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.
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!”
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!
The fashion industry has been criticized for its environmentally damaging practices, reliance on exploitative labor conditions, and encouragement of overconsumption. For our next monthly meeting, our speaker, UA Professor Kathleen J. Kennedy will show that those negatives can and should be changed. In this presentation, she will explore how leaders in the fashion world can reimagine the industry to be more sustainable, equitable, and conscious of its impacts. She will discuss innovations in circularity, materials engineering, fabric sourcing, manufacturing processes, streamlining the supply chain, and building transparency between brands and consumers.
We will learn how policy changes and grassroots activism can motivate large-scale improvements, and we will leave with ideas and inspiration for how the fashion industry can transform itself into a force for good. By working together and centering sustainability, we can reform fashion to be beautiful, ethically produced, and much less wasteful of resources.
Our speaker, Kathleen J. Kennedy, Associate Professor of Practice, Norton School for Human Ecology at the University of Arizona, is an expert in retailing, consumer products, and business strategy. As a faculty member at the University of Arizona since 2017, she has focused her teaching on ethical, responsible, and sustainable practices in the fashion and retail sectors. Concurrently, Kathleen has been a postgraduate researcher at the Alliance Manchester Business School, where her research is focused on the impact of AI technologies on retailing and consumer buying decisions.
Prior to her academic career, Kathleen gained over 15 years of experience as an executive for major retailers and financial services companies. In these corporate roles, she spearheaded product development and sourcing initiatives, always emphasizing sustainability, social responsibility, and zero waste.
An advocate for reform in the fashion industry, Kathleen teaches about balancing profit and principles. She provides students and professionals with ideas and inspiration for transforming traditional business practices to be more equitable, eco-conscious, and human-centric. Kathleen is committed to research and education that can enable the retail and apparel sectors to become a driving force for good.
One of the key foundational issues for living in a healthy environment is ensuring that we can breathe clean air. We know that this is far from true for many places and communities around the world. But what about right here in Pima County? Do we enjoy the clean air we all desire? Or are there days when we experience poor air, and are there parts of the county that experience a risky degree of pollution? How can we all help to ensure our local air quality is the best it can be?
Join us for an in-depth look at “Air Quality in Pima County” at our next monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 9, at 6:00 pm on Zoom. We’re pleased that our presenter for this topic will be Natalie Shepp, MPH, Senior Program Manager for Outreach & Education at Pima County Department of Environmental Quality. She’ll focus on local air quality issues, and review local sources, health effects, and solutions to air pollution. Time for Q&A will follow her presentation.
And to prepare for what you’ll be hearing from Natalie, you can take PDEQ’s Clean Air Challenge, hosted on their website throughout the month of May <#ThisIsCleanAir Challenge>. For the Challenge, you’ll take a quiz to test your knowledge about air quality and how your habits protect the air we breathe. Quiz takers also earn a chance at winning a prize.
Join us to hear a panel of young activists (teens to 20’s) who are working for a sustainable future. Panelists will share their key engagements in the community, other issues that are on their minds, and what they wish others would do to assure a brighter future. After they answer a few prepared questions, the floor will open to the audience. Bring your questions!
Panelists are Rocky Baier, recent UA grad, co-founder of Tucson’s Repair Cafe; Ali Soland, member of Youth for Blue Skies, a collaborative program of the Ironwood Tree Experience; Adriana Bachmann, Ambassadors of Sustainability, climate communicator; and Garrett Weaver, member of Tucson Climate Coalition.
What’s happening in our state Legislature to bills that impact environment, natural resources, and related issues? Join us at our next monthly meeting for answers to that question.
Our speaker will be State Senator Priya Sundareshan, who will give an overview of legislative activity (or lack of activity) on issues such as sustainability, environment, clean air, water, environmental justice, electrifying transportation options, and emissions reduction in the fight to control the climate crisis.
Senator Sundareshan represents Legislative District 18 and is also the Director of the Natural Resource Use and Management Clinic, James E Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona. It will be valuable to hear the perspective of an environmental lawyer on the way our legislature is addressing issues of importance to our organization – and to the future of our state.
Speaker Bio: Priya Sundareshan was elected to the Arizona Senate in 2023 to represent LD 18 and currently sits on the Elections, Government, and Natural Resources/Energy/Water Committees. Born and raised in LD18, Priya loves Tucson and the opportunities she had for an excellent public education and exploring the outdoors. She teaches natural resources law at the University of Arizona, and previously advocated for sustainable resource management with the Environmental Defense Fund. As a voting rights advocate, Priya has led voter protection efforts and engagement on redistricting within the Arizona Democratic Party. Having studied engineering at MIT and law and natural resource economics at UA, she knows we need more science-based decision-making in politics, especially when it comes to preserving our
beautiful state for future generations. As a mother of two small children, Priya wants her children and all children to inherit a sustainable world and sustainable Arizona.
This month we are featuring the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, an important local organization advocating for and working to preserve our natural environment and biodiversity. But why does the Sonoran Desert need protection, and what is this Coalition doing to protect it?
Join us to get the answers to those and many other questions at our Monthly Meeting, 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 14 — Valentine’s Day, the perfect time to express your love for our beautiful Sonoran Desert!
Our speaker will be Carolyn Campbell, Executive Director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, who will share with us her passion for the Sonoran Desert. Carolyn will give us an overview of the important work of the Coalition, including its role in developing Pima County’s award-winning Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. She’ll review other notable successes and key challenges, and she’ll suggest some ways in which we can get involved.
Carolyn Campbell, Executive Director, helped found the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection in 1998, responding to a need for a unified voice to advocate for the implementation of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Over the last 20 years, under her leadership, the Coalition has become the lead environmental advocate and facilitator on Sonoran Desert conservation planning.
After graduating from Arizona State University in 1982 with a B.S. in Political Science, Carolyn worked as a Congressional Aide to Representative Morris K. Udall in his Phoenix office from 1984-1990. She was the founder and State Chair of the Arizona Green Party from 1990-1998, and from 1994-1997 she worked as Chief Council Aide for Tucson City Councilmember Molly McKasson. Over the years, she has served on many local committees and boards of local organizations, and has received numerous local and regional awards.
Throughout her time calling Tucson home, she has been, in her own words, “a passionate voice for Sonoran Desert land and wildlife conservation.”
How Small Acts and Groups Can Create Big Change An evening of stories and conversation With Trathen Heckman, founder and executive director, Daily Acts
In getting overwhelmed and disheartened, we lose sight of the enriching, transformative impact we each can have. Come spend an hour with Trathen Heckman, author of the just-released book, Take Heart, Take Action, as he shares:
Tools and practices to find and live your inspiration and create a personal compass
How small groups can become catalysts for wide-scale change
Trathen Heckman is the founder and Director of Daily Acts Organization. He serves on the Board of Transition U.S. and the California Water Efficiency Partnership and is an Advisory Board member of the Norcal Community Resilience Network. Trathen helps people and groups reclaim the power of their actions to regenerate self, nature, and community. Trathen lives in the Petaluma River Watershed, where he grows food, medicine, and wonder while working to compost apathy and lack.
There are many tools that can help us think about the world we want to see. One such tool is “The Thing from the Future,” a game designed by the Situation Lab. The designers describe it this way: “The Thing from The Future is an award-winning imagination game that challenges players to collaboratively and competitively describe objects from a range of alternative futures.” Our presenter, Nic Richmond, the Chief Strategy Officer for Pima Community College and a certified foresight practitioner, has extended the game to include climate action and sustainability topics, creating a collaborative activity that generates thoughtful discussion and true creativity.
Within the game, participants will be presented with a scenario comprised of:
A type of future (e.g., a future resulting from ongoing steady progress or a future impacted by a profound historical change)
The climate setting (e.g., the temperature increase was successfully limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius or we cross a climate change tipping point)
The context or location where the future object may be found
The type of object that is the focus of the round — a specific artifact that reveals something about how the future is different from today
The mood that a person may feel while using the object
After the presenter shares an introduction to futures work and presents an example of a possible future object, participants will divide into teams (via break-out rooms) and be assigned a set of cards. They will be charged with developing the specifics of the object and what it means in the specified climate future. After 10 minutes of discussion, each team will present their object and a winner will be selected for the round. We’ll play several rounds, to explore a range of possible futures.
Nic Richmond, Ph.D., is a geophysicist, data scientist, and education leader. Nic has earned a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics from institutions in the United Kingdom and gained over 25 years of research experience. Her research interests include the analysis and interpretation of orbital magnetometer data of the Moon and Mars, the application of quantum mechanics and solid-state physics to deep Earth materials, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning methods in higher education. Since 2008, she has worked full time in higher education research, and she currently leads the Strategy, Analytics, and Research team at Pima Community College, where she serves as Chief Strategy Officer. In that role, she is responsible for the College’s sustainability program, and she led the development of the College’s first Climate Action and Sustainability Plan.
