Activate NEC: Community Action Group Caroline Griffith, EcoNews Journalist
With so many issues to get involved in and so many ways to affect policy it can be hard to know where to start. Activism can take many forms, all of which are important contributions to the overall environmental movement. Whether you are a seasoned activist or just starting to dip your toes into environmental justice work, the NEC wants to help you deepen your understanding and think more strategically. Our new community action group, Activate NEC, is a bi-weekly exploration of local environmental issues and the various ways that we, as individuals and in groups, can affect policy change. Each session will look at different environmental issues affecting our bioregion and discuss the strategies and tactics that can be used to bring about desired changes. Since nothing happens in a vacuum, these sessions also focus on the intersections between environmental and social issues. Facilitated by EcoNews Journalist and longtime activist Caroline Griffith, these are participatory discussions about strategy and the variety of tactics that can be used, from lobbying legislators to art to letter writing to civil disobedience and boycotts. One upcoming topic of discussion (inspired by this
month’s letter to EcoNews by Marisa on page 6) will be water usage on cannabis farms. Whether you are a research-minded, data-driven person who is concerned about this issue, a policy wonk who regularly attends Planning Commission meetings, or an aspiring activist who is worried
about the drought and looking to see where you fit into this movement, Activate NEC can help you figure out how to plug in. Join us the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at 6pm. Visit yournec.org/activate for more details and zoom link.
EcoNews Community Creations
- Solar & Wind Powered Dryer Carol In 1938 the first clothes dryer was introduced in the United States. This new invention quickly caught on and now more than 90% of Americans and 80% of Canadians use them exclusively. While almost half of Germans and Brits use electricity to dry clothing, fewer than a fifth of
the French, a tenth of the Japanese, and a tiny fraction of anybody else in the world uses anything other than a combination of wind and solar power to dry clothes. Photo Caption: The most energy efficient clothes dryer on the market, the clothesline! This stateof- the-art technolog y requires no electricity.
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www.yournec.org
JULY 2021
ECONEWS
