Third Act Educators’ Newsletter

 *Election Special* 

Next Third Act Educators’ Working Group Meeting 

Nov. 9th, 3pm PST/6pm EST

Join your comrades and colleagues for inspiration! Click here to register.

The next 8 days before the election are crucial! 

Wondering what you can do?

We've got you covered! 

Ways to Be Active in the Election:

Option #1: Help Protect the Right to Vote

Sign-up with “Protect the Vote” here to volunteer with several essential programs to protect the right to vote, keep local polling places open, fight election misinformation, and ensure votes are counted securely. They are the largest, non-partisan voter protection coalition. Get trained now so you are ready to volunteer as early voting starts, on election day, and when votes are counted.

Option #2: Work the Election Polls

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER WITH ELECTION PROTECTION

You will be trained as a nonpartisan poll monitor volunteer, to serve as voters’ first line of assistance through complicated voting rules, against rampant misinformation, and around obstacles to the ballot box. Sign up to be a:

• In-Person Poll Monitor (both roving and stationary): monitor polling places, report problems and assist voters.

• Social Media Monitor: identify mis/disinformation and help answer voter questions online.

Option #3:

Get Involved with our Democracy

We know that everything is on the line this election year. Now is our moment to stand up and act—by raising our voices, getting engaged and voting. A recording of an AFT Call to Action is available here:

Sign up to volunteer: https://go.aft.org/volunteer

Help staff your local polling place: https://www.powerthepolls.org/aft

Reach out to Samantha Galing (sgaling@aft.org) and Marcia Reid (mfortson@aft.org) for more information about campaign deployments in battleground states. They need people “on the ground” in those states!

Stand by! 

On Nov. 10th Third Act National will make a very important, exciting announcement.  

Third Act National will be announcing a huge project that all of us will be able to be part of, moving forward together.

Celebrations and Hope:

A woman in Kenya opened a factory that turns plastic waste into bricks that are even stronger than concrete

Materials engineer Nzambi Matee was "tired of being on the sidelines of seeing plastic." In her home city, she said Nairobi generates around 500 metric tons (about 1.1 million pounds) of plastic waste per day — and only a fraction of it is actually recycled.

So, Nzambi Matee got to work creating a solution. She founded Gjenge Makers, which turns plastic waste into building products. They take plastic waste that can no longer be recycled by other factories, mix it with sand, and create bricks that are 5-7 times stronger than concrete. They're also really lightweight, which reduces both transportation and installation costs, too.

“The negative impact we are having on the environment is huge. It’s up to us to make this reality better. Start with whatever local solution you can find." Matee said.

Harvard University announced it will completely stop investing in fossil fuels

Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow announced that as of June, Harvard Management Company (HMC) no longer had direct investments in fossil fuels, and that they would not make future investments in fossil fuels.

"Given the need to decarbonize the economy and our responsibility as fiduciaries to make long-term investment decisions that support our teaching and research mission, we do not believe such investments are prudent," Bacow wrote in an announcement posted to the university's website. He also called climate change "the most consequential threat facing humanity."

YouTubers are raising $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean

YouTubers all across the digital realm are banding together for a good cause: saving our oceans. #TeamSeas — an initiative by the popular YouTube account Mr. Beast asks content creators to use their influence to raise awareness about the current state of our oceans. 

Their ambitious goal is to raise $30 million dollars by the end of the year to take 30 million pounds of trash out of the waters and partnering with popular YouTubers to spread the word.

According to their research, even $1 will take out 1 pound of trash in the ocean. To reach their 30 million pound goal, they're partnering with the Ocean Conservancy to organize beach and in-ocean cleanups, and with The Ocean Cleanup, to focus on the rivers that contribute the 80% of trash that reach the oceans.

Court ordered Shell to cut its carbon emissions by 45% by the year 2030

In a historic, landmark victory for the planet and for climate change, a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its net carbon emissions by 45% by the year 2030.

“The climate won today,” said Roger Cox, a lawyer for the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, which was one of the organizations behind the case. “This ruling will change the world. Worldwide, people are in the starting blocks to take legal action against oil companies following our example."

This ruling has been a long time coming. A group of seven environmental and human rights organizations, along with around 1,700 Dutch citizens filed the case back in 2018. And while this case is one in a string of lawsuits filed around the world by climate activists, it's believed to be the first against a multinational corporation.

Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood interview

Our founders, Bill McKibben and Akaya Winwood had a wonderful interview with Laura Flanders, discussing the climate crisis, big banks, and the work of Third Act.

Watch or listen here! Bill McKibben & Akaya Windwood: Boomers, Big Banks & Solving the Climate Crisis

Please send us Music Recommendations: 

If you did not know, at the end of every Third Act Meeting we enjoy playing music to inspire us to continue doing the work we do. If you have song suggestions, especially from the 60’s and 70’s era, that inspire you, please send them to Michael at mi.englander@gmail.com to have them added to our list! 

Deadlines for inclusion in the next newsletter: 1st of the month and 15th of the month.

Please send all announcements to Lenore at LMKENNY@aol.com to be included in the next newsletter. Please include the words “For Newsletter” in the subject line.

“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.” 

—John Lewis

 “Someone struggled for your right to vote. Use it.”

— Susan B. Anthony