SCOCO INSIGHTS - APRIL 2021
Everyday IS Earth Day, But Let's Take Action Now!
STAY CONNECTED:
"Earth To Contra Costa!" Earth Day 2021 Guide
As our second pandemic Earth Day quickly approaches, there is much uncertainty as the world slowly but surely returns to pre-pandemic “normal.” Global CO2 emissions have already rebounded above pre-pandemic levels. While Earth Day in 2020 acknowledged nature's role in global healing, this year’s 51st annual Earth Day, on April 22nd, recognizes the profound impacts of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the human species on planet earth. 

Championed by US Senator and environmentalist Gaylord Nelson, the original Earth Day in 1970 was established in response to a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara. Its theme focused on the importance of clean air and water. Each Earth Day since then has underscored the importance of serious environmental problems that we collectively face and the importance of taking action before it’s too late.

One way you can celebrate is by joining Sustainable Contra Costa at Earth Day at the Ruth Bancroft Garden on Saturday, April 24th from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Tickets cost $10 per adult, and children and members are free. 

While it is important to note that the East Bay Parks District has cancelled in-person volunteer programs and ongoing project events until further notice, it is still offering an array of Earth Day activities and opportunities to get involved...
Save Money and Earn Prizes with the
Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge
Have you taken the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge with your household yet? If you haven't created an account yet, or just haven't logged in for a while, check out the Challenge for sustainable actions you can take this April!

Small actions in the home can make a big difference--40% of our greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from basic household activities. Join your friends, neighbors, and colleagues for the Spring Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge, now through April 30th.

Save money in your home, reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, and win prizes! If you complete one action, you can claim a free yard of beautiful mulch for your garden from EcoMulch. You can also enter drawings for bigger prizes, like gift cards to Ace Hardware and Rivertown Sweets or compost bins for your backyard. Visit our Challenge prize page for all the details and instructions. 

Take easy Actions like Make a Meal Plan or Buy Local, Buy Organic to reduce your food waste and support local merchants. Reducing food and household waste can have a big impact--and nobody likes wasting delicious food or their hard-earned money! Or, find water-saving tips to Take Shorter Showers or Water Plants Just Enough. If you're looking for other actions that can increase home efficiency and comfort, check out Install Smart Thermostat and Insulate Floors and Walls. With the warmer months around the corner, it's imperative to keep your home insulated and cool...
Seven Eco-Conscious Tips For Your Laundry Room
Did you know that April 15 is National Laundry Day? It’s unclear what we’re celebrating because laundry requires a lot of water and energy, but there are several habits that make this necessary task more sustainable. Here are some suggestions, from simple to complex:

1) Increase load size but decrease frequency

This may be obvious but let’s say it anyway. Washing small or partial loads frequently is inefficient. Hold off on running the laundry machine until you have a full basket of clothes, just like you wait to run the dishwasher until you have a full load of dishes. Also, consider whether you really need to wash every item every time you wear it. Socks, yes, but do jeans get that dirty during Zoom calls from home?

2) Wash laundry in cold water

This is a no-brainer. For most laundry needs, cold water does as good a job at getting clothes clean as warm or hot water. And based on data from UK-based Waste and Resources Action Programme, washing clothes at 86F uses only about 40% as much energy as washing clothes at 104F. An added benefit of using cold water is it extends the lifespan of your clothes.

3) Replace Fabric Softeners and Dryer Sheets

Textile conditioners often contain toxic ingredients such as phosphates, synthetic fragrance, benzyl acetate, toluene, and chloroform, all of which can be harmful to the skin and the environment...
You may have a room that is already heated by an inefficient electric-resistance heater (often built into a wall), which you would like to upgrade. Or a room that is now heated by a fossil-fuel heater (perhaps a natural gas burning wall furnace), and you would like to phase out your use of fossil fuels. The easiest energy-efficient heating system upgrade is changing to a heat pump system. If you install a system like this, and then select 100% renewable electricity from MCE or your utility, you'll have highly efficient, renewable-energy sourced heating (and cooling).

An air source heat pump uses the ambient air as the heat source. By manipulating the pressure, temperature, and volume of a refrigerant in the compressor, it pulls heat from the outside air and delivers it inside a space, even if it is colder outside than inside. Some heat pumps can function well even with outside temperatures in the low teens. Heat pumps can work in reverse, taking heat from the inside of a room and delivering it to the outside, like your kitchen refrigerator. Heat pumps use one-third as much power, or less, compared to straight electric resistance type heaters. April is a “shoulder month,” neither winter nor summer, but we are more likely to use heating than cooling now. Air conditioning will have to be a topic for another time.

While there are “package” heat pumps, these are designed for entire homes. Split heat pumps are more commonly used...
Get Growing This Spring
It's time to "get growing" because spring is here! We are lucky to have so many wonderful local plant nurseries, gardening resources, and spring plant sales. Here's a round-up of some of our favorites:
 
Spring Plant Sales & Events:

DVC Horticulture Plant Sale - order online, contact-free pick-up April 17 & 24; May 1 & 8. Availability lists for sale weeks are posted online. Lots of drought-tolerant and pollinator-friendly plants!

10th Annual Great Tomato Sale - order online beginning April 6, and pick-ups will be coordinated at the UC Master Gardeners' Demonstration Garden in Walnut Creek. Sale will continue while inventory lasts. Master Gardeners have selected tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other veggies that thrive in our climate.

17th Annual Bringing Back the Natives Virtual Tour - April 25, May 2, 16, 23, from 10 am - 3 pm. In a series of live garden visits, passionate garden owners and designers will show us what's happening in their garden now, feature their favorite natives, and more...
Sustainable Leaders in Action

Sustainable Leaders in Action, or SLIA, is the youth leadership branch of Sustainable Contra Costa that is 100% youth-led. Made up of both high school and college students, SLIA works together to promote the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge and to educate youth on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle and encourage cleaner living in our communities.



New on Instagram!

Sustainable Contra Costa is excited to announce that we now have an Instagram account for the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge! The Challenge is a free online platform where you can work with others to take sustainable actions in your household. This way, you can save money in your home AND fight climate change. Follow us at @cleanercontracosta for action ideas in English and Spanish!

Upcoming Events
You can find virtual and remote-learning options for many wonderful events. Here are a few...  

Do you want to make your home more...

* Comfortable
* Healthy & Safe
* Efficient
* Durable

The FREE 2021 BayREN Home Upgrade Workshop will provide you with information and contacts to make your home more energy efficient with rebates up to $5,000!
Local participating contractors, building scientists, and financing experts will provide you with the critical information you'll need to get your project started. Rebates are available for eligible energy efficiency upgrades including air sealing, duct sealing, insulation, and installing high-efficiency furnaces, air conditioners, and/or water heaters. Please RSVP as soon as possible to reserve your space.

Monday, April 19th
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Online event

Join the Ruth Bancroft Garden and Sustainable Contra Costa in celebrating Earth Day! Sustainable Contra Costa will be at The Ruth Bancroft Garden with information about how you can help the environment by conserving water. You can also sign up for the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge to measure your household carbon footprint, take sustainable actions in the home, and save money! You will receive a stainless steel straw as a thank you for signing up for the Challenge.
Children may pledge to take a water-saving action and, in return, receive a shower timer to help them take shorter showers.
The Ruth Bancroft Garden will hold an Earth Day Scavenger Hunt in the Garden. See if you can find all plants and items on the list! All participating children will receive a sunflower seed envelope that they can plant at home.
 

Saturday, April 24th
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Ruth Bancroft Garden
Walnut Creek
Adult admission: $10, Children under 12 and RBG members: FREE

We'll celebrate the one-year anniversary of Sustainability LIVE back where we started, by visiting our friends John & Marian at Rodgers Ranch Urban Farm. Learn from these gardening gurus the easiest and most powerful practices to get your spring garden going. We'll touch on composting, fertilizing and enriching the soil, cover crops, plant guilds, starting seeds, and much more. There will be plenty of time for your questions!

Wednesday, April 28th
7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Online event
FREE
Please take a moment to support Sustainable Contra Costa. Donate to help us engage thousands of Contra Costa residents in new and exciting ways to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Together we can make a difference!
 

And remember, if you become a Sports Basement Basementeer, you'll receive 10% off every item every day, while 10% of profits are donated back to SCOCO!

We always encourage you to shop locally when you can, but if you need to shop online, check out GoodWallet or if you use Amazon, don't forget to use AmazonSmile, and your purchases will support Sustainable Contra Costa! AmazonSmile is now available in the Amazon app.




We are so grateful to our sponsoring Partners. Please thank and patronize these businesses and organizations!
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