Earth Day 2017

 

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970 when 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.

How did Earth Day begin?

The devastating 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill prompted a group of peace activists to raise environmental awareness.  At a UNESCO conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed that a day should be set aside to honor the Earth and the environment. He believed that humans had an obligation to protect the earth and share its resources with future generations. Now it is celebrated in 192 countries across the world by around one billion people.

SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO 
Brought to you by your Sustainability, Hiking and Donations Committees
Distributed at the April Business Meeting

START COMPOSTING  – everyone can do this!
The Sausalito Sustainability Commission said the biggest issue is residential and public failure to compost or adding trash in the compost bins – are you still not sure what goes where? (click here for handout)

EAT ORGANICS – it’s not just good for you: it protects the soil, water, air, pollinators and field workers from toxic chemicals – At our Display Table, Pick-up a copy of  ‘Invisible Monsters: 5 of the Most Common Pesticides & Their Impact on Your Health. (click here for handout)

EAT LOCAL – an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint is to buy what is locally grown and locally produced … sure you can get the organic Hawaiian papayas but the Bay Area has some of the best produce and the more you eat our seasonal bounty the more you support a sustainable life.

HELP PRESERVE MOUNT TAMALPAIS – this is our watershed & our Mountain! From the SWC Business Meeting Minutes, May 2, 1929

The President read a letter from Mrs. Sawyer, president of the Marin Co. Federation of Women’s Clubs, asking for voluntary subscriptions toward purchasing Tamalpais Park for Marin Co. Moved by Mrs. Pierson, seconded by Miss Shoobert, that the Club donate $25.00 to this cause. Mrs. Petherick kindly volunteered to send individual notices for subscriptions. (Our balance then was $591.50))

So …. Carry on our Tradition … Join ONE TAM – the newly formed public action arm of the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative (TLC) coordinates conservation efforts on Mt Tam with its five partners who own parts of the mountain: California State Parks, Marin County Parks, Marin Municipal Water District, National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Working together, One Tam provides funds and person-power to projects and programs vital to the health of the mountain: We think that because these areas are protected there’s nothing more to do but in fact the public has been called to help care for Mt Tam. Give money (as SWC Donations did) or give your time – details at onetam.org 

Join Marin AGRICULTURAL land Trust (MALT) – help perverse Marin farmland. SWC has been donating to MALT since 1993. You can join for $40 annually, or just get a fascinating history handout (click here).  SWC’s support is not just financial, it lends our voice to a community-wide effort that sustains the entire bay area and commemorates two women who fought to give us this largess – rancher Ellen Straus and environmentalist Phyllis Faber who said: What we’ve learned, is that you can have a vision of what you want the future to look like, and you can make it happen.