Tucson is seen as a leader in the movement for green infrastructure across the nation. For shade and beauty, carbon capture, and traffic calming, we can see that cooling the urban heat island with rainwater-fed trees and shrubs brings life to our landscape and lifts the hearts of residents and visitors alike. What have we accomplished since Mayor Regina Romero announced the Million Trees campaign? What more needs to be done? What obstacles must we face?
Join us for a deep look at the promise, the progress, and what we can do to support this vital part of making Tucson sustainable. Our panel will feature:
Nichole Casebeer: Project Manager and Landscape Designer, Pima County Regional Flood Control District
Nicole Gillett: Tucson Urban Forestry Program Manager
Mead Mier: Planning Manager, Pima Association of Governments
Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the desert Southwest, native tribes had farmed the land for centuries. European methods, and the sheer number of their population, led to sometimes devastating effects on the land, but now, new ideas in urban gardens and farming have emerged and may play an important role in our future sustainability.
Join us for our next Sustainability Spotlight program, Urban Agriculture & Tucson’s Local Food Scene, presenting a panel discussion with three experts in the field, Tuesday, May 13, 6:00-7:30 pm. The program will highlight some of the options for producing healthy, delicious, hyper-local food in Tucson. Our panel will share the joys and the challenges of growing food in the desert, including a consideration of impacts from the changing climate and what we can expect for Tucson’s local food future.
Our Panelists: Lorien Tersey is the founder and proprietor of Dreamflower Garden, a lovely midtown half-acre overflowing with flowers and all manner of native and edible plants, enough to provide 40% of her diet. She is a frequent vendor of produce and locally adapted plant starts at the Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market. Lorien has encyclopedic knowledge of trees, native plants, and produce that can thrive in our Sonoran Desert setting, all grown organically.
Dominika Heusinkveld writes occasional articles on nature and gardening for the Arizona Daily Star, and produces the Tucson Garden Guide, a biweekly email newsletter. Her focus is on native plants and creating urban habitat for wildlife. She also works part-time at
Strategic Habitat Enhancements, a local, woman-owned small business focusing on landscaping design with native plants. Dominika is a former Family Medicine physician with extensive experience serving underserved populations, with a special interest in the intersection between public health, individual health, and ecological health.
Erik Stanford, founder of Pivot Produce, came to Tucson in 2011. In 2014 he started as a chef at 5 Points Market & Restaurant, which emphasizes local/community-based sourcing in southern Arizona. As Erik gradually got to know the small-scale local growers that supplied 5 Points, he wanted to find a way to connect growers like them with restaurants that also recognized the benefits of a commitment to locally sourced food. To that end, he founded Pivot Produce, which enables restaurants and other food institutions to easily source products from local/regional growers and producers. Currently, he aggregates from 25+ small producers in southern Arizona and distributes to over 20
Arizona has long been known and treasured for its beautiful scenic wild places, many of which are held sacred by indigenous peoples of the state. At the same time, many of those scenic places are also sources for one of Arizona’s distinctive “5 Cs”: Copper. Because copper is increasingly in demand for production of many electronics and clean energy devices, a sharp conflict arises between environmentalists intent on preserving wild places and businesses interested in profiting from mining. Quite a few communities in the state, including several near Tucson, are grappling with this conflict, the subject of our next Sustainability Spotlight program.
Join us for an overview of some of the actual or potential impacts of mining in Southern Arizona and the conflict between environmental risks and destruction caused by mining and the need for metals used for clean energy to fight destructive climate warming. Our panel will present an overview of some of the mining laws we all should understand (e.g., the 1872 law, still in effect) and what kinds of reform are long overdue, as well as an update on the recently proposed Mining Regulatory Clarity Act. We’ll also get a rundown of mining impacts that communities are particularly concerned about — health risks, effects on water supply, air pollution from particulates and toxins, and more. Then we’ll focus on the area closest to Tucson where the mining/environment conflict can be seen, namely, the Santa Rita Mountains, with a look at legal current challenges against Hudbay and Copper World, as well as state agencies. We’ll learn how we, as concerned citizens, can help. There will then be time for Q&A.
Our panelists will be two representatives of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas: Rob Peters, Executive Director, and Anna Darian, Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement, and Curt Shannon, Interim Director, Arizona Mining Reform Coalition.
Like so many, we in Sustainable Tucson have been considering how to respond to current attacks on our environmental health, national parks, progress on climate change, eco-justice and Constitutional order.Â
Therefore, we are hosting an in-person Call to Action on this coming Saturday, March 29, 3-5 p.m., to connect Tucson environmental groups and concerned citizens. Hand-in-hand, we can rediscover the scope of local, life-sustaining work, reassess threats to well-being, and identify actions to defend earth.
Goals 1. Generate a menu of actions people or groups can consider or commit to; 2. Form one or more teams to take on specific projects; 3.  Begin planning a Spring Teach-in to engage more citizens in protecting programs, people, and places.
Saturday, March 29, 3-5 p.m. Shalom Mennonite Fellowship 6044 E 30th St., Tucson
We hope that this meeting will lead to the development of an ongoing coalition of environment, sustainability, and climate champions dedicated to the common good. If you know someone who needs to be at this meeting, please pass this invitation along or share the flyer below. Thank you for engaging in this time of action!
Transportation and parking Bike and car parking in lot Common entry: west door off parking lot Mobility impaired: park NE corner of parking lot; enter at N door SunTran Route 17, exit at 29th & Zuni
2025 is the year for TEP to renew its franchise agreement with Tucson.
According to Joe Salkowski, Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs at TEP, the franchise agreement “isn’t a contract to provide service in the city; it just sets terms for [TEP’s] use of public rights-of-way within city limits. We’d like a new agreement, since those terms make our operations easier and less costly for customers.”
The agreement, of course, will be negotiated in the context of a swiftly warming planet. With energy requirements climbing in the summertime as demands on air-cooling increase, and with energy uses increasing year-round to power more online servers, does TEP’s current business model chart the best possible path to a sustainable future?
Are there alternatives to that model that could soften the global-warming impacts of energy production in southern Arizona? Developing the upcoming Franchise Agreement is an opportunity to consider these questions and fine-tune our models for the benefit of all.
Our speakers on March 11 will address the prospects for a strong partnership between the community and TEP. Strategic investments can increase resilience and sustainability in our city. Renewing the franchise agreement is an opportunity to align on those objectives. In this dialogue, we hope to shed light on the potential of franchise agreements to build stronger, sustainable partnerships.
Ron Proctor is a legally documented seasonal migrant moving between Tucson and Maine. He is a sustainability practitioner tempered by local positions he has held, including Mountain/1st Ave Neighborhood Association President, founding member of Lend A Hand Senior Outreach, recipient of a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the U of A, Core team member of Sustainable Tucson, past lead of Tucson’s Citizen’s Climate Lobby, member of Greater Tucson Climate Coalition, and past Co-Chair of the City of Tucson’s Climate Change Committee during the Rothschild Administration.
Garrett Weaver is a lifelong resident of Southern Arizona and Tucson. He works as an engineer and also volunteers his time for Citizens’ Climate Lobby of Greater Tucson and serves on the Tucson Commission on Climate, Energy, and Sustainability. He holds a Master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Arizona.
Garrett works towards sustainability solutions in Arizona by increasing public participation in government, advocating for policies to increase renewable energy production and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. He believes voting is very important, and that a strong democracy depends on an informed electorate.
As Director of Public Affairs for Tucson Electric Power, Steven Eddy represents and advances company and utility policies through relations with government agencies, trade associations, and community stakeholders.
A native Tucsonan and University of Arizona graduate, Eddy has been with TEP for 13 years. Prior
to that, he held positions in land use planning, real estate development and economic development. Eddy is active in the Tucson Conquistadores and the Centurions. He also serves as chairman of the District Four Board of Adjustments.
An avid outdoor enthusiast, Eddy believes that young people who enjoy nature will appreciate that Tucson is “a bicyclist paradise that offers two of the most treasured assets in America for cyclists, runners and hikers: Mount Lemmon and The Loop.” The environmentally aware will appreciate, he adds, that TEP is at the center of clean energy transformation.
Heat waves are becoming more frequent, longer, and hotter, not just in Tucson but across the country. We are grateful for the many researchers and government officials who are studying the issue and making policies to protect our community, and for engaged citizens doing important work on the ground.
Come hear about local efforts to support community engagement and the ground-breaking work of groups such as Physicians for Social Responsibility in raising awareness and catalyzing neighborhood preparedness.
Speakers will include representatives of the Red Cross, Pima County Health, and the Office of the City Manager.
“It is no accident that Tucson is a leader in climate action. I just bring that forward because that is what you ask of me.” – Regina Romero, mayor, City of Tucson, at the 2nd annual Heat Summit, Feb 1, 2025
The change in administration and in Congress this year will present challenges to many aspects of our national life, with changes that could ripple far into our communities. Join us for an evening dedicated to identifying ways that we can support an agenda of environmental justice and a sustainable future.
Our featured guests will be Kirsten Engel, professor of law at UA and former state senator, and Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. They will review their perspectives on what programs, policies, and places are at increased risk, and what we can do – as individuals and as a collective – to preserve and protect them. We expect a lively question & answer session, evolving into a shared conversation on how to move forward, with determination and good will.
Join us for a meeting of hearts and minds, an invitation to all to scale up our engagement on behalf of a sustainable desert community.
Sandy Bahr is the director for the Grand Canyon Chapter of Sierra Club. Her responsibilities include advocating with various state and federal agencies for environmental justice and democracy, conducting research, developing and evaluating policies, conducting grassroots outreach and organizing, developing priority projects, and supervising staff.
She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Arizona Interfaith Power and Light 2017 SAGE (Spirited Activists Greening the Earth) award, the 2019 Best Environmentalist recognition from Phoenix New Times, and 2023 recognition from Chispa Arizona.
Kirsten Engel is a law professor specializing in environmental law, a former Arizona state senator, and a two-time Democratic nominee for Congressional District 6 in Southern Arizona. Kirsten is committed to building the people-led alliances and the legal frameworks needed to protect our unique Arizona
environment and build a sustainable economy for future generations by safeguarding our water resources, lowering costs for working families, and speeding the transition to clean energy.
Join us for an end-of-year celebration of a very exciting local climate achievement, thanks to the students in the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition (AZYCC).
On October 29, the Tucson Unified School District adopted a far-reaching and bold Climate Action Resolution, researched and written by members of AZYCC, including some who were TUSD students.
Our December Sustainability Spotlight will feature AZYCC co-leads Ojas Sanghi and Owen Brosanders, who will present an overview of the Resolution, describing the process that AZYCC undertook in developing the document, garnering community support, and advocating for its passage by the board. TUSD now has adopted the most comprehensive climate action plan in the country, but the work is not over for members of AZYCC and the many community members and organizations that want to see TUSD implement the Resolution.
We’ll hear what comes next and how we can support the students in those next steps. After a year filled with climate disasters, heat stresses, and contentious climate-policy meetings, we are indeed fortunate to have this opportunity to recognize and congratulate the determination and courage of these youth fighting for their future.
You won’t want to miss what is sure to be an inspiring presentation and discussion with Ojas & Owen.
When was the last time you had to wash your windshield at least once a week? What happened to all the butterflies we used to see? Do you remember when the night air was filled with moths and the sounds of crickets? “Something’s happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” (Buffalo Springfield).
Alarming headlines proclaim the “insect apocalypse,” and many scientists and others announce the need for changes to avoid great peril. On the other hand, many studies report no change or uncertain conclusions. For Sustainable Tucson’s November Sustainability Spotlight program, entomologist Dr. Kenneth Kingsley will review what is known and not known about the “Insect Crisis.” He’ll explain the reasons why YOU should care and what you can do.
We’ll then look into what we can do locally to support insects and other important pollinators that bring beauty to our world and also are so crucial to our future food supply. Robin Motzer, chair of Sustainable Tucson’s Habitat Restoration Committee, will describe the committee’s mission and its work planting pollinator gardens, outlining why they are valuable neighborhood features and looking ahead to planned efforts for more pollinator gardens. We’ll then hear from Lauren Jankowski, currently an intern with AZ Game and Fish Department in the small mammal program, who was grant coauthor and a project manager for the Pollinator Equity Project (PEP). She will give an overview of PEP, its goals and objectives, and a look at what’s going on in the Project’s pollinator garden. Both will indicate how interested folks can get involved.
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Kenneth J. Kingsley, Ph.D.Dr. Kingsley earned his Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Arizona in 1985. His career has combined conservation biology and integrated pest management as a consultant for private industry and government agencies from local to national. He has had an adventurous career exploring wildlife and plants in a range of habitats from Hawaiian burial caves to mountain tops in Nevada. He has worked in 11 National Parks and 10 states, under water, in deserts, riparian woodlands, and in mountain talus fields. He has conducted surveys for organisms ranging from bacteria to bighorn sheep. His work has led him to the understanding that people have made a terrible mess of things, but that we can change and make the world safe for ourselves and most other living beings.
Date:Â Tuesday, October 8 Time:Â 6:00-7:30 pm Venue:Â Hybrid In-person, join us at the Ward 6 Office, 3202 E 1st St (please enter at the rear of the building (south side)Â
Before the Europeans arrived in the Tucson basin, rivers flowed year-round with forest-feeding water. After centuries of depletion and degradation of this most precious resource, scientists, activists, and policy-makers are now working on replenishing and cleansing our streams and groundwater.Join us Tuesday evening, October 8th, to learn about grassroots efforts to secure, protect, and sustain our waters for future generations.
Featured speaker: Yolanda Herrera, a fifth-generation Tucsonan and torch-bearer for a family committed to community advocacy and creating positive change.
For 22 of its 23 years, Yolanda has been involved with the Unified Community Advisory Board – a citizen advisory group established to monitor, prevent, contain, and remediate contamination of area groundwater. She has served as the Community Co-chair for the past seven year.
Since 1994, Yolanda has been involved with the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, currently president of this group that is a model of action and advocacy. She also serves on the City of Tucson’s Environmental Services Advisory Committee as a representative of Ward 5.
“Water contamination,” Yolanda says, “is like rape. No one wants to live with its never-ending negative consequences. We strive to move forward to continue creating positive change for all!”
