Film Festival Q&A March 26 – “The Smell of Money”

smell of moneyIf you attend the March 26 screening of the documentary film, The Smell of Money, at the Cleveland International Film  Festival,  you can take advantage of a Q and A with the filmmakers right after the movie is shown.  The Q and A will  be held in the Westfield Studio Theater located in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.  Remember, NEO Sierra Club is a community partner for The Smell  of Money and urges you to attend this  important environmental film.

About the Film

NEO Sierra Club is again partnering with the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) to promote an environmentally themed film to be shown at the upcoming festival. This year NEO is partnering on The Smell of Money, a documentary about industrial scale hog farms that have created serious pollution problems in rural North Carolina. The film depicts rural citizens, mostly African-Americans, as they ban together to fight back against agro-industry corporations. The film has relevance to Ohio as similar hog farms are a primary source of the nutrients that cause toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.

Showings

The film will be shown on Sunday, March 26 at 9:25 AM in the State Theater at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. It will also be streamed online between 11 AM April 2 and 11:59 PM April 9. Tickets for either in-person or streamed screenings may be purchased online by going to www.clevelandfilm.org. They also may be purchased by visiting the CIFF box office in the lobby of the State Theater or by calling the box office at 877-304-3456. Sales to CIFF members begin on March 6, and sales to the general public begin March 10. Ticket prices for in-person screenings at Playhouse Square are $18 for non-members and $16 for CIFF members. Prices for online streams are $14 for non-members and $12 for members. By using the codeword, “SIERRA,” you can receive a $1.00 discount on each ticket purchased.

Please plan to see this important film and check out the CIFF website (www.clevelandfilm.org) for more information about the festival and a schedule for all of the films. Remember, if you are not a resident of the Cleveland area, you may still see the films through the streaming option. We may have an opportunity to interact with the director and/or others involved with the production of The Smell of Money; check the NEO Sierra website for future announcements about that.

If you have questions about NEO Sierra Club’s partnership with CIFF, contact Michael Melampy at 440-263-6483 or mmelampy@bw.edu.

April 17: Documentary Highlights Impact of Plastic Pollution

3-kids-with-fish-tank-sms

 

The residents of northeast Ohio will have a unique opportunity to learn about the problems caused by plastic trash on April 17. On that date, the Baldwin Wallace University Department of Sociology in conjunction with the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club and Sustainable Berea will screen Microplastics Madness, a documentary film that details the efforts of a fifth grade class in Brooklyn, NY to study plastic pollution and respond to the threats posed by it. The students spent two years studying the causes and environmental effects of plastic pollution and then took action that can serve as a template for action in schools and communities around the nation.

This award winning film will be screened at 7 PM, April 17 in the Surrarrer Auditorium located in Telfer Hall on the north end of the Baldwin Wallace campus. The screening is free and open to the public. A panel discussion concerning plastic pollution will follow the film. Join us to learn more about the plastic that surrounds us!!

For more information, contact Michael Melampy at 440-263-6483 or mmelampy@bw.edu.

Sierra Club Partners with Film Festival on “The Smell of Money”

smell of moneyNEO Sierra Club is again partnering with the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) to promote an environmentally themed film to be shown at the upcoming festival. This year NEO is partnering on The Smell of Money, a documentary about industrial scale hog farms that have created serious pollution problems in rural North Carolina. The film depicts rural citizens, mostly African-Americans, as they ban together to fight back against agro-industry corporations. The film has relevance to Ohio as similar hog farms are a primary source of the nutrients that cause toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.

The film will be shown on Sunday, March 26 at 9:25 AM in the State Theater at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. It will also be streamed online between 11 AM April 2 and 11:59 PM April 9. Tickets for either in-person or streamed screenings may be purchased online by going to www.clevelandfilm.org. They also may be purchased by visiting the CIFF box office in the lobby of the State Theater or by calling the box office at 877-304-3456. Sales to CIFF members begin on March 6, and sales to the general public begin March 10. Ticket prices for in-person screenings at Playhouse Square are $18 for non-members and $16 for CIFF members. Prices for online streams are $14 for non-members and $12 for members. By using the codeword, “SIERRA,” you can receive a $1.00 discount on each ticket purchased.

Please plan to see this important film and check out the CIFF website (www.clevelandfilm.org) for more information about the festival and a schedule for all of the films. Remember, if you are not a resident of the Cleveland area, you may still see the films through the streaming option. We may have an opportunity to interact with the director and/or others involved with the production of The Smell of Money; check the NEO Sierra website for future announcements about that.

If you have questions about NEO Sierra Club’s partnership with CIFF, contact Michael Melampy at 440-263-6483 or mmelampy@bw.edu.

Feb 4: Protect the Rocky River!

On Saturday, February 4, 2023 experts of the Rocky River watershed will present a river protection plan at the Berea Branch Library.

Flyer-for-Rocky--RIver-event,--Feb

Jan 7: Cleveland Nonviolence Network – Keynote John La Forge

CLEVELAND NONVIOLENCE NETWORK
2023 ANNUAL STATE OF NONVIOLENCE
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2023 AT 2:00 P.M.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER JOHN LAFORGE

REGISTER HERE

John La Forge has worked in the peace and anti-nuclear movement since 1979. He has been employed by the peace organization Nukewatch since 1992 as a researcher, editor of Nukewatch Quarterly, and co-director. In his first job for Nukewatch, he traveled about 30,000 miles over a 3-month period to visit all 1,000 land-based
intercontinental ballistic missile sites then in the United States. The research was for the Nukewatch book Nuclear Heartland which featured the first public atlas detailing the exact locations of the giant ICBMs. On January 7, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom, John will speak on the topic of nuclear disarmament as the keynote for the Cleveland Nonviolence Network’s 2023 State of Nonviolence Event via Zoom.

The Cleveland Nonviolence Network [CNVN] is a collection of groups and individuals in the greater Cleveland area that formed to articulate nonviolence as an alternative to a military response to “9/11.” Its focus has been promoting education and discourse on the inefficacy of war, the huge Pentagon budget and the efficacy of nonviolence. It co-sponsored the Cleveland Peace Show for 10 years, an event that presented free, nonmilitarized, family entertainment at the Free Stamp on Labor Day–a sharp contrast to the highly militarized Air Show at the adjacent Burke Airport. CNVN sent over 400 signed postcards to the Great Lakes Science Center requesting an exhibit demonstrating the emerging science of nonviolence. CNVN also organized the 2016
People’s Justice and Peace Convention which produced a People’s Platform that was presented to both the Republican and Democratic Parties to consider. CNVN sponsors an annual event, The State of Nonviolence, which highlights a current effort to promote nonviolent social change. The 2019 State of Nonviolence sponsored a Holiday Bazaar and featured Malaz Elgemiabby who spoke on the creativity and persistence of the
nonviolent movement in Sudan, while the 2020 State of Nonviolence featured Frida Berrigan as the keynote and Andrew Bacevich was the 2021 keynote. CNVN drafted a sample local Resolution for Cleveland City Council to consider to foster dialogue on how the enormous Pentagon budget adversely impacts local communities in
need of funds for basic human needs.

For more information about CNVN’s ongoing activities, please check out and “like” our Facebook pages – https://www.facebook.com/clevelandnonviolencenetwork and https://www.facebook.com/pjpc2016

Register here to attend the 2023 State of Nonviolence event with John LaForge:
https://www.eventbrite.com/x/2023-annual-state-of-nonviolence-tickets-484354706967

Participate in the IRTF Commemoration November 6

On Sunday, November 6, 2022, the InterReligious Task Force on Central America & Colombia (IRTF) will hold a special online gathering, co-sponsored by NEO Sierra Club, to mark the 42nd anniversary of the ultimate sacrifice made by two Cleveland women in El Salvador (Jean Donovan and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel), along with Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke. The four women paid with their lives for their decision to stay in solidarity with poor, marginalized victims of the US-sponsored armed violence, which eventually claimed the lives of 75,000 Salvadorans and the led to the mass exodus of 1 million refugees.

The November 6 event will focus on current developments in El Salvador and feature guest speakers, including a human rights lawyer and representatives from different El Salvadoran communities. This is an opportunity to learn not only about El Salvador but also about the social justice movement in Cleveland and how it relates to environmental issues.

For more information about the event and to order tickets, please go to http://commemoration2022.eventbrite.com.

Watch: Recording of Panel Discussion of “The Erie Situation”

 

Erie

On September 28, 2022, NEO Sierra Club co-sponsored a screening of the documentary film, The Erie Situation, at John Carroll University. The film deals with toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie, highlighting both causes and consequences of the blooms. The screening was attended by over 80 persons and was followed by a panel discussion. A recording of the panel discussion can be found on YouTube here, or watch below:

We encourage everyone to view the recording and see the film if you have not already done so. All of us need to understand how industrial agriculture is causing the algal blooms and threatening the health of everyone living near the lake.

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Join us for some fun in Put-in-Bay this fall! October 15-16

One of Sierra Club’s own members, Gabriella Kaplan, will host up to 30 at her cottage on the lakeshore in Put-in-Bay. There are many things to do on this outing. Choose from the following list: South Bass Island State Park; Gabriela Kaplan social gathering at her cottage on the beach; camping; swimming; walking; bird watching; bike riding; kayaking; music; bars; restaurants; Ohio State University Research Laboratory’s Fish Hatchery; Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument; Lake Erie and more. Inside accommodations for 8 are available for the first to request them. Otherwise, please bring a tent for sleeping outside on the property, or a sleeping bag for indoors (couch or floor, beds can’t be guaranteed). You can bring food to cook or plan to go into town to the restaurants for dinner.

To find out what to bring, where to go and how to register, please go here: https://bit.ly/3CkZHcx

 

September 28: Watch “The Erie Situation” at JCU (Free)

 

Erie

RETURNING to CLE for ONE NIGHT ONLY – The Erie Situation – A film about the toxic mix of big agriculture, politics, and water security rights.

WED., 9-28-22 – 7PM at John Carroll University’s Dolan Science Center/Donahue Auditorium

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

For updates and reminders, register here: http://bit.ly/3zY1kdO

To learn more about the film and Lake Erie’s algal blooms, click here https://www.theeriesituation.com/

Sponsored by: Northeast Ohio Sierra Club & JCU Department of Sociology

Download the flyer here.

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Rainforest Meeting, July 28: Conservation of Andean Bears (Zoom)

bear

The next meeting of the NEO Sierra Group’s Rainforest Committee will be held on July 28, 2022 at 7 PM via Zoom.  Travis Vineyard of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will be discussing the Zoo’s efforts to protect Andean bears both at the Zoo and in their natural, South  America habitat.  Please register below for this  presentation and join  us for a unique insight into one of the Andes’ iconic species.

Register here: https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002JXYpAAO