New Voices for the Environment: ECOS Board Meeting, July 27

Tuesday July 27, 2021 @ 6:00 pm – 7:45 pm

Please join us for an ECOS Board meeting featuring presentations by three new voices for the environment:


Caring for our Watersheds in California competition winner Rory Pilling on the intersection of environmental and social justice: protection of waterways and the proposed “Right to Rest Act” for homeless to reside in the city.


CA state legislative intern Quincy Stivers on her new CEQA Handbook, written for ECOS: what is CEQA, how environmental documents are organized, how to review these documents, and how you can get involved.


Architect May Lin Chang AIA LEED AP on building standards to meet the challenge of climate change: how carbon can be reduced in building materials and operations; and standards that should be implemented now.


About the ECOS Board of Directors Meetings

Free and open to the public! Join ECOS on our mission to achieve regional and community sustainability and a healthy environment for existing and future residents. Come to one of our ECOS Board of Directors meetings! These meetings are a great place to network with fellow environmentalists and to keep up with the latest local environmental successes and challenges. Mark your calendar: ECOS Board of Directors meets on the fourth Tuesday of every other month (odd-numbered months). You do not need to be a member of ECOS to attend. Come see what we have been up to!

Held Virtually

Below is the information for participating in the meeting.

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Featured photo by Belle Co from Pexels

California teen: I’m marching 266 miles, from Paradise to San Francisco, for climate justice

By Lola Guthrie | June 07, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

The climate crisis isn’t a future threat. It’s as real and tangible as the ash drifting across the sky. I’m no longer comforted by the thought that adults will clean up their mess. I feel outraged and hopeless.

That’s why I’m marching 266 miles, from Paradise to San Francisco, with fellow youth activists from the Sunrise Movement. We’re marching for climate justice and fighting for every community.

https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article251903963.html

Click here to read the article in full.


Photo by Lode Van de Velde. License: CC0 Public Domain.

ECOS Board Member Rory Pilling Wins Watershed Contest!

What can you do to improve your watershed?

Safety For People Means Safety For The Environment

Rory Pilling and Rae Jacobson are proud to place first in the 2021 Caring for Our Watersheds contest for their proposal to raise awareness about the social and environmental issues surrounding homelessness. Specifically, the group will advocate for the passing of the Right To Rest Act to ensure that homeless people can live in the main parts of Sacramento- allowing access to sanitation and trash disposal, as well as proximity to transport and job opportunities. Their hope is that the Right to Rest Act will protect homeless individuals, but also alleviate some of the waste and environmental impact from homeless encampments along Sacramento waterways.

For first place in the contest, Rory and Rae won $1,000 for themselves and $1,000 for their school, George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences. In total, students compete for over $6,000 cash rewards and participating schools are eligible for over $11,000 cash rewards. Nutrien also provides $10,000 in funding to help implement students’ ideas.

Check out the top finalists here.
View photos of the event on Facebook here.

Caring for Our Watersheds California, 2021

Where is Your Watershed?

Do you have your facts straight about your local watershed? The Sacramento River Watershed is a beautiful place to work, live, and play. Learn more about our watershed and how you can help protect it here.


Regional Transit: Fare-Free Program for Youth is a Success!

February 12, 2020
Sacramento Regional Transit

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) announced today that student ridership has doubled since implementing the fare-free program for youth/students in grades transitional kindergarten (TK) to 12th. SacRT launched the RydeFreeRT program in October 2019, which offers youth/students access to the entire SacRT network, including buses, light rail and SmaRT Ride on-demand microtransit service, for free.

Last month, SacRT experienced record ridership increases with 176,500 student trips taken on bus, which is a 106% increase from January 2019 student ridership.

“One of our top priorities at the City of Sacramento is offering more opportunities for young people,” said City of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “Having a free transit pass makes it easier to get to that paid internship, to that sports practice or that afterschool program. It’s amazing to see so many students take advantage of their new freedom to move around the Sacramento region and take advantage of all the opportunities it offers.”

The City of Sacramento provided SacRT with $1 million, as well as additional funds from other cities and school districts to counter revenue loss for the year-long RydeFreeRT program.

“Young people have told us the number one reason for chronic absence is lack of transportation. By eliminating transportation barriers, we’re increasing chances for more young people to succeed in school, career and in life,” said SacRT Board Director and City Council Member Jay Schenirer.

“SacRT is setting a new standard that will be emulated across the nation.”

“This program is the first in the nation to offer students free transit seven days a week, anywhere, any time,” said SacRT Board Chair and City Council Member Steve Hansen. “We are seeing a spike in students riding SacRT after school and on weekends, which confirms that there is a strong need for students to get to jobs, internships and extracurricular activities – Exactly what we hoped would happen with the implementation of this program.”

“Free fares for youth not only opens the door to opportunity, it creates lifelong public transit riders by instilling the habit at a young age,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “Research shows that people who ride public transportation at a young age are more likely to use it as adults, which could have a tremendous impact on traffic congestion and air quality.”

Researchers at University of Texas, Austin who recently completed a study with three Sacramento City Unified School District schools to assess the barriers students face in traveling to school and other activities, are conducting a study on the impact of fare-free transportation on these students’ lives in areas including, but not limited to, school attendance, engagement in out-of-school time enrichment activities, participation in work-based learning, and attitudes towards SacRT in general. The study is expected to be complete this summer.

More than 300 schools in the Sacramento region are enrolled in the program. Most students automatically received a RydeFreeRT sticker with their student ID. For students and youth not attending a participating school, stickers and cards are available for free at local Sacramento County public libraries and SacRT’s Customer Service and Sales Center.

Partners and participating school districts include Sacramento Public Library, Center Unified School District, Elk Grove Unified School District, Folsom Cordova Unified School District, Natomas Unified School District, Robla School District, Sacramento City Unified School District, Sacramento County Office of Education, San Juan Unified School District, Twin Rivers Unified School District, City of Citrus Heights, City of Folsom and City of Rancho Cordova. The RydeFreeRT program runs until September 30, 2020. SacRT is working to secure funding to continue the program in future years.

Within fiscal year 2020, SacRT has seen an estimated 6% increase in ridership system-wide. More information on the program is available at RydeFreeRT.com. Watch a student testimonial about the RydeFreeRT program here.