Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, another holiday or none at all, the holiday season brings with it an opportunity to shift societal patterns of overconsumption to sustainable giving.  Every year around this time, mass consumption is incentivized more than usual with “holidays” like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Sales for the holiday season are starting earlier and earlier, and consumers are taking advantage of it.  Corporations, which already have far-reaching impacts on the environment, see a dramatic sales increase during this time - Amazon alone has a 260 percent increase in usage on Black Friday each year, translating into not only more stuff in our landfills, but also more money into big businesses and more pollution with the increase in mass production and transportation.

While U.S. waste statistics are already staggering to begin with, we’re bringing this one back from last year’s holiday blog post as a reminder of just how critical it is to be mindful of waste during the holidays: from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Americans throw away one million extra tons of trash per week.  If there is anything this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference taught us, it is that much, much more action is needed - even with COP26 pledges, the world is currently not on track to meet the Paris climate agreement’s goal.  The good news is that each of us always has the ability to make empowering choices, especially around this time.  From shopping local to participating in “Buy Nothing,” we’ve rounded up our recommendations for sustainable holiday celebrations this year, so we can give from a place of protecting future generations and mindfulness.

Food and sustainability this season

The holidays tend to be loaded with meat and if you choose to eat plant-based like many of us, it can be an awkward time.  Family members may judge, let alone simply not understand, and it isn’t fun to be the one going hungry at a gathering.  Cultural foods that are typically made with meat can still be enjoyed, too! Below are some recipes that vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters alike will enjoy, if you have the time and accessibility to create sustainable meals that will satisfy almost everyone at the table:

• Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake from New York Times Cooking - a favorite of Hammond Climate Solutions’ Climate Justice Policy Advisor, Karinna Gonzalez

• Make it low-waste by opting for the coconut oil over canola oil, and reusing the glass jar

• Vegan Pozole from Alexa Soto of Alexa Fuelled Naturally - a vegan food blogger local to San Diego (see her website for more traditional Mexican recipes with a vegan spin)

• Make it low-waste by adapting the recipe to use fresh hominy in bulk

• The Ultimate Vegetable Lentil Loaf from the Simple Veganista and Roasted Carrot and Red Quinoa Salad from Food & Wine - two of my favorite holiday season staples

• Make them low-waste by bringing produce bags to the grocery store and shopping in bulk for quinoa and lentils!

Sustainable gift-giving guide

Selecting gifts is where it gets tough for many, but there are countless ways to reduce your climate and plastic pollution impacts with holiday shopping.  In general, we encourage shopping at local stores owned by folks from communities of concern to reinvest in the communities that are disproportionately experiencing the burden of the climate crisis.  Some of our favorite gift ideas for loved ones include:

• Opting for a no-cost, re-shared gift with the Buy Nothing Project

• Skip the expensive (and frankly wasteful) gift wrap and use grocery bags - reusable or paper, newspaper, reusable food wrap or another idea from Trash is for Tossers’ zero waste gift wrapping guide

• Give the gift of conservation by adopting an animal for a loved one, through World Wildlife Foundation’s Symbolic Species Adoption

• Give tickets for an event or museum, supporting local artists and organizations (and aim to walk, bike or take public transportation when the time comes)

• Take your significant other on a zero-waste picnic at a local park

• Purchase a visitors pass from your local aquarium or animal sanctuary to support conservation efforts close to home

• Give a gift certificate to a local zero waste shop or favorite vegan eatery 

• Our team’s favorite San Diego-based zero waste store is Earthwell Refill (which is Black-owned)

• Donate to a local climate nonprofit organization on behalf of family and friends to support activists holding corporations and Big Oil accountable

• Donate to a nonprofit news publication and earmark funds for environmental reporting

• An example for those local to San Diego like our team, Voice of San Diego is a publication that works hard to highlight local climate issues and the critical movements fighting for climate justice

• Buy zero-waste makeup products from brands like Elate Cosmetics and Antonym Cosmetics  

• Check out more gift ideas, organized by price, category and interest!

Traveling for the holidays?

Unlike last year, some of us may be traveling for the holidays this year.  With that, also comes the likelihood of opting for convenience and sometimes, not being mindful of our impact.  Here are some ways you can minimize your carbon and trash footprint if you’re planning on visiting loved ones this season:

• If traveling to multiple areas, aim for low-carbon transportation when possible

• Eat at sustainability-focused restaurants within reasonable distance - make it more sustainable by opting for local, organic, plant-based food and drinks

• Carry reusable utensils with you - if you don’t have a kit, make your own, and wrap up a fork, knife, spoon, and chopsticks if desired into a reusable napkin!

• Remember to bring a reusable water bottle - many airports have water refill stations alongside drinking fountains

• Educate yourself about the Indigenous land you’re on, wherever you may go

• Check out the Zero Waste Collective’s How-to Guide for Zero Waste Travel

As full-time climate activists we recognize that our line of work is more like a marathon than a sprint, and know just how important it is to pause and celebrate victories along the way.  There have been climate policy wins related to building electrification, transportation and getting cities and big organizations to speak out in support of rooftop solar, which we’ve been proud to be a part of with our amazing coalitions of climate warriors.  We have seen climate program wins as well, such as nonprofit organizations reducing local climate injustices through the Solar Moonshot Program and nonprofits helping make electric vehicles affordable to communities of concern.  In addition, Hammond Climate Solutions’ founders, Tara and Justin Hammond, have won a handful of recent awards for their dedicated, bold climate leadership and vision to create a more just and equitable future. 

Most recently, Tara was presented the Environment Champion Award from Business for Good San Diego, a nonprofit organization led by San Diego-based businesses on a mission to engage the local business community on policy issues, strengthening the community’s wellbeing, quality of life and ability to participate in decision-making processes.  Tara has been an active member of the organization since 2020 through collaborating with other local business owners to get involved in local climate policy and facilitating coalition building between the business and climate communities in San Diego.

A month ago, Justin was named an awardee of his local town council's Hometown Heroes awards.  Hometown Heroes were selected for going above and beyond for their community, and Justin was recognized for his long-standing commitment to helping protect the environment locally and beyond. Today, as co-founder and chief energy advisor of Hammond Climate Solutions, Justin utilizes his expertise to perform feasibility studies and design clean energy systems for nonprofit organizations, large and small business, school districts, local municipalities and a variety of other organizations. 

Last month, our team was thrilled to see that San Diego State University (SDSU) Alumni, the alma mater of all of our current team members, named Tara as one of their 10 Rising Aztecs for 2021.  These alumni are under 40 and have been chosen for their extraordinary career achievements, awards and dedication to their alma mater.  Tara, an SDSU Alumni lifetime member, graduated in 2011 with her degree in public relations.  While at SDSU, she held climate leadership roles on campus, including but not limited to being CEO of  the Enviro-Business Society, the chair of the Associated Students’ Green Love/Sustainability Commission, board member of the GreenFest executive team and the Associated Students’ sustainability commissioner.  Since graduating, Tara has encouraged generations of climate activists to grow and thrive through mentoring those that have come after her, equipping them with opportunities in local climate activism and always creating time to connect with those in her community regardless of how packed her schedule is.

Earlier this year, Tara was also named one of San Diego Business Journal’s 40 Next Top Business Leaders Under 40 for 2021. This is the second time Tara has been selected as an awardee for this category by San Diego Business Journal.  Winners were honored for being young change makers, visionaries, leaders and innovators who are making a great impact on their community.  One of the ways Tara continues to make a positive impact on her community is being an active member of various boards, committees and coalitions, including California Solar+Storage Association San Diego chapter, the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance, Surfrider San Diego, Climate Defenders Action Fund, GRID Alternatives San Diego and the San Diego Climate Hub.  For more on what led her to this achievement, Tara’s acceptance video is available to watch here.

Tara was recently nominated to join the Business for Good San Diego board of directors as well as the California Alliance for Community Energy executive committee.  This summer Tara was re-elected vice chair of the San Diego Community Power Community Advisory Committee (Tara was nominated to be chair but respectfully declined and re-nominated the current chair who is a very strong equity champion). 

Our team is grateful for the many partners and clients that have contributed to our collective impact, from individual activists to local climate organizations and coalitions.  We are firm believers in collaborating with others in order to create a more just and equitable future that works for all. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead. 

On November 15, the City of San Diego became the largest city in the state to weigh in on the net energy metering proceeding, which is currently underway at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).  A proposed net energy metering (NEM) decision is expected to be made by next month on the future rooftop solar agreement in California, known as net energy metering 3.0 (NEM 3.0).  

The net metering resolution, which urges the CPUC to create a structure that will keep rooftop solar growing sustainably while expanding solar access to low-and-moderate income communities, was approved unanimously by the San Diego City Council today after receiving unanimous support during the San Diego Environment Committee last month.  Local organizations SanDiego350, Climate Action Campaign, Protect Our Communities Foundation, CED Greentech and the San Diego Democrats for Environmental Action joined the Hammond Climate Solutions team in making verbal comments in support of the resolution today, emphasizing the importance of this decision in the middle of a climate emergency.  Last month over 60 people made comments in favor of the resolution. 

“Rooftop solar is a lynchpin in the city's legally-binding Climate Action Plan,” said Matthew Vasilakis, Co-Director of Policy with Climate Action Campaign.  “We need to incentivize rooftop solar and storage with a strong NEM program and paired investments in communities of concern.  That's how we build a climate resilient 100 percent clean energy system.” 

Councilmember Raul Campillo, who was one of the first elected officials in the state to issue a letter to Governor Newsom advocating for a solar-friendly net metering 3.0 agreement, called out the importance of this resolution during his remarks today. 

“This {resolution} ensures that the City of San Diego has communicated its priorities to the state on this matter, and we cannot afford any changes to this {net metering} policy that slows down the process or limits accessibility to clean energy.  This resolution speaks loudly and clearly that the City of San Diego wants to protect the environment, create good paying, high-skilled jobs, improve our energy resiliency and save ratepayers billions of dollars."

Beyond the obvious carbon emissions reduction, local grid reliability and cost savings that come from the increased adoption of rooftop solar and energy storage, the San Diego region has thousands of local jobs at stake with this decision.  Jake Marshall, Operations Manager with CED Greentech San Diego, a distribution company out of Mira Mesa, called in to support the resolution.  Marshall’s comment highlighted the potential massive job loss that could result if the industry is forced to slow down. 

“I personally employ 75 people in Mira Mesa, we have run the numbers and with the {investor-owned utilities’ anti-solar} proposals, our numbers will go down to 22 people.” 

The resolution states that the City of San Diego “supports a CPUC NEM 3.0 decision, which emphasizes the sustainable growth of customer sited solar electric and energy storage facilities in order to meet California’s clean energy targets, particularly residential customers in disadvantaged communities” while also advocating to “reject elements of any proposal which will stifle sustainable growth of customer sited renewable generating facilities including high monthly fixed charges and avoided cost models which insufficiently account for the societal value of customer sited renewable generation.”

The resolution includes strong equity provisions, and Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe highlighted the importance of making solar jobs more accessible to communities of concern. 

Council President Jennifer Campbell ended the discussion by calling out the intentions of the investor-owned utility companies.  

“It's clear the investor-owned utilities are working hard to hamper solar energy growth, which is very short-sighted of them, as they could utilize this extra energy obtained to provide energy for other people in geographic areas that do not have as much sunshine as we have.  The cost shifting that {the investor-owned utilities} are proposing will hurt our climate action goals, will hurt our green job growth and the affordability of those who wish to push solar on their roofs.  Unfortunately it seems that their immediate bottom line is more important to them than a cleaner, green San Diego in which all income levels can participate in our abundant sunshine.  Let the {C}PUC know that San Diego stands on the side of rooftop solar, especially in communities of concern, and all the benefits of it, from good paying local jobs to healthier neighborhoods and increased clean energy production as solar energy brings.”

Once again, the only comment that was not emphatically in support of protecting rooftop solar was from one San Diego Gas & Electric employee who urged the council to meet with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an organization who is known to side with the utilities on this issue (learn more in this blog post, How an Environmental Group Aligned with Monopoly Utilities to Squash Rooftop Solar). 

The City of San Diego weighed in just in time before the anticipated proposed decision by the CPUC in December, while other cities and organizations in San Diego county have already gone on the record in support of protecting access to rooftop solar and energy storage.  In September, the City of Solana Beach became the first city in the state to issue a resolution standing up for a strong net energy metering with a unanimous vote.  San Diego Community Power, the community choice energy program for the cities of San Diego, Imperial Beach, Encinitas, La Mesa and Chula Vista, also submitted a letter jointly with San Jose Clean Energy, which highlighted the fact that the net metering proposal by the investor-owned utilities would result in fees that community choice energy customers would not be able to avoid.  Earlier last week, the City of Chula Vista voted unanimously to send a letter and approve a resolution calling for the CPUC to create a policy in which solar is able to continue to grow, and this week, Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina released a letter in support of a strong net metering 3.0 agreement. 

As the proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission rapidly approaches and the final decision expected by February of next year, local activists are hoping this resolution will lead to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria weighing in as well to leverage his existing relationship with Governor Gavin Newsom. 

For latest information and up-to-date calls to action, visit our net metering toolkit at www.HelpCleanEnergy.org