Earth Month Means Community Building!

By Gianna Patchen, Santa Lucia Chapter Coordinator

I tell all my friends and family that April is my busy season – it’s Earth Month! And this April didn’t disappoint. The Santa Lucia Chapter set up our booth at four different events and hosted or attended four other events – all across San Luis Obispo (SLO) County.

Community-building is the foundation of the Chapter’s work. At local community events we connect with new community members, solidify our relationships with supporters and partner organizations, and create opportunities for our volunteers to get out in the field. For me, there is so much joy talking with our volunteers and empowering the public to take the small (and sometimes big) steps to defend our earth.

At all of our events this month we emphasized earth actions, i.e., what you can do to defend the earth (you can find our actions at SC.org/SL-TakeAction). This month we highlighted three key actions: 

1. Support the effort to designate the Point Sal Marine Protected Area (MPA).
2. Oppose the exorbitant costs of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and the looming 15-year extension proposal. 
3. Defend State’s rights to implement climate laws and to make polluters pay for the climate disasters they’ve created.

Our Point Sal MPA action was highlighted at our booths at SLO EarthFest, Cal Poly Earth Festival and Nipomo Nature Fest – it’s been a festive spring! But it was our Hike and Dine to Oso Flaco Lake with the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center that got members and supporters out in nature to experience the very coastline we’re trying to protect. It was an important reminder that enjoying nature is an essential part of protecting nature.

At SLO EarthFest and our April Earth Action Hour we focused on combining earth celebrations with earth action. Our Earth Action Hour highlighted all three actions and over 20 members of the public wrote postcards, submitted public comments, and signed petitions. It was a joyous event combining advocacy actions and community-building (plus a potluck with lots of yummy food).

At SLO EarthFest we hosted an “EcoHero Scavenger Hunt” where five partner booths also hosted actions. After participants visited all five booths they got to make an “Eco Hero” pin. Thank you to The City of San Luis Obispo, Los Padres Forest Watch, SLO Climate Coalition and The Gala Pride Center for co-hosting this scavenger hunt with us. Over 80 people completed the hunt and over 100 people joined us in taking action!

A highlight for me were the kids’ “Why I want to protect the Ocean” coloring sheets. All of their messages have been submitted to the CA Fish and Game Commission as public comments in support of the Point Sal MPA.

Our Chapter has newly created a Student Leadership Committee - composed of local college students that want to get involved in local environmental advocacy. This team tabled at Cal Poly Earth Festival, hosted on campus action meetings about the Point Sal MPA, helped out with our Eco Hero Scavenger Hunt and attended our Earth Action Hour. It has been so invigorating to see college students get involved and share their enthusiasm with the Chapter and the community. We can’t wait to see where this leadership team goes. If you or someone you know is a SLO County college student send them our way: sierraclub.org/santa-lucia/student-committee.

So many volunteers make these events possible. From talking with the public and setting up pop-up tents to creating action alerts and organizing hikes – it takes a village to cultivate our village.

We hope to see you at one of our May and June events: our May General Meeting with the SLO Beaver Brigade, the Beaver Dam Tour and/or our June Earth Action Hour. Thank you for being part of the Santa Lucia Chapter village!