Hope everyone is taking care of themselves and staying hydrated with the terrible heat we’ve had in NC and around the world.
Plastic Free July, a challenge to refuse single-use plastics!  
Can you go plastic-free for an entire month? Take the challenge here with the Story of Stuff’s campaign and break free from plastic!
The Truth is in the Proof. And excellent, but heartbreaking video about the devastation of the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines in Virginia.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0lbHwu59s&feature=youtu.be
You can join the summer resistance against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines, now through September 8 with the No Pipeline Summer:  Bill and Lynn Limpert, VA landowners whose land is directly in the path of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Bath County, VA, and featured in the video, have opened up their property this summer for a peaceful and family-friendly anti-pipeline encampment. Join this peaceful protest for a day or two or more as a pipeline “camptivist” as a guest of the Limpert family.  http://bit.ly/NoPipelineSummer
Climate Destabilization gatherings on the 2nd and 4th Sundays each month at the Oasis Cafe in Carrboro, 6:30-8:30 pm. More info here.
July 8th they will be watching and discussing “Crisis of Civilization: A Documentary About Global Crises” Explores the 5 major crises we are now facing.  Rather than taking a pessimistic view, the film includes the unprecedented opportunities to re-envision new forms of prosperity that function in harmony with our environment, rather than in conflict with it.
 
Pollinator Garden Tours July 9 and July 18
480 Hillsboro St. Pittsboro
Join Chatham County Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos as she gives tours of the beautiful Chatham County Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro. 
 
July 12, Straws Documentary Screening Event, 6-8:30 pm
The Cary Theater, 122 E Chatham St, Cary
Everyday in the U.S. alone, half a billion non-recyclable plastic straws get used once and tossed, ending up in landfills and littering our streets, waterways and beaches. But they don’t have to! 
 
Tuesdays with Tillis rallies every Tuesday to strengthen our commitment to persistent resistance to the regressive policies of the Administration and Congress.
11:30 am-12:30 pm, 310 New Bern Ave, Raleigh 
For more information and to learn what topic is focused on each week you can subscribe to this weekly newsletter by Karen Zieg here
July 19, Guided Hike with Dogwood Alliance, 6pm-8pm
Umstead State Park at the Crabtree picnic area
What makes Southern forests so special? Join Dogwood Alliance for a free guided hike at Umstead State Park to find out!
More info and RSVP here.
Here’s a link to the Climate Crisis video Bill McKibben created for the Sanders Institute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsLkFcxXPXE&feature=youtu.be
Upcoming events at The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, 8519 Pickards Meadow Road, Chapel Hill
July 10 and 24, 9 am -3 pm  The Elderhood Journey Summer Sessions
A series guided by Carolyn Toben and Mike McLeod: Calling Elders, and people of all ages who are interested in the powerful role of elders in community! As a group we will discover new horizons for how to live more aware in the latter third of life. We are reimagining a special role in our community and we are exploring what the inspiration of elderhood is asking of each of us. We each have some of the answers that we need at this time in the world, and through this collective journey, we will bring them together. This is an invitation to participate in an exploration of conscious aging, engage in a community building process, and explore what it means to be an elder. Learn more here.

July 20, Farm to Table Dinner Series, 6:30 -8:30 pm
The Eco-Institute is offering a culinary adventure through the seasons with multi-course menus highlighting Farmer Dave’s homegrown heirlooms and wild-foraged edibles. Each month, our chefs will feature the best of what nature has to offer from the farm, fields, and forests. Sign up for a single dinner or the full series. Come enjoy the stories of the food, deep connection with the land, and the company of your community local-food lovers!  
Register here.
July 19-21 Youth Climate March 
In Washington, DC and at sister marches across the country, youth will lobby and rally under the banner: #ThisIsZeroHour to act on climate change. So far I haven’t seen any word of a local march in NC. http://thisiszerohour.org/the-march/
Activists are working to stop two fracked gas pipelines in NC now with the latest proposed Southgate Mountain Valley Pipeline, and with proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Please consider signing this petition opposing the MVP. 

July 16-31, No Pipelines weeks of action. Frontline resistance campaigns across the U.S. will be taking action simultaneously to stop pipelines and extreme energy projects. There will be at least two actions taking place in NC—probably one in Charlotte and Raleigh, joining in solidarity with others by focusing on the banks funding the pipeline projects. Still in the planning stages, and no decisions have been made about the NC actions, except that they will be nonviolent and nonarrestible. If you’re on Facebook, check out the 350 Triangle facebook page where I will share info once they are set up, probably later in the month. 
SAVE THE DATES!
September 8  Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice!
Thousands of rallies will be held in cities and towns around the world to demand our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that works for all of us. Join us as we hold our local leaders accountable and demand that they walk the talk on climate action! In the Triangle the 350 Triangle team is organizing a Rise for Climate Solutions Tour and forum featuring local city and county leaders. RSVP and more info here as things are organized and updated!
December 1st. Waste Not, Living the Low Carbon Life