February 2019 Newsletter

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club
February 2019 Newsletter


Northeast Ohio Sierra Club’s next Conservation Committee meeting will be held at 7 PM on Monday, February 4 in Conference Room B121 of the Fairhill Partners Building, 12200 Fairhill Road in Cleveland. Our Executive Committee meeting will be held directly following the conclusion of the Conservation Committee Meeting


Newsletter Editor Needed

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club is looking for a volunteer to help with communications! This is an opportunity to help Northeast Ohio as well as your résumé. You’ll be able to claim highly sought skills like database management, email marketing, print communications, and nonprofit leadership. The time commitment is low: just a couple of hours per month.

Sierra Club’s email system is not difficult to use, but does require experience with computers and comfort learning new programs. Sierra Club provides free one-hour online training sessions to introduce users to Salesforce.

If you are interested in helping with our communications, please email Andi at SierraAndi@gmail.com!

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in”. ~Author Unknown


Cleveland Public Theatre presents… Fire on the Water
Created & Performed by Northeast Ohio artists.

February 14 – March 2
7:30pm, Thu/Fri/Sat/Mon, CPT’s Gordon Square Theatre.
Opening Night is February 15.
Tickets: $15 – $35
www.cptonline.org or 216-631-2727 x501

Use your Sierra Club membership to access a $5 discount on tickets for Friday and Saturday nights at Fire on the Water! Use the code SIERRA when purchasing tickets online, in-person, or over the phone.

Fire on the Water, the acclaimed multimedia theatrical event, returns to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 burning of the Cuyahoga River in an all-new version. Fire on the Water is a fast-paced series of short plays inspired by this pivotal moment in Cleveland’s history. Created by a team of playwrights, directors, and actors, the production features original work woven into a powerful production exploring how the environment shapes identity, while celebrating the remarkable recovery of Cleveland’s waterways.


Film Festival Approaches
Michael Melampy, NEOSC Rainforest Chairperson

The Cleveland International Film Festival is rapidly approaching. This year’s festival runs from March 27 until April 7 at Tower City Cinemas. NEO Sierra Club will again be a community partner for the festival which will enable Sierra Club members to buy discounted tickets for the films. Details about how to get the discount will be announced on the NEO Sierra Club website, so stay tuned.

Also to be announced is the specific film for which we will serve as partner. Sierra Club representatives will be able to address the audiences at screenings of our partnered film, so please attend and lend your support to Sierra Club. Plan to attend not only the Sierra Club partnered film but also the other films with environmental themes. In early March a list of these films will be provided on our website and you will be able to find details about them in the festival program to be posted on the film festival website www.clevelandfilm.org.

NEO Sierra Club is proud to participate in the Cleveland International Film Festival, one of the largest and best attended film festivals in the U.S. Our participation helps ensure that future festivals will continue to include films that focus on environmental issues. Thank you for your support.


We Are Heading Toward the Next Silent Spring
Laurel Hopwood, Senior Advisor to National Sierra Club’s Pollinator Protection Program

Rachel Carson raised the red flag decades ago – pesticides were not only killing insects, but also disrupting the delicate balance of nature. History is now repeating itself.

To commemorate Earth Day 2019, Northeast Ohio Sierra Club is extending an invitation to attend Next Silent Spring? at the Cleveland Museum of Art Recital Hall. This free event will be held on Sunday, April 28, from 2 – 4 PM.

The outstanding documentary, Nicotine Bees, will be shown, which reveals crucial information about the crash of honeybee populations. Most farmers now coat their seeds with neonicotinyl pesticides (shortened neonics) to kill insects in the farm fields. Although this sounds good, there’s a dark side.

Neonics are linked with bee die-offs, and as pollinators, can have a tremendous negative impact on our food supply. Other insect populations are also decimated, resulting in the loss of decomposition that keeps nutrients cycling, soils healthy, plants growing and ecosystems running. As insect populations decline, birds and other creatures that feast on bugs are ill-affected. Birds control insect pest populations that feed on valuable crops and timber resources, and are critical dispersers of seeds for many wild plants. The list goes on. The end result puts the entire ecosystem at risk.
When Laurel Hopwood, Senior Advisor to Sierra Club’s Pollinator Protection Program, learned that 60% of the bee populations in Ohio in 2017 were lost, she said, “It’s time for our communities to be aware.” Hopwood adds, “Are we going to live in gloom and doom? No!”

Panel members will share and hopefully, empower. Dr. Mary Gardiner, Associate Professor in the OSU Department of Entomology, will discuss her program introducing pollinator pockets throughout vacant lots in Cleveland. Tom Gibson, principal of Green Paradigm Partners, uses his soil building and community organizing skills to help revive neighborhoods. Elle Adams, founder of City Rising Farm, helps people in underserved communities learn to grow fresh food and to build long-lasting relationships with each other, so they can use those skills to create opportunities in their own neighborhoods.
Please share this invite far and wide. If you need a pdf, please contact me at lhopwood@roadrunner.com!


Kick the Game Day Party Trash to the Curb
Plastic Cups and Utensils Are NOT Recyclable Curbside

The big football game is coming and the excitement is growing! But the big game and the parties that accompany it generate a lot of trash.

Unfortunately, all disposable paper and plastic cups cannot be recycled. Do not place them in with curbside recycling. Make sure the red plastic cups (and all other colors) plus plastic utensils and disposable plates make it into the trash instead.

Here’s how you can be prepared to tackle waste and recycle right during football’s main event on Sunday, February 3:

  1. Choose reusable cups and utensils instead of buying single-use disposable plastic varieties that can’t be recycled curbside. If you need more than you have on hand, you can usually buy them very inexpensively at thrift, discount and secondhand shops. After your party, just put them in the dishwasher — instead of sending them off to the landfill — and store them in a box until your next event.
  2. Consider a decorative or event-themed reusable cup as a fun party favor (and have a marker available so each guest can write their name on their cup). These are often used for years — instead of hours.
  3. Get out the old china dishes. Avoid using paper plates and foil pans – none are recyclable. If you are packaging leftovers, reuse plastic containers or glass jars instead of throw-away alternatives.
  4. Serve beverages from aluminum cans and glass bottles that can be placed in your curbside recycling during and after the party. Make sure to place a well-marked recycling bin (labeled for empty cans and bottles) right next to the trash can.

About The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District
The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District is the public agency helping the people of Cuyahoga County reduce, reuse and recycle at home, at work and in our communities. We serve as the leading resource in the County for information, expertise and programs that support sustainable materials management and reduce the environmental impact of waste.

Visit www.CuyahogaRecycles.org or call 216.443.3749 to learn how to recycle in your community and discover other recycling and disposal options.


Upcoming Events

✻ Cleveland Divestment Project Monthly Meeting – Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, 7pm, Cleveland Heights Main Library, Brody/Nelson Room, 2345 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Anyone interested in divesting from fossil fuels is welcome.

✻ Benefit Concert for Litterbugz – Sunday, February 24, 2019, 3pm – 7pm, The Winchester, 12112 Madison Ave, Lakewood 44107. The Cleveland Blue Grass Orchestra will perform. Litterbugz is a non-profit that organizes clean ups all over greater Cleveland. $15 advance tickets, $ 20 at the door. Call for information 440-829-4703.

✻ Rain Barrel Workshop – February 27, 2019, 6 pm, Warrensville Heights Library, 4415 Northfield Rd, Warrensville Heights 44128. Learn how to install a rain garden on your property. This can help improve water quality and reduce your NEORSD stormwater fees! Sponsored by West Creek Conservancy.

✻ The Future of the Electrical Grid and Renewable Energy – March 3, 2019, 9:30am, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Cleveland, 21600 Shaker Blvd, Shaker Heights.

✻ NEO Sierra Club Rainforest Committee Meeting – Thursday, March 7, 2019, 7:15pm, Warrensville Hts. library, 4415 Northfield Rd, Warrensville Heights 44128. Our speaker is Dr. Katherine Krynak of Ohio Northern University who will talk about her research on Ecuadorian frogs. RSVP to MMelampy@BW.edu.

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