Did you know that San Diego has a City Council Environment Committee and that they have prioritized a set of environmental issues for 2022? Not only are these priorities a win for San Diego but many are environmental issues that SEAC has been watching and providing public comment on during the past year. Please join us as we continue to monitor public policies critical to all aspects of climate change, and to advocate for the improvement of public policy in order to promote sustainability and environmental justice for all community members.
Action Alert
The People’s Ordinance, which governs the collection and disposal of residential waste only for single family homes on public streets, was a topic of the keynote session for the 2022 Zero Waste Symposium. Kim Knox and I gave a ten-minute presentation called JUST Trash which details how the People’s Ordinance came to be and why it is UNJUST! Please watch our presentation here: Just Trash- Why It’s Time for a Revote on the People’s Ordinance.
The People’s Ordinance Reform Task Force is a coalition of community members and organizations advocating for the reform of the People’s Ordinance. This outdated, unfair legislation prohibits the City of San Diego from imposing fees for the trash-hauling service they provide to 52% of residents. Meanwhile, the other 48% of residents must pay for their trash-hauling service. We believe the city should treat all residents the same with respect to public services.
The LWVSD supports a ballot measure allowing San Diegans to vote to amend the People's Ordinance to fairly distribute the cost of trash hauling among all residents and businesses. On March 16, the City Council Rules Committee will determine if this measure will be added to the November ballot.
Please contact Rules Committee Council Members Campillo (RaulCampillo@sandiego.gov), Cate (ChrisCate@sandiego.gov) and Whitburn (StephenWhitburn@sandiego.gov) to urge them to allow this ballot measure to go forward – it’s especially impactful when residents from their districts contact them. This will move San Diego towards its Zero Waste and Climate Action Plan goals. All residents will be treated JUSTLY.
EarthFair 2022 will take place in Balboa Park on Sunday, April 24. LWVSD will host an exhibit booth from 10am - 5pm. As usual, our outreach emphasis at this Earth Day celebration is on voting smart on environmental issues. The specific topics we will present information on are:
If you are interested in assisting us at EarthFair but are unfamiliar with the Balboa Park event, please see the organizers’ website to get a taste for the breadth of interesting exhibits and for what a big, family-friendly event this is.
We have lots of volunteer opportunities associated with this! Please let us know if you would like to help with:
-
Hosting the booth. If you would like to attend EarthFair and could give a couple hours to staffing the LWV booth, please let us know when you could take a 2-hr shift between 10am and 5pm.
-
Quiz questions. Could you compose some questions to test our visitors’ grasp of the issues we are presenting? We need questions appropriate for adults (e.g. “Why do we need to keep food waste out of landfills?”) and school kids (e.g., “Which of these is supposed to go in your green-waste bin?”). Include with the question one or more appropriate answers and reasons why those are the answers. This info goes on the back side of a question card to help our booth hosts engage visitors on the subject.
-
Prizes. Traditionally we give out small succulents as prizes for correct quiz answers. These are rooted cuttings in a container (like a small yogurt cup, cat food can, peat cup). If you have succulents from which you could root some cuttings for new plants, please let us know — and then start them soon!
Besides engaging visitors on environmental policy issues, we will have available the information people expect to get from LWV — voter eligibility, registration, ballot information sources, and LWV membership info. Even if you don’t feel ready to engage in in-depth conversation with people over our particular topics this year, we can still use your help! For more information or to volunteer for any role at EarthFair, please email Peg or Ruth.
Our next SEAC meeting will be Tuesday, March 15 at 1pm. Please join us as we welcome Andrew Meyer of the San Diego Audubon Society, who will talk about the importance of wetlands, ReWild Mission Bay, and the mayor’s expanded Kendall-Frost Wetlands vision. You may access the Zoom meeting via the LWV San Diego calendar.
Thank you and remember, our work makes a difference!
Zero Waste Tips
-
Change your regular light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replacing one light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
-
Keep your car tires properly inflated and improve your gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps twenty pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
-
Use less hot water by taking shorter showers and washing clothes in warm or cold water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water, and by using less hot water you can save up to 500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
-
Drive Less. For every mile that you don’t drive, you will save one pound of carbon dioxide. Walk, bike or take a bus.