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On Saturday April 19, San Rafael got a jump on the official Earth Day with a gala party at the new Pickleweed Community Center. There was music, dancing, food, activities for kids and, of course, a big turnout of environmental interests. SSR was there, educating people on composting, safer household cleaners, Marin Clean Energy and other important issues. We also had fun with the kids painting and planting flower pots. And, to help a lucky someone get a great garden, we were raffling off a Worm Farm! (Click on pictures to enlarge.)
Earth day isn't over yet, and Sustainable San Rafael will have a presence at another Earth Day event. If you aren't an SSR member, here's your chance to meet us and chat - - to find out more about what we're doing to fight global warming and promote sustainable lifestyles - - to pick up some useful tips on making your everyday activities a deeper shade of green - - and, to join us in working on the issues that matter most to you.
Join us at the Dominican Earth Day Fair. Tuesday April 22 is the official worldwide Earth Day, and on that day the students of Dominican University will be hosting an environmental fair for their fellow students and friends. There won't be any stage or speakers, just a large number of organizations, including SSR, spreading the word on important sustainability issues. Tuesday April 22, 11AM to 3PM, outside the Caleruega Dining Hall on the Dominican campus.
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Preparing for Peak Oil - "Peak Oil" is the idea that we are about to pass the point where we will have used up half of all the oil on the planet, which means that oil costs will climb exponentially as we start burning the increasingly hard-to-extract remainder. The numbers say quite clearly that we are at that point (or may even have passed it already!), but public and policy awareness of the isssue is only where global warming was 20 years ago. (Click Here for a great quick primer on Peak Oil.) A new group, Post Carbon Marin, has been formed to help us understand Peak Oil and prepare for its impact. Their next meeting will be Wednesday April 30, 7 PM at the home of Jonathan Frieman, 170 Oak Drive, San Rafael, CA, 94901. Click here for meeting details.  Marin Eco-Garden Tour - Here's your chance to tour 10 of Marin's most creative eco-friendly gardens, Talk with professionals about how pesticide-free gardening works in parctice. Find out what you can plant to replace all those things you took out to reduce fire danger. (You did take them out, right?) Saturday May 17, 10AM to 2 PM. Pre-registration is required, and is $15. This gives you a guide to the gardens, free eco-gardening publications at each garden and admission to the native plant sale the following day at the Marin Art & Garden Center. Click here to download the event flyer (120 kb PDF) with complete registration details.
SSR Member's Solar Idea Takes Flight To quote Victor Hugo, "There's no power on earth like an idea whose time has come." San Rafael resident and SSR member Lisa Max simply wanted to find a way to reduce the cost of putting a solar electric system on her house, and she had an idea: pull together a number of homeowners who also want to go solar and negotiate a group discount from a solar installer. (She'd read that this had worked in other locales.) She started talking up the idea at our meetings and around town, and it caught the imagination of the media. First the Marin IJ did a feature story about Lisa's idea. Then, they did an editorial! (click here to read both.) Then her phone started ringing, and she soon had over 100 people signed up as possible partners. Now her group - Go Solar Marin - has negotiated a volume discount with a large solar installer and is talking of extending their program to as many as 1000 homes all over Marin. | |
| About Sustainable San Rafael Sustainable San Rafael is a grass-roots organization focused on advocating for sustainability and green policies in San Rafael, CA. A big part of our mission is public education and networking with other local and regional green activist groups, so check our "Resources" and "Events" page for lots of useful links.
What do we mean by "Sustainable"? The simplest definition is "living within one's means" or, as the UN put it in 1987, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Beyond this, we believe it has meanings that include our sense of community, our spirit, and our political will. We've tried to capture these in the rotating quotes at the top of each page.
About Membership: Basic membership is $20 per year, simply to help us cover the cost of the website, meetings, mailings etc. There are higher categories of membership for people who want to help even more and feel extra-good about it. Click Here to download a membership application with all the details. (There are two on the page. Cut it in half and give one to a green-minded friend!)
Contact: We regularly send our members updates on important issues and notices of sustainability-related events by e-mail. To receive these, Click Here and put "subscribe" in the subject line. Also, please take a moment to tell us about yourself, your particular sustainability interests and how you might be able to help in our work.
Links to other Sustainable City Groups:
Sustainable Marin | Mill Valley | Fairfax | Novato | Sonoma
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