Celebrating 50 Years of Earth Day
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Today, April 22, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This year, the City of Albany is partnering with the Watershed Project to bring Earth Day and Earth Week celebrations online, so that we can celebrate our planet safely.
While COVID-19 presents many challenges, it also provides us time to reflect on our values, behaviors and habits, and our overall environmental impact, and to commit to making lasting changes that have a positive impact on our health and well-being, our community, and the natural environment.
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CELEBRATING EARTH DAY DURING COVID-19
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We hope everyone is safe, healthy, and staying home to the extent possible. Although we are celebrating under different circumstances this year, Earth Day 2020 is still a day for celebration, reflection, and action.
This time has shown us that there is a lot to be grateful for. We have a newfound appreciation for the health of our family and friends, and we are thankful to have access to the outdoors and to be able to take a walk or roll in our neighborhood. This event has also provided a glimpse into a less polluted, cleaner world. Oil consumption is down, and air pollution has cleared in cities across the globe. The behavior shifts resulting from this current crisis show us what is possible once this crisis is over.
The State and County Shelter-In-Place Orders have caused many of us to change our daily lifestyles and spend more time indoors. While this presents many challenges, it also provides us time to reflect on our values, behaviors and habits, and our overall environmental impact.
Perhaps being home has already caused you to rethink your lifestyle. If your work has set up
telecommuting
for the first time, maybe you are looking forward to reducing transportation emissions and working from home more often in the future. Maybe you’ve learned to plan ahead and
combine trips
when out shopping for essential items, or have even reconsidered what items are essential versus nonessential, and have reduced your personal consumption. Actions you take today help to form habits that can extend far beyond the Shelter-In-Place Order, allowing you to continue this low-carbon lifestyle far into the future.
During this time, we encourage you to sign up or log back into
Carbon-Free Albany
to learn more about sustainable living, and take action to reduce your carbon footprint. Carbon-Free Albany is the City’s online community carbon-reduction platform where you can commit to these actions and more to see how much carbon dioxide your household can save. You can also virtually connect with your friends and neighbors to encourage them to sign up and take action as well. There are actions for home owners, renters, and youth. There is even a section for actions you can take at home during the
Shelter-in-Place Order
that both make a difference and can save you money.
This Earth Day, take a moment to reflect and think about how actions you take today can turn into long-term habits. It is an opportunity to think about how we can connect and care for one another and how we can create a brighter future for us all once COVID-19 passes. Doing our part now to stay inside to protect ourselves and our community at large means we can learn how to move forward toward a healthy future – for us and for the planet.
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THE HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT
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Throughout the 1960s, pollution from the growing numbers of gasoline vehicles and industrial plants resulted in polluted air, waterways, and land. As the effects of pollution became easy to see, concern for the long-term effects on the planet grew. The
timeline below
highlights key milestones in the environmental movement.
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Today, this struggle is far from over. Fifty years after the first Earth Day, we are still celebrating it in the United States and throughout the world. We recognize and celebrate the leaders in our communities and beyond who are on the front lines of the
environmental justice movement
and climate change, and who are fighting for a healthy and just future for us all. In the City of Albany, we celebrate our Earth, its people, and living systems on Earth Day and every day. Please join us in celebrating Earth Day 2020, and its theme of climate action.
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The theme of Earth Day 2020 is Climate Action. Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing the steady increase in global temperature, and that burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of this warming trend. Climate change is already leading to large-scale problems including ocean acidification and rising sea levels, more frequent and extreme weather events, more frequent and intense wildfires, and disrupted ecosystems. Many of these impacts are already being felt in the Bay Area region, including rising sea levels, reduced snowpack in the Sierras, and extreme weather. These impacts carry real social and economic costs. To avoid these climate impacts, it is imperative to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Responding to climate change involves two main approaches: Mitigation and Adaptation.
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The Albany City Council unanimously adopted a new Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) in December of 2019. The CAAP lays out a prioritized, strategic, and phased approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within Albany to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, and to help the City adapt to a changing climate.
Read the Plan on our website
.
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In 2020, the City is prioritizing the following actions:
- Update, simplify, and implement a municipal Sustainable Procurement Policy.
- Adopt CALGreen green building measures to ensure sustainable development.
- Create an Electric Vehicle (EV) Action Plan to pave the way for low-carbon transportation.
- Begin creating a comprehensive Urban Forestry Plan to enhance the City’s urban forest.
Addressing climate change is going to take more than just action from the City of Albany itself. Individuals and community groups all have a critical role to play in achieving the City’s climate action goals. Through collective, committed, and considerate actions from all, Albany can be a healthy, resilient, and sustainable City to live in and visit for both present and future generations.
Visit our website for more information on climate action in Albany
.
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CELEBRATE WITH VIRTUAL EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES
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The Watershed Project
This year, the City of Albany is partnering with
The Watershed Project
to bring Earth Day and Earth Week celebrations online, so that we can celebrate our planet safely. The Watershed Project has a variety of activities and resources available for the Albany community, including gardening tips, information about the natural world around us, and even an Earth Day Art Contest!
East Bay Regional Parks
Friends of 5 Creeks
Friends of Five Creeks (F5C) put together information and links on some of the many ways we can connect with the natural world while we shelter-in-place. Take a look at these resources, including tips for environmental activism and appreciation at home, at
fivecreeks.org
.
StopWaste
StopWaste’s Virtual Earth Day is a project to inspire collective action at home. Using a shared virtual space, we bring together our collective actions, ideas for the future and celebrate as an intergenerational community. Let’s define together what it means to be part of the new (Re)Generation. From 2:30pm-4:30pm on April 22,
join StopWaste for a virtual celebration
, which will include a special digital Zoom performance by Mr. Eco and the StopWaste League of 4Rs Action Heroes.
The Exploratorium
The Earth Day Network
NASA
As the world observes the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22, NASA is highlighting the agency’s many contributions to sustaining and improving our home planet’s environment with a week of
online events, stories, and resources
.
The Alameda County Clean Water Program
The Alameda County Clean Water Program provides coloring pages for kids, and printable activity books for K-6th grade. Download the Bee-At-Home Activity Kit and stage your own “Spelling BEE”, play the “BEE-lieve it or Not” quiz game or “BEE-dazzle” a flowerpot—all fun ways of appreciating what bees do for us! These resources and more on the
Alameda County Clean Water Program website
.
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On February 11, the Sustainability Division hosted a Recycling 101 event at the Albany Community Center. Over 85 Albany residents attended the Recycling 101 crash course event to learn the what, where, why, and how of recycling and composting, and picked up tips for a more sustainable lifestyle. The "online crash course" is now available on our City website at
www.albanyca.org/recycle
.
For helpful hints, use the Recycling 101 materials below!
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Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day by honoring its living skin: the soil! The soil underneath your landscape and garden is a living ecosystem and needs nourishment. There is no better way to feed your soil than by spreading compost! Your plants and vegetables will thank you. It is easy and quite fun to make your own compost at home in a backyard bin or a worm bin! And when you need it right away, compost can also be purchased at a local vendor.
The best part is spreading compost not only feeds your soil... it also reverses climate change! Did you know compost can help plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the soil? This process, called carbon farming, aims to build carbon in the soil which is one of Earth’s largest carbon sinks. In order to farm carbon you need healthy soil, and the best way to build healthy soil is by spreading compost. Learn more about compost and carbon farming at
www.stopwaste.org/gardening
.
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CREATE A HEALTHY HOME FOR YOU AND THE CLIMATE
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Receive cash rebates to improve your home’s efficiency, health, and comfort!
Are you tired of paying too much for your monthly energy bill? Does someone in your family suffer from allergies or asthma? Is your home too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter? The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) may be able to help!
The BayREN Home+ program, offered through a collaboration of local governments across the Bay Area, provides homeowners with up to $5,000 in rebates for home energy upgrades, covering everything from air sealing and attic insulation to high-efficiency electric furnaces and water heaters, and even state-of-the-art induction cooktops.
You can access the full list of rebates here
.
You will also be set up with an expert Home Energy Advisor, who can help you determine the right upgrades for your home, find a contractor, and refer you to other eligible financing and incentive programs, all at no cost to you. Learn more at
www.BayRENresidential.org
, or contact a Home Energy Advisor at 866-878-6008 or
advisor@bayren.org
to get started.
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POWER YOUR HOME WITH 100% RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY
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East Bay Community Energy (EBCE)
is the local electricity supplier in Alameda County. EBCE provides cleaner, greener energy at competitive rates to our customers, and reinvests earnings back into the community to create local green energy jobs, local programs, and clean power projects. Recently, some of this funding has been directed towards COVID-19 relief. PG&E continues to maintain power lines and perform billing services for all accounts.
All residential, commercial, and industrial accounts were automatically enrolled in EBCE’s Brilliant 100 service in November 2018, and now receive 100% carbon-free electricity through EBCE. The Brilliant 100 carbon-free electricity is generated through renewable resources and large hydropower.
By opting up to the Renewable 100 service, you’re taking your energy to a greener level and choosing to power your home or business with 100% renewable and 100% carbon-free energy, sourced from wind and solar power in California. Renewable 100 costs an extra 1 penny per kilowatt-hour for the average Alameda County customer.
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COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE KITCHEN
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Did you know that reducing our food waste, composting, and choosing local, low-carbon food items are some of the most effective ways of lowering our carbon footprints?
What can you do?
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Reduce food waste. Visit
StopFoodWaste.org
for helpful food saving tips to make your food stay fresh and last longer. Learn proper techniques for storing common food staples, including bread, vegetables, and fruits, to make sure they don’t spoil before you can eat them. For more tips, visit
www.StopFoodWaste.org
.
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Compost!
When you place your food scraps in your green organics cart, they’re taken to a compost facility that turns your food scraps into rich, healthy soil that can be used on farms, or in your own garden. Interested in starting your own compost pile? Check out
StopWaste
for information to help get started.
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Enjoy low-carbon, plant-based meals.
Raising livestock for meat and dairy takes a significant toll on the environment. In addition to large amounts of water and land resources required to raise livestock, livestock is responsible for a significant source of methane gas emissions, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. By eating low-carbon, plant-based meals, even just a few times each week, you can significantly reduce this strain on the environment. Further, plant-based meals are full of vitamins and nutrients that benefit overall health and wellbeing.
The Earth Day Network has a few recipes to get you started
.
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Many of us are spending more time at home, dealing with shortages at the store, and getting used to a different lifestyle. Although we are all learning to cope with changes to our daily lives, this is an opportunity to get creative and to start new habits for a greener lifestyle, especially if you have some extra time or need projects to engage your kids. If you start a new habit now, it can last long after Earth Day and have a huge impact!
Here are a few ideas:
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Swap Paper Products for Reusable Cloths!
We all know paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels, are hard to find right now in stores. Try replacing these items with cloth, and you won’t need to stress about finding them on your next trip to the store. You can make rags and wipes out of old clothes or sheets. If you know how to sew, make it a project to craft beautiful napkins and towels.
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Mend and Sew
Haven’t bought any new clothes lately? Think about ways to extend the life of the ones you have. Try learning how to mend old, ripped clothes, or you can get creative and think of ways to make old clothes feel new. Turn your t-shirt into a v-neck, add a fun pocket, or embroider a design. There are many projects you can do without a sewing machine, but if you do have one available, this is a great time to learn to use it.
Experiment With Cooking!
Many of us have started to spend more time cooking. This is a great opportunity to experiment with ways to cut your food waste and reduce the amount packaging you throw out. Think about packaged foods you could make at home, like granola bars, crackers, and veggie burgers, and brainstorm creative ways to use ingredients that otherwise might go to waste.
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There are an infinite number of ways you can reduce your environmental impact. Just focus on the first two R’s: reduce and reuse.
Take this time to be creative and try something new. See if you can make it stick.
Visit our Facebook page
for examples of what City staff are up to and share your own ideas by commenting or posting on your social media with the hashtag
#EarthDayAlbanyCA
.
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What can you do to celebrate Earth Day today and every day? The options are endless, and we hope this newsletter provides a few ideas and starting points. Below are a few more ideas to help you form long-term habits, that you can commit to taking TODAY:
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Avoid single passenger car trips, and combine trips when going shopping.
In 2018, 56% of the City’s emissions were from transportation, largely due to personal vehicles. Driving less is one of the best ways to reduce emissions in Albany.
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Install energy-saving appliances and fixtures
to save energy, and
low-flow showerheads and aerated faucets
to reduce the amount of hot water you use.
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Eat more low-carbon foods
like non-processed foods, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and grains. Commit to eating at least one vegetarian meal each week.
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Avoid unnecessary food waste
: plan meals, right-size your grocery and restaurant purchases, and bring reusable containers for your leftovers when eating out.
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Fix things that are broken instead of buying new
, and
second-hand shop to replace items
. Join community sharing websites like
Nextdoor
, and
BuyNothing Facebook groups
.
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Shop locally and support local businesses.
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Reduce packaging waste and avoid single-use items when possible
. Don’t request plastic utensils and napkins when ordering take-out, and bundle online delivery packages.
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If considering financial investments,
look for companies and products that have a positive impact on the environment
. You can also consider investing locally in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that focus on providing financial opportunities to underserved communities.
You can learn more and find a list of CDFIs in California here
.
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Talk about climate change
and the changes you’re making with your friends and family. People are more often influenced by friends than by experts.
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JOIN THE CARBON-FREE ALBANY CHALLENGE
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Want to take climate action this year but don't know where to start? The City of Albany is currently running the
2020 Carbon-Free Albany Challenge
! Join the online community of over 100 families in Albany who are working to create a sustainable urban village.
Carbon-Free Albany is an online platform where you can access resources on energy reduction, electrification, waste reduction, and more, and then take action to see how much energy (and money) your household saves. You can access lists of renter-friendly and youth-friendly actions, so there's something for everyone! Form teams with friends or neighbors to see who can reduce the most carbon by June; the winners will receive a prize at a community celebration later this year!
Over twenty households have joined in the last month – join the fun and sign up today!
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CHECK US OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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We'll continue to post Earth Week and Earth Day content on our social media channels throughout the week.
How are you celebrating the Earth this week? Post your Earth Week and Earth Day activities on social media, and use the hashtag
#EarthDayAlbanyCA
.
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The following newsletters can help you stay informed on the latest happenings and events in the world of sustainability and climate action!
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