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Projects

People must take action individually and collectively to meet the challenges of our ever increasing crises of climate change and social and environmental breakdown. This page lists the projects WCA members are currently working on.

 

If interested or have ideas please CONTACT Us.

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Laws, regulations, planing, development goals, zoning at all levels of government directly impact climate and equity work. Without strong advocacy for ecosystems we would fair very poorly. WCA develops positions in partnership with other organizations and citizens, as opportunities arise, and publicizes them to rally support for just policies on Whidbey climate and environment.

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Current work (details here) includes input to Island County's Comprehensive Plan.

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See also our VOTE Climate project.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

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Resources:

Vote Boxes

Along with advocating for governmental policy changes, WCA is reviewing the climate positions of candidates and initiatives for the upcoming elections. We have sent a questionnaire to primary candidates at the county and state levels. See candidates, responses, and project details here.

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See also our ADVOCATE Climate project.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

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WCA has created a fund in partnership with Whidbey Community Foundation. Donations will be go towards financing local projects that meet the WCA goals of lowering emissions, reviving ecosystems, and increasing resiliency. A committee of experts will review grant applications and advise WCF on appropriate distributions.

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Contribute now on our donation webpage!

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

​Project action pages:

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Resources:

DISCUSS and LEARN

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Engaging the Whidbey community by hosting gatherings to discuss and learn about our neighbors, environment, and future is a core mission of WCA that helps build community and resilience. A tight-knit community will be absolutely critical as challenges mount.

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WCA produces conferences and holds two monthly discuss and learn events. The 2023 conference was on the ever important topic of water (see presentations here). This year the topic is wildfire prevention (8/24 date). First Thursday of the month is the Island Conversations talk and discussion get together, usually in South Whidbey. In North Whidbey WCA hosts another discussion group Climate Change Salon.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

SOLARIZE

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Solar panels provide a way to lower energy costs as well as reduce carbon emission and localize power. WCA supported the City of Langley's winning application for a WA Dept. of Commerce Resilient Communities grant for a solar plus storage feasibility study to include the Langley Library and adjacent City Hall. Other recipients of the grant on Whidbey include the Island Church, the Langley United Methodist Church, Good Cheer, SW Parks and Rec, and the Pacific Rim Institute. Solar on existing publicly-owned spaces is an effective way to reduce community carbon footprints and lower government operating costs. Adding batteries will allow the systems to continue to provide power in a power outage, creating islands of resilience for our community.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Resources:

REDUCE and ELECTRIFY

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To meet the increasing challenges of the climate crisis, high energy-consuming households must reduce usage and electrify to cut emissions of remaining energy needs (see numerous energy reduction articles, e.g. here). 

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Support of no-car transit projects, like better connections to mainland cities, has also been a focus of WCA. Make comments on transit to Island County's Comprehensive Safety Action Plan here.

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WCA is working with the Island County Housing Authority to plan for installation of EV charging stations at multifamily housing in Langley (Brookhaven and Glenhaven). Charging stations in multiunit housing results in the most cost-effective installations.

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Partner organization Kicking Gas has terrific programs to get local homes off of fossil fuels. 

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

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Resources:

  • Kicking Gas: A great organization to help you save big on converting your home to efficient, cost-effective electric energy including ductless heat pumps, cooking appliances, and more to come!

PROTECT Water

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Without water there is no life. On an island where water is all around, potable water is often more scarce than on the mainland as salt water intrudes on underground aquifers. WCA produced a well-attended conference at WICA in 2023 on water (see presentations): how to conserve, retain, and manage. WCA has an ongoing project to work with the county on mapping our aquifer to identify recharge and extraction locations and rates.

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Help our neighbors and our water: We are looking for volunteers to help start and mutual aid group to install rain gardens. Check out this great Western WA design guide!

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

PROMOTE Forests

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Forests are cool refuges of beauty and diversity. They are an absolutely vital part of our planet's â€‹â€‹natural ecosystems, holding large quantities of CO2, purifying water, adding and cycling soil nutrients, releasing water vapor to produce rain, and providing habitat for countless plant, insect, and animal species.

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“Biological sequestration methods, including restoration of forests, grasslands, and wetlands and regenerative agriculture, are both more effective and more resource efficient in achieving a climate-relevant scale of CO2 removal than are techno-mechanical methods", June Sekera, IIPP

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Help our forests: We are looking for people to work on projects to reverse our rapidly dwindling wooded areas and declining health.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

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Resources:

ELIMINATE Waste

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The extract-consume-dispose pipeline is responsible, at every step, for many of the problems of injustice and environmental breakdown. Waste, of course, is the end product and degrades habitats, poisons our air and waters and is horribly symbolized by gigantic ocean plastic garbage patches. We cannot just recycle our way clear, reducing consumption is paramount for lowering carbon footprints, fighting global labor injustice, and reducing waste.

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WCA's project aims to help cut back the 8 24-ton truckloads of garbage produced by Island County each day, 40% of which is organic matter producing methane at the landfill.

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WSU Extenson Master Composter class coming this fall!

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Resources:

  • rePurpose: This WCA partner organization is a membership-based group whose goal is zero-waste Whidbey. Check it out!

  • WSU Extension Island County:

LOCALIZE

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To reduce carbon emissions and build a resilient community it is absolutely necessary to meet more of our needs in our own neighborhood. Food is an obvious and very important need that can be met by growing crops yourself or supportin local farmers, and Whidbey has many terrific farmers. But, what about clothing? Shoes? Soaps? The more we meet our own needs the better prepared we are for the future. (See also our projects on energy and water.)

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The ultimate localization is learning a skill yourself! Pickup weaving, gardening, woodworking, cooking, anything you find valuable. You will be surprised and rewarded for your efforts.

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Subscribe to our email list (below) for updates. CONTACT Us to help.

Project action pages:

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Resources:

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