Save the Planet in Your Spare Time
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Joyce Mercado, a retired IBM executive and climate activist, shares practical strategies from her book for individuals to combat climate change in their daily lives and communities. She demonstrates how ordinary people can make meaningful environmental impact without requiring large-scale systemic changes.
Key takeaways
- Individuals can take concrete climate action in their spare time through personal lifestyle choices and community involvement.
- Local community efforts contribute meaningfully to broader environmental protection goals.
- Practical, accessible solutions exist for people at all levels to help address climate change.
- Personal documentation and sharing of environmental discoveries can inspire others to take action.
- Climate protection is a key focus area for Rotary's service mission.
About Joyce MercadoJoyce Mercado is retired from a 35-year career at IBM and is a dedicated climate activist in Alameda, California. She is a longtime Rotarian and past president of the Alam Rotary Club.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Sept 30, 2024
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Save the Planet in Your Spare Time
Speaker: Joyce Mercado
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday, our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Message from our president
As the 2024-2025 President of our Club, I welcome our members, fellow Rotarians, friends, and guests. Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
It's All About Proportions
One semester when my brother, Peter, attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, an art-student friend of his asked if he could paint Peter's portrait for a class assignment. Peter agreed, and the art student painted and submitted the portrait, only to receive a C minus.
The art student approached the professor to ask why the grade was so poor. The teacher told him that the proportions in the painting were incorrect.
"The head is too big," the professor explained. "The shoulders are too wide, and the feet are enormous."
The next day, the art student brought Peter to see the professor. He took one look at my brother and said, "Okay, A minus."
Inspiration
If you are thinking about worthy charities for a donation, consider the Rotary Foundation! Here's an example of the peace and conflict resolution program from a few years ago.
Learn something new
How It's Made
I make cheesecakes, but not in this volume. Wow!
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Program: Save the Planet in Your Spare Time
Speaker: Joyce Mercado
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own and, unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub or Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Our speaker this week, Joyce Mercado, is the author of Save the Planet in Your Spare Time—A Climate Protection Handbook for the Busy Person. The book chronicles Joyce's journey to becoming a climate protection leader in Alameda so others can learn from her experience. Joyce's work covers reducing emissions, writing for the local press, partnerships, and maintaining one's optimism.
Leaders influencing others in their communities to protect the climate, community by community, is an essential element in fighting climate change. With the guidance in this handbook, Rotarians can be an effective part of the solution to the climate crisis. Anyone can be such a leader, even those with a busy life.
Joyce Mercado has been a climate activist in her community of Alameda for the last twenty years, even while holding a full-time job as a Technical Sales Manager for IBM and raising two children with her husband, David. She is a monthly climate protection columnist for the local press, an Al Gore program-trained Climate Reality Project Leader who has given dozens of presentations on climate protection, a member of many climate protection organizations, creator of the Alameda Climate Protection Checklist and Resource List with 70 actions individuals can take and has been recognized by the City of Alameda for her climate protection leadership.
The climate emergency prompted her to write a book when she retired so others could learn from her experience to become climate leaders in their communities. Joyce is a proud Rotarian, serving as Community Service Chair and President of the Rotary Club of Alameda. Joyce has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. For two years, Joyce went to graduate school at Princeton University to study plasma (electrically charged gas) physics. Deciding that plasma physics was not for her, she attended her first on-campus interview and got a job at IBM, which she kept for the next 35 years. Joyce lives in Alameda, California, with her husband, David.
Members and guests, please welcome Joyce Mercado!
To find the book, go to:
https://www.amazon.com/Save-Planet-Your-Spare-Time/dp/B0D3MY1XSR
To get the Climate Protection Checklist, go to:
https://casa-alameda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CASA-Climate-Protection-Checklist-March-2022.pdf
Some other recordings referenced in this talk:
Klara Noray Moradkhan - Durable and Sustainable Pavement Coating (Cool Pavement)
https://youtu.be/-dkRXXATbZM
Seema Lindskog and Rod Sinks - Using Solar Power To Benefit Nonprofits and the Planet
https://youtu.be/0CZrrlRHRt8
Carling Spelhaug - Applying Artificial Intelligence to Modernize Our Recycling Infrastructure
https://youtu.be/hIjToyrv6Vs
Nate Salpeter - Education, Inspiration, & Innovation - How Sweet Farm Impacts More, with Less
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEUcMrqYtvk
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
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The Weekly Rotarian
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World
And our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Development Success Stories
Our third podcast features success stories about economic development from around the world. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can click below.
Upcoming program recording schedule
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