’s aftermath is about how to address the vulnerability of the power grid to unexpected events, which are arguably becoming more frequent due to the changing climate. Possible strategies range across different scales and stakeholders. These include not only household-level energy efficiency measures (including proper insulation) and renewable energy-storage solutions, but also municipal approaches, including cold-proofing power plants and water pipes, and decentralizing energy and water supply and treatment systems.

The members of the Environment & Sustainable Development Committee will dive more into this issue and others as part of celebrating Earth Day this year, on Saturday, April 24^th at 1pm EST. More details for the event, including the registration link, are below:

NFBPWC Earth Day Summit
by and for Business and Professional Women

Join NFBPWC, one of the oldest professional women’s organizations in the U.S., for an Earth Day Summit where we’ll discuss the interdependencies between the environment and the health and well-being of the communities we live and work in.

This Earth Day, you are invited to join the members of our Environment & Sustainable Development (ESD) Committee for discussions about the impact of the environment on our daily lives, including how seemingly distant events, such as weather-related disasters, are in fact closely related to the choices we make as individuals and as a group.

This event will showcase the stories of five professional women, each from different career paths and locations around the country, working together to make the communities they belong to more sustainable, equitable, and resilient.

The event will open with an original song and a visual presentation by Laurie Dameron, an award-winning singer-songwriter, followed by fast-paced presentations by four female leaders.

This event will be held via Zoom. The link to join will be emailed to all registered participants closer to the event date.

Agenda

Welcome by Megan Shellman-Rickard (President, NFBPWC)
Opening Act by Laurie Dameron (Award-winning Singer-songwriter and Chair of Environment Committee, BPW-Colorado)
The Big Picture: Interdependencies by Hyon K. Rah (Sustainability & Resilience Strategist, Educator, and Chair of Environment & Sustainable Development, NFBPWC)
The Land We Share: Soil Health, Pollinators & Food by Marikay Shellman (Visual Artist, Author, and a Rancher)
The Water We Drink: Water Quality & Equity by Susan Oser (TESOL-Certified Teacher and an Editor)
The Air We Breathe: Health Impacts of the Environment by Daneene Monroe Rusnak (Registered Nurse and Vice President of Advocacy, NFBPWC)
Recap & Closing

There will be post-event breakout rooms for informal discussions.

You can register for the event here: https://www.nfbpwc.org/event-4192255.

Join us!

Disasters Raise Questions about the Meaning of Energy—and Water—Independence

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 23:29:07 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

March 2021

Texas in mid-February normally makes a warm, welcome escape from the bitter cold with average temperatures of upper 40s to lower 50s Fahrenheit. It is not unheard of to be basking in 80-degree heat in Texas in the winter. What is unheard of is the kind of winter storm that struck the state around Valentine’s Day this year and drove temperatures down by over 40 degrees Fahrenheit – to below zero Fahrenheit in central and northern Texas (Figure 1). The storm brought with it a thick blanket of snow, putting every part of the state under freezing conditions for several days.

Figure 1: Below average temperatures all across the country on February 16, 2021

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/02/16/us/winter-storm-texas-power-outage-map.html

People turned to their heaters to keep warm, which led to a sudden surge in electricity demand. The electric grid struggled to keep up. In the meantime, the power infrastructure responsible for generating the electricity to meet the demand froze over – literally. Most power generators in Texas are not accustomed to cold-proofing their assets, as conditions that would require such protection are viewed as few and far between and the associated cost too high. Unlike in traditionally colder regions in the country, where generators are enclosed inside buildings to withstand the cold, power generators in Texas are left exposed to the elements; there are no regulations or incentives in place to encourage weatherizing the assets.

As a result, all types of power-generating facilities in the state, from natural gas, coal, and wind to even nuclear, stopped working. The failure of the thermal energy supply—natural gas, coal, and nuclear—has been found to be the biggest culprit for the outages. The number of homes without power peaked at four million, and, on February 23^rd, about ten days after the power outages began, over 7,000 homes were still without power.

The impact on people’s livelihoods has been grave. Over 40 people lost their lives in the crisis, unable to keep themselves warm or to stay warm without risking their safety, namely from open fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. People in already vulnerable situations, including the homeless and the hospitalized, found themselves in even more precarious situations. Those who were lucky enough to keep their heaters and lights on inside their homes were hit with astronomically high electric bills due to the highly unregulated nature of the Texas energy market.

As witnessed in previous disasters related to extreme weather, a familiar domino effect repeated itself with the failure of the water systems. Large-scale water treatment and distribution systems depend on electricity to function properly (e.g., to pump water) and the power outages caused major systems to fail. Outside of the water plants, the cold caused water pipes to freeze then burst all across the state, effectively severing people’s access to clean water. At one point, 14 million people (nearly half of Texas’ population) were placed under boil-water order, when many had no water coming out of their taps during a power outage. People were spotted melting snow and fetching river water for potable use out of desperation, which, as we have seen during other disasters, could lead to a public health disaster – on top of the one we already have.

With the weather warming up and the power starting to come back, it may be tempting to settle back into business as usual and not worry about the next cold spell, storm, or another strange weather condition to wreak havoc. Unfortunately, it is likely that more strange weather events are on the way (as discussed previously here and here) and we should only expect similar grim results if relying on the status quo that has clearly failed. Also, the water issue caused by the winter storm is going to be a longer-term problem, as the burst pipes need to be located and repaired in order to resume normal function.

In considering ways to withstand the next crazy weather event, there are two important things to note from the current crisis.

First, because Texas’ electric grid is independent from the rest of the country’s, there is no way of receiving backup power supply from outside of the state from functioning power generators. A centralized system with no backup for emergencies is hardly independent. In fact, it is extremely vulnerable (Figure 2-A). The task of updating the state-wide electric grid on a systemic level may be a daunting and costly task, but the human and monetary damage no action would cause is far greater.

Second, there are smaller-scale measures that could be adopted on single building, neighborhood, district, and municipal levels without having to wait for the state-wide system to change. For electricity, this would be the move towards a distributed system (Figure 2-C), where buildings, neighborhoods, and districts can generate their own energy from renewable sources and supply others within their network and vice versa. A similar approach can be taken with water, using a combination of water collection measures, as well as reuse and recycling. Both approaches afford people to be resilient against unexpected threats and be truly independent. In both cases, reducing unnecessary energy and water use in the first place would be a logical starting point.

Figure 2: A is representative of the current electric grid in Texas as well as homes without backup measures for electricity and water. While B offers possible relief, C is the ideal scenario for achieving independence and resilience.

Water Stress in the U.S.

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 23:25:07 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

February 2021

It’s been a while since I left my hometown of Seattle. Family ties, friends in the area, and making annual visits have helped me stay in the loop about the changes in and around the city. Change is inevitable anywhere, as much as I’d like some things to stay the same. That said, there is one change that’s been worrying me more and more: the drought.

I know that might sound crazy – after all, Seattle has a reputation for being wet. Locals often joke that there are only two distinctive seasons: summer and rainy days. The rain in Seattle is of the drizzly variety though and, for how often it rains (over 150 days a year), the actual amount of rainfall is less than most places in the South and the Midwest. The average annual rainfall in Seattle is just over 37 inches, about half that of sunny Miami (61.9 inches per year).

Some people I know are happy to see less rain. I can easily see the appeal of having continuously dry days in December and January over the usual grey and dreary ones. That said, I’m worried. I am worried because I regularly look up the map like the one you see below:

As you can see, a large portion of the U.S. is in severe to extreme drought. Unlike extreme weather events and disasters such as hurricanes, storms, and tsunamis, droughts grab hold of a region gradually, locking in harmful impacts on the water supply and the ecosystem by the time they become noticeable. Dry conditions also provide thriving grounds for wildfires.

Scientists predict many regions in the U.S. will see water supplies cut by a third within the next 50 years¹. Because aquifers and watersheds are connected, it’s not only the dry regions that are in trouble. A U.S. government-backed study predicted as many as 96 out of 204 watersheds in the country are at risk of shortages over the next century; 83 of them could see shortages within the next 25 years².

So, what can we do? Water does not come out of thin air, and many attempts to engineer our way out of trouble can create more complications for the future. Drastic measures such as desalination and long-distance water transfer have detrimental long-term impacts. Various low-impact solutions exist to replenish used groundwater and avoid depletion. On a municipal level, leakage from established water supply systems results in a huge waste of water. London, for example, loses over 20% of its treated water through leaky pipes. Detecting and repairing these faults, as well as regularly maintaining the water infrastructure, is important.

At home, water conservation is something all of us can do immediately without much hassle. Taking shorter showers and not leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth or soaping your dishes in the sink are some of the small actions you can take. Other measures include installing aerators in your faucets and showerheads and choosing native or adapted plants that don’t require additional irrigation instead of water-intensive non-native species such as Kentucky bluegrass, which requires large amounts of water and is now commonly used on the West Coast. Placing a rain barrel to store rainwater that drains off your roof or gutter to use for watering your lawn and flowerbeds is another solution.

There are also larger scale issues we can all address through raising awareness and advocacy, starting with learning about where your water is coming from and how the distribution and treatment infrastructure is being managed. Every water authority has an annual report documenting this accessible to the public. Knowing how water is being used in your own county or region is also helpful. I encourage you to check out the U.S. Geological Survey’s interactive data visualization for more information: https://labs.waterdata.usgs.gov/visualizations/water-use-15/index.html#view=USA&category=total.

¹ http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/widespread-water-shortage-likely-in-u-s-caused-by-population-growth-and-climate-change/

² https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2018EF001091

Pollinators and Murder Hornet

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 23:18:29 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

December 2020

Several readers inquired about the pollinator tip from last month’s newsletter. I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk more about pollinators, the important roles they play, a new challenge they face, and another action we can take to help them this winter.

What are pollinators?

A pollinator is anything that helps transfer pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the same or a different flower, enabling the plant to fertilize and produce seeds, fruits, and young plants. While some plants can self-pollinate or rely on water or wind to carry the pollen, over 80% of seed/flower plants need help from external pollinators, such as bees, moths, birds, and small mammals such as bats.

Why should we care about pollination?

According to USDA, the survival of all terrestrial ecosystems, including the human race, depends on pollinators, such as honeybees (Figure 1). Virtually all seed plants on earth require pollination for survival and propagation. This includes almost 80% of the 1,400 crop plants that we need for producing food and industrial products. Frequent visits by bees and other pollinating animals lead to higher crop yields.

Figure 1: How pollination works (Source: VectorStock)

How else do pollinators help us?

Pollination supports the fertilization and propagation of seed/flowering plants, which offset carbon dioxide from humans, animals and other sources by producing breathable oxygen. Seed/flowering plants also help purify water underground and prevent erosion through their root systems. Above ground, plants help balance the hydrologic cycle by returning moisture to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.

Where do the murder hornets fit in?

You may have read about murder hornets in the news recently, and one of the reasons they are newsworthy is the threat they pose to bees, the main pollinator of our crops. Murder hornets, also known as Asian giant hornets or Vespa mandarinia, are among the newest invasive pests to arrive in the U.S. and, at 1.5 to 2 inches, are indeed gigantic (see Figure 2). The hornets pose a grave threat to pollination because they like to attack honeybee colonies. Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) reports that it only takes two hours for 50 murder hornets to decimate a honeybee colony (including all the honeybees and the bee brood). Losing honeybees en mass would have a detrimental effect on our livelihoods, as their role as pollinators contributes to the survival of plants that supply our food and maintain hydrologic balance in our environment.

Figure 2: Size comparison of a honeybee (left) and an Asian giant hornet (right), aka murder hornet (Source: USDA)

Murder hornets have so far been sighted only in Washington State, and WSDA has been actively trying to eradicate them before they become established. For those readers in the west coast of the U.S., if you see a murder hornet, please alert state authorities.

I leave you with another piece of pollinator advice from Marikay Shellman, a valued member of the Environment & Sustainable Development Committee.

The Growing Threat of Wildfires and Steps You Can Take to Help

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 23:11:34 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

November 2020

Wildfires, a natural part of life in many parts of the United States, were typically expected during the annual wildfire season, which started around May and ended by September or October. Until recent years, with some tragic exceptions, the fires tended to happen in uninhibited areas and remain largely under control. Not anymore.

As many in the western part of the country would tell you from experience, wildfires have become larger, more intense, more frequent, and more prolonged. In California, the phrase “wildfire season” has become almost obsolete as the fires are raging year-around. Between the beginning of the year and early September, over 3.2 million acres of land—an area close to the size of the entire state of Connecticut—burned in California. Colorado is having a record-setting wildfire season in late October, which is normally the end of the wildfire season.

The lack of forest management in wildfire-prone areas, many of which are protected national forests, is a part of the problem, but there are other important factors. For one, the western U.S. has been experiencing a severe drought (Figure 1). This has been caused by growing water demand, less rainfall and snow, and rising temperatures (Figure 2). Climate change is a root cause of the trend toward more frequent and severe droughts. One of its effects is the lower moisture level in the soil, which translates to drier trees and plant species reliant on that soil. This turns heavily planted areas such as forests into potential tinderboxes filled with dry bushes and shrubs at greater risk of burning.

The dire consequences of wildfires reach beyond those directly affected by losing their homes, possessions, and loved ones. In parts of California and Oregon, the air quality index has shot up to over 600 because of the fires. To put that into perspective, the average air quality index in 2019 in Delhi, Indian, which arguably is one of the most polluted cities in the world, was 98.6. The threats to people’s respiratory health this poses is grave, especially during a pandemic that is known to degrade respiratory systems.

PG&E, one of the biggest electric utility companies that serves over 16 million customers in northern and central California, announced its plans to shutoff power in over 360,000 homes and businesses in late October—the fifth time such a decision was made this year. The shutoffs are aimed to prevent worsening the on-going wildfires by removing the risk of downed electric wires during a powerful windstorm. Being plunged into darkness for wildfire safety is starting to become routine.

So, what can we do? First, learning about wildfires and the interconnectedness of their causes—including forest management, water use, and the rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns caused by climate change--and sharing that information with others is important because t solutions will require changes in behaviors and policies. Communicating the risks with people you know, including your elected leaders, and encouraging them to take steps to conserve water is imperative. Contributing less to products and activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions would help address the root of the problem, which is the trend of heatwaves and droughts due to climate change.

To be ready for wildfires, here are some resources for making an emergency plan and packing a “go-bag”. Also included here is a piece of advice from Marikay Shellman, a valued member of the Environment & Sustainable Development Committee and an avid gardener/rancher, on something simple you can do to help keep more moisture in the soil while helping pollinators thrive (more on pollinators later).

If you want to share any of your ideas, tips, or feedback, we’d be happy to hear from you, at: environment@nfbpwc.org.

Figure 1: Many areas under threat from wildfires fall in the zones with persistent or developing drought conditions.

Figure 2: Many areas under threat from wildfires fall in the zones with rising temperatures.

Climate-related disasters: What are the risks are where you are?

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 22:02:29 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

October 2020

To say that the year 2020 has been extraordinary would not be an understatement. For me, reflecting on the year to date from an environmental perspective has stirred up a sense of alarm and urgency I have never felt before.

It started in early July when I came across an announcement from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) that reported the U.S. already had ten (10) billion-dollar disasters in 2020 as of July 8^th. Just to put that into perspective, the average number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. between 1980 and 2019 was 6.6 per year. The number about doubles, to 13.8 events per year, for the most recent five years (2015-2019). Then, this August, four (4) more billion-dollar disasters joined that list over a span of just one month: the derecho storm that hit the Midwest, Hurricanes Isaias and Laura, and the wildfires in California and Oregon.

These numbers tell us the frequency and severity of weather and climate-related disasters are rising rapidly. Depending on the location, common threats include wildfires, heat waves, hurricanes, extreme rainfall, sea level rise, and water stress. Each can wreak havoc in differently, and the impacts can be subtle and gradual or sudden and devastating. Either way, they can cause disruptions to our daily lives in ways large and small.

The image below maps the intensity of different types of climate-related threats for each county in the U.S. I urge you to take a look to get an idea of the types of threats (yes, there can be multiple) where you and your loves ones live.

Source: The New York Times. You can search for your county by typing in its name here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/18/opinion/wildfire-hurricane-climate.html

Starting next month, I will take a deeper dive into the risks mentioned above, and how they could impact—or already have impacted—our daily lives. A number of you have reached out to me recently about water stress and infrastructure, so I will start there.

You are welcome to contact me with any questions or local observations related to this topic at: environment@nfbpwc.org.

An Introduction and an Invitation to the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 18:41:28 GMT

by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

September 2020

I am writing to encourage you to consider participation in the NFBPWC’s Environment and Sustainable Development Committee and to introduce myself as the new chair of the committee. Sustainable development has been a central part of my career, and I am excited to help promote environmental sustainability at NFBPWC, especially since it is one of the advocacy platforms for 2018-2020.

As I write this, we are in the middle of a pandemic which has presented numerous challenges to us all. The pandemic also brought to the fore the inextricable connection between environmental, economic, and social sustainability through a revealing picture of inequity in the U.S. Owing to the advice of health experts to wash our hands often to prevent the spread of the virus, there is growing attention to the inequity in access to clean water.

Today, over 2 million people in the U.S. do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation¹, and this number includes 1.4 million people that live in homes without indoor plumbing (running water, a sink, a shower or a bath, and a flushable toilet). That is not to say that the other 328 million U.S. residents that do have access to treated water and indoor plumbing can rest easy. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the safety and quality of the U.S. drinking water system a "D" grade in its 2017 assessment.

This stark reality is often attributed to a combination of factors. Contamination at the sources of the water supplies is a significant one, as shown in communities near coal mines or fracking sites in the Appalachian region due in part to relaxed wastewater management regulations. Cities such as Flint, Michigan are still paying for the lack of government investment in infrastructure with their health and lives. Forty percent of the nearly 180,000-person strong Navajo Nation does not have running water, which has been detrimental to their pandemic resilience. In many communities such as Baltimore, Maryland, water prices have increased dramatically, and many people simply cannot afford to pay their water bills and maintain their water access.

On top of all that, weather and climate-related disasters have placed even more strain on our water resources and systems and the critical infrastructure that supports them. The U.S. had already had 10 billion-dollar weather disasters by the first half of 2020, well before peak hurricane season².

These things matter because they affect us all in the end, one way or another. But first, we need to be clear on the facts and how they connect.

To put the issues of water quality and access into your own context, I encourage you to check out the two resources below:

A map of the U.S. showing the percentage of housing units lacking plumbing by county – Where does your county stand?
A link to check the quality of drinking water in your (or someone else’s) area by zip code: https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/

If you have any questions or are interested in joining the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, you can reach me by email at: hyon@rah.solutions.

Percentage of Housing Units Lacking Plumbing by County

Hyon Rah, the Principal of RAH Solutions, is a sustainability and resilience strategist based in Washington, DC. For more information about her work, visit https://rah.solutions/about/

¹http://uswateralliance.org/sites/uswateralliance.org/files/Closing%20the%20Water%20Access%20Gap%20in%20the%20United%20States_DIGITAL.pdf

² https://www.noaa.gov/news/june-2020-was-relatively-hot-and-dry-overall-for-us

NFBPWC Member Spotlight

Environment & Sustainable Development

Tracey MacDermott Chair Environment & Sustainable Development

Environment & Sustainable Impact

Environment and Sustainable Development

TRACEY MACDERMOTT NFBPWC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR (2024-2026)

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Watch Out, Apocolypse

Denver Climate Project Fights Back In Clever New Campaign

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Don’t Agonize, Organize

Big Ugly Bill Got You Down? Get Back Up And Get To Work

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Roaming with Dinosaurs As Another Climate Record Breaks, A Reminder We Must Work Together

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

To meet the world’s energy demands, renewables, including solar and wind, are critical. With the administration backtracking on the IRA’s commitments, who will develop those critical technologies? China — not the United States. China is also the largest producer of electric vehicles.

On July 7, at 6:30 p.m., the Denver chapter of the Climate Reality Project is hosting a presentation on Climate Disinformation. If you’re interested in attending, reach out to me at traceymacdermott@gmail.com for details.

Tracey MacDermott NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)traceymacdermott@gmail.com

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Environmental & Sustainable Development

Next Stop: Suncor

Environmental & Sustainable Development - Our Great Planet What We Can Do to Celebrate Earth Day at 55

Our Great Planet

What We Can Do to Celebrate Earth Day at 55

Time to Call Washington Return of The Dinosaur Comes At The Worst Time For The Planet

Time to Call Washington

Return of The Dinosaur Comes At The Worst Time For The Planet

Remarkable Woman – Marin Alsop

Fears Into Action: Young People Are Leading the Way. It’s Time to Follow Them

By: Tracey MacDermottNFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Fears Into ActionYoung People Are Leading the Way. It’s Time to Follow Them

Be a Climate Hero

By: Tracey MacDermott, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Back to the Past

By: Tracey MacDermott NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Environment & Sustainable Development

By: Tracey MacDermottNFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Environment & Sustainable Development

By: Tracey MacDermott NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Environment & Sustainable Development

By: Tracey MacDermott NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Bring Back the Pollinators

Environment & Sustainable Development

By: Marikay Shellman NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Past Chair (2022-2024)

Bring Back the Pollinators

Marikay Shellman BPW Colorado Virtual Chair NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024) Submission by Susan Oser

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay Shellman

BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay ShellmanBPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman,BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado VirtualChair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

The Adventures of Nature Boy and how he helped the ESD Committee

Zero Waste Initiative by Laurie Dameron

By: Laurie DameronBPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

Zero Waste Initiative by Laurie Dameron

By: Laurie DameronBPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development Dear Business and Professional Women colleagues

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

Bring Back the Pollinators

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

Remember to LEAVE the LEAVES!

Tracey MacDermott
Chair Environment & Sustainable Development

TRACEY MACDERMOTT
NFBPWC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
(2024-2026)

Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair
(2024-2026)
traceymacdermott@gmail.com

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

Fears Into Action
Young People Are Leading the Way. It’s Time to Follow Them

By: Tracey MacDermott, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development
Committee Chair (2024-2026)

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

By: Tracey MacDermott
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair (2024-2026)

By: Marikay Shellman
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Past Chair (2022-2024)

Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024) Submission by Susan Oser

By: Marikay Shellman,
BPW Colorado Virtual
Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Marikay Shellman,
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual
Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development Dear Business and Professional Women colleagues

By: Marikay Shellman, BPW Colorado Virtual Chair
NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Laurie Dameron
BPW Colorado Chair of Environmental and Sustainable Development

By: Marikay Shellman
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)

By: Megan Shellman-Rickard
BPW Colorado Virtual Chair, NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee (2022-2024)