Earth Day Coalition

Programs: Clean transportation: designated in 1999 as the u. S. Department of energy clean cities coalition serving northeast ohio (8 counties), earth day coalition's clean transportation program has the focused and measured goal of reducing petroleum consumption in transportation (gasoline and diesel) and improving air quality for our region. As one of 90 similar sponsored coalitions across the country, we report back to the u. S. Doe on our progress with key metric's. Transportation accounts for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change in the u. S. Our program aggressively takes on this issue at the local level through a broad partnership of stakeholders which includes business, municipal, and other institutional fleets, as well as individuals. We educate fleet managers with a three-tiered approach involving alternative fuels, advanced technologies, and practices that reduce our consumption of petroleum in transportation (such as idle reduction ordinances, ride sharing, mass transit, and bicycle and pedestrian friendly development practices). We assist fleet managers in securing funding and taking advantage of federal, state, and local incentives, and provide year-round educational forums, workshops, and ride and drive events to increase the adoption of more sustainable transportation solutions. We partnered with sustainable cleveland in their annual conference, and at our earthfest, to host ride and drive events which exposed thousands of people to new vehicle technologies. We also launched our electric vehicle deployment task force with a host of local stakeholders looking to expedite the adoption of electric vehicles and increase the number of local charging stations in our area. Our clean transportation program increases national energy security through the adoption of cleaner domestic fuels, creates local manufacturing jobs, and improves our local economy. It achieves this while also improving our air quality, decreasing our reliance on petroleum imports from outside the u. S. , and has a significant impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases that pose a threat to the well-being of future generations.

earth day: earth day coalition organizes earthfest each april to celebrate earth day in ohio. 260 exhibitors, numerous collaborative partners, and 400 volunteers participate in making earthfest one of the longest standing and most successful earth day celebrations in the country. With many thousands of people attending this annual event, earthfest has earned the distinction as ohio's largest environmental education event and the longest continuously running earth day celebration in the nation. Exhibit areas include: clean water, clean transportation, community works, green home & garden, local and sustainable food, environmental and energy science, family fun, health and fitness, and, (new for 2016), vibrant green space. Local food trucks, breweries, and vintners provide great eats, and four stages highlight the best of our thriving local music scene. We emphasize hand's on participation in numerous educational and fun activities, including our new complete street pop-up, and the clean transportation ride and drive. Earthfest serves an important function to annually convene hundreds of organizations working to improve the health and sustainability of our region so that they can interact and engage with our large turnout of attendees. Come ready to learn and get inspired to take action at earthfest.

student leadership: the student environmental leadership program is the only comprehensive year-round environmental education program serving northeast ohio high schools. This dynamic student leadership and service- learning program enhances regional high school student's science research skills and problem solving, along with verbal and written communication skills. The program unites students from cleveland public schools with public, private and parochial schools in surrounding suburban districts through hands-on projects that lead the way to a cleaner and healthier future. The student's year of engagement includes classroom work, an annual conference, and culminates with service projects in their communities. Students learn from one another, and come to appreciate that despite their different backgrounds the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we care for are the important threads that unite us and make us strong when we share in their stewardship.

neighborhood action: neighborhood action lies at the heart of earth day coalition's philosophy that change begins in our local communities and through the collective actions of individuals and organizations working together with business. Each of our year-round programs addresses the importance of addressing both environmental and social justice. We cannot protect the environment and build sustainable communities unless we recognize the historical linkage of these movements and address the needs of underserved and adversely impacted populations. In this framework earth day coalition has been the convener, leader, and fiscal agent in projects including establishment of the cleveland lakefront nature preserve, advocating for rta's first bike-racks-on-bus pilot project, consulting with other organizations on holding zero waste events, and making our tremendous waterfront open and accessible to all. We organized workshops and town meetings to address the poor air quality in our community, performed environmental audits of specific neighborhoods, ran a local title v air permit program through the u. S. Epa, and have built good neighbor partnerships with local businesses to improve our environment. We organized a series of town hall meetings that resulted in cleveland's first community wide recycling program and held right to know workshops on air quality, convened brown-bag lunches that brought together activists, regulators and local business.