Topics in This Issue:

- Plastic Blocks
- Sol y Luna
- Pima Animal Care Needs
- End of Life Options
- Climate Action Forum
- Climate Mapping Tool
- Water Security
- Sustainable Tucson
- Watershed Management Group (WMG)
- Pima County Poll Worker
- ZOOcson 2022
- Reid Park Reimagined
- Cyclovia Tucson
- COVID

Plastic Blocks

Each week as we continue through what’s being called a pilot project phase of the ByFusion blocks, I share some new information on both the product and the outreach – to keep things fresh. Based on the number of people coming by and dropping off material the ‘freshness’ element is gaining ground simply by you sharing with your friends.

People ask about how diverting plastic from the landfill will help with other climate effects. Specifically, how does dumping plastic into the landfill compare with us reusing the material in construction-grade blocks. On every metric, you can see that what we’re doing has a significant environmental effect. So good on you all for filling our roll-off and keeping the program going.

Later this week we will be doing the installation of new benches in Himmel Park, and I’m told the trash enclosure over in El Pueblo Community Center’s parking area will also finally start this week. Last week I mentioned in the newsletter that Flagstaff has permitted a 2br/2ba 600 sq/ft home to be built using ByBlocks. Here are some other projects that have been done with the blocks:

The process relies completely on steam and compression – the steam heats and cleans the left-over debris from the plastic. The super-heating also sanitizes the material while keeping it in the condition they need for the fusion process.  

This is a picture of the ByFusion plant over in Gardena, California. We shared a live video stream with Poly Print - our soon-to-be local plastic label manufacturer partner. I snipped this photo. It shows the ByFusion staffers making blocks from the bales of plastic we shipped over from Poly. The blocker machine you see has 3 cells, each capable of churning out blocks. This 3-cell unit can process about 100 tons of plastic per month. Based on need, it can scale up to roughly triple that amount. 

Here are some of the blocks as they’re coming out of the blocker. These are the Poly Print blocks that began here in Tucson as plastic waste. 

Here’s a close-up. ByFusion is right now experimenting on the percent of Poly plastic they use and how much post-consumer plastic they include in the mix. The post-consumer is what you’re filling the roll off with. Having a healthy mix allows the blocks to fuse together more effectively – as compared to working with one single source of the material.

This is how it all starts – the shredded plastic right before it gets conveyored into the blocker for heating and compression.

Here’s our current progress report. We’re about 6 weeks into the pilot and you’ve filled the roll off with roughly 6 tons of plastic. That’s 6 tons of plastic that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. Averaging about a ton per week is pretty impressive. Our goal of having 500 people sign onto the project has now been more than doubled. Thank you for being a part of this exciting program.

If we add the Poly Print bales to what’s coming directly from residents, we’re already over 10 tons of plastic waste diverted from the landfill. But we’re intentionally keeping the commercial contributions separate – the goal is to demonstrate to the city that its residents who can and will make this program go. The commercial partners are just added benefits.

I hosted a meeting with ByFusion and the UA last week. Having a long history of seeing what goes on on campus I know there’s a significant partnership we can develop as this project continues to evolve. We’re already talking about a building project and will be continuing to fine-tune how to gather and include UA-generated plastic waste into this project in the coming weeks.

If you’d like to sign up, use this link. It’ll take you less than a minute.  Signing up will get you regular updates (beyond my newsletter) on how the project is progressing, and it’ll give you insights into other work being done that’s related to our project. The goal is to demonstrate to the city that the community wants this program and that we need to find a way to make it happen broadly. When that comes about it’ll be because of your support and encouragement.

https://www.byfusion.com/pilot-program/

Keep your non-recyclable plastic coming. The driveway area by the roll off turns into a steady stream of cars. We appreciate you taking the time to come by and do the drops. As this project develops the Ward 6 roll off will not be the only option you’ll have – but first we’re in the ‘prove it’ stage. We’re still giving away clear bags – come grab some if you’d like. We’re open until 1pm every weekday.

Sol y Luna 

Transitioning from a well-run company such as ByFusion to Nelson Partners – a property management firm that if you’ve been following this newsletter or local news for the past several years, you’re familiar with how poorly managed and out of control their student housing properties are. Here are a couple of pictures taken in the lobby of Sol last weekend – kids dancing on the lobby counter, kids drinking out of the wrong end of a bottle, and security guards taking part in the whole affair. I clipped these frames from a video that’s posted on a very public site.

The UA takes a general hands-off approach to what happens in these towers. And yet the video is posted on the Barstool Arizona Instagram page. That page comes with this statement of affiliation:

Barstool is now the title sponsor of the bowl game that happens in Arizona Stadium. Anybody affiliated with or promoting the activities happening in those student towers is a part of the problem we’re trying to solve. And to be clear, nothing on what they posted on Instagram remotely suggested the party on the counter in the lobby, the participation of the security guards, drinking from the broken end of a whisky bottle, leaving a wet slipping hazard in the middle of a tile entryway, or the imposition any of this had on other residents was a problem.

There were also more instances of debris being tossed from balconies last week. This time it was bags of trash from the 6^th floor. It nearly missed a maintenance man working below. Copycat students from another building did the same – from the 2^nd floor. By the terms of the lease, everyone in each of those apartments is subject to immediate eviction. That is the responsibility of Nelson Partners. One would hope the UA would advise Barstool that their participation in encouraging the activity isn’t the best way to represent the university as the title sponsor for the football game taking place just blocks from Sol y Luna.

Pima Animal Care Needs

This little guy is staring right at your heart.

At the end of August, PACC had over 1,800 pets either in-house at the shelter, or out in foster homes. There were well over 400 dogs in the kennel. That is a condition they refer to as a ‘critical capacity.’ If you’re considering adding a new furry family member, now is a great time to move ahead on that urge.

In the past 20 months the trend has consistently been that they’re seeing more pets coming into the shelter than are going out on a monthly basis. That necessarily increases the kennel census. They’ve also seen an increase in the length of stay for dogs of nearly 40%. That’s ‘good’ if compared to national trends – they've doubled length of stay. But at PACC the longer stays are only making the capacity issues more difficult to manage.

Some factors that are contributing to the capacity concerns have to do with housing. Evictions are on the increase. That has resulted in an increase in abandoned pets. In fact, abandonment has doubled in the past year. Calls from law enforcement to take abandoned pets are increasing due to those evictions.

PACC is located at 4000 N. Silverbell. They’re open noon until 7pm, Monday through Friday and from 10am until 5pm on the weekend. In an effort to reduce wait times for people visiting the shelter, PACC has hired several part time/temp workers. That status allows more flexibility in assigning work hours – which results in better service to you all. Please give them a visit if you’ve been thinking about a new forever family member.

End of Life Options

Quick reminder about the upcoming free event at The Loft related to end-of-life decisions and options. The Arizona End of Life group is hosting the event at 2pm on Sunday, October 2^nd. It’s free, but they’ll hope many of the people coming share a $5 donation to help defray costs.

End of life decisions are critical to have in place before you need them. Nobody can anticipate serious injuries due to say a car crash or a sudden fall. In some cases, though degenerative illnesses give people time to plan. This event will share the story of one guy who had that luxury – and acted on it.

Come and hear “Jack has a Plan.” It’s another in the series of community relevant events the Loft team is proud to host. Here’s a short trailer on the film: https://jackdocumentary.com/

Climate Action Forum

It’s election season and the first of what will be several candidate forums is coming. Candidates from each party were invited to take part in the Southern Arizona Climate Action Forum. We’ll see who finally signs up, but as of now you can see the 5 people who are on board are all D’s. It’d be nice to see both ‘sides’ agree that climate is a critical issue.

The forum will be held by webinar. You need to register to attend. It’ll be a 90-minute exchange on all things climate. Please use this link in order to get signed up.

90 minute Webinar, Thursday, Sept 22 at 7PM Click Here to Register  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OTeQfwgSRVmXPJ_ya2zOvQ

Climate Mapping Tool

From time to time in this newsletter I share a resource you can use anytime to do your own kitchen table research on a variety of topics. One this week is a mapping tool that pulls together information from a variety of federal and non-profit sources to give, well ‘pictures’ (maps) of various climate conditions. The tool is called the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation portal. You can access it at this link: https://resilience.climate.gov/#top  Check it out – it's easy, and it’s informative.

It’s really easy to navigate through the site. For example, one of the links will show you areas with their respective drought conditions. This is the portion of the map I snipped for our part of the country. The darker the color, the more severe the drought condition.

Here’s how they described the Tucson drought situation:

By contrast, look at the Fresno area. They’re in what the CMRA tool describes as an ‘exceptional drought.’ And to be clear, they don’t suggest for any of us that things are about to turn around and we’ll all be riding with Noah on an ark down the Rillito anytime soon.

The CMRA has links for drought, wildfire regions, extreme heat, and both inland and coastal flooding. It’s a tool that identifies conditions. What we do with the information is a whole other issue.

Water Security

I did an interview with NPR last week – it will air this week – on the topic of the Colorado River, Tucson’s CAP allocation and the drought in general. One theme I felt was important to emphasize is that what many people are referring to as the decade-long drought is really a misnomer in that it implies the drought has an end date. I don’t believe we’re turning that spigot back on – the Colorado is running out of water and our reality is simply we need to look at water as a resource in a new and serious manner.

A key part of us each taking responsibility for water security is managing the things that are within our own control. One example is the kinds of fixtures you have in your home. We spoke about this during the TEP home energy efficiency meeting that filled the Ward 6 community room last Thursday evening. Many of the ways you save electricity around the house also end up saving water (shorter showers, for example affect both use of the water heater and water flow.)

Tucson Water has several rebate programs, each of which is tied to water-saving fixtures. Everything from financial rebates for installing a high-efficiency toilet, to purchasing qualifying clothes washers and rainwater systems. Some of this is income based so look closely when you go to this link in order to determine your own next steps:  https://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/residential-rebates

The vales of the rebates range from $100 up to a couple thousand dollars, depending on the kind of fixture or system you’re installing.

Sustainable Tucson

It’s hard to believe but another month has passed, and the Sustainable Tucson folks are back again. Virtually still. On Tuesday, September 13^th at 6pm they’ll host a meeting that will focus on National Preparedness Month. Given the reality of extreme heat, forest fires, flooding, and the collateral damage all of those causes, being prepared is an apt topic.

On this month’s panel they’ll have Matt McGlone and Joe Tabor – both Pima County workers. Matt is the outreach manager for their Office of Emergency Management, and Joe is the lead environmental epidemiologist at the PCHD and is a member of their heat relief team. As usual, you can find a link to the zoom meeting at www.sustainabletucson.org.

This month’s meeting is being offered in partnership with the work Tres English has been leading in an effort to bring neighbors together on the general topic of resiliency.

Watershed Management Group (WMG)

One of our Ward 6 partners in all-things water is WMG. Their learning lab is located on Dodge, 1 block north of Speedway. Check them out.

Coming on Tuesday, September 27^th WMG is hosting their Monsoon Movie Night at the lab. It’ll run from 6pm until 9pm. It’ll be a series of locally produced short films with a feature film titled “Water Harvester: An Invitation to Abundance.” That film speaks to water harvesting in Tucson and in particular the work done by local water expert Brad Lancaster.

They’ll begin the evening with food, drink and exploring the learning lab. If you haven’t visited before, this is a great chance to get familiar with their work.

Pima County Poll Worker

The election season is right around the corner. The climate forum I just shared about is just one of many very important opportunities for you to get acquainted with the candidates. On election day Pima County will be looking for hundreds of people to serve at the polling stations. They have a variety of positions available – from inspectors to judges, marshals, and clerks. They’ll train for each position.

We can’t hold elections if we don’t have citizens who’ll step up and help. The positions pay. The workday is long and the commitment to good governance is required. Please check this link if you’d like to sign up to work the polls this fall.

https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?pageId=266355

ZOOcson 2022

Before I get to ZOOcson I want to introduce you to Finley. He’s their cuddly grizzly bear – cuddly from a distance. Check out his claws in this video -  grizzly bear Finley!

Grizzly’s use those claws to forage for roots, tear into fruits – and mammals. They’re omnivores, which means they eat pretty much whatever they want. And who in the room is going to stop them. Stop by and see Finley on your next visit to the zoo.

That visit can be this year’s ZOOcson. It’s coming on Friday, October 7^th. It’ll run from 6pm until 9pm. ZOOcson is their annual major fund raiser – and it’s also a chance for you to try samples of food from local restaurants, enjoy the animal ambassador presentations, live music, and auctions. It’s a big event that if you haven’t had a chance to take part, you should give it a try.

Tickets include access to all the food booths plus 2 drink tickets. Zoo members get $25 off from the price of tickets. Use this link to visit the zoo site:

Click here to visit our event page and purchase tickets

Reid Park Reimagined

If you haven’t already filled in your Reid Park survey, please use this link to share your thoughts. The survey will close on Friday, September 30^th at midnight. The survey results will be a part of what we will use to craft the master plan for the park, so take a couple of minutes and let the parks staff know your ideas: 

 here (bit.ly/reidparkreimagined).

The master plan is a long-term plan that will be used to guide future investments in the park. There are already some Prop 407 dollars earmarked for some Reid Park upgrades, but none of those alter the general layout of what’s offered there now. Depending on the results of the survey and other outreach, that may or may not be true of the larger master plan. We will likely be voting on this late in the fall, so time’s running out if you haven’t gotten involved yet.

Cyclovia Tucson

Carve out some portion of Sunday, October 30^th for the fall Cyclovia Tucson event. This route will be a 4-mile-long block party that’ll wind through the Thrive in the 05 area. Roads along the route will be car-free during the event, so you can safely walk, jog, bike, skate – traverse the route in something other than your car and enjoy the other participants along the way.

The Cyclovia people are looking for volunteers. You can learn more about how to sign up for that by using this link:

cycloviatucson.org

This is a party, so Halloween costumes are encouraged. We’re grateful to Arizona Complete Health for being one of the significant sponsors of this community event.

COVID

The statewide and Pima County COVID numbers dropped significantly last week. Here’s the chart I’ve been keeping. With these numbers we’re nearly back to where we were when I began this list back in May.

We haven’t seen case counts this low since May 1^st. The four-month surge may be ending – and the CDC warns of another cold-weather surge up ahead. Get your vaccinations for both flu and COVID and we might be able to avoid that.

I’m going to wind down these COVID updates – assuming this coming week continues to show the improvement the current numbers are indicating. With that plan in mind, I thought this retrospective provided by the NYTimes was interesting. It shows how we assess how COVID has been handled over the past 2+ years – by party affiliation, and by how we self-describe ideologically. As a very general statement, the older and more liberal we are, the better we feel Democrats have handled the pandemic. And the more conservative we self-identify, the better we feel about how Republicans handled COVID. It will be interesting to see how, if at all this translates into the upcoming mid-term elections. That’s November – right about the same time the CDC says we might start seeing a new surge.

This data was also a part of the NYTimes’ report. We certainly come at the pandemic from different realities. The people they can’t include in the survey are the more than 1 million Americans who have died from COVID. Those perspectives are lost forever.

Testing is also still an important part of managing our way out of COVID. Pima County is still handing out free test kits. And they’re offering free testing. If you want to see where either of that is happening in your area, check this link. Keep the link – it's active all the time with updated information.

https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=575060

Here’s our state map dating back to the start of this in 2020. I’m counting on the new case counts to continue declining and stepping back from weekly COVID updates. Assuming nothing changes this week, if you’d like to follow the Arizona Department of Health site and keep current on these maps and other data, use this link: 

https://www.azdhs.gov/covid19/data/index.php

I remember back in April 2020 when I first ran this map Pima County had 42 COVID cases reported. We were 2 months from a very conservative governor shutting down businesses – under pressure from the health care community and local jurisdictions. Nobody predicted that Pima County would eventually see nearly 300,000 COVID cases – that's a third of our population. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that we were facing what would feel like ‘a bad flu season.’

The new bivariant vaccines are out and available. Check with your doctor or a local pharmacy about getting your booster updated.

Tracking COVID data for the past 2+ years has been a roller coaster. Most health professionals say COVID is ‘here to stay.’ So is the flu. I was disheartened to read last week that nearly 10% of parents are choosing to avoid even MMR vaccines for kids entering kindergarten. Back in the day getting childhood vaccines wasn’t even a question – you did it for the protection of your kids, and in order to stop a community wide outbreak of what a preventable disease is. COVID and politics seems to have changed all of that. I’ll leave you with this short video showing the importance of continuing to take this seriously:

https://fb.watch/fsHkc-u8vF/

City of Tucson Resources

- COVID-19 Updates: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/covid-19/covid-19-updates

- I Want To... : https://www.tucsonaz.gov/i-want-to

Click Here to view the City Of Tucson A Message from Steve K Newsletter - September 12, 2022