Author: Admin

At this time of year hummingbirds are everywhere! These are some of the smallest birds in the world, and they can hover in place and even fly backwards! There are only two hummingbird species that can be found in Western Washington, the year around Anna’s hummingbird and the seasonal Rufous hummingbirds that arrive around April or May on their migration from Central and South America. So, this is the perfect time to try to attract some.

Hummingbirds prefer long tubular flowers such as fuchsias, bee balm, butterfly bushes, columbine, trumpet vine, beardtongue, hummingbird mint, snapdragon and more( https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/0625-in-the-garden/ , https://www.king5.com/article/news/special-reports/attracting-hummingbirds-to-your-garden/140227470 ). Hummingbirds also love nectar, which can be made at home and put into a hummingbird feeder. Check out this link to find a hummingbird nectar recipe: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-make-hummingbird-nectar

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Cafe Zippy is a lovely little cafe close to Everett Community College. They offer an assortment of delicious items now available for take out! Many of which are vegan, vegetarian, organic, and gluten free. Organic baked goods at Cafe Zippy are provided by the local Essential Baking Company ( https://essentialbaking.com/ ). Cafe Zippy serves local Tony’s Coffee’s ( https://www.tonyscoffee.com/ ) organic and fair-trade expresso. They also have collaborated with Take Back the Tap, a movement to stop using bottled water and to use more tap water ( https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/about ) . Cafe Zippy is also a pickup spot for Full Circle ( https://www.fullcircle.com/ ), a company that provides custom boxes of organic farm goods. If you would like to learn more about Cafe Zippy visit their website at http://www.cafezippy.com/

The Washington Trails Association (WTA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting trails in Washington State. WTA works year around to help maintain trails so they keep them open, sustainable, and accessible while teaching people about trail work. WTA also collaborates with other groups and does grassroots work on issues such as trail funding and wilderness protection. If you would like to learn more about WTA, support their work, find information about Washington State trails, or find opportunities to volunteer visit their website at: https://www.wta.org/

Cunios is a restaurant in Clearview that’s committed to following sustainable practices. They get they’re ingredients from organic local farms in our area such as Chinook farms and Bob’s Corn. Also, their fryer oil has been converted into bio diesel for ten years. While on site consumption is not allowed right now due to the emergency, Cunios does take out! If you would like to learn more about the restaurant visit their website at https://www.cunios.com/ 

Everett Community College (EvCC) is collaborating with WSU (Washington State University) to work on a revolutionary type of wind turbine called a variable pitch vertical axis wind turbine (also known as a cyclo turbine) and have formed a wind energy team. Tests are going well and these kinds of turbines can theoretically be more efficient and produce more energy than standard horizontal axis turbines. Cyclo turbines would also be much smaller than the standard horizontal axis ones and would be easier to construct and maintain. This would also allow them to be built in more urban areas and offshore floating wind farms. They can also handle more turbulent air.

The wind team are also working with JC Dream (https://jcdream.org/), a Washington organization working to find alternatives to harmful rare earth metals used in technology such as lithium.

In June, EvCC and WSU will be attending the Collegiate Wind Energy Competition (https://www.energy.gov/eere/collegiatewindcompetition/collegiate-wind-competition) in Denver to present their turbine and learn more about the wind and renewable energy industry. If you would like to learn more about this project contact STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) club advisor jgraber@everettcc.edu. 

Theo’s Chocolate is a popular chocolate company based in Seattle. They are committed to sourcing their ingredients in an ethical and sustainable way. They work directly with farmers in the Norandino Cooperative in Peru and Esco-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and buy certified fair trade and organic cocoa beans. They purchase these ingredients for a higher than market price which ensures that farmers receive a living wage. If you would like to learn more about Theo’s Chocolate visit their website at: https://theochocolate.com/

EvCC’s Students for Environmental Action (SEA) Club went to the University of Washington’s (UW) Native Plant Nursery at the Center for Urban Horticulture on the UW-Seattle campus on February 22nd. This is an important program that raises and maintains thousands of native plants. These plants are often used for student led projects on environmental restoration sites.

SEA Club visited some of these projects such as the Heron Rookery; where several great blue herons’ nest, plant restoration/invasive species removal projects (often with collaboration with the Duwamish Tribe) and the Amphibian Corridor which is a project aimed at restoring habitat for amphibians such as salamanders. If you would like to learn more about this incredibly valuable program visit their website: https://sites.uw.edu/seruw/

The Northwest Stream Center is an important area that helps to protect the North Creek watershed and the riparian zone that is managed by the Adopt a Stream Foundation (AASF). What is a watershed and a riparian zone? A watershed is the large area of land that drains/”sheds” water into a stream, river, lake, wetland, etc. The riparian zone is the vegetation area next to a river or stream that affects that aquatic system’s ecology.

It is very important to protect these valuable ecosystems, this leads to improved water quality as well as habitat for many animals and plants. In the 1970’s the area here used to be a parking lot! Thanks to the hard work that still continues here this place has become an incredible restored watershed ecosystem. If you would like to learn more about the Northwest Stream Center, AASF and discover exciting learning opportunities; check out their website via the following link: https://www.streamkeeper.org/

For the last 5 years, the Juliana vs United States lawsuit has been making its way through the court system, asking for a climate emissions reduction plan from the state and to protect the atmosphere under the public trust doctrine. Kelsey Juliana, who was 15 years old when she co-filed the lawsuit, will take the stage at the 2020 Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) at the University of Oregon in Eugene on March 2-4. She will give an update on the status and the next steps of the landmark lawsuit. Immediately preceding her talk will be a plenary session on Understanding the Crisis of Our Time: Writing About Climate Change, featuring a diverse panel of prominent writers. There are staff, student, and faculty discounts available. Register today to join!

The Students for Environmental Action Club is having a make-and-take event at its Wednesday, February 12 meeting to make bath bombs, soap and lip balm from 1:30-2:30 in Monte Cristo Hall 111!