Today, with hope, we offer you two specific ways to do this:

FOUR YEARS GO (4YG)
Here is a perfect example of how the Internet connects us instantly to people around the planet who are committed to personally take the steps necessary to focus on change.
4YG is a campaign to shift humanity’s course toward a just, fulfilling and sustainable future by the end of 2014. Through this visionary campaign, people around the world are being invited to stand together and take courageous actions to bring about a future worth having. Four Years Go (4YG) is not a new organization, but a collective goal for every organization, every man, woman, child, worker, student, profession, and generation. We invite you to take the 4YG pledge to make changes which will help us all. The idea is that we have four years left to make vital changes as a human family. If we fail to do so our chances for a healthy future for future generations is bleak. Please help us promote 4YG by declaring your commitment. It’s easy:
Visit FOUR YEARS GO
Please join countless luminaries, leading organizations, and Bay Area Green Tours by making a pledge and adding your name.

Catherine Weis from Local Social had a chance to board the Bay Area Green Tours bus recently for a tour of organic, local, and sustainable farms. Here's a snippet of what was reported about her experience: "We are so lucky to live in an area that is rich in agriculture and strong in progressive thinking, and it was a treat for us to have the opportunity to see just what goes into growing and raising the food that we eat. Bay Area Green Tours is dedicated toward helping us understand local sustainability in hopes that it will inspire and empower us to take better care of the world we live in. Who couldn’t agree with that mission? Their tours range from Renewable Energy to Sustainable Foods to Green Collar Jobs."

Danielle Stinson, our fabulous Educational Tour Manager, reports about our most recent Berkeley High School Sustainability Tour at the end of May:

Bay Area Green Tours facilitated two back to back Educational Tours for students at Berkeley High School's Green Academy, one focused on "Alternative Energy" and the other on "ReThinking Waste." Each tour uniquely catered to the interests of the teachers and students. The Alternative Energy tour started with a walk through Berkeley to the Missing Link Bicycle Coop, to explore local bike resources and gain an introduction to the reality of a cooperative business structure. Then we took the BART into San Francisco to visit the PG&E Energy Center, which was an excellent place to learn about where our energy comes from, as well as tips about how important it is to reduce consumption during peak hours.

The following day we held the ReThinking Waste Tour. Our first stop: the Oakland Technology Exchange, where students saw the impressive way that this business reaches out to the community, in an effort to provide both education and refurbished computers to volunteers. Next we visited Ohmega Salvage where we heard about the long standing history of this business, which has been successfully reducing building material waste since the 60's. Our final tour stop was the West County Wastewater District in Richmond. Here the students got a close up view of the water treatment process and became keenly aware of the ways they can assist in improving water quality at their homes. This treatment plant is also a model of success in its reduction of energy costs, since it currently hosts the largest sun-tracking solar field in the entire US, supplying about 35% of the facility's power!

As the semester comes to an close for the summer, we eagerly seek new ideas and possible tour stops for Berkeley High and other schools in the Fall. The importance of sharing progressive models and ideas with the youth is of course paramount to our culture's shifting towards a more sustainable future. If you have tour stops to recommend, or schools which might like to explore our tour offerings, please contact Monique@BayAreaGreenTours.org -- with as much advance notice as possible. See you next semester!!

Networking Lunch TOMORROW at Swan’s Market in Oakland!

Date: Friday, June 3
Time: Noon to 1:30pm
Location: 930 Clay St. Oakland 94607 near 12th St. BART

Cost:
$14 pre-registered SBA members
$18 pre-registered non-members
$20 at the door
Pre-register by Thursday, June 2nd at 6 pm to get a discounted rate on the lunch.

Join us at Swan's Cohousing in Oakland for business networking with sustainability-minded entrepreneurs. Lunch will be catered by Le Cheval, which has been serving delectable Vietnamese cuisine since 1985.

Speaker: Susan Silber is co-founder of the Transition Initiative in Berkeley and a 20-year veteran of community organizing and environmental education.

Date: Monday, June 13
Time: 6-9pm
Location: 2530 San Pablo Ave, near Dwight Way, Berkeley. Accessible by the 49 and 72 AC Transit bus lines
RSVP to: debra@ecologycenter.org, 510 548-2220, x240 For more info: www.ecologycenter.org

"Climate change is not just about penguins, plants and polar bears; it's about people"

Ed Maibach, Center for Climate Change Communication

And not just some people; it's about everyone. But how do you engage your neighbor who doesn't have climate change on his radar? Your co-worker who's interested but not sure what she can do? Join the Ecology Center for our free Climate Action Workshop Facilitator Training. During our one-session training, you'll receive materials and information to involve your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, congregation members or others in taking action on climate change through community workshops. We'll also provide ongoing support as you plan and hold your own workshop series. No experience necessary to participate.

By organizing a series, you'll be given free membership to the Ecology Center for a year if you have not previously been a member.