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Electrify Your Life – Coming This Month!
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Save the Date: Earth Day Celebration (with EV Ride & Drive) |
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Saturday, April 23rd, 11:00am-3:00pm |
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Mark your calendars for this year’s annual Earth Day celebration and electric vehicle (EV) test drive event, which will be filled with activities for the whole family, including a variety of sustainability activities and presentations, information booths, music, food, and fun. Best of all, the event will offer drivers and passengers the chance to experience the excitement of driving an EV firsthand! There will be a number of EV models available to try out for a free test drive. Join us at the Mountain View Senior Center on Saturday, April 23rd from 11am to 3pm. Keep an eye on our newsletter for more details coming soon.
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Welcoming the City's First Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer |
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The City is excited to welcome Mountain View's first Chief Sustainability and Resiliency Officer, Danielle Lee, to lead the Sustainability Division. Lee has over 17 years of local government experience, most recently as the Assistant Director in the Office of Sustainability with the County of San Mateo. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Biology from U.C. Berkeley. Her start date is March 7.
“I am overjoyed to have this opportunity to lead the sustainability program for the City of Mountain View, a city that is leading the way regionally in building a sustainable community. I’m particularly excited about sustainability and resiliency from the lens of building a stronger and more connected community for everyone.”
Read the full press release here.
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Tree Give-Away: Sign Up for a Free Tree! |
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Celebrate Arbor Day with a new, free tree for your yard! The City is making trees available to Mountain View residents who wish to plant and maintain a new tree on their property. This opportunity is part of the City’s forestry restoration efforts in celebration of the State of California’s Arbor Day. You can learn more about the twelve different tree options available here. Residents who wish to participate may fill out an application form here. The City will deliver your tree of choice to eligible residents in late April or early May.
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Plant-Based Eating Tip of the Month |
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Last summer, we kicked off our plant-based eating program focused on promoting healthy and ethical food choices, supporting equitable access to healthy food, and spreading awareness about the positive health and environmental impacts of a plant-based diet.
Why is plant-based eating so important? It turns out that what we eat has a significant impact on both our carbon and water footprints. In fact, in the Bay Area, almost 20% of our carbon footprint comes from food. Adopting a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful actions you can take to lower your carbon emissions and conserve water. You can learn more about the City’s Plant-Based Eating program and upcoming events here.
March Tip: Start Small. There’s no need to make big changes all at once. Start by eating meat-free one day a week. Just that simple step can reduce your carbon footprint by 15% over the course of a year!
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Spring EV Discount Campaign |
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Spring is just around the corner, which means so is Drive Clean Bay Area’s EV Discount Campaign. Drive Clean Bay Area is a nonprofit collaboration organizing a limited-time savings event with discounted pricing on various new battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Through the EV Discount Campaign, you can still take full advantage of all government, utility, and manufacturer incentives along with the discount. Best yet, they’ve done all the legwork to make it convenient and affordable to drive electric today. Sign up to be notified when this spring’s Discount Campaign launches and the discount vehicles are announced!
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$20,000 in Scholarships for Youth Film Competition: EmPower Silicon Valley |
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Do you know a high school student interested in what a clean energy future would look like? Silicon Valley Clean Energy is providing $20,000 in scholarships for students as part of the second EmPower Silicon Valley Youth Short-Film Competition!
Through a short-film, local youth are invited to explore what a climate-friendly, clean energy world would look like and how we will get there. No film experience or prior climate change knowledge is necessary. Learn more about the competition and sign up for updates at SVCleanEnergy.org/Empower-SV.
The deadline to submit is May 2, 2022.
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SVCE Home Energy Saving Toolkits |
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Keep your heating costs as low as the temperature! These colder winter months generate high heating costs for most community members. Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s DIY Energy Saving Toolkit can help keep those costs from rising by increasing your home’s energy efficiency. Each Toolkit contains tools and materials designed to help you keep your home well insulated and energy efficient, which means less wasted heat and less reason to crank up the thermostat.
Toolkits include weatherstripping to help prevent heat loss at your windows and doors, a Kill-A-Watt meter to let you monitor your home’s overall energy use and many more tools to assist in making your home more comfortable and efficient.
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Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) has launched a free online resource to help Mountain View residents make easy, informed choices about switching to all-electric living.
The eHub features information on how change starts with clean electricity, how driving electric is the biggest single action you can take to stop pollution while saving money, and how you can improve your indoor air quality at home with efficient, electric appliances. Visit the new eHub here.
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New Recycling Resource Guide
There’s a new Recycling Resource Guide! Click here to read the 2022 Annual Guide, which has important information about trash, recycling, compost service, and other collection services for Mountain View residents and businesses. This issue includes details about new disposable foodware regulations and mandatory food scraps composting.
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Free Virtual Composting Basics Workshop March 26
Find out how to build healthy soil through backyard composting at a FREE, virtual Composting Basics workshop for Santa Clara County residents. This workshop will be held online via Zoom on Saturday, March 26 from 10am–12pm. Register
online or by calling 408-918-4640.
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Save the Date: Citywide Garage Sale May 7-8
The Citywide Garage sale is back! The City will once again be coordinating this annual event that takes place at homes throughout Mountain View. Join hundreds of residents holding garage sales at their homes, rain or shine, and help our community keep reusable items out of the landfill. Registration for participating sellers will open in March. Visit MountainView.gov/GarageSale for more information and to register.
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Dirty Dozen Item of the Month: Foam
The “Dirty Dozen” are 12 types of items that can mislead anyone trying to recycle right. These items seem recyclable, but actually contaminate the process. Keep these items out of your recycling cart.
Items made from plastic foam, such as “Styrofoam” packing peanuts, meat trays, and other packaging materials, are mostly made of air. They contain so little plastic that recyclers find it’s not worth the expense of hauling and processing to recycle these items, so there is no market for them. Contact your local shipping store to see if they accept clean packing peanuts for reuse, and consider buying a reusable cup and to-go box to reduce waste. Please place all foam items in the trash.
Mountain View has banned the use or sale of foam food and beverage containers by vendors in the city. Find out more here.
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More Activities + Resources |
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EV Financial Incentives Clinic |
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Think you can’t afford an EV? Think again! Learn about the many financial assistance programs available to income-qualifying residents, including the Clean Cars for All grant, Clean Vehicle Assistance grant, and county-specific programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Afterward, attendees may request a free consultation for additional guidance in identifying the programs for which they qualify. Register for this online event here.
When: Thursday, March 10, 7:00pm-8:00pm
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Curious what all the hype around e-bikes is about? Join Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition for an evening all about e-bikes. Learn about different types, the benefits of riding, things to consider when shopping for an e-bike, and how to ride safely. Not only will you learn everything you need to know about e-bikes, but all attendees will also have an opportunity to win a $25 gift card! Register for this online event here.
When: Tuesday, March 15, 7:00pm-8:00pm
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The Plants and Animals of Bay Area Oak Woodlands |
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Are you interested in learning more about the Bay Area’s unique local ecology? Join the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) for a deep dive into the rich ecology of our local oak woodlands with Kate Marianchild, author of the widely popular book Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks. You can register for this free, online event here.
When: Thursday, March 17, 7:00pm-8:00pm
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Acterra is holding their annual “Promise to Our Planet” online benefit event on March 25th. The event will combine their 32nd Business Environmental Awards and recognize the winners of the Spare the Air Leadership Award and the Food Systems Leadership Award. The theme this year is Truth. Justice. Action. Acterra is committed to increasing awareness about climate change solutions with an equitable approach to local climate action. Register for this great event, including special guest speakers, award winners, and an array of unique virtual experiences here.
When: Friday, March 25, starting at 5:00pm
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The City of Palo Alto Utilities put together some great guides on how to save energy in various home situations.
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Want to stay updated on more Sustainability news and local events? Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Instagram!
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