This webinar covered the costs, benefits, driving and charging of an electric truck. Information was provided on current and upcoming electric trucks.

This webinar was sponsored by the County of Marin.

Community members and visitors came to exchange and plant seedlings, watch an inspiring film called “…And This Is My Garden”, and enjoyed pizza and sliced fresh garden snacks. WMCA Partnered on this event with Inverness Garden Club, West Marin Food Systems, Marin County Parks and Open Space, Cafe Reyes, and Toby’s.

Climate change may increase the occurrence and severity of atmospheric river events affecting California. During recent atmospheric rivers, Marin experienced record rainfall and high winds. This webinar focused on providing information on risks resulting from atmospheric rivers including flooding, landslides, downed trees, sustained power outages and loss of telephone and internet services.

David Moller presented the financial and environmental benefits of heat pumps, along with some background on how they work, and differences between types of heat pumps. Heat pumps for central ducted heating, ductless (min-split) heating, and heating water were covered, as well as how a ducted or ductless heat pump can cool your house on hot summer days. The webinar concluded with rebates and recommendations for identifying an experienced contractor.

West Marin resident John Montgomery, co-author of "Net Zero Business Models: Winning in the Global Net Zero Economy" discussed the book’s key ideas about decarbonizing the economy. Kathy Hunting of West Marin Climate Action and Jonathan Barájas, founder of Eco-Gardening LLC, brought these ideas to life in a local context, focusing on practical ways we can all contribute.

West Marin Climate Action, featuring members of the Marin County Sustainability Team hosted a webinar on how to maximize energy efficiency in the home, along with information on government rebates and incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act. This webinar informed us on how to save on utility bills, increase comfort, improve indoor air quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Our second seasonal garden tours offered opportunities to visit local gardens, feel inspired, and learn about different strategies used to produce home-grown food. Gardeners at four local home gardens welcomed guests and provided insight into seasonal food gardening rhythms.

This IN-PERSON event in downtown Point Reyes Station featured a variety of electric vehicles, e-trucks, e-tractors, E-bikes, and e-tools all in one place! Participants and passers-by had the opportunity to meet the owners, sit inside vehicles, talk to e-mobility experts and ask lots of questions!

Workshop attendees learned what is necessary to know and consider in order to install a rooftop rainwater catchment system at home, to irrigate food gardens and landscaping during dry summer and fall months. WMCA’s water catchment project aims to facilitate water catchment tank installations for a few interested residents of Point Reyes area hamlets.

This Climate Cafe provided a sharing circle for people who are feeling distress about the climate crisis and its global, local and personal impact. It was an opportunity to share thoughts and feelings in a small circle of compassionate listeners, in a safe, non-judgmental, advice and agenda free space to speak about feelings, fears, or uncertainties.

About 50 community members enjoyed two to four food garden visits in West Marin, providing opportunity to learn with local home gardeners and feel inspired to grow food. Both new and experienced food gardeners learned about techniques used to grow fruits and vegetables, design compost systems, rainwater catchment, and deal with gardening challenges.

Families and friends joined us to view Microplastic Madness, an award-winning documentary film by Cafeteria Culture on a plastic free impact campaign with 5th grade kids in Brooklyn, NY taking the lead! The screening of this film was held in person at Toby’s Park in Point Reyes Station, with information displays, prizes and pizza to enjoy. We also offered a virtual option for viewing the film, which many appreciated watching at home. This inspirational film helps us understand the pervasive problem of plastic pollution and how we can take action to reduce our use of plastic.

This Climate Cafe event created an opportunity for people to share thoughts and feelings about climate change in a small circle of compassionate listeners in a safe, non-judgmental, advice and agenda-free compassionate space. Sharing worries and concerns with others can help manage feelings of overwhelm and despair, and possibly be a foundation for taking action. Climate Cafe believes that compassionate listening is a life-affirming, reparative response to the situation.

Impacts of climate change are evident across the globe, including here in the Bay Area. We experience increasing temperatures, deeper droughts, wildfire, sea level rise, and more. Many have developed anxiety as a result of the knowledge that conditions will worsen in time.

The time for action is now. IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) experts say strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, could quickly make air quality better, and in 20 to 30 years global temperatures could stabilize.

This webinar presented CoolClimate’s Berkeley Carbon Calculator and other resources to help point us in the right direction.

As climate change impacts are ramping up worldwide, deeper and longer droughts for us are likely in the future. Learning water conservation practices now helps to build resilience in coming years. This webinar presented a deeper dive into water-conserving gardening, sharing science-based practices that are proven to work. We also heard an update on the status of water supply in Inverness, as well as updates on use trends and conservation restrictions.

Scientists predict that climate change will increase the duration and severity of drought conditions in the West. The current drought is shaping up to be the worst on record. In response, Marin County has declared a drought emergency, with requirements to reduce our water use. This event featured presentations describing our current water supply conditions, use restrictions and the many practical ways we can continue to reduce our water consumption.

Climate change is impacting the environment and human health. In recent years, people have been experiencing impacts resulting from increased incidence of wildfire and smoke, higher summer temperatures, and pandemic disease. This event provided information about the impacts of climate change on health, with a focus on topics that are especially relevant to Marin such as wildfire, air quality, heat, smoke, infectious diseases, tick and mosquito borne diseases, climate anxiety, and more. Follow the link below to learn more and view the event recording.

Burning fossil fuels for energy adds carbon to the atmosphere, which is warming our planet like a heat-trapping blanket. Installing solar power at our homes is an important way we can reduce our carbon emissions. Our webinar on residential solar and battery storage provided a wealth of information on environmental and financial benefits, system size, comparative costs, incentives and rebates. Experts and interviews with local residents discussed their experience with solar and battery systems. Follow the link to learn more and view the recorded webinar.

Our second food resilience gardening event featured a video tour of Mark Butler’s wonderful home garden in Bolinas, where he and Meg grow food that nourishes them throughout the year. On-the-ground presentation and demonstration provided valuable information about gardening strategies and techniques that are especially relevant during the winter and early spring season. Live Q&A and discussion offered opportunity to share more information and techniques to help home gardeners start and improve their gardens and water systems in our bioregion.

Passenger vehicles and trucks are responsible for 40% of West Marin’s greenhouse gas emissions. The path to addressing accelerating climate change impacts must include a rapid transition to electric vehicles (EVs), which is why Marin County hopes to increase the number of registered passenger EVs from currently 4% to 45% by 2030. We partnered with Drive Clean Bay Area and Drawdown: Marin to share information about EV purchasing and incentives, ownership and charging options with the West Marin community.

Many people feel disturbed, overwhelmed, or even anxious about current manifestations of Climate Change, as well as what the future holds. Sharing these concerns and emotions with others can be a powerful way to help manage those feelings, and possibly open pathways for taking action. Our Climate Cafe offered a compassionate sharing circle for people who are feeling distress about the climate crisis and its impact at the global, local, or personal level.

Plastic pollution is at a crisis level. We have become completely dependent on buying things made from plastic and wrapped in it. Plastic is now being documented throughout the globe in every habitat, most notably throughout our oceans with tremendous impact on marine life and increasingly, human health. Often underreported, plastics originate as fossil fuels and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions from cradle to grave, from extraction through production and to the waste stream. On the Way to Plastic Free! was the first event in a series on our plastic waste stream in West Marin, and what we can do to reduce our plastics demand and waste. After watching two films (Plastic Wars and The Story of Plastic), three panelists shared important information and answered questions on recycling, plastic waste and solutions underway. Action ideas were discussed and links to helpful resources were also provided.

This was an inspirational start to our series of community events on growing food resilience in a changing climate. We shared a video tour of Burton Eubank's garden, featuring seasonal information about winter planting, seed collection, grafting fruit trees and planting for a warmer future, followed by live Q&A. We invite all who are interested to work with us to generate creative solutions that help ensure access to healthy, locally produced food for everyone. Follow this link to read more about this event.

The second event in the community climate conversations was themed, Decarbonizing California by 2025, Can We Do It? The event featured keynote speakers, Ellie Cohen, Climate Center Executive Director, and Alex Porteshawver, Marin's Senior Sustainability Coordinator of Drawdown Marin. Following the keynote, community members participated in small-group discussions, where they explored real actions (personal and political) that will help solve our climate crisis. The community provided more than 300 ideas and actionable items that can be done to help curb our climate crisis. Following the event, the community feedback was organized and compiled into actionable categories that will inform the next Community Conversation Series.

The first in the series of Community Conversations focused on the economic and policy tools that could be applied to activate aspects of the Green New Deal.