Sustainability Potluck and Presentation

On Dec 1st, Dearborn's Sierra Club Cool Cities hosted an eye-opening presentation and a great-tasting dinner. The curious and concerned gathered at the SME Bldg, north of HFCC, to hear from several speakers and continue the conversation about having a sustainable climate, healthy food, and green cities.

Maureen McIlrath opened the evening with an inspiring slide show presentation showing the progress in the Going Green Foundations community garden. The promise of abundant produce from this urban farm has already begun, but their ambitious plans include fruit and nut trees, herb and healing gardens, and gardens for seniors and children. The idea of an organic garden at Crowley Park in Dearborn's west side grew into a vision for a fully organic urban food source. This will benefit

the community, our school children as well as for those who work the soil- tending the plants and contributing to the cause. If you have an interest in helping or just want to know more, visit their website, Going Green Foundation.

After some members of the audience went back for seconds and others went for dessert, HFCC Professor Lourdes Lore delivered the first of a 3-part series "Climate Change: A Crisis on Your Plate". This broad topic was fine-tuned for this evening's short presentation, but a handout with links and summaries assured us that we could learn more as time allowed.

While climate change is a global issue, Professor Lore focused our attention on local CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) with a map of lower Michigan. Factory farming causes numerous problems for the environment and food safety, as well as offending those who care about the health and living conditions of livestock. Learn more at this informative site, www.NoCAFOs.org and www.factoryfarmmap.org.

Another prominent point made in this presentation was the environmental cost of transporting food across the nation and across the globe. Being an informed consumer and purchasing locally means we can support food producers with sustainable practices. Professor Lore wants us to think differently about the value of healthy food compared to cheaply made food that has costly consequences. She suggested getting involved in community supported agriculture farms (CSAs). An audience member cited Calder Dairy as a sustainable local dairy farm which still delivers milk, eggs and other dairy products in the Dearborn area. Although it isn't an organic farm, it is a small locally owned farm (you can visit and see how the animals are living). Another participant spoke of the opportunity to purchase locally grown organic produce from a partnership out of Ann Arbor. Find out more at www.locavorious.com. Purchasing foods locally, reducing meat and buying from earth-friendly producers will reduce the stress on our environment. "Vote with your fork," says 3votesaday.org, which offers several ideas and helpful resources. If you want to be notified of the Winter 2011 schedule, friend us on facebook or send us your contact information via email.

The evening closed with a briefing on the Michigan Good Food Charter by Kathryn Colasanti of MSU. Michigan Good Food Charter outlines a vision for the food system in Michigan and 25 agenda priorities. Ms. Colasanti highlighted the primary goals (as the definition of good food) that can be accomplished as these priorities are put into effect.

Good Food is:

• Healthy - It provides nourishment and enables people to thrive
• Green - It was produced in a manner that is environmentally sustainable
• Fair - No one along the production line was exploited for its creation
• Affordable - All people have access to it

Would you like to get find out more about this 10 year plan or even get involved in implementing these ideas in your own life and in your community? Click here to learn more about it and begin telling others. As the general public, business community, governmental leaders and non-governmental agencies gain awareness, progress can be made.

H2O taste test at the 10/10 climate change event

Many joined us at UM Dearborn Sunday afternoon for our sustainability walk and work party. Sierra Club, Dearborn Cool Cities, Student Environment Association (SEA) of UM -D and Fordson High School Environmental Club held the event at the Environmental Interpretive Center. Most of the sunny afternoon was spent walking through the wooded area, painting pumpkins, and eating donuts with a cup of refreshing apple cider. LWVDDH had an information table with a petition and a water taste test. We had LWVMI Voter Guides, Who's Who 2010 and other resources available.

Several participants signed our petition that will be sent to local and state elected officials asking them to take action on curbing climate change with local action and effective policy. We shared a few ideas about simple
actions for sustainability, such as reduce the amount of time we let our cars idle, and to reduce the amount of plastic and energy wasted because of bottled water. 50 million barrels of crude oil are used to make the plastic
bottles and ship them around the nation, while tons and tons of plastic bottles end up in landfills, greenways and waterways. What a waste!

Because of the emphasis on bottled water, we sponsored a blind taste test for bottled vs tap water. Bottled water taste and quality depends on the brand and source, but for our test we used Ice Mountain Spring Water. The large gallon containers were $1.19 each. We also brought glass bottles of Dearborn tap water, which costs $0.0016 per gallon. We refilled and poured the samples from matching glass jars to disguise its source. Tasters drank from unmarked small paper cups, chose descriptive words for each sample - clean, metallic, tasteless etc, and told us their preference of the 2 samples. Though a handful of tasters had no preference, there was almost an even split between tap and bottled.

For those who preferred the bottled water over tap water, a better choice than wasteful, costly plastic water bottles is to simply put a filter on their tap. 25% of bottled water also comes from a municipal tap anyway!
The best suggestion for portable water is a stainless steel bottle rather than plastic because the less plastic we use, the better. Not only that, but plastic containers can leach chemicals into the water - never a good thing. We kept our sample tap water in glass for this event to avoid that plastic taste that is sometimes detected in bottled water.

After we started taking our table down, we attempted to form an evergreen tree shape for an aerial photo. Many participants had left by that time, but we managed with those who were still lingering. When the photos are
published online, we'll post a link.

This was not a one-time feel-good event for us, nor for the other participants. We'll keep the momentum going at the UM Dearborn Sustainability Festival and Roundtable III in a couple of weeks, Oct 18th -23rd. Jenni Dunn will be speaking at this event to encourage informed and active citizenry with a briefing on local government, advocacy on issues and making an impact for good in our community. Connections made at this and future events will strengthen our small voices and make a big difference!

Dearborn Cool Cities 10/10 Walking Party with the Sierra Club

I am inviting you to attend our Cool Cities event sunday afternoon, Oct 10th at the U of M Dearborn campus.

Will you join us from 2pm to 4pm for a family-friendly afternoon at the Environmental Interpretive Center (EIC)? Along with a guided "Walk for Sustainability", we'll take time to discuss options for residents, businesses and city leaders to keep Dearborn "cool". Afterwards, join participants of all ages for gourd-painting, refreshments, and a little networking.

To find out more about the 10/10/10 theme, please visit http://www.350.org/.

Contact lwvddh@gmail.com if you would like more information.

Public Transit Loses to Polluters in Climate Bill Subsidies | The Washington Independent

Public Transit Loses to Polluters in Climate Bill Subsidies | The Washington Independent

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Climate Change/Energy Bill

LWVDDH sent a letter of support to Congressman Dingell regarding HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act(ACES), sometimes referred to as the Climate Change Bill.   While he had already expressed support for the bill and likely 'yes' vote, we expressed our support and interest in keeping the bill strong. 

 

We appreciate Congressman Dingell's vote for this bill, as well as his overall environmental record.

 

 Find out how other House Reps voted here:

   http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll477.xml

 

Communicating with our elected officials is important before and after these important votes.  Contact Representative Dingell or another House member here:   
   https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

 

As you may have heard, the Senate version is already disappointing those concerned about climate change and clean energy.   Tell your Senators to support strong climate change legislation by clicking here to send them an email message.

 

Climate Change and the Midwest

A day full of engaging speakers inspired summit participants Thursday at the Midwest Fair Climate Summit. Topics related to energy, weather, food, justice, jobs and more sparked a sense of purpose among all to continue beyond this day of discussion.

Participants from Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana shared stories and information, looking forward to the opportunity to address climate change and other environmental concerns, locally and globally.

A few who shared personally, such as LaDonna Redmond (Graffiti and Grub) and Elisa Young (MeigsCAN) helped us understand the way environmental injustice affects our fellow Americans. Others had a global view (WEDO, NWF) with economic and scientific data that supported the concerns about Climate Change, while offering hope that the green wave can lift all boats.