11/06/07 - Mark Your Calendars for Environmental Lead Forum Nov. 18

Join with the EarthSpirit Team at its first environmental forum “Lead in San Diego: Risks and Remedies”,
November 18 (Sunday) at 12:45 p.m., Bard Hall Lounge. The team is working with the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) in the struggle for environmental justice in San Diego’s older, low-income, nonwhite communities and providing support for the Children’s Right to Lead Safe Housing Ordinance. The proposed law would apply to all pre-1978 housing, both owner-occupied and rental and would require owners to test for lead hazards at the time the property is sold, and between tenants in the case of rental housing. If lead hazards are found, they must be remediated.

Did you know Beethoven died of lead poisoning? That renovating classic homes is a common cause of lead poisoning in both industrious families and their neighbors? Don’t miss “Lead in San Diego: Risks and Remedies,” a free forum. Contact Bonnie at 858 560-8327 with questions.

11/06/07- Pending Action Alert

The EarthSpirit Team expects that a resolution in support of a citywide Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention ordinance will be introduced to San Diego City Council in January . Support of this ordinance is part of the EarthSpirit Team's Action Plan, and the Team has supported it with a letter and petition which many in the congregation have signed. We encourage a large turnout at City Council and will notify the congregation ASAP when the item is docketed. Please watch the Window for the date for attending the City Council meeting.

Earthy Encouragement

Hang up a clothsline! The environmental quality of your wardrobe is ultimately determined by the way you wash it. A recent study by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing found that 60% of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent in washing and drying it. Over its lifetime, a T shirt can send up to 9 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.

The solution is not to avoid doing laundry, tempting as that may be. Rather, wash your clothes in warm or cold water instead of hot, and save up to wash a few big loads rather than several smaller ones. When the clothes are clean, dry them the natural way, by hanging them on a line instead of loading them in a dryer.  Altogether you can reduce the C02 created by your laundry up to 90%.