Did you celebrate our home planet during Earth Month? North Carolina Sierrans did!
Our local volunteers and members marked Earth Day 2024 not just on April 22, but with events all month long - engaging kids in fun and educational activities, fighting plastic pollution along the coast, appreciating nature with poetry walks, and much more.
Our Cypress Group was honored by the Pitt County Commission in its Earth Day proclamation. The statement declared the Commission's support for the environment and appreciation for the Earth Day Celebration co-hosted by the Group with the N.C. Museum of Natural Science in Greenville.
Cypress Group Chair Jeff Monico and former chair David Ames accepted the proclamation from Pitt County Manager Janis Gallagher and Commission Chairman Mark Smith (pictured).
Fighting plastic pollution was the international theme of this year's Earth Day, and our local Groups were enthusiastic messengers.
Our Croatan Group honored Earth Month as part of its Plastics Free by the Sea program with tabling at farmers markets in Beaufort (Croatan volunteer Harriet Altman is pictured at the table). Plastic Free by the Sea is a partnership between the Sierra Club and the Town of Beaufort. The focus is on voluntary plastics reduction by citizens and businesses.
On the other side of the state, the WNC Group joined the Plastic Free WNC coalition and local government leaders to highlight their local efforts to fight plastic pollution.
The WNC Group, local and state policymakers, and allied environmental groups held a news conference on April 22 to release a statewide poll that shows 88% of North Carolinians are concerned about plastic’s impact on their health, and 82% support state action to reduce single-use plastic waste.
It was a poignant announcement, because local governments' attempts last year to ban single-use plastics and Styrofoam were overruled by the N.C. General Assembly.
As Ken Brame, co-chair of the WNC Group's conservation committee, told reporters, the coalition is now going to the source with a petition drive to encourage grocery chains to stop carrying plastic bags.
Remember, just because Earth Day and Earth Month have passed, you can "explore, enjoy and protect the planet" every day by cutting back your personal plastic use, and by getting involved with your local Sierra Club group!