Sierra Club Responds to PUCO Vote on Bailout for AEP’s Coal Plants
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) stood up for Ohio electric customers by denying a bailout request by American Electric Power (AEP), the Columbus-based utility that was seeking to pass increasing coal plant electricity costs to customers’ bills. Read more…
NEO Sierra Club Sponsors Film
The 39th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) begins on March 18 and runs until March 29 at Tower City Cinemas downtown. Again, NEO Sierra Club will participate as a Community Partner. In particular, we are helping to promote the film, Divide in Concord, a documentary about an octogenarian activist in Concord, Massachusetts who works to ban plastic water bottles in her community. Read more…
Ashtabula Energy NPDES Permit Hearing and Comment Period
Ashtabula Energy is requesting a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from Ohio EPA. If issued final, the permit would cover wastewater discharges from the company’s proposed industrial processing plant to be located on the south side of Lake Road East, just east of EMC Ashtabula LP, in Ashtabula. There is an opportunity to comment publicly through March 27, 2015. Read more…
100 Years Is Long Enough
In the past, Native Americans have worked on the preservation of tribal existence, protection of the tribal environment, promotion of Native American human rights, accountability of governments to Native Americans, and stopping stereotyping of Indigenous Peoples. This year Indigenous Peoples in Northeast Ohio are going to focus on stopping stereotyping of Native Americans. Read more…
Events
Annual Retreat Sunday, March 8, 2015
Join us for presentations on the Ohio Clean Water Campaign and Cleveland Year of Clean Water, Involving Students in Sierra Club Activism and Programs, and committee updates and planning for 2015. More info…
Aveda Earth Month Events:
It is with the support of Aveda Salons and their fundraising efforts during Earth month that Ohio Sierra Club has been able to build one of the largest citizen monitoring programs in the country, through our WARN and Water Sentinel workshops, train college students as Sierra Club Fellows, and organize and partner on beach and river cleanups throughout the year! The Earth Month Aveda fundraising season is approaching, and there are a lot of ways you can help.
We can use people to help sand, prime, and deliver rain barrels to Aveda salons for their annual Rain Barrel Art Raffles, held at various salons throughout Ohio.
We can help coordinate a donation of goods or services for a raffle, auction, or gift basket prize to help support the Aveda fundraising effort. This is a great way to promote your local business! Contact Jessica Ferrato at jessica.ferrato@sierraclub.org if you’d like to match your charitable gift idea with a salon fundraiser in your area.
It’s always fun for Sierra Club members to attend Aveda Earth Month fundraisers, from Cocktails for a Cause events to Funky Fashion Fundraisers, from Cut-A-Thons to Garage Sales and Raffles. Here is a partial list of Aveda events that are planned so far:
March 15th – Brown Aveda Institute Annual Fashion Show Scholarship Competition: LaCentre Conference & Banquet Facility, 25777 Detroit Road, Westlake. Doors Open at 5pm, show is from 6-9 PM.
Throughout April – Reverse Raffle: Aveda Retail Experience Center in Summit Mall, Reverse Raffle with drawings every day in April.
April 13th – Cut-A-Thons! Aveda Salons throughout the United States will offer discounted haircuts and services, with 100% of proceeds going to Sierra Club. This is a great opportunity to get a fantastic haircut or manicure at a great price, and also benefit the club. Ask your area Aveda salon if they are hosting a Cut-A-Thon event in April.
April 18th – A David Anthony Salons Rock For Water Recycled Fashion Show: Nick Abraham Elyria Ford Dealership, 1115 E Broad St, Elyria, OH. Doors open at 6:30 PM, show starts at 8pm. Sierra Club will have a table at the event and deliver a brief presentation before the show.
April 19th – Bella Donna Salon & Spa Cocktails for a Cause: 1-3 PM, Harry Buffalo, 2119 Mentor Ave, Painesville, OH 44077. Gift Basket Raffle, $25 admission gets you free drinks & appetizers. Tickets & raffles available at the salon & at event.
April 23 & 24 – Maria’s Hair Salon Garage Sale: 9 AM -8 PM both days, at 372 Railroad Street. Donations of items to be sold at the Garage Sale fundraiser accepted at Maria’s Salon next door.
April 26 – Salon Glow Cocktail Fundraiser: Sunday April 26th, 1-5 PM at Redhawk Grill, 7481 Auburn Rd, Painesville, OH 44077
Also on April 26 – Casal Institute’s Annual Fashion Show: near Youngstown, Ohio, and Aveda’s Regional Fashion Show at Jaguar Cleveland. Watch our Earth Month Newsletter for more details on these and other events as they unfold!
Even More Events!
Speaking of the good work that these fundraisers help support, we’ll have some workshop and cleanup opportunities on the horizon as spring approaches and the icy snow of winter starts to melt. The large volume of runoff that comes with spring rains can be captured by rain gardens and rain barrels, and we’ll have some workshops to show you how to get started – you can even join a volunteer corps of gardeners to help maintain some of the rain gardens and pollinator habitat in your area. Spring thaws wash the trash from the preceding year down into our favorite watersheds, and it’s up to us to roll up our sleeves and clean it up! Mark your calendars for some weekend family fun and a chance to do your part to keep our streams, rivers, and beaches happy, healthy, and clean.
Euclid Creek by the Numbers- Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 7 PM at Acacia Reservation, 26899 Cedar Road, Lyndhurst, Oh 44124. Come to this monthly meeting of Friends of Euclid Creek and hear Jane Goodman, Executive Director, Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization, discuss Euclid Creek as part of the Cuyahoga Area of Concern (AOC). Please contact Christi Carlson at 216-509-3324 for more information.
A Citizen Audit of Ohio Oil and Gas Waste Disposal Wells- Wednesday, March 4, 7 PM, Youngstown State University, Room B112 of Cushwa Hall, 210 Lincoln Ave, Youngstown, OH 44503. This talk by Nathan Rutz of Communities United for Responsible Energy and Ohio Organizing Collaborative is part of the Wednesday Evening Environmental Speakers Series organized by YSU Professor Ray Biersdorfer. There is FREE on-street parking after 5 p.m. at the metered parking spaces along Lincoln Avenue and nearby streets. Free and open to the public.
Awakening the Dreamer Symposium- Saturday, March 7, 10 AM – 3 PM at Serendipity, 2174 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Vegetarian potluck. Click here for a trailer for the symposium. For more information and to register: www.pachamama.org/workshop/2467/serendipity-cleveland.
A Talk by Ted Auch, PhD- Thursday, March 12, 7 PM, West Shore UU, 20401 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, Ohio. Ted is a scientist with a passionate interest in environmental policy and a staff member of FracTracker Alliance. This talk is part of the WSFACT second Thursday of the month speaker series. Free and open to the public. Refreshments served.
April 25 – 11 AM – 2 PM, Perennial Workshop at Community Greenhouse Partners, 6527 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44103. Learn how to select, propagate and plant perennials for your rain garden or pollinator habitat, and then take a tour of CGP’s permaculture garden!
May 2 & 3 – Black River Cleanup, 9 AM – 12 PM both or either day. Pre-registration is appreciated, so that the planners can know how many to expect to feed: http://blackrivercleanup.webs.com. If you’d like to be even more involved, you can attend a planning meeting on March 2 at Jackalope’s, 301 Lakeside Ave, Lorain, OH 44052. Lo’Co’Yaks, the Cleanup’s founders and organizers, are looking for sponsors, donations, giveaway ideas, volunteers, driftwood artists, etc.
May 9 – 9 AM – 12 PM is Riversweep Cleanup Day, where local organizations partner with Canalway Corridor to clean tributaries all along the Cuyahoga. Sierra Club has historically helped coordinate the cleanup at Mill Creek Falls – please let us know if you can commit so that we can be sure to have enough able hands to pull tires and trash out of the river and keep this waterfall beautiful!
May 23 – 11 AM – 1 PM at Coit Road Market, 15000 Woodworth Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44110. We will hook up Coit Road Market’s rain barrel, donated by Collinwood Painted Rainbarrel Project, and plant some perennial gardens for pollinator habitat and stormwater management around the market building.
July 11 – 9 AM – 12 PM, Mentor Headlands Beach & Dunes. We will once again revisit Mentor Headlands Beach the weekend after July 4th, for a Naturalist Hike of the Dunes, followed by a Beach Cleanup. Depending on the number and the interest of the volunteers who sign up, we may coordinate a picnic to follow!
Contact Jessica Ferrato at jessica.ferrato@sierraclub.org to sign up for a cleanup or a workshop, arrange a drop-off of donated items for a fundraiser, help prepare & distribute rain barrels to salons, volunteer to help out with any event, or find out more!
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Meetings
Executive Committee meetings begin immediately after the 7 PM Conservation meeting. Meetings will be held at Lakewood Library Main Branch on 15425 Detroit Rd. Please check our website for dates.
Coal & Energy Committee meets at 4105 Stilmore Rd, South Euclid, Ohio 44121. Please contact Randy Cunningham at 216-631-3337 for the time and date of the next meeting.
Green Transportation Committee meets the first Mon. of each month at 1 PM in the Linking Employment Abilities and Potential offices at 2545 Lorain Ave. Please contact Akshai Singh for more information: akshai.singh@sierraclub.org. State Transportation calls are on the fourth Tues. of each month at 6 PM. Contact Akshai to get on a call, or to connect with Ohio cycling advocacy.
Rainforest Committee typically meets every month on the third Sunday of the month. Call Michael Melampy at 440-826-2263 for time and place.