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A Sustainable Future for People, Wildlife, and Water on the Santa Cruz River

In-Person: Ward 6 office, 3202 E 1st St
Tuesday, September 10, 6:30-8:00 pm

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Did you know that the Santa Cruz River is the 4th most endangered river in the United States? Learn how we can protect this precious river by working to establish the Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge.

Designation as an urban national wildlife refuge protects crucial green space, improves and maintains wildlife habitat connectivity, ensures equitable access to the river and surrounding landscape for local communities, and honors the rich cultural and historical connections to the revitalized river. Urban refuges also improve equitable access to the outdoors for local residents by protecting green spaces that support community health and well-being. An urban wildlife refuge designation can protect threatened open space in perpetuity.
 
The ecologically and culturally vibrant Santa Cruz River flows through the heart of Tucson. The proposed refuge boundary would run through both Santa Cruz and Pima Counties. It would include multiple properties along the river to maximize outdoor access and enable holistic habitat protection. The refuge would include several access points along the river where it parallels downtown Tucson.

Our speaker will be Luke Cole, director of the Santa Cruz River program in Sonoran Institute’s Resilient Communities and Watersheds team. Luke joined Sonoran Institute in 2018 and manages the ongoing projects on the Santa Cruz River, working with staff and collaborators to restore and enhance this Living River in the heart of southern Arizona and northern Sonora. Prior to joining the Sonoran Institute, Luke worked for the Washington, D.C. city government tracking the District’s green infrastructure and water quality improvement programs with a focus on coordinating tree planting programs and policy.  Luke has a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia, an M.S. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and a B.A. in biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
 
Luke will present on this community-led conservation project to protect the health of the Santa Cruz River and the native and endangered species that rely on the river. He will provide an update on how this important project is progressing and provide an opportunity for people attending the meeting to write their support for the establishment of the Santa Cruz River Urban National Wildlife Refuge.

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Orange Bag Program a Detour from Tucson’s Path to Sustainability

Health, Environment & Climate need a Plastics Detox instead

Tucson residents should reduce and refuse single-use plastic, rather than tucking it in an orange bag, said a Tucson nonprofit dedicated to sustainability.  In a report released today, Sustainable Tucson criticized the Hefty ReNew program for maintaining continued reliance on fossil fuels to produce plastics and for posing serious health and environmental risks by activities like burning plastics in cement kilns and in other high-heat processing.

August 20, 2024

Sustainable Tucson maintained that the corporations behind Hefty ReNew, Dow Chemical and Reynolds Consumer Products, “have a vested interest in fostering demand for single-use disposable plastic, not curtailing it.” The group called on Tucsonans to “shift their focus to reducing and refusing single-use plastic and other disposables instead of spending money buying even more disposable plastic to collect material that was designed to be used once and then thrown away.” 

Sustainable Tucson called on Mayor Romero and the City Council to adopt “front-end strategies that prevent the generation of plastic waste in the first place over approaches that seek to manage it after the fact.”  The report outlines six measures the City could take to “actively promote alternatives to single-use plastic and incentivize new ways to bring products to consumers in refillable and reusable packaging.”

 The report details six key findings:

  • The Hefty ReNew program perpetuates wasteful throwaway systems and single-use habits.
  • Hefty ReNew underscores the fossil fuel industry’s pivot to plastic production as its next major growth market.
  • The program fails to address plastic’s widespread threats to the environment and human health. 
  • Repurposing plastic waste into alternative building and construction materials is not circular. 
  • Turning plastic waste into burnable fuels and/or small amounts of chemicals through pyrolysis and other high heat waste facilities is inefficient and dirty. 
  • Sending plastic waste to cement kilns to create energy is also highly polluting.

Kevin Greene, Chair of Sustainable Tucson’s Zero Waste Committee, is available for interviews.  He may be reached at kevin@sustainabletucson.org, 520-639-8253.

Sustainable Tucson is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to build an equitable and resilient community that will thrive long into the future in harmony with our natural desert environment.

Download the full report here.

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Event Meeting

Circular Economy – Is It Possible?


August 13, 2024 @ 6:00

We are again on Zoom, in order to accommodate our out-of-town speaker. 
See you on Zoom.
Nature does it.  Can we do it,?

The average American produces 4.9 pounds of waste per day.  Landfill space may seem abundant, but even now, municipalities worry that their landfills are overfilled.  Increasingly, governments and individuals are looking for ways to reduce or eliminate waste, with concurrent goals of conserving resources, reducing pollution, and fighting climate change.

Key to these efforts is switching to a circular economy – extending the life cycle of products and materials through integrated strategies of repairing, sharing, reusing, refurbishing, and recycling.
 
Join us for a conversation with two local leaders in this movement.
 
Topics will include:Seven pillars of the circular economyThe three models of resource use:linear, reuse, and circularHow circularity can save not only materials but also our climateStrategies for circularity – local, regional, and nationalThe global $4.5 trillion economic opportunityOur Presenters: 
 
Stephen Menke received his Ph.D. in Molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and recently retired from his position as Associate Professor of Enology at the University of Colorado, after a long career in higher education.  With Rocky Baier, he founded Tucson’s Repair CafĂ© in 2021. 
 
Rocky Baier graduated from the UA in 2020 with a B.A. in Journalism, having spent her undergraduate career reporting for The Arizona Republic, The Daily Star, The Jerusalem Post, and the Wall Street Journal.  She now serves as the Sustainability Analyst and Reporting Coordinator for the University of Texas in Austin.  Since co-founding the Tucson Repair Cafe, she & Stephen have started Eco Lizard, a reusable takeout container service.
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The Rarest Fish in the World

Desert Fishes of the Southwest

We’re back – live and in-person
(with hybrid option)!

Join us on Tuesday 7/9 – at the Ward 6 office OR online – for our first hybrid version of the Sustainable Tucson monthly meeting. 

Doors open at 5:30, and the Zoom room opens at 5:50.
 
Address:  3202 E 1st St, Tucson, AZ 85716.  The office is on the corner of 1st St and Anderson (across the street from Walgreen’s.  Just one block south of E Speedway, and one block east of Country Club, it’s an easy walk from the Sun Tran bus #4.  If you drive, parking tends to be easy along both 1st and Anderson.

Tuesday, July 9, 6:00-7:20 pm

 We’re back – live and in-person (with hybrid option)! 
Join us on Tuesday 7/9 – at the Ward 6 office OR online.  Doors open at 5:30, and the Zoom room opens at 5:50.
 
Address:  3202 E 1st St, Tucson, AZ 85716. 

In the age of habitat loss and climate change, fish play a vital role in the web of life.  Our Southwest region consists of aquatic islands, surrounded by desert.  We have trout up in the mountains, other fishes on the Mogollon Rim, big species living in the Grand Canyon.  The culture and ecology of fish in Arizona is full of complexity.  For example, sport fishing brings $1 billion into our economy each year, yet sport fish deplete native fish by eating them.  Other threats to native species include climate change, groundwater pumping, and other forms of habitat disruption.

Scott Bonar is a Professor of Natural Resources at UA and Leader of the USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. He has conducted award-winning work in natural resources programs of state and federal government, universities, and private industry for over twenty-five years, authoring over 100 publications and supervising over eighty employees.

Scott has also authored a book on people skills for natural resources professionals.  The journal Ecology called it a “must read.” He enjoys working with fish managers and administrators on practical problems in fisheries management as well as the human dimensions.
 
Topics he will cover: A Who’s Who of desert fishesWhat fish give to the ecology and the economyFactors affecting desert fishesWhat we can do (or avoid) to protect and restore their populations 
Join us for a fascinating foray into the fisheries of the Southwest!

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Meeting

Electrifying Our Lives

5 steps we can all take to lower emissions at home

June 11, 2024 • 6:00pm

What’s that Sustainable Tucson volunteer doing in my furnace closet?!

Helping mitigate climate change, of course!

Trained volunteer Home Electrification Coaches in ST’s new Go Electric AZ (GoEAZ) program are helping Tucsonans save money and reduce emissions by making their homes and transportation more energy efficient, eliminating use of fossil fuels, and solarize. “We’re not replacing dirty old gas appliances ourselves, but we’re giving folks pointers to help them know where to start, questions to ask contractors, find funding help from the IRA and other sources, things like that,” said Gordon Nuttall, who joined Sustainable Tucson’s Energy Transformation Working Group last fall and helped hatch the vision that has become GoEAZ.

Duane Ediger had already been tapped for advice. “People don’t always know what will work best for them when the time comes to replace an old gas appliance,” he said. “Lots of factors come into play. A water heater that actually cools your home can be pretty sweet in Tucson.”

Join Gordon, Duane, and Bruce Plenk at Sustainable Tucson’s June 11 Round Table presentation. You may just leave with a planned next step to clean up your home energy use. There will be a couple of group polls, time for Q&A, a few words about other work of Sustainable Tucson’s Energy Transformation Working Group, and some of the many ways you could get involved.

Our Presenters:

Duane Ediger is a solar technician and founder of Sustainable Tucson’s Energy Transformation Working Group. He promotes electrification and energy demand management to get carbon out of our lives for good.

Gordon Nuttall moved to Tucson in August 2020 from Fort Collins, CO after retiring as the CEO of the startup business he founded there. Here, he became a Naturalist at the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, hoping to influence the future by interpreting nature for elementary students. Gordon believes that it is vital that people become educated about climate change so we can start acting in an impactful way, noting that household electrification is a prime example of individuals getting involved.

Bruce Plenk is an environmental attorney, a solar consultant, and the former Solar Energy Coordinator for the CIty of Tucson. He has worked for several local solar companies and frequently participates in proceedings at the ACC. His recent interest in heat pumps is part of understanding that now is the time to move forward with electrifying everything…..and powering that electric demand with solar!

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Going Back to Our Roots

Perspectives on Tucson’s Rich Agricultural History

Tuesday, May 14, at 6:00 pm

Agriculture has a 4,000-year history in the Tucson basin. Join us at our May monthly meeting, when we will explore that rich history.

Duran Andrews, San Xavier Cooperative Farm Manager, and Kendall Kroesen, PhD, outgoing Outreach Coordinator at the Mission Garden, will offer views of Tucson’s agricultural history, sharing perspectives on its influence through the centuries on the region’s shape and development. They will consider how changes in population, technologies of agriculture, and climate have impacted agricultural development in our region and how they all weigh in the balance as we envision a sustainable future. Opportunity for questions and discussion will follow the presentation.

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Reuse Wins

How the Reuse Movement is Building a Sustainable Future

Tuesday, April 9, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

While it’s still important to recycle and build better systems for it, more recycling will not solve our growing municipal waste problem and our over-reliance on single-use products and packaging, all of which are designed to be used immediately and then thrown away.  Somewhere along the way, we forgot that the first two R’s – reduce and reuse – are way more important than recycling for protecting the environment.  Unlike recycling, reusable products are in constant use and conserve existing resources, instead of using new materials.

Join us Tuesday, April 9, at 6 pm for a presentation on the environmental, economic, and social benefits of transitioning from the linear, throw-away economy to one that is regenerative, circular, and equitable.

Our speaker will be Melissa Jung, who serves as Reuse Networks Manager for Upstream Solutions.  Upstream is a leading change agency for the reuse movement in the US and Canada.  It works to spark innovative solutions and forge strategic alliances to help people, businesses and communities shift from single use to reuse.  This work includes normalizing reuse systems, growing and supporting the reuse industry, and creating an enabling policy environment for reuse. Based in Mesa, AZ, Melissa’s focuses most of her time on supporting the education and adoption of reuse systems at the local level.  She networks with a large community of reuse solutioneers that are working to activate change across business and policy sectors.  This includes engaging NGOs, entrepreneurs, local organizations, community leaders, and public officials.

Melissa has been involved in sustainability work for the past 10 years, with a foundation in plastic pollution science as well as a wealth of organizing and advocacy experience.  She is excited about working with reuse advocates in Arizona while enjoying all the outdoors that the state has to offer. 

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Sustainable and Affordable Housing

Converging Trends in Social, Cultural, Environmental,
and Economic Well-Being

March 12, 2024 • 6:00 to 7:30
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85747920564?pwd=czRwR0lCREVPeHZ1R1IrN1hhUnB2UT09

Developing sustainable and affordable housing is a long-term method to conserve the healthy functionality of livable spaces for the well-being of all.
 
Join us for a conversation with Ann Vargas, Tres English, and David Eisenberg, who have over 80 years of collective experience in the field of housing, from construction and codes to policy and management. These three panelists will illuminate the intersection of climate protection and housing justice, taking a systems view and identifying key steps that we can take for systemic change.

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Meeting

Shading Tucson: Trees to the Rescue

Tuesday, February 13, 6:00-7:30 pm

The weather keeps getting hotter and drier in southern Arizona.  In 2021, the EPA reported that Pima is the third fastest warming county in the US.  In 2023, July was Tucson’s hottest month on record.

We need more shade!  This was the chorus from Tucson residents as the City worked on its climate action plan, Tucson Resilient Together.  The Million Trees project is a big part of the community’s effort to cool the urban heat island.  A side-benefit:  according to a report in Science (Bastin et al, 2019), “Photosynthetic carbon capture by trees is likely to be among our most effective strategies to limit the rise of CO2 concentrations.”  Other benefits of city trees include:

  • Cleaning the air
  • Beautifying neighborhoods, business districts, parks
  • Calming traffic
  • Reducing risk of violence
  • Providing habitat for birds

Join us for a panel conversation on what we can do to expand the urban forest, especially in parts of Tucson that are currently sparsely shaded. 

Panelists:
Adam Farrell-Wortman, director of horticulture at Tucson Botanical Gardens, manages the care of a diverse palette of herbs, forbs, cactus, shrubs, and trees.  As a garden steward and educator, Adam specializes in regenerative practices such as composting and mulching.  Currently, he is overseeing a study of natural soil regeneration for the health and vigor of trees in the Gardens.
Ann Audrey, lead consultant on Tucson’s Urban Forest Master Plan and author of the guidebook, Native Trees for Tucson:  Ten Best Practices for Using Native Trees to Improve Urban Climate Change Resilience.  Other projects include a response guide to insect and disease threats in urban forests of Arizona and New Mexico, and editing the Rainwater Harvesting Manual, used throughout the US to train rainwater harvesting professionals.
Vikram Krishnamurthy leads the Tree Equity Alliance, a cross-sector initiative launched by American Forests to unite diverse national partners in supporting the national Tree Equity movement.  Prior to joining American Forests, Vikram served as Executive Director of the Delaware Center for Horticulture, an urban greening nonprofit based in Wilmington. In addition to reinventing DCH’s Branches to Chances® workforce and re-entry program, he helped to launch the Delaware River Climate Corps program.  He brings experience in urban forestry, land conservation and local food systems, all of which contribute to his commitment to equity and environmental justice.

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COP28: UA Delegates Report on Their Observations & Local Implications

Tuesday, January 9, 6:00-7:30 pm

The world’s biggest climate meeting, the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), [recently] concluded in Dubai. Negotiators from around the world worked overtime to deliver a new plan for addressing the mounting crisis posed by human-caused climate change. … Despite important progress, COP28 fell short of delivering the decisive action on climate change that science says is needed.” – Forbes magazine, 12/13/23
 

Join us Tuesday, January 9, at 6 pm for a conversation with University of Arizona delegates to COP28, moderated by Duane Ediger, Sustainable Tucson Board member. The panel will include Joona Mikkola, graduate student in Arid Lands Resource Sciences; Dr. Mona Arora, Assistant Research Professor in the Community, Environment & Policy Department of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health; and Yevheniia Varyvoda, Ph.D., Research Professional in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Hear their first-hand observations of the COP experience and, drawing on that experience, their thoughts on what we can do in southern Arizona to improve our climate future. There will be ample time for questions following their presentations.

Dr. Mona Arora’s research focuses on building the public health system’s capacity and capability to address global “wicked problems,” including pandemics, disasters, and climate change. She has a special interest in the health impacts of climate change, with a special focus on the usability of science for decision-making and models for translating science to action.
 
Joona Mikkola is passionate about ecological economics and finding solutions for real-world development and environmental governance problems with transdisciplinary research. His research interests include common-pool resource problems in semi-arid and arid lands, rangeland management and land-based greenhouse gas fluxes, and climate finance and community-based payments for ecosystem services (CB-PES) in Sahel and East Africa.
 
Dr. Yevheniia Varyvoda is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist at the University of Arizona. Her research focus is on leveraging nature-based solutions to enhance the resilience of communities, services, and systems upon which they depend. Her specific expertise includes ecosystem services in food systems, a methodological framework for impact assessment in case of emergency situations, and interventions for existing and emerging food safety issues in low- and middle-income countries.