Farewell to Del Martin, SF activist for whom the personal and political were no different.

This post has nothing to do with plastic but everything to do with personal activism and the power of each individual to make change in the world, if she or he simply tries.

When I first moved to San Francisco in 1989, I struggled to get by financially and relied on the services of the Lyon & Martin women's clinic for my healthcare. It was a place that operated on a sliding scale and made all women feel safe, regardless of issues of income, race, size, sexuality or gender issues. You know what? They put cute little oven mitts over the metal stirrups to keep our feet from getting cold during those less than pleasant female medical exams.

Eventually, I learned that the clinic was named after two San Francisco pioneers of the gay and lesbian movement, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who had fought all their lives for the rights of women, lesbians, and later seniors. Lyon and Martin were together for nearly 60 years and were the very first gay couple to get married this past June in SF after the California Supreme Court found the state ban on same-sex marriage to be illegal. And it was fitting that they should be first, as they had been part of the legal case that brought about the landmark ruling.

Del Martin passed away today. My friend Red called to tell me the news this morning, and we both cried on the phone. Not so much because of the death. Del was, after all, 87 years old and her health had been failing for some time, but because of the enormity of the impact that she had during her stay on this earth. For Lyon and Martin, there was no difference between what they worked for in the outer world and the personal lives they led. And for me, Del Martin represents the best that each of us can achieve if we believe in the power of our individual daily acts.

In a statement to the press, Phyllis Lyon says:

Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn't be by my side.... I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things. I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married.... I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed.

You don't have to be a member of the gay/lesbian/bi/trans community to feel the beauty of these words and to be inspired by the perseverance of these remarkable women. Whatever your cause, whatever motivates you to act, whatever is important to you in this world, don't be afraid to let your light shine. Each of our actions does matter. Each of us can make a difference. And now, more than ever, we are needed.

Read the full Obituary here for this inspiring woman.
 

 

Election Day 2008

It's Super Tuesday, and California is one of the states electing our presidential nominees today. In a few hours, the polls will open. Which candidate do you feel will do the best job of protecting our environment, and by environment I mean the water we drink, air we breathe, food we eat, and all the systems of earth that support our quality of life?

Siel at Green LA Girl has posted her reasons for supporting Hillary Clinton here. I'm not sure I agree with her pick. What do you think?

Regardless of whether or not you're a Clintonite or Obamian, how are you Californians voting on Prop 93, the term limits proposition? Many, many environmental organizations are supporting it. Californians Against Waste, a group I support, sent me the following email outlining the reasons they are endorsing this proposition:

On Tuesday, February 5th, you will have the chance to make an important decision about the future of California's environment.

Californians Against Waste has been helping California's environment for over thirty years now and we couldn't have been able to do this without help from the environmental leaders in the state legislature. Currently, California's legislative term limits are just about the tightest in the country, and remain a barrier to effective governing, which is why CAW supports Proposition 93. Prop 93 strikes a balance that would still stick legislators with tight term limits, but allow legislators more time in one house, greatly increasing continuity and institutional memory necessary to be effective leaders.

The flaw in our current system is that it keeps legislators from gaining enough experience to be effective and to oversee the implementation of often complex, important legislation, including environmental laws.

Additionally, the current system often requires some of our best legislative allies to run against each other when their Assembly terms expire--after just 6 years. Case in point, CAW Legislators-of-the-Year Lloyd Levine and Fran Pavley have carried several successful recycling bills each during their 6 years in the Assembly. Now they are forced to run against each other for the Senate seat of another termed out CAW legislator-of-the-year: State Senator Sheila Kuehl.

Currently, legislators can serve up to three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, for a total of 14 years. Prop 93 would reduce the total amount of time a legislator can serve in the Legislature to 12 years, but allow a legislator to serve all 12 years in the Assembly or the Senate. This limit gives legislators time to gain experience, but still maintains a healthy turnover rate to allow for new issues to be brought up. It also helps drastically reduce the political jockeying that dominates Sacramento and help stabilize our system by breaking the cycle of legislators constantly wanting to move up the political ladder.

The Yes on Proposition 93 campaign has produced a video featuring Assemblymember John Laird of Santa Cruz, discussing the impact reforming term limits will have on environmental issues in California. Watch the video.

Other environmental groups support Prop. 93, including the Sierra Club and the CA League of Conservation Voters.

Sorry I don't have many of my own words on these election issues. I'm usually more of a "personal is political" type. But we all personally get to vote today. And I'd really like to know your opinions.
 

 

Weekend radio: Trash Challenge Interview

Wednesday, I had a phone interview with Tess Vigeland of NPR's Marketplace. You know, Tess from the Trash Challenge. Today, her radio segment on the Trash Challenge included pieces from our interview. You can listen to it or read the transcript here:

Lessons from the trash challenge

The interview was quite a bit longer and included stuff about composting and why I decided to participate in the Trash Challenge to begin with. You can listen to (almost) the full interview here:

Trash Challenge: Into the Dustbin of History

Also, from the Marketplace web site:

"Be sure to tune into all the programs of American Public Media in November for a special project called "Consumed." We'll be airing an entire week's worth of stories and interviews about America's consumer culture and whether it's sustainable.

"On Marketplace Money we'll be devoting our entire show the weekend of November 17th to the question "What's wrong with trash?" We'll have stories about our throwaway habits, how tough it is to "unplug" from the marketing machine, and I'll profile a group of folks in New York City who forage Prospect Park for plants and go dumpster-diving for perfectly-edible food along 3rd Avenue. We'll also talk about the decline of the fix-it-don't-buy-it culture, and we'll visit a plant in China that imports recyclable material from the U.S. and sends it back as packaging for our consumer goods. Tune in!"

I'll certainly be interested to hear what they have to say about these issues.
 

 

Tess's Trash Challenge

I just read tonight on the Californians Against Waste web site that Tess Vigeland, of American Public Media's Marketplace Money, is carrying the trash she generates for two weeks in order to raise awareness of America's throw-away society.

Read About Tess' Trash Challenge.

Vigeland is challenging Americans to carry with them all their waste for two weeks. I have decided to sign up for the challenge starting tomorrow (Thursday). I know I'm already documenting my plastic waste, but it will be instructive to see how much non-recyclable non-plastic waste I'm also generating. Hopefully not much at all. And hopefully this will encourage me to to a better job avoiding paper napkins and paper towels and make sure that anything that can be composted is composted.

Here are Tess's rules for the challenge:

• No kitty or doggie poo (it's a health risk)


• No carrying into restaurants or malls where I could get kicked out


• Really smelly stuff goes inside extra Ziplocs


• If it's recyclable (or compostable), you don't have to carry it around


• Trash from work is included, as is trash from the rest of your household (i.e. if your honey tosses it at home, it goes with you...)

I am making some changes for my version of the challenge:

1) I'm not using any ziploc bags unless I can reuse some that I already have. Nothing new.

2) I'm not going to include my husband's waste. As I've mentioned before, we lead very independent lives when it comes to shopping and purchasing decisions, so if he buys things for himself that don't have some benefit for me, I'm not carrying them around with me.

3) She seems to be carrying around her trash in a regular plastic garbage bag. I'll be using either a paper bag or a BioBag instead.

4) I see no reason not to carry my trash into a restaurant if there's nothing icky in it. And since I compost and I don't have pet waste, I can't see why there would be.

If you decide to sign up for any part of the challenge, please let me know!

9/20 Update: I made a separate Trash Challenge Page to track my progress. Check it out.

Oh, and for those concerned about my friend who was involved in the car accident, he is fine. His car however, wrecked beyond recognition.