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Let's Get Active! Summer 2003 was filled with international experiences for the Global Population and Environment Program. Between working with youth activists from Mexico and journeying to Ecuador to visit Population and Environment programs, there were many exciting opportunities to extend our work beyond our borders. In this section, find out more about where the program traveled this summer and what population activists did in their local communities. Please contact the Global Population and Environment Program with details about your events, presentations and other gatherings. Send us photographs and your creative ideas. We encourage new activists to reach out and let us know about the great work that you do. Contact Sarah Fairchild at 202.675.2396 or sarah.fairchild@sierraclub.org to let her know about what is happening in your area or for help in planning an event. Notes From the Field:
Celebrating Youth, the Environment and Family Planning
Annette Souder and Sarah Fairchild of the Global Population and Environment Program had the privilege of organizing events with the youth activists and Partners of the Americas in Texas and New Mexico. Their efforts to educate community members and Sierra Club activists about the importance of international family planning and the connections between population and the environment at home and beyond our borders generated media attention in both Austin and Albuquerque. Exciting new relationships among Club staff and volunteers, Planned Parenthood and local organizations that partner with Partners of the Americas was a direct result of this collective endeavor.
Working to Spread the Word ...
Edgar is currently searching for innovative ways to get more involved with population and environment issues and encourage youth to be politically engaged not only in Mexico, but internationally as well. In his opinion, there is a direct link between access to family planning services and the health of the environment. "Life has definitely been influenced by the availability of family planning methods and sex education. Unfortunately, the access to these and associated programs has not been very effective in terms of extension or reach to certain regions or populations of the country. A clear example of success would decidedly be the decelerated population growth seen in Mexico City in recent years." "In terms of whether or not the environment has been affected by the availability of family planning, I think that a community needs to satisfy its needs in order to subsist or survive, and the satisfaction of such needs is accomplished through the use of resources. When a community does not have education or access to means of family planning, it is impossible to control the resulting situation. In this case, there are more needs to fulfill and the moment will come when the system is overexploited. In this way great expanses of jungle and forests have been lost, which has caused the local and global environment to suffer."- Edgar
Global Population and Environment Program Committee Meeting
Small-Town Girl Meets Lollapalooza
After a long train ride from the Club's D.C. office to Philadelphia, and an even longer drive from Philly to New Jersey, I crashed in a Howard Johnson Hotel with the rest of the Sierra club staff and interns, squeezing in a few hours of sleep before the day ahead. At nine o'clock the next morning, we arrived at the show site, received our official Festival Crew passes, and prepared our signature Sierra Club table for the day's excitement. We unloaded hundreds of brochures, postcards, mailing lists sign-up sheets, buttons, and t-shirts onto our table and then waited for the crowd - due to arrive at noon. Once people began to flood in, I got a real taste of what it is like to be an environmental activist tabling at a major concert tour - the Woodstock of today. The one thing I did not do the whole day was sit behind a table. Instead, I was out and about from noon until 7 p.m. trying to pitch a myriad of Sierra Club messages to hundreds of young adults, no two being alike. My first challenge of the day was to get people to listen to my spin on our country's increasing need for fuel-efficient automobiles. I admit I was nervous at first, but once I broke out of my shell and started walking the walk and talking the talk, I had a blast and met some amazing individuals. I realized that as long as I was having fun and approaching people with a positive attitude, they wanted to hear what I had to say. It did not matter that I was from a small town or that I did not have blue hair or a mohawk. Most of the concert-goers, especially those in my age bracket - the infamous Gen Xers - turned out to be surprisingly receptive. Who says young people are apathetic? Certainly not me - not anymore. Over the course of the day, the Club staffers and interns collected over 450 signatures of people - mostly young people - who care about the environment and wanted to join in the Sierra Club's campaign to get Ford Motor Company to turn out vehicles that average 40 miles per gallon. That's hardly apathetic. The rest of our efforts paid off as well: we recruited dozens more activist volunteers on our way to accomplishing our goal of 1000. Additionally, we opened a fresh set of eyes and ears to some pressing environmental issues including clean energy and global population - the very topic that inspired me to work for the Sierra Club in the first place. At the end of the day, I was able to walk away knowing that more young people will vote in the next election, more young people will learn to build a relationship with their Congressperson, and more young people will think twice about the environment than would have, had I not spoke with them. Lesson learned? It is trite but true: one person can make a difference. Rather, one person is the difference - the difference between a world we want to live in and one we don't. With good music filling the air and even better company working by my side, what better place than Lollapalooza to learn this?
Maine Women's Voices for the Environment Summer Encampment
Faith Gemmill, a Gwich'in activist from Alaska, was the key-note speaker and inspired participants with stories of her efforts to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from proposed oil development. Presentations and activities included one on Maine's Department of Conservation by Deputy Commissioner Karin Tilberg, roundtable discussions on population and the environment, Maine's coast, energy efficiency, and an Organizing 101 workshop presented by Global Population and Environmental Program staff Alex Marinov and Sierra Club Maine Chapter Staff Maureen Drouin. Throughout the weekend, participants enjoyed the summer sun, kayaking, evening storytelling, and hiking. The Women's Summer Encampment reinvigorated and empowered activists with knowledge and tools to better protect the environment. Click here for more information about Women's Voices. Activism Coast to Coast:
New Jersey
New York The Population & Sustainability Committee of Rochester, New York in cooperation with the Choices & Environment TaskForce of the Social Responsibility Council of the First Unitarian Church, started their first Sunday of the month forum this summer. Past forum topics have included "Exploring the Relationship among Sprawl, Watersheds and the Corruption of Freshwater." To find out more about the forums, contact Hal Bauer at Hbauer@eznet.net.
Oregon Dates to Remember:
International Human Rights Day:
Back to Summer 2003 Population Report
Photos from the Sierra Club collection; all rights reserved.
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