March/April 2016 Newsletter

Posted

Educating for Truth and Dignity, Indigenous Peoples of This Hemisphere

What do we really know about Native Peoples? We probably know a lot of stereotypes. For example, the Cleveland Baseball Franchise is known as the “Cleveland Indians”. To help stop this you can come to the “14th Annual Conference to Protest Racism Against Indigenous Peoples in Sports and Media, Theme: Educating for Truth and Dignity, Indigenous Peoples of this Hemisphere.” Why is this important? For centuries history books have separated Native American history from American history.

However, Native Americans helped make our country what it is today. For example, 60% of the world’s food supply comes from crops cultivated by Native Americans. Some of these foods are potatoes, beans, corn, peanuts, pumpkins, tomatoes, squash, melons, chilies, etc. Also, Native Americans made big contributions to government, democracy, modern medicine, ecology, economics, sociology, culture, art, architecture, etc.

The conference this year is going to have four workshops:

Workshop 1: Biomes, Ecosystems, and Evolution: the Origins and Diversification of the 500 Indigenous Nations of this Hemisphere before Columbus. Jean Marie Stumpf, Ph.D., and James Watson, Ph.D.

Workshop 2: The Truth About Columbus: The Discovery of America for the Colonizing Agenda of Europe. The Truth About Thanksgiving. Phil Yenyo.

Workshop 3: Indigenous Innovations That Shaped the World and the Ecological and Economic Relationships That Produced Them. Albert Ortiz and Tom Pierce.

Workshop 4: Being Native in our Native Land. The Issues of Current Indigenous Peoples in Struggle against Popular Culture and Society. Joey Browner.

The Conference this year is going to focus on teachers, but all people are welcome. The Conference is going to take place at Baldwin Wallace University, Student Activity Center, 96 Beech Street, Berea, Ohio, April 2-4, 2016 starting at 9 AM (Saturday). For more information contact Dennis Michael Plank at 216-939-8229 or e-mail at dennislakeerie@aol.com. Facebook: Committee of fivehundredyears; Twitter: Committee of 500 Yrs; Website: Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance.

– Dennis Michael Plank

NEO Sierra Club Partners with Cleveland Film Festival

The 40th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) begins on March 30 and runs until April 10 at Tower City Cinemas downtown. Over 190 feature films, including a number of environmental films will be shown. NEO Sierra Club is a CIFF Community Partner for the documentary entitled, Anthropocene. In the film scientists describe how humans have affected environments in all parts of the world and discuss how that impact may shape the future. A schedule of screenings and short descriptions for all the festival films will be posted on the CIFF website on March 4 and printed programs will become available on March 7. Check the listings and plan to attend. Each screening of Anthropocene will be introduced by a member of NEO Sierra Club.

Ticket prices are $14 for CIFF members, $14 for students and seniors (in person purchase with current ID) and $16 for everyone else. Sierra Club members will be eligible for a $2 discount on tickets. To receive the discount, just use the codeword “Sierra” when purchasing your tickets. Tickets can be purchased online at www.clevelandfilm.org or by phone at 877.304.FILM (3456). In person purchases can be made at the Tower City Cinemas lobby (see the CIFF website for hours). Ticket sales begin on March 11 for CIFF members and on March 18 for non-members. Advance purchase of tickets is recommended, especially for the films shown on the weekends.

– Mike Melampe

Bovine Growth Hormone Use in the Milk Industry

Injecting cows with the genetically manipulated bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) may not be on your radar screen, but when you learn about its possible effects, it may move closer to your front burner.

Some cows used to make cheese for the Great Lakes Cheese Company and butter for Aldi’s are injected with this hormone. Why? To increase milk production. But there’s a downside.

Please contact Great Lakes Cheese via email and Aldi’s at (800) 325-7894. Refer to case # 126366

Talking points:

  • Just because the FDA has allowed rBGH to be on the market, it does NOT mean it’s safe. The FDA allows the sale of tobacco. Everyone knows tobacco can increase the risk of lung cancer.
  • Just because the FDA doesn’t recognize a difference between milk from rBGH-treated cows and milk from untreated cows, it does NOT mean there isn’t a difference. Scientific studies indicate that rBGH increases the level of IGF-1, which increases breast and prostatic cancer risks.
  • That’s not all. Cows experience painful inflammation of the udder and difficulty walking!
  • If you care about my family, you will instruct farmers to stop injecting their cows with rBGH!

– Laurel Hopwood, NEO Sierra Club Agriculture Chair (email)

Meat-free Recipe from Anne’s Kitchen: Marinated Tofu

Marinated Tofu

Recipe: Marinated Tofu

Ingredients
One 14oz block of firm tofu
2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce)
2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs sesame oil (or olive oil)
Oil for pan

Directions
Empty the water from the tofu container. Cut the tofu block into 7 even steaks. Press the tofu with paper towels or cloth towel to dry each steak.

Using a bowl with a lid, combine the Tamari, Balsamic Vinegar, and oil. Place the tofu steaks in the bowl and move the liquid around until all the steaks are coated. Cover the bowl and put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Occasionally move the liquid to be sure the steaks are evenly covered.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan. Set the flame on medium low (3 on an electric stove). Carefully add the tofu steaks one at a time. Be careful. They may spatter. If they do have a lid ready to cover the pan. Cook the steaks for 10 minutes then flip them over and cook another 10 minutes on the other side.

Serve with steamed or roasted veggies and a salad. Tasty!

– Anne Caruso

USDA Honeybee Initiative for 2016 Now Available in Ohio

Seven Hills, OH February 19, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced that funding is available to provide technical and financial assistance to help farmers and private landowners improve the health of honey bees, which play an important role in crop production.

Producers, landowners, and forestland owners may apply for funding under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) at any time throughout the year, but application selections for funding are made at specific times. The first 2016 application deadline is March 18, 2016.

USDA Honey Bee Initiative will provide financial assistance to help producers increase honeybee habitat. The honeybee pollinator effort will provide floral forage habitats to benefit hive nutritional health as part of an overall effort to increase the health of honeybees. Feral honeybees and other pollinators will also benefit from the establishment of plant forage habitats high in nectar and pollen. A large percentage of the nation’s commercial honey bee hives are brought to the upper Midwest for the bees to rest and feed upon quality forage in preparation for overwintering. Increased availability of forages that have low or no pesticide exposure should improve the condition and eventual survival of honeybees.

To apply for the honeybee pollinator initiative in Cuyahoga or Summit Counties, contact NRCS at 216-503-9230. Lynette Harmon will assess proposed pollinator location and help applicants through the application process.

Applications for EQIP submitted by entities, such as farmers applying as a corporation, must register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), a process that can take up to 3 weeks. Information about CCR requirements, including obtaining a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number, is posted on the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill.

Find more information on honeybees and other conservation programs on the Ohio NRCS website at www.oh.usda.gov.

For more information contact: Lynette Harmon 216-503-9230

Cleveland READY FOR 100

A movement of people working to inspire our leaders to embrace a vision of healthier communities powered by 100% clean energy. We are asking mayors, CEOs, pastors, principals, civic and community leaders, parents and students to commit to solutions that help us achieve 100% clean, renewable energy across the United States by the year 2050. Cleveland has been chosen as one of these cities

Our goal is to accelerate a transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for all!

Why 100% Clean Energy?

A transition to 100% clean energy is already underway around the world. In the years ahead, this transition will improve the health and quality of life of millions, slow the disastrous impacts of climate disruption, and help forge a world that is more just and equitable for both current and future generations. The goal of transitioning the world’s energy system to 100% clean energy is being achieved in a number of places around the world today — from North America to Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, communities, islands, corporations, cities, and countries are demonstrating that the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy is possible.

55 countries already get over half their electricity from renewables – including Brazil, Canada and Norway – and 20 of these are between 85% and 100% already. Leading international cities like New York, Sydney and Munich are racing to 100%, and villages across Africa and Asia are lighting up with clean power too.
[Source: US Energy Information Administration]

There are many benefits to a society powered by clean energy sources: cleaner air and water, lower energy costs, healthier communities, greater energy independence, and greater shared local ownership of the energy system.

A worldwide shift to 100% clean, renewable energy is both achievable and affordable. The technologies to get us there already exist and make smart economic sense. Studies show that transitioning to cleaner energy will save the economy billions of dollars in avoided health and pollution costs, and spur tremendous economic growth. In many places, clean energy is already cheaper than fossil fuels, and costs continue to decline.

The popularity of renewable energy is already skyrocketing as millions of people around the world use it to generate electricity, to heat and cool buildings, and to produce a variety of cleaner vehicle fuels. Over half of our new added energy capacity in 2014—nationally and globally—came from clean energy sources.

Five Ways You Can Tell the U.S. is #ReadyFor100

  1. 55 countries, including Canada, already get over half their energy from renewable sources and 20 get over 90%.
  2. The country of Costa Rica plans to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2021. The state of Hawaii has committed to getting 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2045 and California has passed legislation to be at 50% renewable energy by 2030.
  3. The technologies already exist. It is only entrenched special interests standing in the way.
  4. Stanford researchers have released a detailed plan showing how to make 100% clean energy a reality, including state-by-state calculations.
  5. Corporate HQs of leading U.S. businesses like Intel, Apple, Kohl’s, & Boeing already get 100% electricity from clean sources.

Communities, businesses, religious congregations, schools, and health professionals are already demonstrating affordable solutions at work in their communities by advancing local clean energy projects, such as energy efficiency, wind, solar, ride-sharing, cycling, electric vehicles. They are working together to rebuild our energy system in a way that best serves their communities and the environment, and they are already sharing in the benefits of a transition to 100% clean, renewable energy.

This moment in history—our moment—is a critical turning point. We have the tools we need to get the job done. We must accelerate the transition from dirty fuels like coal and gas to clean energy sources like solar and wind. Just as we switched from horses to cars, telegrams to telephones, typewriters to computers, and postal mail to email, we must now commit to switch from dirty fuels to clean energy. The transition is already happening; and as we accelerate our shift to 100% clean energy, there is no going back.

Join our campaign to tell decision-makers across the country, we are READY FOR 100.

– Sierra Club National

Cleveland Harbor dredging headed for open lake dump once again

The US Army Corps of Engineers released news on February 24 that they have reviewed data chosen at their discretion and concluded that open-lake dumping of Cuyahoga dredge waste within a mile of Cleveland’s drinking water intake is reliably safe and cost effective enough to make it their first choice option, but that they will consider other alternatives at the continued expense of Cuyahoga County taxpayers. A public hearing on the issue will take place on the evening of March 1, at St. Ignatius High School’s Breen Center. More information is available at http://bit.ly/cleveland-harbor.

Jessica Ferrato’s testimony at US Army Corps of Engineers public hearing at St. Ignatius Breen Center, March 1, 2016:

We’ve heard tonight about Army Corps’ responsibility to “Stay true to our science”
About the Corps’ “Duty to comply with federal guidelines” by employing
“Least cost alternative in keeping with Clean Water Act guidelines”

Army Corps’ own 2009 study found that Lake Erie channel sediment is too polluted for open lake dumping, and that analysis remains for the lower channel. The upper channel, it has been found, also contains bioaccumulative contaminants, the risk of which is at dispute. ACOE’s stance is that additional PCBs will not harm the lake, thereby making open lake dumping the least cost alternative, unless the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County agree to foot the bill for a universally acknowledged LESS damaging alternative.

But more importantly, what is in dispute here is the value of our resource. Army Corps argues that CLA-1, the proposed open lake dumping ground, is already valueless because of legacy contamination, and so the alternative of placing more contamination on top of it is an easy call. But Northeast Ohioans and Clevelanders have been rooting for that particular piece of ground, along with our other legacy-contaminated resources, and to watch these lands be further contaminated and treated as they were mistakenly treated 70 years ago, before we knew better, represents a value that is not being recognized by Army Corps’ current cost analysis.

I bring your attention to a document entitled “ Cost Effectiveness Analysis for ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING: Nine easy Steps.” US ARMY INSTITUTE FOR WATER RESOURCES, POLICY & SPECIAL STUDIES PROGRAMS

This 1997 document sets the tone for the values which the US Army should follow in reaching its cost determinations, and underscores the importance – to the US Army, specifically – of incorporating the professional analyses of experts from state and federal agency stakeholders in formulating their cost analysis of alternatives, of incorporating not just immediate short-term financial cost of an alternative, but also cost to the taxpayer of various alternatives, environmental value as determined by experts in the collaborative field, incremental rather than average costs of long-term solutions, etc. I assert here that Army Corps of Engineers’ cost analysis has been incomplete on the basis of its failure to invite the collaboration of stakeholders such as water treatment plant operators, public health officials, and many of the other stakeholders present here tonight including Ohio EPA, Port Authority, City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County officials, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, among others. In particular, the Army Corps has failed to demonstrate that the cost of its lowest-cost alternative, which it puts forth not as the alternative going forward but as the budget for what the Corps is willing to pay, reflects such hidden costs that should be included according to the US Army’s protocols: hidden costs which include increased water treatment costs to Cuyahoga County citizens, increased costs related to public health, the loss of habitat and recreational fishing, and other societal or environmental costs, and particularly, the Corps has failed to demonstrate that the tipping fees which Army Corps wishes to have waived for them, fees which would otherwise fall to the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County, exceed these unaccounted costs, and to which degree. It is without challenge that Army Corps of Engineers must be responsible to pay the difference.

In short, Army Corps needs to sit down at the table with its stakeholders, and re-evaluate its cost assessment in arriving at its lowest cost alternative, in order to find a true and honest cost of protecting our precious resources while maintaining our navigable channels and ports.

Jessica Ferrato

Effective Lobbying

We could be very effective with our attempts at guiding legislative action if we had a well-connected lobbying firm and a billion-dollar bank account at our disposal. Just now, I don’t have a clue as to how to obtain those items. Here’s an alternative to consider.

First, adopt the right frame of mind. Your representatives in the State General Assembly are your representatives whether or not you voted for them. Even if you despise their every stand taken and vote cast, they are your representatives. They work for you. Well, okay, not just for you, but you get the idea.

Now, with the right psychological adjustments, visit your representatives’ offices or, better yet, visit them when they have open one-on-one meetings in their districts. At the open meetings you will talk with your representatives, not staff. My experience has been that very few constituents visit state senators and congressmen during these meetings. They will be glad to see you and they will be pleased to talk with you. I find them sitting by themselves in room in a library or a classroom. They look lonely. You will probably have their undivided attention. As you talk, they take notes! Call their offices to find out when and where they will meet with constituents in their districts.

A few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I met with State Representative Sarah LaTourette when she was available to talk with constituents at Kent State University, Geauga Campus. We asked her not to continue the clean energy freeze mandated in S. 310. We presented ideas which she could take into consideration as she decides how to vote on the issue along with an article on a recent poll which shows how receptive voters are to green energy. She shared with us a report on the Clean Energy Regulations which was prepared for the General Assembly. We might return to discuss that report with her.

In December, 2015, three of us from the Sierra Club of NE Ohio visited the Cleveland office of Sen. Sherrod Brown to thank him for backing President Obama’s Clean Energy Plan. We talked with a member of his staff. Granted, we were not asking him to vote a certain way in regard to a piece of up-coming legislation, but we were showing that there is enthusiastic support for Brown’s environmental stands.

You do not need to be over-the-top emotional or frothing-at-mouth angry during these meetings. We don’t want to be dismissed as inconsequential because we are crazier than most people. They know that we feel strongly about the issue under discussion, but we are reasonable, rational and likely to be able to talk with others.

Also, it is effective to mention, during our meeting, is that we will be composing a letter to the editor. We bring this up just to be certain that our information is correct. We do not want to misrepresent anyone. No intimation to force the issue. This is a good way to make certain that everyone understands the representative’s position on the issue under consideration. Take notes. LTE’s are important to politicians.

In March or April, Sen. Eklund will meet with constituents in his district. We will be there.

Two years ago, several of us, from a local politically liberal group, met with our representatives urging them to oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Was this effective? Well, Rep. Joyce had already taken a position opposing TPP. Sen. Brown would likely oppose it, as did most of the Democrats. Sen. Portman initially favored the trade agreement, but has since come to oppose it. Did our advocacy make the difference? Probably not, but it might have helped a little to move the needle on the dial in our direction.

It is difficult to detect the effect of our visits. But, imagine this: numerous groups of us visit our representatives’ offices with similar messages. The staffers who talk with us, when reporting to their bosses, say, “There were two more groups of people in to see us about this bill which is coming up for a vote.” Would there be an amplified effect? Possibly!

I’d still rather have the well-connected lobbying firm and the huge bank account, but until then let’s try what is available to us.

– Fred Welty

Pollinators

Pollinators by Numbers
Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, birds and bats, and beetles and other insects.

How Animal Pollination Works
Pollinators visit flowers in their search for food (nectar and pollen). During a flower visit, a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower’s reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from a different flower. The plant then uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed. Many plants cannot reproduce without pollen carried to them by foraging pollinators.

Pollinators Are in Trouble
You may have heard that bees are disappearing and bats are dying. These and other animal pollinators face many challenges in the modern world. Habitat loss, disease, parasites, and environmental contaminants have all contributed to the decline of many species of pollinators.

From USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service…

Conservation Work for Honeybees

One out of every three bites of food in the United States depends on honeybees and other pollinators. Honey bees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops each year, including more than 130 fruits and vegetables. Managed honeybees are important to American agriculture because they pollinate a wide variety of crops, contributing to food diversity, security and profitability.

But during the past 50 years, the number of managed honeybees have declined. Each winter since 2006, about 30 percent of beehives collapsed because of disease, parasites, poor nutrition, pesticide exposure and other issues.

NRCS is working with agricultural producers to combat future declines by helping them to implement conservation practices that provide forage for honeybees while enhancing habitat for other pollinators and wildlife and improving the quality of water, air and soil.

How Do NRCS Honey Bee Conservation Efforts Work?
NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to help producers provide safe and diverse food sources for honeybees. For example, NRCS helps producers voluntarily implement conservation practices such as planting cover crops, planting wildflowers and native grasses in buffers and areas not in production, and improving management of grazing lands. In total, more than three dozen NRCS conservation practices provide benefits to pollinators like honey bees. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) provide assistance to help implement these practices.

To accelerate conservation to benefit honeybees, NRCS is targeting conservation efforts to where more than two-thirds of the populations spends summer months, pollinating crops and building strength to survive winter. NRCS launched the effort in 2014, and assistance is available for producers in Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Now in its third year, the effort has already enhanced about 35,000 acres of land for honeybees. Producers wanting to participate in this effort should contact their local USDA service center for more information.

How Do These Conservation Efforts Benefit Producers?
NRCS conservation practices designed to help honey bees and other pollinators also help reduce erosion, increase soil health, control invasive species, provide quality forage for livestock, increase populations of other beneficial insects and wildlife and make agricultural operations more efficient. NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to implement these practices, helping producers improve working lands and strengthening rural economies.

How Do These Conservation Efforts Benefit the Public?
Honeybees provide a tremendous ecological service in pollinating a variety of food crops. Additionally, conservation practices not only help improve honeybee health, but they also help improve the quality of water, soil and wildlife habitat.

Partners
NRCS works closely with conservation partners to expand habitat for honeybees even more broadly. For example, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation provides NRCS conservation experts with technical guidance on plant lists and pollinator habitat restoration techniques. NRCS also works closely with USDA’s Farm Service Agency to use the Conservation Reserve Program to help further Farm Bill support of honey bee conservation efforts.

Additionally, NRCS played a key role in the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, released in May 2015.

From USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service…

Events

MARCH 6
Annual NEO Sierra Club Retreat

We invite you to register for the annual meeting – breakfast, lunch and committee breakouts. Learn what we’ve done and participate in deciding where we’re going.
Info…

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Earth Day Garage Sale Fundraiser

Maria’s Hair Salon in Painesville will be hosting for the Sierra Club. If you have items to donate, you can drop them off at the salon, contact Jessica Ferrato, or bring them to an XCom Meeting or the Annual Retreat on March 6!

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MARCH 12
We Dig Ohio: 2016 Urban Agriculture & Community Garden Summit

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! What’s happening in the field of urban agriculture and community gardening? Become versed in relevant topics that will expand your gardening expertise. Attend sessions and workshops in a variety of subjects. Network, share and celebrate with individuals involved in projects across Ohio and beyond. Stay for a post-conference happy hour and book signing. For more information or to register click here!

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MARCH 16 & MARCH 30
Upcoming Urban Agriculture Workshops

Vegetable Gardening 101 – Learn the very basics of starting and maintaining a vegetable garden. Wed., Mar. 16th, 7:30 PM Euclid Public Library in the Babbitt Room (631 E 222nd Street, Euclid, 4412)

Vegetable Gardening 201 – Dig deeper and learn more about vegetable gardening from our panel of experienced gardeners. Wed., Mar. 30th, 7:00PM, Euclid Library in the Erie Room. (631 E 222nd Street, Euclid, 4412)

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MARCH 20 & MAY 15
Perennial & Rain Garden workshops at Community Greenhouse Partners

Sunday, March 20 and Sunday, May 15, from 12-4pm. On March 20, we will learn various methods for starting perennials from seed or pots, what sorts of benefits different native species bring to the garden, and what perennials can bring to a permaculture food system. On May 15, we will learn to select native plants and design a rain garden or bioswale, learn the benefits of green infrastructure including a lower sewer bill, and participants can take part in a rain barrel painting and connector workshop – a limited number of rain barrels will be provided, and participants are also free to bring their own.

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APRIL
Aveda April Clean Water Events

Every year in April, Ohio Sierra Club partners with Aveda Salons throughout Ohio to raise money for clean water at various fundraising events. Please consider attending Aveda fundraisers and supporting your Sierra Club team! You can find out more at the event Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/events/459305237588807/

Many of our partner salons throughout the region will be hosting in-store raffles, including rain barrel art raffles. If you are interested in buying a raffle ticket for a beautiful and unique painted rain barrel with connector kit, or other Aveda prize, contact your local Aveda salon, or ask Jessica Ferrato to direct you to your closest partner salon. If you are interested in helping to distribute rain barrels and/or Sierra Club literature and materials out this year, please get in touch – we can use all the help we can get during the first half of March sanding, priming, and delivering to the salons!

For more information about upcoming volunteer opportunities, cleanups, and workshops, please contact Jessica Ferrato or fill out the form here: http://goo.gl/forms/BY88xxd6xE

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APRIL 17
EarthFest 2016

Join Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Group at EarthFest 2016, which will be held at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds on April 17th, 10 am to 5 pm.  This year celebrates the Year of Clean Transportation in conjunction with Mayor Frank Jackson’s Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative. The event will feature over 270 exhibits, biodiesel powered amusement park rides, food trucks, local microbrews, all day music on five stages, petting zoos, urban farm animals, chef demos, water workshops, sheep dog herding demos, and much more!

Visit http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/ for complete event information

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APRIL 21 – 23
Race, Food & Justice Conference: Analyzing the Urban Food Movement Through a Social Justice Lens!

Environmental Health Watch, Rid-All Green Partnership, and Case Western Reserve University’s Social Justice Institute have come together once again for the
The three-day conference will be held at locations on Case Western Reserve University Campus and in the University Circle area beginning Thursday, April 21st through Saturday, April 23rd, 2016.

Limited number of scholarships available for free Urban Agriculture Training at Rid-All Farm. For more information and to register: https://case.edu/socialjustice/

THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY!

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MARCH 7 (planning) and APRIL 9 (show)
Rock For Water Recycled Fashion Show

This event, hosted by A David Anthony Salon in Lorain, has grown bigger and more fantastic each year, and this year, on April 9 at 7:30 pm, the Rock For Water Recycled Fashion Show will take place at Lorain’s Palace Theater!

Ohio Sierra Club will join in the action with a fashion team, and we will be presenting a recycled runway show with a Mad Max theme. We are looking for fashion designers, models of all types, stylists, and set designers to help us build our look for the show. As much as possible will be made out of recycled materials. Anyone interested in designing or modeling a character (or set pieces) from any of three Mad Max movies: Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, or Fury Road, is encouraged to contact Jessica Ferrato at 216-339-9855 or via email. The more participants we have, the more amazing of a show it will be!

We will be brainstorming design ideas and putting some outfits together throughout the week of March 7th. Get in touch if you have ideas or would like to join our crew (even if you can’t make it that week!).

Buy tickets online at http://lorainpalace.org/rock-for-water/.

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APRIL 22
Cut-A-Thon

From 3-7pm on April 22, Bella Capelli Sanctuario in Westlake is hosting, with proceeds to benefit Sierra Club. This is a great opportunity to get an amazing Aveda cut or salon service at rock-bottom prices – look good, feel great, save money, and donate to a worthy cause, all in one afternoon! To schedule an appointment during the Cut-A-Thon, call 440-899-1225.

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MAY 7
Cleveland VegFest 2016

Brought to you by The Cleveland Vegan Society and Jakprints. Save the date!
Cleveland VegFest 2016 is fast approaching! We have announced our stellar lineup of speakers and have opened up our registration to vendors and sponsors. First Merit Convention Center of Cleveland (Formerly the Cleveland Convention Center)

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MAY 7
Black River Cleanup

Don’t forget to save May 7th for the Black River Cleanup in Lorain!

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Corona Garden and Landscape Tool Grant

Grant applications are limited to schools, community gardens, wellness and rehabilitation facilities and civic events that give back to the community.
• What: Up to 22 grants awarded per year, no more than 2 per month
• When: Applications accepted all year
• Click here for more information and to apply!

Donate