Yolo Earth Day Celebrate and Share Event at the Library
Come celebrate Earth Day and share your story with us Saturday April 13 from 10:00am to 12:30pm at the Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Yolo County Library at 315 East 14th Street in Davis in the Blanchard Room! We are excited to welcome the community to join in the fun with displays, games, experts, and sharing focusing on the year of climate action. Test your speed with the Hang Dry Challenge or the Windshield Shade Twist.
We will also honor pledgers, volunteers, and experts who made the Yolo Earth Day Pledge successful. Representatives from the Yolo County Sustainability Team and Office of Emergency Services will be on hand with games and information. Special thanks to the Yolo County Library for providing our venue and carnival popcorn. EVERYONE IS WELCOME! Learning and fun for adults and kids.
Email coolsolutions@cooldavis.org for more information.
Drop in or RSVP
PLEDGE SURVEY RESULTS AS OF DECEMBER
89% made progress on their pledges
26% finished all pledges for the year
DIVERSIFY YOUR RIDE
43% fully incorporated
46% still working on it
11% having lots of emotions
GET AN ENERGY BOOST
46% fully incorporated
37% still working on it
4% having lots of emotions
EAT THOUGHTFULLY
54% fully incorporated
54% still working on it
0% having lots of emotions
GET INVOLVED
36% fully incorporated
46% still working on it
BUILD RESILIENCE
29% fully incorporated
57% still working on it
GREEN FINANCES
21% fully incorporated
50% still working on it
4% having lots of emotions
ADDITIONAL ACTIONS
- Electric scooter incorporated into family members transportation options
- Paid to plant trees and tried planting 2 on property
- Replaced 2nd story windows reducing heat/cold loss
- Trying to use bikes more often again, like I used to but weather is more challenging now. Did succeed sometimes though!
- Thermostat turned down low. We wear sweaters, sit with blankets, wear knitted hats indoors, save ‘used’ water from rinsing dishes and use that water on plants.
Support Docs
46% Very helpful or Helpful
25% Somewhat helpful
Email tips and resources
18% Excellent or Very helpful
32% Helpful or somewhat helpful
Barriers
- Options are not all readily practical nor cost effective as offered.
- Between homes, visiting family, missed my chance to look through things
- Cold weather makes it hard for me to get on my bike
- Just generally swamped and worn out with work and kids.
- Having meatless dinners was hard until I discovered the veggie egg scramble!
- Other members of family might not be as enthusiastic.
- Coordinating with my spouse on things like greening our finances and making large green energy purchases.
- Financial – a lot of these actions require having funds to make changes
- Mostly time. For example, committing to walk, bus or bike to errands means allowing more time.
- Remembering my pledges? 😆
- Heat pump conversion is expensive even after accounting for rebates and credits.
- Was going to be fully electric by the end of this week, but contractor postponed, costing me incentives and extra cost to finance.
- I’ve been working at these things for a long time, so finding ways to make more improvements can be tough and incremental.
- Health issues of family arose that impacted meals
- Financial is the most burdensome. Lack of financial resources for home transitions to electric and solar – and need more options for seniors to get around.
Benefits
- Better home insulation
- I feel happy whenever I do make progress.
- inner encouragement to do more
- Keep energy use pretty low in the home
- Met some nice people at the Fridays For Future Climate Strike.
- The progress I’ve made has contributed positively to my health through exercise and eating habits.
- Very happy with my small electric car – I’m saving on gas money while helping lower emissions.
- The benefit I notice most is using my e-bike instead of my car. It feels good for the environment, and also means my old car will last longer.
- I’m eating better by reducing the high impact foods. (I switched to this from my initial pledge of going meatless 3x per week.) I feel really good about greening my finances and moving out of some of my investments.
- Reduced energy bill this summer.
- Walking more (now that I have mostly recovered from my hip replacements) has been really healthy for me.
- Better energy usage.
- Am getting a bit more exercise and have found younger neighbors who are willing to drive.
Future guidance
- Guidance on replacing gas cooktop with electric induction stovetop.
- More info on electric cars and heat pumps.
- Information and grants for the area to help defray cost of making some big changes.
- Get the city to be proactive in electrification of buildings.
- Any kind of unusual hints for reducing driving or gas usage in the home (since I’m in an apartment, I can’t just switch to electric).
- More options for seniors for transportation and help with funding and getting permits for going all electric and to get solar.
- Computer based training
- Send me more reminders
MEET MARK
THE PLEDGE MENU
PLEDGE MENU
- Diversify your ride
Transportation accounts for about 70% of fossil fuel emissions regionally and most of that is from combustion cars. Air travel emissions aren’t fully included in that pie!
- Encourage 1x month at least 1 person to ride a bike, bus, or walk
- Bike, bus, or walk to work, school, or errands 3x per week (or more)
- Reduce air travel emissions
- Buy and use an electric vehicle, ebike, or e-scooter as your primary mode of transport
- Get an energy boost
Increasing temperatures and more frequent extreme heat events are leading to even more critical demand for space cooling, resulting in outages and other related stresses.
- Pre-cool your home during summer to avoid peak usage and rates
- Open windows to cool your home at night during summer months
- Hang your clothes to dry instead of using a dryer for 3 weeks of the month
- Install a whole house fan
- Get your attic insulated
- Get rooftop solar with battery storage
- Make a plan to electrify your home
- Eat thoughtfully
Simply reducing the quantity of meat you consume can have a huge impact. Animal agriculture contributes significantly to biodiversity loss, land deforestation, and land degradation globally. Food waste is also a serious problem.
- Watch a documentary about plant based eating from our series or choose your own
- Set up a monthly plant-based meal or potluck with friends or family
- Eat a meatless meal 3 times per week
- Avoid palm oil starting with reading labels
- Strategize to minimize food waste
- Give up or significantly reduce high impact foods like beef, pork, lamb, or dairy
- Switch to a vegetarian or plant-based diet
- Get involved
Getting involved means a better future for everyone. Extend your impact and enrich your life!
- Share about your pledge with 5 friends or family every month (talk about it!)
- Start or join a neighborhood connecting, sharing, or safety group
- Host a connecting event for your friends, family, neighborhood, church, or school
- Volunteer with a climate or resilience organization, community garden, or school environmental club
- Attend City Council and/or City Commission meetings for agenda topics related to climate and resilience
- Green your finances
Many commercial banks, companies, and funds perpetuate climate chaos by lending, investing, or engaging in new infrastructure projects or other environmentally damaging activities.
- Learn about greening your finances and why it’s important
- Move your money to an ethical and fossil-free bank or credit union
- Open a credit card with an ethical institution and select an organization to support
- Make a (significant-for-you) donation to a climate organization
- Change your investments to be socially responsible and fossil free
- Build resilience
Resilience is the ability to persevere in the face of severe climate impacts and other societal disruptions and redefinitions. Resilient people and communities meet challenges with openness and turn them into opportunities.
- Make a household emergency plan and kit
- Make a commitment to learn about and act on climate injustices
- Offer or ask for assistance from a neighbor
- Begin a new self-care routine
- Plant or adopt a fruit producing or climate ready shade tree
- Replace grass with drought tolerant plants and drip irrigation
More information: www.cooldavis.org/pledge
FACEBOOK FEED
#mayisbikemonth may be over but these #loopalooza photos are still fresh! Davis City Bike Davis The Bike Campaign and Bike Garage Davis Bike Club Bike Davis Kids Davis Bike Collective Bike Party Davis ... See MoreSee Less
Cool Davis is hoping all our friends living in Rancho Yolo remain well! This is a reminder of our fragile grid and the need to look after each other during heat emergencies. Hurray that the City of Davis City now has Social Services staff to join City of Davis Fire Department to assist when a vulnerable neighborhood's power goes down.
For other down neighborhoods - remember to check on your neighbors! If your power is still on consider ways to reduce your energy use pre-cool , cover windows, delay appliance use, double up with neighbors in a cool location - cooling center (see City post for cooling center info), movie theater etc to reduce loads. After the emergency, move forward on your plans for how you will reduce and manage energy use in the future. We have to stand together to adapt to new climate challenges. Cool Davis and our many partners are here to help.
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TWITTER FEED
Don't freak out, there's still time! Please give to help us meet our goal by midnight! #yoloca #bdog2024 #givebig2024 #nightowls https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/cooldavis
Thank you for helping us fly free with your evening donations (not easy in the dark ;) #yoloca #bdog2024 #givebig2024 https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/cooldavis
Yolo we are so close to our Big Day of Giving goal! Thank you for being on the move and helping us make a much needed $40,000 by midnight tonight! #yoloca #bdog2024 #givebig2024 @yolocommunityfdn https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/cooldavis
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We see you midday blue jays (planting those #generosity acorns in our yard)! There's still time to help us grow a beautiful garden together. #bdog2024 #givebig2024 #mayisbikemonth https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/cooldavis