 Whether it be pie baking, family gathering, turkey roasting, or gift giving, there is no doubt we are entering a festive time of year! Once the pumpkins start to rot, the turkey has been successfully carved, and the presents are all unwrapped, what do you do with all the “stuff” that is leftover?
With holidays and celebrations come some unique environmental impacts. Join Recycling Coordinator Jane Wilch and Climate Action Coordinator Sarah Gardner for a pumpkin spice-themed discussion of all things holidays. You’ll learn what to do with those pumpkins, turkey bones, that shiny gift wrap, and more, and also what happens to the materials after they are placed at the curb or taken to a drop-off location.
As with previous “Speaking of” discussions, this will be a casual conversation without slides or charts. It’s a chance to ask questions and learn some useful information along the way.
Register at this link to take part in the virtual discussion at noon on October 31.
 With funding from a 2022 Climate Action Grant, Public Space One will host two workshops to help homeowners repair old windows, re-glaze and seal them so they operate as intended, and keep out the winter winds.
- 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 9
- 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 16
Register at the Public Space One website.
 Installed with help from a 2021 Climate Action at Work award, the bat houses at ACT, Inc. are helping to support healthy ecosystems. Bats pollinate plants and eat a number of pests, and bat houses give them a safe place to roost, raise their pups, and sleep during the day!
Since 2014, ACT has been designated as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.” They were recently recertified through 2025, in recognition of their sustainable natural resource management and environmental stewardship.
 Kirsten Sogaard
Owner-Operator, Gallop Courier
 What is your favorite way to take climate action?
Choosing my bike is the gateway to a more likely hopeful, connected, and hearty day.
Why is it important to take climate action?
It just feels right when I make choices from a place of awareness and when I deeply sense my impact on the whole of which I’m a part. I read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass this year, as recommended to me by my sister Katrina. Kimmerer writes about reciprocity and about sustaining what sustains you, which has been heart- and mind-opening. It’s also humbling to learn how I’ve not practiced this. I like to see it as an opportunity for self compassion and forgiveness and then to keep moving forward.
What can others do to take climate action?
I really learned a lot from Ayana Elizabeth Johnson's TED Talk, How to Find Joy in Climate Action. It's ten minutes of solution-focused, honest words of encouragement in which she offers a strategy to find climate action steps through creating a Climate Action Venn diagram. Blend what you are good at, what needs doing, and what brings you joy.
Iowa City’s Climate Action Commission meets monthly
Access upcoming and past meeting packets at the Climate Action Commission web page.
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