The president called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
The minutes of the August 1, 2007 meeting were amended to include the following paragraph:
“Prior to the vote regarding Realtor gift bags, discussion on meeting protocols led to reference to SMG Bylaws. The Bylaws state that a simple majority of active members present at a meeting shall be sufficient to pass motions. An active member is defined as a member who has attended three meetings in the previous twelve months.” Minutes were approved as amended.
The treasurer reported that we have approximately $1593.58 in our account.
The agenda was approved as is.
Announcements
* The Yahoo group at SustainableMoraga@yahoogroups.com has been setup; please sign up
* Moraga ACE is selling 4 CFL’s for $2.99 !!!! Pass the word
* Anyone interested in helping to submit a grant to convert school buses to biodiesel, please contact sustainablemoraga@yahoo.com. The grant deadline is 9/24. Sustainable Moraga has agreed to submit a letter of support for this project.
* PG&E is starting a new energy awareness program called ‘Energy Challenge’ where the RESIDENTIAL energy consumption for each TOWN will be available, so that different towns can compare their relative energy usage patterns. We could also compare our usage with SMC, and other high schools
* It was suggested that we solicit the ‘Moraga Youth Involvement Committee’ group for help in selling green bags and other activity assistance
* Sustainable Moraga knows of a group who will put on a fashion show, with dresses made of recycled items; this would be a great fundraiser, as part of a general seminar or meeting
* Anyone know someone who is a member of the ‘Friends of the Library’? We need their support to gain approval for the renewable energy initiatives at the Library
* Berkeley Extensions is offering a class that might be of interest to SMG members. Details will be posted to the Yahoo Groups site.
* We urged members not to support the pending legislation banning fire retardants.
* A member is organizing a group to address the issue of carpooling students in Moraga. Information on how to get involved will be posted to the Yahoo Groups site.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
CFL Project – Some members have made comments on the grant proposal being prepared to submit to Clifbar for funding the purchase of CFL’s that will be distributed in Moraga. The president will edit the grant application further.
Battery Collection Program – The secretary reported on the meeting with SWA staff, Lois Courchane and Paul Morsen and Pacific Rim Recycling owner Steve Moore and SMG members. Many ideas were discussed to increase awareness of the program and raise amounts of batteries collected. SMG members were encouraged by the positive attitude of SWA staff and Mr. Moore. The secretary will call Lois to learn what SWA has decided to do.
Information on the program will be available at the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival Sept. 15-16.
Website Guidelines – The following excerpt from the May 2007 meeting minutes regarding website guidelines was distributed.
“Sponsorship and Website/Weblink Approval Guidelines:
–SMG wants to serve as a responsible link to resources for people who want more information about sustainable practices. SMG does not think it should endorse companies without knowing about their practices. Therefore, prior to endorsing any organization by offering it website linkage or member sponsorship, members said they should get personal references for the service/product and understand the ownership structure.
–Members considered using the Not-for-Profit status as a requirement for endorsement or website linkage. SMG is not a non-profit organization at this time, so members agreed that “not for profit” might be a general description, if not a legal structure. Members agreed that a listing on our website denotes our endorsement of the listing organization and provides free advertising for the listing agency. Hence we agreed that we will only list not-for-profit organizations whose objectives are primarily educational and aligned with ours.
–Approval of website guidelines will be determined by a simple SMG majority vote.”
After a short discussion, the following two motions were made, seconded and passed.
MOTION: It was moved to approve the guidelines from the May SMG meeting minutes and not to address including for profit group links at this point.
MOTION: It was moved to allow “individual signed” success stories to be posted to the Yahoo Groups site regarding for profit companies.
Membership – Chairperson not present. No report.
Green bag sales – The treasurer reported that over the summer, bags sales have been slow and volunteer sales people not forthcoming. The secretary offered to call the Farmers Market organizer to see if we can sell at the Market now that the Orinda Market is selling them.
The group brainstormed resources for sales volunteers.
St. Mary’s students
Campo students through the career center
JM Middle school students
Moraga Youth Involvement Committee
No decisions were made at this meeting.
SMG Social – Will be held on September 8, from 5-7 pm at the Community Garden.
Realtor Gift Bags – The green welcome bags have been assembled and are ready to go. They contain “green” cleaners, and several soaps purchased from Moraga Ace, as well environmental information on green practices and sustainable initiatives (like SM)
NEW BUSINESS
Recycling at Schools and Swim Clubs – The president will begin by coordinating with the St. Mary’s green group on developing a proposal for increasing recycling at Campo and Miramonte.
Educational Events – Members would like to see some educational events scheduled in the near future. Ideas for speakers were discussed. One member volunteered to speak on a variety of issues such as solar energy and current legislative issues. The group felt that we could increase our audience by cooperating with St. Mary’s on this. Our SMC member will check the feasibility of this and possible dates and locations.
Green Landscape Project – One member has applied for a grant to fund outreach to service groups in Moraga on landscape and structural pest control options. She is planning to use speakers, brochures and website development to promote the use of safer alternatives. When she finds out if she has obtained the grant, the group agreed to put out the word for volunteers to help her. Because of SMG limited resources, the group felt it could not make any firm commitment of its volunteers.
West Coast Green Event – to be held at Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco on Sept. 20-22, 2007 targeting the building industry.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 pm.