Our Life So Far: Sunnyvale Cool At One Year

Sunnyvale Cool During Year One:  Learning, Advocating, Acting June 2007-May 2008

At least one of our members has participated in each of the following activities.

Learning
Discussions at meetings

·        City officials:  Coryn Campbell, Mayors Lee and Spitaleri, Council members Swegles, Hamilton and Howe.
·        Debbie Mytels of Acterra regarding community organizing, Green @ Home and Low Carbon Diet programs
·        Green Business Certification  representatives
·        Joel Wyrick of Downtown Association re SunFest
Attendance at Council Study Sessions
·        Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Sustainability, Downtown
·        Budget 07-08 and 08-09
Attendance at Public Outreach meetings
·        Downtown
·        Trees
·        Solar
·        Parks of the Future
·        Zero Waste
Attendance at Sierra Club Green Team Trainings
Representation at green festivals, meetings, forums classes and conferences
·        Green Festival
·        West Coast Green—green building conference
·        Public Agency Committee meeting of Build It Green,
·        Interfaith Convocation on Climate Change,
·        Focus the Nation
·        Al Gore’s talk at De Anza
·        Enlarging the Environmental Movement Forum at DeAnza
·        Sustainable Silicon Valley meetings
·        Regional Cool Cities Quarterly Meeting
·        EcoCity Builders Conference
·        Stanford Cross Roads Conference
·        PGE EE/RE seminars
·        Solar conferences in LA and Seattle
·        Acterra’s Be the Change course for environmental leadership
·        CC leadership leadership training
·        Leadership Sunnyvale training
·        Candidate debates prior to election
Calculation of our own personal carbon footprints
 

 
Advocating

 MCPA

• Spoke  to mayor and Council, LTE’s, e-mail
• Published LTE’s supporting MCPA and thanking Council for ratification
• Presented award to Council for ratifying MCPA

Solar Policy

• Provided info to staff regarding solar power at outreach sessions and in writing
• Spoke to Planning Commission and Council in favor of Solar Policy revisions
• Encouraged/ helped organize Global Awareness Committee members to speak to Council re solar fee reductions

Community Greenhouse Gas Audit/Full-time Coordinator

• E-mailed  and spoke to Council  
• Spoke individually to Mayor Spitaleri,  Councilmembers Howe, Hamilton, Swegles
• LTE to Sun re sustainability as city responsibility
• LTE to Sun re need for full-time sustainability coordinator

Borregas Bike/Pedestrian Bridges
Other

• Submitted written questions to Council candidates and published their replies on our website
• Placed three members on  Mayor’s Green Ribbon Committee
• E-mails sent to CUSD board and staff, FUHSD board and staff re Green Business Certification
• E-mail CUSD superintendent and board re desirablity of schools becoming models of sustainabilty.
• E-mails and personal contacts to churches encouraging attendance in Inter-faith Power and Light events
• E-mails sent to search company urging that Sunnyvale's next city manager understand the importance of sustainabilty to the community.

Acting

Electronic communications

• Established and used Yahoo Group for intragroup e-mails, calendar, reminders, files, links, and polls.
• Established and used web-site (sunnyvalecool.org) for outreach to community
• Established and used wiki for collaborative writing of position papers

CFL Distributions:  Distributed  2000-3000 CFL’s at  14  events
             Lakewood Village Door-to-Door

            SunnyArts Halloween Parade
            Green Festival—Santa Clara University
            Sunnyvale Community Services Thanksgiving Food Distribution
            Lakewood Holiday Parade
            St. Thomas Episcopal Church
            Our Daily Bread
            Peninsula Association for the Education of Young Children
            Leadership Sunnyvale Class Meeting
            Life’s Gardens
            Full Circle Farm Earth Day Festival
            City of Sunnyvale Earth Day Celebration at Farmers’ Market
            Sunnyvale Hindu Temple
            Also helped at Al Gore Talks at De Anza and Volunteer Center’s Green                                               Challenge Sunnyvale Event
SolarSunnyvale Intiative

• Brokered community discounts for December-February period with SolarCity REC and Akeena Solar. 

• Created and Presented Cool Cities Introductory  Presentations at five events

            November Kiwanis Breakfast
            Quarterly Sunnyvale Neighborhood Association
            Green Festival—Santa Clara University, Part of Green Challenge
            Unitarian Church
            Leadership Sunnyvale Class of 08

• Created and Presented 7 Solar Education Sessions

            Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association
            To City at Large at Sunnyvale Community Center 2
            Bean Scene 2
            Unitarian Church
            Homestead High School Global Awareness Committee
Created solarsunnyvale.org for public information
Shared ideas with Dorlene Russell for Earth Day Celebration
Created materials and tabled
      For the Greener Good Chamber of Commerce Wake Up Sunnyvale
      Full Circle Farm Earth Day Festival
      City of Sunnyvale Earth Day Event at Farmers Market
      Sunnyvale Hindu Church
Working to reduce our personal/family greenhouse gas emissions
 
 
Please inform me of omissions and mistakes.