Wednesday Climate Action Coffee (CAC) Series
Climate Action Coffee continues to meet on Zoom every Wednesday, 8 – 9:30 AM
Thursday Climate Action Coffee Series
(First Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm) on Zoom beginning February 3, 2022
March 3, 2022 Meeting on Minor Master Plan and Food Forest Presentations (agenda, video, chat text)
Climate Action Coffee “First Thursday” Meeting with County Planner Melissa Williams on the Takoma Park Minor Master Plan Amendment, Long Branch-Sligo Resident Concerns, plus Presentations about the Possibility of a Food Forest on the Washington Adventist Hospital site.
To join Wednesday and Thursday Zoom meetings:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 882 4676 6222
Passcode: 828066
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Meeting ID: 882 4676 6222
Passcode: 828066
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.
We are eager to resume in-person meetings at Busboys and Poets in Takoma, 235 Carroll St. NW when we are free from COVID concerns. At the moment, we do not feel it is safe to do so. In the meantime, please support our generous sponsors, who have shown creativity and resilience during the pandemic, by ordering takeout from their exceptional menu, delivered in biodegradable containers.
Climate Action Coffee is a project of TALLE – Takoma Alliance for Local Living Economy
Our mission is to reshape our communities and our local economies in the service of resiliency, racial equity, and carbon-neutrality. Instead of extractive ‘business as usual’, we aspire to inclusive models that prioritize drawdown; serve all community members equally; are healthy and generative; and that recognize the fragility and wisdom of nature in balance.
March 1 Event: Climate Action Coffee and the City of Takoma Park invite you to join us for a Virtual Brown Bag Lunch and Learn panel discussion and Q & A on invasive plant species.
Time: 12:00 – 1:30pm
Featured speakers Corinne Stephens, Sara Tangren, Jesse Buff, and Lily Fountain will provide an overview of invasive plant species in our region, why we care about them, how to identify them — and what you can do to remove them. Updates about what Maryland is doing at the legislative level to curb the spread of invasive plants will be followed by a question and answer forum.
Recording of event on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pakoFBg5qQ
Climate Action Coffee Subgroups focusing on specific community-related projects
- Climate Action Club
- Climate Scouts / Ecosystem Restoration Camps
- Pollinators
- Takoma Stormwater Solutions
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Climate Action Club
The Club’s focus is using the arts to explore climate and environmental challenges with Middle Schoolers. The steering group of adults meets on Wednesdays at 5 pm (via Zoom). The “Club” meets on Fridays 4-6 pm (in person, when we can be safe). For more information, contact: De Herman,
bikerd76@gmail.com
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Climate Scouts / Ecosystem Restoration Camps
One of the aims of this subgroup, currently dormant, is being met in part by the Climate Action Club (above). Over a number of months it informally explored what resources and activities are available that we might promote and support to give young people (middle school age) opportunities to engage with Nature – from planting vegetables in planter boxes to getting out into the woods and streams in the area. It occasionally invited an outside guest to share what they or their group is doing (e.g., Forest Explorers – https://www.forestexplorers.net/ ). The Climate Action Club now is meeting most of these needs. At the “adult” level, some of us are exploring what we might do to foster one or more Ecosystem Restoration Camps in our mid-Atlantic region
(see https://ecosystemrestorationcamps.org/ ).
We are also exploring the possibility of creating one or more “Miyawaki Forests” locally
(see
https://bio4climate.org/miyawaki-forests-talk/ ).
For more information, contact Philip Bogdonoff,
pbogdonoff@gmail.com
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Pollinators
The focus is action and education on the value of our natural environment. In particular native plants and pollinators are promoted as integral parts of a healthy Takoma Park public and private landscape. We are collaborating with a number of other local and regional groups, including Harvest Share, and the wildlife corridor group being led by the Sierra Club. Meets on Zoom every two weeks on Thursdays from 9-10:30 am (via Zoom).
For more information contact: Marguerite Cyr,
mhcyr@verizon.net
For additional information about native plants and related news, see this website:
Event: Pollinators Combat Food Insecurity in Takoma Park
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Takoma Stormwater Solutions (TSS)
TSS promotes stormwater management practices that will help our community cope with a rapidly changing climate. Through advocacy, education, and example, we aim to reduce or mitigate the risks to health, property, and the natural environment from flooding and stream pollution. We advocate for diverse viewpoints, communities, and solutions. We believe that appropriate and equitable stormwater management is an integral element of a sustainable future. Meets weekly on Mondays evenings from 6:30-8 pm (via Zoom). For more information see the TSS website:
https://www.takomastormwatersolutions.net
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Saving Dorothy’s Woods 3/26/22
On Saturday, March 26, 2022 more than 20 Takoma Park residents and friends (some in foto) came out to help protect City-owned Dorothy’s Woods from invasive plants. Kudzu, Garlic Mustard and Ivy were removed, 22 trees were rescued, and 7 bags of trash removed. All was accomplished while complying with the City’s onerous approval and 10-day waiver requirements.
A Tribute to Larry Silverman
Larry Silverman popped onto our zoom screens sometime in the summer of 2021. For many of us in this Sligo Creek-Anacostia River Watershed, his was a familiar name and face–longtime community member, entrepreneur and, as it turns out, stormwater management activist. Along with a sharp intellect, astute legal mind, and willingness to do the work to put ideas into words, he brought his kind, gentle and thoughtful demeanor. Larry almost instantly became a cornerstone of Takoma Stormwater Solutions. Larry shared our vision for real solutions to what can seem a task of insurmountable proportions. His insightful, strategic thinking was infused with graceful respect and the wisdom of an experienced soul. We feel incredibly lucky that Larry shared his last Monday evenings with us. We feel tremendous gratitude for the ways he shaped our collective vision. And we feel an obligation to carry on this work in his name, in his spirit, and with all of the positive vision and energy that he bequeathed to our group. Rest in peace, good colleague. May the healing waters carry you to a place of harmony and balance.
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Climate Action Coffee Messages to City Council: The Good, The Bad & The Actionable
- April 6, 2022 – Civic activism and Dorothy’s Woods
- January 26, 2022 – Stormwater Strategic Planning
- January 13, 2022 – ARPA funding for stormwater issues
- November 10, 2021 – Climate Action Club for middle schoolers
- October 13, 2021 – Community engagement, native plants, and wildlife corridor
- October 6, 2021 – Weed warriors remove invasives
- Sept. 29, 2021 – Leave the leaves
- Sept. 22, 2021 – 1) Introduction to CAC, 2) Restore & Protect Dorothy’s Woods, and 3) Public input on Open Space Mgmt. Plan.