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August 2017 Edition
General Meeting, August 10, 2017 — Nicole Buergers Talks about Bees
On Thursday, August 10, the Sierra Club welcomes Nicole Buergers. Nicole owns Bee2Bee Honey Collective service and is an expert in home-managed bee hives for the hobby enthusiast. She will discuss the basics of private citizens setting up their first bee hive, and the accompanying care and management of the hive. How much honey can a simple hive produce? How difficult is raising bees in the Texas heat? Can anyone get into the hobby? How do you even get started? For the answer to these questions, and more, join us on August 10.
The event is free and open to the public at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1805 West Alabama, Houston. Main program starts 7:30 PM. Doors open 7:00 PM.
On September 25, 2017, 6:30-8:30 pm, join us at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center for a special 125th Anniversary celebration to benefit the Sierra Club’s Houston Group and Lone Star Chapter. Gather with like-minded folks; enjoy good company, great appetizers and desserts. See displays of local conservation efforts and service projects.
Go here for more information.
Please contact the EPA to support the San Jacinto River Superfund cleanup; see sample letter in this article.
One of the most toxic waste dumps in the United States is located just east of Houston, where I-10 crosses the San Jacinto River. In 1968, two companies abandoned pits containing dioxin filled paper mill waste that eventually submerged into the San Jacinto River.
Go here for more information.
Single use plastic is not only littering our land and water resources, but it also poses human and environmental health risks. As consumers of single use plastic, let’s do what we can to minimize this pollution. You are invited to collect data on single use plastic in the restaurants whether you’re dining out or taking out. The long term goal of this data is to create a rating tool app for consumers to consult before going out to eat.
Go here for more information.
On 5/25/2017 Gary Stephenson of the Houston Sierra Executive Committee was pleased to join the NASA Sustainability Working Group for a tour of the 609 Main property in downtown Houston, recently submitted for LEED Platinum Certification. 609 Main is a high-rise property built by the Hines Construction Company and just recently opened in downtown Houston.
Go here for more information.
Shannon received the Lone Star Chapter Environmental Reporting Award at the recent Annual Chapter Awards Celebration in Austin on Saturday, July 22. The award was given to reporters for their work on continued coverage on an environmental issue. Shannon was recognized for his investigative reporting on Texas State Parks, wild places, and wildlife in the Houston Chronicle.
Go here for more information.
Introducing our New Intern: Dana Schmidt
Dana will join the Houston Sierra Club in August and has agreed to complete up to 100 hours of volunteer experience. She is a recent graduate of Cornell University where she earned her Bachelors of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Science with a minor in Climate Change. She has a long term interest in environmental policy. Dana will focus on forestry and grassroots organization during her internship with the Houston Sierra Club.
Go here for more information.
My name is Dana Schmidt. I’m a recent Cornell graduate moving to Houston from Upstate New York in hopes of expanding my understanding of environmental policy. Although I am accustomed to the lush forests of Upstate New York where I did my senior thesis on invasive earthworms and fungal communities, I also lived as an exchange student in Emden, Germany for a year. There, the flat greenery was broken up only by the dikes set up to reclaim earth from the sea.
Go here for more information.
Get Outdoors!
For information on upcoming outings in the Houston area, check out our MeetUp site or our Outings Calendar on our website.
By Brandt Mannchen
We were at the U.S. Forest Service's (FS) District Ranger Office parking lot, in Sam Houston National Forest, controlled chaos as usual. The people who had signed in were raring to go and those who had not signed in, and had met us in the parking lot, were scribbling as fast as they could so we could be off. We had all come together to visit and learn about unique grasslands called blackland prairies.
Go here for more information.