Green News from BPW Boulder, October

Ten Days of Action!!! 

Business and Professional Women (BPW), which was established in 1919, was one of the first organizations to support the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) written in 1923! The ERA still has15 states that have not ratified the amendment, so BPW continues to work tirelessly on women’s issues! BPW International has over 30,000 members in 109 countries! Currently Sharon Simmons, president of the Boulder chapter and our BPW Colorado Legislative Chair are making great strides on Cities on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Here is information on joining the task force. 

I thought I am hardly qualified to take all this on, I thought, “You have to start somewhere!” and I am learning so much and it is exciting! I have also mentioned that Eco-Cycle, the first curbside recycling in the USA, started right here in Boulder, Colorado. It just celebrated its 40-year anniversary. Organizations from around the planet rely on and learn from Eco-cycle's model.

According to Eco-Cycle,

42 percent of our greenhouse gases come from how products are made, transported, and gotten rid of 

...and that Zero Waste is the easiest and quickest way to fight climate change. 

Every time you buy something, every time you throw something away, think, "Where is this coming from and where is it going?" As soon as you practice this simple mindfulness exercise you will magically begin to reduce and reuse!

There are many organizations that are fighting the big fights—oil and gas, fracking, switching to sustainable energy—but hardly anyone is talking about the little things that can make a huge difference, like reducing and reusing, so I continue to focus on that. One of the first things we did on the BPW Environmental Committee was to create two documents; "What Is Zero Waste and Why Is It Important" and "How to Do a Zero Waste Event." Want to know more about these documents? Email Us!

In January 2016, our chapter was the first to commit to all future events it held being Zero Waste. We are hoping for all chapters in Colorado and the USA to follow suit.

In the past year, BPW Colorado has partnered with Women's Earth and Climate Action Network. They organized a campaign last October for organizations and people to take "a day of action" and asked for photos showing an action. They received photos from all around the world! (Our very own Donna Daniell holds up her sign from last year at the top of the post).

This event is a preface to the Conference of the Parties (COP21) which formed in 1992 by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Paris in late November and early December last year and where a precedent setting 175 parties signed an agreement. The United States, China, and Brazil just ratified the agreement in September.

This article was submitted by Laurie Dameron. Visit her Facebook Page here.

2016 Annual Conference for Business & Professional Women of Colorado

In June, Boulder's chapter of Business and Professional women hosted our state wide event. Included in the VIP guest list was National President Liz Behram. Not only is she President of the National Federation of Business & Professional Women's Clubs, she part of and has a primary initiative of bringing equality to women of all levels.

Six Colorado chapters were present and shared their initiatives and updates of how they are furthering Business and Professional Women's purpose in their local communities. Our chapter, right here in beautiful Boulder, CO is dedicated to strengthening women through mentoring locally and connecting globally and advocating women worldwide.

Part of the weekend included raising funds for the Colorado Women's Education Fund. Its purpose is to provide money to women who want to continue their education and are older than 25. This fund made it possible for 6 women to receive scholarships to attend the annual conference.

Our lineup of VIP guests also included the women that impact and empower others through their work:

• Becca O’Brien Kuusinen, Keynote: The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women’s Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth and $40 billion to Colorado
• Melissa Luna on “The Future of Talent Development Programs”
• Donna Roe Daniell “Women Empowering Women: How I Faced My Lifelong Fears by Climbing Mt. Killimanjaro with 5 African KISA Scholars

This two day event is open to everyone. Next year the conference is in Sterling, Colorado and we can't wait!