This year’s Moms Clean Air Force Play-In for Climate Action brought out more than 500 activists from 40 states to show their support for efforts that protect the environment and children’s health.
The morning of July 13 was hot, but the energy was high. There were red shirts everywhere!
The event opened with a welcome and introduction by Moms Clean Air Force Director of Special Projects Gretchen Dalkemper followed by a welcome to the land, followed by music from Laura Tsaggaris and a press conference with nearly a dozen speakers.
For a complete listing of scheduled speakers and performers, see our 2017 Play-In preview post.
The event included lots of fun activity areas for adults and kids.
Even the littlest activists had their own activity area!
In the community area, I got to meet lots of other terrific organizations and projects that partnered with Moms Clean Air Force.
Partners included:
Reverb, a non-profit organization that works with music tours to green the tour itself while engaging concertgoers to take action for the environment.
Reverb provided cool water for play-in participants and administered free Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottles with the Moms Clean Air Force logo!
Green for All, which was having a Future to Fight For art contest
the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN)
The organization shared information about its Eco-Healthy Child Care initiative and about Children’s Environmental Health Day on October 12, 2017
Dear Tomorrow, a digital and archive project where people share letters, photos and videos to their children, family or future self about their promise to take action on climate change
Physicians for Social Responsibility sharing information about the health effects of environmental pollution
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America sharing information about its education, research and advocacy work to improve the quality of life for people with asthma and allergic diseases.
There were many other Play-In partners, including Mindful Healthy Life.
Toward the end of the press conference, actress Megan Boone NBC’s “The Blacklist” gave a moving and impassioned speech about her previous apathy to the cause and her transformation to activist upon becoming a mom. My son sat in rapt attention during her powerful speech! I quoted her powerful words in real time on Instagram.
Megan said becoming a parent helped her see herself as an “ancestor in the making.” She hopes the children of today are superheroes and also is dedicating herself to igniting the regenerative power of the civilization that our children’s children should inherit. Your power may be modest, she said, but use it anyway. Women control 73% of household spending; our daily purchasing choices influence industry decisions. Never underestimate what change you can effect. See Megan’s full speech here.
Some Moms Clean Air Force staff and other activists continued the action past the morning event and met with members of Congress.
The Moms Clean Air Force blog features a great event recap by author Paige Wolf and a post called “Why We Played” by Moms Clean Air Force Public Health Policy Director Molly Rauch explaining the reasons for the action and the commitment to protecting the climate children’s health.
See Circa and Cronkite News for additional coverage of the event and our 2017 Play-In preview post for a complete list of speakers.
What’s next? Follow Moms Clean Air Force on Facebook and @cleanairmoms on Instagram and Twitter to stay up-to-date on actions and news related to children’s healtn and the environment. Coming up on September 27, Moms Clean Air Force is hosting an exclusive concert with Mister G. Details here.
All event photos copyright Jessica Claire Haney for Mindful Healthy Life.
Jessica Claire Haney is the founder, publisher and editor of Mindful Healthy Life and was the founder and a longtime leader of the Arlington/Alexandria Chapter of Holistic Moms Network. Jessica is a writer who is working on her first novel. She also offers copywriting, editing, writing coaching and holistic business consulting services. Learn more at JessicaClaireHaney.com. Jes
