June 2019 Great Falls Group Cascade
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Significant Events Calendar
June 2
- Solar Home Open House
June 6
- Candidate Forum:
Supervisor Chair
June 11
- Vote in Fairfax County Primary
June 18
- Film:
Happening
July 15
- Let's Talk Trash
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Sierra Club Endorses McKay and Walkinshaw in Fairfax County Primary June 11
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The Virginia Sierra Club has endorsed two candidates running in the Democratic
primary for Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 11 – Jeff McKay for Board Chair and James Walkinshaw for the Braddock District. We urge you to vote in this important Democratic primary election.
Election experts have stated that this is arguably the most important election in
Fairfax County in a generation. With Fairfax County elections trending Democratic, the primary is likely to decide who represents Fairfax County voters in these races.
This link was not working in the first edition of the June Cascade - in this corrected version the link has been updated.
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This is the first time that the Sierra Club has considered making endorsements in a Fairfax County primary.
The VA Chapter will be making endorsements for additional races prior to the General Election in November.
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Board of Supervisors Candidate Forum
June 6
on the Environment
for June 11th Primary Elections
Candidates will discuss their platforms on environmental issues and answer questions from the audience.
Board of Supervisors Chair Candidate Forum on the Environment
Featuring candidates for Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
WHEN
: June 6 at 7-9 PM
WHERE
: Blueberry Hill Common House, 9701 Farmside Place, Vienna, VA 22182
SPONSORS
: 350 Fairfax, Food & Water Action, Friends of Accotink Creek, and Our Revolution Northern Virginia
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Let’s Talk Trash (and How to Avoid it): Reducing Waste and Better Recycling
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WHERE:
Providence Community Center, 3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax, VA
DETAILS:
If the recycling system is a broken system, what can we can do to fix it? Come for a dialogue on how to tackle waste - both as individuals in our households and as activists demanding corporate and political change. Beth Porter, author of
Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: Sorting Out the Recycling System
, will discuss what’s wrong with recycling and our roles in repairing it.
RSVP
CONTACT
: Catherine Carver
SPONSOR:
Sierra Club/Great Falls Group
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Happening
:
A Clean Energy Revolution
Film Screening
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WHEN
:
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 7-9 pm
3971 Chain Bridge Rd, Fairfax, Virginia 22030
DETAILS
:
Join the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter for a free screening of
Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution
. The event will feature speakers and discussion about clean energy in our state, and with opportunities to take action and get involved in local initiatives to support clean energy here in Virginia!
SPONSORS
:
Sierra Club Great Falls Group, 350 Fairfax, Food & Water Action, Friends of Accotink Creek, and Our Revolution Northern Virginia
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Solar Open House in
McLean, VA
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WHERE
: Homeowner in McLean, Virginia
WHEN:
June 2, 2019 from 2:00 - 3:30PM.
DETAILS:
Mountain View Solar invites all Sierra Club members to a Solar Open House. A homeowner is opening his family’s home to the public to view his 31-panel, 310-watt roof mounted solar panels. Rick H. and solar experts from Mountain View Solar, the local solar business which installed his solar array, will be on hand to show his solar power system as well as answer any questions attendees may have. As this is a roof mounted array, attendees will be able to get a close look at the solar panels and associated components. This is a free and public event.
RSVP
CONTACT
: event planner Daniel Chiotos at 304-886-3389.
SPONSOR:
Mountain View Solar.
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3KW Portable Micro Grid Solar Unit
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This is an example of an alternative to a gas generator or rooftop solar installation - the high-watt output inverter can run many appliances at once (e.g., fridge, lights, fan). It's useful for single-family homes and small businesses. It's easy to maintain. It's simple to hook up and use. It stores energy in a specialized (tractor) battery, ready when needed. Depending on how many devices you plug in, it can run for 10 hours intermittently, and then recharge during the day via the solar panels. It can also be used with wind or other renewable energy sources, depending on availability.
More Info
: Mary Bezzini 888-519-9266
mbezzini@godmanpower.com may give a free presentation of this system and its component alternative energies later in the summer, possibly early August, or early in the fall. Watch the July newsletter for details. If interested, please let Catherine Carver know at
ccarver37@gmail.com
.Thank you.
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86-bed Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility on Hunter Mill Rd
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Note - Planning Commission hearing moved from 6/12 to 7/18 at 7:30 pm
The 86 bed facility would be the first medical care facility in Fairfax County placed on a residential real estate that does not have access to public sewer. There are major health and environmental concerns that this facility poses in terms of
what concentrations of chemical compounds and/or components will be detected in the wastewater
.
Current County and State of Virginia regulations governing onsite septic systems do not deal with or regulate the “fate and transport” of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC’s). If you perceive a problem, there are several steps you can take to express your concern about the effects on water quality due to this inappropriate development.
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The activists trying to save Blake Lane Park held an event this past April 27th at the park to raise awareness of the plight of the park. Last fall, the school board announced plans to build a school on the park site, which contains a popular dog park and has the only open field big enough to play soccer or ultimate Frisbee in the local area. Nearby residents joined together to protest at an event offering live music, activities for young and old, and most importantly a place for candidates to speak.
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New
Membership Meetings for September 2019
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Starting in September, we are making a change to our program meetings, and instituting a membership meeting format.
This will include
- Introduction
- Discussion of current issue
- Sometimes a presentation
- Action items and take-aways
If you have any suggestions or would like to work on meeting planning to get more members involved, contact
Catherine
or
Norbert
.
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Visit to Flint Hill Eco-School
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On Wednesday, May 21, a small group of garden enthusiasts and environmentalists visited Flint Hill Elementary School at
2444 Flint Hill Rd, Vienna
, and received a delightful tour given by
Karen Fischer. She is an environmental scientist and has been an Instructional Assistant at Flint Hill for five years. She has developed beautiful gardens for them, which the students enthusiastically tend and nurture. Flint Hill's environmental program has earned the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-School designation, and has received four green flags since 2014.
If you have a school with a similar program which you would like us to feature in the Cascade, please contact Catherine at
ccarver37@gmail.com
or 703.655.5069.
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Highlights of Recent GFG Programs
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The Great Falls and Mount Vernon Groups had a joint Executive Committee meeting May 11. Members of both groups met at the National Wildlife Federation building in Reston to discuss Climate and Energy, Communications with the Community, Land Use, Transportation, and Political and Membership activities. It was a enthusiastic and informative exchange of ideas about our collective goals.
Future activities include a summer picnic for the members and another joint ExCom in the Fall. One of the goals that came out of this event is to have a working group to get the membership more engaged. If you would like to work on this group or have ideas, please contact
Norbert
.
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Mother's Day Climate Rally May 5
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We rallied for the Virginia Green New Deal and a safe climate for our kids to grow up in. Our goal is to help to convert Virginia to 100% clean energy by 2050. We fervently believe that the only way to protect our children (and our children’s children, and their children…) is to fight for the future of their planet.
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SPONSORS:
Sierra Club Great Falls Group, 350 Alexandria, 350 Fairfax, 350 Loudoun, CCAN, Climate Reality Project-NoVA Chapter, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, Food & Water Watch, Greater Prince William Climate Action, Green Muslims, Herndon-Reston Indivisible, Moms Clean Air Force, Mothers Out Front, Network NoVA, Our Revolution, Arlington, Alexandria and NoVA, VA Student Climate Coalition GMU
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Composting 101 and Vermiculture May 13
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Composting is great for your garden and the planet, reducing trash sent to landfills. Our speaker shared the most memorable successes and failures of her ten years of experience in vermiculture composting.
SPONSOR
: Sierra Club Great Falls Group
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Herring, Stand with Appalachia: No Mountain Valley Pipeline! May 18
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We rallied in the hometown of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and encouraged him to rise above the incompetence, corruption, and climate consequences associated with fracked gas pipelines.
SPONSORS:
POWHR (Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights), Indivisible NoVA West, 350 Loudoun, Great Falls Group Sierra Club, Northern Virginia chapter of the Climate Reality Project, Indivisible Northern Virginia, Fauquier Indivisible, Food and Water Watch.
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Send comments or questions to the
editor
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Thank you!
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