Earth Guardians is an organization of dedicated youth from around the world taking local action toward global regeneration. We are committed to standing up to protect the Earth, Water, Air and Atmosphere so our generation, and those to follow, inherit a healthy, just and sustainable planet. We are focusing on weaving together the synergy of individual grassroots youth driven projects around the globe, to create one international, intergenerational, intersectional movement for effective change.
The Earth Guardians NY team serves to support NY crews as they pop up across the state. Located in Woodstock, NY, our locally based actions carried out by the Core Team, and several Crews of young leaders in the making.
Since starting our chapter in the winter of 2015, we have begun to support:
EGNY NYC
EGNY SUNY Sullivan County
EGNY Sullivan County EGNY Croton on Hudson
EGNY Woodstock (EGNY IS EG Woodstock 😉
EGNY Peekskill & EGNY Suffern (Both just forming)
As we grow local chapters, we will be able to unite and connect on projects initiatives and actions together! This is so exciting!
We recognize that our government chooses not to officially acknowledge young people’s political, social and economical views until they are of legal age to vote… but this should not be what deters you. The voice of youth is inclined toward solutions… It is time to honor, support and magnify the voices of our young people and include them in the conversation about making regenerative change in our communities…
Earth Guardians New York is working to create a net of support for concerned and engaged young citizens in the New York area.
EARTH GUARDIANS NY TEAM:
RACHEL MARCO-HAVENS: Co-Founder, Co-Director
GABI RAPHAEL: NY Regional Youth Director
AIDAN FERRIS: Co-Founder, Co-Director
SIGI MANNINO: Co-Founder, Environmental Educator, Program Facilitator
EGNY BOARD OF ADVISORS:
Wes Gillingham—Catskill Mountainkeeper, Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline
Polly Howells— Bioneers, Woodstock Transition
Kevin Smith—Woodstock Land Conservancy Board Chair
Kathleen Nolan—Catskill Mountainkeeper Senior Research Director
Jeremy Cherson—Riverkeeper Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator
Rebecca Martin—Kingston Citizens Founder
Anne Hemenway—Activist and concerned citizen
Mary MacNamara—Esopus Creek Conservancy
Cynthia Adler—Actor, Activist
Susan Van Dolsen—Community Organizer, Activist
Nancy Vann—Community Organizer, Activist
Jennifer Schwartz Berky—Ulster County Legislature,Hone Strategic, Kingston Citizens
We are honored and inspired to have such an active and accomplished team of solutionists on our board of advisors. With such mentors, EGNY will continue to grow as a strong and effective organization.
A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT WE ARE DOING (UPDATES COMING SOON):
While we are working with the Colorado Earth Guardians Team to uplift young leaders globally, we are primarily focused on our local region.
Current Active projects:
• Earth Guardians NY has been doing a little bit of growing here in Woodstock, at The MountainView Studio in 2015 we planted two Honey Crisp Apple Trees (One was blessed by His Holiness Karmapa) and Earth Day 2016 we planted a beautiful rose bus near our headquarters, and a Lilac at Mt View. Planting is a beautiful way to work together in the sun and engage young people in the creation of beautiful solutions. We are learning more about Carbon Sequestering plants to not only beautify the area, but bring health to the planet.
•Educational Presentations In Elementary and High Schools—This is the second year in a row that Members of Earth Guardians NY presented to 5 different 4th, 5th & 6th grade classes on climate change in the Bennett Elementary School, as part of a school-wide Earth Day event. The Children were engaged and the faculty was moved to invite us back. We see this as continuing relationship!
• In 2015, Earth Guardians NY teamed up with the PTA of Bennett Elementary School and Kingston Citizens to present a screening of “Tapped!” to educate the community about the water bottling business, the recent threats to our region, and the importance of stabilizing policy, inter-municipal relationships and water infrastructure.
• Woodstock Peace Flag Initiative—A global Community Art Project: A collective art project with a vision for peace.Together, Earth Guardians New York and One Voice Global are creating a string of YOUR Peace Flags in a Global Community Art Project, to bring PeaceMakers and Climate Solutionists together to work toward a common goal… Peace on Earth. We invite you to add your own Peace flag to our string, to which there is no end… We will continue to be accepting your art to add to the flags, sharing it as it grows in length. Keep an eye out, the flags will be flying again as spring approaches!
http://woodstockpeaceflags.org
EGNY Peace Flag contact: Rachel Marco-Havens
- Focus and Support for the many grassroots organizations and citizens mobilizing around the protection our land, waters and people from the recent upsurge in Fossil Fuel Infrastructure buildout as our region becomes a storage and transport hub for Bakken Crude and Fracked Methane. We may have “Banned” certain types of Fracking in NY, we have not stopped enabling the exponential growth of infrastructure buildout for a dying industry. We must turn to renewable energy with immediacy. The coalescing movement includes, Catskill Mountainkeeper, SAPE, SEnRG, Resist Spectra, Riverkeeper and many more…
- Hudson Valley Water Protection—Earth Guardians New York began as part of local effort to protect the water in our region, (alongside Kingston Citizens, Riverkeeper, Transition Woodstock, Woodstock Land Conservancy, Esopus Creek Conservancy, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Local Elected Officials and many awesome citizens). The community was recently under threat of a National Bottling Company’s bid for 1.75 million gallons of water from a tiny lake, and a plastic bottling plant on a wetland, promising very few jobs and a lot of pollution headed for The Hudson and Esopus Rivers. The plant/project was prioritized by the Regional Economic Development Council and slated for 10.8 million dollars of state grant monies—Citizen efforts pushed the state to deny the awards and Niagara Bottling Co. abandoned its efforts, a remarkable environmental victory. This has sparked the activist nature in many of our young people, who are now concerned about infrastructure, economic development and consideration of climate change and sustainability, which is fortunate, as the issue brought up many vulnerabilities to water privatization in our region at a time when drought is striking the planet in unprecedented ways. We are now continuing to work to bolster the protection of our water from privatization.
earthguardiansny.wordpress.com 