Sustainable Tucson

YouTube link – https://youtu.be/iE3UcxXh2SE

Exciting research has been going on for several years at Biosphere 2 and two schools in Tucson. UA Professor Greg Barron-Gafford has been leading teams studying what happens when vegetables are planted beneath raised solar panels. So far, the results show that this is a winning combination, productive for both the plants and the panels.

Join us on Tuesday, February 8, at 6:00 pm for our virtual Monthly Meeting. Prof. Barron-Gafford will give us an overview of Agrivoltaics: how it works and why it’s a particularly suitable approach for Southern Arizona, and he’ll update us on what developments we can expect to see resulting from the local projects.

Greg Barron-Gafford is a professor in the School of Geography, Development, and Environment, and is Associate Director of the Community and School Garden Program. He has been developing the field of agrivoltaics for the last 8 years, currently working not just in Southern Arizona but with researchers in Colorado and Oregon as well as in Africa and the Middle East

Tuesday, December 14, 6:00 pm
Youtube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlYCz0zgP0M&t=1s>

We have ten, maybe fifteen years to decarbonize our activities, our city, and the world, repairing our damage to habitable places, and slowing the accelerating cascade of extinctions. We can achieve these goals if each major decision from now on eliminates fossil fuels from our daily habits. That means that household appliances, heating, water heating, cooking, and our long-term transportation purchases from here on out need to be powered by electricity, not gas, and that before mid-century we’re supplying them almost exclusively with cleanly produced electrical power. This will triple our electricity use, but the elimination of fossil fuels and their inherent inefficiencies means overall energy consumption will decline.
 
Join us at 6:00 on Tuesday, Dec. 14, for an overview of hands-on electrification in which everyone has a role. The presentation goes hand-in-hand with Sustainable Tucson’s new web-based Energy Transformation Toolkit, which includes practical guidance for electrification applicable to Tucson homes, businesses, and nonprofits, including financial incentives available. If you have a few minutes, give it a glance before the meeting.
 
Following the presentation and discussion of this timely topic, you’re invited to join in some celebratory end-of-year sharing on sustainability – of positive happenings over the year, current projects, and hopes for the coming year. Additional details and speakers will be announced in our next newsletter, on our Meetup page, on Facebook, and on our website (www.sustainabletucson.org).

A conversation with civic officials 
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
6:00-7:30 pm
On Youtube: <https://youtu.be/5yo1Qg9lnXI>

What can governmental agencies do to help us live in harmony with our desert environment for generations to come? Meet civic staff whose work aims to ensure a sustainable future. 

Our conversation will feature Irene Ogata, Tucson Water’s Urban Landscape Manager; Natalie Shepp, Senior Program Manager for Outreach and Education at the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality; Nicole Gillett, the City’s Urban Forest Manager; and Samantha Neville, District 5 Aide to Supervisor Adelita Grijalva. Through a moderated Q & A, they will describe their roles, their goals, their successes, and the needs they see for their work going forward.

Tuesday, October 12, 6:00 pm
Youtube link: <https://youtu.be/MdwIBpmlCxQ>

Indigenous peoples have become frontline leaders in the push for climate justice and the building of regenerative futures. Simultaneously, more and more folks outside of the Indigenous community have been learning that Indigenous traditional governance, frameworks, values, and ecological practices have the capacity to offer insight to building these futures for us all.
 
At our next monthly meeting, PennElys Droz will explore the movement of Indigenous peoples to re-emerge our values and governance in regenerative nation-building, our work to achieve Land Back, and why this is relevant and impactful for our local, national, and global community. Please join us for this timely presentation, with ample time for questions and discussion.

Dr. PennElys Droz is an Anishinaabekwe mother of five, a Program Officer for the NDN Collective, and an active founding Board member of Sustainable Nations. She has worked for over 20 years in service of the re-development of ecologically, culturally, and economically thriving and resilient Indigenous Nations.
 

actions and perspectives

A forum with municipal officials who work directly on sustainability issues

Tuesday, September 14, 2021
6:00-7:30 pm
Youtube meeting link: <https://youtu.be/OWLR2idQU9o>

Join Sustainable Tucson for our next virtual monthly meeting. Connect with dedicated public servants whose work touches directly on our mission to live in harmony with our desert environment long into the future. Panelists will describe their roles, their missions, their successes, and their needs. The program will be rich with detail and ample opportunity for Q & A. Confirmed to date: Julie Robinson, manager of sustainability for Pima County. Bring your questions!

August 10 at 6pm

It may seem a bit premature to take a “post-pandemic look” at anything, but we can start thinking already about what we want the post-pandemic picture of our region to look like.
 
In the past year and a half, we’ve seen all too many businesses close, including some favorite restaurants and bars. At the same time, we’ve seen new bars and restaurants opening and new local businesses starting up. Hopeful signs indeed. But can we control what happens next? All those ups and downs impacting the local business community present the perfect opportunity to plan and shape what we want for our local economy.
 
Join Sustainable Tucson on Tuesday, August 10, at 6:00 pm, for our next virtual monthly meeting, “Local Jobs for Local Needs: A Post-pandemic Look at Moving to a Greener Local Economy.” We will take a look at what Tucson and the Southern Arizona region need locally for a sustainable economic future, as we (hope to) come out of the past year and a half, with Covid-driven disruptions and constraints impacting local businesses, workers, and the overall economy.
 
As a basis and background for looking at where we’re heading, Kevin Burke, City of Tucson Economic Initiatives Deputy Director, will give an overview of where we are now and what the impacts on business and the economy have been (and still are) from the pandemic. In other words, what’s the current “health” of our local economy? Kevin will help us understand current local business trends and the data behind those trends.
 
Then, Mike Peel, Local First Arizona’s Statewide Sustainability Director, will discuss how we move forward, focusing on how to take advantage of greener, more sustainable opportunities to meet economic needs, rather than simply replicating the past. He’ll look at trends in green job and economic development as seen in our local region.
 
Bring your questions and experiences to share, as we’ll close with plenty of time for discussion with our presenters.
 
YouTube link: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLo-juWzBH8>

. . . and the 50 small things.

Link to recording of meeting: <https://youtu.be/q4fi4pNeJ4s>

Fundamental to solving the Climate Crisis is to replace the fossil-fueled equipment we use with more efficient and non-polluting electrically powered devices, powered with renewables. Robert will talk about why heat pump water and space heaters are more efficient, safer, and economical. Electric Vehicles have lower lifetime costs than fossil burners, and are more fun and reliable to drive. Solar can power your home and vehicle, resulting in low or no energy bills.

Join us for this presentation on how you can eliminate your direct fossil carbon emissions, improve the comfort and safety of your home and vehicle, and save money while doing it.

Robert Bulechek is a energy efficiency consultant specializing in upgrading existing buildings to be comfortable, affordable, healthy, and zero emissions. 

A member of the Tucson Commission on Climate, Energy, and Sustainability, he leads the Electrification of Transportation Working Group. He regularly pesters the Tucson City Council, Pima County Board of Supervisors, Arizona Legislature, and Arizona Corporation Commission to improve sustainability policy.

Robert lives in a zero emissions home, drives a zero emissions car, has negative utility bills and negative carbon emissions.

Tuesday, May 11, 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Watch recording on Youtube
 
Many of us remember all too well the Bighorn Fire last summer: the sight of flames that kept coming ever closer, and the plumes of smoke that clouded the skies and filled our lungs. And here we are again. Last Sunday’s AZ Daily Star included the headline “Experts expect busy wildfire season again.” With the Mulberry Fire in February and the Margo Fire in early April, we are already well into this year’s fire season for Southern Arizona, making this month’s topic even more timely than expected.
 
Our May monthly meeting will examine “Climate, Forests, and Fire in Southern Arizona.” We’re pleased to present two local experts on these topics, University of Arizona Professors Donald Falk and Luke McGuire, who will help us understand the changing landscape we are already beginning to see in our region and the impacts — past and expected — from what seems to be an intensifying fire regime. Their work has addressed issues including forest and fire ecology, post-fire impacts on soil and flooding, risks of erosion, and possibilities for restoration.
 
We all play an integral role in the regional landscape, and our lives are impacted by the natural phenomena around us. Any consideration of fire in our surroundings will have implications — both risks and opportunities — for issues like where housing is developed, where transmission lines are located, and more broadly, whether there are prevention, mitigation, or adaptation measures we should be looking at and acting on.
 
Please join us on Tuesday, May 11, at 6:00 pm, for the virtual meeting on this important topic.