FEBRUARY 2025 | THE ECOADVOCATE County Board to Adopt A Climate Action Resolution Please join EcoAction Arlington in thanking the County Board for advancing a Climate Resolution to start the new year strong. With backsliding on climate action underway at the federal level, it is more important than ever for local communities to take the lead in addressing the climate crisis. The draft Climate Resolution sets the stage for accelerating the transition from polluting fossil fuels to clean, efficient energy and ensuring a resilient, greener, healthier, and more equitable community through whole-of-government, whole-of-community action. Arlington now has the opportunity to lead regionally and even nationally to limit its worst impacts and allow Arlington to thrive as it adapts to a changing world. Read Our Letter to the County Board Your Voice Is Essential Join us in thanking the County Board for advancing this vital resolution! Your support shows Arlington’s leaders that our community is united in taking bold climate action that will significantly impact our community and future generations. Click below to send a pre-drafted letter to the County Board, thanking them for advancing the Climate Resolution. It only takes a minute to make a difference! Send a Letter to the County Board Climate Resolution Celebration Rally! Please join us in celebrating the Arlington County Board’s adoption of a Climate Resolution. This resolution recognizes the threat of climate change to the planet and the need to develop effective, just, and equitable policies to combat the climate crisis. At 10:00 am we will gather in the County Board room (3rd floor) to watch the adoption of the resolution. We will then convene in Courthouse Plaza (by the Metro entrance) for a celebration rally. In the event of inclement weather, the celebration will be moved indoors by the information desk. Please bring handheld signs to support Arlington climate action! Registration recommended but not required. RSVP & Further Details  Saturday, February 22 10 am-noon Ellen M. Bozman Government Center 2100 Clarendon Blvd  Make An Electrification Plan For The New Year An all electric home helps pave the way to a clean energy future. Once the grid shifts to renewable energy your greenhouse gas emissions from your home will drop to zero. Energy-efficient systems and appliances will also save you money and improve indoor air quality. Here’s some tips to get started: Create an electrification plan and when it dies electrify – Rewiring America offers useful resources to make a plan tailored to your needs for both homeowners and renters Conduct an energy audit to pinpoint air leaks in your house and help you prioritize improvements that will reduce your energy bill and make your home more comfortable. For details, check out Arlington County’s Home Energy Audit 101 Determine if you need to upgrade your electrical panel – doing this work as you start your transition will save time and money in the long run. Learn more at Rewiring America. Learn about heat pumps for heating and air conditioning, hot water heat pumps, electric induction stoves, and heat pump dryers. Consider shifting to an electric lawn mower and leaf blower, which are quieter and cleaner, and, if feasible, reduce lawn size, leave the leaves, and opt for a push mower and rake. Learn more about electric lawn equipment. As a renter, it can be hard or impossible to change the infrastructure of the building you live in. However, you still have a few options for how you can lessen your climate impact: Electrify everything you can. Do you boil water on your stove each morning? Try switching to an electric kettle! If you rarely cook, try getting an induction hot plate, toaster oven, crockpot, or instant pot to prepare simple meals. Set it and forget it. Just like homeowners, you can set your thermostat for maximum efficiency and then leave it. Consider purchasing a portable heat pump. You can take it with you when you move. Report leaks of any kind right away. Whether you smell natural gas outside, have a drippy faucet, or always feel a cold draught next to that one window, report leaks to your building management immediately. This will conserve resources and could even prevent danger in the case of natural gas leaks. Let your landlord know you care about the climate. Ask about EV charging, more bike parking, or anything you think is feasible that would improve the building’s efficiency or make a low-carbon lifestyle easier for the residents. It may not yield fruit immediately, but you might just inspire someone to look into heat pumps or window upgrades that could seriously improve your building’s climate friendliness. For more information, check out Rewiring America’s guide for renters. Reduce Food Waste: Leftovers And More  Keeping track of what’s in your fridge and what’s still good to eat is a first step. When you store leftover meals or ingredients, slap on some tape and the date so your future self has a sense for how long it’s been in the fridge. You can trust your senses to judge whether food is still good. If it smells and tastes good, it usually is. The vast majority of products outlast the date on the label (if stored properly of course). Read More  The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, is a thought-provoking essay on the value of gifting and reciprocity in nature and society. She uses the metaphor of the Serviceberry to highlight the sharing of abundance and reciprocity inherent in natural ecosystems. It benefits from the sharing of nutrients from leaf litter of other plants and nutrient cycling of insects and microbes and in turn shares its abundance of fruit with birds and humans. In turn, the birds will spread its seeds around. She relates this gifting economy to ancient protocols of indigenous societies to express gratitude, limit the harvesting of the abundance of nature, and reciprocate to sustain both themselves and the Earth forever. She points to examples of a sharing economy around us such as Buy Nothing groups, Little Free Libraries, and information sharing on Wikipedia and TikTok. She offers some thoughts about how principles of circularity and reciprocity and the respect for nature can serve as a counterweight to extractive capitalism that is driving the destruction of nature and climate change. The Serviceberry offers a hopeful lens for individual and collective actions to guide a transition to a sustainable world of abundance for generations to come. Thank you for being a voice for our environment, EcoAction Advocacy Committee The EcoAdvocate is compiled by the EcoAction Arlington Advocacy Committee. EcoAction Arlington | Elenor Hodges, Executive Director | 703-228-6427 |office@ecoactionarlington.org | ecoactionarlington.org Support EcoAction Arlington EcoAction Arlington’s mission is to educate, advocate, and act to create a sustainable community by improving our natural environment, encouraging environmentally-friendly behaviors, ensuring environmental justice, and addressing the climate crisis.The EcoAction Advocacy Committee engages in public discussion and promotes civic engagement among its members to influence government action to support its mission. EcoAction Arlington is a non-profit and non-partisan organization. |
This content originally appeared The EcoAdvocate newsletter produced by the EcoAction Arlington Advocacy Committee. For more information about the Advocacy Committee, please visit ecoactionarlington.org/get-involved/ecoaction-arlingtondvocacy/
Recap | Climate Resolution Rally