Warning: Nuclear Waste in America!

Yesterday (3/18), I first learned from CHEJ (The Center for Health, Environment & Justice) about Radioactive waste from The Manhattan Project affecting Americans in St. Louis, Missouri (MO).

The secret project that was started in 1942 to produce nuclear bomb left behind toxic waste buried in the landfill, contaminates the American land, water, and air.

In 2012, a group of mothers in St Louis founded a nonprofit organization, “Just Moms STL” after they smelled intense odors from the burning of nuclear waste escaped off the landfill.

Read their story here: https://justmomsstl.org/about/our-story/

For years, they have raised concerns about potential links between radioactive waste and increased rates of cancer and autoimmune diseases among residents.

This area is majority Republicans. Recently, on March 17, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) finally secured pledge from Trump appointed EPA leader, Lee Zeldin to clean up radioactive waste after decades of neglect from the American’s ruling party, Democratic and Republican.

This is an undeniable proof that environmental issues ARE NOT political issues. It is affecting every American.

If Republicans are truly “American First!” MAGA, they should fix this ASAP. Stop sending our taxpayers money to support other countries’ wars and stop the assault on environmental movements. We have to work on this together, regardless of our faith or political views.

By the way, St. Louis, MO is our state, Illinois’ next-door neighbor!

Picture from JustMomsSTL.org

Watch “How the push for the atomic bomb led to long-lasting nuclear waste problems in St. Louis“.

Learning Environmental History from Philately

From my recent browsing at a flea market, I got an interesting philatelic item. It is the First Day Issue Stamp And Envelope of Anti Pollution Campaign, released in 1970.

There are four stamps attached to the envelope. As described by New York Times, the stamp designs incorporate two segments topped by pleas to “Save Our Soil,” “Save Our Cities,” “Save Our Water” and “Save Our Air.” The left portion of each stamp pictures the world as viewed from outer space. In adjoining panels, the Soil stamp shows wheat bent by the wind. The Cities stamp has children at play and skyscrapers in the background. The Water stamp depicts a fish. The Air stamp shows a bird.

A quote by Richard M. Nixon is printed on the envelope. “… Begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land, and to our water.”

Former President Nixon from the Republican Party was infamous for the Watergate Scandal that led to his resignation. His legacy in environmental policies is not well-known in the US.

From the Nixon Foundation, “President Nixon’s consequential environmental record is surprising to many people. The Nixon administration initiated many of the most important, and enduring, environmental policies in American history including: the signing of the National Environmental Policy Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the signing of the Clean Air Act of 1970, the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the signing of the Endangered Species Act, the signing of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the creation of the Legacy of Parks program, which converted more than 80,000 acres of government property to recreational use in 642 new parks.”

In 2017, Harvard Law School had a discussion on “The Remarkable Evolution of American Environmental Law from Nixon to Trump and Beyond.”

They discussed the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was initially created, and later championed, by Republican administrations. One of the panelists, James Barnes, a chief of staff to the first EPA administrator, noted that the environmental movement barely existed before 1970, the year of the first Earth Day.

The impetus was a string of environmental disasters, i.e., The Cuyahoga River catching fire, the Santa Barbara oil spill, the near-death of Lake Erie, and the near-extinction of the bald eagle. People were also beginning to notice that their favorite fishing hole was no longer producing fish. There were vast outpourings of public concern, an estimated 20 million people at sit-ins and protests. In 1969 Congress passed an environmental act that Nixon signed. He proclaimed that the 1970s will be the decade of the environment.

Unfortunately, environmental issues turned into divided political issues for Republicans and Democrats. Democratic opponents ridiculed George H.W. Bush for being serious about his aim to be “the environmental President.” Richard J. Lazarus from Harvard Law School and author of “The Making of Environmental Law” suggested that, neither Nixon nor Bush got much political return for their pro-environment stance, leading them to rethink their principles.

As President Trump returns to the White House, environmental issues continue being politicized and sharply dividing the American people. In 2012, Trump tweeted, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. In his 2025 Executive Order, Trump stated that, “Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation.” It is clear that Trump is prioritizing American businesses and manufactures over environmental issues championed by Republicans in the 70s.

Learning history is important to understand the political issues, like the historical shift of the ruling parties in pursuing the American ideal values, i.e., taking care of our environment and using science and technology to build a better civilization on Earth.

Learning history from stamps is one of the reasons I love Philately or stamp collecting. It was a popular hobby in the 80s. I sometimes exchanged and sold my extra stamps to my classmates to grow my collection. Stamps were the window to the world for me who grew up in Indonesia before the era of the Internet and email. To this day, I still enjoy learning history, nature, culture, and science from stamps.

Recycle Art & Craft: Crocheting Plastic Bags

Clean and used grocery plastic bag is not a waste and should not end up in the landfill. We can turn the bags into many useful and fun items, for examples: Welcome Mat, Sleeping Mat, a tote bag, a banner, even a dress to play costume or for other fun occasions.

Here is a very simple guide on how to start the project to upcycle plastic bags:

How to collect Plastic Bags

DO. NOT. PURCHASE. THEM. or collect them from restaurants or other stores.

In Chicago, we have to pay 7 cents to get plastic bags at grocery store. What a waste of money! Yes, we still can get plastic bags from restaurants, but that is NOT an eco-friendly way to collect plastic bags.

The best way to get them is from collection bins located in many grocery stores. Or, ask people to donate their plastic bags.

How to store plastic bags

If you end up collecting lots of plastic bags, save space by folding them into a triangle. This will not only save space but also keep your plastic bags clean and ready to be used for crafting purpose.

Step 1: Fold the end corner of plastic bag into triangle shape
Step 2: Fold it again
Step 3: Repeat it until the end
Step 4: At the end of it, fold the remaining part of the plastic into the pocket

How to create Plarn (plastic yarn)

To create the plastic yarn for crocheting, follow these simple steps:

Step 1:
Cut the plastic bags into 3 parts as shown (top, middle, bottom). Fold the middle part into two and folded it again. Cut it into 4 pieces with the same size. Keep the top and bottom parts to be used for the project or other purposes.

Step 2:
Open up all the 4 pieces to make 4 plarns, as shown in this picture.

Step 3:
Connect all the 4 plarns like shown in the picture. To make it clear, here we use different color of plarn.

Step 4:
After all plarns are connected, we are ready to crochet. For crocheting plarn, we use 19-20 mm hook.

How to crochet plarn for beginners

There are many videos on the internet on how to crochet plarn. This is one of them. It also explains from the beginning how to create plarn and provides many useful tips on crocheting plarn.

Chicago Heat Watch 2023

Volunteer Opportunity!

What:

Chicago, along with 17 other communities across the country is building a team of resident scientists to measure heat across communities this summer.

Chicago needs 150 volunteers across the city on the Activation Day!

2023 Heat Watch Participating Cities

Why:

Identifying these hotspots, called urban heat islands helps local decision-makers take actions to reduce the health impacts of extreme heat, which often target the most vulnerable.

The data collected by volunteers will be analyzed and used to give Chicago residents and government decision-makers a clearer picture of ways to improve Chicago’s heat safety strategies.

When:

June – Volunteers will be contacted to be trained on the campaign.
July – Activation Day (Date/Time TBD: To be Determined)

Where:

Check out and contribute to this Point of Interest Map.

Point of Interest Map

How to volunteer:

  • Register HERE.
  • Take the training (date/time TBD).
  • Help the City to share info on Cooling Center Locations and Senior Well-Being Check.
  • On the Activation Day, over three shifts (morning, midday, and evening), volunteers will travel the routes with heat sensors on their own cars. Each sensor records temperature, humidity, time, and location.
Heat sensor to be used to collect the data (source: NOAA)

More Info:

Welcome our new Board Members and Officers!

Source: Canva.com

Chicago Muslims Green Team (CMGT) is grateful to receive ongoing support from our Board of Directors. In 2022, CMGT welcomed four new Board Members and elected our new Board Officers for 2023 as follows:

  • President: Mohammed Faheem
  • Secretary: Joko Supriyanto
  • Treasurer: Fred Williams

The full list of our Board of Directors can be found on “Our Team” webpage.

As a young nonprofit organization, CMGT depends on a strong Board of Directors to provide the guidelines and evaluations, to strengthen the foundation of the organization, and to expand our networks. CMGT is blessed to have Board members from diverse background with different cultures, knowledge, and skills.

Here are pictures of activities from our Board members:

Meet and Greet with the Illinois Governor

Board of Directors Rayda Edding and Mohammed Faheem represented CMGT at the event on September 27, 2022 at Bridgeview Community Center organized by CIOGC (Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago).

Source: Mohammed Faheem

Click HERE to view the video from the event.

Source: Rayda Edding

Faith for a Just Energy Transition

Board of Director Nana Firman who is also a representative from GreenFaith and ISNA Green Initiative gave a speech at an International webinar of Faith for a Just Energy Transition on September 28, 2022. The event is co-hosted by GreenFaith, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, and the Laudato Si Movement.

Source: Nana Firman

At the event, religious leaders worked together to demand a Non-Proliferation Treaty on fossil fuels and created an interfaith letter to be sent and released to the governments and financial institutions.

For more info, please click HERE to read an article and HERE to watch the video recording of the event. 

Source: MyJoyOnline